New goals met

Sometimes when you make small goals it makes this weight loss journey bearable.  Today I met a few.  I hit 25,000 steps earning a new badge for fitbit.  With an end day of 26,200 steps (12.8 miles)
Next I was able to do 3 miles without stopping.  It took me 32 mins.  but I DID NOT STOP!  Which is a great accomplishment since I haven’t really ran since the army 15 years ago.  My lungs burned and by the time I was done I realized that my shoes need replacing.  But I DID NOT STOP…go me!

I also discovered and awesome app called Runkeeper.  Which tracks your running, hiking, walking, jogging or biking.  It’s a nice little app.  Tells you your route, distance, pace and calories burned.  You can still run the app and my couch 2 5k and my music at the same time.  Which is fabulous.  So I have added running/jogging to my exercise routine in the hopes to stay on target for my weight goal.  Here goes nothing. ( I was sweaty, wind blown hair and pretty much exhausted like this pic.  SCORE!)
My next goal?
Signing up for the Color me Rad 5k.  I am hoping to rope a few friends into it.

No job

So living out in BFE sucks.  And getting the homeboy that I am married to motivated to move is like trying to push a freight train up hill by yourself.  So no job.  I applied for the mental health crisis work.  No go because I didn’t have 3 years of consecutive mental health experience.  Um come work in the ER for a few weeks.  Not to mention the 3 years I worked in a nursing home.  But anyway I got over it.  I put all my faith in the prison nurse job and BAM…another no go.  So people keep saying just keep putting in applications.  Great idea right?  Well not when there are no jobs in the area.  Except for the place I currently work at.  Which most of us are trying to leave from.  I have put my application in for dialysis nurse but still haven’t heard anything.  Is it too much to ask for a little bit more money and better hours?  I mean I find it really sad that a PEPSI worker makes just about the same amount of money as an RN.  Yes manual labor is hard and they deserve their money but hello I could help save people and try not to kill no one.  That should count for something.  But of course it doesn’t.  Not anymore.  Todays day in age the health care facilities are all about the all mighty buck.  I just want to work for a place I am proud to work at.  One that respects it’s employees. So keeping my fingers cross that I find this place.  Which I am beginning to think is imaginary…or a figment of my mind.

New goals met

Sometimes when you make small goals it makes this weight loss journey bearable.  Today I met a few.  I hit 25,000 steps earning a new badge for fitbit.  With an end day of 26,200 steps (12.8 miles)

Next I was able to do 3 miles without stopping.  It took me 32 mins.  but I DID NOT STOP!  Which is a great accomplishment since I haven’t really ran since the army 15 years ago.  My lungs burned and by the time I was done I realized that my shoes need replacing.  But I DID NOT STOP…go me!

I also discovered and awesome app called Runkeeper.  Which tracks your running, hiking, walking, jogging or biking.  It’s a nice little app.  Tells you your route, distance, pace and calories burned.  You can still run the app and my couch 2 5k and my music at the same time.  Which is fabulous.  So I have added running/jogging to my exercise routine in the hopes to stay on target for my weight goal.  Here goes nothing.

My next goal?

Signing up for the Color me Rad 5k.  I am hoping to rope a few friends into it.

Interviewing: time for a change

I really thought I would be an ER nurse for a long time.  It's what I love.  Not to mention I love my crew. Even though one has left us and a new dumbass is about to join us. But unfortunately the place I work for keeps cutting time, the budget and giving 5 cent raises. And this year possibly no raises. Which makes it hard when you just bought a new home.  As money gets tighter you get cornered into thinking of a new job.  One that pays more.  Because no matter how much we cut back at home it sucks.  What kind of life is it if you are stuck home, eating bargain food and never getting to buy a new book.  I mean come on I have a college education.  I am not asking to be rich.  I know I have a roof over my head but if there is no breathing room for car break downs or other emergencies. So I have put in for a couple of new jobs.  A prison nurse, dialysis nurse and a Emergency Crisis worker.  I got the interview for the Crisis worker.  I am telling you the wait is killing me.  I thought it went well.  But I have no idea.  I am trying to send off my thank you letter.  Unfortunately the printer I have died.  Thank God my sister in laws still works. So I am sending my thank you letter in the mail in the morning.  This job has weird hours.  But it's only 3 days a week and I get put on call most of the time.  Meaning there will be long nights and no nights at all and I will still get paid.  Which also means on my other days I can work PRN at my current ER job making 30 dollars and hour.  Which would really help us financially.  I only have a range of what this job may pay which could potentiality be more.  So well wishes or prayers are really needed.  I am really excited yet scared all rolled into one.  Not to mention impatient.  I think my iPhone is really attached to my hip now.  I keep checking it...to make sure it still works.  Obsessive?  Yes.  I am so nervous that I won't get this job or any of the jobs.  The other 2 haven't even called for an interview.  Which is really disappointing.  So I have spent a lot of time at the gym burning calories and using that pent up anxiousness for something positive.  Even though it's a little depressing when I check my phone for the millionth time.  UGH.  PLEASE PLEASE let me know something soon.  It's killing me.

