Battling Pain and Exhaustion
 

Hello all,

After several months of eating well and working up to walking at least 10,000 steps per day I have went off my plan and ate very poorly especially today.

To give you the history I found out over the Memorial Day weekend that two lesions in my right breast would have to biopsied. Initially I found my low carb and low processed food diet to be a big help with fear and stress. I walked everyday and added an additional evening of mowing the lawn. It helped me to stay sane and control the fear.

Then I went for my biopsy procedure on the 18th and have had a very rough post procedure recovery. A large amount of brusing and bleeding from one of the biopsy sites along with severe pain. As you would expect it is interfering with my sleep as well.

I have tried to push through and have been successfull in meeting my 10,000 step goal EVERY day but my biopsy day. But I am sliding further and further away from my healthy eating plan.

I have found so much wisdom and help here that I am writing in the hopes someone else has experienced a set back from illness or chronic pain and can offer me a hand up to digg out.

~Deb

Oh hon.

Of COURSE we have setbacks. Life? Is not always on board with making your weight-losing-life easy. But you know what? What REALLY matters is making better choices than not, more often than not. If that means you have to moderate your exercise so it isn't painful, or if you have to make an "Not so great" choice at a party because you're starving and healthy options aren't available, or if you have to take a whole week off exercise because you're just burned out...well, that's how it is. And it won't stall you too much, unless you start sinking into a "well, if I can't be PERFECT with my exercise, why should I worry about my food?" mindset.

Of course, it's easy to go from "Wow, I feel sad/worried/terrible and therefore deserve a cupcake/brownie/pile o ice cream". And believe me, I've done that too! But it can be JUST as effective to be selfish/self-nurturing in other ways. I make a concerted effort to say "Wow, I feel sad/worried/terrible. I am going to take super-good care of myself by taking a bath/giving myself a pedicure/cooking myself a special, well-planned, deliciously healthy meal". I get to treat myself well, but I ALSO get to stick to my plan.

I've been here (more times than I'd like to count...two rotator cuff injuries, two knee injuries and one knee surgery, and a current issue, a bone bruise to my shoulder blade!), and it's rough. But you CAN do it.

I am so sorry! You are really going through something tough. You need to be kind to yourself. Maybe even not restricting this week, but just sticking to healthy, Whole Foods-type stuff? A big hug to you!

ah, that's so scary and stressful! I had bleeding from a breast once, and was very fortunate that it did not turn out to be something more serious.

you know, all the healthy eating and exercise will serve you very well with your mental state as well as your physical recovery.

I agree that it's the time to figure out other things that comfort you, like walks in the country, baths, talks with friends/family, a good movie (fluffy comedy!), trip to a museum, music, a good crossword puzzle, a nap under a comfy blanket. Indulge yourself now in mood lifting activities.

hugs and take care.

:hug:

Food won't make the biopsy pain and the emotional stress go away. It will ADD to it. Because you'll just have to deal with the consequences of your eating choices later. Along with the other garbage.

You need to get strong and healthy so that you can face your challenges in the BEST HEALTH POSSIBLE. From the STRONGEST FOOTING POSSIBLE.

Diet is going to be the FOUNDATION of your healing. You can't control the biopsy, nor its results, but you CAN put your body in the best possible position to deal with the outcome.

It is SO understandable to have a slip or two. But you have to stop the slide, and NOW. If low carb and no processed foods has been working well for you, then you need to be back there. And really, do those Ding Dongs actually make you feel better????

Let us know how things are going...

:hug:

Kira

Well, Kira and I will have the contrasting opinion of the day. :) Here goes:

Deb,
Big hugs. That is a lot of stress and GOOD FOR YOU for staying in motion and getting those steps in. I'm very impressed. That's the first thing out the window for me!

I wanted to ask you what "very poorly" looked like? You don't have to share it here but take a good long look at it at least privately and really figure out a quantifiable definition of it. Did you go x # of calories over your typical day? Did you eat x # of additional servings of y? Did you eat calorie dense, low nutrition stuff? It sounds like you have had one or a few days of off plan eating and it probably isn't as bad as you think it is. It can be helpful to put a label on it and say "yes, I did that but it's not the end of the world (and therefore my healthy lifestyle)".

This is one of the major, more difficult skills to learn in maintaining a healthy weight. How do you deal with life AND a healthy lifestyle. Figuring out what is realistic in these moments, because they WILL come and they will catch you unaware and unprepared, is a big piece of the puzzle. Is it enough for you to maintain at these times? Is a small gain acceptable? How much is a small gain? Do you expect yourself to continue losing in the face of times like this? How long is too long? Where is the line between self discipline and being too hard on yourself? All of these are really personal questions that you can start to explore in a time like this. You don't have to make a life-long commitment to any of the answers but they are the sorts of things that need to be sorted out in the long run.

You can do it! The pain is going to get a bit better everyday and I'm hoping you got positive results from the biopsy.

Peg

Not to hijack the thread, but this is WHY I love this forum --
big :hug: to peggy7c because ALL opinions are valid and she makes excellent points. :)

Ms OnTarget, EVERYONE'S thoughts are with you...

Hang in there...

Kira

:hug: Back at you Kira! :flow1: (wanted a bouquet but couldn't fine one! LOL)

Peg