25 Days Of A Slimmer Christmas!

The idea behind this is to get you more aware of what you are eating and how much you are being physically active. I know some people don't want to deprive themselves of a certain food but the idea behind this is figure out some alternatives so that you have variety in your diet. Give it a shot you never know what you might discover. So I figured what better time to really focus on staying on track than at the holidays?

Each day you will have something new that you need to follow whether it be a food restriction, adding more exercise, making healthy substitutions etc. 

I thought of this because I need a jump start to get me back on track and get me through the upcoming holiday season. Then I thought why not include my friends and family and make it a fun challenge with prizes and all! 

So here are the guidelines:

 Challenge will begin at 12am on December 1^st and end at 11:59pm on December 25^th (Christmas day).

 There will be three prizes awarded:

1^st – Most points earned

2^nd – Most weight lost

3^rd – Most creative

I am not telling you which prizes are for what that you'll just have to wait to find out. 

Here are the three prizes: 
- Picnic Gift Basket
- Rest and Relaxation Gift Basket 
(made especially to the winners likes) 
-A one year subscription to The Food Network Magazine. 

So hope those are incentive enough for you!

For the entire challenge you must complete these two things - this is the base and it grows from here.

• Must do at least 30 minutes of physical activity 4 times a week (physical activity could be anything. If you are currently not physically active start small)
• Make a restriction to one unhealthy food that you really like or find that you have been over indulging in daily. Meaning you cut back on the amount or you cut it out of your diet completely for the 25 days.

Here are the daily requirements, some of them continue from that day until the challenge ends so please read carefully:

December 1^st – Drink 6-8 glasses of water for the remainder of the challenge

December 2^nd – Eat a healthy breakfast

December 3^rd – Vegetarian day! Every meal must be vegetarian (get creative trying new proteins)

December 4^th – No fast food for the remainder of the challenge

December 5^th – Eat only 100% whole wheat (ie. Pasta, bread, rice, crackers, etc)

December 6^th – No snacking on things like chips, Doritos, pretzels, etc.

December 7^th – Do 15 Minutes of Guided Meditation

December 8^th – Plan and prepare all your meals for the following day

December 9^th – Add 15 minutes to your physical activity

December 10^th - No candy for the remainder of the challenge

December 11^th – Eat 5 servings of fruits or vegetables

December 12^th – No peanut butter for the remainder of the challenge

December 13^th - Limit your caffeine intake

December 14^th - No ice cream for the remainder of the challenge

December 15^th – Eat fruit with breakfast as well as 1 snack

December 16^th – Get a friend or family member to exercise with you that is not part of the challenge

December 17^th – No chocolate for the remainder of the challenge

December 18^th – Replace your dessert with a piece of fruit or yogurt

December 19^th – Complete one random act of kindness (The more creative the better)

December 20^th – No take out for the remainder of the challenge

December 21^st – Do 20 minutes of guided meditation

December 22^nd – Try a new exercise/class or do something that isn't part of your general routine.

December 23^rd – Eat fish (If you are vegetarian or vegan: Try a new protein or one you don’t eat as often)

December 24^th – Try a new vegetable

December 25^th – Use weights or resistance in your physical activity

Here is how you will earn points throughout the challenge:

-If you complete each of the individual daily requirements you will earn 1 point for each one you do .  

-For all the cumulative requirements you will earn an additional point for each day that you continue to follow that requirement.

-If you complete the required 4 times a week of at least 30 minutes of physical activity you will receive 1 point for each week. (week will be from Saturday to Friday).

-You will earn 2 points per week for your personal restriction.
.

-You will also earn 1 point for each additional day that you add in at least 30 minutes of physical activity above the required 4 times a week. 

Here is how to make sure I know about creativity:

I will be providing you with a log. When you complete each day be sure to add as much detail as possible about what you ate, what your physical activity was, something that helped you accomplish that days tasks. The more you give me and the more creative you are the better!

For weight loss:

This will be on your honor. If you would like to be in this part of the challenge be sure when you email me that you include your starting weight and then at the end you will resubmit with your ending weight.

Now let the fun begin!!

If you would like to participate please email alysadventures@gmail.com with your name (include twitter and blog if applicable) as well as what unhealthy food you are making restrictions too and what the restrictions are. If you would like be part of the weight loss challenge please include your starting weight.

 I need to receive your email ASAP so I can send out the logs to everyone.

Once I receive your email I will be emailing you a confirmation that I received your entry and I will also attach an excel log for the challenge. If you do not receive a confirmation email within 24 hours then please resend your email.
I will also be creating a facebook group as a support system during our challenge so we can keep each other motivated!!
Please use the log each day as you will need to send it back to me when the challenge is over to be eligible for the prizes. Remember, be as creative as you can. See if you can come up with new workouts, try new recipes, etc.

