How to Party and Wake Up Feeling Awesome

I now consider myself a complete professional when it comes to partying all night (i.e., drinking and dancing) and waking up in the morning loving myself. I know all the tips and tricks to never having a hangover and never being sick. For example: I danced in 2012 with a Diet Coke vodka in my hand, went to bed at 3AM, then woke up 4 hours later feeling, you guessed it, AWESOME. Here's how:

1. Prepare with hydration. Drink. Water. Lots and lots and lots of water. Not like a binge gulp right beforehand, but all day long. Not anything but water; no artificial anything, no Powerade, Gatorade, Lifewater, SoBe, energy drinks. Just water and lots of it.

2. Eat a well balanced dinner.

3. Add no sugar to your alcohol.

4. Dance and stay active while drinking. If you just sit around it's much easier to believe you're not as tipsy as you actually might be.

5. Drink some more water.

6. Don't ever over do it. No "good time" is worth that left-for-dead feeling the next morning.

7. Know your limits and don't be afraid to say, "no more for me, thanks."

Cheers to your partying success.

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Grumpy Gills

SO.
I started my period yesterday and it turned me into a mean monster.

Usually my time of the month comes and goes with nothing more than a slight disruptance in my love life. I tend to be tired and a generic cloud of ennui follows me around. But I have noticed that when I'm not eating much and exercising hard (like I am now), the hormonal changes seem to effect me more.

The morning started out with cramps but I managed to do my hour of cardio okay. Oh but wait -- mid-workout I had to make an emergency trip to the bathroom because I had begun menstruating which jumpstarted a day filled with things that annoyed me.

• the movie theatre was cold
• my husband kept getting up to pee during the movie -- a record THREE times
• I didn't/shouldn't/couldn't get fries at In N Out
• Target no longer carries the pet carpet cleaner I like
• I was hungry all day
• when we laid down to take a nap, the puppy kept making a throw up noise
• which made me have to take the puppy outside but not before she threw up on the carpet
• and I have no good pet carpet cleaner (see item four)
• friends came over for the basketball finals ... enough said
• friends brought over red wine which I don't like
• on period and couldn't have sex
• didn't sleep well; had a crick in my neck

And now it's morning. I'm at work. I'm feeling better. But man oh man. Yesterday was one of those days when I should have just quarantined myself away from all humans and read a book. I hated everything and everything pissed me off. Thank all the gods my husband is understanding and has a sense of humor. Before our nap he told the puppy: "you and mom have one thing in common: you're both bitches."

And I actually laughed a little before I rolled my eyes and kept being one.

Sometimes it's therapeutic to be a bitch.

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Taking Off

Jumping for joy,

Meeting spring with

Healthy eating,

Happy living,

Hearty loveing.

... And extra verbs.

An Island to Vacation On

Sick.

Check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt-MivNezes&feature=related

And then listen to this interview: http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=15713260&m=15713244

What does this mean? Plastic is bad, garbage island is sad, humans should be mad. I'm reflecting on all the plastic bags I've tossed...and trying not to hate myself.

So Strong

If you are a woman between the ages of 18 and 108, may I recommend a bone strengthening regimen of some kind?

We women have the unfortunate problem of losing bone density as we age and then compounding the problem by doing nothing to slow/prevent this bone density decrease. What exactly will happen if we don't slow the horrid process of thinning bones?

• possible hunch back (gasp!)
• broken hip
• brittle bones
• inability to jump around
• osteoporosis

Of the cases of osteoporosis in the U.S., 80% are women. Yeah, that's us. See, the tricky thing is that you can't feel your bones unless they're broken. Over the years your bones are slowly deteriorating and you aren't even aware of it - unlike other aging processes like thinning hair, thinning lips, sagging breasts, fine lines, and other gems of a long life.

So, in order to kick this problem out the door, you've got to take some action and you've got to take some calcium and vitamin D. The worse thing for your bones is a sedentary lifestyle and a lack of calcium and vitamin D in your diet. Here is a list of ways I'm going to prevent bone loss and osteoporosis:

• eat almonds (calcium)
• eat dark green leafy veggies like broccoli (calcium)
• enjoy a delicious calcium supplement like Viactiv
• eat tofu (calcium)
• drink calcium fortified orange juice
• get some sun (vitamin D)
• eat egg yolks (vitamin D)
• lift weights
• walk or jog regularly
• climb stairs
• dance

Sounds like fun! Show your bones some love by treating them right so they'll be sure to treat you right for years to come.