Life in the Thumb: February 2015

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The woes of getting older....

In a few days I will be celebrating another year of life.....46 of them exactly!! At one point I was pretty rattled by that number as it is closer to 50 than I wanted to be. But something happened. Somewhere along the way I started to become comfortable in my own skin. I believe it occurred when I decided that being a couch potato just didn't work for me. I'm now more conscious about what I put in my body and making time for my health appointments. For the longest time I've been a MOM..and mom's don't worry about themselves. Moms only go to the doctor when they've been sick for 18 days and finally surrender to the war going on within their bodies. I was that MOM. I no longer subscribe to that definition of a mom. I'm me, a woman, daughter, wife, mom, friend, and someone who deserves to take care of herself.

So......today I had a stress test. I've noticed that when I'm running that my heart rate gets a tad too high. I mentioned it to my chiropractor and he didn't want to worry me, but he was concerned that it might be stress on the heart instead of being an aerobic workout. After that appointment I took his concern seriously and made sure to bring my runs back down to a slower speed when my HR got too high. My dad had a heart attack when he was 44 and his dad when he was 45...heart disease is in my genes. Honestly, I was a little scared. And then I read an article about a runner who was 45 and died during a 5K. That sealed the deal for me. I made an appointment with my physician and they got the ball rolling with the blood work and stress test.

I have to wait for about a week for my results from the stress test, but I'm feeling pretty good about the outcome. I was able to log in to my health account today and looked over my blood work. And of course, I had to call my mother to give her the numbers so that she could confirm and reassure herself and my dad that I was (knock on wood) going to be okay. My cholesterol numbers are pretty good--
Triglycerides 68, HDL 64, LDL 114 (I'm working to bring that below 100). I feel that my heart is in pretty good shape. In fact, I think I'm in good shape.

However, even though I have (some) faith in doctors, I still think something is off. Not once did any of the doctors ask me if I could possibly be going through menopause. I firmly believe that I am either in peri-menopause or the beginning stages of menopause. I think that my estrogen levels are out-of-whack...because I've been experiencing anxiety, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, fatigue, hair loss, heat flashes...and of course, my doctor says my thyroid is just fine. I think I will have to be my own doctor for right now and try to find a better doctor. A doctor who looks me in the eyes and is listening to me. I'm sure there is one out there!

Monday, February 9, 2015

My love affair with running starts

Hello Friends!

As many of you may know, the past year I have dived into the pool of fitness! I went from being pretty much sedentary to running four 5K's, one 4 mile Dune Dash, one 10K, riding my bicycle for several 100 miles, lifting weights, walking, cross-country skiing, and just enjoying having to catch my breath and wipe the sweat from face. I can't believe how many years of my life I spent sitting on my butt, watching television, reading, and being on the internet. When you do nothing every single day it's very hard to start doing "something." But I was determined. I was tired of being tired. I didn't like the reflection that stared back at me. The unhappy face. The face that carried extra weight and sadness. So I decided that I was going to change. I started by downloading the C25K app. I took some time and looked at each week to see what I was going to have to accomplish on the treadmill (March in Michigan last year was VERY cold, plus we had a TON of snow...so running outside was not something I even considered!). The first few weeks looked doable and I thought to myself, "you've got this!" Ha! Little did I know that years of sitting around did a lot of damage to my health. Nothing was easy, but I instantly felt better after each workout. Not only did I feel better, but I also started to feel empowered. As the weeks went by the length of time I was able to run increased. My self confidence started to amp up and I knew that I could actually run a 5K!! My best girlfriends encouraged me to sign up for The Color Run and even went so far as to run it with me! When they did that I knew I had surrounded myself with a group of women who knew how to love and support each other. I knew I had found my "tribe." With them by my side, I crossed my first official finish line and fell in love with running. There was no turning back for me, I was hooked!

Sunday, February 8, 2015

Life is a crazy thing!

Wow! Can't believe that it's been months since I last sat down and posted on my blog. I think I was trying to force something that just wasn't there...you feeling me?? Now, I have something brewing in my head and in my world that I'm excited about, so posting doesn't appear as if it will be a problem, at least for now...wink, wink!

What has been going on with me over the past months?? Not a lot, really. Just living, loving, and dreaming. Dreaming about finishing my Bachelor's Degree. Dreaming about maybe, just maybe, making a passion into a business. Dreaming about getting healthy for my Half-Marathon in October. Dreaming of warmer weather....ha! So many things are just bouncing around in my head that I thought now would be a really good time to get them down in writing. Sometimes I forget I have a blog. Probably because it was so centered around books that I just don't think of it as my way of documenting my life. I'm still a reader, but it no longer defines me nor my blog. I've tossed the idea around of changing the name, but then decided that I like it. So the name stays, but the focus will certainly change. If you want to visit that's great...here's what I'm going to be talking about on my blog, Life in the Thumb: