the lumbering wildebeest » Health

Challenges

Mary — Tue, 14 May 2013 10:09:49 +0000

I think I’ve figured out what motivates me…or should I say, KEEPS me motivated. I’ve not yet figured out what sets the switch off that makes me (or anyone) suddenly get all hot for fitness and then completely lose interest but I have figured out what keeps me going once that switch has been flipped. Challenges.

Last year, when I was making baby steps around my neighborhood, I would set little challenges for myself. Get around this block. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the next block and so forth. The couch to 5K whim was the same thing – I have to finish. I’ll probably never run again, but I found a task that kept me interested for a few weeks. This time, it’s numbered streets. Hampton beach is long – there’s the main beach where all the hub bub is (where I live) and the lettered streets cross between Ocean Blvd and Ashworth Ave. North beach is more residential and has “the wall” and numbered streets connecting Kings Highway to Ocean Blvd. It’s two miles to the entrance to Kings Highway from my house. I started cutting across 1st street, then 2nd street – each day walking one number higher. Today was 7th street. The end game here is to make it through all of the numbered streets all the way to High St. There are 19 numbered streets so I have a couple weeks to go. The only problem I have with this mission is time. I’m up to 5.33 miles and I don’t know how many miles it’ll be by the end, but I suppose I’ll be walking out my door before 4am if it’s longer than 7 miles. LoL That sounds so ridiculous. Leaving to go walking before 4:00 in the morning AND walking anywhere near 7 miles. I’m not really sure how far it is. I think that’s a good worse case scenario, which would mean I’ll need at least an hour and 45 minutes to walk it. 4:00 should do the trick. *sigh*

So… challenges. Perhaps it’s something that might keep you motivated. It’s worth a try.

Life is not all hats and horns

Mary — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 12:23:45 +0000

…and neither is this weight-loss mission.

I’ve gained my stupid pounds back – the ones that I keep dancing with over and over again. It’s not like I don’t understand why I am gaining weight. What I don’t understand is how ‘that thing’ that makes people gung-ho about accomplishing something works. I’m certain that it’s a part of the brain that breaks down. It’s the same part that causes procrastination. There needs to be a study on this. I feel like I’m starting all over again. Intellectually, I know that I’ve lost a ridiculous amount of weight and that a 4-5 pound fluctuation isn’t the end of the world and that I know I can take it off again just as quickly as it appeared but today, it feels like the end of the world.

I put this out there, not to solicit sympathy but to just share that this shit happens and I suppose, it’s what you make of it. I don’t want to gain back all the weight that I’ve lost. More importantly, I don’t want to lose all that I’ve gained as far as fitness. Is it enough to smack me back into gung ho mode? Beats the hell out of me. The term, “One day at a time” applies here.

=) Have a nice day.

Obesity… it’s morbid.

Mary — Sun, 14 Oct 2012 11:09:36 +0000

Didja see that little play on words there? LoL So darn clever I am.

Ok, so this morning I figured I’d see how far I have come on the Body Mass Index or BMI.

When one is obese, it means that a person is 20% or more pounds over their ideal weight. This equals a BMI of 30 or more. Morbidly obese people are at least 100 pounds overweight or have a BMI of 40 or greater.

At my starting weight, my BMI was 44. I was morbidly obese.

Currently, my BMI is 34. I’ve just crossed over from being morbidly obese to just being plain old fashioned obese. The difference is that I probably wont suddenly drop dead. I’ve left the premature death category and am now in the slow, deteriorating death area. (risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes…you know the drill)

18.5 or less	Underweight
18.5 to 24.99	Normal Weight
25 to 29.99	Overweight
30 to 34.99	Obesity (Class 1)
35 to 39.99	Obesity (Class 2)
40 or greater	Morbid Obesity
chart from: http://www.bmi-calculator.net/

Note: the BMI does not differentiate between fat and muscle. If you’re a muscly person, you may not get an accurate BMI. There are other ways to measure your sveltey self. Please visit http://www.bmi-calculator.net/ to plug your information into the calculators here to figure out where you stand.

Real weight-loss vs. fake weight-loss

Mary — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 12:22:08 +0000

People with weight problems know how to lose weight. It might sound strange. If they know how to lose weight then why don’t they? I don’t flippin’ know. Why didn’t I lose weight when I was slowly creeping into the 300′s? I don’t flippin’ know. I didn’t want to? That’s not true. I didn’t want to be fat.

I’ve not yet been able to put my finger on what that ‘thing’ is that makes people suddenly switch into gear. I’ve been gung-ho before with dieting. I’d lost 32 pounds a few years ago with dieting alone. No exercise whatsoever. I ate between 1200 and 1500 calories/day and lost a bunch of weight. It was a lot of work, preparing every meal, counting every calorie. I expended a ton of energy measuring, counting, substituting, mathing and shopping just to eat breakfast lunch and supper. It cost a friggin’ fortune too. Produce ain’t cheap!

Then, my schedule changed, I got laid off from work, I had a headache, I caught a cold, I (insert excuse here) and just stopped. Just like that. One day, I just said screw it. I gained it all back and at least an extra 25 pounds. What the hell is that shit about? It’s fake weight-loss. I don’t know how else to put it. I was destined to fail. I may have invested time in creating meal plans and learning how to count calories, but I didn’t invest myself in the process.

