(no subject)
Sep. 29th, 2008 08:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
quidditchgrrlI've been thinking about you all...there are many of you out there that are actively getting into shape, are maintaining your health, or are looking to get started.
All the information is so confusing, one size fits all, or just plain silly (those foot pads that claim to "detox" your body, anyone?).
I thought about putting up some "before" pictures of myself, but when I looked at them...no. Just. I can't. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Thank god I've always felt good about myself and have never cared what others thought of me. It's a true gift.
So, wise and wonderful friends of LiveJournal:
1. What are you doing to make yourself feel better and why?
2. What are some bad habits that you find tough to break? Or that you don't want to break?
3. Do you have any goals that you're working toward, health-wise?
1. a) I have my diabetes under control, after spending years denying it, ignoring it, and throwing caution to the wind. I've had normal Hemoglobin A1c scores (which measure your average glucose level over a 3-month period) for about a year. I am amazed at how much better I feel, and how much MORE energy I have (and if you know me, you know that I've always been high-intensity). If only I'd realized this when I was diagnosed, my life might have been different.
b) I gave up The Pill in 2003, when I became ill - they wouldn't stay down - and I *woke up*. It was like...a fog had cleared, I could think again, have feelings again. My migraines disappeared, and my sex drive returned. I'm no doctor, but if you've been taking hormones, consider giving them up for 3 months. Again, a life-changing decision.
c) Sleep has always been a troublesome thing for me. I've never had a "normal" sleep pattern, ever - I remember watching TV in the middle of the night from as early as I could remember, and being up in my crib at night before that. I'd alternate with weeks of almost total insomnia, then crash and burn for a day or two to recharge before starting the cycle again. That was fine for college, but in the real world, you can't do that.
I am now convinced that I've had some Metabolic Syndrome since birth, and it developed full-blown diabetes when I was about 8 years old (that was about the age when I began to develop large ulcers when I scratched mosquito bites, some as big as a grown person's thumb). Diabetes runs rampant on both sides of my family.
When I began taking care of my diabetes, the most worrisome thing was the exhaustion I felt...I needed to sleep 8-10 hours every night or I couldn't function. Blood tests were normal, no mono, no dengue fever...just tired as hale. Yep - when I started digging into diabetes research, there is a huge link between diabetes and sleep disorders. Now, I wind down my day by doing crossword puzzles and reading in the hour before I need to be asleep (10pm on weeknights).
d) Nutrition-wise, I'm working through the good (eating Activia yogurt literally keeps me alive - literally) and the bad (the amazing acne I had over the past year+? Lack of certain B vitamins and zinc because of a low-carb, diabetic diet). I've had to cut calories with my new desk job, quit eating so many cruciferous vegetables (they strip my body of bacteria and nutrients, nice), watch for low blood sugars, and try to eat colorful foods. I take my vitamins, my nicotinamide (a prescription of certain B vitamins and zinc for the acne), and a fish oil capsule every day.
2. a) Diet soda. I don't care if it's gonna give me cancer, dammit. I've tried Crystal Lite and other calorie-free drinks (CL makes a great LiveActive mix-in, and they have mixes with stuff like glucosamine or calcium), but there is nothing like a Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. Mmm, artificial flavors and cancer-causing sweeteners...
b) I still eat too many cruciferous vegetables, and sometimes too much fiber. I know! I'm weird, but I'm a crunch person, and if there is a bag of baby carrots around, they are going to get nommed. Applesmmmmmmmmmm, the season is coming. *stashes the baby carrots back in fridge*
c) I'm an inveterate binge drinker, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Too much wine, too little time. :-)
3. My goals for the next year: get to 150 (i.e. the 100-pounds-lost goal weight - 25# to go), stay healthy, win more races (not likely). The tummy tuck is not likely to happen this year, but the funds are being diverted and it WILL happen, by the gods.
Seriously, I want to know, and you might impart some knowledge to someone who might be able to use it.
All the information is so confusing, one size fits all, or just plain silly (those foot pads that claim to "detox" your body, anyone?).
I thought about putting up some "before" pictures of myself, but when I looked at them...no. Just. I can't. Not yet. Maybe not ever.
Thank god I've always felt good about myself and have never cared what others thought of me. It's a true gift.
