Where Are You?

Tomorrow is my birthday. My birthday, much more than New Years Eve, makes me reflect on my life. Now that I have diabetes, exercise induced asthma, and now I'm taking INH for LTB with a clear chest x-ray, I have a lot of things to think about when it comes to my health. Where do I want to be, from a health standpoint? Positives - since my Aria scale, I am more accountable, and slowly losing weight. My goal weight is 150. No more than 160. This would be ideal for my BMI based on height. I have gotten a Bellicon rebounder, which has really helped my core strength, and helps me do things I couldn't do before on hard ground. - jumping jacks, for example. And it's a lot of fun, so I use it almost daily. My stamina is better. My daily steps and stairs and overall fitness is better. Now areas to work on - the INH is making life difficult. The first huge hurdle is it messes with my carbohydrate metabolism. When I started the medicine last month, my blood sugars went through the roof. Which made me so hungry. But I was trying to eat no carbs. But my sugars were still terrible. So, unhappily, I started back on metformin. I didn't want to, after successfully getting off all meds, but my blood sugars were high, and I knew that the long term effects were bad. So I sucked it up and got back on the meds. My sugars are within normal range. I'm still working on lowering my daily carbs to 40 a day. Exhaustion continues to plague me. It's frustrating. I feel like I should feel better because I am doing better. Exhaustion is something I deal with daily. It greatly affects my motivation. That's why my support groups online help me so much - the Fitbit groups keep me moving, encourage me. The Fitbit challenges help as well. Overall, I am healthier today than I have ever been. My goal is that by next year's birthday post, I will have run my Boston qualifier and made the race list, and I will be at goal weight. And since I will be off the dreaded INH, I hope to be off metformin, too. One day at a time. Controlling that which I can control, and releasing that which I cannot. I'm grateful to be here, learning how to be a better steward of this body every day. e b e r

Step on It

The scale.

For most women, we have a dread of stepping on the scale. 

That's why it's so important the focus is on health and not weight. 

Obsessing about weight causes eating disorders. The other end is denial of our true weight, which leads to more weight gain and an unhealthier self. 

I think an accurate scale is important. It's part of accountability. You can lie to yourself that your weight s fine if you never have to look at it. 

But BMI is important. Obesity and its complications kills more people than any single disease out there. 

So step on it. Get real. Get moving.

Then be balanced. 

I just got an Aria scale by Fitbit for Christmas. I'm so excited! I made a pact with myself to only weigh in on Monday mornings. 

Oh, I want to get on it. Daily. But that is just crazy making. There are so many things that change our weight daily, and don't give us any idea of the big picture.

So for the new year, get on that scale. Get real. Celebrate if you are where you need to be as a healthy person, and if it is a different number, start setting realistic goals. Get moving! You can do it!

You have to start with the facts!  

e b e r

Chew On This

Slow down!

Your eating speed, that is. 

It takes 20 minutes from when you eat something for your brain to register that your stomach is full.

If you're wolfing down your food, you're going to still think you're hungry. Often that leads to mindless eating. 

I'm not a binge eater, but I'm a fast eater. I'm an RN - you eat when you can at work, and some days that's very fast!

Here's where accountability comes in again. You eat the right foods, in the right portions. 

Then you stop!

It's a simple premise. If you can do this, you are on your way to a healthier, less hungry you! 

e b e r

Eating Outside The Box

Deciding to live a healthy life means eating outside the box. 

Cereal boxes. Mac and cheese boxes. Cracker boxes. Basically, almost without exception, anything that comes in a box. 

Generations ago, people grew their own food. Raised livestock. Canned their food. Had root cellars. Shared from their abundance. They were living, breathing, actual sized humans. 

Now we have a generation eating processed "food" out of boxes. Filled with ingredients we can neither name or identify. A generation guzzling chemical laden soda. Eating fast "food" in a car. Growing more overweight, obese, and killing themselves one bite at a time. 

It's amazing that when people decide to get healthy, one of the hardest things to do is drink water. Pure, unadulterated, water. 

It's time to get outside the box. 

It's time to read. 

One of the first things I had to do when I became diabetic was read labels. To say it was eye opening is a huge understatement. I shuddered as I read labels of food I used to eat thoughtlessly. I was looking for nutritional values, but as I looked deeper, I saw that eating from the box wasn't feeding me. You can fill your belly but get no nutritional value. 

Get out of the box. 

Go find a recipe book that features fresh real produce, actual living ingredients. Buy fresh local produce. Learn to cook if you haven't been a cook. If you can read and follow directions, you can do it. 

