I started a weight loss support group. It seemed like I was doing well at the start, with the weight loss. After the holidays, I gained more weight. I was very disappointed, but, I could only blame myself.
Things changed in my life around the same time. I changed jobs. I was a bundle of nerves, and I did it. After working at the same job for seven years, I took a chance. You can probably imagine how surprised I was to be unemployed three months later. C
Control
What I do have control over is what I eat. I have been unemployed for almost two weeks, and in that time I lost 10 pounds. I gained one back this week. My eating habits and my sleeping patterns need to be scheduled again. With a schedule, I will have more control.
I had an appointment with my doctor. She was expressing concern about my sugars. They were creeping back up again. One positive thing to note was my blood pressure was good we have been working to improve it. I was overwhelmed that day, and I told her I had nowhere to put the emotions I was fighting to hide.
I was having a hard time. There is no easy way to say it. I was struggling in many areas of my life, and I didn’t know how badly I needed help.
The doctor asked me if she could set up some appointments. With tears rolling down my face, I agreed. At the time, I was concerned about my work schedule. It is no longer an issue. I have had two of the appointments, and am working on the others. One is with the Diabetes Clinic. One is with a social worker. I did not know what to think about it.
The social worker was really nice. She explained that she meets with people to help them find the help they need, by connecting them with resources. If there is one thing I am learning, is that if you can use resources which are available to you
We talked about the loss of my income. She recommended a community food program for fruits and vegetables. I am looking into it this week. She wants me to go to the career counselling center I had gone to about a year ago. In a few weeks, I will meet with her again.
An appointment with the health coach I had been working with back in the fall will be rescheduled. I had every intention to reschedule. Now I will make time. One would think that becoming unemployed unexpectedly would have left me with a lot of free time.
Why am I busier now?
I am working towards a freelance writing career. I am staying up too late and sleeping in. There is a need to make time for exercise. It will come. I need to catch up on chores. I am starting to work on them. We are eating more meals at home, as we have to be careful with our budget. Healthy eating will be a challenge on a tighter budget. I need to fight my way out of this to be able to take the next steps to managing my health, and my life.
I am making my own schedule. Today I went outside to shovel the snow. It was an attempt at a little fresh air and exercise. There had been a little snowfall today.
Winter is hard on my mental health. I am susceptible to seasonal depression. I am adding vitamin D into my daily routine, to see if it helps. Today was a really hard day. I made myself get up, get dressed, and go outside. I didn’t want to get out of bed. Things will be easier in the spring. For now, I keep fighting.
This week, I accomplished a lot
I relaunched my website and I had some appointments. Today, I fought the winter blues and made my way outside. Tomorrow I am going to cook 2 healthy meal options for myself. I can keep working on my own goals, and stop being a victim of circumstances. I will. It might take some time to get things going in the right direction again. O
It’s hard to start over. How do you get things under control again? Let me know, maybe you can help me as I try to help you.
Hi Tish. I am struggling a bit too with winter and weight gain and anxiety and, if I am honest, too much drinking. Things got bad last November. I nowam trying to give myself the ability to cope with stress. I can’t really change my stress, but I can try to cope better. Since December, I have made a commitment to myself to walk for 20 minutes a day. It is all I can do. I set it up on my health tracker and go for it once a day. The goal is not to lose weight or get healthy, but just to walk for those 20 minutes. If I set other goals, I get overwhelmed. Since doing this, I have walked 8 days out of every 10 and I am doing much better mentally. It has been hard with the snow, -40C weathet and now the ice, but I go anyway. It has been the best gift to me. During the walk I only think about how my body feels… how it relaxes over time, I think about my posture and about trying not to fall on the ice.
I sleep much better now, can laugh amd relax again in the evenings and have cut my drinking by 60%. All my stressers seem less important when I walk.
I am telling you this because your facebook posts and blog have really gotten into my head and pushed me to make this change. I want to give this back to you. Try the 20 minute walk. Track it if you can. No cheating… if I come home at 18 minutes, I circle the house for 2 minutes. And see how you feel after 2 weeks. Do what you need to to stop stress eating you up. Walking is also free, which I need too!
Love you, dear friend.
Hi Christine. I appreciate what you took the time to write and share. For me, there is always an excuse to not go out and walk, which is why I have been hoping to get a dog. I won’t go for myself, but I would for a dog. Silly, but true. It is currently ice that has me avoiding walking.
I have had to stop going to Zumba for various reasons. I would love to get back into it. I know I can dance at home, and I will make a deal. I will have a daily dance party for one in my living room for 20 minutes every day, instead of walking. I will spend the weekend (not an excuse, I will need to plan out the time, playlists and make room on the floor) to start on Monday. As I am now home more, I can do this. When I am home alone. Thank you for asking me to do something, and for sharing what you are doing to improve your life. I am glad it is working. I am really glad to see that I have inspired you. It means a lot to me to know that I am not alone in this.
Hi Tish, hang in there, praying for you, Love you.
Thanks for reading, Mom! One thing at a time, one day at a time.