Today I am making a post for Sadje’s Sunday Poser – how well are you looking after yourself, health-wise? She asks in more detail about how you are taking care of your health. How health conscious are you? Do you regulate your diet, do regular exercise, and look after your health by visiting your doctor regularly? Are you doing something to improve your sleep too? So, let’s jump to an answer or two.
The truth of the mater is that I am disabled. I have fibromyalgia, depression and anxiety. But because I have been diagnosed as such does not mean that I can’t do all possible to try and improve the rest of my health and regulate my disability as best I can.
I started an attempt to watch what I eat and especially watch the portion sizes of what I eat about a year ago. I dropped almost 25 pounds and then became stagnant. My therapist and I have discussed how food is not an enemy and there is no “bad” food. I am gaining a better understanding of food as fuel only and still trying to do my best. Moderation is the key.
I do use a therapy pool for water walking and exercises to help strengthen my muscles. I try to go at least twice a week, but the scheduling has gotten more and more full and that raises issues with my anxiety. I at least make it once a week. And I am working on my step goals. Water exercise is best for fibro, but walking is not too strenuous for me, so I am slowly building up my steps. So far, there is no outdoor walking as recently there have been many hot and humid days that would cause more problems than help. I am however walking indoors and will pace the house to make step totals for the day. I hope to return to the treadmill at the gym eventually one to two times a week for a 30 min walk.
I see so many doctors. I have a therapist I see weekly, my psych meds doctor about every two months, my allergist/asthma doc, fibro doc, and eye doc all at six months and then my regular visits to my primary care provider. I believe strongly in that once a year physical and also see a dentist regularly for cleanings and check-ups.
Sleep… that is a tricky one. I get enough hours but my quality of sleep SUCKS! My therapist believes that I became so in tuned to being hypervigilant when I was married to an alcoholic (worried he would get drunk and fall down the stairs or something) that I just sleep super light. Add in that fatigue is a symptom of both fibro and depression and therefore I nap often and feel at least tired if not fatigued a great deal of the time. It is just a part of who I am now.
So, yes, I do what I can to take care of myself, but with my ailments I don’t know if I can say I am healthy. I do stay in touch with all changes in my body though… I learned not to ignore things when I found a lump years ago that was cancerous. I take care of what I have, it is the only body I get. How about you?
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Image credit – Bing Image Creator
Leigha Robbins 