Training Progress Update

I am sad to say that I officially didn’t start my training until March 11th, not the 4th, like I had originally planned (the day I bought the shoes). And in those 2 weeks, I have only completed the first 2 days of the Couch to 5K Training.


The main positive thing is that I have at least started. I have the shoes, I have done runs, and I have officially signed up for the 5K! And although I haven’t been doing the runs on the program, I have at least been taking 2 separate 10-15 minute breaks during the work day (one before and one after lunch) to do some speed walking in my office basement. It’s air conditioned and there’s usually no one else down there. So at least I get some exercise, and I earn a Point each time. Plus, it breaks up sitting down at a desk all day. And if I have an hour lunch, I walk for the last 20-30 minutes of it.

So it’s not all bad - I am raising my heart rate 2-3 times a day by speed-walking around for 10 minutes (sometimes I add an exercise to lunch, if I am done eating). And I burn around 50-60 calories each time. I’ve been wearing my running shoes when I do that, so I can get used to being in them, and hopefully my leg and feet muscles get used to them as well. (Plus, walking in my work shoes could really kill me!!) I can usually get my heart rate up from about 90 to around 120-130 during the quick walks, and I can feel the onset of sweating, without actually doing so. I would feel disgusting after lunch if I ran or did an actual workout, so with these walks, I at least get some benefit to it.

I have had a few slip-ups– I do great during the day at work, because I have to structure my eating and walking around my work schedule. I can’t just sit and gorge out on food for an hour if I have a half hour lunch, for example, or overeat if I only brought 2 items in for lunch. And then when I get home, I have a fridge, freezer and cabinets of temptation and possibilities.

But, overall, I’m eating better and exercising more than I was 2 weeks ago, so I can’t be discouraged. I’m doing something, and that’s better than nothing.

Good news update:

- I weighed myself on the morning of the 11th, then the 18th, and again this morning, and even though I haven’t really stuck to the running program, I’m down about 6 lbs from my first weigh in!! I would say being down 2-3 isn’t a big deal because sometimes you can fluxuate that much in a day! But being down 6 means that I’ve lost about 2-3 lbs a week with just diet (even with the cheating!) – imagine what getting back into exercise regularly will do!!!

- Zach and I recently went on a 2 ½ hour hike the first weekend of my training, and I ended up “earning” 8 Weight Watchers activity points! That’s huge!!! That’s like a breakfast or lunch amount of points! We celebrated after at a brewery, but I kept myself to 1 beer, and 2 small chicken BBQ sliders (and perhaps some chips with homemade salsa). But I felt good about it!

- During the hike with Zach, he made a comment to the effect of “I am looking forward to climbing a ton of 14ers with you this summer”. This is very encouraging to me, because he wants to do more active things with me, and that he is planning on taking me on several of those climbs. So I have more motivation to get into and stay in shape!

So, all in all, it’s been an emotional up and down week with all the times I “cheated”, but since I mostly stuck to the program and I’ve seen a little progress, I’m excited to finally buckle down and do it for real and see a BIG improvement!

I follow a trainer on Facebook, and she always posts the best motivational pictures, and I really loved this one (helped me keep somewhat on track last week) -

Honestly...

Honestly...

I haven't run yet.  It's been a week since I got my new shoes, and while I've worn them around the house and out and about, I haven't done any actual running.

I also haven't been eating as well as I'd like.  I do great during the day, and then I get home from work, and it all goes out the window.  (Most likely because I'm at work so I don't have access to as much food as I do at home.)  And then today, I've already had a large coffee with probably too much creamer, and a bagel with cream cheese!  The bagel alone was 10 Weight Watchers Points Plus!!!!  Why didn't I just eat half?? I know better!!

Finally, I was planning on signing up for my 5K on Friday because it was PayDay - and I haven't signed up for it yet.  The deadline to sign up before the price increases is this coming Friday, so I'm ok there, but I'm still waiting to do my budget for the month before I actually sign up.

I am VERY disappointed in myself.  I am showing no self-discipline or self control in any of the areas I really need to - weight, money and training for my 5K.

So tonight - No more excuses.

First thing, I will start my running program.  Then, I will eat a 7 pt or less dinner (because sadly that's all I will have left at this point in the day without going into my extra points for the week).  Finally, I will sit down with my laptop, do my budget and sign up for that 5K.

