High Tech Redneck Woman » Health

A Fresh Start

Becky — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 03:06:48 +0000

I started a new blog tonite … Fresh Start. I’ll be using it to chronicle my attempt to get healthy and happy.

I’m hoping the blog will keep me motivated and keep me honest. I’m also hoping I might be able to help someone else on his/her own journey by posting links, tips, recipes, and anything else that I find helpful to me.

I’m also hoping that some of you (if there are any of you) might wander over and help keep me motivated. I need all the support I can get.

New Toy

Becky — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:38:17 +0000

Ok … it’s not really a toy. It’s a tool. (And a bonus … it’s got a Biggest Loser game that came w/ it.)

I mentioned last week that I was embarking on a new journey … a journey to get healthy and happy. I’ve gotten off to a rough start. I’ve only worked out that first day. Oops. I have been trying to eat better, or at least smaller portions. I’m a work in progress.

I figured that if I’m gonna spend $100 on this thing, it damn well better motivate me. Now … I don’t expect to lose a ton of weight using only this thing. It’s only part of the plan. The rest will be my elliptical machine, Walk Away the Pounds dvd, and the EA Sports Active game I already have (it’s compatible w/ the Wii Fit board). Once the snow melts (if it ever does), I’ll start walking outside too (when the weather is nice).

I’m also working on setting up another blog specifically to track my workouts and weigh-ins. That’s gonna take a little more time to set up ‘cuz I’m planning on setting up some custom post types (WordPress geekery stuff) for a couple things. Hopefully that will keep me honest and keep me going.

Wrong time of year

Becky — Sun, 09 Jan 2011 21:15:14 +0000

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m trying to eat healthy … or at least eat normal meals. I’ve been eating so shitty for so long … it’s not good. And I love to cook. I just don’t have the energy/motivation/inspiration to cook anything. Partly because I live alone and partly because I have no idea what the hell to buy when I’m at the grocery store.

I decided last nite to try to come up with some meal options and then base my grocery list off of that. I came up with a few quick/easy things. I need to do some research online to get some inspiration. But what I did have actually had me putting quite a few fruits & veggies on my grocery list.

I just got back from the grocery store a little bit ago. Even with my list based off my meal options, I still felt exasperated. They were completely out of green bell peppers, and the zucchini looked like shit. I’m not gonna pay $1.77/lb for zucchini that’s all scratched and bruised up. And everything else in the produce section just seemed so damn expensive. I guess that’s the price I pay for living in North Dakota. It’s kinda hard to grow anything in the dead of winter around here. LOL

I did end up buying some apples and lettuce, but that was basically all I got in the produce section. Such a disapointment considering all of the stuff I had on my list for that section of the store.

It really frustrates me. There are times I feel like breaking into tears while I’m still shopping … both the produce and meat sections do that to me. The only meat that I bought was frozen chicken breast (‘cuz it was on sale). I was gonna get some beef for stir fry, but without veggies … what’s the point.

I think I need to start hitting up the other grocery stores in town to see what kind of produce sections they have. I usually go to CashWise ‘cuz it’s so close to home. But there’s a Sunmart by work, and Hornbachers isn’t that far away really.

Now if only I could win the lottery so I could buy a house. I’d find one with enough of a lot that I could build a greenhouse so I could grow my own produce all year round. I guess that means I should start buying lottery tickets on a regular basis.

It’s About Damn Time

Becky — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:02:38 +0000

My New Year’s resolution for this year is (grabbed from Facebook where I first documented it):

I resolve to be better to myself. To treat myself with the respect I deserve (stop beating myself up for every little thing) and do my damnedest to get healthy and be happy.

I have been my own worst enemy for years … beating myself up over the smallest things that I should have just let roll off my back. I bottle my feelings up … and I’m to the point where I feel like I’m gonna burst.

I just can’t do this anymore. I HAVE to make a change. Not “I want to” or “I really should” … I HAVE TO. If I don’t … well, I don’t like the road I’ve been headed down, and I don’t want to go any further on it.

