Dieting with Obstacles - Physical Challenges ~ SUMMER Chat Thread ...

WELCOME EVERYONE ~ Please join us in our thread: to give support and encouragement; to share ideas, and/or just chat with one another about everyday issues ...

This special thread is for anyone with any kind of physical obstacle and/or challenge like SB, CP, MS, MD, PK, Lupus, Osteo, Arthritis, Rheumatism, or any other condition (s), whether genetic or acquired (like injuries), that causes some physical limitations and/or difficulties.

We try to focus on the positive here -- not seeing ourselves as victims, but as victors and overcomers. It is so nice to be able to talk with others who have some idea of what we are going through each day!


HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER EVERYONE!

Well, now that I have my new(er) PC and high speed internet, I thought I might try and resurrect this thread for the summer. I was having so much trouble with my old PC, I was having a hard time getting in to make some posts. Now I can once again devote the time to it that I would like.

I know lots of folks read this thread before (in the hundreds actually), so there was some interest. We'll see if anybody drops by for a visit over the summertime. I'll keep it going if there is enuff interest. This forum seems to be one that people come to about questions about their health mostly and some of the tips can be very helpful.

This thread was designed for those of us who have physical challenges that we have to deal with each day, and on an on-going basis. Like the intro says, I like to focus on the positive and look for ways to enhance my life.

We are having wonderful weather; cooler for July, and a tad bit humid, but still nice, nevertheless. We have some more good news: DH & I bought a house in May (we were renting before), and we will be moving in during the month of August -- we are so excited!

Meanwhile, I have spent a lot of my time sorting and tossing and packing; more than half of our stuff is packed now. I bought myself a new L-shaped computer desk for the new house, as I will have my own little private PC/office/prayer room there. Got it for a mega bargain -- only $35 + taxes. We have so much to look forward to there, and I will share that with all of you as we go along.

To update my "back to good health" progress -- I have been doing superbly with my eating this year, with only a few slips. When that happens, I just cut back a bit later on or the next day; and that strategy has been working very well for me. I have been losing more inches and am down to a size 18 on top now; still a bit bigger on the bottom, but I will keep working on that.

My family says that my face and neck looks slimmer than last year; I had thought so myself. My arms are thinner also, as I have been using my handbells about every other day. I am pleased how I am doing, but hope to get some more walking when we move; the area is much flatter and very close to the beautiful lakes. There is one hill to navigate, but I'll work up to that slowly.

Hope you all are having a lovely summer; take good care ... Rosebud :val3:

:wave: Had a good day today; ate well -- had an egg & toast for brekky; just had a pita pizza for lunch (smoked chicken & olives & cheeze); and beans & a toast for a very lite dinner. Was gonna have a salad but wasn't that hungry; the day looks a bit carby, but is still well within my parameters.

Also got some exercise in doing stuff around here. We sorted kitchen drawers; and my desk drawer today. It was decluttering day for me. I think that we have finally got all drawers, dressers, and closets done now. So many things all sorted out, cleaned out, cleared out, which should make things go much smoother.

I should go now and put a load of DH's clothers in the washing machine; one a night is good. We have hydro savings here now; if you use appliances on off-peak hours (meaning during the evening &night-time & weekends). I am hoping it will bring our hydro bill down; so far, it seems to be working ... that's great; means more money for our new house!

Time for some tea and a good book while the laundry goes ... have a good one -- Rosebud :val3:

:wave: Well, summer is here for sure; the :hot: July :sunny: is baking us today. So it's a good day for doing laundry outside. We had a very busy day yesterday -- several calls & visitors ... plus we had to tidy the place up quickly to show it to a prospective new tenant; she sounded very interested, so i think she will take it. She's young and a good match for the neighbours next door.

This whole month has been busy; yesterday, I made COUNTRY CHICKEN STEW for lunch -- it turned out fab and I had the rest for lunch today. We just had a sandwich for dinner last night. Am planning on having a hamburger & a salad for dinner tonight, since it's Friday night.

Hope you are all having a good one; and keeping cool. Gotta go bring in a load of clothes ... so catch ya all later ... Rosebud :flow2:

Hi, Love to join the thread. Although I am looking for community that has some activity in it to help keep me accountable. Hopefully I can find this here, as my old forum has died down tremendously.

My life challenge is that I have PCOS and Hypothyroidism. I've been TTC for 4 years and just found out last week that both my tubes are blocked. PCOS and Hypothyroidisum make it extremly hard to lose weight.

Last year I set out on my WL Journey with my mother and husband. I worked out 6 days a week, 3 with a personal trainer, and tracked every food that I ate (every). I only lost 30lbs in 10 months which was a big crash boom for me! I kind of gave up and stopped going to the gym and stopped eating low carb and well it all came back.

I'm ready to start again. I'm usually really active in the community. I belong to my fitness pal where I track all my food and exercise as well as made a tremendous amount of friends.

Hello! I've got severe ME/CFIDS.