So, wise and wonderful friends of LiveJournal:
1. What are you doing to make yourself feel better and why?
2. What are some bad habits that you find tough to break? Or that you don't want to break?
3. Do you have any goals that you're working toward, health-wise?
1. a) I have my diabetes under control, after spending years denying it, ignoring it, and throwing caution to the wind. I've had normal Hemoglobin A1c scores (which measure your average glucose level over a 3-month period) for about a year. I am amazed at how much better I feel, and how much MORE energy I have (and if you know me, you know that I've always been high-intensity). If only I'd realized this when I was diagnosed, my life might have been different.
b) I gave up The Pill in 2003, when I became ill - they wouldn't stay down - and I *woke up*. It was like...a fog had cleared, I could think again, have feelings again. My migraines disappeared, and my sex drive returned. I'm no doctor, but if you've been taking hormones, consider giving them up for 3 months. Again, a life-changing decision.
c) Sleep has always been a troublesome thing for me. I've never had a "normal" sleep pattern, ever - I remember watching TV in the middle of the night from as early as I could remember, and being up in my crib at night before that. I'd alternate with weeks of almost total insomnia, then crash and burn for a day or two to recharge before starting the cycle again. That was fine for college, but in the real world, you can't do that.
I am now convinced that I've had some Metabolic Syndrome since birth, and it developed full-blown diabetes when I was about 8 years old (that was about the age when I began to develop large ulcers when I scratched mosquito bites, some as big as a grown person's thumb). Diabetes runs rampant on both sides of my family.
When I began taking care of my diabetes, the most worrisome thing was the exhaustion I felt...I needed to sleep 8-10 hours every night or I couldn't function. Blood tests were normal, no mono, no dengue fever...just tired as hale. Yep - when I started digging into diabetes research, there is a huge link between diabetes and sleep disorders. Now, I wind down my day by doing crossword puzzles and reading in the hour before I need to be asleep (10pm on weeknights).
d) Nutrition-wise, I'm working through the good (eating Activia yogurt literally keeps me alive - literally) and the bad (the amazing acne I had over the past year+? Lack of certain B vitamins and zinc because of a low-carb, diabetic diet). I've had to cut calories with my new desk job, quit eating so many cruciferous vegetables (they strip my body of bacteria and nutrients, nice), watch for low blood sugars, and try to eat colorful foods. I take my vitamins, my nicotinamide (a prescription of certain B vitamins and zinc for the acne), and a fish oil capsule every day.
2. a) Diet soda. I don't care if it's gonna give me cancer, dammit. I've tried Crystal Lite and other calorie-free drinks (CL makes a great LiveActive mix-in, and they have mixes with stuff like glucosamine or calcium), but there is nothing like a Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi. Mmm, artificial flavors and cancer-causing sweeteners...
b) I still eat too many cruciferous vegetables, and sometimes too much fiber. I know! I'm weird, but I'm a crunch person, and if there is a bag of baby carrots around, they are going to get nommed. Applesmmmmmmmmmm, the season is coming. *stashes the baby carrots back in fridge*
c) I'm an inveterate binge drinker, and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Too much wine, too little time. :-)
3. My goals for the next year: get to 150 (i.e. the 100-pounds-lost goal weight - 25# to go), stay healthy, win more races (not likely). The tummy tuck is not likely to happen this year, but the funds are being diverted and it WILL happen, by the gods.
Seriously, I want to know, and you might impart some knowledge to someone who might be able to use it.
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(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-30 01:13 am (UTC)1. What are you doing to make yourself feel better and why?
a) Trying to lose the last 10 pounds (again). I hate being the cliche, but I actually made it to my goal weight and then put 15-20 pounds back on when my lifestyle changed dramatically (new job/living with boyfriend). I'm trying to fold those changes into my old healthy ways and get back down to the weight I was 3 years ago. I felt fantabulous at that weight. I hope to feel as fantabulous again!
b)The other stuff I'm doing is really just a way to get (a) accomplished. This time around I'm changing things up a little though. I think part of the reason some of the weight came back is that when I got to my goal weight last time was because it was in sight and I pushed myself to get their as fast as I could. That meant working out every day and sometimes twice a day. Great in a fantasy setting (ala The Biggest Loser), but in the real world this threw me off track when I didn't have 2 hours every day to devote to exercise. And I've got a serious all or nothing mentality sometimes--plus a severe case of burn out after so much unvarying exercise. This time around I'm just trying to incorporate more movement--even if it's just a leisurely evening walk. I still do regimented work outs too, but not nearly as punishing.
