Continuing on My Own

Hi,

My sessions with my physical therapist have ended and I am now on my own. I am using my charts to remind me of not only what I have and have not done, but to remind me what is available to do. My PT told me that using stretchy bands is better than hand weights for me to build core strength and endurance. I'm going along with what she said because I suspect that she is right. I have also found a great source for buying the resistance bands online at: http://www.power-systems.com/ 

I have purchased three additional cords that are shorter than the one I have been using. Being shorter makes it easier to do some exercises rather than having to choke up on the cord with my hands in order to increase the resistance. I bought three because they come in different amounts of resistance. The resistance levels are color coded: green (light weight), red (medium weight) and blue (heavy weight) which makes a set for me. They have others that are both lighter and heaver than the ones I purchased. I find that the green one works best for my upper body and the red one works best for my lower body which makes sense to me because my legs are stronger than my arms. I am hoping to move up to the blue one at some point.

The company (Power Systems) is located in Tennessee and I am in Georgia, so when I order something the UPS man brings it in about three days and I am happy with the service. I have also ordered two circular bands of medium and heavy resistance to use for my hip flexes.

I also bought a set of aquatic gloves to wear in the pool for water exercises. It is like putting a"web" on your hands, so you have to pull a little harder to move through the water when you open your hand. The catalog said they increase the resistance of the water by 30 percent so I am excited to begin using them, soon. I investigated getting some water dumb bells like I was using in therapy but they are very expensive, especially if you need more than one size. I am hoping to adapt the gloves to do a similar thing without the expense (they were only about $7.50). I shall report later, on what I find.. I am also not sure they allow water dumb bells in the pool, but what could they say about gloves? They let you wear water shoes, so I'm hoping water gloves are OK, too.

I think I spent about a total of fifty dollars for all of this and I don't think that is too much since I have spent hundreds of dollars in the past on exercise equipment, that I did not use, by the way.  I often did not use them because the routines were simply far beyond my capabilities and I would get discouraged, but, after having done the physical therapy I feel very confident that I now have exercises and methods that are suited perfectly to me and I can continue doing them on my own.

It is very difficult for a fat old lady to keep up with fit young people on the exercise routines that come packaged with many pieces of exercise equipment. They make it look so easy. They are fit and toned and the exercises are easy for them. I am neither fit, nor toned, and am actually stiff and old and very heavy, but my physical therapist has taught me what I can do for myself and I am very happy with that.

There are two things I need to do next. One is buy a seasonal fun card at the aquatic center and the other is make an appointment with my chiropractor. I think I over extended myself in my last therapy session and I have been having head and neck and arm pain ever since. I have been doing cervical traction and the exercises my former PT gave me for this situation and it lightens the pain, but it has not quite gone away yet. I don't know why I have not picked up the phone and called, other than I was hoping that what I have been doing would solve the problem. I think I need a little help so I will call him tomorrow and see what he thinks.

I calculated the price of the seasonal fun card and I will be saving myself about a hundred dollars in fees if I really get me going and using it three times a week like I want to do.

The medical front is not so glowing. I have discovered that the shirataki noodles, when over done, such as in "three times a day" is playing havoc with my kidneys. I have a trace of protein in my urine and I know that excessive amounts of carbs is what causes that. So... the shirataki does not raise my blood sugar, but my body reacts to it as if it were a high carb item anyway. I have now reduced my intake back to once a day and will see if that improves that situation. It may be that I will have to reduce them even further.

I guess I should explain why I was eating them three times a day. One day, I decided to have the shirataki twice instead of once and I lost weight the next morning. I tried the same thing on another day and the same thing happened. So I took a day and tested eating them three times in the day -- with every meal -- and I, again, lost weight. After that I started to eat them three times a day in an effort to speed up the weight loss. It seemed to be working but I also noticed that I did not like how I was feeling when eating it that much. 

Also my blood pressure has begun to go back up to it's old really high levels again. I don't know if that is the shirataki or the animal protein I am eating.  I am waiting to see if the reduction in shirataki makes a difference but am keeping the protein levels lower, too.  Oddly enough, I have grown tired of eating salads and even though I have the ingredients in the fridge, I am not eating them, out of lack of interest. Since I am cooking meat (mostly turkey sausage) a few veggies and the shirataki into a "stir fry" I seem to have no interest in the fresh raw green salads.

When I initially reduced the shirataki back to once a day, I began eating the salads again, and immediately started to have leg cramps in the mornings -- some of them were pretty bad. That seemed really odd to me, but I think I have zeroed in on the vinegar as being the culprit. I purposely stopped using the home made salad dressing (vinegar and oil) and the cramping stopped happening. (Sheesh... if it is not one thing it is another.) Perhaps that is also why the lack of interest in salads... I don't have any dressing for them.

The official Carbohydrate Addicts program allows salad dressing if there is no sugar in the first four ingredients, so I might have to start going that route for a while to see what happens. My own problem with most salad dressings is that they are almost always made with soy oil and I am not interested in eating soy oil -- or soy of any kind unless it is fermented (as per Dr. Mercola's advice). Perhaps I can figure out a way to make a dressing for myself that does not include vinegar. The thought of just using oil is not so appetizing to me at this point in time. I think I have liked using lime juice in the past. Perhaps that might be a useful bit of information to start with.

I'm also taking a stronger dose of the Allopurinol to reduce the uric acid levels in my blood since I was still having gout flare ups in the middle toe on my left foot. I have to take something called Colchrys (I think) if I have a flare up and was really flabbergasted when my druggist told me the price for thirty pills was one hundred and fifty-five dollars. That is a fifteen day supply. I used my mail order Rx from Aetna to purchase a ninety day supply and that came to only $60. What a relief. The druggist said that there are no longer any "generics" for this particular medicine because they have been taken off the market. The lack of competition has made the prices sky-rocket. I had read about that happening but had not experienced it before.

I am very slowly losing weight. At this point in time I have lost 26 pounds and am happy to be continuing to lose weight. I hope I find the perfect diet for me soon. My blog is a record of everything I have tried for more than a year, so you know I've been working on it. I'm wondering when I will finally find the solution that works for me. For now, I shall simply keep on keeping on -- making adjustments as I go.

Reminders to me:

"You can sit there and feel sorry for yourself, or you can get moving."

Goal: Tired, Not Irritated

Goal: Continue to lose weight

Be back soon,

Love you,

Marcia