One aspect of treating myself better is to lose weight. I am definitely overweight and have been for the past few years. So, this morning I set my alarm for 5am (and I only hit snooze once), dragged my ass out of bed, and got on my elliptical machine. I only lasted 15 minutes and went 0.86 miles, but it was a start. I need to keep getting up every morning and going for as long as I can. I also have a Walk Away the Pounds dvd set that I’ll eventually get back into. And back when I first bought my Wii, I bought the EA Sports Active game. I’ve never even put it in the machine. I really need to start using that too. And I’m considering getting a Wii Fit. Maybe if I spend the money for that, it’ll keep me motivated. I still have the money from selling my iPod Touch, and that will more than cover the cost of the Wii Fit.

I’m also eating breakfast this morning (vanilla yogurt w/ granola). I usually don’t. But I was up early enough today that I don’t feel ill trying to eat something (if I eat too soon after getting up in the morning, I feel ill). I decided to hit up Subway for dinner since I don’t have much (that’s healthy) in my apt to take. I’ll be doing some grocery shopping tonite.

I’m also keeping track of things on the Lose It website. It’s actually an iPhone app. I used it on my iPod Touch a while back and really liked it. Unfortunately they don’t have an Android app, but I can enter things into their website. And the whole thing is FREE.

That gets me started on the health/fitness portion of my goal. The emotional health part … that’s gonna take a lot more work.

Will the health care bill actually help me?

Becky — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:41:11 +0000

In October 2008, I was laid off. That also meant that I lost my health insurance. Yes, I could have gotten the COBRA coverage, but I couldn’t afford that. I didn’t know how I was going to pay my bills or find another job, so how the hell was I going to afford the COBRA coverage?

I did find a contract job that I started in December 2008, but being that it was a contract job, I couldn’t get health insurance through it. The job lasted 4 months, and then I was unemployed again. I found another contract job that I started in May 2009. As with the other one, since it was a contract job, there was no insurance. This position was supposed to be a contract-to-hire position (6 month contract), but the company ended my contract early (due to financial reasons … they laid off 15 people the day after my contract ended).

Happily, I found a normal job (i.e. not a contract job) in November 2009. But due to company policy, I’m not eligible for health insurance until I’ve been working there for 6 months. I’ll hit that mark in May, so hopefully I’ll have insurance again shortly after that. Unless the insurance company makes me wait even longer since I’ve been without insurance for so damn long.

Other than the fact that I haven’t seen a doctor in I don’t know how long, I have chronic dry eye which means I need to take prescription eye drops … Restasis to be exact. These eye drops are NOT cheap.

I was first prescribed these eye drops back when I had health insurance through Medica. I only had to pay a $30 co-payment for the eye drops … Medica covered the rest. That was acceptable. The company I worked for that I had the Medica insurance through closed their doors, but the client we had been working for hired me on directly. But that meant a lapse of 2 months in my insurance. Once I had insurance again, it was through Blue Cross Blue Shield of ND. With them, I had to pay a $60 co-payment for the same damn eye drops. I guess Blue Cross needed to pay for their corporate retreats somehow. But still … at least it wasn’t full price.

When I got laid on in October 2008, it was up to me to foot the entire bill for the eye drops. I couldn’t afford that, so I stopped refilling the prescription. I couldn’t take it anymore this past summer, so I went back to the eye doctor in July 2009 to get the prescription again. I called around town, and the cheapest I could find it was at White Drug in CashWise.

One refill (of 30 vials) was $108.94. The vials are single use vials, meaning I’m supposed to open them, put them in my eyes, and throw the rest away. And I’m supposed to do this twice a day. That means 2 vials per day … 2 refills a month … $217.88 A MONTH. Oh HELL NO. My eye doctor told me that I could stretch a single vial out over 2 days. That means I can stretch one refill for 2 months rather than half a month. There is definitely enough of the eye drops in a vial to cover 4 applications. So the drug company who makes these eye drops (Allergan) puts enough of the eye drops in one vial to last for 2 days, but they want me to use it one time and then toss the rest away and end up having to spend more than $200 a month out of my own pocket since I don’t have insurance. Screw you.

