Wellness Thread Feb 2020

[wawa]

On my phone so copy and paste is awkward-so my paraphrase of the ususal disclaimer: this is not a diet or weight loss thread. Also not a kid thread. @ if you must, but be sure that you must.

Has anybody else read the Fuck It Diet? I suggested Intuitive Eating to a friend doing the ususal diet yoyo struggle and a mutual friend chimed in to second my general rec and also added this book. It looks like a much more irreverent version, which is way up my alley.

I've connected with a new running friend and my running has EXPLODED because I'm finally doing all the runs on my calendar. I want to get up stupid early because I know we're going to have a great run and a fun conversation. I'm actually nervous jm going to hurt myself because my mileage has shot up so quickly from ACTUALLY following my plan for once. But I also feel awesome. It's so nice to see what I can do.

Eating I continue to struggle with MH's approach to food conflicting with what I want. He's gone pretty aggressively low carb and just isn't hungry in the am, so I feel low key judged everytime I have a bowl of cereal. But he's not saying shit. It's just... weird. meh. I also pack our lunches and if I pack is the same portion I know it's more food than I might need, but if I pack less I'm HUNGRY. So then I wonder if he's even eating enough? And also start comparing how much I'm working out vs him and end up in a not great spiral.

This has all been born out of making a shift in our diets about a year and a half ago to be much more veggie heavy and then BAM h lost 30 lbs and I lost zero lbs and it's hard to not see that as a failing on my part.

[1confused1]

wawa running friends make such a huge difference!!

I got a Peloton about a month ago and I love it! This is the most consistently I have exercised in years and my anxiety has almost completely disappeared. I was very hesitant to spend so much money on a piece of exercise equipment, but I can tell it is going to be worth it.

Also, somewhat related to the Peloton, I have been drinking less during the week because I exercise after dinner and don't have time to drink. So I call that a win!

[pugz]

Thanks for starting the thread! I kept meaning to but life!

I read part of the Fuck It Diet and I loved what I read! She also has a great instagram account and a podcast too! It is not technically intuitive eating (she made this distinction on her account recently) but she covers all the research and gives great tips for rejecting diet culture. I think it goes hand in hand with IE really.

I just got my copy of Anti Diet by Christy Harrison from the library and I'm enjoying it so far. I also downloaded this book as I'm trying to figure out how to repair my relationship with movement/exercise. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082P4DP66/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_d_asin_title_o00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

we had a beautiful day last weekend and I went on a walk by myself in the sunshine and that felt great.

[heliocentric]

I think I posted previously that my blood pressure is all over the place, yet strangely normal when I'm at the doctor. In short, my doctor wasn't really worried about so I pretty much stopped checking it at home. Well today I was getting my eyes checked and the eye doctor asked if I had high blood pressure because the veins in my eyes look weird (obviously not the medical description!). Turns out she had a similar experience as me and gently suggested I see a different doctor. Now I'm worried that I've possibly been doing damage all this time.

On a positive note, I somehow convinced DH to do restorative / yin yoga with me and we've been doing it several times a week. It has been a bit of a mental challenge to allot that much time to something gentle, but we've both been sleeping better and it's fun to do together.

[Saudade]

wawa, YES to The Fuck It Diet. I love her Instagram.....and her dog. You can read the first chapter or so on her website, but I highly recommend the book.

[pugz]

Oh also I had my annual physical this week and it went really well. I talked to my doctor about the progress I'd made working with a dietician and therapist. It was a good appointment. Also got my labs back and my A1C went down a bit the last year.

[pixy0stix]

We're back on the delivered catered food, so yay! I finally made an appt to have my shoulder looked at. *fart noise* I bet I need surgery on it.

[krystee]

I signed up for Orangetheory almost three weeks ago, and I love it. I go three times per week, and I’ll be dropping to two when my spring Couch to 5K running group starts. I feel really good.

Weirdly, I have actually gained 2-3 pounds since starting, but I have decided not to care because I want to focus on being proud of myself.

It does not appear I am going to hit the weight goal I had in my head after weight loss surgery, and I am at peace with that and ditching all number-specific goals to focus on activity goals. It is freeing.

[Deleted]

I had what I consider a major Intuitive Eating victory on Tuesday. I went to McDonald’s for dinner, which is something I rarely do. I ordered a single cheeseburger and a small fries. I was still hungry but decided to wait a bit since my dining companion was going to take a long time to eat. By the time we left, I want hungry. I did get him fry later and had some cereal, but I didn’t feel gross from eating too much fast food. I satisfied my craving but didn’t go nuts.