Also it would great if you tweet and FB your daily sucess by using #25daysslimmer

End of challenge:

Between December 26^th until December 30^th please submit your log. Also include notes of things you liked, didn't like etc. If you are part of the weight loss challenge also include your ending weight. I will send out a reminder to submit your log so you don’t miss out as this is a very busy time of year!

I will announce the winners the beginning of January.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Happy Challenge!

Land Of Fruitfullness Part IV

I was supposed to have an appointment at MGH with my doctor. The morning of I got a call saying she was home due to an injury (she was/is ok) and that they needed to change my appointment to a phone appointment. I was actually thrilled about this due to the fact that meant I didn't need to drive all the way into Boston!! 

She called right on time and we chatted. After reviewing all the info that the obstetrician had sent her about his concerns regarding my health and exposure to different chemo drugs she decided that she agreed with him about getting an echocardiogram done before we start any fertility treatments. For those of your who are not familiar with an echocardiogram it is basically an ultrasound of your heart to make sure it it working properly. I was/am not at all concerned about this. I have done numerous races which include triathlons as well as months and month of training involving high impact cardio workouts. So I know if there was a problem I would most likely know by now. But based on some good advice I have been given, I decided it was just another hoop I needed to jump through. 

That spawned my adventure of trying to get not only an appointment but the orders out in for the echo. I called the obstetricians office where they informed me it needed to be ordered through the fertility center and transferred me there. I had wait to the next day to get a call back from them. Where they informed that was not something that was part of their normal protocol that I needed to talk to the obstetrician's office. After much go around about having already talked to them and getting sent back to fertility. They then told me I needed to have my PCP order it at MGH. So that would have involved another lengthy conversation with her office. I was quite frustrated at this point that these two offices couldn't communicate with each other and get it done for me vs. having me go through all this. 

My lymphoma nurse practitioner makes fun of me because I do just about everything  through email. Well in this instance the email succeeded again. I tracked down my OB's email and asked for some help. Despite an awful time I had when I met him he responded quickly and was very pleasant. By the next day they had called with the appointment all setup and ready to go. I was thrilled!!

So I went in for my echo which was very uneventful. The man doing it was extremely nice! I was even more thrilled that this time around I didn't need any contrast to help with the image. He said it was most due to the fact that I had lost so much weight! The only down side is that in order to get a good picture they have to press the ultrasound wand into your body with A LOT of pressure to try and get a good view in between and around your rib cage. I still have spots that are sore.

I haven't gotten the final report yet but based on what the echo tech said everything looked great so hopefully we will see. 

Now I'm just waiting to meet with my fertility doctor and see what she has to say and what the next step is. 

I continue to to play the hurry up and wait game!

Until next time...

Land Of Fruitfullness Part III

I decided that I needed a little time before I wrote this. Yesterday was a rough day and instead of writing out of pure emotion I needed to take the time to process. Despite giving myself the time this post will most likely be informative yet also a venting session at the same time.

I went to Mass General to have a consult with an OB doctor that deals specifically with Medically Complicated & High Risk Pregnancies which once I am pregnant I will apparently be considered due to my history of lymphoma. I was interested in what he had to say mainly because even I don't know the specifics of how my chemo could have affected me. 

Here is my first vent. If you are seeing a new patient it would be nice to take the time to at least glance at my chart before seeing me. It is very disconcerting to sit and watch you read everything and your reactions to it. I lived once already I don't need to relive it every time someone needs to look at my chart.

Anyway we went through my chart talking about the effects having cancer had on my body, what chemo drugs I had, etc. There were only two drugs out of everything I had that he was concerned with. Considering everything I got that was some what reassuring. The first one is Cytoxin, because it is known to have the potential to be very hard on your ovaries. He is going to look into what my total dosage was so he would have a better idea how much that could be a playing piece in this game. The other drug he was concern about is Doxirubison which can have an effect on your heart. So at some point in this I have to have an echo-cardiogram to make sure my heart is strong and isn't showing any signs of weakness.

After hearing this I am not very concerned about my heart. The way I look at it with all the cardio I do I would think if there was an issue with my heart something would have come up by now. So I figure that is just a precaution.

I am more concerned about the cytoxin. Because judging by the issues that I have had which have lead to me going down the fertility path I feel as though there has been some affect on my ovaries but only time will tell. 

