October 16, 2010

Today I started a new lifestyle - I'm cutting down dramatically on the salt and fat intake in my foods and drinking nothing but water (and the occasional sip of tea to ward off those caffeine-withdrawal headaches every few days). I've noticed in the last few weeks that my shoes aren't fitting the way they should be - but not in the length of my feet, more so they've been tight across the tops of my feet. I guess I didn't pay that much attention to it, but I bought some Danskos on Ebay a few weeks ago and was really bummed they didn't fit. I couldn't even get them past the tops of my feet and I've always had flat feet and no issues with getting shoes to fit. I thought maybe they looked a little swollen but thought it was just from having been on my feet so much lately.

Mom brought it to my attention yesterday that my feet looked very swollen and asked if I kept tabs on my blood pressure........which I don't. I hadn't even thought about it being related to blood pressure but when she said that, it all made sense. I looked up some symptoms last night and realized I have 90% of them - terrifying.

I made a dr appt for this upcoming week to talk about some options. I dont want to go on meds if I dont have to - if I can control it with diet/exercise, I'd much rather go that route. We cleaned out our fridge/pantry and made 2 sections - things I can eat and things I can't. All I can say it's a good thing I like fruit. :)

I'm determined to do this - I'm keeping a daily journal of what I eat and the sodium that's in it. We recently joined the gym and while it's really difficult for me to go by myself (out of my comfort zone when I dont know or have anyone to talk to), I'm committing to going 5x a week. Jay is going on Mon/Tues/Wed evenings when he doesnt have to go to work until midnight, so we'll be able to go together then. I'm really looking forward to this.

Today I took the dogs...well, Baylee & Gavin (guess I should specify when we do have 7 dogs, lol) to the park near our house. We live less than a mile from a really nice recreational park on Lake Cunningham, and it's a great place to walk. Gavin LOVES to go and gets so excited when you mention the word "park." I like to take either Gavin or Stinky b/c Gavin is a good protector and Stinky, while nothing but a big baby, at least creates the illusion that he could really hurt someone since he's so big. Baylee likes the idea of going but really doesnt think I should be making her walk when we're there...she just wants to be carried. Anyway, I digress....we went to the park for a long walk. Jay gave me his MP3 player he used a couple of years ago, b/c my phone is having a difficult time playing music and I'm super frustrated with it. He helped me get all my music downloaded this afternoon and I took it with me - a GREAT way to kill the boring time walking in circles.

Jay had a couple of dr appts and labwork in the last couple of weeks and turns out he has a severe vitamin D deficiency. They gave him a prescription vitamin D medication and it is AMAZING the difference it has made in him! I'm still in shock at the different person he has been the last 2 days since he took it. He's energetic, looking for things to do, getting things done, and just happy in general. Before this medicine, he was so tired all the time, depressed, never wanted to do anything, and just generally unhappy. Amazing the difference just a mega-vitamin can do. He had tried multiple things over the last few months and nothing made any difference, but this does. We are both loving it! =)

I hope to blog more often on my progress, so be on the lookout for more than 1 blog per season. :)