Fail…so what?

I had COFFEE.  *sobs*  I had LOTS of COFFEE.  *wails*  I had 2 cups at breakfast and 2 cups at lunch, and no appreciable water all day.  So my water experiment is a bust.

No, no it’s not.  It’s One day.  My lips are no longer “sticky” and though I’m having to pee like every 5 minutes, I don’t feel as sluggish as I had.  Drinking that much water is a hard habit for me to acquire.  I still am struggling with it near the end of the month.  Is anyone else having a problem with this experiment?

Last week, I had a sudden pain in my thigh of the leg that was broken.  It was way down below the break and it felt like I was cramping.  Every step hurt.  It has diminished since then, but of course, I couldn’t go to the gym or do any walking while it hurt.  I may get some walking in a little later today.  I also haven’t weighed myself (because my standard is at the gym.  Lucky for me…)  I would guess I haven’t lost any appreciable weight though.

My friend L is on the keto diet.  She’s lost about 25 pounds!  She did that in 90 days?  I’ve been essentially at 1200 calories a day and mostly protein and fat for 2 years now.  Still same weight.  SHM.  It’s frustrating.

My progress has been in my attitude about how I look and how I feel.

You know…

• Denial  (I’m not fat, I’m fluffy!)
• Anger (Why do calories attack me in my sleep!  They leap onto me and hold on for dear life.)
• Bargaining  (OK, if I have 5 good days of exercise and good nutrition, can I have pizza and beer on Saturday?)
• Depression  (No one else has this problem, the laws of biochemistry and physics do not seem to apply to me.)
• Acceptance  (No problem, yes, I am a 2XL.  I AM twice the woman you married.)

If you read through my blogs on Measurable progress, you can see me vacillate between the last two repeatedly.  I don’t want to accept that what I look and feel like right now is the way I’m going to remain.  But I cannot continue to beat myself up either…

We?

I was listening to the radio “For Your Health” program this morning, and came to an interesting conclusion.  Here’s the set up:

The hostess states some statistic about how many people lie to their doctor when they go in.  She then goes on to say the obvious–that you could leave out pertinent information regarding your condition that would significantly alter your diagnosis.  That you must be up front when discussing your habits such as drinking, drugs and activities.

My conclusion was not that people are trying to save face in front of the doctor so they don’t appear weak and vulnerable, when, in fact, they are AT the doctor’s clinic BECAUSE they are feeling weak and vulnerable.

What is the 1st thing the doctor says when he or she comes into the room.  They look at the chart and then they look at you and say, “How are WE feeling today?”  Now if the mechanic came into the waiting room at the dealership and looked at the computer read-out of your car and said, “How are OUR cars doing today?” you’d look at him funny.  I dunno!  I don’t have the chart with all the information about YOUR car.  I assume since you drove it here, and I towed mine, your car is in pretty good shape and mine doesn’t work.  Let’s just concentrate on MY car.  If the waitress came to your table and asked, “What are WE having for breakfast today?” (and we’ve all had this happen), most would respond, “Wait–you came to work in a restaurant before you ate?  Can’t you sneak something in the kitchen?  Did you want to join me for breakfast?  It’s ok with me, but we’d have to split the check.”

So when the doctor asks the patient that stupid question, the patient is not wanting to appear stupid in front of the doctor.  He looks him up and down and makes his best guess that the doctor is probably fine and not hurting anywhere.  Then he self-assesses and then using a math that is as incomprehensible as quantum mechanics and averages it out.  The patient then replies, “pretty good for the most part.”

Don’t be fooled.  The doctors know exactly how you feel.  They have your chart!  They can tell what you’ve been doing.  If your eyes are bloodshot and you say, “Will this take long Doc?  I’m really hungry!  Oh and did you know all your pens talk?  Dude!” he will know you’re on some kind of drug.  He just wants to know one of two things: 1. Is it prescription? and 2. Can I sell it on the side to pay for my liability insurance premiums?  Hmmm probably not that 2nd question.  If you smell of alcohol and tobacco, and you giggle at the questions, he’s going to know you might have a drinking problem.  If he tells you what he suspects and you exchange money with your spouse, he’ll know you might have a gambling problem and that your kneecap injury is probably an indication that you’re not very good at it.  He will know when he listens to your digestive system and gets his stethoscope kicked that you might be pregnant.  He will understand when he comes into the exam room and you ask him where the tomatoes are that you might be suffering the first stages of dementia.

The point of the program was to encourage people to be straight-forward with their doctors.  My point is that doctors should ask, “WTH is wrong with you?” instead of using the royal “we” and then they’d get a straight answer.

hmmm

I wrote that last one Sept 1, and then something happened and it didn’t publish.

Ok, well, published now.

End of 1st week:  It’s hard not to drink coffee/tea/pop and stick to water.  I went a week on this water experiment and then had some Mountain dew with my salad.  I couldn’t finish it.  It was way too sweet!  I had coffee with my breakfast, and could only drink a 1/2 a cup.  My body’s reacting to this in ways I didn’t predict.  Should be interesting.

Lips still feel sticky, but less so.

Happy September 1! Ready? Set? GO!

For all you people that read this blog, this is the beginning of “Water You Up To?” September.  The rules are simple:

1. Drink water
2. not flavored water
3. not Gatorade or other power drinks
4. not tea
5. not coffee
6. not fruit juice
7. not water flavored with hops and barley (beer)
8. no, the ice in your cocktail doesn’t count
9. not pop/soda

Write down in your September Journal how you feel today.  Get a picture of yourself perhaps.  Write down your exercise and your meals as well.  If you have a fitbit, check it! (Oh, yeah.  That’s why you bought the danged thing!)  I’m curious how your results turn out.  2 questions that come to mind:  1st of all, are you more aware of what you’re eating when you have to journal it?  So will that affect your results?  And secondly, are you more aware of your exercise when you journal it and will THAT have an effect on your results?

Sept 30, let me know how you did.  The more people we have in this experiment, the better the information we get.

Here’s my starting:

• Weight 212.7
• lips:  sticky (partial dehydration)
• exercise regimen for base–Physical Therapy exercises to strengthen broken hip (from last year)