Blood-Brain Barrier

The other day, I was wondering why I hadn't had any full-blown inspired ideas for a long while.

Usually, I come up with an "A-HA!" moment several times throughout the week.

Now I know why.

Due to the sweaty, grossness of this past summer, I decided to let my hair AIR DRY almost every day.

Ba-Hiiiiiiiiiiiggg Mistake.

Yesterday, I dried my hair with my dusty, but trusty, Hair Dryer. And guess what?



Revelation!!





So, my theory is this. When I flip my head over to dry my hair (I have fine hair, which needs to be dried straight on end to look at all reasonable), The blood RUSHES to my brain and stimulates all my "smart" brain cells to fire.

And no, I won't be telling you the big idea. Because... I kinda forgot it when my head cooled off.

BUT...I'll be adding a pad of paper and pen to the bathroom supplies, so no worries.

Watch out for Flying Fatalities.

Pumpkins, leaves, ticks, and fleas.

I know I've said this to many of my friends and family over the years...but I just have to re-state my dear LOVE of Fall.

After many years of being too busy, I took the time this year to head to Young's Dairy for the Pumpkin Festival. Aside from the parking (across the street, only 10 minutes after the place opened), the many sugar-drunk children frantically scrambling to the hayride, and the lugging of the awkward pumpkin....it was fabulous. Not the mention: The "just-out-of-the-oven-warm" pumpkin donut holes made for some very happy family members.

On the darker side of this season...I have to also re-state my abhorrence of bugs. Especially ticks. I've killed three of those suckers (Ha! Get it!?)so far. None of them on my head....I'm too hyper-bug-aware for that to happen.


And can anyone tell me where the Clouds O' Gnats come from? And why are they here?

Close your mouth next to the Foy's house and check behind your ears.


Watch out for Flying Fatalities.

Freedom From Workplace Bullies Week: A Call to Arms!

Freedom From Workplace Bullies Week: A Call to Arms!

Just thought this might be useful to some people I know.

watch out for Flying Fatalities

Wait for it....

AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

That feels better.

Now on to some FUN.

Ruins

Tree Hugger Morning

Today, I am a naturist.

While sipping my coffee on the parents' back porch, I notice a bee flying around lazily INSIDE the hummingbird feeder.

Debate in my head:
This coffee is so good, I really don't want to get up. My thighs hurt from the personal training abuse from yesterday. Bees aren't really CUTE and they sting. Should I let him out? That means I'll have to clean the feeder and re-fill it....

Aren't bees supposed to be dying out? What if he has no home to go to? Isn't this the best way to let him quietly into the deep recess of sweet death...trapped in sugar water?

*sigh*

I get up, let him out. I swear he looks at me and smiles. Then flies away without attacking me.

Non-verbal affirmation from a bee. That's good enough for me.

Watch out for Flying Fatalities

My name is Had.

My name is Had.

You may know me, but you may not know my new name. You may have no idea what I've been through because I do my best to look the same. I am scared to death of you. I used to be just like you. I once held my head up high without propping it on my hymnal.

I was well respected back then, and I even respected myself. I was wholeheartedly devoted to God, and if the truth be known, somewhere deep inside I was sometimes the slightest bit proud of my devotion. Then I'd repent...because I knew that was wrong. I didn't want to be wrong. Not ever.

People looked up to me. And life looked good from up there. I felt good about who I was. That was before I was Had. Strangely, I no longer remember my old name. I just remember I liked it. I liked who I was. I wish I could go back. I wish I'd just wake up. But I fear I'm wide awake. I have had a nightmare. And the nightmare was me. Had.

If I could really talk to you and you could really listen, I'd tell you I have no idea how all this happened. Honestly, I was just like you. I didn't plan to be Had. I didn't want to be Had. One day I hadn't, then the next day I had.

Oh, I know now where I went wrong. I have rewound the nightmare a thousand times, stopping it right at the point where I departed the trail of good sense. The way ahead didn't look wrong. It just looked different. Strange, he didn't look like the devil in the original scene. But every time I replayed it, he dropped another piece of this masquerade. When he finally took off his mask, he was laughing at me. Nothing seems funny anymore. I will never laugh again as long as he is laughing.

If only I could go back. I would see it this time! I would walk around the trap camouflaged by the brush, and I would not be Had. I would be Proud. Was that my old name? Proud? I can't even remember who I was anymore. I thought I was Good. Not Proud. But I don't know anymore.

Would you believe I never heard the trap shut? Too many voices were shouting in my head. I just knew I got stuck somewhere unfamiliar, and soon I didn't like the scenery anymore. I wanted to go home. My ankle didn't even hurt at first. Not until the infection set in. Then I thought I would die.

I lay like a whimpering doe while the wolf howled in the darkness. I got scared. I pulled the brush over me and hid. Then I felt like I couldn't breathe. I had to get out of there or I was sure it would kill me. I didn't belong there. I refused to die there.

I pulled and pulled at the trap, but the foothold wouldn't budge. The blood gushed. I had no way out. I screamed for God. I told Him where I was and the shape I was in. He came for me.

The infection is gone. He put something on it and cleaned it up instantly. As He inspected my shattered ankle, I kept waiting for Him to say, "You deserved this, you know. You've been Had". Because I did and I know and I have. He hasn't said it yet. I don't know how much to Trust Him yet. I've never known Him from this side. My leg still hurts. God says it will heal with time. But I fear I will always walk with a limp.

