Tags
& M.E., Bipolar Disorder, CFIDS, CFS, Chronic Fatigue, Mental Health, Mental Illness, Obesity, Paranoid Schizophrenia, Personal Journal
Yesterday was another really good day for me 🙂
I woke just before 7 again, washed dressed and took TJ out for a walk around the field. I expected to be in a lot of pain after the way I was feeling the night before but actually and thankfully it was fine and I slept very well too.
This is now our morning routine and will be the time that I get up most mornings from now on I feel. The walk is refreshing and awakening and affords a great time to think and to pray.
Getting home I had my breakfast and then got on with some stuff on the computer.
Then my new book arrived ‘Carbs & Cals & Protein & Fat’. It really is an excellent little book and resource for helping me plan my meals properly and healthily. It basically shows lots of photos of food substances and gives their Carbs, Cal, Protein & Fat Content. (So pretty much what it says on the tin)
This was followed shortly afterwards by my new Xbox360 – an early birthday present from a dear friend. Matthew came round and helped me set this up and then it was time for lunch – which was a light lunch of a couple of sandwiches.
After this I decided to take TJ out for another walk around the field but then my new graphics tablet arrived. I actually surprised myself! Instead of unpacking and playing with my new graphics tablet (which I have wanted for years by the way) I took TJ out for the walk as I had intended and then played with my new toy 🙂
The evening was spent simply relaxing and reading through the new book and designing a new meal plan as well as exploring the features on the Xbox360. After that I took TJ out for our night time walk and was in bed by around midnight.
I have to tell you that I am truly liking this new routine (although it does still need some tweaking.) I have even cut out the sugar from my coffees and that is a biggie for me as I dislike the taste of most artificial sweeteners.
Physically..
It is without doubt very tough at times. I wake up refreshed and enjoy the early morning walk but as the day goes by I grow stiffer and stiffer and seem to ache more and more. This makes the walks harder and harder as the day goes by. BUT the reality is that I am desperately morbidly obese and that I do have some major health issues which complicate things.
What I am finding is that I am needing more sleep and so will have to adjust my bedtime to allow for the earlier mornings. But I am seriously loving not being on the computer as much and being out of the house more.
I am also very keen to see how my heart condition and Chronic Fatigue Immune Dysfunction Syndrome is effected by this and what happens if and when my CFIDS flares up again.
Mentally…
interestingly it is in respect of my mental health where I am finding the most benefit at the moment. I find that I am much more clear minded than I was and this is really helpful.
Additionally I find that I am brighter and more positive which given my bipolar and my paranoid schizophrenia is a big thing. Now I fully accept that this could simply be as a result of the change in routine and the sense that I am actually achieving something in respect of my health and thus could be temporary. But whether it is temporary or longer in term I am grateful for it and am going to make the most of it, using it to build on.
This morning I again awoke just before 7 and again took TJ for a walk. It was raining today – the first morning of rain since I started this new healthier routine/life-style and although the rain did mean that I couldn’t take TJ for a walk round the field – the ground is too bad for that – I still managed the route I usually take during the evenings and am really pleased about that.
This morning I am going to finish designing my new meal plan and then email it off to the dietitian on the team at the hospital and get her feedback on it. I have designed it with both health and economics in mind and so hopefully it will be manageable once I am more financially stable.
I am so keen to turn this all around and to beat this thing and am really enjoying the sense of actually doing things which are much more positive. I do feel very frustrated that I can’t afford to implement my healthy menu at this time but know that this will come in time. So I am very thankful for what changes I have been able to make thus far and will be interested to see the longer term effects of them both physically and mentally.