Posts Tagged ‘body issues’

Weight-loss stuff

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

I’m going to write about exercise and weight loss and all of that in this post, which is something I try not to write about much because (1) I’m not very good at it and (2) I think it’s kind of boring.  But I want to let you all know what’s happening with this.  I’ll try not to write about it too much in the coming months.

So, in my last post, I mentioned my doctor appointment and that I’ve got a follow-up in six months to check on my weight-loss progress.  I’ve spent a good amount of time thinking about how I’m going to approach this problem.

Here’s what I’ve got so far.  I have an account at MyFoodDiary.com and I know that if I actually go on there and track what I’m doing, I will lose weight.  I lost weight this way before—exercising and tracking my calories through this program.  So I’m doing that again.  Now, it only works if I actually go on there and enter in what I’m doing and I really don’t like doing that.  It’s a pain in the butt.  So my incentive to do this is that if I can log my food for 30 days in a row, I’m going to get a massage.  I love massages, but it’s been over a year since I last got one.  So!  Goal = 30 days straight of logging my food = Reward = MASSAGE.

I have a set of cards on the wall of my desk at work under my clock that count up to 30 (0-3 on one set and 0-9 on the other) and I have a tick mark on my mirror at home and I’m going to keep track.  I’ll also keep track through MFD, but I’m learning about visual management at work and the affectivity of it.

On my mirror, I’ve also written “Log your food!  Be nice to Justin – you asked for his help.”  Because he’s wonderful and gives me gentle prodding about logging and exercising and what I should and shouldn’t eat, and I get cranky at him.  So I’m going to try very hard to not do that anymore.  I appreciate his help. And I did ask him to help me.  So it’s not at all fair for me to get grumpy at him.

And that goes for the rest of you, too.  If you want to prod me about how things are going, I’m going to try very hard not to get grumpy about it.  So, please!  Go ahead and prod.  Send me emails and call and ask how I’m doing and if I’ve logged my food and if I’ve exercised today and if I’ve had enough water to drink and give me recommendations on different things I should try.  Because I have a wonderful bunch of family and friends and if I can’t accept help from all of you, then I’m in trouble.

I’m also putting in a request to get a nurse to help me.  My employer is starting up a program to help us improve our health and one of the issues that they’ll help with is being overweight.  I’m not sure what’s going to happen with that, exactly, but at this point, I’m willing to take any help I can get.

Okay, so that covers my calorie counting and accepting help from everybody possible.

Currently, this is my exercise program:  Monday and Wednesday night, I go to Zumba class.  Saturday morning, I go to yoga class.  That leaves Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday on my own.  What I’ve been trying to do is to practice Zumba or yoga on my own or do an exercise video.  Now that the weather is going to get nicer, I’ll be adding more outdoor activities.  Got to catch the weather between when it’s too chilly for rollerblading and too hot!  It’s not a long window.  In the summer months, I’ll get back into swimming again. 

What I’m missing is weight training.  I think it’s something I’ll want to be doing, I’m just not sure exactly when.  Yoga has a lot of muscle work in it that works with body weight, but I wonder if maybe I shouldn’t be hitting the weights at the gym, too.  I’m still trying to figure that one out.

My overall goal is to lose 50 pounds in the next six months.  It’s a strong goal and I know that.  I’m going to have to work very hard to try to make that goal.  But I think that setting a goal that’s fairly difficult but not completely unattainable is a good idea.  That’s a loss of 2 pounds a week, which is healthy for my current weight and it’s going to be healthy for a long while.  Once I get past this first 50, it’s going to slow down, but for this first half, it’s attainable.

I need to lose nearly 100 pounds.  I’m sitting at 232 pounds right now.  I want to get down to 140-ish.  By my doctor appointment in six months, I want to be at 180.

And that’s that!  More information than you probably wanted to hear about my weight-loss situation.  :)

I’m on day 2 of logging my food.  Only 28 more to go before I earn my massage!

3
Tags: , , ,
Posted in Living! |

Loving the fish oil pills

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Yesterday afternoon I had my follow-up check-up for the appointment I had three months ago. (Operation Crazy Owl continues.)

