Nurse Joc, Not Jackie

The toughest part of getting fit is eating right. You can exercise all you want, but if you're slacking off in the kitchen, you won't see much progress, if any. Some helpful things to have on hand are pre-made meals. What can make this easier? Tupperware. I kid you not.

I went ahead and purchased a full set of Vent'N'Serve containers, the stack cooker for the microwave, and a set of midgets containers. Use the stack cooker to fully cook the chicken with some water (4-20 minutes) in the microwave, then pack one cup of frozen vegetables on the bottom of a smaller Vent'N'Serve container, cut up the chicken and place on top of the veggies and you have your main meal for on-the-go, or for when you're too tired to cook a proper meal for yourself. If you're aiming for more calories, just add more veggies and more chicken -- these containers can hold a lot!

As a snack, I use the water-tight midgets containers for packing some natural peanut butter! I love natty PB, especially smothered on a rice cake. The midget container is the perfect size for packing some along without having to worry about peanut oil leaking all over your lunch bag.

Another thing that helps is... An ice cream maker. Maybe it's just me and my insatiable addiction to ice cream, but being able to make my own at home using So Good soy milk, protein powder, and low calorie sweeteners, I can take the guilt out of my must-have treat :)

I'm not too much a fan of the size of Tupperware's sports bottle, but I am a fan of its nifty little container on the bottom of it. Slip your locker key into the bottom of the bottle (removable bottom acts as a storage container!!) And all you need to carry around with you at the gym is your water bottle. Zing!

Grab your own Tupperware goodies at http://my.tupperware.ca/NurseJoc You can also host an online Tupperware party through me -- just visit that website or contact me to make an arrangement.

I have been having motivation issues the past week and a half! Along with Tetracycline, I started another medication which made my energy levels plummet the first week. I seem to be adapting now :)

Tetracycline is a huge pain in the butt. For the best results, you should take it one hour before eating or two-three hours after eating. You are also expected to avoid dairy products within one hour of taking it, though the warning should really be to avoid calcium-rich foods which includes soy milks, fortified beverages, dark green vegetables, some fish, calcium suppliments and so forth. Tetracycline has a tendancy to bind to calcium, rendering the drug ineffective.

So far, I have managed to get one new nodule since I started taking tetracycline. I heard that it is supposed to take a few weeks to start working, but it seems to have held the current breakouts at bay while almost eliminating new ones.

Side effects... I've thrown up once and have learned that I should be trying to take the second dose of tetracycline before supper time so that my stomach has time to digest it and so that the nasuea that it causes me can subside enough. I get nausea after I eat, before I eat, and while I sleep... Unfortunately, this is a minor trade-off for how painful the breakouts can be. I'm hoping my body will adjust to it.

The biggest issue I have with it is timing the doses. I'm thinking I'm going to try setting a new alarm up to go off one hour before I'm to get out of bed, then taking it and going back to sleep. Then I can have my coffee and I should be able to take the second dose 2-3 hours after lunchtime.