Alright, so I have seemingly solved my vitamin issue. I’ve been taking them for two days now, and I haven’t had any stomach issues, and as far as taste/tablet size is concerned, I think I’m in the clear.
Although, I did have a momentary “Ewww, WTF?!” moment when I took my first Vitamin C tablet, because within half a second of placing it on my tongue, I could taste a tangy/sour/bitter flavor, which I hadn’t been expecting. I now know to be really ready with my glass of water/juice to wash that sucker down quickly. Lesson learned.
Anyway, here is my lovely new stash of vitamins:
Let’s start with the multivitamin. I searched high and low on the shelves at three stores, but could not find anything that wasn’t the size of a gumball. So, I followed the advice so many of you left me and started shopping for gummy vitamins.
At Target, I found the ones supposedly specified for adults, and was about to buy those. I was a bit pissed at the cost of them ($6 for 70 gummies, which would only last me 35 days). And of course, no generic. But I did see a generic for the children’s gummy vitamins instead. I compared the nutrition information side by side, and well, wouldn’t you know it–they were VERY similar, despite one being marketed for children, and the other for adults. (Check out the nutrition facts for Target here (they are identical to this brand), and the adult ones here.)
And the Target gummies? Only $8 for 190 of them. And they are DELICIOUS! It’s certainly the most pleasant tasting vitamin I’ve ever encountered. I still have to take two (or maybe even three), but the bottle will last me between 60-90 days. In all of the nutritional areas where the children’s vitamins fall short, I’m pretty sure I pick up what I need just from the foods I eat. EXCEPT in a few key places, which I’ll discuss next.
Calcium. This is something I planned on taking above and beyond my multivitamin, anyway. I happened to stumble upon a calcium tablet that was not a horse pill at Target last night, so I snatched them up. I’m now taking two of these babies a day (one in the morning with breakfast, one at night with dinner).
Folic acid. Such a tiny, tiny pill. I love it. And these were CHEAP, too! Taking one of these per day to supplement what is also in the gummy vitamins.
Vitamin C. Right now, there are illnesses circling my office that I am determined not to catch. I probably won’t take these every day all year ’round, but with nasty bugs going around, I figure my immune system could use an extra boost. The ones I picked up are a fine size, not much bigger than a Tylenol caplet, so no problems there.
I promised I would report back, so there you have it. Hopefully this can help some of you other vita-phobes!
[1 year ago: Misery]
When we left for Vegas, we had not yet figured out the accommodations situation for San Francisco in June. When we got back, I received an e-mail from the owner of the condo we had been interested in, telling me that someone else wanted to make a deposit on the dates that we had selected.
Needless to say, we lost that condo. Since we had been a bit indecisive about everything, we weren’t really disappointed.
However, it quickly became clear that I’d have to look at hotels more closely, because I felt I had pretty much exhausted my condo search and hadn’t come up with anything we liked as much as the one we lost.
Enter Priceline. Yesterday, I started my bidding.
$80 on 4-star hotels in Union Square: REJECTED.
$80 on 3.5-star hotels in Union Square: REJECTED AGAIN.
Instead of lowering our standards on the stars rating, we decided to wait it out 24 hours to bid again. This morning, I bid again. I decided to bump up the bid to $85 instead of crawling up dollar by dollar.
$85 on 4-star hotels in Union Square: ACCEPTED!! *ding ding ding* WINNER!
We owe a sincere thanks to William Shatner. Because he is, after all, the PRICELINE NEGOTIATOR. :)
The hotel that accepted our bid is The Stanford Court, A Renaissance Hotel. It’s a Marriott property. Not bad. Not bad at all.
We are extremely happy with the price we’re paying (so cheap!) and the hotel we ended up with. And it’s so nice to finally know that we have a place to stay once we get to San Francisco.
I have to get back on Priceline in the next couple of weeks… gotta score a deal on a rental car for Seattle. I am so loving Priceline right now!
[1 year ago: Pampering]
I am horrible at taking my vitamins. It has been brought to my attention lately that I really need to start taking them regularly.
For one, I need the calcium. I don’t like a lot of dairy, so if I don’t want to be afflicted with osteoporosis when I’m older, I better get on the Calcium + Vitamin D supplements. I would hate to reach age 60 and realize that my life would have been so much easier had I just taken those damn vitamins when I was younger, you know?
Secondly, I need folic acid. If for nothing else, just for the sake of my future babies. Spina bifida? Not good. Again, I hate to think of possibly having a baby with a birth defect and knowing that I could have done something to prevent it. My doctor says that all women who are of child-bearing age should make sure to have enough folic acid. (Yes, even if you aren’t planning on having a baby anytime soon. And yes, even if you’re on birth control.)
Third, I need iron. I’m not anemic, but I have skated along the line between normal and low iron for a while now. Whenever I donate blood, it’s always a crapshoot at whether or not I’m going to pass the iron test. I haven’t been rejected in a while, but I certainly have been in the past.
And then there’s like the other 20 essential vitamins and minerals that are supposed to be good for me. I suppose it wouldn’t hurt for me to get more of those, either.
What’s my problem? Well, the problem is that I hate taking vitamins.
