Finding Balance Again

Courtesy of [Salvatore Vuono]/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Five days have gone by since I published the last post about Looking for Balance.  My mission for the last week has been to fulfill the plans I made for getting back on track;  and, I have especially payed attention to taking my medicine and my supplements as directed.  For me, this is probably one of those habits, for which I need to continue to pay close attention, because I am already feeling the results.

For those of you that get muddled about whether or when you took your medicine, I recommend using a container.  And, keep it close to where you eat if most of your meds are taken with meals.  Of course, if you have children in the house, medicine should be out of reach, but I am sure most of you know that.

One of the things I have discovered in the last couple of weeks is I do better if I load my weekly medicine container biweekly.  It is one of those things I tend to put off if I leave it for the last day.  Having to fill fewer containers at a time has been less aggravating for me.  

Finally, I want you to know I did not do everything on my list perfectly, but I can see a difference in my mood and my motivation to get things done.  If you have an off day, don't feel like everything is ruined and you have failed.  You have not failed:  you just had an off day.

We can only live a few seconds, one minute, one day at a time.  Baby steps work and they add up to feeling better about ourselves and what we can accomplish.

Have a blessed week.

Love,

Deborah

P.S.  I am going to keep taking my Omega 3's in the Fish Oil.  I do better with it than without it.  Remember, you should always check with your medical practitioner before adding supplements or medications to your regimen.

Pampering Yourself and Cleaning -- 2 Important Steps

Take some time today to think about how you can do something special this week--something that will make you feel pampered -- something you want to do.  It doesn't have to be expensive, but it does have to be special time you have set aside for yourself.


I am still thinking about my special time, and whether I want to share it;  or, whether I need to do something by myself.  After I decide, I am going to schedule it. However, I know I have to be flexible.  My body may not cooperate.  It has not been cooperating all weekend.  I am either having a flare or I have an ear infection.  Either way, I have not been my happiest self for the whole weekend.  In that case, just sitting outside in the sun with a book may be my best thing I can do for myself, although I am kind of itching to go somewhere besides the doctor's office.  

May you all have a blessed week.  And for those of you who are wondering about a game plan for this week, I think we should tackle Zone 5, the living room.  If you would like further directions, take a look at FlyLady's zone for this week.  She has a basic plan and a more detailed one, which you can click on.  However, you remember to do what you can do.  You do not have to work for 15 minutes at a time:  you can work at 5 or 10 minutes.  The point is to do something.

Doing something does more than help clean your house.  It is good for your self-esteem.  When you work on one room at a time, I think you will find yourself more motivated to carry on getting rid of the clutter in your house in other rooms.   My goal is developing simplicity and routine in caring for my home.  What is yours?

P.S.  For those of you who may be thinking that you are always pampering yourselves, I want to note that caring for your health needs is not always something that makes one feel pampered.  It is work!  I am thinking of something that would be out of your usual weekly routine, something that would feel special.  It might be going to a coffee shop or going out to tea.  It could be going for a massage.  Or, it might be taking a candle light bath in your clean bathroom.  For some people, who have been inside too much, it might mean sitting on a bench in the park or taking a short walk... or going to a restaurant with a friend or spouse.  It might be getting a babysitter, and spending a whole afternoon by yourself doing only things you like to do.  Enjoy!  You are special; and, you should take the time to do something that you would  particularly enjoy.

Weight Gain and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Old habits die hard, and it may not be the habit you think I am about to mention;  because, the first thing people usually think of when they see the words weight gain is diet.  Diet in the sense of going on a diet to lose weight is not what this post is about.  It is about the habit of thinking I need to go on a diet and lose weight being a trigger for frustration and thinking negative thoughts about myself.  

When you are struggling with the fatigue of CFS, it often becomes an emotional struggle when living in a world that equates the weight of a person with health and beauty.  In my own life, it is true that a great deal of my self-esteem was wrapped up in how well I was managing my weight, so when it became hard, seemingly impossible -- I felt responsible for my own weight gain.  I was responsible in my mind;  therefore, I had let everyone down in my life, including myself.  Yep, old habits die hard.

