- Water isn't all that bad. Granted, I rarely drink it "straight" unless its from a bottle. I tend to doctor it up with lemons or lemon juice. I've also used other fruits at times.
- I'm competitive and impatient, not always good things. This has also led me to realize that each person's journey to health is different. This is one instance where it's okay to take different roads and still end up (hopefully) at the same destination. I may not agree with some of the paths I've seen people on, but all I can do is express concern and move on. I suppose this can also be said of our spiritual path as well. Hear me out on this part, because I know what you're thinking and you're right. The bible tells us that there is one path to God, and it's a straight and narrow one. But, I'm realizing there are side roads that get to that point. You have to start somewhere. And we all know there are detours that sidetrack us but prayerfully we find our way back to the right path. But that's a blog post for another time. As far as the competition goes, a journey to health is not a race. It's a lifetime of changes and tweaks. Same for the impatience. The weight didn't get piled on overnight, and it won't (shouldn't) come off overnight. What works for one may not work for another.
- I eat semi clean and I'm okay with that. For now. I try to eat a whole foods diet, which horrifies some. I drink whole milk and I wish I could get it raw. I try to stay away from processed foods when I cook at home. But I'm at a point where fast food is going to be part of my life at the very least a few times a month due to scheduling, lack of planning, and the occasional craving. I'm not quite ready to make my own bread or my own cheese. Will i ever be? Don't know, but I'm leaving the possibility open for now. The main point is, no matter what or where or when I eat, I need to be responsible enough to make good choices. Whether that be choosing more locally grown food, organic over conventional, or a simple cheeseburger versus a deep fried fish sandwich, it's up to me. It should always be that way.
- The most surprising lesson learned? I like to exercise. Right now I walk twice a day most days. In the morning is my alone time. It gets me in a better mood and I can think better. Night time is family time. I enjoy the slower pace with my two men. It's a way to connect. I want to add more exercises but an injury prevents that at this time. It will happen though. I'm in this for the long haul.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Lessons Learned
In the four weeks or so that I've been on a journey to health --and actually being serious about enough to try and change this time around -- I've learned a few things about myself.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Some Ado About...Some Things.
I missed yesterday's blog time. I think it's harder sometimes when The Hubby is home on his weekend. But today I've been gently reminded that I need to get busy writing instead of playing on the internet. The short novel I'm working on is staring me in the face, and inspiration just isn't coming right now. So I thought I'd share a few tidbits here and see where my brain takes me. Forgive the disjointed blog here, but it just didn't seem worth writing several tiny little blog posts with all this stuff.
AUTISM
J is in the midst of a meds change lately. He ran out of one med, and will likely be put back on it on Friday. Meanwhile, his neuro, in response to seeing how "uncooperative" J had been, put him on Adderal. He's been on adderal once before, briefly. I couldn't remember why we took him off of that particular med at the time ( I highly recommend keeping a journal of your child --meds and when taken, reactions, eating/ sleeping habits, routines, doctor visits, all of this. I've started a notebook for this purpose a few times, and am still working on making it a habit. It makes things much easier in the long run. Learn from my mistake in this instance.).
During the short time we gave J the prescribed dosage, he went from our happy, hungry boy to withdrawn, tired all the time, and barely eating. In short, he was a zombie. He cried easily, began "Yarping" more than normal, was easily agitated. We stopped giving it to him. While he's less focused, he is more playful, has a fairly decent appetite, and sleeps sometimes without melatonin. He wants more interaction. I like my J like this. I think he may need a little something at times to help him focus, but he seems to be more engaged in the world without it.
FALL CLEANING
Back to school time seems to be a great time to get the house cleared out, straightened up, and ready for winter and the holidays. After a summer of carefree eating and playing, I want something different. This month, Heavenly Homemakers is blogging about creating a Funky Fresh Kitchen. Laura is hosting giveaways, giving tips, and helping us get our kitchen in order for fall. This week so far she has issued us a challenge to throw something out and replace it with something healthier, here. If you would like an ebook of Do the Funky Kitchen for $2, go here. This price is available for one week so hurry and get your copy.
I've been enjoying Laura's series, and giving a lot of thought to what I need to toss out to have a healthier kitchen. I've made a deal with myself that premade cookies and brownie mixes wont be coming into the house. If I want those goodies I can make them from scratch. It's less expensive and a bit healthier because I can control the ingredients. Which leads to the next topic...
HEALTH
My anemia is still a concern. I'm working with the doctor on that, trying to eat more healthy and trying to remember to take my iron supplements as often as he wants me to. Not always easy. But in order to take care of my family, I have to take care of myself. Because food prices are going up just like everything else it seems, I've decided that my family needs to incorporate a few vegetarian or meatless meals each week. I'll be researching this a bit more , as I need to be sure to get enough iron in my diet.
