Back To The Basics Week 1

I joined another challenge; I sort of gave up on the Sisterhood of the Shrinking Jeans. It was too hard for me to keep my body moving with the exercises along with my leg swellings and such. I have come to the conclusion that I must do the old lady exercises that was given to me when I went to Pulmonary Rehab in April of this year. I hate doing the old lady exercises where I am just working out my arms and such and concentrating on my breathing. Thankfully, I have the pamphlets they gave me and the thera-band and some weights.

Back 2 Basics for me is getting my eating under control. I have also been researching and contemplating going vegetarian to help my disease or at least eat the Andrew Weil Anti-inflammatory eating plan, which means not having meat more than once a week and mainly eating plant based. I have been wavering on this for quite some time and it is finally to step through the door and actually eating this way. Thankfully, I have a ton of beans that I received and have found on the giveaway table. It seems strange to me that people don’t like bean. These aren’t canned beans they are the ones you have to cook, but they are good and I can control the seasoning and salt. Salt swells me up like nothing, sometimes I think it causes me to swell worse than the Prednisone I take.

The point and something I must face is I use food to sooth my soul especially when I am feeling anxious about something going on in my life. I am a calm person, but I have those moments when I am deeply frustrated with how things are going in my life. My leg swells up. I can’t exercise like others who are my age. I sound like Darth Vader. I have a metal pole sticking out my throat. And finding something productive and that brings me complete joy is a huge challenge for me.

So my focus is food, but it is to get my body back into balance. At once time I lost 100 pounds, but I have gained 30 pounds back due to my Vasculitis disease, prednisone, and the deeply rooted emotions that are inside of me.

This week’s goals include:

• Getting out the pamphlets of the exercises I received from the pulmonary rehab and doing a few of them daily.
• Using Myfitnesspal daily and slowly eliminating the amount of meats I consume. Instead of daily meat, only have meat once a week.
• Continue my slow giving up on Soda pop and drinking more water a day. I need 3 liters a day…
• I have been pinning and saving recipes, so putting my crockpot to use and using the recipes I have been saving and putting them in the freezer for those days when my disease is needs to voice her thoughts.
• Make a menu and plan what I eat daily.  I am a planner in every aspect of my life but this one. I need to use those same skills that I have towards my eating and not eat off the cuff.