My main victory at the moment is managing to lose weight, of course, and managing to keep up with cooking for myself. I'm getting help, I have support workers in twice a week and they make my lunch that day plus we cook up a big batch of vegetable soup for freezing quite often. And there are days when I don't have the energy for making porridge for breakfast and just grab cereal. But still, I pretty much am keeping up with three meals a day. The soup and/or salad for lunch thing helps: not only am I hungrier later in the day, but I'm also more energetic later in the day, so this is a lighter meal which is easier to make, especially if the soup just involves fishing a container out of the freezer. I still do things like burn food due to memory problems, absent-mindedly slosh too much liquid into the porridge, and a few days ago I cut my thumb quite nastily when slicing up courgettes, but so far nothing too dramatic.

Physical activity - I'm pacing myself much better since I started using FitDay. I don't think my activity levels are enough to make a blind bit of difference to my weight loss, but any activity can be enough to overdo it and send me into a relapse. Having to track walks (rare) and quilting (frequent) and so forth means that I'm far more careful about keeping within my limits. Of course, today the plan is to baste a quilt when my support worker turns up, and that's pretty exhausting. Probably not the best plan with the ultrasound coming up on Tuesday, but I don't want to have to wait until Thursday before I can get on with it, I'd have nothing to sew.

Good Morning,
I thought I'd join in and help encourage those who have thyroid, PCO, Bipolar, Celiac's, muscle degeneration, and whatever else I might have forgotten. I am sure I have had these all one form or another throughout my life. The one I no longer suffer from is PCO, but it was a thorn in my side the moment puberty hit. It took a couple of years and fertility drugs to get my youngest (11). And just last year I chucked it all and had a hysterectomy. And thank goodness as I dodge the bullet of uterine cancer.
I have Hoshimoto's Disease, Celiac Disease and Bipolar Disorder and those three things like to work against me in losing weight. It's almost as though I say yes and it says no. Last year at my highest 283, I also found out that some of my muscles are dying and there's nothing I can do about it. That sucked. Years ago I learned that my ligaments stretch but they don't snap back. So it would seem that I am doomed to be overweight forever.

I say NO! I take ALL my medications and I am strict on my diet (which is low carbing). Celiac's restricts me but if I'm not good then I can't make iron and that just makes me sick and anemic. Hypothyroid is hard to combat but it can be done. You just have to be strict. Last year I lost most of this weight with just dieting (maybe some worry too as I had 4 surgeries and one saved me from cancer). But without approval from doctors I have added exercise. Nothing strenuous...recumbant biking. The muscles that are fatigued or dying get moved and pushed and then they scream later, and my hip and shoulder sometime dislocates. BUT with the more muscle building and less weight each thing gets better.

What I guess I'm saying is it can be done. I am 4 pounds away from my 40# loss goal and very excited. It may take longer than others but it can be done. Also since I forgot to mention both proper eating (low carb recommended) and exercise are excellent for Bipolar Disorder. Less sugar helps with swings and exercise helps with both mania and depression. It releases chemicals to combat depression and if you are so hyper you want to go spend money ( a big problem with us) go for a run/bike ride/ swim instead.

A healthy lifestyle is sooo beneficial. Good luck to all and have a happy healthy day.

Hi! I'm new to the forums. I suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Right now, it's manageable, but makes every single day a struggle to get through. I've learned to cope. But with adding new things, like exercise, I'm really nervous that I'll get a huge flare-up. I started a new job a few weeks ago which I love, but it requires me to walk quite a ways to my desk every day from my car. Plus, I have been trying to take a small walk on my lunch break since I spend long hours all day sitting confined to a desk. I've started to have a few flare-ups due to the stress of the change. I am definitely thankful for weekends where I can let myself rest.
I'm not really sure how to add more movement into my schedule, with my every day such a struggle already. My husband and I talked about trying to play the wii on days off so we still have some movement. However, yesterday I wasn't able to even move really, so that didn't happen.
I'm the heaviest I've ever been. But I really want to change that.
Right now I'm just taking it a day at a time and hoping that I can make small changes that will help my life and my health.

Hi Meli,
I don't know anything about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, I do know about fatigue (not being able to move). Have you talked to your doctor about exercise? Do you have access to a pool? How are you doing with nutrition/diet. Have you researched what food would be best? Like for me, high protein/low carbs help with my issues. I get fatigued when I don't make my iron properly and get anemic.
Last year I lost 30lbs just by changing diet because I was still building up blood/iron from major loss through 2009-2010. I was also recovering from 3 surgeries so even if I wasn't fatigued I couldn't have moved around much. Ask your doctor. It's amazing what are bodies can do if we just help it along. Keep up posted. I'd like to know.
Good luck

Hi Mamakat,
I have talked to my Doctor about exercise before. Basically, with CFS, doing too much can cause flare-up's, so I have to be careful. I can moderately. But pushing myself too hard could potentially be a problem. And with my job, I can't take any time off right now. So I'm trying to start slowly. I wish I had access to a pool. There's not really any around where I live that aren't loaded with kids. My husband has a gym membership where he can bring someone, so I'm thinking I might go with him and just ride the stationary bike for awhile and try that out. I'm coming from really not being active at all, so don't want to push myself too hard and end up sick - which easily happens.
Diet wise, I'm really not sure. I need to do some research. I just started watching what I was eating, so I haven't gotten a lot of research done yet. I know caffeine effects me a lot when I have too much, so I'm working on eliminating it all together. I'm starting with counting calories. Like, today I had 300 calories and it's about noon here. In an hour or so, I'll make a light lunch - maybe a sandwich and some cantaloupe that I just cut up. Then I'm making whole wheat pasta with meat sauce for dinner later and will probably make a salad to go along with it. I'm going to focus on keeping it around 1800-1900 calories a day to start. I'm really starting from fresh this weekend. I went to the grocery store yesterday and tried to pick out healthy things for the week, but it'll definitely be a learning process as I try to figure out what's best for me.
I'll definitely keep you updated. I'm hoping I can convince myself to check these forums every day and update my blog to keep myself accountable during my weight loss. So I should be around! :)