HOUSEWORK
I need motivation in this area. I think I'm going to list three things each day that I need to get done. Most likely not here, but just for myself. Today, though, I need to do laundry, do my dishes, and pick up in the living room.
How about you? How are you doing these days? Are you motivated to get the house in order, have a healthier kitchen? Are you figuring out the ins and outs of autism? Trying to take better care of your health? Let me know how you're doing.
AUTISM
J is in the midst of a meds change lately. He ran out of one med, and will likely be put back on it on Friday. Meanwhile, his neuro, in response to seeing how "uncooperative" J had been, put him on Adderal. He's been on adderal once before, briefly. I couldn't remember why we took him off of that particular med at the time ( I highly recommend keeping a journal of your child --meds and when taken, reactions, eating/ sleeping habits, routines, doctor visits, all of this. I've started a notebook for this purpose a few times, and am still working on making it a habit. It makes things much easier in the long run. Learn from my mistake in this instance.).
During the short time we gave J the prescribed dosage, he went from our happy, hungry boy to withdrawn, tired all the time, and barely eating. In short, he was a zombie. He cried easily, began "Yarping" more than normal, was easily agitated. We stopped giving it to him. While he's less focused, he is more playful, has a fairly decent appetite, and sleeps sometimes without melatonin. He wants more interaction. I like my J like this. I think he may need a little something at times to help him focus, but he seems to be more engaged in the world without it.
FALL CLEANING
Back to school time seems to be a great time to get the house cleared out, straightened up, and ready for winter and the holidays. After a summer of carefree eating and playing, I want something different. This month, Heavenly Homemakers is blogging about creating a Funky Fresh Kitchen. Laura is hosting giveaways, giving tips, and helping us get our kitchen in order for fall. This week so far she has issued us a challenge to throw something out and replace it with something healthier, here. If you would like an ebook of Do the Funky Kitchen for $2, go here. This price is available for one week so hurry and get your copy.
I've been enjoying Laura's series, and giving a lot of thought to what I need to toss out to have a healthier kitchen. I've made a deal with myself that premade cookies and brownie mixes wont be coming into the house. If I want those goodies I can make them from scratch. It's less expensive and a bit healthier because I can control the ingredients. Which leads to the next topic...
HEALTH
My anemia is still a concern. I'm working with the doctor on that, trying to eat more healthy and trying to remember to take my iron supplements as often as he wants me to. Not always easy. But in order to take care of my family, I have to take care of myself. Because food prices are going up just like everything else it seems, I've decided that my family needs to incorporate a few vegetarian or meatless meals each week. I'll be researching this a bit more , as I need to be sure to get enough iron in my diet.
HOUSEWORK
I need motivation in this area. I think I'm going to list three things each day that I need to get done. Most likely not here, but just for myself. Today, though, I need to do laundry, do my dishes, and pick up in the living room.
How about you? How are you doing these days? Are you motivated to get the house in order, have a healthier kitchen? Are you figuring out the ins and outs of autism? Trying to take better care of your health? Let me know how you're doing.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Wake Up Call
When it comes to changing my life it seems I'm a slow learner. I know I should be in better health than I am for my age, but I let excuses get in the way. No time. Surely it's not that bad. I'll start tomorrow. I eat fairly healthy. Well, yesterday I received a wake up call.
I saw my doctor to monitor my thyroid and hemoglobin. Hemoglobin was up this time from where it had been hovering so yea me! Thyroid I'll hear later about. I glanced at the number on the scale. Umm, not so good. Up ...twelve pounds from last time I saw my doctor. Not so good. And one of the first things he said when he saw me... You have high blood pressure. I want to put you on a low dose of medicine. This is the part where you hear the screeching brakes.
Let's face it, folks. I wasn't even fazed by the announcement that it's time to schedule a colonoscopy. My dad had colon cancer in his late 40's and died from it by the time he was 50. So yeah, I knew that was gonna happen sooner rather than later. High blood pressure though, I wasn't prepared for that little bomb.
Honestly though, it shouldn't be a shocker. Hypertension runs in my family. But my readings at the doc's office have been to the point of monitoring only once or twice, and most of the time low enough to skirt by so I began not paying as much attention to those numbers. My doctor has, though. And this doctor does not play with my health. He tells me like it is. It's up to me to follow his advice though.
I don't want to be on medication the rest of my life. I plan on learning more about high blood pressure and natural ways I can bring those numbers down. I'll take the medication every day like I'm supposed to but I'm not going to stop there. It's time to stop falling off the exercise wagon and get more active. I'm fairly careful at the grocery store in that I rarely buy boxed convenience foods, but high amounts of sodium lurk in places you wouldn't normally think of, like ketchup. And here's a tip for you: almost anytime a food manufacturer slaps a label on their product that says "lower salt", "low fat" or any of those type things, guess what: read the ingredients list. Whenever one ingredient such as salt or fat gets lowered or axed completely, something else (usually sugar) is added to make up for it, so it will still taste good. One particular brand of ketchup I noticed has several different bottles of the red stuff, whatever suits your fancy, including low salt. Yeah, that one won't be gracing my grocery cart, much less my dining table because when you look at the ingredients list there is not only high fructose corn syrup, but regular corn syrup, both fairly high on the ingredient list. Sorry for the run on sentence there. I may even look into making my own ketchup. We'll see.