At that time, my triglycerides were up and my cholesterol wasn’t where it should be and my blood sugar was higher than it should be and it just wasn’t good blood-work all the way around.  I had three months to do something about it.

At my appointment yesterday, my triglycerides were much lower than they had been (by about half), my cholesterol was much better, and my blood sugar was much better.  My weight is still bad.  And a few of those numbers could handle going a little further toward the “good” side of things.  But it’s doing better.  I’ve been taking fish oil pills with my multivitamin every day, and I think that’s had a lot to do with it, plus regular exercise.

So now I just have to work on logging my food better and actually work on getting my weight down.

One of the other things I talked with her about was my asthma.  Do you remember that terrible cold I got back before Christmas?  (I’ve been sleeping.)  It’s was a bad cold and it settled into my chest and did unpleasant things.  Since then, I’ve had to take an inhaler almost every time I exercise.  And sometimes just because it’s cold out and I’m feeling short of breath.  It hasn’t been fun and I don’t like this relapse of my asthma symptoms. 

My current doctor hasn’t actually had me as a patient with asthma symptoms – they recessed back around 2005-ish.  So at my appointment, she’s explaining to me the differences between emergency inhalers and maintenance inhalers and all these other things that I know SO WELL by now, let me tell you.  It was kind of funny.  Seriously, I’ve dealt with asthma for well over half of my lifetime.  I understand how it works.

Anyway, she gave me a prescription for Symbicort as a maintenance inhaler and a refill on the emergency inhaler and we’re going to try and see if the maintenance inhaler can fix whatever problem has been happening down in these lungs of mine and see if I can’t get the symptoms to go away again.  I think I damaged them a little bit with the cold and they haven’t been able to properly heal – if that’s even an idea that works medically.  I don’t know.  But I think that taking the meds for a little while will help heal my lungs enough that I can go back to being asymptomatic again, and non-medicated again, which would be lovely.

I have a return appointment in 6 months to check on my progress with getting my numbers even better – my cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and, most significantly, my weight.  We’ll check on the status of my asthma, too.  But for the most part, I’m in better health than I was the last time I went in to see her and that makes me feel good.

2
Tags: ,
Posted in Living! |

First day back at work

Monday, January 4th, 2010

We now take a moment away from writing about the Christmas trip to write about today.

Today is awful.  Today is the first day back at work and if there was anywhere I wanted to be today, work isn’t that place.  It’s never a good sign when I’m tempted to resort to violence toward my coworkers.

I should get a plant.  Plants are calming, right?

Plus, I bet they’re great and heavy for throwing.

Today I didn’t get up to go to the gym because I didn’t fall asleep until after 12:30 this morning.  4:45 is too early to get out of bed on a Monday on the first day back after vacation after only four hours of sleep.  No way was I getting out of bed.

Tonight I will go to Zumba and remember why I wasn’t supposed to have all that sugar when I was on vacation and why I was supposed to exercise every single day and I will sincerely regret the choices that I made.

Tonight I will sit and try to find pictures to put at my desk at work and try not to cry over how much I miss my family and how fat I look in pictures.

Today I will go to a meeting and try not to get too frustrated at the lack of progress that we’ve made over the last several meetings.  And I’ll brainstorm ideas how I plan to do it differently once I pry my way into control of that committee.

Today I will submit work that I’m not comfortable submitting just so management can maintain their precious schedule.

This afternoon I will sit and listen to music while trying to remind myself the importance of the work that I do and why I find it enjoyable on days that are not the first day back from a wonderful vacation.

Tonight I will go to sleep praying that tomorrow will be a much better day than today.

2
Tags: , , ,
Posted in Living! |

Operation Crazy Owl continues

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Well, I’m starting week 3 of Operation Crazy Owl. I started going to the gym at 5:00 on Wednesday the 18th, so the first week was a short week. I did it again last week, but Wednesday, the door wouldn’t open to let me in; Thursday, I exercised at home; Friday, I went around 8:00. So this week will be the first actual full week of getting up at crazy early in the morning to go to the gym.

It really feels like I’ve been doing this for longer than I have. I can’t put my finger on why that’s the case, but it really feels like I’ve been doing this for ages. It’s still not fun getting out of bed at that time of day. I’m still struggling with being super tired later in the day.