It's time to make myself be a grown-up.  I don't think I've really been this mad at myself in a long time.

Back in Shape!!

I’ve seriously been thinking about getting back to running – I’m definitely out of shape, and back where I weighed before I did Weight Watchers around 2010. I lost 22 pounds on the program, and I felt and looked much better than I do now. I could blame it on breaking up with a terrible ex-boyfriend and meeting a new guy and putting on the new relationship pounds over the past 2-3 years. But, I’ve always heard that there’s nothing to blame but myself. I knew I liked how I looked and felt about myself and how clothes fit me, and I just stopped.

I do remember how I did at least like having something to do when I had to do a “run” on the Couch to 5K program. Or every time I read an article on Dean Karnazes, I think “I wish I really had that desire to run; people who do it all the time seem to really love it, and I want to have that”. And every time Zach goes ski mountaineering, or skiing, or climbs a 14er, I think “wow I’m just really lazy. I don’t have anything like that. I want something like that”.

And running, I can do. I've done it before, and I’m still proud of it. So why not do it again?

Not that my life isn’t going well with a great boyfriend, a place to live, and a new job, but I really feel like I need something to make me feel good about myself again. Everyone seems to have their “thing”… And I don’t have one. Not to mention, my last home was in a flat neighborhood – so why didn’t I run there? And even though my apartment complex is in a very hilly neighborhood, they have a workout room with treadmills – why haven’t I run there? And, my new job even has a gym with treadmills – I should run there!!

“Color Me Rad” is a run coming up in June that during the 5K, at different points of the race, the runners are pelted with brightly colored powder. It’s very similar to The Color Run which is a race I’ve always wanted to do. I really would like to do it with someone though, or at least have someone there to cheer me on! Zach doesn’t run, and I don’t really know anyone who runs just yet, so I just have to think about it. Plus, I really should be more active and it would be fun to do outdoor activities with him, so it would help me get into shape for climbing some 13ers and 14ers this summer! Which, surprisingly, I’m really looking forward to.

So I posted a request on a friend’s Facebook page to see if she wanted to do the “Color Me Rad” run with me. She was actually the person who initially inspired me to start running – I was doing the employee newsletter, and she had just finished her first marathon! She replied to my post, and instead invited me to do a Glow Run with her at the end of April! That’s barely 2 months away, which seems like a while, but I haven’t done ANY kind of jogging or running since October 2011, so that’s going to be a lot of training. But she is an extremely positive and motivational person, and isn’t taking any of my excuses!

Plus, I got really excited with the exchange I had with her on Facebook, and the Glow Run looks like a lot of fun…and I ran an errand at lunch so now I REALLY have no excuses!!

The only thing left to do is sign up for the run online (before the deadline increases the price!!). And then consider doing the “Color Me Rad” race in June. The first deadline is next Friday, but knowing how long it takes me to make decisions, I won’t make it. And it only goes up $5… so we’ll see.

I am also seriously considering going back on Weight Watchers. It felt really good last time to lose that weight, I already know it works, and I already know it’s going to take 2-3 months to really see some weight loss, and maybe 1 month to start seeing clothes fitting differently. This week I’m giving myself a trial run back on the program, to get back into the rhythm of things. Also, I want to see how it will go with having a new boyfriend, explaining it to him, and especially watching what I’m eating now that we eat out a lot more than I used to. I’m not so open that I would post a before picture just yet – I’d really like to see where the running and eating better get me, and I can post a before and after side by side, so you can really see the difference.

Update

I'll probably give a full weekend update tomorrow (once I have a chance to remember it all!) but I wanted to document that as of my self weigh-in last Wednesday, I was down 2.8 lbs!!

So I can do it. I can be smart about food. I just realized - it's hard to think about what you eat. Why can't all the Sonic food and the junky stuff just be enough for me??? Oh well, making some good progress so far... yay!!!

Back on the wagon...

For Weight Watchers, that is.

And I must say, it seems so much harder this time!!

In the 4 ½ months since I finished my 13-week session, I’ve gained back approximately 5 pounds. It isn’t the end of the world, and I can still fit into the clothes I could back then, but I’m just disappointed. Plus, when I finished back in May, I was only 5 lbs from my goal weight, and now I’m at 10 lbs away.