Meli,

As someone who has had CFS/CFIDS/ME for fourteen years, believe me when I say that what you are describing sounds like you could be heading for a bad relapse if you are not incredibly careful. Do not think for a minute about adding in any more exercise, not the Wii, not swimming, not anything. If you need to get out of the office at lunchtime, find the nearest bench or similar where it's peaceful and just sit and rest. The hallmark of this illness is that it is made worse by exertion and stimulus. Overdoing it in the way that you describe is why most people with CFIDS are no longer able to work, because they pushed themselves too hard. I know you may feel really ill now, but remember how much worse this illness can get. It is one of the most disabling medical conditions in existence, far more disabling than AIDS (excepting terminal-stage AIDS), and it can kill. If you can keep yourself in the "mild" category, you will be very lucky, and that's far more important than burning a few more calories one week from exercise - which will then leave you too exhausted to get to work, most likely. You don't want to end up losing your new job either, and that is a real risk. Scale everything back, concentrate on settling into your new job, and reassess after three or four months. You can still lose weight without exercising, don't worry.

:welcome: TO YOU ALL ~ what a pleasant surprise for me today -- nice to have you join in this thread; I appreciate the company in here, truly ... :D

ELLY ~ I find coming here keeps me accountable, mostly to myself and to others who support us here. I want to get healthier and stay that way for the rest of my life; coming here helps me with that so much.

ESOFIA ~ Sounds like you have your eating well arranged; and that should help you right there. There are those who cannot get a lot of exercise becuz of health issues (myself on notsogood days), but eating healthy can still result in some weightloss and get health issues in order. I admire quilters so much; having the patience for such a big product, but the results are so nice.

MAMAKAT ~ boy, you have a lot of health challenges there; what a trouper. I agree with a lot you had to say in your first post; eating and living healthier can really affect how we feel in our bodies & minds. I have seen huge improvements as well. I'm off the Metformin (for blood sugar); my blood pressure is down (now I have knocked off the salty snacks); and I just feel better all over weighing so much less. I was just sharing with a friend the benefits of exercise on depression & bipolar last night.

MELIZ ~ your food plan sounds pretty good to me; small changes are best really. You can lose weight just doing that (I agree with Mamakat); and the bit of walking you do to & from work and lunch might be enuff. With your condition, I would hold off on the heavier kinds of exercises for now.

ABOUT MYSELF ~ since you don't know much about me; I'll share. I was born with SPINA BIFIDA -- part of my lower spine is not closed, this causes me a lot of pain with regular walking (and esp up hills or inclines, in sand & snow), bending, and twisting motions (or any repetitive actions). I use 2 canes now which helps me a lot. I had two bad injuries to my legs: fractured my left calf bone & got a clot, but it is getting better; and I dislocated/injured my right knee badly. It has improved a lot with the 2 canes. My left knee was torn this spring as well, so I really have to watch it. With age our joints and muscles can't take much anymore; I get lots of Charlie Horses (what we call SEVERE muscles cramps) in my legs now. I have other minor stuff that is much better like I mentioned above; my anxiety (which runs in our family) is much improved now, thanks to new strategies. Have been working hard on overcominig "EMOTIONAL EATING" with much success (I wroted a post about this in the FAITH FORUM) which has helped with the anxiety and eating when upset. I'm fiesty & a fighter, so I keep walking when & how I can (Every Other DAy works best for me). I am slow, but I don't walk backwards (as Abe Lincoln says). I do handbell weights (EOD), and toning exercises each day (some in bed; some on a chair). I'm getting better all the time. When we move into our new house, DH is going to set up my rowing machine again for me too, as I'll have more room there.


Our day started out very warm (90F) but just after we got back from picking up some deli roasted chicken and veggies, it started to :rain: and cooled things of for us, which was nice. I will have a salad and maybe a cob of corn with my chicken tonight for supper.

Just resting today; will pick up the packing again next week. Time to go put my legs up and rest them (I must do this daily to keep the swelling down and drain them as well). Cutting back on salt has helped a lot too.

Take care ... Rosebud :flow2:

Thanks for the advice! I am definitely taking it easy with the new job. I've had CFS for 10 years and have learned when to hold off and when to let myself do things. With the new job, I'm really not trying out much more. If I got to the gym, it would be for a very short amount of time with not much activity. And only if I'm feeling well. Definitely not this week and I might not feel well enough too for awhile. With the walks to and from my office, I really can't add in too much more because even that is still new. I'm making sure to always get 8+ hours of sleep a night, and take lots of vitamins to try to counter the stress of the new job. I've had a few moments of really not feeling well, but have been able to bounce back pretty well thankfully. My husband is amazing and helps out when I come home from work so I can sit down and rest. We go grocery shopping together on the weekend, he cooks most of the evenings during the week since he gets home before me. And is really understanding when I'm not able to do much more than work. So I'm adjusting pretty well. I think my flare-up yesterday was due to having a few nights of insomnia. After a good nights sleep last night, I feel much better today. Though I'll still take it easy for a few weeks to make sure it doesn't turn into anything more.

