One week……

I’ve been drinking the greens and tracking my food faithfully for one week and here’s what I’ve noticed.

The greens get better tasting as time goes by. I still wouldn’t drink them in water but in OJ I barely taste them anymore. My brain/fibro fog is much better, my energy levels are much improved and I don’t need the 2pm nap anymore. My cravings have also changed from sweets to more satisfying foods. One day it was tuna and another day it was cheese and crackers. I almost never want sweet things at this point when I was craving chocolate and candy multiple times a day.

Tracking food has made me realize how little protein I’ve been eating since I retired. I typically only eating about 14% of my daily intake as protein. For me I need at least 45% of my daily intake to be protein or I don’t lose weight. I’m currently trying to find was ti add protein without using shakes as well as adding fat and carbs with it. It’s a process.

All in all I’m feeling much better so will keep drinking the greens and tracking everything.

The final awakening…..

Is this the final awakening? I’m asking myself this today. How many times have I started over and how many times will I “start over” on my journey? I think I’m really asking myself the hard questions after a particular horrible couple of days. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were rough. My body hurt in ways it hasn’t before and my energy levels were in the toilet. Worse yet was the amount of time I was spending in and out of the bathroom. My body is not in a healthy happy place and it shows in my skin and bathroom habits. I actually broke down and told my husband how horrible I feel and what a mess my gut health and general health is. He looked me in the eyes and said “I know you’re not feeling the best, so fix it”! I got a bit upset and argued that it wasn’t that simple. His response was “why not?” He told me that I have all the tools and the knowledge and I’m just not using them and you know what? He’s right! I have all kinds of workout stuff but I chose to let it gather dust. I have gym membership that I haven’t been using. I got the greens but really didn’t like the taste so don’t drink it. I skip my vitamins most days because I’m lazy. I snack in crap instead of making myself an actual meal or something healthy to eat. I just continually self sabotage which made me ask myself, am I going to self sabotage myself into a hospital bed or an early grave? So now I ask myself “is this the final awakening? And can I make the habits stick?” I don’t know but I do know that I need to start again and try before it’s too late so yesterday and today I experimented with the green juice and mixed it in different things. It’s not as horrible in orange juice. I took my vitamins and instead of snacking on chips and Ichiban noodles and other crap I made myself a tuna sandwich this afternoon and I tracked it all as intake so I can make sure I’m getting enough protein. All any of us can do is try and then try again because as many great people have said “it’s not about how you get up after you fall. It’s about the fact that you actually get up again and again”!

🙄……

Yesterday I had some bloodwork drawn. I’ve had the requisition for ages and just never found time to go to the lab. I hadn’t had time to go in a review it when one of the clinic doctors called for an appointment I had set up for med refills, and the following conversation ensued….

Him - have you looked at your books work or reviewed with your regular doctor?

Me - I haven’t had a chance

Him - well the good news is that your cholesterol and blood sugars are down substantially so you must be doing something right but I have to ask, are you tired allot?

Me - yep, I could sleep for hours every day and have zero energy.

Him - I’m betting you have coke hands and feet, dizziness, shortness of breath, headaches…are you taking any supplements?

Me - B12, magnesium and vitamin D.

Him - that explains why the numbers look like they do. The B12 would be helping somewhat. You might want to add an iron supplement to that because your iron level is very low.

Me - sitting here stunned smacking my head going “that explains why I feel so shitty all the time” 🤦🏼‍♀️.

My levels were low normal last year when I had blood work done but I increased the amount of dark leafy greens I ate and figured I’d be fine. Apparently that was not enough so off to the health food store I go to find a good supplement. One more thing to add to the ever growing list of issues my body thinks it would be fun to deal with 😞.

Reason 9 billion to get in shape…..

I cleaned our bathroom yesterday. I admit it was overdue so more work than it should have been. We have a deep soaker tub that is only accessible on one side with 1/3 glass wall so we can use as a shower. It’s a pain in the ass to clean at the best of times. Yesterday it almost killed me to scrub that thing and today my hips, knees and lower back are screaming. Reason 9 billion to get in shape….to be able to clean the damn bathroom and not feel like you’ve been tortured the following day 😞.

Two weeks down…..

