Health Expert breejoy2 shares health management news and commentary at HealthCentral.com. HealthCentral.com is one of the top health destinations on the Web, with more than 35 condition-specific, wellness and general health Web properties. http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/330514/index http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/330514/rss self application/xml en-us 15 120 19 http://www.healthcentral.com/images/hc_logo_sm.gif http://www.healthcentral.com/profiles/c/330514/index http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/159456/plowing-plateaus Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:43:00 -0500 breejoy2 February is over, and I couldn’t be more pleased with how the month ended. With two challenges ahead of me (the Molly’s “Wearing O’ the Green 5K to benefit wounded veterans, and the 30 days/30 minutes hula hoop challenge), I have had plenty to keep me busy, focused, and motivated. And I’ve been really on point with my diet. I’m pretty much back to no alcohol (one glass of wine here and there, but that’s... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/159456/plowing-plateaus http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158904/wrapping Tue, 05 Feb 2013 15:23:00 -0500 breejoy2 Well my friends, we have officially reached the end of January. My month of abstinence will be over tomorrow, and I as I write this, I’m sitting with a delicate mix of emotions. Physically, I feel really good. I got through the detox phase (headaches, breast pain, and more!) of eliminating gluten, cow’s dairy, processed sugar and alcohol about halfway through the month, so I’m feeling better everyday. My energy levels are... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158904/wrapping http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158800/overcoming Tue, 29 Jan 2013 12:22:00 -0500 breejoy2 Week four of my 2013 health journey has proven to be the most difficult one yet. Early in the week, I was well into an intense workout when the unthinkable happened. I was doing one of my “Sandy” crossfit workouts which included four rounds of alternating 10 box jumps and quarter mile sprints, when I once again missed the box on the way up. If you recall, this happened to me more than a year ago, and put me out of commission for a... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158800/overcoming http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158645/slip-slide Thu, 24 Jan 2013 10:30:00 -0500 breejoy2 I’m nearing the end of the third week into my healthy new lifestyle. Although I’m continuing to improve in many areas, I’ve found myself in a few difficult situations this week regarding my commitment to the diet. A few nights ago, I had a major slip when I was upset and went just bonkers on my boyfriend’s junk food collection. Up until that night, I had been feeling generally positive and even. But it didn’t take... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158645/slip-slide http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158486/exceeding Tue, 22 Jan 2013 10:12:00 -0500 breejoy2 My first gluten/dairy/sugar/booze-free girls’ night went off without a hitch this past Thursday evening. Three of my close friends arrived at my house around6:30, and we got to work right away on the pizzas; or rather, Danielle and I did. She and I are on very similar diets, and I was happy for her camaraderie so I didn’t feel like I was the only one “depriving” myself. Candace and Karen sipped on a delicious smelling... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158486/exceeding http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158375/starting Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:14:00 -0500 breejoy2 I’m nearly finished with my first week of 2013, and can I just say, I feel fantastic. Whooooooohoooooo!!! Ok, now that I got that very necessary little tidbit out of the way, I can continue. So those little changes I committed to must really be setting in and taking a hold already. I can feel it in my core. I think I was right to choose to do things that I already know have worked for me, rather than trying some crazy new routine.... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158375/starting http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158265/2012 Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:42:00 -0500 breejoy2 On New Years Eve, I was browsing around on my facebook page, looking at all of my posts, pictures and comments from 2012. Lots to see. When I scrolled to December 31st, 2011, I almost started shaking when I read the post, written exactly one year ago. It said: “Life is uncertain but beautiful, and looking at it knowing that anything negative will one day be something you learned from and that light and goodness will once again fill your... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/158265/2012 http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/155989/groove Sun, 16 Sep 2012 22:23:00 -0400 breejoy2 Since moving into my new home, I haven’t taken full advantage of living so close to the bike trail because the weather has been hot and horrible. I have attempted a few runs here and there and walked my dog of course, but it wasn’t until this past week that I really got into the groove and actually started enjoying the trail. The weather here has been simply gorgeous; mid-seventies, very little humidity and no rain. On Tuesday, I got... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/155989/groove http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/154737/workout Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:05:00 -0400 breejoy2 The weather cooled off this week, hooray! And when I say cooled off, I mean it dropped nearly forty degrees. Yes, I did say forty. This time last week we hit 104 (which felt like the seventh circle of hell with the heat index), so everyone was doing a happy dance on Friday when the thermometer read sixty-six. You would have thought it was the first day of spring. People were out and about, walking their dogs on Main Street and sitting outside on... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/154737/workout http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/154585/running Mon, 16 Jul 2012 21:36:00 -0400 breejoy2 After the horrible storm at the end of June, I felt ready to get back on track with better eating and more exercise. My first workout actually happened when I hauled all the food I had stored all over the county when my power went out. I took bags of food from four different locations, up and down stairs, into coolers, into my car, and back to my house to the fridge and freezer. It was exhausting--and certainly a workout--but I was ready to... http://www.healthcentral.com/diet-exercise/c/330514/154585/running