Work

Last time I posted I was thinking of challenging myself to doing Yoga With Adriene's 30 day challenge that she posted in January and I still haven't made it more than a few days into it. I did great for 3 days straight, getting it in after work either right before my husband got home or while he was at the gym. That Friday as I was jogging toward the house to get my dog and myself out of the rain, my shoe caught on the sidewalk and I fell. I landed on my knee and hand. Thankfully nothing was broken or torn but I took a fair amount of skin off my knee. Yoga requires a fair amount of time on your knees so I took that as the universe telling me to take a break. I have kept up with my keto lifestyle and fasting and I'm still seeing the pounds peeling off. As Monday morning I am officially 15 pounds lighter. I have not been working out intentionally but there have a few days that I've gotten 10,000 steps or more. Usually those are weekend days when my husband and I get out and about. Last Saturday we went to a park and the beach and I ended up having over 13,000 steps on that day. My body was really sore from all that walking, especially the knee I have arthritis in, but I know it did my good. I had a recent very high anxiety day recently where I had to drive to the city (an hour each way) to have my work equipment migrated to a new system. My car is sounding like it's going to explode when I go over 40 MPH so I was so stressed out. Our IT team works out of a hospital so I had to sit at the hospital for a few hours while they worked their magic. As I was sitting there, an agitated man came in pleading to know where his wife and daughter were. Two security guards were with him, directing him to registration but he was acting irratic and shouting at them that he'd called the police several times and getting upset that no one was helping him. I am in a state that has concealed carry and our hospitals do not ban them in the facilities so my mind was racing as he became more agitated and the guards were yelling back and I was the only other person he could see. I admit I thought about the what-ifs and didn't feel comfortable the rest of the time I waited. Mind you, I still had to drive home in my questionable jalopy! I had prepared for the day by bringing keto friendly snacks, but my stress level was so high it was really challenging not to seek comfort in food. I made it through and actually go to apply the overtime I had that day to getting off early on Friday. The horrible feelings of anxiety stayed with me though and while I had a cheat meal planned for that night, I also had a beer to just get some relief from my anxiety. It worked and I have been able to put it behind me but I really don't like how bad my anxiety spiked and completely took over this time. I have been talking about getting help for this for years, I think I'm ready. I just worry about side effects of meds, but I'm willing to give it a try I think. On the positive side, I have been reflecting on this current journey and how I started this when I wasn't even sure I was ready to commit to it. I stuck with it until it became routine, and now, because I stuck with it long enough, I am reinvigorated by hope because things are happening! I feel myself changing. I am starting to see the changes and feel areas that were way flabbier now have less of that. My clothes, shoes and wedding rings are loose. I have more energy and I am not starving or thinking about food all the time. Yet, when I do eat, I enjoy it and get a happy little food buzz. One of the YouTube channels I follow recently had Dr. Mindy Pels on as a special guest and I was really drawn into what she was saying about fasting and how 13 hours of fasting is where magic starts happening (our body begins getting really good at using fat for fuel) then at different intervals she gave the advantages. Fasting for 24 hours cab heal your gut biome and make your body better at using glucose even after you break the fast. Etc. She also gave a great fast cycle as far as when to eat higher or lower carb, when to refrain from vigorous workouts and when to fast or not fast depending on where you are in your menstrual cycle. For example, the week your period starts you should eat low carb and incorporate fasting which will help your body make estrogen. The week before your period starts you should abstain from fasting, eat higher carb fruits and beans etc, and abstain from strenuous activity because cortisol is higher at that time of the month and cortisol suppressed progesterone. She said PMS is caused by mismanaged hormones. Anyway, I watched a few more videos and I am happy there's a female doctor that's giving women valuable information on how how we eat and move can add to or alleviate some of the hormonal imbalances that make me crazy most months. I am going to try and follow these. The link to the video is for anyone who is interested. So, this renewed enthusiasm and hope is pushing me to want to experiment with fasting more than I have been. More to come on that as it solidifies. I did a Peleton strength workout tonight after work. Only 20 minutes but I was feeling perfectly primed for a nap at that time so I am happy I did it. There were squats and crunches and bridges galore and I was challenged a perfect amount. I will be sore the next couple days. I may have moaned about Peleton being too advanced for me but I know I need the challenge in order for change to happen. I'm ready. I miss feeling strong. I want to walk up stairs or a hill and not be sticking wind. I want better balance. There's no magic, there is only work.