I had hand surgery yesterday. I had nightmares before and some panic on the table, but I’m OK. I haven’t taken any painkillers today, just ibuprofen. I even felt good enough to go for a 2-mile walk today.

Monday I’m going to start Hal Higdon’s half marathon walking program because it seems like our weather is going to be mild (I can use my elliptical as a backup). My mom and I are doing a girls trip to NYC in late April. I’ve been exercising a few times per week but want to step it up so that I have better stamina and strength for all the walking we’ll do on our trip.

[Patsy Baloney]

I am, like, crazy proud of everyone who can run and talk. That is some real, honest-to-goodness fitness. You're all amazing.

ETA - this is after going down stairs and kind of being like...* huff puff * miiight want to focus some of my goals on moving a little bit more, lol

[Deleted]

Oh and my self care task of the week is that when they weighed me before surgery yesterday, I said to the nursing assistant, “I’m going to close my eyes, and you’re not going to tell me the amount because I’m just not in the right headspace for that.” I know I’ve put on weight. I’m hoping this walking program will help with some of that. But I’m trying not to focus on a number so I opted to not know because it would just depress me.

[bowies]

I’ve been doing low carb and intermittent fasting but haven’t lost that much weight. I’m trying to be kind to myself because my body looooooves to hold on to weight at a certain number but it’s hard to see others fly right by me. I think I’m going to finally rip the bandaid and cut out alcohol now too - goodbye nightly glass of champagne, my one vice.

I fractured my radial bone this morning so that’s fun.

[Deleted]

also I’m tired because pain woke me up at 4:30. I’ve only taken ibuprofen today, but I’ll take the Vicodin again at bedtime. Hopefully I can sleep better tonight.

[cattledogkisses]

(If this isn't the right place for this let me know and I'll make a separate thread.)

What do you guys do to feel better when you're just having a bad self-esteem day?

I've been dealing with chronic hives for the last several years (the underlying cause is probably autoimmune), and had a particularly bad flare up last week that made me want to cringe every time I caught sight of myself in a mirror and made me feel pretty down about myself. I ended up painting my nails a vampy red (the rest of me might be a hot mess, but at least my nails can look fierce, right?), played with my pup, and took for her for a hike with H last weekend (there aren't any mirrors in the woods). I wish it didn't get to me so much.

[cville]

I went swimming. Like, laps. I loved swimming so much but haven't done laps for exercise in years. It was great, but I am so slow now. Omg.

[cville]

I can't do any news like 3 hours before bed or I don't sleep and OBSESS. Like caffeine. Before bed I read novels or watch tv shows about frivolous stuff or listen to a podcast about anything but politics. That's my self care.

[cattledogkisses]

Feb 7, 2020 20:42:34 GMT -5 cville said:

I can't do any news like 3 hours before bed or I don't sleep and OBSESS. Like caffeine. Before bed I read novels or watch tv shows about frivolous stuff or listen to a podcast about anything but politics. That's my self care.

Maybe I need to do this.  My insomnia has gotten ridiculous lately.  It's like as soon as I lay down in bed my brain kicks into high gear and is like, "THINK ALL THE THINGS!"

[atexan]

I've gotten better with my eating. Fewer processed garbage snacks, more fruit & veggies.

You guys, I am FUCKING TERRIBLE with exercise right now. I can't make myself get up in the morning. I know that 30 min of exercise will do something much more for me than 30 more minutes of sleep. But when my alarms go off I can't.

I work really hard to get in a groove and I do good for a while and then something happens and I fall out of the habit and ugh.

[seeyalater52]

Feb 7, 2020 20:42:34 GMT -5 cville said:

I can't do any news like 3 hours before bed or I don't sleep and OBSESS. Like caffeine. Before bed I read novels or watch tv shows about frivolous stuff or listen to a podcast about anything but politics. That's my self care.

I need to do this.

[pixy0stix]

Feb 7, 2020 20:42:34 GMT -5 cville said:

I can't do any news like 3 hours before bed or I don't sleep and OBSESS. Like caffeine. Before bed I read novels or watch tv shows about frivolous stuff or listen to a podcast about anything but politics. That's my self care.

I've been watching a youtube channel of a guy who camps with his dog(s) before I go to bed. It's just so relentlessly happy and wholesome.

[pugz]

Feb 7, 2020 21:30:49 GMT -5 seeyalater52 said:

Feb 7, 2020 20:42:34 GMT -5 cville said:

I can't do any news like 3 hours before bed or I don't sleep and OBSESS. Like caffeine. Before bed I read novels or watch tv shows about frivolous stuff or listen to a podcast about anything but politics. That's my self care.