But getting that done right away makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something really difficult. It helps me know how much I can eat for the day because I’ve already done my exercising. I have the option of just going home and slouching around the whole evening without feeling too guilty because I’ve already done what I would usually be avoiding on those evenings. And I’ve been falling asleep more quickly in the evening.

It has its pros and cons, but I’m definitely enjoying the pros much more than the cons are bothering me. I really hope to be able to sustain this for the long run.

Which is good because I had a doctor’s appointment on Wednesday and my cholesterol levels and my triglycerides are up. (Dad, those triglycerides are probably partially your fault! ;) ) So I’ve got an appointment set up for 3 months to see if what I’m doing is making a difference to those things. I’m adding fish oil pills to my diet, and I’m going to make sure I get the milled flaxseed put back in there, too. With those two things, the exercise I’m doing, and the changes I’m making to my diet, I should be able to make some progress on that.

I’m still having trouble figuring out a “heart-healthy” diet. From my research, this is what I should be doing:

Fat should make up 25-35% of my daily diet.
Of that, less than 7% should be saturated fats
And less than 1% should be trans fat

I should have less than 200 mg of cholesterol a day

I should have 25-30g of fiber a day, in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes

Sodium should be less than 1,500 mg a day.

And I should eat fish twice a week.

I have a really long way to go.

1
Tags: ,
Posted in Living! |

Operation Crazy Owl: Day 2

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Well, I made it to the gym again this morning.  Yeah, me!  Oy, but I’m tired and sore.

I’m trying to think about what I really want to write about here.  I have lots of thoughts about how the workouts are going and my thoughts about heart rate and the advantages of going to the gym so early.  But I’m afraid it’s something that would only interest me.  I have a journal where I’ve been writing notes like that, so I might just take it over there.  But I know that a lot of you actually are interested in this, at least a little, so I’m trying to find a balanced middle.

You asked about what you could do to help encourage me.  I’ve been trying to think of what would be the best ways to do that.  So far I’ve only got two things.

  • I would really love to get some good recipes.  I’m looking for new meals that involve less carbs and more fresh veggies and I’d love some recommendations.
  • When we chat, ask how my work-out went.  Don’t ask *if* I went, but ask *how* it went.  If I didn’t go, I’ll tell you that and why, but I’d rather start with the assumption that I’m going rather than the assumption that I’m not.

I do have a whole other list, though, mostly of things that I wish people wouldn’t do.  I wrote it last night while I was thinking about the whole thing, but I want to put it up as a separate post.  And because I want you all to read this post first, before reading that one, I’ll wait until tomorrow before I post it.

I want you all to read this one before reading that one because I want to make sure that you know that I’m not trying to upset anyone.  I’m not trying to get down on anyone or make you feel bad.  I’m just addressing things that I wish people would consider, things that have been frustrating and discouraging to me.  Things that I doubt other people even realize have that effect on me.  And I know that I’m sensitive about this, so I apologize in advance if something I write comes across as being really thin-skinned.  But maybe they’re things that you’ve thought about, too.  And maybe my mentioning them will make you think a little bit.  And maybe they’ll just come across as so obvious that you’ll wonder why I felt the need to bring them up at all.  Either way, I wanted to preface that post by letting you all know that I’m not pegging anyone.  I’m just venting a little.

And now I’m going to make you wait until tomorrow before you get to see what I’m even talking about.  I’m so mean!!  :)

I’m going to the gym again tomorrow morning.  In the future, I’ll tend to go to the gym Friday afternoons instead of in the morning, since I don’t work in the afternoon.  But we’re heading out of town sometime tomorrow afternoon to spend time with family near Orlando.  I’m still not totally clear on what we’re doing.  But I know we’re going!  It should be fun.  But if I don’t answer my phone, that’s the reason right there.  We’ll be driving back on Sunday so Justin and I can go to work on Monday morning.

And that’s the plan!

I hope you’re all having a fantastic day!   I’m going to sit here and eat my soup and wait for my mother-in-law to call so I can go meet her at the airport.

Cheers!

3
Tags: , ,
Posted in Living! |
« Older Entries