Aloha Friday | The Angel Forever

Category Archives Aloha Friday

Calcium, Vitamin D and Fish Oil . . . oh my!

Posted on June 12, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

In recent months, I have been trying to spend more time taking care of myself. Most of the time, this means working out either with EA Sports Active or Leslie Sansone. If you had asked me a few short months ago what I thought of exercise, I would have complained. Now I know that it makes me feel better. I have energy and love knowing that I did well when I am sweaty. Who knew that I would ever feel that way.

Another part of this was finally making an appointment for a physcial. It had been a LONG time since I had done this. I finally made the appointment and had the papers for blood work to do before seeing my doctor. She warned me that since I am still nursing JSL my numbers may be elevated in triglyceroids and cholesterol. I went the Saturday morning before my appointment early in the morning since I had to fast for the tests. In addition to the CBC, the doctor also wanted a lipid screen, A1C (my mother is diabetic), kidney function (I have gout), TSH (thyroid was enlarged when pregnant), and Vitamin D levels.

I went last week to see my doctor. My blood pressure was fabulous and she was happy to hear about my lifestyle changes. Of course, she was most thrilled that I had lost almost 30 pounds and was exercising regularly. The day I went I was quite sore after just starting EA Sports Active. The nurse went to track down my test results. As expected, my triglyceroids and cholesterol levels were slightly elevated. Most likely they are due to nursing. The part she was not happy with was the low good cholesterol number. In addition to that, my Vitamin D numbers showed that I have a major deficiency. This has become something that more doctors are looking into now with people using sun screen all the time and blocking the much needed Vitamin D into their body.

At the end of the appointment, I left with a list of vitamins to get and how much to take each day. Here is my new routine. Each morning, I take 3 Fish Oil capsules with Omega-3 Fatty Acids, 1 Calcium w/D, 4 Vitamin D, and a multi-vitamin. At dinner each night, I take 3 more Omega-3 Fatty Acids and another Calcium w/ D. For those keeping track, that is 13 vitamins each day. Below is a photo of my mini-pharmacy which also includes my inhaler and allergy pills that I take for a few more weeks (still boosting up my lungs after the allergic reaction to walnuts at Disney World).

In three months, I go back for a recheck on my lipid test along with the Vitamin D levels. With any luck, the combination should help get everything back on track. The best news is now that I know about the Vitamin D and work on it I may have more energy. I always assumed the exhaustion was from being an overtired Mommy. Sure, that may have been part of it, but my extremely low levels were a huge factor.

So my question for you this week:

Do you take vitamins daily? If so, what do you take and are you good about taking them regularly.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #52

Categories:
allergies Aloha Friday doctor exercise health awareness me moments

A Big Birthday for Mom

Posted on June 5, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

My mother has always been there for me. Whether it was when I was a little girl, a teenager confused with life, college student trying to follow her dreams, or a new wife and mother, Mom has always been right there or a simple phone call away. Last year, I mentioned that she will always be my hero. My mother was unselfish and sacrificed a lot for her children because she wanted what was best for us. Still, there is more that comes to mind as I sit here with tears streaming down my cheeks. Once again on her birthday, I recall how my mother saved my little guy by breathing life back into JSL on that terrible night in February 2008.

Mom has shown me how to be an advocate for myself and my family. Mom stayed home with my younger brother and me when we were growing up. She helped to arrange play groups with friends, take me to endless swim lessons, watch at softball games, and was the leader of my Girl Scout troop. My mother was the one that always stood up for us when she knew there was something wrong at school or beyond. She made sure that each vacation we went on had something educational involved and always stopped to tell us the proper names of everything scientific (and I do mean EVERYTHING).

Today my mother is celebrating a big birthday. Recently, we have been talking about this milestone in her young life. You see, both my Nana and Papa passed away quite young. I think this birthday is hitting her hard and while I am typing this it is having a similar feelings. Just thinking too much makes my brain and heart hurt.

