New Habits and a Healthier Life

"Old Habits Die Hard." That adage clearly comes from centuries of anecdotal evidence, and I can personally attest to its veracity. "Been there, done that" is another chestnut that sums up many of my experiences, and putting those two quotes together you have some idea of how I've managed to successfully lose significant amounts of weight on sensible programs such as Weight Watchers, only to have them hopelessly creep back.

When you couple entrenched bad habits with increasing problems from a chronic health problem (mine is Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Hypermobility), it's not hard to see why a diet does not ensure lasting results. When you add the defeatist attitude as I did, you basically succumb to the bad habits and give up the pleasures of good health.

It's funny what can trigger change. For me, it was the birth of my sweet little granddaughter, Lola. Holding her for the first time at 2 weeks and seeing her again at 4 months of age, it suddenly dawned on me: I wanted to live a long time and watch Lola grow up! Fortunately, husband Bill supports and encourages me in all my endeavors. It was Bill who first got me to start doing water aerobics twice a week at the local city pool, and it was Bill who suggested I up the ante and use the Group Health Silver Sneakers program to add another day of exercises at the Olympic Athletic Club's pool.

Sadly, my first time at OAC was my last for several months: I slipped on a slick step getting in to the pool and wrenched my arm, torso, and knee quite severely. Thankfully, nothing was permanently damaged. I did eventually go back.

I knew I needed to do more than just go to water exercises, however, since I knew the key to any lasting success would be to truly rid myself of some extremely dangerous decades-old bad habits and to develop healthy, sane new ones. I could NOT go on a diet, but instead I had to create a new lifestyle for myself.

Group Health offered an online 6 week class called "Living a Healthy Life with Chronic Conditions." I signed on to begin in October, 2011 and even bought the materials, knowing full well that I would not really "learn" anything new. The old saying, "If you want to know how to diet, ask a fat person," is quite true. Remember: been there, done that! Something about the set-up of the class clicked with me. Members in the forum set their own weekly goals and focused on that crucial concept of forming NEW habits. The 6-week timeframe was no accident. I decided to take baby steps and to use an additive approach.

My first goal was to do water aerobics three times a week for at least 30 minutes each time. That meant returning to OAC. I recorded my efforts via the class website and began a journal (the more successful participants in our group of about a dozen people were the most interactive ones). I succeeded in the first week and kept that as a primary goal throughout the 6 weeks.

In week two, I added a new goal: NO food after 8 PM, at least 5 days a week, except fresh fruit or vegetables. Someone once said, "You aren't really hungry if you aren't hungry for an apple." This was probably the most important lifestyle change I could make. I have addictive eating behaviors, very similar to the behaviors of a drug addict or an alcoholic. My brain alone does not tell me to stop (my stomach certainly doesn't), and it is totally irrational behavior. This is why the online class was important for me. I was setting the goals, I was monitoring my behaviors, but it was within a community of support that WASN'T focused on food and success WASN'T measured by weight loss. The program was to help me learn how to live a healthy life within the confines of my disabilities.

It wasn't until the 4th week of the class that I decided to begin looking at the rest of my daily food intake. I had become comfortable with the nighttime no food policy and it seemed to be a habit. I was doing water aerobics three times a week habitually. I realized, though, that in two weeks I'd be losing the use of the online data bases and trackers supplied by the class, so I searched for an alternative. I debated rejoining Weight Watchers online, but I truly wanted a change and didn't want to measure success by the scale. I found Sparkpeople.com. I won't go into its history or credentials, but it is a web site that offers free record-keeping spreadsheets for all sorts of activities for good health. Whether you are training for an Iron Man contest or simply trying to build up strength to walk a mile, whether you are trying to lose or gain weight, whether you are 25 or 95, you can find free resources on Sparkpeople.com.

I now keep track of my cardio workouts daily (I do water aerobics 3-5 times a week and have started adding walking miles into the mix). I eat healthy meals (following the recommendations of a GHC nutritionist with whom I consulted), and I happily embrace my new habits and do not miss my old ones.  I have learned to live with Ehlers-Danlos and accept its limitations and pain by using better coping skills. In the process, my lifestyle changes have caused a significant weight loss for me, and my doctor and I are quite pleased. I learned a neat trick for me: regardless of what the scale says each time I get on it, I only record weight LOSSES, never gains. That allows me to see positive progress and keeps me from second-guessing what I know is a successful approach to good health and more importantly, a longer life (barring any trucks bowling me over). I intend to see Lola graduate from college someday.

