Healthy & Fitness - October 2014

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Nancy: white coat syndrome is a higher blood pressure reading when taken by a human at a doctor's office. Same thing hit me 2 years ago at the liver specialist. Couldn't believe it, had never had it before.

It has lead to my GP taking all patient's blood pressure everytime they come in. The nurse seats us in the exam room and hooks us up to the machine. It then takes 6 readings and averages them out. The doc comes in after that and notes the numbers on the files. Doesn't matter why you are there, it is taken automatically. And since no 'white coat' is involved and it is over a matter of 5+ minutes, the numbers are closer to accurate. I played around with mine (trying to mind-over-matter lower my heart rate) and found the best way to lower it was to distract myself with a word puzzle because when I thought about it my reading went up. I knew my resting heart rate was between 60 and 70 which is what ds found today when he took my vitals (it was 68.)

Bad eating day here. Will start again tomorrow. I'm in 'fasting' time now while I await my pill. Will start in on writing up on the treadmill but very gently, my knees are acting up today. Got my average numbers for the week yesterday and I'm down 800 steps a day on average from the previous week and yet my knees are complaining like crazy. That's being noted for the doctor since Lyme Disease can affect knees.

[Twins' Mom]

Did not eat well today but will do better tomorrow.

Thanks to Kathryn I found a local Fitbit group and joined - it's not particularly active, I'm about 30th of 70 something for this month but would like to move up next month. Dogs walked tonight and have done over 8k steps.

[Nancy]

K in C thanks for that info.

Back from my walk it was brisk out.

[LadyMaverick]

Sometimes I feel like eating (over eating) late at night is going to haunt me forever.

I shake it .....then it pops back up.

Shoooo - Go away. Stay away. Don't bother me!

ARGH!

A whole day of excellent healthy habits can be sabotaged during the last hour of my day.

[Kathryn-in-Canada]

Twins: glad you found a group in your area! When I first got my fitbit, I thought being in competition with others was stupid (and I suppose it is) but surprisingly, it is nice to interact a little with others who have the same interest (the same way interacting with strangers over our housekeeping makes sense!)

My first walk today was a success. There are 5 in our area who have identified themselves for the subgroup so I'll start working on getting others to participate.

Our Ottawa group has 326 members but only a few actually comment and fewer still belong to the facebook group (this is the first FB group I joined but it is a closed community which is good.) BTW: since my FB name isn't my real name and neither is my fitbit identity, I have to learn to respond to another name when I meet these people in real life!

[Harmony]

Back from my walk. Half an hour. I was dragging at the end, it was hot outside. I don't feel any pep in my step, but I'm keeping at it.

About the skin / jiggle thing - I used to work with a gal who was pretzel thin. But if you watched her walk away from you it all jiggled. I don't think she'd lost gobs of weight, but she had no muscle tone. Fit is better.

My neighbor, who I suspect lost a lot of weight as she appears to have a skin flap at stomach, told me the other day how she lost weight. She kept a big bowl of fruit and ate that while hungry along with fiber bars. She said she lost 1 lb. a day, which tells me she probably had lots and lots to lose. To each his own...

I can't eat yogurt any more. The plain kind or sweetened with fruit. Acid trigger. But I can drink regular / skim milk or buttermilk with no problems. Odd.

I read that artificial sweeteners are bad for IBS. Thought I'd pass that along.

My back is just a tad better. I haven't been on a scale recently but my clothes are not quite as tight. Or my bras. Still, I'm sure there isn't much loss, but at this point I'll take any.

[Nancy]

Lovely day the sun came out I really enjoyed my walk today.

[Dove]

I posted this in PWYC today but thought I'd put it here, too.

Lucylee, I read this in a magazine last night & thought of you & other allergy sufferers here. A reader had written in & said: "I used to struggle with allergies in both fall and spring, until I discovered the power of local raw honey. I add a little to sweeten oatmeal and coffee, and I put it on toast almost every day. And if I go through the day without it, I just eat a spoonful right before bedtime. I haven't had an allergy issue in years."

[Harriet]

Dove, thanks for the shared info!

About the sagging/jiggling - Genetically, there is a wide range of musculature that can be inherited. There is even such a thing as very low muscle mass (called sarcopenia) even for physically active people. If two people do the same exercise, same amount of time, one may look toned and firm while the other still looks like she just doesn't work out enough, still jiggly.

Cowinkie, hope you are feeling well. I saw that you must have come back in and given the other link. Thanks. I'll be interested to hear if you learn some mid-section exercises from your friend.

Harmony, that's me, too - milks are fine. I suppose, now that I think of it, so are cheeses, and certainly butter is fine. So it's the culturing increasing that lactic acid that does it. Milk is actually non-acidic until it's cultured - it's about a 7.

LadyM, I just knew one of those late-eating moments was coming up for me last night - could just feel it. The perishable ingredients for tossed salad in my fridge pressured me (happily) into making a tossed salad with cukes and I had a can of sardines with that, just determined to be good. (Tobias was delighted to have a bite.) That odd little meal saved me!

Happy you had good walks, Kathryn and Nancy. Good job on the steps, Twins' Mom.

[FelineFriend]

Have 8,667 steps and it's only 1:30 p.m.!!!! Go me!

I walked 1 hour, did housework for 45 minutes.

Next up, are stretching, yoga, etc...

Won't log steps at The President's Challenge until I've done 10,000 steps OR at bedtime.

I CANNOT "stand" Dr.'s who wear white coats! Had an eye specialist who wore one, so transferred to the more down-to-earth man, which I can communicate with. Then, I had an OB/GYN, who did my surgery, had him for 2 years, ditched him and use my regular-clothed primary care Dr. for female things. This OB/GYN was so "sterile", with no personality at ALL, and he made me uncomfortable, as he was TOO "formal." The reviews on-line, AFTER I'd used him for 2 years, were NOT favorable either! He was impersonal, one gal said he treated her like she was stupid, he made her mad, so she never went back. HE'S the first "white coat" problem Dr. I experienced that with. I like Dr.'s who wear ANY COLOR other than white, for coats! Is it "ME" or is it the white coat? It's just too funny & odd & ridiculous!