Edit: Just one more comment. I think I do feel like I should be moving more, despite my illness. Especially when I'm feeling so gung ho about losing weight. And that might be what has been my down fall in the past, because I try to take on too much and then burn out when I can't live up to what people make me feel like I "should be" doing. That's part of the reason I'm here to begin with, is I'm really hoping with the support of a group of people like you, I'll learn ways to lose weight without overexerting myself and ending up more sick. My CFS is something I deal with every single day. And I definitely don't need to add to it, by making it worse than it already is. But I do want to be healthy and losing weight is something I need to work on. Plus, I do need to be more active. But I need to do it in my own way, which I sometimes struggle with. I tend to feel like I should be able to do what everyone else does, but I am limited. Which I find hard to deal with emotionally sometimes. Which can lead to giving up. So, something I'm working on. I figured if this is going to work, I need to be honest with myself on here.

MeliZ,
I think you have a great attitude about this. I think attitude has A LOT to do with losing weight with limitations. I know you can do it even with little to no exercise. I know that because I've seen me doing it. I know it's been said a thousand times, but If I can do it so can you. I don't have CFS but as I've said before I have a lot of stuff telling me I can't.

I would research food that would work best for CFS ( I know I've said that before). At my weight right now 245, I don't eat over 1700. As I get smaller I'll lower the calories. It's great that your husband is supportive. It's a lot of work just being us and to have a support system is very helpful. You know your body best so with doctor's help and you instinct exercise might be ok. I didn't exercise today because I've been running on overdrive this whole week, doing exercise and not sleeping. It caught up to me today...but I don't feel guilty because I know what I'm eating.

It's work to be sure, but with time it gets easier. Just as you learn your body over the years and know what can and can not be done you'll learn whats good to eat and do to lose weight. Never let others feel like you're not doing enough. You know you are doing all you can and no one knows but you how much can be done. I used to get a lot of advice that seemed more like you must do instead of a suggestion. But there advice never took into account of all my obstacles. That's why it takes time, but it can be done.

Learn all you can, ask your doctors...research and test, but don't feel like you have to do it for others. This is for you and for you alone. I wish you all the best. :)

Thanks so much, mamakat. I had about 1850 calories today, which is a huge difference from what I was eating before I'm finding out. Not eating anything else before bed. My husband and I went shopping for an hour, so did a little walking. Not much, but a little. We also spent some time organizing the house and cleaning out my car. So I'm counting that as being slightly active for the day.
Thanks a lot for the support. Oh, and by the way, I grew up in CT! I miss it. My family is still there, so I visit every few months usually. Was just there for a few days last month! :)

Dieting software can be useful when it allows you to track activities all the way down to the really basic ones, as that way it's easier to pace yourself.

Out of curiosity, why do you feel you need more exercise if you're having flare-ups with the new job?

Do you think any of the stress of the new job could be a sensory input thing? Like 90% of people with CFIDS (according to my eye specialist, who has done research into this), I have CFIDS-related eye problems which include getting bad reactions to fluorescent lights. The eye problems are partly muscular and partly neurological, a type of visual processing disorder. I also have Auditory Processing Disorder, which seems to have been lifelong but was hugely exacerbated by the CFIDS. Being somewhere strip-lit and noisy is enough to exhaust me all on its own, which is why I mentioned that CFIDS is known to be made worse by stimulus as well as exertion. Maybe your new office is worse in this respect? If so, is there anything you could do to cut down on the stimuli? I have prescription tinted glasses to help with the fluorescents that are pretty much everywhere (look into Meares-Irlen Syndrome if you think this might affect you), and at one point the hearing therapist gave me in-ear white noise generators when I was having particular trouble with hypersensitivity to sound. I'd been using ear plugs, but they're a very bad idea, they just make the hypersensitivity worse.

I only had one day of a flare-up, really. Other than that, it's been pretty much what I normally deal with on a daily basis, which means I'm not feeling great, but I'm able to get around and function. I was just feeling the need to move more, due to just classifying myself as on a diet now. But after reading your posts, like I said, I won't push myself. And I appreciate the concern.
I joined fitday to track everything, so that should help. And it made me aware that I was burning calories just by living, so that helps me feel better, too.
It's possible. I think it's also that I have a longer drive to work, and driving on the highway tends to make me stress out and tighten up. I feel like my reaction time is slowed compared to everyone else, so have to work doubly hard to not cause any problems in my commute. I've never been in an accident, because I focus as much as I possibly can while behind the wheel. So by the time I get to work, I'm exhausted from that alone. My office is really quiet though, so that helps. There's only a few of us back there. It makes it easy to concentrate, because usually there's really only 2 of us.
I have issues with sensory input, but only really when I feel my worst. But I find the worst is touch. My husband has to be careful when he touches me if I'm not feeling well.
Gotta run.

