Road To A Healthier Me...Three of Five

So sorry it has taken me so long to get this posted.  Between my daughter's wedding, new puppies, and just life in general, things have been nuts here.  Boy, life in our house has really taken on a few changes.  Some good, some bad, and some yet to be determimed.  I thought since I had the focus, energy, and time I would finally get a chance to get a post up.  Now, the last post I wrote described getting to know your body.  I truly hope that some of you have been keeping your journals and have learned a thing or two about yourself.  If not, it isn't to late to start.  Now, for the subject that everyone struggles with...diet.  We are constantly being bombarded with the latest, greatest diet plans.  They all have the same promises and seem impossible to follow.  Not only that, they rarely show us the results that we expect.  This brings me to rule number one and a lesson I had to learn the hard way.  Lowering expectations.  I had to get it into my mind that my results would not be the same as others.  With the medications I am on (daily steroids being one of them), it would be harder to control how much I lost.  I, also, had to remember that my body doesn't metabolize certain things as well as others.  Carbs and sugar being just a couple.  The less steroids I take, the more calories my body burns.  Some think this would be an easy problem to have.  Just take less steroids, right?  Wrong answer.  That is asking for a quick hospital stay.  I need those steroids to function.  The more my body is stressed, the more I have to take.  Another issue is that you can't check your steroid levels anytime, like diabetics check their glucose levels.  You have to go by how you feel.  Therefore, it is very easy to get too much.  That means more weight gain.  Plus, it is harder to lose.  Couple all that with the limitations my arthritis has blessed me with, and I am a sitting duck.  Make that an overweight sitting duck.  

This is why it is so important to know your body.  Whether you have a chronic illness or not.  If you do have a chronic illness, you will know better how your body functions (or in some case, doesn't function) and when things start to go wring so you can get right on trating it.  If you don't have a chronic illness, it will help you and your doctor better pinpoint any issues you may have in the future.  I learned that the best diet options for me were portion control, low carbs, high protein and fiber, and to eat less amounts more often.  I also learned that before I workout it is important for me to eat a light snack before hand and do it within an hour or two of the time I take my steroids.  Usually just a yogurt and something with a little salt lIke pretzels.  Drinking lots and lots of fluids is a must.  As my body burns calories and cortisol (which I have to take because my body doesn't make it), it also burns sugar and fluids extremely fast.  So low blood sugar and dehydration come on quick and severe.  It took me two years to figure that out.  It's not information that is always disclosed to you upon diagnosis.  Normal the human body compensates on its own.  Mine doesn'the have the ability to do that.  Which throws my whole theory about ever being normal out the window.  So, I watch my portions, my calories, steer clear of foods that cause inflammation, and drink a lot of fluids.  I will admit, it isn't easy.  However, it does get easier with time and is worth it when you feel better overall.  My diet is mostly plant and animal based.  Basically, if it can't be grown or raised in your back yard, I try not to eat it.  Not always successful, but I try.  The more processed or complex the food, the more inflammation, weight, and pain I experience.  I stay away from creamier salad dressings, heavy grease, bread, and pasta (which I adore) as much as possible.  Since my body is sensitive to salt, preservatives, and I have an extreme nut allergy, I read the labels on everything.  My biggest weakness is sugar.  I love me anything sweet.  Artificial sweetners cause me inflammation and there is research that claims they aren't the best for us.  So it is the real thing for me.  This is where portion control comes into play because I have found that depriving myself of it just doesn't work.  I just keep track of everything I put in my mouth.  A food journal is time consuming, but it is an extremely helpful and essential tool to staying on track.  Yes, it can be hard to remember to write things down.  Especially with our busy lifestyles, but it is worth it.  My best advice is to either keep a small notebook in your purse or find one of the many free apps out there for your phone.  Some will count more then just calories.  I use the My Fitness Pal app, and love it.  It makes a huge difference when you have to be accountable for and actually see what you are putting in your body.

