Let's Talk Vitamin C

When I started this blog I considered naming it "confessions" or "adventures of an uninsured hypochondriac" because that is exactly what I am. I ultimately decided against it because (luckily-knock on wood) I don't really get sick that often and I thought that filling up a blog with "this freckle looks weird," and "I know I’ve had this supposed gland for years but can you feel it again" stories would prove boring and repetitive. There was also the issue of staying true to character; if I write about seeing a concert under the headline “hypochondriac” and don’t mention any hypochondria, people might get confused.


The reason I am bringing all of this up is that on Memorial Day I came down with a wicked cold. I mean this bug, which went through both of my bosses, the baby, and then the nannies, lasted a good week and a half before being truly gone (assuming that it isn't still inside me waiting to attack again.) If this wasn't enough to spark my concerns that I had something horribly incurable, this was the second cold I had had in a month.


About two days after returning from Washington DC I came down with a cold which by that Friday had advanced into a sinus infection so bad that it was draining from my eyes. SEXY! The doctor-whom I rushed to see that morning because when I swallowed I had a shooting pain from my mouth to my ear- joked that I had brought home an unwanted souvenir and I easily accepted that I had indeed picked something up sleeping on a bus over night. And yes, when the draining from the eyes started I was convinced I had contracted pink eye or some sort of eye disease that would leave me blind but when it subsided after two days, all worry was gone.


The problem was that I was so relieved that I forgot my slight germaphobia and stopped taking vitamin C when the antibiotics ran out, rather then taking it for at least two weeks after all symptoms were gone to rebuild my system. The reasonable part of my brain says that this, and not a horrible autoimmune disease or a recurring sinus infection masking the almost incurable by the time it shows symptoms Sinus Cancer, is the reason I contracted the second illness in May.


I will not make that mistake again. Prevention is the best medicine and constant hand washing and the subway application of hand sanitizer really isn’t enough. Yes they help and I’m not stopping those methods but I will also be taking vitamin C from now on preventively so that I keep my sick time down to the usual 3 times a year. My apologizes to Mucenex since I will not be single handedly be keeping them in business for June the way I did in May. There are a person who doubt vitamins, that’s their right, but for me it works. Maybe it's psychological but either way, it' good enough for me.

The miracle cure that shrinks your thighs

Nope, nope still haven’t found it. You may my blog at the end of March “Operation better Limbs”
( http://lissiedsviewfromhere.blogspot.com/2010/03/operation-better-limbs.html?spref=tw ) where I talked about trying to lose weight in my upper legs. Well it’s been a few weeks so I figured I’d update you on how it’s going and what I have been doing.

TAKE THE STAIRS
They say this is an easy and surefire way to lose fat off of your bottom half. I also remember reading that by taking stairs two at a time that you build muscle in, not only your legs, but also your booty. Now I work on the fifth floor of a building so I decided to substitute the elevator for stairs at the least once going up and once going down. So far, I don’t feel anything but I’ll keep going because it is possible there are new muscles building under all of the fat and I just can’t tell yet.

WALKING BACKWARDS UP HILLS
According to workout gurus by walking backwards (especially on an incline) you engage the quad muscles (front of thigh) and calves to a great extent. These are muscles that don’t get a big workout under normal circumstances so when they do, apparently it can be highly effective. I refuse to do this in Manhattan but I had a week off and have been doing this on walks in my far less congested neighborhood. Like I said, I don’t see any results but I do feel the muscles straining when I do it, so that’s is a plus.

TV WORKOUT
My cable provides workout videos free on demand and there was one specializing in upper thighs. Now it was a Pilates influenced workout and even though I quit my Pilates class after one session in college (my stomach hurt for a week) I decided I’d try it. I could barely walk for three days after 10 minutes. I still hate Pilates!

FIT FLOPS
According to the company claims, “Fit Flop footwear is biomechanically engineered to help tone and tighten your leg muscles while you walk in them.”
I bought them the day after my blog and have been wearing them ever since. So far the only thing that it helped lighten was the weight of my (well technically my mother’s) wallet. However, they aren’t uncomfortable and I love Flip flops so I’ll keep wearing them, who knows maybe they’ll surprise me.

Operation better Limbs

Since March or maybe it was early April 2008 I have lost 30 pounds. Not the most amazing diet in the world but I saw on E! News last night that Valerie Bertinelli's amazing transformation was 40 lbs over 3 years, which averages out to less than the 15 a year that i've done for two years. Take that celebrity trainers and frozen foods.


In all seriousness though Bertinelli, 49, looks a million times better than I do at half her age and the reason for this is my legs. Sure my tummy has been shrinking but my thighs are humongous! Ever single pair of pants I owned got looser and looser in the waistband but the inseams continue to wear out. Apparently the dieting and walking plan that I’ve been following isn't going to burn off that fat.


Aside from being potentially unhealthy, pants are costly. So I’ve decided to set a goal, reduce limb circumference by summer. I'll keep you all updated on what I do and how it works. In the meantime if you have any ideas, share them.
Wish me luck!