MeliZ,
I find shopping more strenuous on my body(and mind) then riding my recumbant bike. It's something about those floors and standing a lot. It kills my back and hip. I always feel so drained after shopping whereas a good 45 mins on the bike I feel invigorated (most of the time-not always).

Lately my thing has been trail hiking. In my head I think I can do this then when I'm doing it I say I can't but now if we stop I'm stuck in the woods. We tried Sleeping Giant and another lake walk. Geeze, what a mistake! Laid up for days. Now I'm researching walks instead of hikes :lol: I like to do one a week during the summer so the kids have something to do. One year we did Lake Compounce all summer. Ugh, that's a lot of work. One year we drove across country doing amusement parks. I got super sick mid trip and DH flew out and met us and took over.

It's an adventure finding out what we can do, but a nightmare finding out what we can't. I am trying to stay upbeat and positive. I stopped shopping 3 years ago (anxiety was really bad) but am doing babysteps and coming back to that world. Tried it last week-hated it. But have to do it this week as DH is out of town all week.

Have a great day/week :)

haha, yeah, sometimes shopping can be stressful. We only really went to two stores and didn't shop that long, so it wasn't so bad. My husband pretty much always comes with me so he can help if I start feeling too sick.
Good luck with shopping this week. :)

I don't mind shopping on days that I feel well; sometimes, my DH does the small errands & pickups. If we have lots to do, I go and do that. What we do is go by two things -- how I feel that day and by the weather. For me the hardest things is humid, hot days.

I do whatever I can each day, but sometimes, I have days that I just rest and do lighter stuff; and that works well for me. I am finally learning to pace myself (in the past, I would always overdo it and then pay for it for the next few days); now, if I have a hard day, I rest the very next one.

Had homemade pasta salad with tuna for dinner tonight; didn't have to turn on the stove. It was simple with pre=cooked Penne Pasta, baby cukes, tomato, onion, shredded carrot, knib corn (leftover from a cob), and a nice light dressing -- I used cucumber dressing on it this time.

Packed some more boxes yesterday. Had a quiet day today. Have a great week ladies ... Rosebud :flow2:

I only had one day of a flare-up, really. Other than that, it's been pretty much what I normally deal with on a daily basis, which means I'm not feeling great, but I'm able to get around and function. I was just feeling the need to move more, due to just classifying myself as on a diet now. But after reading your posts, like I said, I won't push myself. And I appreciate the concern.
I joined fitday to track everything, so that should help. And it made me aware that I was burning calories just by living, so that helps me feel better, too.
It's possible. I think it's also that I have a longer drive to work, and driving on the highway tends to make me stress out and tighten up. I feel like my reaction time is slowed compared to everyone else, so have to work doubly hard to not cause any problems in my commute. I've never been in an accident, because I focus as much as I possibly can while behind the wheel. So by the time I get to work, I'm exhausted from that alone. My office is really quiet though, so that helps. There's only a few of us back there. It makes it easy to concentrate, because usually there's really only 2 of us.
I have issues with sensory input, but only really when I feel my worst. But I find the worst is touch. My husband has to be careful when he touches me if I'm not feeling well.
Gotta run.

I expect you're right about the reaction time, considering the neurological symptoms. Can you rest before and after driving? Is there any chance of a carshare? Are your eating patterns giving you fuel when you need it so that you have more energy for driving?

I reckon that with sensory overload, you notice it when it's really bad, but it's still a low-level factor at other times. Things like fiddling with the lighting can help more than you think sometimes.

The touch thing is odd, isn't it! I knew a woman who got it really badly, although it's not entirely certain that she actually had ME/CFIDS.

Sorry for assuming you're new to dealing with ME/CFIDS, by the way. I know very few people with it who've managed to stay in work that long, they mostly either get over it in a few years or end up long-term ill and more severely affected, and I was making a wild estimate based on that plus how you seemed to be coping with the pacing.

One of the nice things about this thread is that those of us who can't exercise in the way that healthy people can, can use it as a place where we all have that in common, so that we don't feel we have to be keeping up with the healthy folks' level of exercise. It really is difficult when everyone is talking happily about how much they exercised today and occasionally saying that you can't lose weight without exercising. Yes you can! The main point of exercise is to keep you healthy, and for us, keeping ourselves healthy means a different pattern of behaviour, whether that's no exercise, very small amounts of exercise, non-cardio forms of exercise, or whatever.

By the way, would some form of relaxation help at all? Very gentle yoga or something else that involves minimal physical exertion, but just enough that you feel you're doing something physical, and helps with general stress? Even a form of meditation, with a basic stretch or two thrown in? Ironically, while cardio is meant to be the best for weight loss, I think it's the worst for ME/CFIDS.

And on that note, I am going to go and do a minute on the exercise bike. Yes, a whole minute!

I like some of the yoga & meditation movements; it's true that some of them are quite easy. Beginner's TAI CHI is similar; I often do the sun dial one. Just putting your arms at your side and bringing them up to your head like a round sun -- repeat several times; it's a kind of very mild stretch. I made up a bunch of them and called them REPETITIVE THERAPEUTIC MOVEMENTS; some I do standing and some sitting. You can make up your own series and do them each day. GOOGLE yoga or Tai Chi and something will come up.

