Thanks for your comments Vicki! I really do appreciate your input. And - you are entirely right, for most people an increase in activity and a decrease in calories DOES do the trick. It is what I first recommend to people who I know are trying to lose weight. That is the general formula that should work. I am always delighted to hear that people DO acheive success. Please, don't let my periodic frustrations discourage you from contributing. Don't think I am giving up either. Just because the eat less, exercise more thing didn't work for me doesn't mean SOMETHING won't eventually. I live in hope... 8-)
Speaking of hope. I love Rebecca! (Vicki - Rebecca is my new age, hippy chick nutritionist that I have been going to since July.) I went to see her yesterday in the midst of my discouraged and defensive mood. I was all ready to tell her that this ain't working and why should we be wasting our time. She, once again, got me back on track and gave me some good information. She told me that first of all, my story ISN'T all that unusual. She councils several women that have made major life changes but still can't lose weight. She (Rebecca) hates our society's way of first, overstating the obesity problem in the country (www.obesitymyths.com), secondly, making people feel like weight is the only issue, (she said that you can tell I am a healthy person just by looking at me!) and third, that if you don't lose weight it is your fault. She HATES the phrase eat less, exercise more - that isn't a cure all, but people are made to think it is, and if they aren't losing weight THEY are doing something wrong. She loves that I have this blog as a support system - because she says external support is very important - but she says I need a support group of people who are going through what I am going through. She is going to see what she can find for me along those lines. She didn't exactly say that I need to stop blogging (well, she did - but I think she more meant to stop worrying so much about what I am reporting and what you all are reporting. I took it to mean not to be discouraged by what I read on this blog. Support should be supportive, and if it isn't then it is counter productive.
So - after my last meeting with her she have me do several evaluations to determine what might be my barriers may be. They came back (in this order) Thyroid, Stress, and Metabolism. I was surprised that stress outranked metabolism - but I guess it isn't THAT much of a surprise. Most of my health issues are fundamentally related to the way I handle stress... headaches, stomach distress, muscle pain (not from exercise!). So she has a plan for me to attack these three areas. I don't remember what they are exactly (other than she wants me to take a seaweed supplement and meditate daily) but I have the list at home. She DID tell me that since I like to track things she wants me to shoot for 35g of fiber a day. I can't remember if that is for my thyroid or for my metabolism. I don't think it is for stress...
I told her my new plan was to start getting up at 5:30am and exercising before I leave for work since I am too tired by the time I get home. She said ABSOLUTELY not. She said that I need to eat before I do anything like exercise and I wouldn't have enough time to eat breakfast before an early morning workout. She wants me to try to go back to doing a lunch workout. Brick Bodies has a gym right across from the other TESSCO building so I should be able to go there during the day. My fear is that I will run into someone from work. I decided that I would be less like to bump into people early in the day than late in the day - so I am going to start trying to go around 10am or 2pm.
Finally, and in conclusion, I just found out that we have changed our insurance plan so that nutritional councelling is covered! I will be able to go to her for the cost of a co-pay. YAY!!
4 comments:
That's awesome that your insurance will start to cover the cost of your visits to Rebecca.
I thought you had your thyroid completely checked out already? Why did that pop up as the top barrier? I like that she suggested a support group for you of people with similar problems. Does she have a group like that together, or is she planning to put one together?
Why would you be afraid that you might bump into someone from work at the gym? Geez, that's all I EVER bump into being as how it's a gym at work. That and my work-study students.
As I posted earlier (like JANUARY) Not having a thyroid condition doens't mean that it is funtioning optimally. It would be like saying - Oh, well, you aren't manic depressive, therefore you are normal... Well, NO. Just because you aren't suicidal doens't mean you aren't depressed. It is the whole "Your bloodwork came back normal" well, normal for WHO? Sarah, you and I had an extensive conversation about the differnece between the art and science of healing. Drinking cranberry juice can help your kidneys function more optimally, even if you don't have renal failure. I don't need to be treated for hypo or hyper thyroidism, but I still have a lot of the symptoms of a non-optimally functioning thyroid.
No, she does not have a support group like that set up. That is not her focus. She is going to see if she can find one for me.
I don't know Sarah, maybe because I like to zone when I go to the gym and I can't do that if there is someone from work standing in front of me. Maybe because I would be uncomfortable coming to work in my pjs also. I wouldn't leave my house in the morning without brushing my teeth or hair first either - but that doesn't bother some people. Everyone is different. I suspect your work atmosphere is very different than mine.
That's what I was asking--what on the evaluation made your thyroid show up as the top barrier? You don't have to get defensive and I remember our conversation. I was just curious because I thought that this was something you already discussed with Rebecca and that she was already aware of your concerns and thoughts about this. It surprised me that now, months later, she's evaluating it.
You can zone when someone from work is right there at the gym. That's my point. Any gym seems to be pretty much the same--if you see someone you know professionally, you say hi and that's it. There's never eye contact or conversation or anything and people try very hard to pretend that they are invisible. That's even what happens when someone from my own department is there at the same time. People at gyms act like strangers. That's why it was so weird when the Brownie father started talking to me. When I was seeing him at the gym for the past two years as "work-guy-from-the-t.v.-studio" we didn't talk or look at each other or anything. But when we discovered we had a social connection outside of work, we had to talk at the gym. Gyms are strange because people are doing essentially private things in a public place, but everyone is doing the same thing--thus the invisibility pretending.
Sorry Sarah - my comment wasn't written in a defensive mode - I am sorry you took it that way. I think I have a very different job than you do. My job is to answer questions about people's personal concerns... their pay, their insurance, their bonuses, their problems with the boss or their co-workers. A lot of times they don't think of their questions until they see me. I stood on the treadmill after work at the other gym location and talked to someone for 20 minutes about how their leader doesn't take their concerns seriously and that they think they are being paid at the wrong bonus %. THEN - insult to injury - they ended the conversation by saying "don't tell anyone about this." How am I supposed to do my job if I can't actually address the problem?? I even had my iPod hanging out of one ear, because I had to stop it so the person COULD tell me their problems. I KNOW my concern may be an irrational one - but if that happens to me at a gym 12 miles away at 8 at night, then I strongly suggest that it WILL happen at a gym 1/2 a mile a way during work hours. But - I suspect not as many people will be there at 10am or 2pm.
The evaluations that Rebecca had me do were a series of questions. You check off the ones that apply to you. There were 7 or 9 of them. There were questions like "Do you have panic attacks or startle easily." Well - I have panic attacks, but don't startle easily - so is that a yes or a no. I will emaail you the questions. They were kind of interesting.
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