I don’t know if it’s the meetings that make the difference or not, but I’m not going to be attending them this time, but I did on my last time on the program. Granted, I only started it up again last week, but it seems so much harder this time already.

I know all about the point system, how many to start with, how to get extra, what foods are good and filling and which are not, etc. I know exactly what I should be doing, and yet I’m finding it really hard to stay within my points for the day. I can’t remember if it was this hard the first week for me last time or not, because that was back in January. But I lost 5 lbs that first week!!

I just seem to be finding myself having a 7 or 8 point lunch or dinner, and then feel good about only a 1 or 2 point snack and then boom – it’s 7:30 pm, I’m starving and I’m already close to or over my allotted points for the day. I know that there are 35 flex points for the entire week, but I don’t want to keep dipping into them each day and then halfway through my week, they’re gone. It just seems that what I ate the first go-around filled me up more then than they do now, which is weird.

I am getting some daily exercise, in the form of taking Bailey to the dog park. I walk to the park, spend about 30-40 minutes there, and walk back, totaling about 45 minutes round trip on average. It’s low intensity, so I don’t earn as many activity points, but it’s hard to go and “haul-ass” around the park with a dog that likes to stop and smell and run off, and stop and play, etc. Plus, it’s also a great mental break for me, because I love dogs (especially Bailey), and it makes me happy to see him enjoying himself and being silly. So I go for a nice leisurely walk – better than sitting on the couch all night. And then he gets exercise too – maybe even more than me!!

I’m just a little frustrated with myself this time around. I do need to give myself some slack though, as it is still in the first week of this for me, and I should allow myself some time to re-adjust back to eating well and controlling portions. As long as I keep up with that and work hard at it, and continue to exercise, I can see this working for me again. I didn’t even do any exercise last time, so I’m hoping that gives me a slight advantage the second time around.

Another milestone!

My blogger let me know I've already used this heading. But I don't care - I have some good news!

In preparation for moving in 2 weeks, I've started rummaging through boxes and seeing what I want to keep and what I can get rid of before moving. So I found a huge box that I probably haven't looked at since I moved in because it was my "no-fit" box...

I took out a few of my favorite things from way back when to wash and then ... see what happens.

I just tried them on and about half of them fit!!!! It's an amazing feeling - it's like I got some nice additions to my wardrobe for free! I can't wait to go to work and wear these items and get asked "Is that new?" just so I can respond - "Nope!" Yay!!!

Still alive!

I'm still here! I've been extremely busy at work as we approach our busiest season, and each night when I come home, I just love to crash. But, here's a little update on my life currently:

1). Justin and I were approved to rent an awesome townhome right across the street from the local HUGE dog park!! So not only is the place really nice with a lot of space, but I can take Bailey to the dog park everyday, getting both him and me some great excercise!! And come June 7th, I have no excuse! I'm really excited about it!!

2) Justin's new job is going really well, and I really like the people he works with. He's spending a lot of time at work, and working really hard, and he's having a great time. It's so great to see him so happy! And he'll be on his first business trip for them the last week in May - they're sending him to Kansas City for a full week of training; pretty intense!

3) My parents leave this month for a 2 week cruise around Italy and Greece (jealous much?!?!?!?). They're sending Cody (the puppy) to a dog-sitter who works at their vet's office, so I only have to watch Baxter! They're doing that for 2 reasons: they know my schedule won't allow me to be home during the day and Cody is still in the stage where he needs to go out several times a day, and they also know that the three dogs with just me will be really stressful after a while. But Baxter is a great, easy dog and it's easy to have both of them at either the apartment or the house.

And, the best news is, the 2nd week of the dogsitting is when Justin is on his business trip, so I will stay at the house the entire week, and minus the dogs chasing each other a few times, it will be so quiet!! I can't wait!!

4) No news on the weight loss front, unfortunately - but I have less than 5 lbs to go to get to my goal weight, and if I just started walking more, I should have that off in no time! The best news is that I'm at least maintaining, and I haven't had any gains.

So thanks for checking in! I hope to be back on here soon with some pictures of what's been happening!!

Quick Update

So I realize my posts have been getting few and far between, and not really full of substance, but I like to think it's also a way for me to look back and see my own progress. So maybe these past few posts have been just for me, but someone could be reading them ... who knows. I will try to bring "good" posts back!!

