Level up!

So the good thing about not fitting into all your clothes is it makes you take a hard look at yourself and your habits. And I realized it might be time to go a little boot camp on myself. I have been giving myself a lot of excuses these past 3 months to take it easy on the exercise (walks around the block are better than nothing but nothing close to a good gym trip, run or class) and on my nutrition (everything seemed to be a special occasion and I have eaten way too much bad stuff).

I decided I would start making some small changes that would be easy to implement, and keep adding until I wipe a lot of the bad habits that creeped in away. First up was a new snack rule: "Nothing but fruit after dinner." This started last night. I had some delicious clementines and an apple. There was a good sale at the store so I stocked up. Usually by dinner, I've eaten most of my Points allotment for the day, and now that fresh fruit is free, this is a good way to hit that sweet tooth.

Another one, at least for the short term, is that I'd like to workout every day for the rest of the year. No easy workouts. I hit the elliptical and weights yesterday when errands got in the way of a run before dark, and totally busted it in kickboxing tonight. I already have the rest of the week planned: repeat of Sunday tomorrow and Thursday nights, Zumba on Wednesday, a class or cardio on Friday depending what time I make it to the gym (as I have a pending car repair to deal with but there's a gym across the street!). If I get through that, then I'm off on vacation the rest of the year and remaining scheduling should be much easier.

The next change I want to tackle is two fold. I want to cut back on afternoon coffee for several reasons: 1) even though I get a nonfat latte, it's still 90 calories. 2-3 of those a week are worth a decent workout, 2) I'm a sucker for Starbucks, so this would save $8-12 a week. That's a new piece of clothing by the end of the month! and 3) it helps with part 2, making sleep more a priority. I need to get back to 7 hours a night during the week. I need to make 11 p.m. a usual bedtime. This will be the hardest change, so I'm giving this one a few days to do it.

I'm hopeful that these changes, while small, will be the start of some big progress. Time to take things to the next level! (Speaking of ... I plan to blog again this week about exercise intensity. Stay tuned and bug me if you don't see it by the weekend.)

More sweat, less salt!

I had my follow-up doctor's appointment on Friday. The good news? I can go from monitoring my blood pressure daily and now only need to do it occassionally? The bad news? Three months of results have me at an average 120/80, or just BARELY pre-hypertensive. This prompted several pieces of advice: follow the DASH diet (which emphasizes fruits and veggies), cut back on sodium where I can, and aim for 45 minutes of exercise a day.

The goal is to fight the slight increase in BP I'll get as I age, so that I don't become hypertensive and need meds. So when I got home Friday night, Adam and I started scouring labels. It's really something to see how much sodium is in the items in our pantry! Sure, canned/jar food is going to have more than fresh, but it was quite an eye-opener.

This was good timing, actually. I've been following the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus program since it came out almost a week ago. I've been eating at least an extra piece or two of fruit a day thanks to not having to count them anymore. My new routine is an apple when I get hungry after dinner. Then if I'm still peckish, I have a few small squares of organic dark chocolate (translation: pretty low in points) and that does it. I used to carb up with toast, waffles, etc.

I even had a banana before my run today! I am not a fan of bananas, but I'm learning to love them since they help with muscle cramps and I don't have to count them anymore either. This week, I'm going to try to make bananas my breakfast (except the 2 mornings I have meetings) and keep up the nighttime apple habit.

The exercise recommendation has led me to settle on a goal of 300 minutes a week next year. I'm really going to have to work to schedule that in. I am already seeing benefits in an energy boost since kicking off my latest batch of activity on Thanksgiving.

The biggest other change? Having to visit doctors more frequently. Have to go back to my main doc in 6 months, and she said I should also be seeing my endocrinologist every 6 months also to monitor the synthroid. But if it makes for a healthier me, I'll do it. Just a big shift from someone who pretty much goes once a year and doesn't get sick much.

Welcome to Day 76

Wow, the end of November! The month, and year, have really flown by. I'm happy to report I had one of my better months, exercise minutes-wise, even if not a great month on the scale. 856 minutes this month ... only January was higher with 1046. June and August came close with around 800. The rest...eh. I have made my 200 minute goal just 15 weeks this year. However, several weeks were at 170 or more, so it's a start and possibly one of my more active years in the past few.

