Way overdue!

     I know, I know.... It's been over a month. But STUFF has been happening, and it doesn't belong on the internet. And it has been so all-consuming that I didn't have anything else on my mind.
     Instead, let me tell you about my latest attempt at getting healthier! I went out with Paige last weekend, and we both got ourselves a Jawbone UP. It's a fitness band similar to a FitBit. By having something that tracks my daily step-count, I feel more motivated to actually move more often. And Paige and I are able to be "teammates" so we can share whatever daily info we choose with each other. This lets us see whether the other one is making their goals so we can support each other. This is definitely an improvement over having to do it alone.
     I went to the Emergency Room after Memorial Day weekend. We had gone up to Ohiopyle for a lovely day, but the plants up in the mountains are quite different from what we have down in Pittsburgh. So my allergies went haywire and I couldn't breathe. But that's beside the point. I had to step on a scale, and to my major disappointment, my weight had gone back up over 260. I managed to lose two pants sizes since leaving the ex- but due to circumstances leading to poor diet, my pants were getting pretty tight again. Now I know just how bad things were getting. I had to do something.
     My first step was to get back into the habit of eating more than once a day. I've never been a big fan of breakfast first thing when I wake up, but starving myself until dinnertime was not doing me any good. And while a sausage biscuit at McCrack is not the best option, but unless I start getting up at 6am, it's the only way I'm going to be able to eat before work. I just can't stand eating within the first hour of being awake, and I leave home less than 30 minutes after I roll out of bed in the mornings. And I make sure to log it into my UP app, so it can keep track of my nutrition for the day.
     The next thing I've done is, about two weeks ago, I stopped drinking pop. Except when I go out to a sit-down restaurant. Instead, I got a case of bottled water and a bunch of Mio and Dasani water enhancers. They have no calories and, more importantly, no sugar! And I have several flavors that I really like. I drink a lot more now, because it's a lot cheaper than pop, too. 
     Other than keeping track of how much I walk, I haven't really added any exercise yet. I wanted to spend a full week actually seeing what my behavior patterns are before I see what I can do to change them. So far, I'm averaging between 7,000 and 8,000 steps per day. So next week, I'm going to work a lot harder at making the 10,000 step goal that UP recommends. I'm also going to try some simple yoga once a week. A furry who lives a few blocks away loves doing yoga, and has found some easy, beginner poses to help me start with that. We're going to try it out for a few weeks before I decide if I'm going to commit to that, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
     So, today when I came home from work, I randomly stepped on the roommate's scale. It said I weigh 250. That's a ten pound weight loss since Memorial Day! I've been keeping pretty decent track of my eating habits, and my UP tells me that I'm burning more calories than I'm taking in, and all the water I'm drinking is doing a pretty good job of flushing out my system. I don't expect my weight-loss to continue at such an awesome pace, but as long as it keeps going in the same direction, I'll be a happy tiger!
     Oh! And Anthrocon is coming up in just over a week! I'll be doing TONS of walking there! Let's see where my scale sits after mid-July!

Okay... WHO STOLE MY SPOONS!

     I live every day of my life with arthritis and anxiety. These are invisible illnesses that cause me pain and stress on a regular basis. I spend my energy dealing with this, keeping a smile on my face, and doing my best not to complain about it. Most days, it is easy. Sometimes, it's harder. On my occasional bad days, I can usually fight my through what I must, but tire easily. Anyone who suffers with an invisible illness understands these days of "spoon shortage."
     But this past weekend was something I have no words for. I have been dealing with a lot of stress at home, as I've explained in the last few posts. I knew it was getting to me but I had no idea how bad. I got home from work on Friday morning, looking forward to a fun weekend, including a St Patrick's Day party at the house of some friends. I was going to start my weekend off with a bit of exercise by staying on the bus until it reached a church where I went to daycare as a child, and walking back home. It's not a very stressful walk, and I need the exercise. But while waiting for the bus, my back started hurting. During the ride, my legs started to ache. So I decided that the long walk was not for me that morning.
     I got home and barely made it up to my room. I took some Motrin, crawled into bed, and turned on the TV. I spent the next two days there. It hurt so much, just to walk to the bathroom! Taking a shower was an exercise in willpower. It was bad enough that I had to cancel my plans to go to the party. I see some of my friends less than once a month, and this was the first time I'd see some of them in even longer. But I was held hostage by a body that just would not cooperate. 
     I slept most of the weekend. When Cortez brought home a friend I wanted to meet, I had to insist that person be brought up to my bedroom, because I couldn't even go downstairs to be polite. Knowing that it was still a necessity, I felt awful that I was basically ignoring the normal rules of etiquette. And after everybody left to go to the party, I was asleep again. I didn't even have the energy to play on the computer...
     I went to work last night, thinking that the pain had finally gone away. But, I was wrong. I felt great leaving the house, but standing at the bus stop for ten minutes, my back was in screaming pain again. The leg ache started up about two hours into my shift. I'm back home, and back in bed again. I've tried every over-the-counter painkiller I have. Nothing is taking the edge off this. I'm ready to pull the blankets over my head, and it's not even nine a.m. 
     It looks like I'll be going to bed early again. I hope this gets better soon. I may work night shift, but a doctor's appointment still will mean I'd have to take time off work that I can't afford at this point in time. It looks like only time will tell...