We had another weigh in last week and I'm now at 22 lbs lost!! I only have about 10 more to go before I reach my goal weight. I can say that I'm very proud about my B.M.I. and how much I've reduced it in just 3 months!! (B.M.I. - Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women.)

When I first weighed myself on my Wii Fit Board, my B.M.I. was over 25. Now, as of this morning, my B.M.I. has reached just over 21. YAY!! I went from being in the overweight range to the normal range - and once I reach my goal weight, I will be at exactly the B.M.I. I should be! I'm finally glad to see results and that I'm making progress - I can do this!!

No news on the Weight Watchers front - I'm not gaining, but I'm not losing anymore. I just hate exercise!!!

However, I'm still being a good eater, and now my new favorite thing to do is to look at menus ahead of time! I know that sounds weird, but I'm the "take-30-minutes-to-look-at-every-item-and-drive-my-guest-nuts" kind of restaurant order-er. It's very exciting for me to now have 3-4 options when I got out and have my #1 choice ready, and then BOOM it's good!!

Makes me a nerd, but it makes me "me".

So, at least I'm maintaining!!

Another milestone!

We had another weigh in this week, and I finally hit a HUGE milestone - I finally lost this many pounds ...

WOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO!!!! I don't want to toot my own horn, but I am very proud of myself. I am proud that I've finally stuck with something, and very happy that I've seen results. I'm also proud that I haven't seen a little progress and then stopped. I'm just very excited! I now have less than 10 pounds to go before I reach my goal weight!!!

Weight Watchers update

This will be a short blog but I wanted to share some victories!

• At my weigh-in last week, I was 1.4 lbs down!
  
• I was able to take Wednesday off this week because my sister was in town, and when I was getting dressed that morning - I fit into an old pair of jeans from my "skinny stack"!!
  
• I am only 3 lbs away from reaching my 20 lb mark!
  
• Exercise - Wednesday at the zoo, we walked for 4 hours, then later I was at the dog park for 45 minutes. I'd definitely say I put some miles on my sneakers that day. Then, I went to the dog park today for an hour! I'm feeling good!

Lack of motivation

I’ve decided that while I’m still struggling with motivation to work out, that I can at least mentally work out. I have a large stack of books that I have been clinging to, in hopes that I will read through them. While I never read them, I continue to add to the list whenever an interesting book comes along.

A while back, I made a plan to alternate a fictional book with a non-fiction book with the idea that I would get through them faster by not focusing on one genre and feeling bogged down. That plan may have worked – if I had picked up 1 book to begin in the first place.

I just prefer after being at work all day to come home and unwind or “veg out” from the day by hanging out on the couch and playing with Bailey. But…I also do chores, like laundry, the dishes, cook dinner, etc. So when I’m done with what I NEED to do, I’m even more tired than before and am just not motivated to do what I WANT to do – read a book, exercise, scrapbook, etc.

But last week in my Weight Watchers meeting, we discussed being “empowered” and doing something you didn’t think you could do or have been putting off for a while and the feeling you get after you’ve finally accomplished that task. My goal before the next meeting was to scrapbook, and I did a page on Sunday while at my mom’s house!! It was just one page, and I still have many more pictures piled up to do, but it did still feel pretty good.

So my goal for this week (From tonight until Saturday) is to spend at least 30 minutes a night doing something I WANT to do. I want to feel like I can accomplish carving out 30 minutes to do something for ME. And it can be any of the tasks mentioned earlier – I just want to get into that habit. Then maybe I could make one night a week a particular task and then it will become a part of my life. But – if I can make it through at least 30 minutes a night, I can finally believe in the fact that I can really do whatever I put my mind to.

*Disclaimer: While I realize the last sentence of that last paragraph is the world’s oldest (and maybe cheesiest) adage, I think finally at 26 I’m realizing what that could really mean for me.

Plateau

While I did lose more weight last week at my weigh in on Thursday, I must say, I don't feel I've been doing good the past few days. I haven't been a terrible eater, and I've been sticking to my points, but I don't feel like I'm losing anymore. I think I've hit my plateau.

This Saturday I went with my mom to go clothes shopping because some of my pants are starting to fit pretty loose. Now, technically, it's loose in my legs. It still fits pretty well around my waist. My stupid weight loss is coming off everywhere but my stupid belly!! It's very frustrating because that's the one and only part of my body that practically got me to start Weight Watchers. So unfortunately, for me, shopping was very depressing. I found myself coming to tears many times in the dressing room because the pants were all still fitting me the same as they did 2 months ago. So even though I've hit the 15 lb mark, I still felt a little upset at myself for not going down a pants size or two.

