Get Paid $20 to Go to the Gym

We received a postcard in the mail from United Healthcare.

“Get $20 a month for going to a gym.

Just visit a participating gym 12 or more times in a month.”

For a penny pincher like me $20 sounds good. My last gym membership cost me $20 per month. If you go just 3 days a week for a month you can get your money back, I think that’s reasonable. Honestly, I don’t think this is a very good incentive to get anyone to go to the gym but I am glad to see that a health care management company is taking some initiative to try to motivate people to go to the gym.

I guess when I saw this postcard I just wondered if this was to motivate people to go to the gym. I thought about what would motivate me to pursue a healthy lifestyle.

Bookcase Makeover

Saturday past, I gave my bookcases a makeover. With no plans for my Saturday I began throwing books off the shelves and onto the floor including junk I was hoarding for years. My husband thought I was creating work for myself but he liked the end result. I invited the kids to help but I guess it involved too much cleaning for them to join in and Lord knows how I have them helping out in the home Monday through Friday.

Mothers Are the Heart of a Home

If I would have released the negativity of my own heart the heart of my home would have been a very sour place.

This week has been extra busy for me. On Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6 I felt overwhelmed. School was out for Joshua and Alyssa and them being home breaks up the routine. On top of that I had to take three kids with me to vote. I was unsure if I could bring them all since one of the rules said you can only bring two children to the polls per adult. I was expecting someone to remind me of this rule in a rude and nasty way.

Part 1: A Painful Secret, GERD

Last year I was diagnosed with GERD (Gastroesophageal reflux disease). A year and a half prior no one knew I was this unhealthy “skinny” person with high LDL and low HDL cholesterol. My treats of choice included donuts, cheese danishes, coconut custard pie, cupcakes, cakes, butter pecan ice cream, super sweet cereal before bedtime, and any pastry good enough to try. I loved spicy food and had a very high tolerance for spicy foods. I ate so much spicy foods my taste buds seemed to be immune to it. Because I love all food, that is--clean eating and processed junk foods, no one ever knew how much I could really put down. In public I loved healthy foods but at home I enjoyed my pastries too--almost daily. I have never been a big soda or juice drinker. My preferred drink is water, maybe that gave me a little grace. What I am saying is that I was addicted. I would over-eat all of these things and given my emotional state at times it's possible that I can do it again.

One evening, last year, I went to pick up my husband from work and as I drove the car I felt this persistent upper chest pain, it was like a dull ache that wouldn’t go away. I felt so bad I didn't even want to drive. It hurt for me to inhale and exhale. This pain was occurring every day all day long. If I didn’t eat I still had pain. I was taking every over-the-counter antacid drug on the market yet I was still in pain.