all women should do this: HALO breast cancer screening

When I went for my yearly checkup at the OBGYN, my practice was offering a new early breast cancer screening. The test is called HALO. From what i have gathered thus far, 95% of breast cancer begins in the milk ducts. This test uses a breast pump that attempts to extract liquid from the breast duct and analyze for breast disease. It can detect abnormalities in cells 7 years before they have a chance to advance into a lesion that can be detected by mammogram, mri, sonogram or self exam.
If you have family history of breast cancer (as i do), your chances of developing breast cancer are doubled or tripled. If both abnormal cells are found in your breast fluid and you have a family history your risk increased 11 times.

Insurance does not yet cover this procedure. It is supposed to be really quick and painless, takes about 5 minutes. Women between the ages of 25-55 should have it done. I think it’s a no brainer, and every woman (age appropriate) should do it. My doctor is charging me $150, a small price to pay for information…I having it done next week, I will share the experience.

here is a video and more info:
HALO video and info

skinny women on long island

why does it feel like everyone on Long Island is skinny? and it’s not the teens or 20somethings…it’s the older generations, 30’s, 40’s 50’s…when i say skinny i mean SKINNY! like size 2. do they eat?

day 4 of 30 day diet experiment

Just a quick update. It’s day four and I feel pretty good. I have been very mindful of everything I put in my mouth. However, i had 2 fresh fruit (no sugar added) organic ice pops, maybe i should have just had one. and i also had rice with dinner (sushi) and maybe i should have avoided that… other than that, i have dropped about 2 lbs…i think my clothing fits just a smidge better… and maybe my face looks a teeny tiny bit thinner…
I have not gone to the gym yet today , planning on going at 12:00 noon

more later
M

guilt free dinner

I can eat sushi pretty much every day.  I don’t seem to “crave” any other cuisine in the same sick way that I crave sushi.  Of course, I think about and long for other types of food but not exactly in the same way I react to sushi.  There is nothing more *exciting* to me than eating sushi.  I am always so absolutely satisfied mentally and physically.  I think i love it so much because there is no guilt connected with eating (or overeating) sushi.  I never feel *stuffed* or uncomfortable.  

Some of my favorites are hamachi, spanish mackeral, ikura, ika and tako, sweet shrimp, white tuna.. i do like a spicy tuna handroll. My local sushi restaurant (which opened up last year, thank God!!) makes a dish that I LOVE… it’s really spectacular and yet so simple.  Thinly slcied pieces of hamachi (yellow tail) fanned out on a plate with thin slivers of red onion and jalepeno peppers in a very light vinegar sauce.  (pictured above)

i think that i might have visited hell

okay, so cudos to those that can endure such a class.  but for me it was a really bad experience.  a few weeks ago, before the gym membership, i decided that i would try bikram yoga!  why not?  i love yoga and this way i can sweat my butt off and lose more weight than with traditional yoga.  right?  wrong.  so wrong for me.  i read all about bikram before i went to my first class and did exactly as i was supposed to.  I hydrated myself days before the class and the morning of.  I skipped breakfast as i was told to do.

i read on the website that a bathing suit or bikini was appropriate to wear because of the amount of sweat. most of the photos i saw online of people doing bikram yoga showed people who were pretty much naked.  being the organized semi-neurotic planner that i am,  i decided that i would stop by the studio and check it out the morning before my class to see what i was in for and to also inquire about attire.  (truthfully i wanted to spy and see if people were wearing bathing suits or what?!) 

everyone was very friendly and welcoming, they explained the class to me and what to expect.  i noticed lots of “fit” looking people come into the studio, everyone wearing pretty normal workout clothing.  i asked about the bathing suit thing, and that got a big laugh.  they thought it was so funny that i might have shown up in a bathing suit.  so then they sold me some very *cool* yoga pants ($80.00) and a mat…

the next morning, i woke and had a cup of hot water with a little lemon instead of the usual coffee, and then  some more water…and off to class i went.  i plopped my mat down and stretched out waiting for class to begin… finally! i’m feeling kind of cozy in the warm room and i’m thinking… “i can do this!”  after, i don’t know, 10 minutes or so, i am really thirsty so i reach for my water, but i am quickly informed by the instructor that i should “please wait”, she likes to give scheduled “water breaks”…so i put my water bottle down.  I wanted to get the most out of the class and do the right thing.

it was definitely getting hot and i could sort of feel like my balance and endurance were both failing slightly. up to this point i had participated and made every attempt to do each pose. 60 minutes into the class, my head started to THROB. the instructor must have noticed that i was uncomfortable because she tossed me a package of an electrolyte mix to add to my water.  at this point i was afriad that i might actually throw up!  holy crap..so i laid down on my mat.  she came over and rubbed my temples and encouraged me to keep drinking…i did.  then i got up and left the room to cool off.  i sat down on the bench outside class in the cool air for a minute or two and then i threw up.  my headache grew more and more intense and i felt like i could barely drive.  i waited a few minutes and then went back to get my mat out of the classroom while everyone else was still hangin in!!!  how the hell were they doing it??!  90 minutes!  simply brutal!  i was sick in bed all day vomiting.  guess it’s not meant for me

 

 

 

first visit with my fitness trainer

i went to bed last night feeling a bit anxious about this new committment that I have made. i started to second guess myself and wondered if i could really keep up with this VERY NEW lifestyle. i finally went to sleep, it was after 12:00 and for me that is very very late.

when morning broke, anxiety was gone and i went to the gym. there is something so soothing about the morning sun that makes me feel renewed and joyful. i met with my new trainer, she preformed a fitness evaluation on me. my BP, endurance, strength and flexibility were all in the “good” range. by BMI was 24.7 which falls within normal. she weighed me: 137…my first training session will be Monday June 2.