I understand that it' s about being healthy and not about dropping sizes, but it's hard for me to stay so positive when I'm still wearing the same stinkin' pants.

But...

In 6 weeks, I am already 15 lbs down. And that's progress. I recognize that it works and I am going to continue to folow the program. And granted, that's all without me working out. I occasionally do Pilates and I've done my workout DVD once...but that's pretty much it. I know I need to work out to continue my progress, and trim down my stupid belly that I hate so much - but working out is hard for me. Eating better = simple. Working out = hard.

So maybe it's a physical plateau, but it could be a mental one too. Just got to keep pushing!!

Whew...that felt good. Sorry for venting!

What's a birthday like on Weight Watchers?

Birthday flowers from my co-workers!! Nice surprise...

I am proud to say that while today was my birthday, I had a very good food day!!

I had a Weight Watchers bar (2 pts) for breakfast. It wasn't a problem, because I wasn't really hungry. It's getting under control - woo hoooo!!!!!!!!

Then for lunch, I had to have a Smart Ones Weight Watchers meal because I had to take my car in for a new battery. (I know - great birthday). That was only 5 points, and actually filled me up more than I expected! I also had about a 20 oz bottle of water with a Crystal Light packet, and that probably could have helped control the hunger.

Every time someone has a birthday at work, we have a "birthday party" for them. I put that in quotes because it's more like a 30 minute "come-and-go" type event, where you sit around a table and awkwardly get asked about your birthday plans with people you barely talk to while they make small talk with each other. But...my boss made a homemade tirimisu from a recipe I found, and it was very yummy - and only 4 points per slice!

Finally, dinner was a BBQ Chicken Pizza (SUUUUUPER YUMMY!) which was 6 points a slice. I had 14 left for the day, so I helped myself to a Birthday 2-slices with 2 left over, and salad on the side with about 1 point for the dressing. I wasn't even planning on having dessert, just because that's my downfall, so I try to avoid it. But my mom surprised me - the BEST surprise of the day....

Weight Watchers 2 point ice cream!!! It was so perfect, because I haven't had ice cream in FOREVER (again, I would have just gone nuts and blown my progres), AND I only had 1 points left for the day!! (I would have used an extra point). It was an extremely thoughtful gesture from my mom, since I hadn't even requested a dessert. She just knew I would love it!

And...here's the kicker - - I only had HALF! Seriously, I took a few bites and then *boom* - that's enough. I wasn't really hungry, and I didn't want to finish it. So I stopped. I am so proud of myself! And what's even better is that I only ate about 1 points worth - so I didn't have to use an extra point.

So all in all - I can do this!! I'm very proud of myself for sticking with this progam for this long, and I am already seeing results. I haven't done anything for this long, so this says something to me. I will keep going and look forward to only seeing more good things happen!

Accountability

I will admit...I haven't been very good. I haven't taken the stairs one day this week. I'm just in a rush in the mornings and the stairs take too long. Then at the end of the day, I can't wait to just get home and relax. But...I still have that goal to work out 3 times by next week, so I know I can do that. In fact, after I finish dinner, I'm going to do some Pilates.

What's for dinner you ask? Salmon with homemade "marinade" with cilantro. And a side of cous cous with some yummy veggies. Smells goooood...

And coming soon - a new blog layout and header! And yes, I will make my own header!

I hate stairs

I'm just not a stair walker. Especially 4 flights. I must say, it's hard. There's always goals for next week!

Oopsie

I will be honest and say that I didn't take the stairs up or down at work today. But to be fair, I totally and completely forgot. So I will try harder tomorrow!!

On an up note: I went to Panera Bread today and got an entire meal for ...

ZERO POINTS!!

Oh yea that's right. In my quest to be "good" at a potentially high point restaurant, I was too good. Then I had to make up for it with snacks and dinner. Oops.

