No more itchy nose!

Mmmm I have no idea how much calories I took in today.  I had a cereal bar for breakfast again, and a drink. I got subway for lunch, and a tea and some beef jerky for a snack at work, then I ate BBQ chicken and a pasta salad for dinner, and roasted probably 3 marshmallows for a fun desert with my neighbors. So I probably had way too many calories, but today I kind of don't care...

Warning: Now I talk about noses and nose-fluids.

This isn't what mine looks like, but isn't that lovely? Hard to imagine it's for your nose.

I bought a neti pot at the store today. lol. I'd never heard of such a thing until yesterday when I mentioned washing my nose because it was so itchy, and someone asked if I meant I'd used a neti pot.  It's like a watering can/tea kettle sort of thing, but the spout goes in one nostril to pour in water, you tilt your head sideways and the water will run through your sinuses and out the other nostril.  Yeah, I know, ew, because boogers and also because isn't that just weird? And yeah, it's weird, but let me tell you it's freaking awesome.

If you're considering getting one, but are a little unsure, I recommend that you try it. I get terrible ear infections, so all those passages in my head are weird, and trust me I'm super skittish about water going up my nose or in my ears or what have you, to the point where I'm nearly phobic of swimming now. But in all seriousness, it's really just straightforward and simple and it made my damn nose stop itching and actually cleared up both nostrils to boot!!!

This one is mine. Brand: SinuSense. Available at Walmart next to the nasal spray.

It's weird mostly because you can feel the water go in your nose, and it's a little cool (temperature-wise) and for me it keeps somehow coming out into the back of my mouth, so I can feel the cool water on the roof of my mouth and that's also weird. If I manage to tilt my head the right way, the water finishes the trip around and comes out the other side, which is pretty COOL as in neat. I don't know if it's because my neti pot has a slow drip, or if my sinuses are bad, but if you google it you'll see people with a solid stream of water coming out, and I haven't gotten that yet. But even so, it's a freaking relief from the itch-itch-itching, even if I have to do it again a few hours later. It really helps if my meds don't work so great. And it's supposed to help clear things up when you get a cold, etc, so that'll be awesome, don'tcha think?!

One other thing I was worried about was would I feel like I was drowning, or would I inhale the water?  It is a little weird, but I totally was not close to accidentally inhaling the water (at least not yet, but I was pretty bad at my technique). The weird part for me was feeling the water go over the top of my mouth and down the back, but it's no different than when you get that yucky runny nose and you sniffle and the mucus goes into your mouth. Ew, yeah, but you can spit it out, or even swallow it, but you won't drown.

So my fears are put to rest. I just need to make sure that I figure out how to get a better flow going, experiment with how I hold my head and stuff. I'm probably using it wrong or something, cause I google image search for those neti pot images, and see people with freaking rivers pouring out their noses and I'm kind of jealous in the weirdest way. LOL.

Good day, I think, June 8th

It was surprisingly hard to find a really pretty picture of people walking. But this picture is REALLY pretty, so it's worth it.

ooOIndreOoo @ deviantart

I chased a little 3 year old all around the parking lot today to keep an eye on her. She's adorable, but a handful. I watched my neighbors get into a fight. One of them is an alcoholic who gets drunk and gets behind the wheel. He deserved whatever he got, which wasn't much - the drunk swung first and the other guy mostly held him down. The police never showed up, 'cause that's where I live. Nobody got hurt, anyway.

My friend came over to visit. We brought up the idea of moving in to an apartment together and splitting the rent. I'm still nervous... about LIFE. I'm so afraid about everything. And the rain came, with lots of thunder. It didn't stay long, though.

I had a couple cereal bars for breakfast, and lots of flavored water. I woke up late, so that was more around noon time. For dinner I had a small pepperoni pizza. Really nervous about how many calories that was. Then I slept for like 6 hours because I was tired, and now it's midnight and I'm awake again. Haha. I like being able to keep odd hours. I nibbled on some pinches of sunflower seeds, and I've got a nectarine beside me that is so ripe it starts smooshing when I try to hold it in my hand. I was tempted to crack open a soda, but I made another flavored water instead. I will endeavor to only have more fruit if I feel hungry, and perhaps drink some tea in a bit. Or the coffee I forgot all about until just this second.

P.S. My nose itches so bad from allergies! My eyes, too. It's really, really annoying.

Daily Plan Jan 13th - Success!

GOOD MORNING, LOVELY
Message for today: Remember to have confidence in yourself. It is okay to ignore what other people say, even though they don't mean to hurt you.

GOALS FOR TODAY
Stay close to 1,500 cals or UNDER.
Hop on elliptical for at least two songs.
Pack a low-cal lunch.
Have a good day at work.

MORNING FOOD
Coffee --------------------200 cals
(how about I start actually measuring how much sugar I put in?)
Cereal --------------------180 cals
Vitamins ---------------------0 cals
Subtotal -------------------380 cals

LUNCH FOOD
Rice lunch -----------------300 cals
Sparkling water --------------0 cals
Subtotal -------------------300 cals

DINNER FOOD
Chili! :D -------------------400 cals? No idea!

TODAY'S END STATS:
Weight: 257.2  ---- Difference from yesterday: +0.8
Total cals: 1080 ---- Difference from goal: 420 to spare!

I don't know how accurate my calorie count is... I tried to really estimate ABOVE, however, so hopefully if it's inaccurate, it's because it's less than I think?  Yes, I need to start being more accurate even if it means physically measuring my portions. lol  However, I am going to consider this day A GREAT SUCCESS!  AWESOME WORK, DAE.  THIS IS PROOF THAT YOU CAN MEET YOUR GOALS.

Good Day! + Elliptical

Today I managed to keep within my 1,432 calorie goal.  Unfortunately my success was because I worked a shift that went through lunch, so I missed out on that.  Since I don't like missing meals, nor do I plan to make a habit of it, I will have to take a moment to write down a bunch of low-calorie but fulfilling snack ideas and meal ideas so that I can have my meals and eat them, too.  I even treated myself to some ice cream tonight because I was so well under my goal.

Dinners are the hardest things to manage right now.  I live with two other people, so dinner is a choice that everyone has to decide on. Rarely is it ever an individual selection, but tonight it was.  I baked some chicken, and then I was delighted to discover that a 1/2 cup of canned sliced carrots was only 30 calories, so I was able to eat them all to have a filling meal.

I've been searching for a small and affordable elliptical machine.  After a lot of online shopping and reading reviews, I decided on the surprisingly small Stamina InMotion E1000 Elliptical.  At about $90 it's a very low price for a new elliptical machine. Other full size machines were being priced for hundreds to thousands of dollars.  Better yet, this little guy is a lot lighter (though it's still a hefty 24 lbs), smaller, and yet stronger.  Even though it seems petite, the weight limit is said to be 250 lbs, whereas other full machines can be a lot less than that.  You can also use the machine while sitting down, which could be a plus, and it still comes with a digital screen for data like how many calories you've burned in a work out.

This machine should come in within a week for me, so I'm very pleased.  I plan on coupling this with some light weights eventually.  More details to be figured out when it arrives and I get to work with it.

Overall, a very pleasing day!