And if that’s not bad enough, the cost of the refill has been going up every 4 months, like clockwork. I checked my records today …

July 2009 — $108.94
September 2009 — $108.94
November 2009 — $119.84
January 2010 — $119.84
March 2010 — $124.55

Are you fucking kidding me? $125 for a 15 day supply of eye drops (if you follow the recommended dosage instructions). That’s $250 a month … $250 a month. No wonder I stretch one vial out for 4 doses rather than 1.

From what I understand of the new health care bill that Congress passed yesterday, I will be fined if I don’t have health insurance. So if the bill was already in effect, I would have been fined ever since October 2008. Kind of ridiculous if you ask me. You’re going to make me pay a fine because I don’t have enough money to pay for health insurance? I’m sorry, but that’s fucked up. It’s a good thing that doesn’t go into effect right away. Hopefully within 2 months I’ll have health insurance. I don’t know what I’ll end up paying for these eye drops once I do get insurance again, but any little bit helps, especially when they keep raising the prices every 4 months.

One thing that I hope the health care bill will do is prevent the drug companies from raising the cost of prescriptions so damn often. Pretty soon, one refill is going to cost $200 if the drug company has their way. This is a prescription that I need. I went without it for several month only to have my eyes get so dry that it felt like I stuck my face in the sand with my eyes open. The eye drops are working. I was able to wear my contacts this weekend for the first time in over a year. I have to keep using them. The cost of them shouldn’t prohibit me from getting them.

I guess only time will tell if the health care bill is actually a good thing or not (I have my doubts), but I really hope it is. I know that there are people in worse situations health/insurance wise than I am. Something needs to be done. I just hope this bill helps more than it hurts.

A new me. A new blog.

Becky — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 04:13:30 +0000

Last weekend, I spelled out what my goals are for 2009. I have taken a step towards one of them today. I created a brand new blog to keep track of my weight loss, A New Me. I’m hoping that having it will keep me on track … keep me from getting lazy again. I got the idea from Elaine (she’s @cybertoad on Twitter). I hope she doesn’t mind that I “borrowed” the idea from her.

I’m sure I’ll post about my progress here from time to time, but I’ll try to keep most of it over on the other site. I’m also hoping to post recipes and tips there as well. Maybe I can help someone else while I’m helping myself.

No resolutions here

Becky — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 01:37:56 +0000

The start of the new year generally brings about people making resolutions about things they’re going to do or change in their lives. Well, I’m not making any resolutions this year. I never end up keeping them anyways. So why take the time to say “I resolve to …” when I know I won’t. Instead, I’m making life change goals. There are aspects of my life that I know that I need to change. If I “resolve” to change them, it won’t happen. But if I make goals and work up to them … then maybe there is hope.

What do I need to change? Well, here’s my list (thus far), in no particular order.

Be more social.
I’ve never really been a social person. I’ve never really had a lot of friends … not real friends anyways. I’ve always tended to be a bit of a loner. It didn’t help that in high school I was CONSTANTLY picked on. Than kinda kept me out of social situations. My shyness doesn’t help matters either. I really need to change that. I’m never gonna meet a guy if I’m sitting on my couch in my apartment.

The place where I work now has lots of great people. Even though I’m only there for 3 months (the length of my contract unless it gets extended or they hire me on permanently), I’d like to get to know them … hang out with them. It would be good for me to hang out with people like me. And by “people like me” I mean techie people. They won’t look at me weird if I feel the need to tweet something because they’re probably tweeting something themselves.

Another thing that I need to get over is my fear of asking guys to dance when I’m at the bar. I used to ask them to dance. I guess you could say I have a fear of rejection. So I stopped asking them to dance because I just assumed they’d say no. But I don’t know that for sure. They might actually want to dance with me. I need to swallow my pride and ask. The worst that can happen is that they’d say “no”. Since I’m already expecting them to, it shouldn’t bother me. And who knows … I might actually find someone who wants to dance and hang out and who knows what after that (get your mind out of the gutter … I’m not talking about that).

Eat healthier.
This goes hand in hand with the next one. I need to improve my health … starting with what I eat and drink. I drink waaaaaaaay too much pop. I’ve tried cutting down in the past, but I always fall off the wagon. And there’s free pop at work. So there’s that temptation, especially in the morning when I’m feeling tired or when 3pm rolls around and I’m losing energy. But there’s water too. I need to drink that instead. Hell, I’ve got a TON of those drink mixes that you poor into a bottle of water. So I can drink water and still have some flavor.