My issue with why this was a rough appointment is that I am not a person that lives in a fantasy world. I am fully aware of what this journey could bring and that there is always the possibility to not be able to have children using my own eggs. However while sitting listening to what he had to say I think he was trying to making me understand all the possible outcomes. He told me that the cytoxin could have zapped my ovaries but even with that I would be able to use an egg donor. He told me that people tend to worry that because I had all these toxin drugs in my body the likelihood of them having affected my eggs making them abnormal is not any greater than a "normal" women.  That 90% of miscarriages are caused because the egg has a chromosomal defect. So basically the bodies way of natural selection. These are all things that I feel don't need to be fully addressed until it comes to light they are an issue. You know the whole we'll cross that bridge when we get to it saying that pertains to this very well. As if all this wasn't enough it gets worse...

He proceeded to tell me about how my weight is an issue as well. That being obese can lead to developing diabetes while pregnant, it has a higher rate of miscarriages, and can be attributed to both under weight deliveries and larger weight deliveries. I wish there was some way to have a neon banner that pops up across my chart saying something along the lines that I am active, have lost almost 90lbs and am trying to live a healthy lifestyle. I (not being a shy person when it comes to this) informed him of my already huge weight-loss, my active lifestyle, being a triathlete and trying to eat healthy. to which his only two replies were, well if you are doing triathlons then I would think the doxiruison hasn't affected your heart. His other was that although my current weight-loss is significant I still need to work on lowering it to be closer to the normal range. He looked up what the normal weight for someone my age and height which would involve me losing another 70lbs. So to start with he would like me to lose another 50-70lbs. I think that was the biggest slap in the face. That I have tried so hard and done do much work to get to where I am and it still isn't good enough. I have no idea how I am going to lose that much more weight but I will give it a shot.

So I guess my real issue is that although you need to make sure your patients are informed it also doesn't help to try and address things that are not an apparent issue. All that does is create more stress and worry about things that you can't control or even know about.

However luckily I have my amazing NP from Lymphoma and she is so awesome that she called me after 6pm yesterday to talk to me about what happened. She made me feel A LOT better. I told her about all of the above and she said that although Cytoxin can be hard on the ovaries I only received 3 doses while some people have 6 so that is in my favor. Also that I am the abnormality (I know shocking) when it comes to patients because if he is dealing with high risk based on hypertension or diabetes most likely he has patients that are not very compliant. Where as I am very compliant and try my best to do what I can to be in a better situation. So that he probably works on the side of scaring his patients into compliance. Looking at it from that point of view made it a little more acceptable. So I decided that I will do what I can to work towards what they have told me but I am not going to starve myself to do it. I really can't thank Bri enough for taking the time to call me after an already long day when she easily could have just gone home!

So now I have to look forward to eventually getting an echo-cardiogram. Oh did I mention that when I had this done before I started chemo they had to use IV contrast and forgot to close one of the tubes and spilled my blood all over the floor? Hopefully we can avoid that this time. And I will see what Dr. Souter has to say about the OB's notes/concerns and where we go from here.

After all this the only thing that kept running through head was..."Cancer the gift that keeps on giving!" I am very lucky to have the outcome I did from having such a progressed disease but I guess the saying is right once you have had cancer it will forever affect your life.

Until next time....

Land of Fruitfullness Part II

We went today back to Mass General Fertility Clinic to meet with the Doctor. It was a very good appointment with a positive outlook and everything seems to moving forward.

The results of my HSG were just as the radiologist said, both Fallopian tubes are open with no blockages or abnormalities!! That was very exciting to hear! Lewis's testing came back saying that it seemed artificial insemination was going to be a good route for us to go vs. Invetro at least at first so that was also positive!

The extra good thing about this appointment was that it just so happened to fall on my cycle day 3 which is when they do some hormone testing. I had already had all this done but it was a random sampling because of the spontaneity of my periods. So it was prefect to be able to get a true reading this time.

As it stands right now I have to go see another OB/GYN that deals with High-Risk Pregnancies and Medical Complications so that I can be cleared to proceed. Basically I am going to have to talk about what chemo meds I was on what the potential was for that to have cause a medical complication and I am sure there will be some level of clearance received from my oncologist as well.

Once all that is complete the plan is to hopefully start with my next cycle which is very exciting! I will be giving myself (or most likely Lewis will be doing it) shots of FSH to help the ovulation process. Going in very frequently for ultrasounds and blood work. Once everything looks good  we will go in together. Lewis get's the fun job giving the sample and then I go through the insemination process.

so although this is a much shorter port then the first, this is currently where we are in the fertility process. I am very hopeful that things will go smoothly from here. Although I am aware of what a process this can really be!