2. What are some bad habits that you find tough to break? Or that you don't want to break?
a) I would like to turn in my membership to the clean plate club. Just because food is there doesn't mean I have to eat it. (Refrigerators do exist!)
b)Stupid candy jar at work. (see a.)
c)Lose the all or nothing 5 miles running each day workouts and just get up and move!
d)I hear you on the binge drinking. If I get together with friends drinking is something I tend to fall into because everyone else is doing it and it looks so fun. But OMG I went to a bar this weekend and only had water! And the world didn't end and I wasn't super bored and jealous that everyone was drunk but me! (Seriously had never done that before...)
3. Do you have any goals that you're working toward, health-wise?
a) I'm going to finish my 10 miler this weekend. I did NOT train as well as I should have, but there's no shame in walking and I just have to remember that.
b) I would love love love love love to become a morning person. I'm sure if I just had a bit more fortitude I could go to sleep earlier, wake up earlier, work out, eat breakfast at home and be at work on time. I feel like my life would be just a smidge better if I didn't have such rushed tired morning. I've been trying to just get in bed 30 minutes earlier each day. It hasn't translated to earlier sleeping (still 12:30-1...unfortunately boyfriend is also not a morning person), but I hope that I can transition to earlier sleeping soon.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-30 01:44 am (UTC)1. What are you doing to make yourself feel better and why?
Well, right now, I'm trying to do something small about the emotional eating, including the "I'm bored" eating. I'm not making really TONS of progress, but I've been celebrating the few "yay" moments I've had.
2. What are some bad habits that you find tough to break? Or that you don't want to break?
Oy, this is hard. Cheetos would probably be #1, omg teh Cheetos. But, Cheetos aside, I think my worst habit is thinking that I can do "this one little thing" and it doesn't count against my overall goals.
3. Do you have any goals that you're working toward, health-wise?
Only one, but I can't discuss it right now.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-30 03:19 am (UTC)1. What are you doing to make yourself feel better and why?
I am trying to take it a bit easier. I will give myself ulcer/stroke/cancer if I don't
2. What are some bad habits that you find tough to break? Or that you don't want to break?
Lettting my low blood sugar get way out of control. Like, should go straight to a hospital out of control. I HAVE to break that. Also, I have to keep from stressing about who is the next person in my family to die.
3. Do you have any goals that you're working toward, health-wise?
I need more vitamin D, in the way that vitamin D should be a minimum of 74 and it was below 7. I also do need to go on a diet. My stretch marks from gaining 75 pounds over the space 2 months will never go away. Luckily Boycat loves me!
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-30 04:21 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-30 01:37 pm (UTC)1. What are you doing to make yourself feel better and why?
I am working on being comfortable in my own skin. As long as my doctor is happy with me and what I am doing, then I should be happy with myself. Right now I am focusing on eating the right foods, using the wii fit a few times a week, and staying on a sleep schedule.
2. What are some bad habits that you find tough to break? Or that you don't want to break?
I have given up all alcohol beverages and find my body appreciates this and rewards me with feeling better. However, the craving for a drink every now and then overwhelms me. I have to continuously remind myself how crappy I feel afterwards when I am feeling weak.
3. Do you have any goals that you're working toward, health-wise?
I am trying not to focus on losing weight so much as getting my blood pressure under control. The nice thing is that weight loss is a side effect when you eat right. I am working toward making this a life long change. I am also trying to stay off as many medications as I can. Right now I am only on a stomach one and hope that in a year I can slowly get off that too.
(no subject)
Date: 2008-09-30 09:23 pm (UTC)Great questions. Here goes --
1. What are you doing to make yourself feel better and why?
I work out and have been doing so for 20 years. It's a part of my life, part of who I am, and I miss it when it's not there. Am I an athlete? By no means. I still duck when an object comes flying at me, and I can't dribble a basketball worth a darn. But I enjoy step aerobics, walking, weight training and yoga.
2. What are some bad habits that you find tough to break? Or that you don't want to break?
a -- For the past few months it's been candy and chocolate. I've had some life stressors over the last year, and when stressor #3 came along I said to heck with it. I've put on a few pounds but am still wearing the same size but can gain no more.
b -- Wine but I'm more conscious of the amount I drink. I don't drink a lot in one sitting. I just have a lot of sittings throughout the week!
3. Do you have any goals that you're working toward, health-wise?
I want to get out of my candy habit and also drop the pounds I put on. I want to continue to keep an eye on the amount of wine I drink too.