We had a nice cool day, so I put the oven on and baked a large pan of chicken pieces with homemade BBQ sauce; plus made an Apple-Rhubarb compote done in the oven, since it was on. We'll eat this over the next few days.

Did some more techi stuff regarding our house this week; signing papers and arranging the utility transfers, etc. Glad that's all done; now just signing at the lawyers next week and we'll be ready to move soon. This week, I'm doing more of the food and clothes, or whatever else I can find; I actually have to hunt now. I found DH some nice crates to put his stuff in and he was pleased about that; now he can do more of his stuff next week.

Time for tea & do some reading for awhile. Hope you all have a wonderful, relaxing Sunday tomorrow ... Rosebud :flow2:

I basted a quilt over two days and then went for a medical visit at the start of the week, and am now having a nice little relapse to celebrate. Lots of constructive resting, which translates as lying in bed watching silly TV. I'm trying to keep my calorie deficit decent (I factor in my exercise, not that it's much), but yesterday I was really hungry all day and finally gave in to a bagel in the evening. Still, it's the first time my calorie deficit has been less than 300 in the three months that I've been dieting, and I think one bagel in three months over plan is not doing too badly! Today I am planning to try a little gentle beading, and perhaps some quilt-sketching. Anything more energetic is still on the back burner until I recover some more.

Esofia,
Where do you baste? When I first started quilting a friend taught me to baste on the floor. That killed my back and surely knocked out the hip. I got a basting table and still the same problem. I wanted to hire people to baste for me especially when I didn't have a friend to help. Eventually I quit quilting, the hard part took the fun out of it for me.

I learned around 2003 how to quilt (took a class) by hand. It was the first time I learned how to thread a needle! From that class I had to learn everything. I taught myself all sorts of things. My all time favorite is applique and trapunto (forgot spelling). I surpassed everyone I knew who had been doing it for years, but never venture out of just blocks. I miss it sometimes and maybe one day I'll start again. I just don't have room in this old house. But I don't miss basting and I can see how that took a lot of you.

I hope you get better soon :)

Thanks, I'm perking up gradually, though today is being another nice lazy day.

I pin-baste on the floor with a minion to help. So this does mean a certain amount of crawling around, but the minion (ok, support worker, sometimes friend or my partner) does the pressing, moving the furniture out of the way, sweeping the floor and so forth, which means that it exhausts me less. It's more a general fatigue and muscle pain thing with me, do you have EDS or something similar? Anyway, I use safety-pins a foot apart, and then a few days later (or the next day if I'm being an enthusiastic idiot) I thread-baste on the dining table using herringbone basting. I know most people are fine with pin-basting, but for hand-quilting I really do need good close thread-basting, it prevents any mishaps and doesn't interfere with the Q-snap placement. This was a sofa quilt and I did manage to do it in one day, but I should probably have done it over two, I just didn't want to leave it and my partner was going to need the dining table.

I've been quilting since 2007, and have never been to a class. I mostly taught myself from books, plus I know a very helpful internet forum and a good friend of mine helps me down the phone too. I haven't tried trapunto yet, but so far I'm not wildly enamoured of appliqué, though I'll use it when needed. I know what you mean about people who never venture further than blocks, I don't really get that either. I've been designing my own quilts since the second one I made. I'll send you a PM with a link to my quilting blog if you're curious. Do you have photos of your work online?

Have you tried beading? Much smaller-scale, and not as physically demanding, I find. I do find that it can lead to eye-strain and be a bit obsessive, though, you're staring at this tiny area and fretting about details which no one will actually be able to notice.

And yes, tell me about the space thing. I'm in a one-bedroom flat, we have about 4000 books, and I just have my one table for sewing on. I did manage to clear enough space on it to get out the sewing machine, but I still don't know how to use it, which is a snag.

Esofia,

I had surgery on both my hands last year for carpal tunnel which I had no clue I even had. Although it got rid of some of the symptoms I was having I a lot of trouble now grasping small or thin objects. I'm afraid quilting is out for me, right now. I am a hand quilter for sure. I have the nice machine but nothing beats hand quilting. I have tried basting both ways (pins and thread) I like thread the best but it's hard hard on the back and knees if you're on the floor. I even tried the iron basting (not crazy about that). Maybe one day when the kids are gone I'll have room :)

I tried cross stitch and needle point as those are small but I was making all this stuff and had no place to put it nor anyone to give it to so I stopped. We have local night classes every fall and I'm looking into going to something, anything would be nice. I need to get a hobby I can do or a job. I haven't decided. :)