I will be taking more care in what I eat and being more vigilant about ingredient lists. I don't need to cut out all salt, just cut down on it. I also need to be sure to exercise more. I'm going to begin with walking every day. I want to add in low impact exercises I can do at home (my knees and back scream at me with certain things, another reason for needing to lose weight), and look into calming exercises.
I mentioned before that I was going to do some posts concerning health, and now I have more than enough reasons to continue it. What about you? What do you do to take care of your health, particularly if you have high blood pressure? Maybe we can encourage one another.
I saw my doctor to monitor my thyroid and hemoglobin. Hemoglobin was up this time from where it had been hovering so yea me! Thyroid I'll hear later about. I glanced at the number on the scale. Umm, not so good. Up ...twelve pounds from last time I saw my doctor. Not so good. And one of the first things he said when he saw me... You have high blood pressure. I want to put you on a low dose of medicine. This is the part where you hear the screeching brakes.
Let's face it, folks. I wasn't even fazed by the announcement that it's time to schedule a colonoscopy. My dad had colon cancer in his late 40's and died from it by the time he was 50. So yeah, I knew that was gonna happen sooner rather than later. High blood pressure though, I wasn't prepared for that little bomb.
Honestly though, it shouldn't be a shocker. Hypertension runs in my family. But my readings at the doc's office have been to the point of monitoring only once or twice, and most of the time low enough to skirt by so I began not paying as much attention to those numbers. My doctor has, though. And this doctor does not play with my health. He tells me like it is. It's up to me to follow his advice though.
I don't want to be on medication the rest of my life. I plan on learning more about high blood pressure and natural ways I can bring those numbers down. I'll take the medication every day like I'm supposed to but I'm not going to stop there. It's time to stop falling off the exercise wagon and get more active. I'm fairly careful at the grocery store in that I rarely buy boxed convenience foods, but high amounts of sodium lurk in places you wouldn't normally think of, like ketchup. And here's a tip for you: almost anytime a food manufacturer slaps a label on their product that says "lower salt", "low fat" or any of those type things, guess what: read the ingredients list. Whenever one ingredient such as salt or fat gets lowered or axed completely, something else (usually sugar) is added to make up for it, so it will still taste good. One particular brand of ketchup I noticed has several different bottles of the red stuff, whatever suits your fancy, including low salt. Yeah, that one won't be gracing my grocery cart, much less my dining table because when you look at the ingredients list there is not only high fructose corn syrup, but regular corn syrup, both fairly high on the ingredient list. Sorry for the run on sentence there. I may even look into making my own ketchup. We'll see.
I will be taking more care in what I eat and being more vigilant about ingredient lists. I don't need to cut out all salt, just cut down on it. I also need to be sure to exercise more. I'm going to begin with walking every day. I want to add in low impact exercises I can do at home (my knees and back scream at me with certain things, another reason for needing to lose weight), and look into calming exercises.
I mentioned before that I was going to do some posts concerning health, and now I have more than enough reasons to continue it. What about you? What do you do to take care of your health, particularly if you have high blood pressure? Maybe we can encourage one another.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Life's Ups and Downs
Helloooo! Anyone there?
I've been MIA a bit longer than I'd expected. We've had a lot going on to keep me from the blogging world. J has had a few meltdowns and has needed some attention to address those. Thankfully they haven't been too bad, just heartbreaking that they've been happening.
The kittens have provided their own drama. Two kittens somehow got sick within a week of each other, and both have passed away, the second one just this morning as I held him. I had nursed him the best I could, but it just wasn't meant to be. One got caught in a shut door accidentally, and died from his injuries. And a fourth one got attacked by a tom cat and was killed. So we have three rambunctious little ones left, and I'm anxiously looking for homes for them, along with two of the tom cats and maybe a mama. As much as I love these critters I can't keep them all.
Then there is me. I've been busy with my mom, and trying to get this house back in order. I also started walking a bit. That lasted a few days, before I started feeling ill, but I'm going to return to my walking today.
While I've cried a lot the last few days, I still can see that life is good, even with its ups and downs. We live a blessed life, not a charmed one where everything is perfect and good all the time. As a Christian, I understand that if everything was all roses and no thorns here on earth, I might not have my sights set on heaven where everything is good. I'm thankful to have a place where there is no end. The earth will eventually be destroyed --whether it be in my time or not, I don't know. What i do know (but sometimes ignore or forget) is that this life and all its pleasures, frustrations, hurts and joys, is temporary. The next life is the permanent one. We each have a choice in life. Do we want to live in heaven, or hell? Are we going to follow Jesus or not?
