Health & Fitness October 2012

[Ivy]

I snacked too much last night because I had a dr. appt. today, I was stressed about it, and I woke up to a weight gain. The lowest I've been in over 20 years is 168 Lbs. and this morning I was 171.3 Lbs. I feel ashamed that I snacked too much and on the wrong things, too.

But I walked 30 min. today and decided to go back to writing the foods I eat DOWN and not just put the date and weight on the page and leave my food eaten off all day and night! I need to lose weight because of osteo in the lumbar, hips, and sacrum and I'm not going to do it by snacking at night, skipping walking or eating sweets. I'm scolding myself! I'll be better tonight.

We have a family b-day party coming up, there will be cake at it, so I'll eat cake then, and then try to be good until Thanksgiving Day. Then, I'll try to be good until the holidays and will try to not indulge too awful much. And Jan. New Year's Resolutions arrive again, so I can buckle down again, too, but I'll have cake on my b-day in mid-Jan.

[Ivy]

I actually walked 30 min. today! Woo-Hoo!!!!

[Harmony]

Walking more is one of my next-year goals. This year I'm mostly dragging.

Been reading the acid reflux book I bought. What an eye-opener. Learning stuff I never knew. I'll just bet there's more complete lists somewhere for the PH value of foods, I find a lot missing in their list.

The foods I like most are no-no's. I will have to radically change my diet. And there will be more specific shopping and cooking...I can't see DH eating this way, and the way we eat now is the fastest easiest way, which this plan isn't. I can see a lot of time I'd have to cook 2 separate things.

So, this is on my list for next year or sooner if I can manage, to make a plan.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

On the treadmill again. Yesterday was a good workout and a productive day but by evening my back was screaming. Then in bed, a slight shift knocked it out completely and I was yelping out in pain which took hours to subside.

I suspect a change to one of my stretches did the damage. Ds has a yoga balance stretch that is similar to one of mine. I stand on one foot with my heel up held against my buttocks by one hand, the other arm out for balance. I hold that for a minute so am working on balance as well as the stretch of the thigh muscles. Ds' pose has the leg out in front and a slight squat. So after stretching out for 25 seconds I slowly swung the leg out front and held it there for the rest of the minute. That worked a different set of muscles and I'm thinking that's what hurt me so much.

Since walking is the best remedy for my back, I'm on the treadmill again this morning but going really slowly. No heart rate work for me today. And I'll cut the workout short at 30 minutes despite how far I've gone (yesterday I stayed on longer so I could make two miles.)

Today is heavy housework day (mopping and vacuuming.) I may press dh into service for the vacuuming.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

I keep wanting to start yoga but am afraid because of my back. This experience isn't doing anything to allay my fears....

This is why I never went back to Curves despite my great success and 'never been stronger or thinner' results. I started it up again just over a year after my back had healed and within a week I was using a cane again.

[Harmony]

(Kathryn). Interesting about the Curves. I have one pretty close by and had always wondered if it'd help me. I guess the only way to find out is to try. I went to the Y for almost 6 months 3-4 times a week, did the stationery cycle, treadmill, and all the weight machines and never lost a pound. I couldn't tell if I was gaining any strength, even though I was upping the weights on the machines. My encouragement to exercise and diet is to see results in strength or weight and if I don't see any difference, I get very discouraged.

A little overwhelmed lately on the health front. I'm trying to do the right thing with my medicine, and I'm hungry and missing my coffee the first thing in the morning. I am trying to modify my diet for the acid reflux. Yesterday I found I just didn't have enough things to eat around here. I was so hoping this medicine would make it easier for me to lose weight. All I have noticed is that instead of fluctuating 3 lbs up, 3 lbs down, I went up the 3 lbs and stuck there. I've also noticed that I'm warmer than I used to be and have more BO (sorry, tmi). Maybe that is my metabolism trying to speed up, if it is that's a good thing.

I'm seeing little signs that I am a bit better, but I also learned that I still cannot overdo it or I have a setback. I'm feeling like I have too many health things to juggle. I'm not used to this.

[Nancy]

I got the odometer to turn over to 1,000 on the ex. bike this week. So I'm very happy about that.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Harmony: after my first month at Curves my weight and inches were both up. I restarted WW as well (the first month I hadn't 'dieted' at all) and lost steadily after that. Made it to my goal weight in under 4 months and maintained for over a year (actually lost another 6 pounds for total weight loss of 30 lbs.) Got complaints from people hugging me that I shouldn't lose anymore weight. At that weight before, I had never had those comments (and was a size 10 on the bottom, 8 on the top.) With Curves I went down to a size 8 on the bottom and small on the top so that is my proof that I was more muscular at that weight when doing Curves. After 17 months my back gave out and I've never been back. Weight gain came on steadily after that, made worse by the travel and aging.

My period seems to be gone now but I dare not hope since it left for 5 days at the beginning of month and then returned. Total days bleeding this month, 18 out of 27. Don't know if my weight will drop any due to the end of bleeding. I gained when it was due back in September, didn't lose when it came 2 weeks late, ending after 4 days but weight stayed on, and then gained 3 more pounds when it came back as if the original period was on time. So I'm up 6 since the beginning of September. Despite moving a lot more now than I was then.

Anyway, I'm back up to a 7 as the second digit instead of a 6 (and I had hoped to be at 5 by now.) I once again have 30 to lose to hit my goal weight. No way that will happen by the end of the year (which was my goal at the beginning of the year.) The way things are going, I'll be lucky to be the same weight at the end of the year as the beginning.

I've got to do something about the naps as they are starting to interfere with my getting to sleep at night. I slept an hour and was down 2 hours yesterday and then was up past midnight despite getting to bed at 11. I just wasn't tired so played Sudoku on my smart phone while listening to dh snore. I need better earphones to block that out (that's part of the reason I stayed up since I wouldn't be able to sleep while he was snoring and he did stop after an hour.) My old ones were in the ear and the temporary ones just sit outside the ear and do nothing to block noise.

Dh suggested I just stay quiet at 'nap time' today but when I do that, I end up useless for the rest of the day. So if I want to be productive from 8 - 3 and then give up the rest of the day, that's fine but if I want to not be a slug for 7 hours in the day, then I have to nap for 1 - 2 hours. My problem is that I can't go for an early nap since I'm not tired at 1 p.m. and if I nap from 4 - 5 or 6, I can't sleep at night.

On the treadmill now and pushing it a bit since my back seems a lot better. I'll be gentle with the stretches after. Maybe it was flying that did my back in since it was roughly 2 days after that it spasmed out. I figure it has something to do with the sitting position as well as walking fast after being seated in a cramp position. And lifting the suitcase or pulling it behind me. I often has spasms after a day or two after flying but not this bad and yet my suitcase was way lighter than usual and the flight was shorter than usual.

[Harmony]

Nice to know the Curves helped you some when you could do it, Kathryn. I'm in the same boat with you with the naps. If I don't nap during the day, I generally nap in the evening, and it doesn't work just to go to bed extra early, I wake after an hour or two. So then I'm up later before I'm sleeping again..it's a vicious cycle. But I don't care, when I'm feeling good again this will all change.

Low Acid diet seems to be helping a bit. Coughing less. Better at night, not great but a bit better. I'm also down 2 pounds. Watching to see if that stays off.

[Nancy]

I am back inside after raking leaves and doing some chicken chores for 15 min. this morning. Only 43* outside now and foggy so it's not all that pleasant. Glad to have this done.