I need to do this.

same.  My sleep hygiene is awful. 

[krystee]

atexan If I tried working out in the morning, I would never do it. Ever. That time to sleep is priceless! I do two 8 pm classes per week and one 8 am on weekends, and it is so much easier than getting up at an inhumane hour.

[mrsukyankee]

I've actually been going to the gym. I'm using an app called Aaptiv - it's like recorded classes with coaching. I use it with the elliptical and I love it. I've convinced my H that I need to buy an elliptical for our new house so I can do this all the time. Yay!

wawa, my husband just has to give up one thing and he loses insane amounts of weight - he gave up sugary treats and is now super thin. I could eat a ton less than him and I'll not lose. I've realised our bodies are just different - his wants to be thin and mine doesn't. So I'm focusing on health and fitness instead of size and weight.

[atexan]

Feb 7, 2020 23:08:31 GMT -5 krystee said:

atexan If I tried working out in the morning, I would never do it. Ever. That time to sleep is priceless! I do two 8 pm classes per week and one 8 am on weekends, and it is so much easier than getting up at an inhumane hour.

I can't work out at night because @.

[seeyalater52]

Feb 7, 2020 20:16:59 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

(If this isn't the right place for this let me know and I'll make a separate thread.)

What do you guys do to feel better when you're just having a bad self-esteem day?

I've been dealing with chronic hives for the last several years (the underlying cause is probably autoimmune), and had a particularly bad flare up last week that made me want to cringe every time I caught sight of myself in a mirror and made me feel pretty down about myself. I ended up painting my nails a vampy red (the rest of me might be a hot mess, but at least my nails can look fierce, right?), played with my pup, and took for her for a hike with H last weekend (there aren't any mirrors in the woods). I wish it didn't get to me so much.

I’m so sorry. I’ve dealt with chronic hives on and off since I was a teenager and it is truly awful. When I’m feeling bad about my body (which is constant the past few years) I tend to try to do other things to make me feel put together. I started investing in getting my nails done every 2 weeks, keeping my hair looking nice, my brows waxed (difficult with hives I know - it totally flares me up), and while I don’t typically wear makeup I’ve started doing some lip color almost daily and I’m getting eyelash extensions this weekend. Maybe it’s vain, but I’ve been trying to reframe it as an effort to care for my physical body in ways that make me feel good about myself rather than bad and honestly it has helped me feel a lot less self conscious.

[seeyalater52]

I’m struggling right now and barely managing my anxiety. I’m so sick of cutting out dairy and gluten (for medical reasons) and no food tasting good to me because that encompasses basically everything I like. The last couple of weeks I’ve had to suspend my barre membership and while I’m still getting a lot of steps in on the Fitbit I can feel how it affects me to be less physically active. I know it will
work itself out over time and all of this is somewhat temporary but it’s got me down right now.

Work has also been pretty awful lately. Our new ED has created a culture that stresses me out - it’s like all internal meetings that used to be low key are supercharged with all this required prep and I’ve felt really disrespected the last few times we have interacted and it is throwing me for a loop because work has been one of my biggest areas of self esteem for a long time and now it feels like I cant do anything right.

[bears]

Feb 7, 2020 16:07:22 GMT -5 Patsy Baloney said:

I am, like, crazy proud of everyone who can run and talk. That is some real, honest-to-goodness fitness. You're all amazing.

ETA - this is after going down stairs and kind of being like...* huff puff * miiight want to focus some of my goals on moving a little bit more, lol

Even at peak fitness, I'm out of breath doing stairs. Stairs are not necessarily an indicator of fitness.

[bears]

I am happily getting back into it. The last two weeks in January we rough for me. I came back from a work trip exhausted and then had family visit for two weekends in a row. I ended up sick and was barely active in this time. Falling out of the habit happens so quickly!

This past week, I've been trying to stick to my treadmill schedule. I feel so much better on multiple levels when I get in a run.

[Patsy Baloney]

My winding-down routine is watching cakes being iced. Buttercream relaxes me 😂 but watching the cake spin and get smoothed out, lines of icing and flowers put on, etc. is sooooo relaxing.

[ESF]

Feb 8, 2020 8:57:35 GMT -5 Patsy Baloney said:

My winding-down routine is watching cakes being iced. Buttercream relaxes me 😂 but watching the cake spin and get smoothed out, lines of icing and flowers put on, etc. is sooooo relaxing.

Omg I also love those cake decorating Facebook videos. I should hunt done down on YouTube.