Will run for wine

Today was a great day as I was able to run with my most favorite running buddies in the whole world Runner Susan and Deana the Rabbit. We did the Grapevine Vineyard Run and it was awesome. It was a cool crisp morning which is for perfect for running, on purpose, no less!

I was a little concerned when we came around the corner of mile 2 and realized that a majority of mile 3 was UPHILL! That is just wrong on so many levels. The payoff was a dixie cup full of Merlot from Delany Vineyards so it wasn't all that bad.

My dear friend Runner Susan took some wonderful photos of us as well. I think we might have spent just as much time taking pictures of ourselves as we did running! I finished in 34 minutes 41 seconds which is slooooow, but it was a great run!

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Finally a 9 before a 6

Well peeps I would like to report that I have finally gotten a 9 before a 6 and I don't mean anything dirty. I know what you are thinkin'. Anyway, I am happy to report that after the chemistry exam (score 64) and the math exam (score 68) I finally got the 9 as the starting number. I managed to pull off a 96 on the food prep exam. Hey I know my food and I have enough junk in my trunk to prove it.

I am hopeful that I just might be able to recover in the math class as our professor really seems to care and is doing everything she can to help us recover from this first exam. I love her for that kind gesture. It is a good thing she is young and THINKS she can possibly save me from me! I am going to hang tough with math and just let the chips fall where they may fall!

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No Chemistry with Chemistry

It has been a long 24 days to say the least. Yes it has been 24 days since I first walked in to my chemistry class at TWU and I am glad to say my tenure with this class is over. You see peeps we took our first exam yesterday and out of 80+ students over half of us failed the exam or at least almost failed it. I managed to pull off a 64 and it was through blood, sweat and tears (literally) that I was able to do that much. I studied harder for that one test than I can remember ever studying for any other test. It was a brutal weekend of hour after hour of chemistry. I am no longer feeling the love for chemistry. I can honestly say that I have no chemistry with chemistry. I tearfully called my beloved Joe, who just happens to be 1,000 miles away from home on his motorcycle none the less, and has been for over a week now and we decided that chemistry class and the lab must come to an end for me. I will be dropping the course on Tuesday! Hallelujah! I found this decision to be really difficult, but I felt I needed to drop out of love with chemistry in order to stay in love with my other 3 classes at TWU.

Lessons learned from this experience are listed below in no particular order.

1. Don't take chemistry and chemistry lab and a math class all at the same time when you have been out of school for almost 20 years.
2. Recognize that you are not super woman and you must pace yourself.
3. Recognize that you did the best you could and move on from here.
4. Recognize that it is better to have tried and failed miserably than to have not tried at all.
5. Recognize that family is first.
6. Be prepared that your child will get sick and you will have to leave them home with 102 degree fever just to take a flippin' chemistry test that you just might fail and you still must be Ok with that because your child feels better today!
7. Recognize that you actually love your math class and your food lab and your food prep course and are actually doing well in them. Go figure!
8. Recognize that you have a wonderful husband who is totally OK with you blowing $1,000.00 on a course that you drop 24 days later. Thank you for that my beloved Joe.
9. Recognize that your sweet Carly and most mature 12 year-old of the world Alex love you and just want you to STOP crying over chemistry already!!!
10. Recognize that you are successful just because you are a loving mother and wife and that is the most important job in the world anyway.
11. Recognize that you have until December 17th to finish what you have started at TWU and then you can get a new game plan from there.
12. Recognize that just because you suck at chemistry you can swim 250 meters really well after only 1 month of training.

I have learned a lot in the past month...yes sir I have for sure! Another list I have come up with is the list of the things I have missed most over the past month.

1. I have missed talking with my sweet Carly about whatever. I have missed you Carly and I am sorry for being so consumed with Chemistry.
2. I have missed helping my lovely Alex with her school work. I have basically let her sink in that department. I apologize to you my sweet Alex.
3. I have missed my kitchen floor as I can no longer tell you what it looks like because it has not been swept in a month.
4. I have missed my little kid bike. I do plan on riding it again really soon as I want to do my first triathlon on it. I will be back on it tomorrow.
5. I have missed my blog. I am making up for that today.
6. I have missed just sitting and reading other things than chemistry.
7. I have missed my beloved Joe. Please come home soon.
8. I have missed training with some type of intensity. I am sure Denny will make up for that in the morning or on Monday.