We are two weeks into the new year and it hasn’t been an auspicious start. I have spent most of it sick with pneumonia and although the antibiotics are finished I’m still hacking up a lung. I have gotten back to taking my vitamins and I did see my trainer for the first time on Wednesday. Almost 4 weeks of surfing the bed and couch has not been kind ti my muscles and joints.

You women out there in my age bracket will understand when I say hair grows where it shouldn’t. It’s even worse if you’ve suffered from PCOS. I’ve been lax about said hair removal but decided I needed to be better. Warning! When you remove hair in the face it makes the wrinkle allot more prominent! That good skin care intention is definitely now a requirement 😂.

I purchase some dietary greens that you see all over the internet. I struggle with IBS as well as major inflammation and am at high risk for cancer due to my history. The greens help with inflammation, have tumour reducing properties as well as pre and probiotics and allot of other healthy benefits. I have a very sensitive sense of taste and they although they are manageable they are definitely earthier than I would like. I Ended up eating a mint aero bar to get rid of the taste. I’m thinking it defeats the purpose of the healthy greens 🤷🏼‍♀️😂. I’ll have to figure something out to dilute the taste.

I’m hoping to get back to the gym in February but we will see how that goes.

A new year……

It’s a new year and that means so many possibilities. I don’t really make resolutions as for me they are more of a detriment. What I do is sit and think about the past year and set goals for the coming year. This year I’ve been a bit slow about things with being sick with Influenza and then a nasty bout of pneumonia. The second of which I am not even close to over and am still taking antibiotics for.

Since I became ill I had to stop taking all of my medication as I could t stand to eat and most of them require food. I am now back to taking my BP meds and metformin but since I’d already suffered the worst of the side effects I have chosen not to restart my antidepressants. I felt like they weren’t really helping at things point and that my issue is more anxiety than depression. It’s been 3 weeks now and I feel good l. Something that I suspected for awhile was that I had developed a slight serotonin syndrome. With the stop if the meds I believe even more so this was the case as all of those symptoms have disappeared including the chronic headaches that had been plaguing me for months.

The intentions and goals I have set for this year are to go back to the gym, eat much healthier, live more joyful life and get out more as well as take better general care of me by ensuring I use good skin care, have my bloodwork done regularly and take my vitamins. All easy things that will have huge consequences. So here we go….off into 2024 to live our best life ❤️.

Does anybody do sick well….

I’m curious. Does anyone deal with being sick well? How do you handle it? Do you just get in with it or do you mope and gripe and groan about being sick?

I’m asking because I am sick and have been for weeks now. Started as 2 weeks of Influenza and is now pneumonia. Today I realized that I am all of the above 😂. I like to whine and groan about being sick. I spend at least 2 days just curled up in a ball dying and then I just push forward and get in with it, sometimes to my own detriment. My husband is the opposite. He pushes forward while complaining and then just generally acts like a martyr for days in end. Eventually he gets so sick that he lies in bed and whines like he is dying for days. This got me to thinking how do other people handle being sick? I am truly interested in knowing.

Christmas Day musings…..

Christmas for us is quiet. We don’t have parents or grandparents in either side and we don’t have children on our own. This year is really the first that we’ve actually celebrated what could be considered a traditional Christmas in about 8yrs. We had been going to BC to spend Christmas with my mom, had one year that we were in Jamaica for a wedding and then had a couple of years where renovations meant no decorations or cooking so we ate steaks in the BBQ. Last year was a rough year as it was the first without my mom. I struggled to even put up a tree and just wanted it over and done with. This year we are spending just us and our puppy with a turkey in the oven. As we sat drinking our coffee this morning with the tree lights on my husband said something that made me think. We are so damn fortunate. We live in a country without war. We have a warm home and food in our bellies and we have each other. I’ve been struggling over the last few years with my depression and anxiety. It’s been so much worse than ever before but today I realized that it’s time to start looking at the good things we have going for us and try to find the bright side in life.

I want to take a moment and wish those of you who celebrate a very merry Christmas. If you have family and friends you are spending the time with the hug them tight and enjoy every moment. Take a moment to reflect on the good things in life as even in the darkest of days there are small points of light. ❤️

And in the second day before Christmas Someone gave to me…..

Influenza….they gave me influenza 😕. I am not a good sick person and I’m even worse when I have things to do and am too crappy feeling to do them.