Esofia, sorry it took me so long to respond. Had a long few days and then this weekend, I had some errands to do and that wiped me out so pretty much rested when I wasn't busy.
I was diagnosed with CFIDS 10 years ago. For the first few years, I was really bad and I missed like, 90 days out of my senior year of high school. However, the longer I've had it the more I've kind of learned to deal with it and push through really bad days and then take it easy the rest of the time to be able to get through it. I do have flare-ups, but I've been blessed with being able to keep a job. I know quite a few people who weren't able too. I contribute a lot of it to the support of my family and now my husband. I usually can get through work, but by the time I get home from work am unable to do anything else for the rest of the day due to the stress from managing my pain at work. Which is where the support comes in, because I was really blessed with amazing people who wanted to help on the bad days. I also take tylenol on a pretty regular basis, though I can do without sometimes. I do have some harder pain medication if absolutely needed but I try my hardest not to be dependent on it and usually stick with Tylenol unless it's a really bad day. I also find that anything other than Tylenol usually affects me weirdly so I try to avoid it when I can.
I didn't qualify for disability due to not being completely unable to work.. So, right now, I have no other choice but to get through work.
I do make sure I have plenty of rest before I drive a long way and am coherent. I go to bed super early and get up in enough time to fully wake up and make sure I can take my time to get to work. I leave myself plenty of time, so I don't have to rush and make a stupid mistake by following too close to a car or something, since my reaction time is definitely slower than a lot of people's.
I do meditate at night, because it helps me relax before bed and helps me be able to actually sleep - since I sometimes have insomnia and then I'm really in trouble. Lack of sleep for even a day can affect me a ton. I also do some stretching to try to keep my muscles loose since they tend to tighten up.
I agree that cardio is really hard. I tend to hurt a TON if I try to do cardio. Lately, because of how much I have to walk at work, I've been getting the whole body pain feeling more than I was. But after I sleep it goes away, so I've been making sure to get enough sleep at night to counter it. I never quite feel like I've rested enough, but I at least usually can manage. I think if I had to do any more than I do, I wouldn't be able too. I'm really hitting my threshold for walking / working. By the time I'm home from work I'm usually hurting too bad to even consider needing to run to a grocery store for a minute or something.
And yes, the touch thing is really strange, lol. The first time I felt it I was only 15, and thought something was SERIOUSLY wrong with me, because someone poked me and I wanted to cry. Now, I know to just tell my husband to make sure not to touch me until I start feeling better. I usually know when it's coming on and can take Tylenol to counter the pain.
One thing that helps is while I do work full-time, other than the walk to and from the office, most of my job entails sitting at a desk. A few months ago I did a temp job at a grocery store, and after 2 days of work I literally could not move for a week. All I could do is lay in bed. And I wanted to cry from the pain that two days caused me. Being on my feet is just, not possible. So I've had to tailor my career to something that I could manage with my CFS. Most of my work is customer service and data entry, and the job I'm working at now is pretty lenient if I need a 5 minute break here and there since they don't really schedule breaks other than lunch, but understand that people need breaks sometimes.
To sum up, I due maintain a full time work schedule. But it's really hard and a lot of days my husband does more than his share of the chores to make it easier on me. While I usually wait until the weekend to do my share of the chores / errands.
Oh, I also get a lot worse if I forget to take my daily vitamin C and other vitamins. I get sick really easy, so usually try to avoid people if I know they are sick, and take extra vitamin C though I take some every single day.
On a losing weight point, I am -2.2 lbs this past week. I have had a few cheat things, but overall I am doing really well with keeping up with my calories and such.
Overall, I am in a pretty happy place right now. I'm managing my pain levels for the most part, am slowly losing weight, and am eating way more healthy.

Mamakat - carpel tunnel sounds grotty. I have had a few bouts of tendinitis in my shoulders, and I also managed to get RSI in the middle of making a quilt for a competition deadline. Once I had recovered enough from each to sew again, I had to be insanely careful about pacing, and by now I sew with a stopwatch and am still very careful about taking breaks. (I got the quilt finished in time by some miracle, and won the competition, I am pleased to say.) Never mind sewing, it's when I can't hold cutlery that I really hate it. Thankfully that hasn't happened in a while, though even when I can use a needle, I still can't write more than a few words. I do start to go a bit crazy when I can't sew for too long a time. If you ever get back to quilting and can't find someone to baste for you, a friend of mine who also has ME/CFIDS swears by using a basting gun, maybe that would work? There are so many gadgets and techniques around these days! I think I'm the only quilter around who's never used fusible anything.

Meli - You sound like you're doing really well! How much vitamin C are you taking? I need to take the buffered form, and I'm still not sure how well I'm tolerating that, but it's something I'm playing with. I can't tell yet if it's helping.

I'm hoping that weight loss will help the ME/CFIDS. After all, it's commonly thought that the heart is a major part of this illness, and lugging all that extra weight around can't be good for the heart, plus there's the strain on the joints. I've had more energy since I started dieting, but I also broke off a stressful family relationship at the same time so I don't know quite what has caused what. You know what it's like with this illness, there's never just one thing going on at once, it can be so hard to tell if one particular factor is helping or hindering.

The disability benefits thing is crap where I live too.

