Third (Fourth?) Time's the Charm

[Elliott907]

Ugh. Okay. Once more with feeling. This is probably my third or fourth big "I'm gonna do it!" thread here and... well, they haven't been successful before. But I have knowledge and experience from all those attempts before to help me push through and make lasting positive changes this time!

 

I'm Elliott. I'm a writer, a reader, a dork, and into various nerdy stuff. What I'm not into is exercise and shoving anything but carbs into my mouth. Well, that's not entirely true. I just don't much care for it. It's easier to just sit on the couch and veg with some junk food, or to call for pizza instead of cooking something healthy. But it doesn't matter that it's easier, it's not doing me any favors. I have various medical complications and old injuries that doing this is just... it's not good. So, gotta do The Thing and retrain myself!

 

The Plan

 

So. I have a plan. Ish. I'm working on a plan: Exercise and Food and Mental Stuff.

 

Thoughts on Exercise: 

• My left leg and low back are pretty weak, well, weaker than normal, after a back injury in 2015. It's left me with muscle and nerve damage from my low back down my leg. So, I need to work on building up strength in my trunk and legs, so they can work normally again. 
• I also need to stretch and gain flexibility in general, to help my muscles keep from seizing. I get massive spasm storms that lock up my leg and pretty much immobilize me from the waist down. It's gotten better in the last few months, which I cautiously and tentatively say might correlate to the fact that I'm intaking more marijuana and CBD products (yay, legal state!). Not gonna say it's the cause for the lessening symptoms, but *might* be related. 
• Plain and simple, I need to lose weight. That will help a lot with my joints and cardiovascular health. My blood pressure is stupid high, and if I don't want to be on medication for it for the rest of my life (I'm only 27!), I need to lose weight and try to manage my BP that way. Food and exercise might make enough of an impact to keep away from the pills. 
• So, moving forward:
  • Strength training and cardio with input from trainer(s) and physical therapist.
  • Start walking more in general. Take the stairs instead of the elevators, when possible. Park further from the door when going shopping. 
  • Do yoga or stretches at home and after workouts. 
  • Maybe swim for low impact exercise?
     

Thoughts on Food:

• I really, really like sugar and carbs. Which is unfortunate. I've found that keto/low carb can work for me, if I can just fkin' stick to it, so that might be a good way for me to attack my crappy diet. 
• But I also know that going head-first and cold turkey tends to be the worst way for me to do it. So maybe moderation as I get used to being at the gym and working out, then focusing on reining in my food more? 
• More good veggies, better protein sources, and fewer carbs/sugars seems to be a good way to approach things. 
• Drink! More! Water! 
• The plan: 
  • Drink more water - aiming for like, a gallon a day? I don't know. But more water instead of soda. 
  • Eat more veggies and proteins and rely less on carbs to fill out a meal. 
  • Cook more at home, when possible, to have more of a handle on what I'm eating. 
  • Then, when I have a better rhythm of things, go lower carb and focus more on veggies and good proteins. 
  • Batch cook when possible. 

 

Thoughts on Mental Stuff:

• This one's more nebulous because I'm just three bags of cats in a trench coat. I'm super anxious and have depression and mania (yay, bipolar disorder), and I'm generally a low-spoons kind of person. 
• So, to free up spell slots: 
  • Prepare gym bag the night before, so I'm not stressed in the morning
  • Practice better sleep hygiene and get to bed at a regular hour 
  • Maybe some short meditation, maybe yoga? Might work well in the Exercise column. 
  • Set actual schedules for stuff so I don't lose track of time and fall into a pit of not doing things. 
  • Batch cook on high spoon days so I don't have to on low spoon days (and so I can't justify takeout so often).
  • Maybe eventually start journaling? 
  • Actually schedule writing time so I feel (and am) more productive.

