So, back in February things changed a little at work. I got some help, we got in a groove, things changed for the better. It was wonderful. I was able to get some of the stuff that I was struggling with trying to get done because, well, because I'm only one person. I had stopped waiting for the ability to clone myself about a year ago. So, after this horrendous year of stress and barely hanging on, I could breathe again.
Being able to reflect once again, I realized I was tired of feeling like I had no energy. Tired of having my brain and body protest every time I looked in the mirror and wondered who that fat girl was and where the fit girl I had always prided myself on being had gone. I was tired of secretly hoping that every patient with an appointment after three o'clock EVERY day would just not show up because my brain did not have anything left. I was tired of being behind all the time even though there were others helping to share the load, and I should have felt the burden lighten.
I have been married for about three and a half years to a guy who knows how to make potatoes, steak, lasagna, fried anything, and pretty much any bachelor food known to man...and known to make woman gain weight... he he. He cooks every day. I know, I am the luckiest... and I admit it. But, aside from the stress at work, I also had to find a way to discover the healthy girl that I used to be and do it in a way that would work for my husband, too. So, I couldn't eat salad every meal, or eat 2 teaspoons of food at each meal, or not eat. None of these would fly with my hiker, hearty-eating, feeding-me-because-it's-his-way-of-taking-care-of-me husband. And, I couldn't work out for three hours a day. No possible way. Even though my stress level is lower, I still leave at 7 am and get home around 7 pm daily. Twenty MINUTE workouts are hard to fit in that schedule.
As a health care provider I know I need to manage my stress. Check. I need to move every day. Check (mostly). And I know that I need to eat healthy. How would I go about doing this?
Six years of college dedicated to health care with another two in business and I still had only vague ideas about where to start. I knew that I was eating too much and that I was definitely eating poorly. So, first change was to eat less. Starting there, ten pounds came off in about three months. Starting at thirty pounds over where I have lived most of my life, that ten pounds wasn't as miserable as I'd feared it might be. Unfortunately, I still didn't feel much better. Still having headaches regularly and still looking at an unhealthy girl in the mirror. Aaargh.
Lots of patients have come to me with the same complaints and I have given them the same advice. Move more, eat less, more veggies, avoid the 5 whites (bread, pasta, potatoes, rice, and pastries-anything sugary). These are great starting strategies but they aren't the whole banana. And I wanted more.
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