Let’s talk about the normal, everyday vitamin tablets. A typical multivitamin, or a typical calcium supplement. COULD THEY MAKE THOSE THINGS ANY BIGGER? I mean, seriously. I manage to choke one of those puppies down and I swear I can feel it stuck in my esophagus for the entire damn day. Not to mention the havoc they can sometimes cause on my stomach. The nausea, it’s sickening.
So one day, someone mentioned, “Hey Heather, did you know you can take Flintstones vitamins, just like you did when you were a kid? They have pretty much all of the essential vitamins and minerals, even for adults!” This excited me. Add to this the excitement at finding chocolate and caramel calcium chews, and I thought I had solved my problem.
WRONG. You see, Flintstones? It turns out that they’re not so tasty. In fact, after a week or two of taking them, I could no longer stomach the purple ones. The pink ones became inedible almost as quickly. Finally, even the orange ones began to send shivers down my spine.
And the calcium chews? Same thing, except worse. They need to be taken TWICE a day. And um, well… after the honeymoon period–“Wow, this almost tastes like candy!”–was over, they actually started making me gag. Yes, GAG!
To summarize: I can’t handle the adult vitamins. I can’t stomach the baby vitamins. This has led me to only one possible conclusion.
VITAMINS ARE DISGUSTING.
(I hope my little friend Will does not mind me borrowing his signature phrase.)
So what’s a girl to do? I decided last night that I think I just need to find the right vitamins. I mean, they must make them smaller, right? RIGHT? I’d rather take like 10 different small pills a day than have to choke down two of those horse pills.
Does anyone else suffer from the same aversion to vitamins? More importantly, does anyone have any suggestions on how to move past this? (Types of vitamins, certain brands, anything?) My future bones, my future children, and my blood will all be tremendously grateful, I assure you. Help?
Oh, and just in case there are people out there who don’t know where my post title comes from (ohmygodnoitcan’tbetrue), I leave you with this hilariousness:
[1 year ago: Gentlemen!]
Early Saturday afternoon, Michael dropped me off at my friend Colleen’s apartment, and we hit the road for our little reunion. Thankfully, it was a nice day for a drive, and Colleen and I never run out of things to talk about.
A little more than two hours later, we were at Bethany’s house and ready to spend quality girls’ time with the whole group. Lacey was already there when we arrived, and Carrie and Megan (who also carpooled together from about an hour away) followed shortly after.
It wasn’t long until wine had been poured and eating began.
When searching for group photos the other day, I realized how few we actually have. So one of the first things I did was set up the camera on top of Bethany’s microwave to take a timed pic of all of us.
Megan, Bethany, Carrie (holding Ryanne), Lacey, me, and Colleen
For the rest of the night, however, my camera was focused on a growing baby girl. Bethany’s daughter, Ryanne, is four months old already. I can’t even believe it. She is such a good baby, allowing herself to be passed around from friend to friend all night. I never really heard her cry for the entire time we were there. She even let us all sleep (she sleeps through the night like a champ!). She’s my kind of baby!
Being held by her mama while hanging out with all the girls. She fits right in with our crowd. :)
Once we had stuffed ourselves full of pizza, snacks, and cupcakes, we migrated to the living room to sprawl on the couches. It was easier to get Ryanne to crack little smiles when she was lying down. Another little fun fact about her: She loves having her diaper changed! Could she be the perfect baby?
In the morning, Bethany made us all french toast and we relaxed some more. Then I took my camera out to get a few more photos of Ryanne before heading back home. The one above is my favorite of the whole visit!
Now I’m just hoping it won’t be another six months before we all get together again. We really should start planning it now!
[1 year ago: DIY Pocketfolds]
As of this morning, we are Uncle Michael and Aunt Heather to a brand new baby boy.
Michael’s sister delivered little Logan this morning. He was scheduled to arrive via c-section tomorrow morning, but he apparently had his own plans.
This officially makes Brendan a big brother! Unfortunately, we don’t live in the same city, so we have to wait until this weekend to drive down and visit. All I have to hold me over is this cell phone photo:
Logan Christopher
March 2, 2009
11:41 a.m.
7 lbs., 8 oz.
19 inches long
It seems like just yesterday that we were welcoming baby Brendan to the world (it really wasn’t that long ago–they’re Irish twins!).
It is so amazing to think that we have another little guy in the family. Brendan has been a source of such joy and we’re so excited to have that x2. I can’t wait to get my hands (and camera lens) on that baby! The weekend cannot come fast enough.
Now we’re just waiting on Nephew #3 to come in May! :)
[1 year ago: Pocketfolds… COMPLETE!]
About
I'm Heather. I'm 33 and have been married to Michael for seven years. Together, we have two beautiful little girls we love more than anything, and a miniature dachshund who drives us crazy. I'm a full-time working mom who has very little time for my own "stuff" these days, like home improvement, cooking/baking, cake decorating, and photography. Despite the team not making the playoffs since 1999, I'm STILL a Buffalo Bills fan, which I think speaks to my loyalty AND sense of humor. I can't wait to pick up the pace with travel again some day... you know, when we're done being ruled by tiny fists. Welcome to my blog.