 

 

Track-able metrics:

• Blood pressure, can be tracked
• Physical bodily measurements
• Weight
• Occurrence of muscle spasm storms (needs to be journaled, though)

 

Fringe/Intangible metrics:

• Feelings on whether I'm okay with the progress so far
• How my joints feel on the day to day
• How my clothes fit

 

Goals

 

Short term goals:

• Create and support a gym habit. Shooting for 3x a week and working up to 5 to 7x a week. 
• Drink water. Shooting for between 1/2 - 1 gallon a day.
• Sleep better. Shooting for bedtime at 10pm and waking up at 7ish. 
• Eat better. Incorporate more veggies and proteins into my meals and cut reliance on carbs and sugars. 

 

Intermediate term goals: 

• Gain range of motion in my hip 
• Lose enough weight to require smaller clothes - aiming for size 20/22 by Yule (-2 sizes)
• Push for a 25-minute 5K (last time I ran I got to 28 minutes, because I'm slow, but I think I can do it!)

 

Longer term goals

• Lose weight - I want to lose 30 lbs by the end of January, but that means I gotta *do the thing!*
• maybe define more of these as I go
• Ultimately, lose weight, gain muscle, increase endurance for walking/jogging. But I gotta actually break that down into measurable, attainable benchmarks. 

 

So here goes! 

[TimovieMan]

Welcome back!

 

Remember: small steps at a time!

 

Do you remember some of the rehabilitation exercises from when you had your back injury? Those could be very low-entry and low-impact exercises to start strengthening your back and leg again...

 

Are you taking medication for the depression and mania? Don't underestimate the importance of that. They're not "crazy pills". When you're not in order mentally, they can be just as necessary as insulin for a Type I diabetic.

 

As for the blood pressure, if it's insanely high, then you'll probably also need medication to get it under control. Do this as fast as possible. Working on lowering it will take time. As someone who's been taking a daily Preterax pill for years, I know.

The weight itself may not be the main cause. Do you have stress, anxiety? Those have their effects as well.

Also, try to curb your salt intake eventually (junk food's full of it).

But ultimately, there's a good possibility that your "sleep better" goal will have the biggest impact on your blood pressure.

At least I know that sleep deprivation is/was the main culprit for mine...

[Elliott907]

On 10/24/2018 at 12:31 AM, TimovieMan said:

Welcome back!

 

Remember: small steps at a time!

 

Do you remember some of the rehabilitation exercises from when you had your back injury? Those could be very low-entry and low-impact exercises to start strengthening your back and leg again...

 

Are you taking medication for the depression and mania? Don't underestimate the importance of that. They're not "crazy pills". When you're not in order mentally, they can be just as necessary as insulin for a Type I diabetic.

 

As for the blood pressure, if it's insanely high, then you'll probably also need medication to get it under control. Do this as fast as possible. Working on lowering it will take time. As someone who's been taking a daily Preterax pill for years, I know.

The weight itself may not be the main cause. Do you have stress, anxiety? Those have their effects as well.

Also, try to curb your salt intake eventually (junk food's full of it).

But ultimately, there's a good possibility that your "sleep better" goal will have the biggest impact on your blood pressure.

At least I know that sleep deprivation is/was the main culprit for mine...

 

Thanks!

 

Yeah, I have the recommended exercise paperwork somewhere. I'm in the middle of moving, so I need to go dig that out. Right now I've started with walking, using decent shoes with arch support to try to make it as nice as possible until I can actually get those exercises going again. And stretching, which is... weird. 

 

Medication: nope, I'm broke and can't afford it, not for any of it. Whee! Thanks, America, for not investing in single payer/universal health care. So nice. 

 

Blood pressure: Thanks for the advice! I can't afford to see a doctor for anything, which is why I'm trying other avenues of reduction. The gym is free, thanks to my hubby's work benefits, so I'm starting there. I do know that sleep is important, so I'm trying to make that a priority alongside more exercise and cleaning up my food habits. Eventually I'll have a few dollars to see a doctor!