Here Piggy Piggy: A new number

So I have learned on this weight loss journey that you have to have patience.  There seems to be more plateaus than losses closer to the end. But it’s the perseverance that pays off.   I listen to a lot of people who are on this same journey that just give up.  Saying what’s the point I just can’t lose.  Stop listening to those people.  Don’t let their negativity keep you from your dream.  Do your best to encourage them to continue but don’t let them convince you to give up too.   So after yo-yoing back and forth between 5 lbs. for the last 2 months.  I finally lost a pound and saw a new number.  I worked hard to see that new number.  So for all of those people in my life who told me to give up.  POOP on you. 
EXACTLY
For my friends who gave up already and refuse to get back on track…

For those I know who keep doing these crash diets and workouts.  Until you realize this you will never succeed…
For those that are battling their weight on a daily basis.  Keep up the hard work. 

And for my friends who fall off the wagon.  It happens.  Don’t beat yourself up.  It’s never over.  Just get back up and try harder.  Never be a quitter!  This is hard.  If it was easy people wouldn’t give up so easily.  You fall off one day…get back up and work out the next.  When you look back 2 years later you are going to be so proud of yourself.  I know I am.  I don’t want to go back to that me.  I feel better.  I have more energy and even a new wardrobe.

1 pound loss!  I am still in the right direction!  It’s taking me a lot of time.  Took me almost 2 years to lost 35lb but I did it.  I fell down a lot but got right back up.  So never forget that.  Determination pays off…how bad do you want it?

Apps I love

So on this journey of losing weight I have discovered some great apps to help keep me on the right path.  My favorite of course is myfitnesspal and my fitbit flex app. 

But the couch to 5k is great too.  If you want to be able to run a 5k but you are a couch potato then this is the app for you.  It starts you off slow.

 

You walked for 5 mins.  Run 30 sec, walk 2 mins.  Etc.  As each week goes by the running gets longer and there is less walking.  Until at the end you are ready to run a 5k.  I am on week 4 day 3 so far I am doing well.  Its week six that I truly dread.  But I want to run at least one 5k in my lifetime.  You can play your music while the app runs also.  It will talk over the music when it’s time.

The next on I like is this new one my fitness coach suggested.  Another freebie.  It’s called gym boss.  You can set up your intervals anyway you want.  I do 23 sets (15mins)  My exercise is 25sec then rest 12 sec.  I do my circuit exercise (crutches, mountain climbers, planks etc.)  Until it beeps.  Then you rest till it beep then start your next exercise.  The best part is you can still listen to your music.  It beeps over the music.

  You can also use it for running but I like the couch to 5k better.

 

Another one…not a big favorite but interesting is HealthCalc.  It will calculate many different activities calories for you.  Also calculates ideal weight, body mass and body fat.  Even has a blood alcohol estimator.    So tell me what is your favorite apps for fitness?  I can always use new ones.

Here Piggy Piggy: Yo-yo

Yup I am starting to feel like a yo-yo.  5 lbs lost….5 lbs gained.  Back and forth I go.  Which is really annoying since when those five are lost I am only 4 pounds away from my goal.  It’s extremely annoying that I can’t see 124 lbs.  I am not asking for under 120.  I would like to at least STAY under 130.  Which is where my 5 pound fluctuation is.  Yea I know it’s probably water weight.  I know to stay away from the process food but unless the fresh stuff becomes more affordable it’s not going to happen.  I probably have increased my grocery bill a good 100 dollars or more.  Which really sucks.   They should have a tax break on the healthy stuff.  Maybe more people would eat healthier.  It’s just aggravating.  I am eating healthier than I ever have.  I eat in moderation.  I haven’t had McDonald's in forever.  Haven’t had a real soda since last Halloween.  So is it too much to ask to get to my darn goal weight??!!!

