Mental and Physical Health and Wellness Track, 2022

[Ensign Steve]

Yes, 2022. I'm getting a head start.

Here's some stuff roughly adapted from my new journal:

I'm gonna fucking journal. It's how I know how to get my head straight, and my head is definitely not straight. I feel like it started when Jacob died. I got really depressed, obviously, and just kind of stopped caring about taking care of myself.

That was three years ago, and maybe under normal circumstances, I could have climbed up out of that funk by now, just with time and support and my arsenal of coping techniques.

But then pandemic started. 1.5 years ago we went into lockdown and I had no reason to ever leave the house. So unless I actively went out on purpose to work out, I was looking at approximately 0 steps per day.

And so I did! I went out on the trails and ran. I won't say lockdown was dope because it fucking sucked, but at least I had all the time in the world to run if I wanted to.

Then the fires came. Maybe 2-3 months into lockdown I stopped running. There was too much smoke in the air. I couldn't fucking breathe. These are not excuses, these are facts. I don't have anything to be excused for anyway.

So now it's been more than a year that I have been at home, sedentary and depressed. Eating like crap. Drinking tons of liquor. I have gained nearly 100 pounds, and I really need to take care of this.

Maybe I'm vain, but vanity is not entirely what is at issue here. Let me count the non-vanity reasons why it is not okay for me to be heavier than I have ever been in my life (including when I was 9 months pregnant):

* Almost none of my clothes fit. I can (and do) buy bigger clothes, but it is hard to shop at this size.
* I get winded walking up one flight of stairs.
* I can't trim my own toenails.
* I am super uncomfortable on an airplane, in stadium seats, even the shuttle.
* I have a hard time wiping my ass.
* I have heartburn all the time.
* I want to run but I'm worried about my knees.

So what am I doing about it? Shit that I know works for me. I'm going to journal. What I eat, water intake, exercise, how I feel. I'm not going to focus on my size or weight, just on my habits and choices. The results will come. (Obesity isn't the disease, it's a side-effect of the depression.) I'm going to quit drinking and avoid processed sugar. I'm going to exercise at least 30 minutes a day. Other stuff, maybe. I'll get to that in the future.

[specious_reasons]

Just tracking consumption helped me to start losing weight earlier this year. I did calorie counting for a while using the Fitbit app, which helped me because I always have my phone on me. My weight's been creeping up again, partly because the days shorten so, so quickly in the PNW fall, and I eat more high-calorie food to compensate. I was thinking about starting again, too.

[Ari]

2022? Wow getting an early start I mean it’s only the beginning of 2021… It’s October? Fuck!

Originally Posted by Ensign Steve

I'm going to quit drinking

This will help so much, both mental and physical. There are just so so many calories in booze. Just straight vodka and water adds up fast when you add in real food needed to keep functioning. IMO alcohol is one of the main reasons for failed dieting attempts.

[Ensign Steve]

Originally Posted by Ari

2022? Wow getting an early start I mean it’s only the beginning of 2021… It’s October? Fuck!

inorite! I don't know what it is about this time of year, but this is when I generally get into my health kicks. Which is great because it helps me not wreck myself during the holidays. No Halloween candy for me, thank you.

There are just so so many calories in booze. Just straight vodka and water adds up fast when you add in real food needed to keep functioning. IMO alcohol is one of the main reasons for failed dieting attempts.

Facts. Whenever I have been in what I consider good shape, it's always when I've been sober. Well, alcohol-free anyway. Hey! Maybe it's time for a new custom user title. I don't want to be just a "before rehab" friend anymore.

[JoeP]

Mental and physical health? What is this, a personal attack?

[Ari]

On my own little physical and mental wellbeing kick, years ago I damaged my nerves through vitamin B deficiency. A combination of vegi diet, depression and from what I can tell a reaction to CBD (exactly how I’m not sure, and research into CBD just gets me tons of scam sites).

It started to happen again, and I think I can tie it specifically to the ever small but still present CBD in some of the concentrate I was using, so I’ve quit all thc/cbd and get to be on edge for awhile thanks to vitamin B supplements. Two weeks in and the B supplements appear to be working.

Fun fact, finger pruning is a nervous system reaction, my right index finger still doesn’t prune as fully as my other fingers. It had stopped completely during the first bout and has taken years to get back to partial capacity.

[Ensign Steve]

Originally Posted by Ari

Fun fact, finger pruning is a nervous system reaction

That is a fun fact! I did not know that. I always just kind of figured it was the skin cells or tissues plumping up because they were water-logged. Why does it only happen to fingers and toes skin? Don't ask me. I'm not that kind scientist.