If you  have had difficulty with this issue in your life, and you need gentle sensible encouragement, I would like to recommend an article I read today, while I was searching for a CFS/FM weight loss group.  The name of the article is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, and Weight Gain by WD.  It was just the positive approach I needed to start thinking clearly on this matter.  I had let my emotions override a positive approach to my dilemma:  I needed input to get back on track to take care of myself, not to lose weight.

I have held on to clothes with the idea I would someday lose forty pounds or more.  However, I think it is time to let them go.  Why do I berate myself, when I try to do what's healthy, but I still stay overweight?  And for my Christian friends out there:  yes, I do think my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit;  and, that includes my brain and all parts of me.  However, I do myself no favor by being unrealistic.  Before I had CFS and I just had fibromyalgia, it was easier for me to lose weight.  Before I was fifty-five, I was able to fight this thing harder than I can now.  I have afflictions that I did not ask for, nor do I believe I caused them in the sense most people equate cause and effect of becoming overweight.  

I am facing the fact I am ill with several afflictions that make exercise and weight loss difficult and nearly impossible.  Therefore, I am going to keep moving as long as I can.  I am going to continue to stay on a moderately low-carbohydrate diet to keep my blood sugar as near to normal as possible.  An aside here is that I  am diabetic and keeping my A1C level within acceptable ranges without medication.  In fact, I asked my doctor why he doesn't have me on medication for diabetes.  He said my blood sugar would go too low.  What this tells me is that I am doing well.

You have to put together the facts of your illnesses and go on from there.  That does not always mean weight loss is going to be maintainable with some illnesses.  You know your situation with all the variables;  and, those variables are different for each person that has CFS/FM.  You have to make your decision based on what is right for you, not for Everyman or Everywoman. 

Remember that when you start to feel low about your lack or your excess of pounds.  

Finally, I am making my decisions based on the fact I know it is unhealthy for me to be consumed with weight as a gauge for my self-esteem.  I will balance my lifestyle as best I can within the parameters facing me.  

What will you do?

(If you were looking for a weight loss plan that is sure fire, I am sorry I cannot give that to you.  I  know many weight  loss plans:  sometimes, I feel like an expert.  Believe me, if I could come up with something that would be a cure-all, I would probably be doing it;  however, I have to make my decisions based on what is right for me.  And right now, I'm  resting in that and I am resting in my Lord.  God bless you.) 

Fly-baby Deborah's Journey Out of CHAOS

Hello again!  If you read my last post and clicked on the word, CHAOS, you should have discovered FlyLady, Marla Cilley's website.  I discovered FlyLady.net about 6 years ago, and I thought I would be a genuine reformed fly-baby long before now, but I am not.

I suppose the general consensus is that a person was a slob before having found FlyLady, but that is not necessarily true.  Most of us manage to have a reasonably clean house, until something happens that turns things upside down.  For me, it was chronic illness, which gradually grew worse.  The depression that came with the illness did not help.  I had no motivation, and I had no energy.  That was not a good equation for keeping one’s house clean and uncluttered. 

First of all, for the uninitiated, CHAOS is an acronym for can’t have anyone over syndrome.   That absolutely says it all.  I would have felt like I was going to die a thousand deaths over the embarrassment of having someone walk in my house after I got sick.  And on my good days, I managed to make myself feel more ill by doing a marathon cleaning job.  At the time, I didn’t think Depression or Fibromyalgia should keep me from getting my housework done.   I couldn’t figure out why I had long periods afterwards, that I couldn’t do anything.  I also found out I have a liver disease called NASH.   Furthermore, I found out I have Hypothyroidism and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome;  so, I got in this cycle of letting the clutter pile and waiting to feel good enough to do something about it.  Obviously, I needed to find a better way.  My self-esteem was going down the drain quickly!

So what happened after I found FlyLady?  Did I go through her thirty-one day plan and become renewed and revamped?  I wish I could say I did, but it wasn't quite that easy for me.  It was kind of like yo-yo dieting.  I didn't have the energy to stick to the plan every day.  Some days I didn't feel like taking a shower, much less getting out of my pajamas.  I had to find a way I could do this at my own speed.  That is what I am going to share with you.  You are going to read how I adapted FlyLady’s excellent plan to my own life.  Moreover, I am still working on it.  Let’s see if we can share the things that are helping us manage our lives better – our lives as they are now.