I wanted to share this experience with you peeps so that you will understand that some of the most valuable lessons learned come through failure instead of through success.

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The Science Project Update 3

It has been a long and trying summer, but I am glad to report that things are a turnin' around peeps. The psychomones are stabilizing and I am feeling less postal. I have gone from wanting to cut you deep with a switch blade knife to just maybe wanting to cut you deep with a butter knife. Ask my beloved Joe and he will tell you that I have been down right pleasant. Thanks honey for hangin' with me when you should have just told me to go pound sand. Not just sand, but wet sand!

I am in month two of using the Emerita Progest cream and I will tell you this...it is the BEST! My dear friend Leigh Ann who told me of Dr. Block and got me going on this whole hormonal journey refers to her cream as CRACK! I get it Leigh Ann yes I get it! I am sleeping better, not totally great, but better. I am not wanting to kill people and my brain feels less foggy. Denny even mentioned that I looked fresh during one of my work-outs. Denny is a hard ass and you can never work hard enough in his gym and for him to say that...well...enough said as far as I am concerned. Thanks Denny! You know you feel better when you are training and you have to leave early and you miss the running part of the work-out. I was actually sad that I was not able to stay and run 6 more 80 yard runs and 6 more 60 yard runs. I guess Doug and I will be finishing up that work-out this weekend sometime. Sorry Douglas it is for the good of the peeps, especially this peep. Anyway, I can't speak more highly of this Emerita Progest cream. I find myself just wanting to order a truckload of it in case the end times come and it is no longer available.

Dr. Block also recommended that I take 15mg of DHEA every morning. DHEA has had some good press and some bad press so you have to take it or leave it. I think it is helping me come out of this funk I have been in for the last 7 months. You might read about it and talk to your doctor and then make an informed decision for yourself. All I know is I feel like a different person in just a period of 6 to 8 weeks. I feel like with both the DHEA and the Emerita Progest Cream I am feeling dramatic improvements. I have a crush on working out again when for the longest time working out just felt like a bad blind date that just would not end. One of the ladies in Keller said to me "Cindy you really love training" yes I do really love it AGAIN!

I have also noticed that my skin is like way better. I had totally given up on the whole make-up thing. I know alot of my reason for not using it was that I am constantly working out and sweaty and it just wasn't worth the effort. Well with this new skin of mine I have actually worn mascara and blush and a little lip gloss for the last two days. Go me! I am thinking that the hormone balance of the cream and the added Omega Plex has really helped my skin. I asked my beloved Joe if he had noticed a change in my skin and he readily said yes. I think he has been sick and damn tired of being married to Ms. Pizza face already. Thanks again Joe for hanging with me as my face has been more broken out than most of the high school kids I train and train with at the gym. I am trying to grow up I promise.

All in all I feel like a rock star. I feel like the Angus kind of rock star. I feel like I could go on tour with him and still be the mama, the wife, the maid, the trainer, the athlete, the pool boy, the accountant...well you get it. I know there is still room for improvement. I know that this journey is long from over, but hey you have to start at the beginning and I am so glad that I did. It has been a long 7 months. I have had to let a few training goals be put on the back burner, but I feel like the turbo Cindy I used to know is back. I say we run some sprints and do some deadlifts just to make sure!

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Vitamin C is Cool

OK so I have been a big slacker with my vitamin blogging, but I am going to redeem myself.

The next one on the list is Vitamin C. Vitamin C is like totally cool man as it is one of the most important vitamins of the whole vitamin world. Why you ask is Vitamin C so important? Well let me tell you. It is like a turbo antioxidant which will keep the air off your apple and the free radicals stabilized in your body. If you don't know what I am talking about then go back through this blog and read up my friend.

Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin so you must consume it daily. The RDA is around 60 mg which is just enough to keep us from getting the dreaded scurvy. Many experts believe that 500 mg a day is a more optimum dosage split 250 mg in the morning and 250 mg in the afternoon. The body can only absorb so much at a time and hey you don't want to just tinkle it all out so split up the dosage people. Some wonderful food sources of Vitamin C are oranges, cantaloupe, mangoes, grapefruit, raspberries, tangerines, strawberries, lemons, kohlrabi (what?) and cauliflower.

Vitamin C has so many benefits that I thought I would split them up over several blog posts.