so after our evaluation i decided to get on the treadmill and run. i ran 23 minutes, actually a combo walking and running and probably more walking than running. then i went on the elliptical machine for 8 minutes. i did sweat and my heart-rate was up to about 155…was that enough? i figure – 30 or so minutes in the beginning can’t be too bad…? (i forgot to wear my heart monitor)

breakfast

lunch

Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
Confucius
 

can i get skinny in 30 days?

ok so today i did something huge…i purchased a ridiculously expensive gym membership at a swanky fru fru gym with the hope that I can drop 20 lbs…i spend so much of my time bitching and complaining about how fat I feel… i am hoping that the additional pressure of this financial obligation will help me get my fat ass to the gym…(ok my ass is not ALL that fat..but it’s fatter than i would like…)  I also recognize that I am not grossly overweight, and I mean NOT to offend anyone who might be struggling with their weight,  no matter how much you have to lose it’s hard.  and i am thankful that i do not have that much to lose, but number one:  it’s not healthy to be 20 lbs overweight and let’s face it, it’s not so pretty.  i REALLY want to feel better about my body. i will have to put a bathing suit on in 30 days…and i want to see if i can do this. i can sometimes get too comfy and lazy and blow off committments  that might require too much activity…(wow, i sound like such a slacker)

here is my deal…I will blog daily about what I have eaten and how much I have worked out.  I will keep track of my weight loss. I hope to accomplish getting to the ym 5 days a week, 3 days a week with a trainer and 2 days in a class or treadmill…  (omg, sounds insane!)

i purchased a heart monitor becuase I have a slight heart arythmia (not really a big deal, I have only had one episode in my life of SVT or tachycardia and it was not induced by exercise (and that was years ago when I was a big time smoker)

and i also purchased one gym outfit and headphones…

today: i walked/ran on treadmill for about 28 minutes at 3.7 mph with a slight incline..me heart rate was up to about 137

starting weight: 139 5’4″ size 8/10

here is what I ate:

bfast:                           low fat greek yogurt,
                                   1/2 pint blueberries,
                                   1/4 cup hi-fiber cereal and 1 tsp honey

lunch:                          warldorf salad minus the bacon with grilled chicken
                                    and only a tiny bit of blue cheese…
                                    and very little dressing
 
snack:                          fresh apricot, carrots, raspberries

dinner:                         grilled chicken shish kebab, with grilled veggies
                                   non-fat red lentil soup, salad (oil and vinegar)

 

 

 

my cookie of the week…

i made a new chocolate cookie recipe, they came out great – quite tasty – not crunchy more on the chewy/soft side – and very pretty to look at. (and easy…)

i wanted to try a few more cookie recipes today but we had friends coming over for a bbq so I did not get around to it. i am planning on staying home tomorrow and planting the rest of my veggie garden and maybe baking some more…i found this chocolate cookie recipe on marthastewart.com i highly recommend it… i am thinking about playing around with it and adding some orange zest and brown sugar…

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.

Henry David Thoreau

visit to the pork store

i have a serious obsession with food. this has pretty much been a constant throughout my life. i sort of blame AND thank my parents for this. i grew up in an italian household where you were commended for eating. the more you could handle the happier it made my parents. and let me just say that i made my parents very happy. i was lucky and never had to worry about my weight, i have always been small, two children later i am about 20 lbs more than I would like… and i so desperately want to lose it, but my goodness it has been a tough road. i love to eat, i love to shop for food, look at food, talk about it, cook it, experiment with it, grow it, photograph it…food is my weakness.

i stopped by my local italian pork store today to pick up cold cuts for my family for lunch. there is something about just walking into that place that takes me back to my childhood. i used to go with my dad every sunday after church to pick up whatever my mom needed for sunday dinner…usually bread, sausage, chopped meat for meatballs… and whatever we saw that appealed to us. my dad would pick me up and let me look through the glass window to watch them form fresh balls of mozzarella.

now i am all grown up, i have my own local pork store that i go to and everytime i walk in i think of my dad. and i guess in some sort of celebration and out of respect for my dad i always order something for him…so today, in addition to various coldcuts, i came out with a freshly baked loaf of semolina, caponata, fresh warm mozzarella, imported provolone, a new yummy looking olive oil that i drizzled all over my sloppy sandwich…

I have decided that i cannot diet and that i NEED to implement some type of exercise…i know, i’m bad, i don’t exercise…i strongly dislike it…maybe i just have not found the right exercise?
i do however like yoga, but have yet to find a class i like since our move to long island (6 years ago)
i did try hot yoga! omg, another blog! that sucked.
i am really going to try to make an effort to exercise daily and lose 10 lbs, ok there you have it…

she forgot my feet

 my very first blog entry… so I got a spray tan today and the “spray tanner” sort of neglected my feet.  I didn’t really notice until a few hours after.  I guess it’s better than a previous spray tan when I forgot I had the rubber sandals on and she sprayed right over them leaving me with a very obvious thick band across the top of my feet.   I happen to actually enjoy the result of a freshly sprayed tan, it always perks me up a bit, like a great blow out.  i do not however love standing there, arms up legs apart totally naked in a white pair of disposable underwear, and a matching white paper hair bonnet.   i get to stare at myself in the appropriately placed mirror opposite me.  this was my first time with this particular “spray tanner”  she was very meticulous I must say, she had me move my body and appendages in all kinds of positions as not to over/under spray any hidden crevasses, she also had me bend over (that was the first time) so that I would not get those weird white marks under my butt cheeks.  fun fun fun.