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chillin' it...sorta
thursday, march 20, 2014
this whole scheduling my web stuff to once a week is helping, mostly, but man does it feel a little...fake? to be writing journal entries the same day every week. lol hopefully my days will get more sorted soon and i can get more random again. ;)
saw the cardiologist this week because there was something in my ekg that concerned my pcp. turns out it's more likely one side of my heart is a little slower than the other and probably not anything to be worried about, but to be safe, i'm scheduled for a echocardiogram next week and a stress test the week after. in the meantime, i have to dial it back a bit on the exercise. conversation went something like this:
receptionist: and no exercise until after the stress test. (or something to that effect.)
me (panicking slightly, thinking about how i need exercise just to keep from gaining weight): NO exercise?
receptionist: well, no strenuous exercise and don't start anything new.
my translation: go from 90 minutes a day to an hour. i'm reducing any walking i do to about 30 minutes most days and have cut out the set of stairs i call the crazy eights (it's 5 flights that end up coming out to 8 flights on the fitbit). i'm keeping one more aerobic abs workout from my hiphop abs stuff, mixing in my pound stuff (which is fun, but i can't seem to get past 10 minutes of a 30 minute workout at the moment), doing two resistance days (one is rockin' body's rock it out and i don't walk that day, and the other is hip hop abs hard body), and still working on the step-by-step workouts for zumba. i also do a short resistance, non-aerobic weights session three times a week and my yoga every night. (yes, i do a lot, and i still want to pick up turbojam—haven't decided which package i want yet—then i think i'll be done because in addition to all this, i have core rhythms (which is only available on amazon these days; the official site is long gone, sorry), belly dance, and hawaiian dance workout dvds. never imagined myself becoming a workout buff, lol.) the sun has been coming out more, so i'm really not happy i have to cut short my walking, but it's only for a few weeks. and considering how tired and run down i've been feeling lately (i'm blaming the dragging on and on and never ending winter), it might be a good thing to bring it down for a bit. i tend to be so excited about the sun that i start overdoing it, and i don't lose weight as a result.
this cut in workout time is really making it hard to meet my 5 miles per day step goal though. i dance a little when cooking and when doing dishes, but that's not enough to make up the shortage.
on the other hand, it is pushing me to keep moving even when sitting and writing. it can be hard to type when chair dancing, but i'm getting better at it. still usually doesn't add enough on the fitbit to get me to 5 miles, but it does keep me moving, which is actually the best way to lose weight: a shorter actual workout time combined with keeping moving through the day. if i can get my food intake back under control (stupid winter hungries; this winter has been one long demand of my body: FEED ME NOW, ALL THE TIME!), i may look into trying to do this more with the occasional 90 minute workout day thrown in to keep the body from getting used to things.
all of which actually brings me to the one really cool thing about that appointment. unlike my pcp (who brushed it off in favor of chastising me for not taking care of things i didn't/don't have money or insurance for), the cardiologist and his entire office staff was THRILLED with my weight loss. they were even encouraging/positive about the fact that it's taken me 3 years to lose the 82 i've lost because 1) slower loss means it's more likely to stay off, and 2) it gives my body the time it needs to adjust. he even commented that they should have me talk to some of their other patients about not only losing weight and how much better a quality of life i have, but also about doing it right and not looking for a magic pill. i know he wasn't serious about that, but it felt good to be acknowledged by a doctor that i'm doing good, especially since my last few doctors haven't impressed me. he'd apparently never heard of lose it!, but liked it when i told him about it.
really all i have left at the moment is to get my kaiser mammograms to my pcp so she has something to compare the current ones with, then we can look into switching pcps. i may wait a year and hope i don't have to see this woman too much just to avoid wasting that money i spent on the "extras" from her office (medical records requests, calling in meds, and other things like that apparently cost extra at her office; sounds totally inane to me, but whatever; and yes, with any future doctors, i'll make sure we like them first). there's still the sleep study (which is on the level of "oh hell no" in terms of cost and one other test that requires changing our diet for a week, which we can't do for various reason including my son's needs and not doing two different diets in this house, as well as possible extra charges there that may not be in the "oh hell no" category of cost but still cost more than we can afford at the moment).
that and chillin' a bit until my stress test in two weeks or so. sorta. it's kinda weird to think back and remember how hard it was to get me off the couch when i was younger. granted, now days i have to do my workouts before i do anything else or they don't get done, but i actually like them and hate skipping them or cutting back. it's just weird. a good weird, but weird.
word of the moment: edenic
any place of complete bliss and delight and peace; a place of pristine or abundant natural beauty