I will start with its anti-oxidant power. You know how you can rub an orange across the top of a sliced apple and the apple stays nice and doesn't get brown from the air hitting it. The same thing happens within the body. Vitamin C protects your innards the same way. My understanding is that it defends your body from oxidative stress and keeps the air off your internal apple. This oxidative stress or free radicals are caused by irritants such as cigarette smoke, pesticides (on our food), air pollution (in our air), ultraviolet light (no sun bathing?) and basic daily stress! Free radicals are just a part of our daily life my friends. Growing evidence states that free radical damage is an underlying cause of aging. Vitamin C will go in and kick some free radical butt.

There will be more to come on Vitamin C so keep checking back.

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The battle of the psychomones continues

My journey to better hormone health continues and I wanted to share some additional information with you.

In my last blog post on the science project update I mentioned the Emerita progesterone cream that I purchased at Sprouts. I got online and found a screaming good deal on this particular cream. I paid about $30 for a 2 oz tube of this cream at Sprouts. I was surfing the web and found a wonderful online company called Vitacost.com. You can purchase the Emerita cream in a 4 oz tube for $27 bucks. This includes shipping which brings it right to your front door. I am thinking this is a great big freakin' deal. You are basically getting double the cream for less moula and it is being delivered straight to your door. I ordered it on Friday and received it today (Tuesday). I love a good deal. I love even more that it is progesterone cream that will potentially keep me from going postal on someone. See I get my cream for a great price and no one dies! Awesomeness!

Next up is a wonderful website that I came across regarding women's hormone health. It is called women in balance. The best part about this group and their website is that they are non-profit. I am thinking this is a big deal as they are working for the good of the women folk and they don't even care if they are making a killing off of us. I looked at the entire site and found it very informative. Check it out when you get a minute.

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The Science Project Update 2

I finally finished all of the spittin' on the saliva hormone panel and I received the results back from Dr. Block. I am definitely estrogen dominate which means that my estrogen and progesterone stay pretty balanced for the first 2 weeks of my cycle every month. This is when I feel pretty calm, happy, energetic and just in a better frame of mind.

What is happening during the last 2 weeks of my cycle every month is what has been tripping me up so much lately. It seems that my progesterone falls below optimum levels to balance out with my estrogen. This progesterone decline is believed to be what is making me feel so exhausted, wimpy, bitchy, chubby, irritated, cry babyish and just down right hard to get along with for those two weeks. My understanding is that your progesterone levels should be about 200 to 1 over the estrogen levels. Dr. Block explained to me that my hormones where basically just all over the board with estrogen being dominant and progesterone just trying to hang tough. I explained to her that my beloved Joe could have told her that I was estrogen dominant without any of those tests. Which might have saved me the couple thousand bucks I have spent on all of this dang testing. Trust me the boy knows estrogen dominance when he sees it and he has been a seein' it alot lately. I apologize to you my beloved Joe.

Anywho...let me get on with the treatment plan because I am all about getting me fixed and back going so that I can actually get on with my life. The first thing Dr. Block suggested is that I start using an over the counter natural progesterone cream. She suggested that I apply it once a day during the first 2 weeks of my cycle and then twice a day both morning and night for the last two weeks of my cycle. I started using Emerita Pro Gest Natural Progesterone Cream. You can find it at Sprouts. I chose this one because of some reading I had been doing on the product. Dr. Christiane Northrup who is the author of The Wisdom of Menopause suggested it in her book. Dr. Northrup has written several books on women's health issues so I have grown to trust her judgement. Dr. Block also has progesterone cream available that she knows to be a good product. I am sure I will try her type as well.

The next thing Dr. Block suggested that I do is start taking 15mg of DHEA. DHEA is dehydroepiandrosterone which is a natural steroid and precursor hormone produced by the adrenals. Go here for a great article about DHEA. Please take the time to read this article as it is very informative and goes into alot of detail. Again, I found DHEA at Sprouts in the men's health section of the store.

All in all I am pumped about all of the things that I have learned from Dr. Block. This has been an interesting journey for sure. I am optimistic that I am on the right track with the creams and the supplements. I really wanted to try and solve my hormonal problems in the most natural way possible. I think I am off to a great start. I will keep you posted on my progress. I am going to follow this regimen for 2 months and check back in with Dr. Block.

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