I struggled to get out of bed this morning, which is not normal for me. Two hours and 30 minutes later, I feel good about the week ahead. I think every good week starts with a Monday morning run. I let Potatoe tag along on my run this morning, so it was more of a run, stop, run, stop, but still it feels good to start the day with a little physical activity.
I am now eating breakfast, waiting for my doctor’s appointment. I feel exponentially better than I did two weeks ago, but I still have swollen lymph nodes and extreme fatigue. The doctor has ruled out a lot of scary stuff, like Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, HIV, and hepatitis, but they still do not know the cause of the swelling.
I am taking the reigns on my own health starting today, and I am making some significant changes. I am drinking 8 ounces of water an hour instead of God only knows how much coffee during the day and wine at night. Secondly, I am taking vitamins for immunity.
Yvonne – You will appreciate knowing that I am taking a Fruily Organic Elderberry Immune Gummies. All of my research says that elderberry is second to none for one’s immune system. I chose Fruily because it has fruit juice instead of refined sugar.
Third, I am switching to a plant based diet. I will still be eating meat, but that will be a side dish with fruits and vegies center stage on my plate. I am eliminating all chips, pasta, and bread for the time being. I will still have rice and beans.
Lastly, I am going to start lifting weight 3 days a week, attending yoga 1 day a week, and running an average of 3.1 miles a day. Exercise is the part of a healthy lifestyle that I love.
To distract myself from the fact that I am on a diet, I plan to find one new social activity each week. While Potatoe likes it, I am spending WAY too much time at home on the couch in front of the TV. In the rare event that I do socialize, I realize that I have nothing to talk about, but the TV shows that I am currently binging. I almost never watched TV before COVID.
My goal is to lose seven pounds of fat before I leave for vacation, maintain while I am on vacation, and then lose another three pounds of fat before we leave on our trip to take Brainy Bird to college, maintaining while on my trip with Brainy Bird. This will be the hardest as most of the trip is sitting in the car, with the highlight of the day being mealtime. When I return, I want to lose another five pounds of fat before parent’s weekend, and then the final five pounds of fat after parents weekend. That brings me to a total loss of 20 pounds of fat. With this plan, I will be ready for a swim suit come fall, but lucky for me, I live in Houston, where it is ridiculous hot right up until around December.
While it is definitely a goal to look better, and to be able to fit into some of my favorite clothes, my real goal in all of this is to be full of energy and ready to hit the ground running on Mondays. I will check back in on the progress towards my goals in two weeks.