I know a lot of you can relate to this blog entry. We try to start working out regularly but then sometime around the holiday season we get the yearly bug that goes around. We get knocked out of our routine and begin to see working out as drudgery rather than a great way to feel better about ourselves and relieve stress. Then we become busy with all the holiday stuff. Last December my mother alos had a serious surgery which she is thankfully slowly recovering from. She is not diabetic so it is not related to D.
About 3 weeks ago I started to go hiking and to spin classes again. I don't know about anyone else out there but I love spin class. I was shocked when I had realized I have been going to them for nine years. Usually a gym class feels not so interesting after a few months. All the popular aerobics classes of earlier times have made me hate the word "grapevine" but I never was good at dance style lessons. I tried ballet as a kid and tap in highschool and the teacher told me that I should try someting different.
Working out has been inspiring me to eat better as well. I eat a whole food low fat diet but I have not been concentrating on protein exchanges and normally eat to many simple carbs and not enough of everything else. I am now trying to eat 2 carb exchanges per day which sounds like too little but when I have this as a goal I end up eating 5 complex carb exchanges a day. I am trying to eat more servings of veggies. I already eat 5 to 6 times a day. I am trying to cut out diet coke which I love and drink more water or tea.
The difficult part is that I need more recovery days per week than I would like right now and sometimes I buy things that I think are going to be higher in protein like a can of bean soup and it ends up having only 5 grams per serving. Also I do not eat meat-which means I just need to focus on getting more beans, tofu, seitan, nuts, peanut butter, etc. I am thinking about stirring in pea protein powder in my not so high in protein soups. I ahve heard whey proteiin powder is good but I do not now what it it made out of.
Lately I have not felt much like cooking which is no usual for me. I hope my eggplant, my favorite food, does not go bad in the fridge before I get around to making something with it.
Last Monday, Tuesday and Saturday my muscles were sore from what I had done the day or two before. Can anyone else comment on recovery days? I plan to read The Diabetic Athlete which I had bought a few years ago and the book has been collecting dust on the bookshelf. Also I have been working a lot of hours at work which is a good thing but have to focus on fitting the other stuff in.
The other problem I that I think I need to join groups of people trying to be healthy rather than meeting for HH. I am in some hiking groups and a good veg group but maybe some more groups where people motivate eachother to be healthy in eating, excerise, etc.
Fitting in meditation once in awhile is a goal I never seem to stick with as well.
Re recovery days, I try to work out 6 days/ week but alternate running and lifting weights/ elliptical on the "off days" as it sort of uses different muscles? I'm very spoiled as I have a weight thing w/ pulleys and an elliptical in my basement, along w/ a treadmill although I loathe using it. When it's officially summer, I will try to squeeze in a bike ride on Sundays as I did that last year quite a bit and it usually made me feel better after long runs on Saturday, kind of unwinding my knees/ legs? Again, the slightly different muscle focus seems to aid with recovery.
I like to do something as much as I can as I always feel better after I've done something.
For me, exercise is the key. I can manipulate my BG by jumping on the treadmill. Some days I just want to stay in bed, and some days I do, but if I don’t get in some cardio my insulin:carb ratio changes. I like feeling a little more control by using exercise. Sometimes this backfires and I will get a low from overexertion, but overall I feel better so it’s worth it. I read the diabetic athlete as my first book about diabetes and it was very helpful. I learned how to fuel my exercise appropriately and was inspired by the stories of others trying manage their D. I recommend it. It’s amazing how much exercise helps keep the depression factor from D away for me. If I don’t exercise I really start feeing sorry for myself and start spiraling downward. Just one good workout brings me back, so I’ll be on the treadmill and hiking then doing pilates to recover. My CGM keeps me on track and I’m not sure I could do my workouts without it. Muscle soreness should improve with increased endurance and fitness. I actually love feeling a bit sore here and there. It let’s me know I’ve done something.