Thanks. I'm trying. I've generally learned what works and doesn't work for me personally. I think losing weight definitely will help, if not just having less to lug around every day.
I usually take 1000 mg a day of Vitamin C. It's funny, I actually for awhile though it was all in my head and I just feel the need to take it to make sure I don't get sick. And then I was super busy for a few days and somehow forgot all about my Vitamin C. I ended up really regretting that when I had a huge flare up and the only thing I realized that I was doing different was not taking it. After a few days being back on it, I regulated out again. But one thing I've learned with CFS, is that every single thing you take affects everyone with CFIDS different then it does another. It's all about how your body reacts to it.
I completely understand the there's never one thing going on at once. Whenever I really get upset, it's usually because there's so much that I just can't handle. I can handle the every day few things that always are there - the general fatigue, achey feeling, etc. But whenever anything gets thrown into the mix that is unexpected, I find myself unable to cope. I try to stay positive, but it definitely gets to me sometimes - which I'm sure you or anyone with this illness can relate too.

Had a great day today; ate very well over the last few days. Had that BBQ chicken and salad for dinner; had a tiny bit of rice-veggie mix, but the rest filled me up pretty good. Did the insurance on the house; did an inspection this afternoon, and tomorrow we're signing more documents, then it should be smooth sailing from there. Yippy ... almost there!

Time to go rest up my feet & back & this whole bod; kinda overdid it a bit last week. SIL volunteered to help DH paint next week -- GOD bless her for that. Took some pics today; and the flowers look great. Discovered two patches of Rhubarb today; love that.

Got lots of walking in today (for me, that is) -- have a great week all ... Rosebud :flow2:

Not having a very good couple days.. Trying to push through it though. Work has been stressful, and my husband and I decided to move so we have been apartment hunting. Finally found something we like and got approved, but just realized tonight I'm going to have to attempt to move while still working full time. Unsure how I'm going to manage all this.
The diet is going pretty good, though I haven't lost anything the past few days. I've stayed on calories other than tonight when we went out to Max and Erma's for dinner. I gave into a cheeseburger. But, I had only eaten 800 calories before dinner, and will get right back to being on track tomorrow. So I'm hoping it doesn't affect me too much. I have been drinking a ton more water than I used too.
Just trying to take it one day at a time right now.

Hey MeliZ,
Sorry you're not doing so well. It was a super hot week last week so I felt the yucks, but pulling through now. I hate to move. I think that by far is the hardest thing I've ever done. I had to pack up a huge house and a baby and move across country 15 years ago. Ugh, what a terrible terrible time. Could you get help with packing...movers, friends or both. I know money is tight and sometimes even the suggestion is taxing, but DH knows how things are with you. I didn't have obstacles 15 years ago (except baby :)) and it was hard on me. How long do you have before the move? Will you be closer to work now? I really hope you can move at your own pace and not feel rushed, but I know that's unrealistic. I hope you can find help, even it's just for getting things down on shelves while you sit and wrap.

Other than the stress of that, which I'm sure is a lot...are you excited? My DH and I want to move so bad we can almost taste it. We want to move closer to his family so we have support during my down times or when he's traveling. He owns his own company with 2 partners and he's afraid to tell them he wants to move to another state. He travels a lot so it doesn't really matter what state we live in as far as the company, but it sure would help us out a lot. I wish he would just do it already. In the meantime, I've been slowly (very slowly) getting this old house into shape. And when I say slowly, I really really mean that AND I don't have a job, I can only imagine how you'll be doing all the moving and a job too. Good luck :)

We're enlisting some help of friends the day of the move, but packing and unpacking is going to be the two of us alone. We don't have that many friends here, since I only moved to Ohio last year. And his family can only help so much. We have one month to move, but the actually move-in process will only be a few days because we're on a tight schedule with getting out of our place now and into the new place. And neither of us can afford to take off work, so it'll be nights and weekends for the most part. We started today sorting through everything we own slowly trying to figure out if there's anything we can just pitch or donate to make it easier on the move.
I am very excited to be settled into the new place though. It's half the distance to work and literally down the street for him. Plus, has a washer and dryer so no more laundry mat trips. And, has much more space and storage. I am definitely excited for that part of it. Just dreading everything coming up to being settled in.

MELI ~ those are good advantages; your DH can walk & save on transportation, and so will you. You will save $$$ all round on the laundry too. We are moving closer to downtown; and will have so much more room as well. Our little house has so many advantages -- it is well worth the effort. You are pressed for time; don't envy that, but it's good that you have some help to move. So far DH & I packed everything ahead; only a few things left, ie the dishes & pans we are using, etc.


Another lady offered to help us paint next week; so that's four now. I will be doing a lot of the cleaning with SIL so we can unpack the kitchen stuff right away. We bought the paint last week and got lots of $$$ off, plus received a bonus $30.00 free card. After we paint, we plan to take lots of the smaller stuff first; then the movers will take the big stuff later in the month.

Well time to go get dinner on; just picked up a deli spit BBQ chicken; having it with salad and DH with his tators. Have a great weekend folks .... Rosebud :flow2:

:wave: HOWDY -- this month is just flying by ... we've been so busy at our new house getting it ready. The place looks so bright & fresh with the new lighter paint on the walls; it even looks bigger than before (light colors do that).

We've had really hot temps for our area; in the 90's most of last week, but our new place stayed much cooler than here (that's a big plus for us). Today, we had a lovely breeze all day. Eating went really well this week; I had a couple of treats this weekend but well within reason. I did feel sore and woke up quite hungry this am; must be sure to eat enuff this week.

Time to go have a tea and make our lunch up for tomorrow; have a great week everyone ... Rosebud :flow2: