It appears that Nature herself has taken a hand in my quest for personal improvement. After years of abuse, my body has just about had it. I have an injured knee (started on my mission), scoliosis (a back condition from my youth - I had to wear a brace for two years), high arches and plantar fasciatis (darn genetics!) and degenerative disc disease in my back and neck (WAY too young). Couple all of that with being about 75 lbs. overweight (give or taken) and you have a recipe for constant pain and sabotaged ability.
In particular lately has been the occurrence of acid reflux disease. I believe it was brought upon originally by the stress of my husband's immanent firing and "improved" upon by the consequential year of unemployment and job market destabilization. There's more to that...but that's another story for another time.
This has forced my hand. I've wanted to lose weight, but lacked a lot of the self control needed to achieve much. My back and neck pain have really screamed for me to do something. My knee has prevented walking, as have my foot problems. And...well, I love food. There are those who call it an addiction (must we be addicted to EVERYTHING?), and maybe it is. But I love to cook, especially bake, creatively and my mouth craves flavor - as well as other things. It took the stomach's revolt to bring all that to a screeching halt.
Waking up in the middle of the night with acid in your throat and lungs isn't just painful and annoying - it's scary. Imagine not being able to breath while your throat and lungs are on fire. Not a pleasant experience.
Without insurance to provide me with a doctor to consult, I had to turn to the internet for dietary guidelines. Lots of information, but the best narrowed it down to three categories: Things to Avoid, Things to Eat Cautiously, and Things that are Okay to Eat. And yes, the flavorful yummy things I love are on list #1.
Along with the food lists are recommendations: eat several small meals a day, drink lots of water, and don't eat at least 3 hours before bedtime. I thought they would be difficult to adhere to (well, the water is easy, I always drink a lot), but so far that hasn't been the case. The first few days I felt hungry with the small meals, but now eating a big meal makes me feel uncomfortable. And if I eat what I shouldn't - Look Out! I will be ill afterwards, guaranteed. Willpower has now mutated into what can I tolerate. Not much right now.
I still haven't got a perfect exercise regimen down yet. I've been exercising in the pool with the kids as much as I could. I would like very much to be able to do yoga again. That always makes me feel so relaxed and stretches me out beautifully - my back loves it. More than that is up in the air. I need to get the knee strong so I can do yoga poses, and then hopefully build up enough strength to try other things.
And I hope...that this will bring down the stress levels. A job for my husband wouldn't hurt, either. But until then, I have to do what I can to keep myself going. There is pain in sitting for a long time, pain in laying down a long time, walking too much. I want so much to reduce the pain!
It's never been about the being thin or looking sexy or whatever. It's about the health. And that is growing to be a more precious commodity as each day goes by.
In particular lately has been the occurrence of acid reflux disease. I believe it was brought upon originally by the stress of my husband's immanent firing and "improved" upon by the consequential year of unemployment and job market destabilization. There's more to that...but that's another story for another time.
This has forced my hand. I've wanted to lose weight, but lacked a lot of the self control needed to achieve much. My back and neck pain have really screamed for me to do something. My knee has prevented walking, as have my foot problems. And...well, I love food. There are those who call it an addiction (must we be addicted to EVERYTHING?), and maybe it is. But I love to cook, especially bake, creatively and my mouth craves flavor - as well as other things. It took the stomach's revolt to bring all that to a screeching halt.
Waking up in the middle of the night with acid in your throat and lungs isn't just painful and annoying - it's scary. Imagine not being able to breath while your throat and lungs are on fire. Not a pleasant experience.
Without insurance to provide me with a doctor to consult, I had to turn to the internet for dietary guidelines. Lots of information, but the best narrowed it down to three categories: Things to Avoid, Things to Eat Cautiously, and Things that are Okay to Eat. And yes, the flavorful yummy things I love are on list #1.
Along with the food lists are recommendations: eat several small meals a day, drink lots of water, and don't eat at least 3 hours before bedtime. I thought they would be difficult to adhere to (well, the water is easy, I always drink a lot), but so far that hasn't been the case. The first few days I felt hungry with the small meals, but now eating a big meal makes me feel uncomfortable. And if I eat what I shouldn't - Look Out! I will be ill afterwards, guaranteed. Willpower has now mutated into what can I tolerate. Not much right now.
I still haven't got a perfect exercise regimen down yet. I've been exercising in the pool with the kids as much as I could. I would like very much to be able to do yoga again. That always makes me feel so relaxed and stretches me out beautifully - my back loves it. More than that is up in the air. I need to get the knee strong so I can do yoga poses, and then hopefully build up enough strength to try other things.
And I hope...that this will bring down the stress levels. A job for my husband wouldn't hurt, either. But until then, I have to do what I can to keep myself going. There is pain in sitting for a long time, pain in laying down a long time, walking too much. I want so much to reduce the pain!
It's never been about the being thin or looking sexy or whatever. It's about the health. And that is growing to be a more precious commodity as each day goes by.
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1 comment:
You have been through a lot lately! I hope things start working out for you. Just changing your eating habits should reduce the weight which will then reduce the pain that will allow you to exercise. GOOD LUCK!! :) Miss you!
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