A nice chunk of that time was the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. I rocked the 10k, in my barefoot shoes. Sure, I had some aches and pains towards the end and for a few days afterwards, but knowing I could go that far, and even shave about a minute off my time from last year (despite heat and humidity) was a great feather in my cap for November. It gave me hope and encouragement that I can get on the healthy track again.

See for me, that's what this whole adventure is about. Trying to take care of my body so it takes care of me. It's not for vanity (though, I would love to look totally hot in a swimsuit for our second honeymoon next summer-who wouldn't??). It's not a diet. It's living my life to the best of my ability. And realizing that eating the right things and making time for exercise can enhance all parts of my life, not just the physical. Even just the past few days, I've noticed a lift in my mood, slightly better nights' sleep, and increased productivity.

So with just 31 days left, I won't make my "70 days off or less" goal. But I can aim for 80. I'm not sure if I will start off 2011 weighing less than 2010 (I'm technically up about .4 right now). But I can workout in a more effective way that if the scale doesn't move, it's because I will have the baby muscles back in 4 weeks. And I'm going to really dedicate myself to tracking what I eat, especially since the new Weight Watchers allows for nearly unlimited fruits and veggies.

I'm already seeing changes. I was hungry before bed last night and ate an apple. I had a banana for breakfast and another apple this afternoon. That may be more pieces of fruit in 2 days than I've gotten in some weeks! See, I'm not as perfect as I may seem ;) I did even eat a cookie at the holiday party tonight (but stopped myself at one!!).

I think the key to a healthy lifestyle is constantly recommitting yourself to the big picture, then figuring out how to make the details work in the execution. And with that, I will also spend the next 31 days dreaming up big goals for 2011.

Whip it, into shape

It's time for me to get serious again about fitness. We have 61 days left in the year. In the past 2 months' flurry of activity, I have not made my fitness a priority, and it shows. I've gained back the 6ish pounds I lost after summer vacation in June. I'm sore from lifting weights Saturday. I got winded on my walk/run Sunday.

I dislike that it takes me feeling sluggish to become "scared straight" again, but I am only human. I'm also not pleased that after a good July and August, September and October were my downfall. Sure, I know those are my busy months. But I could have planned better to combat that. I leaned on the activity in my life like a crutch, and I'm feeling the effects.

And sure, I have the thyroid issues now that I wasn't aware I had before. But all the more reason to get things back into check, right?

So I've already started this morning tracking what I eat and drink. No matter how bad it looks, I'm writing it all down. It helps make me really think about what I stuff my face with, and if it's worth the exercise I'll need later to work it off.

I am at 69 days off exercise this year. That's a little shy of my 65 goal and pretty darn close to the 70 I took off last year. If I workout every day remaining, that's 63 straight (counting this past weekend). That's really not that bad. If my goal is to lose weight, I can't really afford to miss a day right now.

I am going to the gym after work. I'll do the same tomorrow. I'll work towards switching that to the mornings after my schedule eases in 12 days.

I will hydrate. I will hydrate. I will hydrate. In fact, I'm going to fill my mug as soon as I post this.

I will start 2011 better than I started 2010. So who's with me? What will you do in the next two months to make your health a priority? Let me know and let's support each other.

Silver and gold

I often write about physical health and wellness, but today I write about the spirit. I just finished a week that started and ended with gathering of friends. I can wholeheartedly agree with all those studies published touting the health benefits of interaction with others! I feel that this week, I was really blessed with the "silver and gold" friends in my life.

Sunday brought Drinks, Dessert and Diapers, benefiting DePelchin, an event thought up by myself and my buddy Susan Barnes. I just became friends with Susan this year ... we are fellow Junior League members, and hit it off immediately. I discovered later this is because her birthday is the day before mine, so she shares a lot of my Virgo qualities. While volunteering at the Extreme Home Makeover build in July, we decided we should celebrate our days together, and it would be cool to do something for others instead of just having a party for ourselves.