Then, the same switch was flipped – I suddenly had the desire to give this weight-loss thing a try again but this time I added exercise to the mix. I still followed my same plan as before, same amount of calories but allowed myself to cheat so long as I factored it into my total. Yep…I eat candy on occasion. I reeeeeally dig candy. When I eat it, I grab the info off the nutrition label and factor it into the day’s calories. I exercise almost daily. I’ve invested a whole lotta sweat into this weight-loss mission and I’m not so quick to think about throwing in the towel. All those days of getting up at 5am to go power walking around the beach? I cherish those calories burned. I worked hard for them. It’s real weight loss – and it stays off. (crosses fingers)

I may have failed at permanent weight-loss that first time, but I walked away from it with more knowledge than I had before, and the experience to draw from so it was not a total loss. I learned stuff…stuff that I took with me into my current weight-loss adventure.

It’s not rocket science. Ya just have to burn more calories than you consume.

Well…those are my very unscientific thoughts on that subject. LoL

Moving along…

The amazing body

Mary — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 10:54:05 +0000

It was my thought that if I didn’t go out and do something exercizey every day that I would end up quitting. I was probably right. I think ya really have to build up momentum and to do that, ya have to commit to the process. When I did the couch to 5 K program the first time, I went out walking in between running days. My knees were screaming bloody murder but I still went out. What a dumb-ass I was. You can tell the difference between sore muscles/joints and when something is really wrong but when you’re stubborn, (like me) you can completely ignore the obvious. My body was screaming for a break and I just wasn’t giving in.

After the 5 days off because of a back pain flare-up, my knees miraculously fixed themselves. Wacky how that happens when you stop torturing them? What an ass. I really could have messed myself up and then what? I probably would have tossed my hands up in the air and said screw it…I’m not exercising. Eh, lesson learned.

So, now I’m trying the c25k program again and what I’m discovering is that because of all of my pain before, I was never really able to push my body. Why do I know this? Because every time I go out now, I’m making personal bests. I have seen 13 minute miles two days in a row. Ive neverrrrrrr done that before. I just started week 2! I’m psyched. For the next 9 weeks, it’s my plan to ONLY go out three times/week to do this program. I’m not walking in between. I’ll do other stuff at home but my knees shall only be put through the ringer three times a week.

The problem though, is that now I have a handle on my aches and pains, but my lungs are like, “What the hell is happening out there!” They’re stinging pretty bad when I jog – especially the really speedy miles. When I got home today, I was hacking like I was still smoking cigarettes. It’s something to keep an eye on. It could be exercise induced asthma. I think its funny that I have exercise induced anything. LoL I exercise. That in itself is absolutely hysterical.

I’ll have to consult a physician. =)

Osteoarthritis

Mary — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 01:52:41 +0000

Looks like I have the most common type of arthritis: osteoarthritis. Here’s a picture of the horn growing out of a disk on the right side of my lower spine.

big ole’ horn-o-arthritis

I have some more on my upper back and my tailbone is almost fused with my lowest disk. My neck is straight as a ruler and should be curved like a banana. My pelvic bones are disturbingly uneven…it’s pretty bad when you can just see where things are just not right. It’ll be a challenge getting me back on track but I have faith in my new chiropractor. He’s amazing. He even unclogged my ear today!

Anyhow, the best medicine for such a disorder is movement so when I asked the doc if it is OK if I continue with my walking/jogging regiment, he said, “You must. If you don’t, you’ll end up in a wheel chair or (he folded himself over like an L shape) you’ll walk around like this.” So… move I shall. I don’t want either of those scenarios to happen. I have to keep losing weight. It’s very important that I get this extra weight off of me.

He gave me some stretching things to do. It’s necessary for me to strengthen my quads and abs as well as stretching out my lower back and some neck traction. These are things I must do daily…no biggie. I’ll just incorporate these new activities into my morning routine. I hit up Wal-mart on the way home from work tonight and picked up a balance ball so I can let the fun begin tomorrow morning.

It sure could be a lot worse than this so I’m not complaining.

Funny thing: My boss said, “Did he take x-rays of your whole body?” I said, “From teeth to tampon.” I wasn’t too embarrassed when the doc put my films in front of the light and I could clearly see my tampon. *blush* lololol

Visit to the chiropractor

Mary — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 12:47:54 +0000

*sigh*

I went to a new chiropractor. Quite impressive – a husband and wife team. They were really nice, super informative and very comfortable to be around.

Back pain is something that I’ve just grown accustomed to. When asked to describe my level of pain on a scale from one to ten, I often pick the lowest because I’m so used to it that it doesn’t register on the pain-o-meter to me. Every so often, like last week, my mid spine area flares up and sends me into the fetal position, crying like a baby. I didn’t walk for 5 days last week on the count of back pain. I couldn’t even lift my arms up. I’m used to this though. Every 4-6 months that level of pain occurs, hangs around for a few days and then dissipates.

I made this appointment a month ago, prior to the major back crisis. I believe in the work of the chiropractor. It all seems logical to me and I think visits to the chiropractor should be as routine as going to the dentist every 6 months. (not that I actually do that either…)

So, first thing we do at the new chiropractors office is get x-rays. These folks didn’t have your regular, run of the mill johnny’s to put on…oh no. They had drawstring shorts and t-shirts! Friggin’ cool. So after the very thorough x-ray session, I was looking at one film over the docs shoulder and saw what appeared to be a horn growing out of my spine. I said, “Uhhhh doc? What the eff is that?” It was about the size of a candy corn but not as wide at the base. He said, “Oh, that is arthritis!” I was like, “What??” He’s withholding comments until he can spend more time looking at my x-rays so we will discuss the multiple areas of arthritis on my spine, as well as the treatment plan when I return to the office tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct 3rd). I can’t wait to get the scoop on this arthritis business. A quick google search on osteoarthritis showed that the best medicine for such a thing is exactly what I’ve been doing for the last year. Walking. I need to find out if it’s ok for me to jog – not that I’ll wait for an answer before jogging or anything…