So, for those of you who are wondering, I had:

Salad: (their "Classic" handtossed salad)
- field greens and romaine lettuce
- tomatoes
- cucumbers
- onions
- balsamic vinaigrette

Soup: Garden Vegetable, Low fat and vegetarian
- tomatoes
- zucchini
- yellow beans
- chard
- cauliflower
- bell peppers
- pearled barley
- tomato broth
- pesto

Quick Update

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged, hasn’t it? Part of it is due to the fact that I discovered this wonderful website – Veoh.com where you can either watch tv shows or movies online, or download them and watch them later! (Which is great because then you don’t need an internet connection to view them if you download them to your computer!) And part of it is that I’ve been spending almost the last week watching my parent’s dog Baxter, while they’re on vacation! I’ve spent most of the time at the house with Baxter and my dog Bailey and they’re a handful!

And I guess another reason why I haven’t blogged so much is because of this Weight Watchers thing. I spend a lot of time tracking points and foods, which will ultimately pay off in the end because once I know the points, I know them – I only have to find out once. It’s just all this legwork early on that’s tiring. But it’s working – I’ve lost some weight and hopefully will lose a little more.

Goals for this week:
- Continue tracking points
- Lose at least 2 pounds
- Try to eat more fruit
- To not “cheat” and check on my weight before Thursday’s meeting

I need to post more pictures. I’m sure people see my wordy entries and think “maybe I’ll check back later”. I do tend to ramble, so I get that. I like to think that the more pictures I post the easier it is for people to read it. So since I still haven’t replaced my camera cord (since Bailey destroyed it) but my parents let me use their computer, here’s a visual recap of the last few days:

I had a "I need a BIG Starbucks morning".
Taught my first "official class" last week - Word for Beginners

Reached my first Weight Watchers milestone - my first 5 pounds!
My co-worker Kearstin was on Wheel of Fortune!
We made homemade parfaits at work on Friday for our weekly meeting - YUMMY! (Darn those granolas - they were 7 or 8 points!)
It snowed a few times - the dogs love to go out and "eat" the snow.

Home-cookin!

The past few weeks have been really interesting with a lot of home cooking going on! I've been doing really well with cooking Weight Watchers meals and sticking to the idea of smaller portions. The funny thing is - I haven't had my first meeting yet, so I don't know how many points a day I'm supposed to have, but I still feel good about the meals I'm making and eating. I feel like I can do this!!

So here's a peak into the meals I've been having...very yummy!

Chicken and shrimp stir fry...

Justin is cutting up garlic in this photo for another stir fry recipe that we tried...

This is the first "official" WW meal I made, a chicken wrap...so good I made it twice!

Found a great chicken casserole recipe. We ended up having it for lunch the next 2 days!

I don't really like how I look in this one, but I'm on the way to looking better and feeling better about myself! I'm making a side dish of broccoli to a WW meal my mom made and I reheated.

Justin wanted stir fry again, so since it wasn't a WW recepie, I made sure to give myself a small bowl and small portion, and shockingly enough for me - I was full! This is great!

Then tonight, I made a chicken cous cous with veggies salad, and a side of broccoli. It turned out really well! And there was enough left over that I can have it as a small snack tomorrow if I'm hungry.

Whew. Those were some good meals! The healthy stuff can be expensive...so I may have to do a WW meal only once or twice a week and just be smart with the "regular" stuff. But I'm feelin' good!

Weight Watchers update

I am glad to report that even though we have not had our first official weigh-in or meeting, since the informational meeting last Thursday, I have been making and eating Weight Watchers food all week!! And the best news is - - I've already lost a few pounds! (Weight Watchers rule - never say how much you've lost or how much you weigh, but just say that you've either lost or gained).

Now, it's hard for me to tell if it's just because weight tends to fluxuate day by day, so this could be a normal weight loss/gain for me, but if it is an official lost, then I'm very siked!!

We have our first official meeting next Thursday, where we get weighed in for the first time and set our goal weight. We also find out what our allotted points are for the day. So since I don't know what that number is yet, for me at least, I've just been picking out recepies that sound good and it seems to be working. So yay for me!

On a sad note, I've been waking up the past few days with a weird sore-throat thing, and then today, it started really bothering me and making my head feel "fuzzy". It's hard to explain, and I don't have a fever, but I left work early today to recooperate. I've felt fine for a while, but a few minutes ago, it all kinda got worse again. Who knows...I don't ever really get sick enough to get a fever. I'm the "half-way" sick person, who gets all the symptoms and then they all go away before fully manifesting. Normal people don't want to get sick, but I'm ok with getting a sick day once in a while - why not?