Workouts With Personal Trainer/Sugar Addiction

I was going to title this, "The Elephant in the Room", tongue-in-cheek, but I am trying to bring more positivity into my life, especially around body image.  It has recently dawned on me, in a BIG way (no pun intended) that I really need to take the difficult steps involved in promoting my own health.

My winter and spring consisted of: feeling unmotivated, not exercising, getting sick at least three times between November 2016 and now (some related to CIRS, but more on that later), and eating horribly, but with sporadic attempts to set myself right.  I would get on a good path, but then feel deflated and unmotivated.  Some of this may be due to feeling depressed.  I have been taking supplements to help this, but the whole exercise piece was missing.  So I stumbled along, knew I was gaining weight, knew I wasn't feeling well even when I wasn't officially sick.  And let's just say that my approach to sugar, ice cream, and candy bars is (and hopefully - was), like that of an addict.

I finally had the courage to step on the scale - shocking.  I know my clothes weren't fitting well, but, you know, tomorrow. I had been thinking of booking some sessions with a personal trainer months ago, but wanted to wait until after Portland.  Then I got super sick, and did nothing.  But eat.

Recently, I watched some YouTube videos on fitness and lifestyle.  I became motivated to try once again to get a handle on this.  In a stroke of luck, I received a free trainer session from the health club since it is my birthday month.  I signed up, was able to choose my trainer online (which was hard, but thankfully I picked one I match well with), and set up the first session.

The first session was mostly evaluation of my strength, flexibility, diet, etc.  Then she had me stand on this diagnostic fitness tool called "In Body":

The In Body told us my weight, which I already knew was up there, my total body fat percentage, my muscle mass, and some other stuff that I wasn't really tuned into (too focused on the first three).  In a nutshell, my fat percentage is too high, and my muscle mass is too low.  It was a lot worse than I thought it would be.  We talked about diet and sugar, and a lot of other stuff.  Ultimately in the end I signed up for a series of sessions.  

I have been exercising every day, even if it is just a walk throughout the neighborhood.  I figured out a .75 mile distance and do that when I don't go to the health club.  And I have stopped treats for now, with the exception of a little bit of nice, dark chocolate (Wei of Chocolate Dark Creamy, sweetened with coconut blossom sugar), and I had a little bit of Tyler's chocolate cake the other night at a restaurant.  I also had ordered some prepped meals from Meez Meals (Mise en Place).  That helped so much with cooking - most of the prep is all done.  I also saw a product on YouTube to add to my smoothies in the morning that seems to help with the cravings.  I am going to go through the fridge, freezer, and pantry over the next few days, and get all set up to promote proper diet. 

So I think I am on the right track.  My trainer worked me very hard today, but I felt great afterwards.  And it is easier to feel positive when one is doing positive things!

Healthy Living

Which I am struggling with...

I'm not sure if it is age, or being busy, or with the autoimmune issue I'm dealing with (CIRS).  I have really been struggling with eating right and exercising.  But I have been taking some small steps to try and get on track.  We recently had a super warm, sunny day.  I walked to a local market, which is a good fitness walk away from home.  I wore a tank top, put some sunscreen on only my face and forearms (which get hopelessly dark in the summer while the rest of me is as pale as ever), left my upper arms and shoulders to absorb some sunlight.  I got ingredients for some healthy recipes I want to try.  And try one I did.  It was just veggies and a sauce, but it was really good!

Groceries and some flowers for the table (springtime!!)

Steamed veggies with a miso-tahini sauce 

(and my little ducky in his bowl in the background)

Today was cold again, but Grandson wanted to search for Pokemon on the Pokemon Go game.  So we walked very far, probably a mile and a half, or even two.

It's a start, anyway.

Kleen Owt!! (Healthy Start/CIRS)

Yesterday I watched a webinar (free!) presented by Dr. Axe.  I was interested in the whole "leaky gut" business because my doctor diagnosed me with Hashimoto's and CIRS (Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome) last year.  I had an understanding of how the gut plays into this, but needed reinforcement because I am easily tempted to cheat.  To my credit, I have been working assiduously for the past month to avoid it.  I'm doing very well.  The only hang up is the small amount of gluten contained in the Communion hosts each Sunday (I have read that they do make reduced gluten hosts, apparently low enough that some celiacs could potentially consider using them? But don't go by me on that!! Ask your doctor!)  My doctor felt that for me, a non-celiac, the weekly host would not be a problem.  But I may gently probe around at church, see if they do offer them.  