356 days….

Strange number I know. I swore I would get a handle in my health and mobility by my 55th birthday and that is the number of days away I am from it.

I’ve been working with my new trainer and he is pushing me in good ways. He’s also challenged me to really clean up my diet which I have done over the last month. I still enjoy my sugar and occasional diet soda but there is allot less garbage in my diet. I drink mainly water, stopped cooking with and consuming seed oils and an eating allot more salads. I’m down 8.5lbs in 4 weeks so obviously I’m doing something right. I still need to get back to the gym and add some cardio but baby steps.

Crazy thing is that this last week I’ve been feeling miserable with upset stomach, migraine, and general unwell feeling. I made the mistake of eating some McDonald’s fries and this has been the price I paid. Once your body detoxes and you put that stuff back in it. It apparently doesn’t like it very much.

I’m also noticing that I’m just not as hungry overall which means my caloric intake is down. In the past my body has gone into starvation mode but I think the reverse diet I did with that 6 week challenge has helped with my metabolism.

Time will tell if I am truly in the right track for the long hall or if I will need to make more adjustments. Fingers crossed the weight stays off this time 🤞🏻.

Hope everyone is doing fantastic. I’ll try to check in more often 😊.

He liked it…..

My husband isn’t one to eat allot of veggies and fruit. He does eat them but at a bare minimum. I’ve started cooking with more veggies in our food to bulk out the food itself as well as make it healthier. It also means that we don’t have wastage in our fridge which nobody can afford at the cost of groceries these days. I’ve also started making stuffed portobello mushrooms regularly which he actually enjoys.

Tonight I made shrimp fried rice using cauliflower rice. It was tasty, very filling and as I got the bag of cauliflower rice for $1.99 and the shrimp was frozen on sale. Along with frozen wanton soup the entire meal cost less than $20 and there are left overs. Most importantly though is my husband liked it! An entire meal of veggies and he liked it! Definitely a win 😉.

Impatience ….

I have allot of impatience today. I want to feel good and for my body to work the way it should right now! I shouldn’t be feeling this way because I have been seeing huge improvements in my mobility, stability, pain and joint issues. My knee is so much better aligned and I have no back pain or hip pain. My biggest source of pain is my glutes and hamstrings which is due to how hard we work them but now that I am feeling better I want to be 10x better. For once in my life feeling better has become addictive.

The work I am putting in to feel better is hard and some days I want to cry from the effort but I am determined. Now to get my diet better controlled and get some cardio in regularly and hopefully things will move even faster.

Huge improvements….

2 weeks ago I started seeing my new trainer who specializes in something called GOATA. Essentially he works with a person to re-code the body so that it moves as it was meant to move. He has been helping me realign my knee and hip as well as get rid off my chronic joint and back pain. I’ve seen him 3 times and already the improvements are huge! Today I spent the entire day running errands which would have meant knee and back pain that was so agonizing I would be out of commission for an entire day after. Today I had some pain in my glutes and calf muscles but nothing I couldn’t manage. It also didn’t start until I’d been out for hours and once I came home and sat for an hour the pain is gone. I am so happy and this makes me want to work so much harder with him.

I seriously recommend that if you have chronic pain or history of injuries that you find someone who is classified as a GOATA coach. It is well worth the money and time you will invest.

I did a thing…..

October 1st is one week away which means I will have been retired for an entire month. I swore I would go back to the gym and actually get healthy once and for all, now that I can focus on me. One of my biggest issues is chronic knee pain and my inability to walk all easily. I also can’t kneel at all, and getting up and down off the floor takes huge effort.

When I was seeing my trainer regularly there was another trainer at the gym who decided to specialize in something called GOATA movement training. It’s a very specific training technique that focuses on correcting movement patterns to make the body functional and decrease pain. Every client he has worked with has been able to get a deep squat and sit comfortable on the floor. He is no longer at the gym but I reached out to him via instagram. He has apparently opened his own training space so I asked if he was taking clients. He is, so I signed up to work with him twice a week for a minimum of 5 weeks.

I really need to get my knee pain and mobility under control and I’m hoping between Emilio and the mobility RMT that I currently see, this will be the answer. I’d say “ wish me luck” but I don’t need it because I’m getting healthy and mobile before I turn 55 if it’s the last thing I do!