Regarding Writing

At the very start of this post I'd mentioned that one of my goals was to work more faithfully on my novel. The training for the marathon and related fundraising pushed that to the back burner. However I would like to now note that I have been working faithfully on my novel for at least 20 minutes (usually over an hour) almost every weekday for about a month now. I have also joined a writer's exercise message board which is helping me to fine tune my craft and inspiring me to keep writing. At present I have approx 30,000 words written.

My new goal

Today I intend to resume posting on this blog.
Today I have a new goal for which I wish to begin recording my progress.

In the months since my marathon my exercising has been decidedly more off than on and my body reflects this neglect. However, I am getting ahead of myself.

Here's the thing: I want to have another child. Not right this minute, but eventually. I also want to have a healthy child, a healthy pregnancy, and a natural delivery. These are the things I want, but I realize that I cannot completely control whether or not these things will become reality. Some things are strictly in God's control and beyond my reach. However, there ARE some things that I can do to help make these things likely. Firstly, I can take better care of my body. That is what this blog will now be about.

I am going to blog my efforts toward becoming a healthier, more fit, me.

Some things you should know:

In the fall of 2000, I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and placed on a medication to treat the symptoms. I continued to suffer regular, moderate to intense symptoms 24hrs a day until the spring of 2001. At that point the symptoms inexplicably tapered off to the point where I was able to stop taking the medication. I continued to have random episodes over the next year but the episodes grew farther and farther apart and lessened in intensity. Sometime around the end of 2002 or the beginning of 2003 my episodes stopped almost completely (thereafter I had maybe one minor episode per year- sometimes none). About one week ago I had one week of minor Fibromyalgia episodes which occured mostly at night interferring with my sleep, but which also happened during the day on a very low level which did not interfere with my daytime activities. Fybromyalgia is a "new" disease in that it has only been recognized within the last decade and the last I checked they were still floundering to find the cause for it. However, I know that studies have shown that for some people with fibromyalgia the symptoms can be managed and sometimes even eliminated by careful management of exercise, nutrition, and stress. In my case, I know that my symptoms are most likely to occur when I have a combination of four factors: high stress, poor eating habits, lack of sleep, and lack of exercise. (My most recent episodes are no exception.) This is another reason that I am determined to change my lifestyle for the better.

I have already made an appointment with my doctor to look into the possibility of seeing a nutritionist or a dietitian for some advice on what I need to eat and how much of it I need to eat and what, if any, supplements I should take. My doctor will need to deem it "medically necessary" for my insurance to cover a visit to either a nutritionist or a dietitian, but I'm not too worried about being denied given that my Fibromyalgia diagnosis, my recent symptoms, and the fact I am admittedly overweight. (All reasons for people to see one of these professionals.) Unfortunately the earliest appointment I could get was December 5th.

In the meantime I will attempt to self-educate myself in these areas as much as possible and I will begin journaling my food intake.

I also aim to dance with Ethan for at least 30min every weekday and will journal those efforts as well.

For now, below are some numbers to represent where I am starting from. These numbers are the results of the Healthy Body Calculator. I calculated my current Body fat percentage by using the Home Body Fat Test.

Measure:	US
Age:	26 years
Gender:	Female
Height:	5' 10"
Weight:	192 pounds

Body fat:Current 30 percent
Goal 22 percent

Elbow breadth:	2 5/8 inches
Waist circumference:	38 inches
Hip circumference:	43 inches

I selected the recommended distribution of calories:

Calorie distribution:	Fat 30 percent Protein 10 percent Carbohydrate 60 percent
Weight goal:	Lose 1 pound per week

According to every calculator and chart I've ever seen (including this one), my healthy body weight range is 135 -165lbs. I haven't been 165 since I hit full blown puberty. (FYI they figure this range based on my height, gender and pregnancy status- a.k.a. not.) Further more, the results of the Healthy Body Calculator say that I have a medium bone structure and should aim for the middle of the range - 150lbs. Don't think so. No way in hell I am ever getting down to 150lbs. Just reaching 165 will take the self control of a saint and a minor miracle.

Apparently my current BMI is 28. My healthy BMI range is 20 - 25. This puts me in the "Overfat" range. "Overfat means your amount of body fat is too high which puts you at risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, gall bladder disease and some cancers. You should consider losing weight by eating less food and exercising to decrease your amount of body fat."

The Healthy Body Calculator also says that I have a waist to hip ratio of 0.88 and that that makes me an apple. This surprised me because I've always considered myself a pear. Here's what they say about it:

Explanation
This tells you where most of your body fat is located.

• Apple shape (a ratio of .80 or greater) means your body fat is located above your waist which indicates a higher health risk for diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure and some cancers.
• Pear shape (a ratio of less than .80) means your body fat is located below your waist which indicates a lower health risk, but fat located in the lower half of the body may be harder to lose during weight loss.