For those who are not familiar with CIRS, here's a nice general definition from a website:
"CIRS is the illness that occurs when someone who is genetically vulnerable to bio-toxins is exposed and reacts with chronic and systemic inflammation. It turns out 25% of the population carries the genetics responsible for this condition."

I found the webinar talk to be inspiring, just the push I needed.  I wanted to have a small renewal, have plans to make an immune-building soup, plus this yummy other soup I made previously.  But my fridge was woefully in need of a cleaning and purging.  I did this, there was some "Eeew" involved in the back of the vegetable drawer, got the shelves wiped down (need to do the door shelves still).  Here it is, emptied out, waiting for new groceries:  

Groceries are bought, waiting to be utilized.  I started today baking a large butternut squash for tonight's soup.  Tomorrow I'll do the immune-building soup.  I also want to make a soup I posted about previously (here).  It was so yummy, and made enough to freeze, which I did.  Last week I thawed it out for dinner - still yummy!!

I see my doctor at the end of the month.  I hope my month of gluten-free strictness and this new motivation to improve diet even more will pay off.  

Airing The Linens (CIRS)

I spent most of yesterday doing a task that is not so much in vogue anymore: airing the linens.  I like the idea of line-dried linens, but never did more than hanging sheets to dry. Yesterday included not only the sheets, but the blanket, mattress pad, mattress base cover, and the mattress itself to be aired.

Organ Recital (feel free to skip this part): But I finally received a diagnosis from my doctor on what has likely been causing all of my vague, and not so vague symptoms these past years (asthma, migraines, fatigue, depression).  In a nutshell, I have a problem with mold.  Leaf mold had shown up as something I was allergic to long ago, but I didn't think much more about it, since mold is everywhere, and seemed to only bother me in the fall.  However, one of my symptoms, the asthma, first showed up when we were remodeling our bathroom and showering in the basement in a deck shower.  The doctor found lab markers on me that indicated chronic inflammation in my body.  After running more tests, he determined that my body cannot clear mold the way the majority of people can.  Here is an analogy: when a biotoxin (bacteria, mold, etc.) enters the body, the immune system realizes something is wrong, identifies the invader, and sends in the troops to obliterate it.  In my case, the body recognizes that there is an invader, but can't identify it.  An analogy I read was that it is like a policeman witnessing a crime, taking a photo of the perpetrator, running back to the police station to inform the rest, but the picture is blurry and the culprit unidentifiable.  So, they are all running around looking for this guy, but can't recognize him, so they run around, sort of like the Keystone Cops.  So the immune system is roaming around trying to find it, but can't, and so remains inflamed.  Hence the Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, or CIRS (pronounce "Sirs" as in "Dear Sirs").  I am now on a medication that will help chelate the mold accumulated in my body.  

*****

We are now looking at reducing the amount of mold I come in contact with.  This is very difficult, because mold is virtually everywhere.  What we have done so far is to invest in an excellent air purifier, be more cognizant of keeping the bathroom ventilated and the towels and shower curtains frequently laundered, and started opening windows more, now that the days are warmer.  Future remedies will be fixing the portion of the basement where there is some water seepage ($$).  That's a big job, and fortunately our basement tested out "borderline" meaning I can live with it until such time as we can afford to fix the basement.  I also found a cute craft online for keeping shower curtains mold free (more on that when I get around to making it).  

Because I have read that bedding can sometimes harbor mold, yesterday's work included undressing our mattress from all of its coverings, and having it sit outside in the sunshine for several hours.  We also placed the base cover on the wash line for airing (we are not to wash that, according to the tag).  Then I washed our brand new "jelly head" as Kristin calls the puffy mattress covers, our blanket, and one set of sheets (will do the same process on the other sheets soon).  Thankfully, Robert and Paul were available to wrestle the mattress in and out of the house.  We placed an airtight, allergy-type zippered cover over it.  We also rotated the mattress when we placed it back in the room (can't flip these newer mattresses, because there is a definite top and bottom).  But the rotating was so nice!  Paul and I slept a lot better last night in our fresh, clean bed.  

The first batch: mattress base covers and the new "jelly head".

Second batch: blanket and sheets.

(P. S. Don't mind the little wood pile in the forefront!)