It was decided we'd do a charity item drive, and after researching several organizations, learned that DePelchin Children's Center has a program for teen moms in transition that could use diapers. It took a few months from our August birthdays, but we harnessed the power of Facebook and our networks and to date, have collected more than 6500 diapers (about 20 weeks worth!).

What was great about this project was it brought so many people together around a cause. In the weeks leading up to the party, we had people bringing us diapers every time we turned around. At the party, everyone from family, fellow League members, Leadership Houston classmates, co-workers (past and present), even some UH alums and Susan's choir members were part of the success.

Not only was it so rewarding to see so many old and new friends, but I am grateful for the new bond I have established with my partner in crime. This event has brought to light a big need in our community, and we're already scheming about how to take on that larger initiative. Stay tuned as I'm sure there will be more to come soon!

The week ended with a watch party at our house for the UH v. SMU game. The friends we had over are some of our oldest friends ... since college, in fact (though Adam went to school with Joe since middle school). These are our friends who have seen us at our craziest ... and still are willing to hang out with us. Anyone who has known me for a good length of time knows that if I laugh so hard I snort, it's REALLY funny ... well, I snorted a lot on Saturday. It was great to just let loose and goof around for a few hours (which became 6 thanks to the storm delay in the game, which we quickly remedied with some Wii tournaments).

This has been a particularly active few months for me, and these two parties remind me that it's all about the people. I will try to keep that in perspective the next few weeks when I get stressed or overwhelmed about the balance. Because within that activity, I'm creating a lot of interactions which are likely benefiting both their and my health in the big picture.

So whether you are a new friend or old, thanks for being my friend. I may not get a chance to say it to each of you or even see you often enough to do so, but I appreciate you being whatever part of my life you are able to be. I hope I can be just as good to you in return.

Biopsy bites

Two weeks ago, I underwent my thyroid biopsy. If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you already know that I got positive results, which is comforting. But I thought I'd take some time to recount my experience of that day and since then.

I took the day off work, which was smart. In hindsight, if I have to do it again, I'll take a second day to recover, or at least make sure the procedure itself gets scheduled for the morning. I THOUGHT that was the plan, but turns out my morning appointment was just the consult with the endocrinologist. Fortunately, his son was who did my procedure, so I could get in for the biopsy the same day. After the consult, it was pretty certain I'd be put on synthroid based on my blood work results, but the final verdict would come post-biopsy.

I am quite thankful that I have a friend who went through this same procedure about a year ago. She did not hold back and told me how painful it would be. She. Was. Right. All the web sites that said it wasn't "any worse than having blood drawn" lied, or those writers have superhuman tolerances for pain.

When I arrived for the procedure, I had to lie down with a bolster pillow under my shoulder blades and lean my head back. I was basically upside down so that they could easily do the aspiration on my thyroid. I was not given any anesthesia ... doc's reasoning was that it would only numb the skin, and wouldn't prevent any other pain ... plus, that's more needles. No thanks.

They took three samples. It hurt like hell. My mom, who came with me, said they were pretty big needles. When it was over, doc asked how I felt. My response: "All I could think was I wondered if this is how it would feel to be stabbed."

I'll admit, I'm not a fan of pain, but I'm not a baby either. However ... I was glad I didn't have to drive myself home right away. And when I did, I slept about half the evening. And I was sore, BOY I was sore for that whole next day. And my voice was hoarse. But by Friday, I was feeling pretty normal again, physically.

That's when the "what if" thoughts started kicking in. See, I was supposed to get the results Friday or Monday at the latest. I kind of expected it to be Monday, since I had the procedure done late in the day, and they needed time to send it to one of the best pathologists in town to review. (Or so I was told.) As small a chance (about 5%) as I had of it being cancerous, I still worried some about it. I know that if it had gone the other way, I'm very lucky to live in Houston and have MD Anderson in my backyard. But I still was not excited about the prospect. As positive as I worked to be, it was just nagging in the background.

You can imagine my relief when I finally learned Monday afternoon it was benign. I was disappointed, however, that the procedure doc sent the information to his dad's office Friday afternoon, and they opted to mail me the report instead of calling me. MAIL biopsy results?? I know it's probably routine to their office, but this is my thyroid and my quality of life we are talking about here. I suppose if it were serious they would have called ... but if they'd called, they'd have saved me a weekend of worry. But by that point, I was just relieved to get the positive results.

