2020--The Year of the Pandemic and The Plague

 

2020 was definitely an interesting year. While everyone was hoarding toilet paper, paper towels, and wipes, I was driving to work every day. I was deemed an essential frontline worker because I work for a major online supplier. The best thing about working through the beginning of Covid was no traffic! Seriously, my commute was so easy both going to work and coming home. It was great! Many of the safety procedures my employer put into place are still in place today. My employer also offers free on-site Covid testing. Employees can get tested weekly if they want. It's been really nice. Even now with associates getting vaccinated, they continue to offer free testing. 

Also while the BIG pandemic was going on, we were dealing with a pretty severe plague at my house....bedbugs. Never in my life have I experienced bedbugs. I don't even know with 100% certainty how they got into my house, but my best guess is on one of the used books I ordered. That's the only thing I can think of. I initially went to the doctor because I thought I had an allergic reaction to a new medication, but no, it was bug bites. Let me tell you, it was miserable! 

Do you know what is 100% effective on bedbugs and safe for pets? 90% alcohol. Do you know what was almost impossible to find during the pandemic? Alcohol! We used diatomaceous earth (food grade) under our bed and we found some other stuff on Amazon that we sprinkled on our box springs before we encased it, but we finally found a horse ranch that sold the correct kind of alcohol in a 4-pack, gallon size, so the Handsome Husband and I took a little field trip to purchase it. It was actually a very nice drive. It's great to live so close to horse country! The alcohol was the most effective and quickest treatment. 

Additionally, we were washing our bed linens daily and vacuuming in the den and bedroom daily (the most affected areas). The husband also researched online and found out heat kills the little buggers. We started washing the linens weekly, but tossing in the dryer daily. Do you know how annoying it is to completely make your bed daily?? I'm not talking about pulling the sheets and blanket up, I'm talking wash your bed linens and put the whole bed back together type of making your bed. It's a royal pain, but it's what we had to do to keep the bugs at bay. We put encasements on our box springs and mattress. Hubby taped them with packing tape because the bugs cannot climb on slick surfaces. We had to put our shoes in plastic boxes for storage (I actually had bedbugs in my shoes!) and put all our clothes in plastic bags with zippers or in plastic totes. 

I am happy to report that the plague of bedbugs is over! We are bedbug free, but I still keep spray bottles of alcohol in key places just in case. 

On the health journey front, I lost another 2 pounds this past week, so I'm down 14 pounds from my starting weight.

It's Been Awhile!

 

 

The past 18 months have been exceedingly difficult for me and my family. In November, 2019 my dad's health started to fail and he was in and out of the hospital several times with various issues and a skin infection on his shins due to water retention. We had to move him to a long term care facility because we could not adequately care for him on our own and home health wasn't working either. Eventually, Dad passed away on January 3, 2021. I still don't think I've processed it all. He was the best Daddy I could've ever had.He loved us well and he treasured all his grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

 

 

In February of this year, we had to let our precious Hannah Grace go. One day, she just stopped eating. Not totally uncommon for her, but she didn't want to eat the next day either. Off to the vet where they did tests and x-rays. Her kidneys looked good, but the x-ray showed something in her abdomen. We ended up taking her to the emergency vet where they did a barium x-ray and ultrasound. She was diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma and had many growths on her spleen which were already producing fluid in her abdominal cavity. Mark and I made the very difficult, but most loving decision we could've made. Hannah was only about 6 months old when she came to live with us and we were fortunate to have her for almost 16 years. 

After the stress and chaos of 2020 (I worked during the pandemic and closures) along with these 2 losses, I realized that I needed to take better care of myself because I'm not getting any younger and I want to be able to go on mission trips and do volunteer work for God as I get older. That will be difficult to do if I don't lose weight and get my own health under control!  I talked to a friend of mine who's lost over 50 pounds, but the program she was on was going to cost me $385 a month for food. I'm not a big fan of pre-packaged and processed foods to begin with, not to mention that my budget cannot handle $385 a month. That's like our whole food budget for the month!

Sometime within the last year or so, I ran across DDP Yoga, which is not traditional yoga. It's a combination of yoga, fitness, dynamic resistance, and calisthenics. It was developed by former wrestling champion Diamond Dallas Page (DDP) and is for anyone at any stage of health. There's a series with stretches and exercises done in bed for people who have mobility issues all the way to those who are in excellent condition and want a challenge. Check out the website and read all the inspirational success stories. 

Four weeks ago, I downloaded the app and began my fitness journey. For the first week, I fiddled around with various levels of workouts and finally decided to start with the chair to standing series because while I am very mobile and am on my feet A LOT, my core strength isn't the best and I was very wobbly on many of the stretches and poses. I am so glad I backed down to this level because it's allowed me to gain confidence and some mobility. Yay!

So in the first 3 weeks, this is what I've accomplished:

--Down 10 pounds 

--Changed my diet and eliminated gluten and sweets

--Pain and swelling in my hands is gone

--Mobility and flexibility has increased

--Chronic back pain and hip pain has lessened

--More energy

--I feel better 

I do a Bed Flex workout in the morning before I go to work to wake up and work out tightness in my muscles and then 3 or 4 days a week, I do a regular workout video. My first goal is to lose 50 pounds, but ultimately I want to lose 150 pounds over the next couple of years. I'll be posting about my journey, so stay tuned!