[Ari]

Last I read, no one really knows, one hypothesis is that it improves grip in wet environments, another is that it improves touch sensitivity when working with wet objects, but both have had inconsistent experimental results.

[vremya]

I really, really, RILLY needed to see this.

I'm the heaviest I've ever been and I haven't had any motivation to do anything about it. I know what to do - track what I eat, eat less sugar, and exercise, but it's been too hard to do any of that. Plus carbs. Damn, do I love carbs.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

I go so bad I started using a reminder app to function like a human right down to "Eat" "Shower" "Take meds"

Getting that straightened out helped with a variety of other tasks. "Oh well, while I'm up I'll sort the recycling."

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by Ensign Steve

That is a fun fact! I did not know that. I always just kind of figured it was the skin cells or tissues plumping up because they were water-logged. Why does it only happen to fingers and toes skin? Don't ask me. I'm not that kind scientist.

Oh, that kind of pruning. With your talk of nerve damage and my recent taking cuttings from the garden, my mind went in a different direction.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by Kamilah Hauptmann

I go so bad I started using a reminder app to function like a human right down to "Eat" "Shower" "Take meds"

Getting that straightened out helped with a variety of other tasks. "Oh well, while I'm up I'll sort the recycling."

[SharonDee]

Yes, I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[ceptimus]

Originally Posted by Kamilah Hauptmann

I go so bad I started using a reminder app to function like a human right down to "Eat" "Shower" "Take meds"

Getting that straightened out helped with a variety of other tasks. "Oh well, while I'm up I'll sort the recycling."

Reminds me that I'm always trying to combine tasks to save time and energy. Like when I bend down to tie my shoelaces, and think, "What else can I do now I'm down here?"

I thought it was just another aspect of getting old, and being lazy.

[Qingdai]

a lot of my exercise has been folded into my work life (take the bus, walk more so on and what not) pandemic has definitely taken a toll on that.
I broke my wrist incredibly badly in June, I've only just gotten that so I'm on the mend. Being able to do things in new places has increased my mood, and I won't drink if I drive so I'm already drinking less. It's never a straight line. and OMG. Bullet journaling was what I was trying when I could do things. I've been looking at that and an app called Notion that friends who have better skills than I recomend.

HEY I CAN TYPE AGAIN

[Limoncello]

Virtual hugs and admiration for your frankness in explaining where you are.

Sweetie, you need to be kinder to yourself - I think.

When you say you are home all the time, do you get outside on a porch/balcony/yard etc.. for some air and sunshine?

Is your house clean? can you get a maid service in for one time a spruce up/reorganization?

Can you treat yourself to a haircut. manicure, pedicure. Get some new, beautiful bath/shower products at home to treat yourself.

Make a list of your favorite foods (that aren't junk) and get them in the house, prepare nice meals that you enjoy. Don't skip meals, don't let yourself get hungry, have them all scheduled and nice and tasty - spoil yourself.

Do you do yoga, stretching?

Just don't do everything cold turkey and be kind to yourself.

[Ensign Steve]

Originally Posted by Limoncello

Virtual hugs and admiration for your frankness in explaining where you are.

Sweetie, you need to be kinder to yourself - I think.

Thanks, you're sweet. That made me feel nice.

When you say you are home all the time, do you get outside on a porch/balcony/yard etc.. for some air and sunshine?

We have a nice back yard that I used pretty much 0.01% of the time. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There are also some nice trails nearby and we take walks sometimes. Anyway I've been back at work since July, and I walk 40 minutes to the shuttle each way (except when I sleep in and ask bey for a ride instead), so I'm definitely out of the house more now than I was. I thought that alone would help me lose weight without my making any other changes, but apparently that doesn't work when you are in your forties and still drinking a handle of cinnamon whiskey a week.

Is your house clean? can you get a maid service in for one time a spruce up/reorganization?

Oh god I didn't even mention the worst part! We had an excellent housekeeper that came every 2 weeks, but then her son died and she went on indefinite hiatus. Between that, the new puppy, the old puppy, and our Lego obsession, we are now eligible to be on the Hoarders show. We're moving in December, though, so we really have no choice but to get organized.

Returning to work and getting ready to move, all of this is sort of what is inspiring me to crawl out of my hole, shake off the crust, and be a human again. Hence this thread.

Can you treat yourself to a haircut. manicure, pedicure. Get some new, beautiful bath/shower products at home to treat yourself.

