Health and Fitness, August 2013

[Nancy]

I've done my walk some gardening today as well glad to have that done before the heat sets in later on in the day.

[Ivy]

I "Tweaked" my knee this later afternoon, somehow, so if I walk, tomorrow, it'll be with a cane and at 10-min. spurts, slowly, followed by icing/elevating. If it's too uncomfortable, I'll not do it.

[Nancy]

{{{Ivy}}} ouch!

I walked this morning.
Today I"m trying to get my system back on track and not paying quite so much attn. to the calorie intake as to what it good fiber, yougart etc. that will help me be regular again. Taking a water break. Had soup for lunch.

[Cowinkie]

I had a sleep study done a week ago and have the some of the results..though haven't spoken to the dr yet.

I have sever sleep apnea. What I don't know is what type it is. There are two. One is obstructive which is self described... your throat/airways close due to some sort of physical problem. When the airways close, you can't breath and you wake up. The other is called central which means your brain sends signals to your lungs to stop breathing...and then your heart stops which makes you wake up. This repeats its self many times a night. Unlike obstructive apnea, here is little understanding to why this happens.

During my study, the tech woke me up and I had to wear the "mask". To make it work, you have to force air down your nose/throat and then machine blows it back up into your nose again. I had a terrible time using the mask as it brought back vivid images and strong feelings of drowning again. I had to really concentrate on my thoughts so I wouldn't panic and rip the mask off. I thought it was important so see how the mask effected my test results.

I don't want to wear this machine....I don't want to look like an elephant when I go to sleep...I do not want to depend on this machine to keep me living longer. So I've decided that if I have obstructive apnea I will use it to gain back my strength. My thinking is if I am less fatigued then I will be able to exercise which will help me lose weight. I am really not much over my optimal weight, but my thinking is I need to be at the lowest end of my health weight point.

Turns out my weight gain...we're talking 15 lbs...and inability to lose it is NOT my imagination. Sleep apnea interferes with certain hormones that are directly connected with sleep. If is turns out that I have the central type, then I'm not sure what can be done. There is a Mayo Clinic in my area and I will make an appointment with them if this is the type I have. Because this type of apnea really effects your heart, this is nothing to mess with.

I have a very good friend who uses this mask. He told me that it is only because of the mask and machine that he is still around for me to talk to....I told him thanks for scaring me....but he said he was only trying to make me understand the seriousness of this and I shouldn't let vanity stand in my way...he's known me all my life and knows how stubborn I can be.

http://www.weight-loss-center.net/sleep ... -gain.html

[Ivy]

Cowinkie, Our "ex"-SIL had sleep apnea, had to go onto a C-Pap machine at night. Then, he all-of-a-sudden started doing exercises, like running in place, while watching TV, took up Tae Kwon Do, and lost a lot of weight. Then he didn't need his C-Pap machine anymore. It was very interesting to me! I have another dfriend, who had sleep apnea, she got the gastric sleeve surgery, lost weight, and didn't need her C-Pap machine at night any longer, too. It's interesting how this works.

I walked 30 minutes today, did calf/leg stretches before and after walking, and did some body stretching, too.

[Nancy]

I've done my 10 mi. on the ex. bike.

[Sunny]

Cowinkie...that's a lot of good information you gave and with the website. I hope it all works out best for you. My dcousin has to wear a mask, but I don't know which kind of apnea she has. (Ididn't know there was different kinds-causes.) She says she feels much better since using the mask.

My dh and I have been trying to do more walking lately. We usually go out to the nearest indoor mall and walk at least two laps. This past Thurs. we drove over to IKEA since we hadn't been there for a few months. After a quick lunch we walked both floors the whole way through. I always pick up a jar of lingonberry jam simply because I like the taste. But I was curious about what lingonberries were so I looked it up. Turns out to be a very healthy fruit with lots of antioxidents, very good for our health and well being. Dr. Oz calls it a superfruit! If you are interested here are a couple places for information....www.doctoroz.com/videos/superfruit-lingonberry and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lingonberry_jam. Oh just found one more: http://scandinavianfood.about.com/od/sc ... erries.htm
This last one has some good recipes.

[Ivy]

I was tidying up the pantry shelf where we have Ziploc bag boxes standing on end, so they fit more to the shelf in that spot. I noticed my basket with a handle on it, full of Weight Watchers books, info, my calculator for activity, etc... So I got it out, the books fit into my index card file system box perfectly (given to me by DD) and I decided to begin W. W. today. So far, so good.

It's "challenging" with the grsons here because there are jumbo muffins from Costco, bags of chips, and some ice cream bars and sandwiches.

I'm supposed to eat 21 points, I'm at 9 right now, I still have a snack and dinner to go, followed by that "trying" time of nighttime snacking. I'm determined to make this work. I needed to do something. Since I've got various books, from 2 - 3 other years of W. W., I figured why let them go to waste or I'm gonna go to WAIST!

[Nancy]

Today I did 30 min. of ex. this am loading branches in the trailer and trash can drive way looks way better now! Plus mid. morning I did 10 mi. on the ex. bike and took a stroll with neighbors in the evening after dinner at dusk.

[Lynlee]

Walked 3 k today.
PT appointment this morning. Perhaps last time I saw them I was mistaken in thinking I had to really push my shoulder, and today the instruction clearly was to go to what we call in yoga "the edge" without pushing into pain.
I've attempted the exercises tonight. I think I can do it this way.
I've gotten back to yoga twice a week - still no body weight on my arms, though I do Sphinx. Maybe don't tell docs that. Every week I'm doing different things "instead of" Its a bit interesting departing from the instructors script. I use to blocks for support at times. (Radiant Light Yoga uses props to assist in poses.)
Missed my pool visit last week. That has really helped too.