These are the recommendations the Healthy Body Calculator gave me:

Your Nutrition Facts
Calorie Daily Value 2,180	Calories from Fat 660
Total Fat 73 g
Saturated Fat 24 g
Cholesterol 300 mg
Sodium 2,400 mg
Potassium 3,500 mg
Total Carbohydrate 328 g
Dietary Fiber 25 g
Sugars 55 g
Protein 55 g
Vitamin A 5,000 IU	Vitamin C 60 mg
Calcium 1,000 mg	Iron 18 mg
Vitamin D 400 IU	Vitamin E 30 IU
Thiamin 1.5 mg	Riboflavin 1.7 mg
Niacin 20 mg	Vitamin B-6 2.0 mg
Folate 400 mcg	Vitamin B-12 6 mcg
Biotin 300 mcg	Pantothenic Acid 10 mg
Phosphorus 1,000 mg	Iodine 150 mcg
Magnesium 400 mg	Zinc 15 mg
Copper 2 mg

Explanation
The calories, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate and protein are customized to your calorie distribution and are adjusted according to your weight goal (gain or lose) as you indicated on page 2. Note, the lowest calorie recommendation is 1,200 calories per day.

Food labels contain the amount of calories and nutrients per serving of food. To achieve your weight goal, subtract the calories and grams of fat on the labels of food you eat from the calories and grams of fat in Your Nutrition Facts as a maximum recommended daily amount. For foods not labeled, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, the calories and grams of fat are low as long as you don�t add fat or deep fry these nutritious foods.

The remaining nutrients are the Daily Values on US food labels. With the exception of pregnant women who need 30 mg of iron per day. This level can best be reached with an iron supplement. Talk to your doctor about this.

Healthy Exercise Suggestions (I've deleted the inapplicable)
The Surgeon General has reported that moderate daily exercise could significantly reduce a number of diseases, including heart disease and cancer. Some activities that burn about 150 calories - the types of exercise defined as moderate - are noted below. Activities are ranked from 'less vigorous/more time' to 'more vigorous/less time'.

• Washing windows or floors for 45 to 60 minutes
• Playing volleyball for 45 minutes
• Playing touch football for 30 to 45 minutes
• Gardening for 30 to 45 minutes
• Walking 1.5 miles in 35 minutes
• Basketball (shooting baskets) for 30 minutes
• Bicycling 3 miles in 30 minutes
• Fast social dancing for 30 minutes
• Pushing a stroller 1.5 miles in 30 minutes
• Walking 2 miles in 30 minutes
• Water aerobics for 30 minutes
• Swimming laps for 20 minutes
• Basketball (playing a game) for 15 to 20 minutes
• Bicycling 4 miles in 15 minutes
• Running 1.5 miles in 15 minutes
• Climbing stairs for 15 minutes

5 months later....

Well, it's been over 5 mths since I last posted here and I can see by looking at my last posts that I have a couple loose ends to tie up.

First of all, my toe healed just fine with nothing more than time needed.

As for my continued running.... didn't happen. Somewhere around the end of June I began to realize that it wasn't just my involvement with TNT that had taken over my life. Running distance in and of itself is very time consuming when I have Ethan to consider.

To demonstrate:
Before each run I would feed myself, feed him, change him, get dressed in my running gear complete with watch, apply sunscreen to both of us, pack his food, pack his water, pack my water, pack my running snacks, pack his wipees, his cream, his diapers, his jacket, and find his toy that attached to the stroller. I would also need to be sure my cell phone was charged and of course, take my house keys. If I ran anywhere away from the house, that would mean I'd also need to pack myself a meal (I'm always hungry after running) and I'd need to bring my purse. All of this would take anywhere from 45min to an hour and a half. And that's BEFORE I even leave the house. If I'm going somewhere other than around the neighborhood, I get to load the jogging stroller into the car, and take the regular stroller back up to the apartment before I leave (we keep it in the car because there is only room to store one stroller in the apartment at a time). When I get to wherever I'm running, I get to unload the stroller from the car and then load all the aforementioned stuff into the baskets at the back and bottom. Then my actual running would take .... let's estimate 15 min per mile based on my marathon pace..... if I run 2 miles that's 1/2 hr. Then I get to feed Ethan in the parking lot of wherever I am, change his diaper (usually), and feed myself while Ethan makes a general pest of himself trying to play with all the things in the car that are off limits instead of with the toys that I give him (strap him into the seat and I get constant fussing). Then I unload all the stuff from the baskets back into the car so that I can fold down the stroller and put it back into the car. Then I go home. I load all the stuff back into the jogger so that I can get it up to the apartment. Once in the apartment I unload all the stuff from the jogger baskets and then I exchange the two strollers again so that the jogger is in the apartment and the regular stroller is in the car. Back up in the apartment I give Ethan a bath to remove the sunscreen because he get baby acne if it is left on too long. Then I strap him into the 5 point harness on his high chair to watch BOZ while I take a shower. Then when I get out.... it's time to try and cram house work into the few remaining hours left before Luke gets home.

This whole tedious process takes up the ENTIRETY of my morning! We're talking up to 3hrs for just 30min of actual exercise! Not exactly the model of efficiency.
In evaluating my life and my priorities, I came to realize that, as much as I love running, I'm just not willing to continue commiting such a LARGE chunk of my time to it. If all I had to do was get myself ready, pack my snacks & water, and jump in the car, it would be a different story.

That said, I have also come to realize something else: I am a social exerciser. I dislike exercising by myself and do MUCH better when I make it a social event. So on top of the time consumption of having Ethan to take along, now that I am ALWAYS running alone, some of the enjoyment is gone for me.

So.... these are the reasons that I have not gone on to continue my running as I had originally expected that I would do.