In regards to vitamins, diet supplememts, and other diet aides/plans.  I do not take diet pills, powders, or some natural/herbal supplements.  Not that I don't think they aren't beneficial to some.  I just don't think they are right for me.  Many of them contain ingredients that, combined with my daily medications, can cause more harm then good.  My body can be dysfunctional on its own and doesn't need any help.  I take a One A Day Womens Formula multivitamin, Triple Strength Oesto-Biflex, flaxseed oil (tried fish oil, but too hard on the gut), Vitamin B complex with Vitamin C added, and a potassium supplement when my potassium is low (yet, another symptom of adrenal insufficiency).  All of these are gluten free and approved by my doctors.  My best suggestion is to research the supplement you are interested in.  While there are many hebral and natural supplements out there, they are just like anything else.  There are benefits and side affects to them.  Depending on your body and it's needs, it may react differently then it would for the friend that recommended it.  Also, research the source of everything.  If it's full of fillers and other additives, choose another brand.  Finally, check with you doctor.  I know many doctors don't like to dabble in alternative therapies, but there are some that do.  It is also becoming a more acceptable means of practice, in today's high cost of healthcare and pharmaceuticals (although many insurances won't cover it).

So, there you have it.  My diet plan.  I know it is not what a lot of you wanted to read.  Some were probably thinking I had a quick and easy weight loss diet I had discovered.  Truly, I am sorry to disappoint you.  I, too, know how it feels to be on that merry-go-round.  It stinks.  The truth is, there is no right answer for everyone.  Every persons body, needs, and abilities are different.  You have to do your research, experiment, and work at it.  Just like exercise.  Which I will be covering in my next post.  If I am being honest, I almost think the exercise part is much easier.  I do hope you are being able to learn something from my posts and know you are not alone.  It is a hard battle to fight.  Let's face it...we aren't just working against our own obstacles but the ones society sets in place for us too.  Between the skinny models, advertisements for supplements, and just the general public opinion...we are constantly under pressure to look a certain way.  I al,ost think that how we look has become more important then how we behave.  Not acceptable in my book.  I have just learned that I have to be happy with what I see in the mirror.  If I am not...then I need to look at my plan and make a few changes.  I have made the changes to my diet slowly and am still working on it.  It is something I will always do because it is a part of my lifestyle now.  It has to be because, unless there is a magical cure out there for my problems (or a fountain of youth), they are forever a part of me.  The good, the bad, and the ugly.  Much love and many blessings!

Better Hair Days Ahead

If you are looking to try some higher end hair products, but don't want to spend the money, take a trip to your local Walmart.  While Hubby and I were shopping in Midland on Friday night, I was able to pick up some products I was wanting to try on clearance.  There were many brands marked down throughout the entire hair aisle.  If you have a coupon, then all the better.  I am trying to make the switch to products free of sulfates and other fillers, so I took advantage of these deals.  Hurry, don't know how long they will last.  Better Hair Days Ahead Ladies and Gents.  Yes, even men's products were marked.  Got to take care of the men in our life to.  We are seen in public with them just as much as they are with us.  Not only that, but I am in a family where the men out number us precious females by a great deal.  They start using my stuff, it will be gone before I can use it.  I just want to take a moment to say thank you all.  I am so glad that we have men who read tgus blog too.  Because healing comes from and effects all aspects of live.  It takes a strong family (men, women, chidren) to hold each other up and help you to be the better you that you dream of.  Also, just in time for back to school to have those teenagers looking awesome!  I am down to one, and he is picky so hoping this helps.  Much love and many blessings

***I am not making money or benefiting in any way by Walmart or the products sold.  All opinions given are of my own experiences.  I have a love/hate relationship with Walmart.  I love their prices, but hate some of the things I witnessed by other customers when I am in there.  Which is why I go late at night or very early in the morning.  I truly love you all.  Good luck!