I'm not perfect by any means. I make mistakes and I sin. But I won't give up trying to live the way Jesus wants me to. I have a long ways to go. I want to continue learning, and encouraging others in all aspects. On this blog I want to encourage you in your daily walk, help you begin the daily walk if need be, and also to share my life and triumphs as well as troubles. If I'm struggling with weight issues, organization (household and life), have a special needs (adult) child, and like to craft and/ or make art, I know that some of you have at least some of those things in your own lives. I've started and stopped a few times on this blog, so today is sort of like a new year. Time to start over and follow the path and see where it leads.
My goals/ plans for this blog:
I've been MIA a bit longer than I'd expected. We've had a lot going on to keep me from the blogging world. J has had a few meltdowns and has needed some attention to address those. Thankfully they haven't been too bad, just heartbreaking that they've been happening.
The kittens have provided their own drama. Two kittens somehow got sick within a week of each other, and both have passed away, the second one just this morning as I held him. I had nursed him the best I could, but it just wasn't meant to be. One got caught in a shut door accidentally, and died from his injuries. And a fourth one got attacked by a tom cat and was killed. So we have three rambunctious little ones left, and I'm anxiously looking for homes for them, along with two of the tom cats and maybe a mama. As much as I love these critters I can't keep them all.
Then there is me. I've been busy with my mom, and trying to get this house back in order. I also started walking a bit. That lasted a few days, before I started feeling ill, but I'm going to return to my walking today.
While I've cried a lot the last few days, I still can see that life is good, even with its ups and downs. We live a blessed life, not a charmed one where everything is perfect and good all the time. As a Christian, I understand that if everything was all roses and no thorns here on earth, I might not have my sights set on heaven where everything is good. I'm thankful to have a place where there is no end. The earth will eventually be destroyed --whether it be in my time or not, I don't know. What i do know (but sometimes ignore or forget) is that this life and all its pleasures, frustrations, hurts and joys, is temporary. The next life is the permanent one. We each have a choice in life. Do we want to live in heaven, or hell? Are we going to follow Jesus or not?
I'm not perfect by any means. I make mistakes and I sin. But I won't give up trying to live the way Jesus wants me to. I have a long ways to go. I want to continue learning, and encouraging others in all aspects. On this blog I want to encourage you in your daily walk, help you begin the daily walk if need be, and also to share my life and triumphs as well as troubles. If I'm struggling with weight issues, organization (household and life), have a special needs (adult) child, and like to craft and/ or make art, I know that some of you have at least some of those things in your own lives. I've started and stopped a few times on this blog, so today is sort of like a new year. Time to start over and follow the path and see where it leads.
My goals/ plans for this blog:
- Spiritual. I want to post something at the very least once or twice a week that is encouraging, yet honest to my life. I'm not going to tell you everything is all rosy and lovely when it isn't, but I want to be positive. Each Tuesday I will continue linking with Heavenly Homemakers for Gratituesday.
- Autism. I'm going to continue discussing life with an adult child with autism. J is a great part of my life, and sometimes I struggle with what to do for him. My heart aches at times because I don't know how to help him. My heart sings when he makes the next milestone, or as a friend with a special needs child of her own calls them, inchstones. We celebrate each tiny thing that others sometimes take for granted.
- Organization. If you're looking for perfection and how to keep a house spotless every second of the day, sorry, wrong blog. If you want commiseration on "I just cleaned a minute ago now it looks like a whirlwind hit" and tips that work for me, and sometimes links to where to go for help in this, as well as updates on how the house is coming together and encouragement for you, this is the place. I'm not where I want to be in this house yet, but hey, although I'm learning to be content with my life, I'm also seeing room for improvement in many areas. I hope you're along for the journey.
- Health. Let's face it. I'm not eighteen anymore and I've been blessed with two pregnancies that netted me two healthy babies. As Ma Kettle once said, I used to have an hour glass figure. The sand's still there, its just shifted some. I wont tell my age yet, but I'm old enough to have two grown boys. My oldest would have been 21 this July. So health wise, I'm not looking to be a size 0. Not even close. While I would love to be a size 10 again, I think I'd be happy to be a 12 or even 14. I want nothing to do with society's view of perfection. I want to be healthy, as well as look and feel it.
- Art. I talked a few months ago about a project for my bedroom wall using a scripture I like. I also mentioned to another blogger about using toilet paper rolls to make a mini album. I haven't forgotten. I am still formulating a plan for both in my head and hopefully I can get them both done. I'll share them as soon as I'm done. Eventually I'd like to show a project once a week.
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