Start by getting outside of the box. 

e b e r

Cold Turkey

Hello, my name is EBER and I am a sugar addict. 

Oh yes, I know this does not jive with my diabetes diagnosis. I'm well aware, as my blood sugar readings tell me...along with the feelings of nausea, dizziness, and exhaustion. My brain understands logically that every blood sugar over 130 is physically damaging to me. 

It's a long standing love affair. 

The sugar rush of comfort has been my go to for most of my life. When I was stressed out, it was cheese Danish time. Or cookies. Or a huge soda. Ice cream. Brownies. Stop. STOP!

It's not a healthy self comforter. I know this, and I always knew it - but I never have eaten anything to excess. I wasn't the whole row of Oreos girl. But I will eat some Oreos! I'd eat ice cream, but a few bites. I'm not a binger. 

These are the excuses I gave myself. When I was a young person, my slender frame belied my eating habits. 

As the decades added up, so did the pounds - about a pound a year. By middle age I was overweight, and diagnosed with diabetes. 

It's hard to kick 4 decades of bad habits. Especially when they taste so good!

I have had short periods of sugar eating decreased. Just a treat here and there. But slowly, insidiously, the occasional became the regular. Only now, I'm having immediate physical consequences. 

Oh don't read this and think you are immune from sugar and its negative effects. Read this: 

http:///articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2012/09/02/fructose-affects-brain-health.aspx

 

If that doesn't convince you, how about this article from Neurology:

http://www.neurology.org/content/63/4/E9.full

I though bread would be my nemesis. Alas, no - I have eliminated it with nary a backwards glance. It's the drug induced effects of sugar that have me in their grips. 

There is only one thing to do. Go cold turkey.

Say what?

You heard me. My sugar addled mind must be cleared of the poison. Not little by little, but all at once. Now. TODAY!

Lawd help me. Seriously. 

I've already found recipes for thanksgiving to replace the sugar laden ones. 

This is long over due, and the sugar addiction won't go down without a fight. 

One day at a time. 

e b e r

The #1 Question

What do you think the #1 question is that people ask me about my journey to a healthier of me? It isn't even close. After seeing the changes in my life and lifestyle, they always ask the same thing. 

How do I get the right shoes? 

It's the right question, for sure. Most people, including me in the beginning, are wearing the wrong shoes. And this one thing is a deal breaker! The wrong shoes will keep you from exercising, and could cause temporary or permanent injury. 

So what is my recommendation? 

Go to a running store. Notice I didn't say shoe store! Even if your plan is to walk, go to a running store - they know how to fit you with the proper shoe for what your goals are. They will do a gait analysis for free, and make recommendations based on how you move. 

It is a deal breaker. Yes, you may spend more money than the tennis shoes you buy on sale but shoes are foundational. Proper shoes protect your feet. They help your stride, which helps protect your back. 

So if you are considering starting to exercise, see your doctor. If they give you the go ahead, then... Get thee to the running store. 

Oh, and while you are at it get some good, supportive athletic socks. If they are cute, all the better!

e b e r

Running For My Life

Tomorrow I'm going to do a half marathon.  I've done seven in the last 4 years, but I've been off my training schedule for the past couple of months. 

I am still walking or walk/running 30-40 miles a week, so the new "lax" me is in a much better place physically 

than the girl who ran that first half four years ago.

Tomorrow is important. 

November is a heavy month for me emotionally. I've had three very close loved ones die in November. Some major life changing events happened to me in November. I've come to dread it. 

I have depression, and although I am medicated and counseled, there are times I need to do more. I knew I needed to turn November around. 

The simple, yet sometimes profound, daily affirmations of thankfulness are the first thing I did at the beginning of this month. It helps. 

I am also trying to be more mindful. For example, tonight as I observed a very miserable woman out to dinner with her spouse, I purposed to be more aware of my attitude. And how I am reflecting myself, and affecting others. 

Those are good things, but tomorrow's date is a significant day in my history. A day that, in the past, has made me morose, depressed, overly consumed. Etc. 

So tomorrow I am going to run. For my life. 

The last time I did this was after my miscarriage. I was in such a fragile state emotionally, and I needed to do something life affirming. I needed to push through the pain. So I ran, and so did the tears. 

So it will be tomorrow. 

I have a new playlist of music to keep me moving and positive. I go into this knowing full well I'm not going to have a peak performance- but that's okay. 

Tomorrow I am running for my life. 

I will be the better for it. 

e b e r