Not to worry. I was an avid runner, and am now a person who can't reach her own toenails, so I get pedicures on the regular. While the world was condemning the so-called "Karen"s for rioting for their right to get asymmetrical haircuts and frosty highlights, I was getting secret illegal pedicures in the back room of my regular nail salon. DON'T TELL

Make a list of your favorite foods (that aren't junk) and get them in the house, prepare nice meals that you enjoy. Don't skip meals, don't let yourself get hungry, have them all scheduled and nice and tasty - spoil yourself.

bey made me eggs and salsa and turkey sausage for breakfast, and he's at the store right now, getting hummus and yogurt and stuff. He knows how to shop for me, we've been doing this for a while. Also at work I have access to tons of healthy food (and tons of delicious, made-from-scratch baked goods, so it's a double-edged sword).

Do you do yoga, stretching?

Good lord. I used to! The last couple nights I sat on the floor during baseball and tried to stretch and OMG my body is like ... tight. It's never been like this before. I guess just keep it up and it will get looser? I don't even know with this.

Just don't do everything cold turkey and be kind to yourself.

Thanks, I'm starting reasonable, I think. Liquor and sugar need to be cold-turkey. Candy is like cigarettes to me, I can't just do it in moderation. But other than that, I'm just trying to drink water, write in my journal, and get outside and move around for half an hour a day.

As long as I'm being frank, I'm 3 whole days sober and I was startled by my clear urine yesterday. First I was startled that it was clear, then I was startled that I was startled, because that is not something I ever used to find abnormal. It's almost like I forgot how dehydrating alcohol is. d'oh

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Pedi-Plague Pedicure Shields! It’s the glory hole for foot care!

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Of course my worst post ideas would double.

[Ari]

Originally Posted by Ensign Steve

I thought that alone would help me lose weight without my making any other changes

The whole ‘just exercise more’ is a scam, and one of the reasons the weightloss industry stays an industry. (For the most part, the dudebro ‘just eat less, duh’ is also bunk, it’s a combination effort, that’s sadly more difficult than ‘this one simple trick!’).

Exercise is quite good, but it’s as much to keep you active, your metabolism going, blood pumping, muscles and joints creaking, etc. than it is to actually lose weight. People get into the mindset of ‘I’ll just work it off’ but Few weightloss exercise programs will tell you that you exhale your burned calories. Just imagine the effort to exhale a pound of fat in a short few hour period! (And that’s assuming the body doesn’t rip up some muscle instead).

On the other hand, exhaling a pound of fat over a few days seems much more reasonable, and how people actually lose weight in a healthy way, the goal of exercise is to keep your system working and properly burning fat during all the hours you aren’t exercising as well.

Which all sounds kinda simple and basic in writing, but is a bitch when it comes to the real world. Just staying healthy when everything is fine is hard enough, let alone actually working towards a goal.

[Limoncello]

ES, I have been where you are - I am guessing all of us have been in a bad state at one time or another.

I want to help you, even just dumb daily chat to check in and be friends - can we whatsapp and chill? I'm always around.

[Kamilah Hauptmann]

Low-no carb snacks that are still somehow satisfying help some. Pickles, jerky, cheese, protein bites. Replacing every urge for a bag of chips has kept me under some control.

[Ensign Steve]

Update

It's been a week. I'm 7 days alcohol-free, and I don't have heartburn anymore. WHO KNEW?

I got a pedicure a couple days ago, and a massage, and I went clothes shopping yesterday. I feel good, yo. Just keepin on keepin on.

Thanks for the support, y'all.

[Ensign Steve]

Happy November, y'all! Two months to go before this thread title makes any sense at all.

I'm doing great. Still off alcohol and sugar. Halloween candy didn't even make it on to my radar this year. It helps that I have zero kids and I do zero of the grocery shopping, but whatever works. We're doing Thanksgiving at Mom's this year, and according to the email chain, we're bringing white wine and bourbon. Okie dokie! It will get drunk, even if I don't.

Last Saturday I went to one of my favorite exercise spots, which I hadn't been to since maybe last Christmas. It's called the Grand Staircase, and it's modeled off a same-named landmark in San Francisco. It has 220-230 steps, depending who you ask or where you start counting from. I parked at the top, walked down the stairs, then up the trail, then down the trail, then up the stairs. It was challenging to say the least, and I was sore as hell yesterday, but it was nice to get out there.

[JoeP]

Originally Posted by Ensign Steve

Two months to go before this thread title makes any sense at all. we start planning for 2023.