ISO Love My New Isobag!

L and me have been talking about taking our lunches to work.  I have always been a lunch taker but in the months before my surgery I was carrying several bags to get all of my food to work which got old really quick and L was carrying a small cooler that could barely fit anything.  Needless to say the whole lunch thing went by the wayside and we both became fast food junkies very quick.  

Another problem I have is having zero time to eat at work.  Business has picked up tremendously and time is very precious so the days of me "making" my lunch at work are long gone.  Since I'm going back in a little over a week I need a plan of action so the healthy eating habits I am establishing aren't lost.

Thus began the Google search for what the pros use to carry around the right kinds of eats and we found the Isobag from Isolator Fitness!  It looks small but it can fit so much food!  I can fit my shaker bottle in the side, my supplements in the top zipper part, and it comes with trays that fit in the middle that are BPA free and leak proof!  I haven't had a chance to test out how cold the food stays (that's my goal for next week) which will really make me know if this was a good purchase or not but for the price and all the room it's already worth it.  I do have a refrigerator at work so its not like I can't take out the trays and put them in there.

Let the healthy snacks and lunches commence! One less thing to stress out about going back to work. ;)

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One Decent Picture

Let me tell you a little something about the love of my life.  He is the most NON photogenic person I have ever met in my entire life.  Sure we all have our gross pics but there is usually at least one where you go, "Ok, that doesn't look too bad!"  Not my man!  Him and the camera are the furthest from BFF's.  I wouldn't say enemies but L just goofs off WAY too much.

Take for instance this little gem from my moms birthday party in June of this year.

I'll be the first to admit that this isn't the best picture of me either but really L? Really?!  We had only been married a few months too.  Pictures like this seriously make you wonder if you made the right decision! LOL (SO kidding...)  

He purposely tries to sabotage every picture he is in and usually succeeds until my dad snapped this sweet picture at my sisters cowboy-themed birthday party this past Saturday. 

Not bad at all even though he still looks like its hard for him not to make a crazy face.  LOL  I love this man so much!  xoxo

I am still hurting pretty bad but I am getting more up and around which is really helping my sanity.  I feel so sorry for the people that have to be bedridden for long periods of time.  I did push myself a bit going to the party on Saturday and on Sunday L and me celebrated 6 months so we went out for a bit and it wiped me out.  The past few days have been rough and now I think I might be coming down with a cold! Oh joy!  

I'm keeping myself busy with a new Bible study, my new Everest app, and doing little things here and there around the house.  It's still nowhere where I want it to be but every little bit helps right?

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Ever Heard of Everest?

I'll admit that I am an app junkie.  I don't keep a ton of them but I try out pretty much everything that piques my interest.  We had a birthday party on Saturday and didn't get home until after 2am so L and me slept in yesterday and when we woke up we were both on our phones.  I had a few updates so I was in the App store and one of the featured app this week was on called Everest.  After reading the bio it was downloaded and I have been hooked ever since!

This is a screen shot of my main page.  What you do is you have one main goal and that is your "Everest" then you can have other goals which are your "Dreams".  Here are my dreams so far...

There is a community within the app too that lets you see what other people's goals are and you can even select which ones inspire you.  I am happy to say that I've already inspired 5 people!  That makes me so happy. :)

If you haven't checked out the Everest app you should!  If you search "Everest goals" you should find it.  As you can see my Everest right now is "Eating Healthier" and I have already taken several steps including finding a nutrition program that works for me and I started logging again in MyFitnessPal!  Search "Christi Flores" and I will pop right up (my pic is a gorgeous sunrise I took a few months ago) and I would love for you to add me!

Even if you choose not to download the app I'd love to hear what your goals are for this week in the comments. :)

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I've Been Lucky

There is one thing that I wake up thankful for every single day.  I am proud to say that as of this moment I have not lost a close family member.  I've had great grandparents that have passed which was hard and one of my cousins died in an accident when he was four but it was before I was born.  Right now I still have all my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, nephews, etc.  I have a feeling that very soon this is going to change.

My dad texted me earlier and told me that my Granny had another stroke.  This will make her 8th stroke of the year, one major and 7 minor.

Why is she having so many strokes?  Because my grandmother has never taken care of herself.  She's smoked since she was 15 years old, never worked out a day in her life, has never eaten healthy, and the only movement she ever did was cooking and when she needed to get up to go to the bathroom or change the channel on the television set.  She is basically killing herself.

Sadly my grandmother and me have never been close though I wish we were.  I think I'm so much like her in a lot of ways that it annoys her for some reason.  She always calls me a "smart a**" and usually gets frustrated when I don't agree with her about something.  She lives a few hours away so we only see each other at holidays but the last few times I've seen her she's not that spit fire I've always loved.  It's like the woman I've always known is disappearing and she is becoming a shell of who she once was. I know my grandmother loves me.  I've only heard her tell me a few times but its one of those unspoken things.

Photo: Zazzle

Seeing her go through this deterioration this past year has made me realize a few things.

#1  It's important to take care of yourself

The whole family used to smoke back in the day but over the past 30+ years everyone has quit with the exception of my grandmother.  She truly loves to smoke.  Period.  We all have told her to quite but she doesn't want to.  She has pretty much given it up slowly this past year but the damage has already been done.  I see what she's going through and know I don't want to be that person.  I want to be in my early 70's and still being up and active like my mom's parents are.