Road To A Healthier Me...Two of Five

So, it's time to get started.  This first part sounds harder then it is...trust me.  There came a point when I was so discouraged and my self esteem just took a hit.  A really hard hit.  I was sick, overweight, fearful for losing my job, and so many other things.  It was like someone had just pulled the rug out from under my feet.  Everything I had worked so hard for over 20 years seemed to be circling the drain...and fast.  Even though I had been praying all along, I felt like I needed to continue to do so.  I prayed for a clear answer.  My answer came, one day, while I was reading the brochure to a medication.  Go figure.  Leave it to the nurse in me to figure it out.  You see, I read extensively on medications that I am prescribed before I take them.  That is just it.  I was reading it as a patient, not a nurse.  They say nurses make the worst patients.  That is because we don't see taking care of ourselves as nursing.  We see everyone else that way, but not ourselves.  I started thinking of all the things I was supposed to be doing to take care of myself thru a whole new light.  I realized that I didn't have a list of my current meds in my purse (just in case).  I realized, while I was somewhat cautious of what I was eating, I didn't understand how my body was metabolizing it with all the health issues I had.  I was researching and reading, but I wasn't rationalizing any of it.  I know it sounds silly. But I was, in some ways, the nurse that I so hard tried not to be.  Only I was doing it to myself.  I wasn't true to myself and I was not being honest with myself.  One of a nurses biggest pet peeves is when our patients leaves information out or lies to us.  It can result in mistreatment or worse.  So, I do what I always do.  I sit in front of the computer with pen and paper to start formulating a plan. 

I stood in front of the mirror and took measurements of everything from head to toe.  As I measured, I recorded everything in a small notebook.  I took my weight and recorded it in there also.  Then I started thinking about what I wanted to acheive.  For me, it wasn't just about losing weight, but about living a healthier lifestyle and maintaining it.  I knew that this would be the best way for me to control my exacerbations.  I was realistic with myself and honest.  I even wrote down the foods that I couldn't resist.  I knew that I couldn't use commercial weight loss products (due to medications, disease process, etc.).  I, also, knew that I had to allow for cheat moments (not days) and that I had to know my body and the disease processes completely.  By that I mean how it responded to foods, exercise, stress, and medications.  As I sit and started doing my research I realized that the reason I had been so skinny before was because people with adrenal insufficiency don't metabolize carbohydrates and fats well.  So my body didn't have the same amount of fuel a healthy person did.  Which resulted in burning muscle, fatigue, and so much more.  So I knew that these two things had to be eliminated or decreased.  My body was wearing itself out trying to break it down.  A light bulb went off in my head and I realized that I had continued to eat all these things, even after I started taking the steroid (cortisol...you know the fat hormone that you hear about on TV).  I couldn't stop taking the steroid.  I needed it to live...hello!  Regardless of the bad things you hear, your body does need a certain amount of it to maintain life.  Without it you can not regulate your blood pressure, heart rate, breathing...well just about everything.  My body didn't make any so I have to give it to myself everyday.  Think diabetes, with a twist.  Only you can't check your levels everyday and it is rare it is harder to find information.  The steroids also make it harder for me to lose weight.  Especially, if I have to take extra.  The arthritis makes it harder to exercise because of the pain.  Which I do anytime my system is stressed.  So there was my answer for the weight gain.  My body was storing the carbs and fats that it once couldn't.  It, also, couldn't burn it because it would flare my arthritis and asthma, which led to stress, which led to more steroids.  A nonstop cycle.

My plan had just formulated itself.  I had to cut out carbs and fats as much as possible.  I had to settle for small goals, pace myself, and keep my expectations low.  It also showed that I had to write down everything I ate, how my body reacted to it, and what I was taking for meds everyday.  This meant what time, how much, and every reaction my body had.  Last but not least, it meant that no matter how afraid I was of pain or flaring my arthritis/asthma, I had to find a way to move.  So, I started by slipping in ten lunges here or there.  If I was doing my hair in the bathroom, I would do them.  If I was watching TV, I would do ten of something else easy.  Gradually, I would add to the ten.  If I had five minutes, I would go pull weeds in the gardens (gardening is excellent exercise).  Anything to get moving.  That is where I would start, and with the understanding that I would have to tweet and modify things as I went.  Most of all, I had to get it out of my head that a weak moment does not equal failure.  That I could slip up, but I had to get right back on the wagon.  Not the next week, but the next minute.  So, there it is.  I know it sounds complicated and like it wouldn't work for everyone, but I promise, it will. 