Here's to hoping my positive outlook helps us through all this!

I'm Too Sexy For My Hair!

Today reminded me of a very unique and fantastic experience which ironically enough has to do with my hair. I have a fantastic salon; Scizzors in Shrewsbury MA. I have been going there for seven years. I originally found out about them because I worked for Worcester Foothills Theatre Co. and they took care of all the hair needs for our actors/actresses that were in our shows.

I will never forget my first experience going there. You walk in the door and you are greeted with smiles and this overwhelming feeling of warmth. They really are focused on pampering, they take your coat, offer you something to drink (which also includes beer or wine, not just water or coffee). Once you are all set someone comes and brings your over for your shampoo. I have to say that this is one of my favorite things about Scizzors. All the employees are willing to help everyone out. Often it is a different employee washing your hair than your regular stylist. This is great because you get to know more of the staff.

But my absolute favorite thing about the whole experience is their infamous scalp massage. I swear most people would go sooner than they have to just to get that done. As soon as they start you just melt. Then they shampoo/condition your hair and set you up at your station. I have had multiple stylists over the years but they have all been great. Always listened to what I wanted or helped guide me through my hair woes. I would definitely say they have made me a long time customer for good reason.

Aside from their normal customer treatment I also have a very unique story that Scizzors is a huge part of. I am currently a 3 year lymphoma survivor. I was first diagnosed in August 2010. One of the first things my oncologist explained to me was that I was going to lose my hair. This is what I looked like right before my diagnosis...

Notice that my hair was fairly long and STRAIGHT. After my diagnosis and deciding on my treatment options I had my first round of chemo. I decided there was no way I was going to be able to handle my hair falling out if I left it the way it was. I called and made an appointment with Rebecca; my stylist; to have it all cut off. That was exactly three years ago today, August 24th, 2010!

It wasn't until I got there that I told them why I was cutting off my hair. They were 100% supportive about the whole thing. Rebecca even said, "Well even though it's going to fall out I'm going to make you look great until it does." She helped with another huge thing I wanted to do which was donate my hair to locks of love. I figured if it is getting cut off and going to fall out anyway it should go towards a worthy cause. They took care of it all and she was right I left there looking amazing even though it was a huge difference!

I was going through treatment for some time after that and once I stopped it took a very long time (in my world anyway) to even get a little bit of hair back.

This was about 2 months after my last treatment.

It was close to a year before I was back at Scizzors. I was unsure of what to do with my hair at this point. It was real short, fuzzy, wavy, just plain odd. I actually emailed them to find out if they would be willing to do a consult with me just because I had no idea what to do with this new hair of mine but it was still too short to really cut. I was welcomed with open arms. John who is the owner of salon emailed me back and offered for me to come in before they opened or after they closed if I wanted privacy. He explained that they helped other people who had been through chemo so they knew what to expect. I actually went in to see them the very same day. He explained that my hair was two textures and that the soft baby like hair would have to be cut off. Then it would start to grow more and be easier to manage.

That was the beginning of my new hair journey. John and everyone else at Scizzors has been with me every step of the way since. That was 2 years ago and today I am finally at a place where I am ok; maybe even happy with the way my hair is now. It is just about to the length it was before treatment only now it is really CURLY!!! The curl has grown on me, for at least a year and half I hated that it was curly and hoped it would return to the way it was.

John has always been nothing but supportive, informative, and encouraging reminding every time I have come in, "look it's gotten longer!" And "I know you don't even have to say it we're just trimming it." My favorite thing was that John told me the back of your hair grows faster than the top so he always made sure I didn’t develop a mullet. That would have been bad all around! He also knows to blow dry my hair straight, and a great job he does every time including my last visit to Scizzors.

There will be a time soon where I will be ok with or need to do something different to my hair and you better believe it will all be done at Scizzors! I couldn't recommend them any higher than I already do. Take my word for it you will love everything about it! There is good reason they have been in business for 29 years!

But that brings me to the most exciting announcement. My friend Sara and I have joined Team In Training through the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. We will be running the Tufts 10K on Columbus Day but we also need to raise money to do so. John and Scizzors has offered to work with us by having a fundraising event! We are planning it for sometime in September but the idea will a glamor night! Come to the salon, get your hair done, make up done, have some food & drink, partake in some fantastic raffles and help us raise money to hopefully get one step closer to curing blood cancer!! 

As an added bonus if we reach our goal that night I am going to shave my head and donate all my hair yet again! But this time it is my choice to loose all me hair!! So be sure to stay tuned for all the details on when and how to get tickets. In the mean time feel free to share this blog post or my Team In Training page.