So after reminding the nurse the doc wanted to start me on synthroid, I began my prescription a week ago. The first day was tough. I woke up, took my pill, and the prescribed hour later when I could eat, I was nauseous and exhausted. I called in sick for half a day and worked from home the other half.

Then I was doing great until today. I came back from a lunch meeting feeling very spacey and again, a little queasy. After working through it for an hour without subsiding, I came home early and slept again for 3.5 hours. Thank goodness for sick hours, and that until now, I've not had a big need to use them.

I realize it will take a good 3-6 weeks of being on this dose of the meds for my body to adjust and regulate itself. I can be patient. I'm just not used to being a visitor in my own body. Everyone knows I'm a bit of an Energizer bunny ... I can go go go, and that's what gets me through busy seasons like the one I'm smack in the middle of running. But I'm not used to my body quitting on me. I guess one bad day per week out of seven is pretty good, but it's still odd to me.

I am determined to get through this. This is MUCH better than any of the alternatives, and such a minor health issue compared to what others I know deal with every day. Everyone tells me when I get to the other side when my body has adjusted, I'm going to feel great. It's not that I feel badly right now, I just clearly have my days or moments where I feel differently. And that's okay. After all, as much as people joke that I may be superhuman, I am after all, just a regular human like everyone else.

I'm not perfect

I'm coming off my worst week this year, health and fitness-wise. I only worked out 2 days for a total of 79 minutes. I didn't track what I ate (or drank). I'm up a few pounds right now, but I know I'm retaining water for not drinking enough of it, and only getting 4.5-6 hours a sleep a night until last night.

I'm in one of those "two week patches of crazy" where my work and volunteer commitments all converge. I'm pretty much getting it all done somehow, except for the diet and exercise. Funny how we always let ourselves go first, huh?

To top it off, I got the results of the ultrasound on my thyroid. It confirmed the goiter that the resident and physician were sure they'd discovered in my physical two weeks ago. It's multi-nodular, so the good news is that it's most likely non cancerous. But to be safe, plus to treat it, I now must go for a fine needle aspiration. From what I have found from research online, it's not much worse than getting blood drawn (except I can't workout for 24 hours afterwards). Not only will they test the fluid for cancer (usually only 5% of goiters are found to be positive from what I read), but this will also determine how stubborn the little bugger is. If it keeps coming back, I may have to try more aggressive treatments of radiation and/or surgery.

I will admit, I'm a little nervous. It seems like a fairly standard procedure, but this is one of my first brushes with a health concern. Now, hypothyroid runs in my family. So I'm not totally surprised, and this might help explain that while I work out pretty hard and watch what I eat most of the time, it's hard to see a change in the scale. So I'm a little excited to see if there's a difference in my metabolism (and to see the results of my blood work coming in the mail to see if I need meds in this area too). I go in about 2.5 weeks and I'm not sure how long after that I get the results. So more hurry up and wait.

Couple this with an elevated BP at the doc's office, which led to her asking me to measure daily and come back in November (hypertension runs on the other side of my family), and it really hit a point home for me.

We aren't perfect. We can't control heredity. And if someone looks "healthy" doesn't mean they don't have their own battles they are fighting.

I appreciate that so many friends and colleagues are always commenting on how I set a good example, that my posts and blogs help encourage them to take ownership in their own health and well-being. But as hard as we try, we will always have times we don't hit the mark, like I'm having right now. It's important to remember that each day is a new day. Bear Bryant said it's up to us to decide whether to use it for good or evil. Our health may not be that dramatic, but we make our own choices every day what to eat and how active we will be. It's my vow that I will do a better job this coming week of at least getting some quick walks in to deal with the stress, chaos, and meals I don't have control of what's on the menu.

But I also want you, dear reader, to walk away with this: be proactive in your healthcare. Get a yearly physical. Ask lots of questions. Go for whatever tests the doctors send you for, even if they are scary. Knowledge is power. I had no idea a few weeks ago these concerns were lurking in my body. At least now, I can work to manage and minimize them to the best of my (and modern medicine's) ability.

What you don't know, could hurt you.