My first acupuncture experience

Today's post is going to be rather choppy, because I'm watching The Mentalist with my super hot boyfriend while I type this.  Note:  I find it fun to refer to him as my "super hot boyfriend" or simply "boyfriend".  It's amusing to say and makes him laugh too.  Oh, and I also like to tell him that I think he's "super delicious".  Does anyone else find that Tmobile commercial to be hilarious?!?!  Check out the YouTube Video:


Rockstar Seven Mile Run!

Thursday morning Caitlin and I met for our 7 mile run.  We split a pack of Powerbar Gel Blasts (raspberry is not as delicious as the strawberry banana).  We both had a lot of energy for the whole run, which made me a believer in those gel blasts.  We finished our 7 miles in 1 hour and 20 minutes.  I can't believe we have already made it up to 7!  I am so excited!!!  We are going to force ourselves not to increase our long distance run next week, so that we keep ourselves free from injury.

New Lunch Treats

I was not paying attention the last time I went grocery shopping, and I purchased Dannon greek yogurt.  So far, I like this brands consistency the most.  I think Chobani has better options for flavors, but the Dannon was less chunky. 

What I also tried this week was egg salad made with plain fat free yogurt (I did not use greek yogurt in this case).  I had read about using yogurt instead of mayonnaise, and I thought that was brilliant!  I am not a fan of mayonnaise, but I do like egg salad.  I used one whole egg and two egg whites.  Then I added some dijon mustard, plain yogurt, salt, pepper, and paprika.  Delicious! 


Acupuncture Experience

Yesterday I had my first acupuncture treatment in hopes of curing my tinnitus.  I would like to start by telling you all that I am a major wuss when it comes to pain.  I hate getting shots and will jump around and yell, "Wait, wait, wait, I'm not ready!"  It's pretty pathetic.  For this reason, I was getting more and more nervous as my appointment time approached.  I made myself my favorite green monster smoothie to make me happy.

My appointment was at a school for Eastern Medicine.  When I arrived at my appointment I was excited but nervous.  The student doctor (I apologize; I'm not sure of the exact title) who helped me was really very wonderful.  He asked me lots of different questions, and analyzed my tongue and read my pulses (there are 12 different pulses, if I remember correctly).  I mentioned that I have been having really crazy dreams, the kind where you wake up and think, "WTF?"  He mentioned that balancing my chi with acupuncture will help me sleep better.

The student doctor made me feel at ease and explained everything that he was doing.  He answered all of my questions (I had a lot), explained different aspects of Eastern medicine, and was patient with me when I said, "wait, wait I'm not ready yet!"  I went into the appointment with an open mind, and I made sure to ask questions and try to really understand what was going on.  I won't lie, some of it was a little confusing since I am not used to hearing much about Eastern medicine, but several times it reminded me of things I learned in yoga class. 

The anticipation of pain was the worst part.  I could feel the needle going in, and then after a couple seconds I forgot it was there.  Occasionally there was a little discomfort, but I mentioned it, he gently moved the needle, and I felt fine.  There was only one spot that hurt, but the amusing part is that it did not hurt until after the needle was removed.  I literally said, "that needle in my right foot is stinging" and he said, "I already removed that one."  Weird. 

I had needles placed in each hand in the spot between my index finger and thumb.  There were also some in my foot near the inner ankle area.  These four places are known as the Four Gates (if I remember correctly) and can be thought of as opening the windows and doors in your home to allow wind to travel through.  Only for the body, it allows your chi to flow.  According to Eastern medicine, tinnitus is linked to kidney imbalance, so needles were placed along the meridian that is linked to the kidneys (Forgive me if I am not accurately describing this, but this is what I remember... if there are any experts out there, please feel free to correct me).  There were a couple needles around my feet/ankles, on each leg between my foot and knee and just above the knee, on the top of my head, between my eyebrows where the "third eye" is said to be located, and a few around my right ear (the ear with the ringing). 

As he was inserting the needles, I made a point not to look at them.  First, I was supposed to be breathing deeply and relaxing, and second I was afraid I would freak out.  When he started to remove them, I asked if he would tell me before removing one of the last needles that I could see.  I wanted to look at it, but only right before it came out.  He sat me up and I got to see the needles in my legs.  I asked if I could take a picture for my blog, and he said yes, so I have some pictures to share with you.

Is my tinnitus cured?  Not yet.  I didn't notice much of a change in my ear ringing during while the needles were in, but I did feel warming and sometimes even slightly numbing sensations in the rest of my body.  After the needles were removed, he gave me a neck/head massage that I do think helped a bit.  I was told that since my tinnitus came on suddenly and only approximately a month ago, that hopefully only a few treatments should show an improvement.  I think I may go back next week to try it again, and I hope I can get the same student doctor.

My hand was shaking, which is why it is a little blurry.

Do you see the needles by my feet?

Jessica's Birthday

Right after acupuncture, I had to run home and get changed to go out to dinner.  We were celebrating Chris's sister's 24th birthday.  His sister is also a Jessica Lynn (only I spell my middle name with an "e" at the end: Lynne).  We went to Kobe steakhouse and ate delicious food!  We got a few pictures before we left.

Chris and Jess

Chris and Jes

Jay and Jess

Fabulous Friday

I was pretty tired when I woke up this morning, since I did not get up until late.  Caitlin and I did a 0.6 mile warm up then for the next mile did random intervals.  We would pick a point and sprint to it, then walk to another point, and repeat.  We had planned to jog the last 0.4 miles to make a total of 2 miles, but instead we walked.  We both were tired.  I have not done interval training in quite a while, so I was excited to do them, but also got tired pretty quick.  Next time I think we will alter our approach. 

Tonight Chris and I went out to dinner at California Pizza Kitchen.  We refer to it as CPK, but I have to admit that the first time he mentioned CPK I thought, "cabbage patch kid?"  I had a slide of pepperoni pizza and some hummus with greek salad and pita.  The sugar free peach tea is delicious!

Starfish Story and Operation Beautiful


Caitlin@THP mentioned in her blog about the critics of Operation Beautiful say " the act is too small to have any real impact on body image."  While I immediately disagreed, it reminded me of a story that I read years ago.  This story really spoke to me then, and I will never forget it.  I wanted to share it with you all, because I think it has a great message.  According to one of many websites I found while Googling the story, it is paraphrased from "The Star Thrower" by Loren Eiseley, 1907 - 1977.

While walking along a beach, an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer, he noticed that the figure was that of a young man, picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water.
He came closer still and called out, "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"
The young man paused, looked up, and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."
The old man smiled, and said, "I must ask, then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
To this, the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in, they'll die."
Upon hearing this, the elderly observer commented, "But, young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"
The young man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked up another starfish, threw it into the back into the ocean past the breaking waves and said, "It made a difference for that one."

 I hope this story touches you as much as it did me.  Making a difference in even one life is still making a difference.

I had to get my oil changed on my car this week, and while I was at the dealership I put an Operation Beautiful note in the woman's restroom.  I hope that it made someone's day.

Well my show just ended, and I need to do my ab work-out before going to bed.  I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!