For this Aloha Friday please send a message to my mother on her special day in the comments. Thanks!

Dear Mom,

Happy Birthday! Please know that no matter how we may disagree from time to time, I love you with all of my heart. You have given so much to me and I owe you for all that you have taught me. We are all going to continue to work together, as a family, so we have many more fun filled years with you. I want and need you to be there for all of us. The boys constantly talk about seeing Nana and spending time with you. It was so wonderful to see you and Dad with us and so happy at Disney World. It brought back so many wonderful memories from our Disney adventures when I was little. We will have many more fabulous memories, I promise you. Thank you for being such a great mother and Nana. I love you <3

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #51

Categories:
Aloha Friday birthday family photos

Vacation splurges

Posted on May 29, 2009 8:01 am by TheAngelForever

Admit it, when you go on vacation you often splurge. Whether you splurge on things you do, items you buy, or food you eat. When we recently went to Disney World I was definitely guilty of this. We opted to do the Disney Dining Plan (DDP). This meant that we paid a set price for each day and were given a snack credit (could be soda, ice cream, pretzel, pastry or countless other items), counter service meal credit (entree, drink and dessert), and table service meal credit (beverage that could be soda/smoothie/milk shake, entree and of course dessert) for each day.

We managed to use most of our snack credits for breakfast and only had to pay for gratuities on the table service meal. Let me tell you, it is nice not to think about the price of food while away. Of course, as nice as it is not to think about the money aspect, the calories is a different story. You know that desserts twice a day and eating at buffets can be a dangerous thing. I fully admit that I ate what I wanted, not like a piggy, and did not worry. I wanted to fully enjoy our first major vacation in over six years and part of that at Disney is the dining.

May I present you with one of my favorite goodies from the trip. I actually had this as breakfast one morning (learned that from my father thanks):

That amazing looking item above is the Tie Dye Cheesecake at the Pop Century Resort in Walt Disney World. If you would like a closer look where you can see the red velvet cake layer on the bottom of the colorful cheesecake here it is:

Luckily all of the walking and sweating in the 90+ degree heat allowed me the pleasure of losing weight even while eating these delicious items. Most people are not so lucky when they go to Disney, so I know I was.

My question for this week:

When you go on a big vacation do you splurge on something? If you do what types of items are we talking about?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #50

Categories:
Aloha Friday Disney food glorious food looking back me moments vacation yummy

A true Muppet Diva

Posted on May 22, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Growing up, I loved watching the Muppet Show. My parents actually allowed me to join the fan club. Over the years, my appreciation for the humor of the Muppets has grown. I was thrilled when Jim Henson’s prized characters were bought by Disney and included in a section of Disney’s Hollywood Studios.

The section of the park is like no other. It looks like a section of the world that Kermit, Piggy, Beaker, Gonzo and company would live in. On Mother’s Day we were visiting Disney’s Hollywood Studios. It reminded me of my childhood fascination with everything Miss Piggy. I actually had two Piggy dolls that I used to take around all over with me. In addition to this, I had Miss Piggy buttons with some of her famous sayings. My parents also had Piggy and Kermit sheets for their queen sized bed. Yes, we were quite the fans. The best part is that JL and I continue this with our kids.

So my question for you this week:

Who is your favorite Muppet character from the original Muppet show?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #49

Categories:
Aloha Friday Disney looking back me moments photos

End of vacation blues

Posted on May 15, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

By the time you are reading this, we will be spending our last day at Walt Disney World. I will likely be twitching a lot from internet withdrawal, but family time with Mickey Mouse is well worth it. Of course, Saturday will be the plane ride home and by the night I will be mostly unpacked and ready to do tons of laundry on Sunday.

So my question to you is quite simple this week:

How do you ease end of vacation blues?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is our first family vacation since we have had the kids, so it is going to be hard to remember how to deal with this after the fact.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the Mr. Linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #48