The Organs Speak

Last weekend was so busy for me and I got a lot done, and boy did I sleep good after all the running around and housework!  I know, what a way to spend Mother's Day, but I feel so much better with a clean and more organized house!  I put on more than 10,000 steps on Saturday and got to around 9,000 steps on Sunday, which is pretty rare for me on the weekends.  I ate pretty junky through the weekend, spaghetti, chips, cookies, etc, but I didn't binge or eat when I wasn't hungry.  I kept so busy that I would only stop when my stomach was growling and then I'd have a sandwich and a couple Oreos or grab a couple chips from the bag.  I was still in a place of not wanting to have to care or focus on it, and I don't want to cause binge behaviors from being overly restrictive.  It has all been about finding the balance between self-care and mental health care because both are intertwined in my eating choices, and I am still working out the details.
Aunt Flow finally made an appearance, about a week late, which is very unusual for me.  I have been feeling a little yuck with that but it sure didn't stop me over the weekend. 
I also had to get some more bloodwork done over the weekend because my potasium was low on my bloodwork from April, so my doctor wanted to retest after I was off the diuretic.  Fortunately, my potasium is now in the normal range.  I am noticing that my bun/creatinine ratio is high though, last month fasting it was right on the (high) borderline of normal, and this time with food in my belly it was higher than the normal range.  I was worried about that and looked up what that could mean and potential causes are dehydration, kidney problems (a decrease in blood flow to the kidneys), congestive heart failure, and eating too much protein.  UGH.  I also noticed that my Chloride and Sodium were on the higher end of normal (almost higher than normal) and those two both mean that I am intaking too much sodium and not drinking enough water.  And that can affect the bun/creatinine ratio as well.  I really do try to not let myself get worked up.  My doctor has not commented on my test results yet, I will wait to see if she expresses concern about anything, and I will try not to obssess over it until then.  But one simple thing I can do is drink more water.  When I think about it and track it, I drink nearly a gallon a day, but I know there are plenty of times when I leave work having only filled my 22 oz bottle once during my nearly 9 hour shift.  I do drink a lot at home, but it's not enough.  I am also thinking about tracking my sodium intake to see where I'm at and look at ways of reducing it.  The water will be a good way to start, and it is easy. 
This morning as I got dressed and looked at myself in the mirror, I saw someone who is smaller than I have been but also not as small as I have been.  I felt good to see that I am not as big as I once was and it gave me a glint of motivation to push toward the healthier direction.  I still have goals of getting all my blood test results in the normal category next year when I get blood work drawn.  The three big tricks I am going to have to adopt to get them there are to eat good (more produce, less salt, maybe a slight cut in protein via dairy), drink more water and get myself moving more.  That advice hasn't changed for decades and there's a reason why.  All these internal organs respond to all that external stuff I do, good or bad.  This just the first time my bloodwork scared me in where my liver and kidneys are concerned. 
At the end of the evening last night, I decided to track my food, all the good and not-so-good stuff I ate yesterday.  It was over 1,800 calories yesterday and more carb-heavy than I think it should be, but I wanted to track on a day where I wasn't really trying hard to eat very clean.  It wasn't an amazing discovery but I could easily see how eating as I did yesterday could lead to an addition or maintenance of pounds.  I will continue to track, my Fitbit only does Carbs/Fats/Proteins so I may switch to a better tracker because I do really want to track the sodium too and doing it by hand can be so tedius that I don't think I would stick to it.
My mood and energy are better today, and it feels like it has been weeks since I could say that.  I will take that and run with it.

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