So I have been trying to do 30 day shred.  Got all the way to 14 or 15 days and boom…a week goes by.  Also been doing couch to 5 k.  It would be nice to actually complete one of these.  Working nights is havoc on keeping any type of workout schedule.  Especially when there is a bad night in the ER and you can barely stay awake on the drive home. 

Yea I know I am whining.  Just get up and do it right?  Well today my get up left.  I will be better tomorrow…lol

Funny

So you had a bad day at work.

 

So you got in trouble with your boss.  You pissed off a customer? You showed up late to work.  Maybe you even lost a really big client.  But when a nurse has a really bad day it’s most likely because their patient died.  It’s may sound callous but when a code comes in it’s a little easier to distance yourself from the patient.  You didn’t hold their hand or comfort them in their last moments like I did in long term care.  Though a child code will always take your breath away.  Which brings me to my bad day.  I had a female early 70’s come in due to a fall at her home.  She had a laceration to her head.  But was mainly complaining of her hip hurting.  She told me of her stories of being a nurse.  The things that she loved and the ones that she hated.  Being an ER nurse you are rushed so I really didn’t have a lot of time to really listen to her stories long.  In between vital checks, pain medication administration and positioning.  I helped clean up her laceration and all her dried blood.  We chit chatted some more.  She went to CT.  When she came back the CT tech states she was complaining of head pain.  So I went to check her pain level.  Upon arriving to the room.  She was no longer her chipper self.  She was only moaning.  I called the dr. ASAP.  Called for some back up help to my room.  She went from talking  to unresponsive.  She was tubed and moved to the trauma room.  She had a major bleed in the brain.  Nothing we could have done they say.  She won’t live they say.  That doesn’t make it all better.  You still look back and reevaluate did I spend enough time in that room?  Vitals were fine.  Did I miss something?  So the next time when you hear a nurse say they had a bad day at work.  Don’t always dismiss it as just something trivial.   When a nurse has a truly bad day it’s not always caused by some drunk running down the hall naked.

To flex or not to flex? Getting a fitbit

So I purchased one.  I wanted to wait for a week before I gave my 2 cents.  I will give update reviews as I use it.  Let me first tell you the only thing I have ever used is a pedometer.  So I talked with other friends that have the jawbone, one and fitbit.  So let’s make this as painless as possible.

First what is the flex?

Quote from the web site: Flex website click here

Make fitness a lifestyle with Flex™.

FLEX™ WIRELESS ACTIVITY & SLEEP WRISTBAND

This slim, stylish device is with you all the time. During the day, it tracks steps, distance, and calories burned. At night, it tracks your sleep cycle and wakes you silently in the morning. Just check out the lights to see how you stack up against your personal goal. It’s the motivation you need to get out and be more active.

Does it do that?  Heck yes.  Especially when you are so close to hitting your daily 10,000 steps.  I have took the dog for a walk just so I could get those extra steps.  You can also customize those goals.

Design

• Light weight, rubberized, flexible band.
• Comes in 4 colors. Slate or Black are the only ones with the device. The other 2 you buy separately.
• Included in box are both small and large bands.  Which you can use to trade for different color from friends with the opposite size
• The clasp is metal and you have to push down hard to get it to latch, which is a draw back.  However on a positive note if it’s hard to clasp hopefully it will be hard to pop loose.
• Design to be worn on either arm, it works best on Non-dominant arm.   I don’t know about you but most people wear their watch on that arm
• Doesn’t not have a clock.  Which means your watch will need to switch arms.  Not a deal breaker for me since my watch is already on that arm.
• Waterproof up to 10 feet.  Wear it swimming, showering, or washing those dreaded dishes. Meaning…it’s safe for this nurse’s flex to get wet every 1000 times I wash my hands.  Con:  Will not track swimming, let me rephrase that; no written evidence that it does. (not a big deal I plug it in on myfitnesspal as back up)

Pro: Light weight, flexible and I don’t notice that I even have it on. 