#2  We all have a time limit

I am horrible about not keeping in touch with people.  I tend to let the busyness of my life keep me from things that truly matter.  Times like this are a perfect reminder to keep your priorities straight and remember that no one and nothing is going to last forever.  It's important to make the time to be with the ones you love.

#3  I will always have the memories 

I have so many fond memories of my grandmother.  Oreo cookies and Dimetapp cured any and all ailments.  Pepsi (which I hate) was the only soda my grandparents ever kept in the house.  Memories of weekends at the lake house in Lake Whitney, backyard barbecues, and talks with my grandmother about books or forensic shows (she's a reader and a huge forensic fanatic like me).  Her taking me clothes shopping for no reason and making me feel special.  Just thinking about it all makes me tear up.

No matter if she passes soon or if its years away I will always love her and will always feel lucky I've had all my grandparents this long.

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I Feel Super! HD Style

Not really feeling too super BUT I am excited to share my newest supplement. :)  

I woke up this morning feeling like I was hit by a bus.  I honestly didn't think the pain was going to last this long but it is still here.  I did push a little more than I probably should have yesterday but you have no idea how tired I am of being down.

Before my surgery this little sweetie was on my doorstep just begging to be tested.  

Photo: Amazon

First off, I'd like to thank Cellucor for coming out with a powder form!  L is a big weenie when it comes to taking pills and some of the supplements in the fit world are pretty big so when HD came out with a powder form it was immediately ordered and on its way.  By the time it showed up on my doorstep I was in prep mode for the surgery which meant no supplements or medication of any kind.  Boo!  I've been waiting until I felt a bit better to give it a shot and since today I feel horrible I thought this might pep me up a bit.

We ordered the peach mango and since I haven't been on supplements in awhile I only put half a scoop in 24oz of water (I'm also trying to get back to my gallon of water a day) and have been slowly sipping on it for the past few minutes.  The taste is wonderful and I am already starting to feel a bit of a pep.  Mission accomplished! :)

I give this a product a big thumbs up and cannot wait to test it out on a workout day.  November 15th cannot get here quick enough for real. 

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Surgery & Recovery

The Surgery

My mother-in-law flew in Thursday to be with L and me and I am so thankful that she was here.  Thursday night I spent the evening with my wonderful mom buying me comfy pj's and then stopping at my sisters house to meet her newest addition to the family, their new puppy, Sheldon.  I am so glad my mom dragged me out because it didn't give me any time to worry about the surgery, which up until this time I had been doing.  

I got a few hours of sleep and at 4:45am I was in the shower.  My mind was surprisingly calm the entire morning.  We got to the hospital at 5:30am and I was prepped and ready to roll by 6am.  In the back of my mind I was sort of hoping my pregnancy test would come back positive and I could put off this surgery but it came back negative and at 7:00am it was go time.  

I told the anesthesiologist my fears about being put under and how the two times I had been under they had a hard time getting me to wake up.  He was the chief anesthesiologist and assured me that I was going to be fine.  I stayed calm as they wheeled me back to the room and only remember the room being very white and very cold.  

I don't really even remember dropping off but when I woke there was no one around.  I tried to call out but my throat burned so all that came out was a gurgled moan.  The nurse rushed over and announced, "She's awake!"  By her tone I could tell it had taken awhile for me to come out of anesthesia.  I later found out it took four hours for me to come out and even the doctor was becoming quite concerned and had tried several things to get me awake and praise the Lord the last thing worked.  L was a wreck by the time they let him come back to see me.  I could tell by his face that he had been worried.  His eyes were teary and he kissed my forehead.  It was a sweet moment.

Recovery

I was released that afternoon about 2pm and that whole afternoon is a pain pill haze.  Thank goodness my doctor gave me the good stuff because I don't think I could've made that car ride home without a little help. 

Let me just say that I have been in pain for years.  I've learned to deal with it as best as I can so I can say that my pain tolerance is pretty high but good gosh does this hurt!

I've had several visitors and my mom gave me a beautiful card and an angel playing the flute (I used to play once upon a time.  Still love that instrument!) which makes me smile every time I look at it.  We have one of those beds that is adjustable and also vibrates and that has been a God send!  I raise it when I need to eat and can raise or lower it when I get uncomfortable. 

I had my one week check up on Thursday afternoon and the doc said I am healing nicely and walking better than most post-surgery patients.  What he doesn't know was I was pushing myself hard core and cried when I got in the car so full recovery is still a ways away.

Emotionally I still haven't dealt with everything.  I did have a full hysterectomy so I was put on hormones which L is thankful for because the hot flashes and mood swings are in full force.  We will most likely have to adjust my dosage but at this point something is better than nothing.

I will say that I am SO envious of everyone that can still work out.  I will not be able to again until mid-November which seems like forever away.  My eating has been awful with people coming over with fast food to help me out and the scale said I have gained 5lbs since I stopped exercising.  :(  I do feel very discouraged and bawled to L yesterday that I feel like such a failure but I know this is all happening for a reason.  I won't be able to finish the Flavialicious challenge which is a major bummer but I'm sure she will have another one and by that time I will be ready and nothing will stop me!

Until then I rest which surprisingly is one of the hardest things to do. ;) 

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