Annual check-up "Oh oh!" - Getting back on track NOW

VRTC1960
VRTC1960 Posts: 20 Member
in Motivation and Support
I've been going through some stuff and knew I had let my own needs take a back seat - but the numbers from my annual visit are a huge wake-up call. I knew I had gained back about ten pounds, but I did NOT realize I had turned my "good" glucose and lipid numbers back to high-risk values. I have a metabolic syndrome that will make this always hard, but it's definitely possible.
I now have pulled in more support for the hard things (caring for an elderly parent with Alzheimer's Disease) and I'm putting my needs back into the priority list! I have promised myself to track food and fitness faithfully for the next three weeks to hopefully form a habit.
Anybody else out there dealing with caregiving and self-care through this, let's help each other stay on track!
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  • xrj22
    xrj22 Posts: 217 Member
    I am in a similar boat. 2.5 years ago made some big changes and really turned around my cholesterol (and improved glucose thought that wasn't really a problem). back slid, avoided doctors for a while, and when I finally bit the bullet and went, by numbers were not as bad as before, but back into the "high" range, which is NOT what I want. Caregiving is not my stressor. But still, the key for me is going to be sticking to my good habits even on a bad day. -- NOT giving in to that temptation to treat myself with food after a tough day. My trigger is days of work filled with paperwork - or weekends when I need to bring the paperwork home with me. Somewhere along the line, I became convinced that I couldn't face a day of this without junk food to get me through. I am trying to reverse this thinking to say that if I have a tough day is is better to be healthy and end the day feeling good about my health (even if I am grumpy about what i had to do), rather than ending the day grumpy and down on myself for eating junk and ruining my body as well.
  • VRTC1960
    VRTC1960 Posts: 20 Member
    Hello xr! Sorry to respond so late, but I am still figuring out the site and didn't know how to get the responses to show. Just figured it out this afternoon!

    I know what you mean about reaching for the junk food. After clamping down on my impatience with Mom the dopamine hit from junk food is so much easier than all the other ways to relieve stress. But now I stress about my glucose and blood pressure, and sliding my body and brain into the condition she is in so I do the same thing to my kids. I'm working hard at making junk food an evil thing in my head. It's hard, that bag of marshmallows Mom bought (on a jaunt to the grocery store with another family member) look so angelic up on that high shelf ...

    I'm trying hard to identify some things that make me feel good that are NOT food. I used to really enjoy creative crafts, mainly with thread and yarn. The added benefit to those is that you really don't want orange or sticky fingers when working with fuzzy threads! I've also found, after forcing myself for a while, that it is enjoyable to walk around the block and pet all my neighbors' dogs on their walks, and weeding the garden is rather satisfying. Gardening counts for a LOT of calorie burn too, which surprised me and makes me want to do it more!

    Hope you're still in there swinging at those numbers! I have hit the gratifying first fluid dump that dropped the scale number, now for the slower slog at actual fat.
  • VRTC1960
    VRTC1960 Posts: 20 Member
    So, it's been four weeks. I did log in and track faithfully for three full weeks (nearly four, but I stress-ate over the weekend) and I can see from the chart that my fasting glucose is definitely trending downward - the three-day rolling average is down about 20 mg/dl. I stopped monitoring my blood pressure every day, it seems wiser to focus on one or two things at a time. BP is impacted by stress, and my life is a pressure-cooker so adding a "bad" reading every morning is not likely to help!

    Now that I'm seeing progress with the glucose, I'm going to maintain the eating pattern and push to get more exercise in. In three or four more weeks I will start monitoring blood pressure - hopefully the diet and exercise improvements will have made some improvements. In the meantime I am getting more adjusted to my mom's changing status, and reducing my worries about that will help too. I think she is transitioning into one of the later stages of Alzheimer's, where her mental and physical abilities will get noticeably worse, probably over the next year or so. I'm working on improvements to the house to make it more accessible before she has the need.
  • CPAUTISM24
    CPAUTISM24 Posts: 32 Member
    I have been slacking lately, however, I have been back one week today. Stuck with the program and saw great results. Time, patience and consistency
  • VRTC1960
    VRTC1960 Posts: 20 Member
    edited September 2023
    Rough weekend (emotional eating to the tune of 600 extra calories of comfort food). Back on track Monday, but after lunch I have the Hungry Horrors - 10 minutes after eating I'm painfully hungry again. In theory, there is something my body needs, so I tried a fiber/fat snack of carrots and tzatziki; came right back; maybe salt? an ounce of potato chips - nope. The marshmallows in the cabinet were calling to me, so I had a measured serving. Nope. I'm gritting my teeth til the end of the work day, maybe some hummus while I'm cooking dinner. Or a square of the dark chocolate I keep in the fridge for Mom.

    Anybody else have a history with this monster? Success stories?? Tips?
  • VRTC1960
    VRTC1960 Posts: 20 Member
    CPAUTISM24 wrote: »
    I have been slacking lately, however, I have been back one week today. Stuck with the program and saw great results. Time, patience and consistency

    @CPAUTISM24 I hope you're still hanging in there!

    We *think* we found a reason for my mom's apparent sudden decline - an atypical response to a new medication. She seems to be doing better as the drug is eliminated from her system, but it was a rough few weeks. Also my family agreed to spell me on night-time monitoring, so 3-4 nights per week I get to sleep with far less wakefulness, which is HUGE for managing diet and weight (and blood pressure!).

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