Gettin' the skinny on the lab rat

First things first...must share this recipe:

Muscle Truffles/Bites

I used equal parts of raisins and cranberries (3/4 cup each), 2 cups of old fashioned oats, 1/4 cup shaved almonds, 1/4 cup granola. Of course, you add a cup of honey, a cup of PB, and a cup of Muscle Gain Chocolate Protein Powder.

Awoke this morning before the rooster crowed so that I could make it to Vandy for a research study that I volunteered for a few weeks ago. In fact, this is the same one that my girls had completed a couple of weeks ago with my buddy, DeWayne. I slid into the research center by 7am just in time to get busy with the testing. The only preparation for the procedure was to have nothing to eat or drink after midnight. To most folks and even to myself, this is not that big of a deal. However, today seemed like forever from 5a-7a as I was getting ready since that meant NO SPARK and NO MEAL REPLACEMENT DRINK. Ugh! Good habits are hard to break :)

Upon arrival, DeWayne took my vital signs and asked me a few questions before getting started on the EndoPAT testing. What is EndoPAT testing you ask?...Here goes: The EndoPAT is an diagnostic tool that gives doctors and patients a bit of insight into the functioning of the endothelim (thin layer of smooth cells that line the walls of the blood vessels all throughout the body) and overall heart health. I learned that even the patient of normal weight doesn't necessarily correlate with good heart health based on the EndoPAT test results. DeWayne and the sonographer couldn't give me actual results given that it is a study but they did tell me that I looked pretty good with the numbers that were gathered.

During the EndoPAT testing, I had to lay very still for about 15-20 minutes while a BP cuff was squeezing the snot out of my left arm. Even with my fingers going numb and my arm feeling heavy from my elbow to my wrist, I still fell asleep during the 15 minutes that I relaxed in the hospital bed with the lights dimmed and outside noises minimized. Sleep deprivation is a beautiful thing when you get to take a power nap as soon as you show up to work and still get paid $50 for being a participant.

After the EndoPAT testing, DeWayne stuck me for a few tubes of blood and then sent me on my way with a bagged continental breakfast. I do have to add that he is an amazing phlebotomist! 1 stick and he was a success story in the making :).

Once I made it to the clinic, I jumped on the scales for Week 4 of the Biggest Loser Challenge. I lost a bit over 2 pounds this week by that scale. :) I like to report the home scale results as the official number since I weigh with an empty bladder and minimally dressed (or naked) each Wednesday. This week is really only 0.8 less than the last post of 179.8 on May 30. June 6 was 180.0 so I had crept up a little bit but working my way down now.

After the workday, I decided to take the long way home and happened into the nail salon. Pedi for me, thank you. I do have to say that it feels good to see all 10 nails intact this year. I am not crazy enough to think that I have pretty toes but at least they are not chipped and are well manicured today. Ready to run! I think it's true that you run better when your feet are pampered :) Even Instagram can't make these toes look pretty..hehehe

Well, guessing I better hit the hay before the sun rises to start Thursday. I would like to get out of bed to run in the morning so sweet dreams.

Your little taste of goodness for tonight...
My girl chased down a rabbit in the yard tonight. We have a full size bunny that we call Peter. Wondering if this may be one of Peter's babies. Picture perfect moment:

Convergint Day

This post has absolutely nothing to do with weight loss, exercise,  or eating right. But if your looking for your mind to be fed and your heart to be stuffed full of love,  then I encourage you to continue reading.

My family (minus our boy) spent last Friday serving others through volunteer work in our community. 

My sweetheart works for a company named Convergint Technologies. This North American company specializes in "security integration" which is a fancy term to define a group of folks that work with security cameras, card access systems, fire alarms, etc. Dating back to the inception of the company over a decade ago, one of the dynamic opportunities that is offered is that the owners of the company encourage each employee including management to spend at least 1 day of the year giving back to the community. They chose this past Friday, June 7th as the day to shut down operations of the entire company so that any and all could participate. 

We started our morning at the Churches of Christ Disaster Relief Center. Watching the group pack boxes of canned goods (vienna sausages to be exact) and buckets of cleaning supplies was delightful. We all worked as a strong team and managed to pack over 2,700 cans (900 boxes) of viennas and 72 cleaning buckets.



The Cleaning Team



The Bucket



The Sausage Crew

After the morning work was finished, we made our way back to the office to enjoy pizza before heading out to the next opportunity. Katie (my baby girl) agreed to pose with her silly mom so here ya' go...

Following our lunch break, we made our way to East Nashville to serve at Loaves and Fishes.

After spending a couple of hours there loving on people and handing out loads of food products, one could not help but feel thankful for opportunities to serve like this one. I helped at the bread and pastry station. No pressure there...hahaha! Those amazing looking cakes and donuts didn't tempt me but the fresh garlic bread was smelling up the place nice with the baking sun. Oh goodness, there is nothing harder to pass up for me!  In talking with one of the organizers from the Catholic Charities Refugees Services (Becky), she mentioned a book that I might really appreciate after Friday's experience. Same Kind of Different As Me will be on my TO READ list :) Another really neat thing that Becky shared with me during our conversation was that she sees need in a whole new light after serving in the community. She said, "Alcoholism and drug addiction is the branch, not the root." How very true that is! That makes total sense when you think that you have "cured" the problem like addiction but you really need to get to the root of why the addiction started.



Our girls



More little helpers


All walks of life came through the lines to gather bags upon bags and boxes of groceries that were provided by Second Harvest Food Bank. Come to find out, these folks start standing in lineas early as 8am on the 1st Friday of every month in hopes of getting first pick of the goods as the gates open at 1pm.

  



One of our shoppers...balanced it all on her head as she left the gate headed back home




Breaktime...just wanted a banana



Thankful Mom

 So this gnarly crew stopped to pose after the day spent serving others in our community. From standing on concrete floors in the wharehouse to standing in the sun and pop-up rain in East Nashville, the day was filled with opportunities to get frustrated and tired. The best part is that no one complained about the circumstances as we were able to watch the smiling faces pass through the line and out the back gate headed to their homes...or back to the streets.

I can't express in words how grateful I am to have had the day off from my regular job only to enjoy time with others. The circumstances are heart breaking but seeing the impact of giving a few hours of our time definitely brought the sun from behind the clouds by the end of the day for many of us.