You see, I wrestled with the devil and he gave me a new name. Had.


*excerpt from When Godly People do UnGodly Things-Beth Moore*

Diets are wonderfull.....blah blah blah Blech!

Disclaimer: There will be no information on this post regarding a current, past, or future fitness program. AND...I have no wish to offend, but you might inevitably be so.


To that end, I am re-starting Flying Fatalities as the blog I originally intended. To be witty, relevant, encouraging, and honest.

So....

WIT: (plagiarized/summarized from a fitness friend I will not name, since she would boil me in olive oil)
Why exercise every day, pulling muscles, sweating buckets, and generally becoming a "mean fitness junkie" in order to eat a RICE CAKE with peanut butter on it. Give me an Apple Cider Donut and I'll work P90X till the cows come home and dump chocolate milk down my throat!

Relevant: If there were more shows like Glee on TV, we wouldn't all be worried about crime labs finding our misplaced fingerprints at a crime scene, or feeling dumpy while B-list celebrities prance in our brain. Read a book. I recommend Jane Eyre.

Encouraging: The gifts we are given by GOD are not for our benefit. They are for others to become lifted up and healed. Undervaluing the services rendered to others is a God-fearing person's greatest fault. Be nice, not mean, whenever possible.

Honest: My heart has been torn into a million pieces several times, but I am the stronger for it. I am imperfect, but learnable. I am intelligent, but capable of being a complete blockhead. I am beautiful to my Creator, but ugly to those who have seen me at my worst. As a whole, not so bad. And, very much just like everyone else.

Till we meet anon...

Watch out for Flying Fatalities

New Program: New Hope

Back in the saddle with SI6.

I little less intense than P90X, but it's doing the job. I'm down 3 more lbs, and feeling a little more like myself.

If you're anything like me, been on the road of weight yo-yo'ing for years, and no end in sight...this is the program for you.
Only a few short months before I hit the beach, and I'm sure that this year will bring FAR more enjoyment than sweating in my "big girl" swimsuit like last time.

I know most coaches do not include scripture in their posts, or even talk about it. So this is your warning: incoming verse.

This has greatly changed how I see the fight to be healthy while I'm on this earthly plane...

1 Corinthians 9:27
But I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.

Rather, I toughen my body with punches and make it my slave so that I will not be disqualified after I have spread the Good News to others.

I may not be the ideal picture of BeachBody health and fitness, but I AM on the inside, and WILL BE on the outside... in due time.

We should not beat up our souls for failed attempts, but discipline ourselves repeatedly to be the honorable and strong human beings we were created to be.

I've made mistakes all my life, as have we all. But we have A HOPE and A PURPOSE, and it's our duty to strive for those things. We fall, we get back up. Over and over and over again. As long as we GET BACK UP, then we are doing what we should.

Two steps forward, one step back.

Fitness Update:

I have lost a total of 9 lbs in 2 months. Lost inches in some places, only to find that they snuck up and stuck to other places.

Nevertheless, I remain constant in my affections for clean eating, and adamant that my future holds the image of a brickhouse.

So, I have a few feelers out for some plateau-busting plans, and will be participating in the 3 day Shakeology Cleanse fairly soon. With opportunities for chair-massage work to burn more calories, and beautiful days to take me outside, there is a wider light at the end of the tunnel.

My goal is to make it to the Coach Summit next year, and blow HippieCoach right outta the water.

Kiss Tony on the cheek will you?! Humph!

Have a great weekend all and take time to make someone feel special.

Results are In

So after 20 days of eating clean, and barely exercising, I lost 5 lbs.

SOOOOOOO........

This time through the Challenge, I am starting P90X and am SURE the results will be more dramatic. I have actually taken a tame before picture (which I will put up when I'm good and ready), and will show the results when they are due.

Now.

Eating Clean is hard, at first. Hard to keep track of, hard to afford on a limited income, and makes for many dirty dishes to be washed all the live-long-day. But....I feel like a million dollars on the inside.

I can't effectively explain the symptoms in order for some people to actually understand. Just be assured that the one time I caved in to the Wendy's Spicy Chicken...I felt the FULL effects of a poor nutrition choice. Bad. Baddy. Baddness.

It's safe to say that my Eating Clean Rounds are turning into an Eating Clean lifestyle. And I'm ACTUALLY happy about it.
I'm taking it slow this week with P90X, substituting Plyo for Cardio, Yoga for Stretching. My body is all creaky and twingy from too many months of neglectful trauma.

Next week, however. I"m bringing it again. For myself. Not for my coach, my family, my friends, my enemies.....Just Me.
Thanks to the ever-present and forgiving BeachBody Coach Hope Fato, I feel the future of my health is brighter than ever.

ciao for now
Alicia

Eating Clean Challenge

Beginning March 15th, I will begin the Eating Clean Challenge. For 20 days I will use the first two tiers of Michi's Ladder for nutritional guidance, and will push play a minimum of 5 times per week!!!

While I am not sure I am emotionally prepared for this, I go ahead with the idea for the simple fact that....

It just can't get any worse.

Updates to come.

I'm already hungry.

Buff Coach