The long and winding road to fitness, day 51

Image by Manuel W. via Flickr

I am officially on vacation!!  I really, really love vacations, don’t you?  A vacation gives me time away from the stress of my job, allows me to sleep in a little (and that is usually just until 6 or 6:30), gives me time to accomplish a few things around the house and to run a few errands.  I don’t even care if I do anything special.  I just like to do what I want to do without any set schedule.  And that is exactly what I have for the next few days.  Ahhhh…

Today was our last day of inventory, thank goodness.  It really wasn’t all that bad, but I couldn’t imagine doing inventories for a living…I think it would take a certain type of personality to be able to do that job well…and I’m afraid I don’t have it.  It all ran smoothly, the crew was quick and efficient.  Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed that the numbers are good.  We won’t know the results for several days, probably about the time I come back to work…

I hate to talk about my eating today.  I didn’t have time for breakfast, took an iced coffee to work with me.  Later in the morning, I ate a cinnamon bun from the vending machine (I know, I know..how could I do that?).  Then I bought lunch at Arby’s for one of the girls (that’s you, Susie), Chris and myself…this was the last day I will be working with Susie so I wanted to treat her to lunch.  I ate half a Market Fresh turkey sandwich, half an order of fries, cheese sticks and a cherry turnover…see, I told you I hated to talk about this…my goodness, I haven’t eaten like this in ages.  Now it’s up to me to make sure it’s a long time before I eat this way again.

I’m looking forward to putting in double workouts  for the next several days…get myself back in the habit of daily workouts.  Why is it so easy to slip back into those old behaviors?  At least now I’m aware of what I’m doing, it’s not mindless.  As poor a choice as it was, it was a conscious choice I made to not work out the past couple of days and to eat fast food today.  It may not seem like it to most people, but even that is progress for me. 

Do you ever choose behaviors that you know aren’t in your best interest or that are in conflict with your goals?  How does that make you feel?

Related articles

• Arby’s Coupon: Free Small Curly Fries & Small Drink w/ Purchase (livingrichwithcoupons.com)
• Arby’s Debuts Angus Cool Deli Sandwich (shoppingblog.com)

I’ve had histoplasmosis?

Image via Wikipedia

Who knew?  When I visited my eye doctor, she asked me if I’d ever been diagnosed with histoplasmosis.  I was like, “what?  noooo”…She explained that it’s fairly common in this area (I’m in south central Indiana, but we’re still considered part of the Ohio Valley).   It occurs when we breathe in airborne spores from contaminated ground (gardening is one activity that could put you at potential risk) or from dried bird or bat droppings (I’ve always had bird feeders and bird baths in my yard).  She explained that I have scarring in the outer portions of both eyes, that it isn’t anything to be worried about at this time, that a lot of people have had histoplasmosis and never even knew about it.  It starts as a respiratory disease, but can affect other areas of the body.  She told me that it had affected my eyes, but that there was no indication that it was active in my body now.  She did caution me to call for an immediate appointment if I happened to notice a sudden change in my vision, that the disease can recur and could cause serious issues with my vision.  She said that particular scenario isn’t likely, but she wanted me to understand that there was a possibility and to know what to do if it should occur.

I did some online research and it sounds like it doesn’t cause serious problems for most people who are exposed to it, but that it can be fatal to people with compromised immune systems.  I’ve had respiratory problems in the past, have had pneumonia several times, have had what I thought were colds that I couldn’t seem to shake (that was one of the questions that my eye doctor asked me).  So now I’m writing a list of questions to ask my doctor at my appointment next month.  I don’t want to be a hypochondriac, but I do believe in being proactive with your health. 

I always knew that your eye doctor could tell a lot about a variety of health issues (such as diabetes) with an exam.  But this one surprised me.  I had no idea that this was even something to be concerned about.  I wonder why my old doctor never mentioned that this was a possibility…I hope this new doctor will have some answers for me.

Have you ever heard of/experienced histoplasmosis? 

Related articles

• Ocular Histoplasmosis (findmeacure.com)
• How to Keep Birds Off Windowsills and Rooflines (birdrepellent.wordpress.com)