I need a more well-rounded diet too. I need to eat more red meat and veggies … fresh ones too not just frozen. It’s harder in the winter, but the store still has some fresh veggies. I took a step toward that today. I bought a bag of baby spinach. I’ve never eaten it before. I don’t know why. But I will eat it again. That stuff’s pretty good. I put it in a salad with some romaine lettuce and some other veggies. I plan on taking salads to work for lunch this next week, until I run out of lettuce or spinach that is. I need to stop snacking when I’m at home too.

Exercise more.
In June 2007 I bought an elliptical. When I first got it, I actually used it quite a bit. Then that fall I started slacking off. I did start using it again at the beginning of last year, but yet again, I got lazy. I need to get into a routine that includes working out on that thing for at least 10 minutes a day, if not longer. I mean, I did spend money for it (even tho I got a really good deal). I also need to work in doing crunches. My biggest issue is my belly flab. I want to get rid of that before this summer so I’ll actually wear a swimsuit without wearing a tshirt over the top of it to try to hide. I think that getting into shape and losing weight would help out my confidence level too.

Be confident in my professional life.
This is a biggie. But it’s no surprise that I’m not all that self-confident in my work considering I’m not self-confident in any other aspect of my life. I think part of it stems from the fact that I have absolutely no training or education in web development/programming. Everything that I know I’ve taught myself. But that’s something for me to be proud of. I’ve been working in the field since June 2004. That’s pretty damn good considering I’m completely self-taught. I need to learn to use that to my advantage in my current position and when I’m looking again after this contract is up (unless they extend or ask me to stay on … I’m hoping ). Sure, there’s lots of stuff I don’t know (like .NET or more advanced javascript), but I pick stuff up quick just by doing. I’ve proven that in the past. I need to allow myself to believe that I’m good at what I do. That will definitely take me places.

I think that’s a pretty good start at a list. And everything on that list is doable as well. I just need to get motivated. To start, I need to have people riding my ass about things so that I actually do them. Once I’m in a routine, it will be easier to keep going. And once I see results, I’ll want to keep going. I’ll post updates on my progress every now and then. I’m sure I’ll tweet about it a lot more than I’ll blog about it. If you don’t see anything here or on Twitter about me making progress, PLEASE ride my ass about it.

I want my old insurance company back

Becky — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 22:58:55 +0000

Back in December, I was diagnosed with dry eye. My eye doctor put me on Restasis eye drops. Spendy little buggers. And I’m on ‘em for the rest of my life basically … unless I want to go back to having dry eyes and not being able to wear contacts.

Luckily I have health insurance. I was without for 3 months after I switched jobs at the beginning of this year. Well, I wish I could go back to my old insurance company. The eye drops cost over $100 (I thought they were close to $120 … that’s what I was told when I called around to different pharmacies to figure out which one to go to, but it appears that they’re just under $110. Either way … they’re still EXPENSIVE!!!). With my old insurance company, I paid only $30 and my insurance paid $71.40. With my new insurance, I pay $61.97 while insurance pays only $46.97. WTF?!?!

The prescription is supposed to last about a month. There are 32 vials in the box, and you’re supposed to use each vial only once (actually … if I used the drops like that, the box wouldn’t even last a month since I’m supposed to use ‘em twice a day). My eye doctor told me it was okay to use a single vial for 2 days. So I can stretch a single prescription out for 2 months rather than 1.

Thank goodness my paychecks are bigger with this new job. Otherwise these drops would stretch me thin. I don’t think there’s a generic brand. I wish there was. I guess I shouldn’t complain. At least I have insurance. But do these drops really have to be so damn expensive? And why does my new insurance company have to be so damn cheap? That makes me leery to go in for a checkup. I really need to though. I can’t remember the last time I saw a doctor (who wasn’t an eye doctor). But if my insurance company is so cheap with this prescription, how are they gonna be with office visits and lab work and any sort of prescription I might end up having to go on?

Getting that prescription refilled sure did ruin my day. I’m glad I didn’t do it earlier in the day.