So, the part I know you are all looking forward to...the homework.  That's right, I said "homework".  Your homework is to write down your weight, your measurements, any and all medical conditions (believe it or not the meds and conditions do effect how your body handles what you do and what you eat), start a wellness journal that you keep with you always.  It doesn't have to be anything huge.  Just something to write down everything you eat/drink, medications you take, how you feel and sleep, and your measurements.  Include times, things like naps, exercise, your mental state (fuziness, alert, tired, etc.).  I want you to look at diets pertaining to your particular health issues and what you are supposed to be doing to treat it.  You want to know everything you can about your body.  You will also learn so much more.  Patterns and habits will come to light.  If you smoke, you will see when your hardest times are.  I know it seems awful time consuming.  Explore the My Fitness Pal app, or others like it, to help make it easier.  You should not look at this as time consuming, but as taking care of yourself.  Knowledge is power.  The more knowledge you gain, the more confident you will be.  This leads to success!  The next post, I plan to cover vitamins, supplements, diet, etc...!   Thanks for sticking with me.  I know this all seems basic, maybe even undoable to some.  But we have to start with the basics in order to form better habits.  No matter what fitness level you are at.  Set your goals realistically.  Based on what you are doing now, your lifestyle, and ability.  Be honest.  Dont say you are doing 100 cruches if you have not done them in years, or that you are cutting out all pop if that us what you drink all day everyday.  You are only setting yourself up for failure.  Much love and many blesings!

i

The Road to a Healthier Me...Part One of Five

Well, here it is.  After posting an updated picture on Facebook of myself, many messaged me wanting to know how I am losing weight.  I wish I could explain it all in a simple post.  The truth is, it's not that simple.  Weight is not something I ever had to worry about.  Not gaining it anyway.  Thought I just had good genes or something.  Then, my world got pretty complicated when I found out about my adrenal insufficiency and arthritis.  It got even more difficult when my asthma decided to protest.  So, I found myself on high levels of steroids, unable to move, and unable to breath.  A dear friend of mine and I always joke around as to whether I was going to decide to breath or move on any given day.  Funny in hindsight, but not so much at the time.  To top it all off, I had to have major oral surgery that resulted in false teeth and having difficulty chewing, swallowing, and talking.  Not where I imagined myself 20 years ago when I was the ultimate super mom and wife.  But that is all in the past, now.  It took me along time to figure out how to get myself, at least, well again.  After my Facebook post today, I decided that I should share what I have learned over the last 13 months.  This series is not meant to sound difficult or to hold you back from reaching your goals.  It is, however, meant to educate you and open your eyes.  Keep in mind, I am not a doctor or fitness expert.  Although, I am a nurse...I am also a patient who happens to be a mom and a wife.  Much of what I have learned is bits and pieces of many things I have researched and tried myself.  I do not make claims or garuntees that it will work for everyone.  This is only testimony of my experience.  Let's be clear...losing weight and being healthy is a commitment.  It is also different for each and everyone of us and very personal (both emotionally and physically).  I have shown you two pictures.  The one of me in the pink tank was taken June 2014 when my daughter graduated.  The photo of me in the yellow top was taken yesterday  (July 2015).  I weighed 185 lbs. back then.  Today I weigh 155lbs..  Not to my goal yet, but I am getting there. 

So, you might be asking, "Why, five parts?"  There is very good reason for this, I promise.  For starters, there is just that much I have learned.  Also, I wanted it to be easier to understand and follow.  No fancy, smancy, medical terms here.  Yes, that means you can pronounce the words!  Last but not least, getting healthy again is a process and a commitment.  Not just to yourself, but to those who are close to you.  This means you might need a break or time to absorb your thoughts and feelings.  That's right folks, I said feelings.  I stated this was a process.  It's not only about losing weight.  It involves changing the way you live...for good.  It will make you think of things you never did, feel things you never felt, and try things you never tried.  But in the end, it will be worth it.  So, hang on to your undies folks, this ride is going to be bumpy.  I encourage you to take notes, do your own research, and get ready for a good dose of being honest with yourself.  No magic pill here, people.  Just hardworking and determination.  The ride starts now...(or, at least, in the next post).  Much love and many blessings!  Oh! And Good Luck!