Here we go again. I have been so bad at keeping up on blogs. But I think it is important to go again. My journey to wellness has been long and its had its ups and downs, but I am constantly learning things about my body that is different from what "they" say. It is enlightening to learn that we really are unique individuals. Sometimes some of the basic principals do not apply. Sometimes, for example, it is not just as simple as calories burned exceeding calories consumed equals weight loss. Sometimes there are other factors involved.
I am a 49 year old woman, and I am morbidly obese. (I hate that word morbidly, but I guess it is accurate.) At any rate. I have struggled with my weight all my life and only gotten heavier. I was always relatively healthy despite increasing girth. As a child I was at the top of average and various experiences added pounds. I lived hard and made poor choices when I was a teen and young adult and now I am trying very hard to correct all of the damage I have done to my body. I have tried many methods and tools and diets and exercise programs all to only increase my weight. In the last 10 years or so my health has started to become affected. Things like pneumonia every summer, being more susceptible to flu viruses, having systemic fungus and aching joints (well yours would ache also if you carried an extra 250 lbs every time you took a step).
People often ask me why I don't have such and such a surgery. Those surgeries are not for me. It is not the amount I eat. It is the things I eat and how my body cannot handle them. I already have to supplement a lot, and if I put even less food in my body than I do now, I would have to supplement even more. I am slowly discovering the foods that are good for my body and the foods that are not good for my body. I am slowly discovering the things that work and the things that don't work for me. I am slowly regaining my health and slowly dropping the pounds.
That is what this blog is about. It is the discoveries about myself that I am making along the way because maybe, just maybe, some of my discoveries will help someone else.
This blog is also about my successes and my failures along the way. Failures are learning opportunities and maybe someone will find some value in my failures and how I deal with them.
My current tools and teammates on my discovery journey include:
- Naturopath Corey Carter and his staff, EDS tester, Angi, Lymph Drainage Massage with Hilary, and massage with Margaret at Alt Med Services And of course Linda who schedules all of my appointments and reminds me of them so I don't forget. I have to also mention some of the wonderful former staff I have worked with there over the years who are no longer there... Randy, Rochelle, Connie, Sarah, and Sharlene. Gloria, Crystal, and Lyla are no longer there either, but were instrumental in the "Positive" part of my wellness.
- Chiropractor Robin Lecy at Lecy Family Chiropractic. He does acupuncture on me and it was that acupuncture that got rid of the year-long plantar fasciitis which called my yoga to a halt and made walking very painful for a while. He also introduced me to the Ideal Protein Diet.
-Yoga. I started it back in 2012. My wonderful Yogi, Kris Van Deusen, creatively modified some of the poses so I could do them without getting down onto the floor. Once I got down, I wasn't going to get this body up again!! But then the plantar fasciitis set in and I tried to persist, but between the pain of being on my foot and then getting sick, I ended up giving up. But I am back, and though she has moved, I still have my poses and vinyasa to do it on my own! She is still on my contact list and I know I can come to her with any questions I might have. I do know that while I was doing yoga I felt strong and confident. I could do it!! That is the feeling I need to get back.
- Walking. Now that I no longer hurt to walk, I can start counting steps again.
-The internet. I am always looking something up. I love to read about other peoples' experiences with things. Very recently I dyed some of my hair purple, using some natural color. And wanting that purple to last, but not wanting to use chemicals (I used an organic shampoo without sulphates and glycerin and other bad stuff in it) I researched ways to clean my hair without added stuff that will still protect the color and I came across the no-poo and low-poo methods. It just so happened that I was almost out of shampoo and so I decided to embrace the no-poo method. Further research told me that the baking soda used in the method is not good for dyed hair because it is too alkaline, but that apple cider vinegar can be used to clean the hair as well as condition it. And that is what I do. I only wash my hair about once every 7-10 days and I use apple cider vinegar. In between washings I use argan oil to moisturize my scalp. It is working. My hair is great! Today I researched body cleansing without soap... The whole idea is to reduce the amount of chemicals that make their way into my body.
-Bountiful Baskets Food Co-op. We got involved because my son hit his teens and we were looking at any way to reduce our food bill. We pay the extra for the organic produce and it has been wonderful. With new allergies being discovered, I have to make almost everything from scratch and this has helped a lot.
-Zaycon Fresh for our meat. It is not certified organic, I don't think, but it is pretty darn close and pretty darn healthy and pretty darn reasonably priced. And it is the best tasting meat ever!!
-My family and my friends who are so very supportive of me. I am not doing this journey alone. I may be the one with the health issues but I couldn't do it without my circle of support.
So on that note I am going to end today. Tomorrow I will share my health issues and what I am currently doing about them. It's been a long time getting to where I am so this background stuff is important but lengthy. :)
Make Today Great!!
Shannon
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