Cons:  having to wear it on the non-dominant arm  (no gripes here for me)

Device

• Pill like device that slides into the back of the bracelet.  FYI must be put in correctly or it won’t work as well.
• While out it can be place in USB charge cord that hooks into computer.  Which leads me to the battery life 5-7 days.  I lasted 6 days with constant use.  Takes around less than an hour to charge.
• How accurate is it?  It has been pretty dead on for me.  I did notice that I didn’t burn as much calories as I thought during a circuit workout.  But I stepped it up a notch and did much better.  You can calculate your stride to help make it more accurate or leave it on default.  Default is done by age, sex, height and weight. 

Sync ability

• Works best with iOS (apple products)  But will work with android.  I have noticed some “hiccups” with sync on my droid razr.  It seems to take longer to sync.  I prefer my iPod to sync with.  It will also sync with your computer by putting the “dongle” in one of the computer’s usb ports.  (this comes with the product)
• Sync is done by Bluetooth 4.0 (older phone may not have this) unlike Jawbone (another similar device) where you have to hook it into phone.

Alarm/Sleep Tracking

• You can set up multiple alarms.  Bracelet will vibrate.  Great if you don’t want to wake up your partner.
• Rapidly tapping on the Fitbit Flex for a few seconds launches sleep mode; under this setting, the device will track your sleep patterns throughout the night.  Then you can check the progress on you app.  It will tell you how long you slept, how many time you woke up and your % on quality of sleep.  ( I woke up 23 times yesterday, good grief)

What does it do?

Is it a fancy pedometer?  I think not.

• Tracks your steps just like a pedometer
• Tracks the calories burned
• Tracks your distance
• Record your Food, Water, Weight. 
• Calculates how many calories you can eat that day
• Links up with a few other fitness apps.  My favorite being Myfitnesspal
• Motivates you by awarding badges for completing certain levels

Rumors- this section is dedicated to negative comments I have heard

• It doesn’t have a display like the One (older fitbit model) has.  Yes the one shows the steps, distance, stairs and even a little flower that grows when you do fabulous.  Even has a clock.  Downfall?

  (pictured the One)

Not really.  I like the simplicity of my flex.  When you double tap on the flex  5 lights will light up.  Each light represents 20% complete.  When completed the bracelet vibrates.  (about scared the pee out of me)  Plus since it sync so easily I can always see a detailed update on my iPod.  I always have my phone with me or my iPod when I am exercising.  So that’s not a draw back for me.  I think too much info is just as bad as weighing ever day.

• It’s on my wrist and I wear other jewelry/watch.  I like the fit one because I can clip it anywhere. 

Okay I can some what understand this.  However I wear my watch on my dominant hand not really a big deal.  Plus I know I have already washed one $9 pedometer I really don’t want to wash a $99 one that isn’t water proof.  I know  I leave my Badge clip for work clipped to my uniform all the time. So a One was not for me.  Plus how annoying would that be to forget to put you One on when getting dressed for work/workout.  The Flex is always on.

• It counts steps while you sleep and gives me calories burned

Okay did you make a trip to the kitchen/bathroom?  You still move in sleep and you still burn calories while sleeping.  On average you can burn 400-500 calories sleeping.  Mine has been correct on the calorie count.  But remember you burn calories doing everything.  You just have to get your 10,000 steps to be an average healthy active person.

• It doesn’t catch every exercise.  This is correct.  It won’t do swimming, biking, and some say elliptical.  I use my myfitnesspal account and manually put them in anyway. 

FYI-While using myfitnesspal exercise log it estimates you calories burned.  You can set up the account to minus what you actually burned.  For example dancing 30 mins for myfitnesspal may say I burned 175 calories but the Flex only calculated 110 it will deduct that from you calories burned bank.  You can turn this feature off. 

• When putting foods in FITBIT flex the directory doesn’t have a lot of choices.  Once again this is where I use Myfitnesspal.  I record all my foods, water, exercise in myfitnesspal and it crosses over to fitbit account.  Great feature.

Okay so that about sums up my knowledge of the flex.  If you are still unsure.  Find out how long of a return policy there is and try it out yourself.  The flex isn’t for everyone.  We can’t all be a like. 

So bottom line.  I will be keeping my flex.  I like the look and feel,  less likely hood that I will lose it and it motivates me to work harder towards my goal of losing weight.  What works for you to help achieve your goals is all that matters in the long run.  If you have any questions feel free to message me.  Or check out my fitness page on Facebook. nursewiththedragontattooFacebook