Decisions, Decisions

Bill has gone through two intermediate level chemo treatments, and today he met his permanent oncologist (his initial doctor was just "on loan"). Expecting to begin episode three, we heard instead some detailed information about remission statistics. Apparently, a more aggressive regime would probably deliver a far greater chance of a longer remission period (5-7 years vs 1-3).

The downside to going with the more aggressive treatment is the increased side effects. Bill would really feel this one. The trade-off? Most likely a much longer remission. The doctor has advised Bill to go the aggressive route because of Bill's strong physical activity level and his relatively young age.

It is so hard to go in a new direction after commiting to the first one, but Bill has a week to think about all the angles before making a final commitment.

First Day

Today Bill had his first chemotherapy treatment. He will be doing CVP once every three weeks for an undetermined time. Basically this involves a couple of hours at the clinic receiving an IV drip of two chemo drugs (the C and the V) and then 7 days taking Prednisone pills followed by two weeks of no cancer drugs.

The people at the clinic were friendly and efficient, and Bill and I came loaded with books, newspapers, and puzzles, so the time went by pretty quickly (at least for me). Bill's a trooper and took it all in stride, and I know he'll do well because he is otherwise in such great physical shape. Just getting treatment started is a breakthrough, and it helps us move forward. With biking and gardening and family and friends, Bill has a lot to keep him positive and happy as he works through his treatment.

Still Waiting...

Bill saw the oncologist today (after the snow-postponement last Thursday), however there was not as much to learn as we had hoped. The bone marrow and bone samples have been sent on to the University of Washington for further test results to help the doctors define and refine the diagnosis and determine a more specific range of treatment options. This is neither a good nor bad thing; it is just the science of medical determination, if you will. :-)

Dr. Cutter was, however, quite encouraging and buoying. He noted that Bill's white cell counts over the course of the month have actually been dropping a bit, which is certainly better than rising. He also noted that Bill has no other symptoms for his CLL and because of all the information they have thus far, although it is a psychological anxiety that we feel right now (and justifiably, he said), there is not a medical urgency for treatment. This was good to hear.

We will be checking each day or so to see when the results do come back to Dr. Cutter, and he will have a phone consultation with us at that time, so, I guess we'll just consider that "no news is good news" and hope for some final decision within a week or so. Until then, I'm getting old. Tomorrow (Jan. 25) I turn 62. Yikes! :-)

Winter!

Since we have no place we have to be any longer, we've been able to appreciate the beauty of snow in Seattle (Bill's oncology appointment today was turned into a phone consultation, but alas, the bone marrow results haven't come in yet. We rescheduled for Tuesday). This was taken Wednesday morning as I looked out into our new patio. The birds have been flocking around our feeders for hours on end for more than two days now; they seem to love the weather and the food!

Luckily, we have not suffered any power outage (yet!), so we remain toasty warm and totally connected via technology. Fun (when you are retired)!

Curve Balls

Sometimes life throws you a curve ball. It happened to us on Dec. 30th, 2011, when we learned that Bill probably had leukemia. For the 10 days following, waiting for further test results and a consultation with a specialist, everything seemed to go into slow motion. It's amazing how something like that just kicks you in the gut and makes you depressed, panicked, anxious, numb, and afraid. Bill is stoic; I am not, but both of us felt the pain and agony of waiting. The kids were traumatized.

Getting a diagnosis of any form of cancer is never "good news," but when we met with the specialist after our interminable wait, he did help buoy our spirits. It is CLL, a chronic form of the disease and considered highly treatable. There is no cure for leukemia, but there are a variety of chemo therapies used on CLL, depending on the stage and other factors, and we'll probably find out what Bill's treatment regime will be after Jan. 19th.

We haven't hit the curve ball out of the park yet, but the odds are in our favor, and I have ever bit of confidence that we will. :-)

Christmas 2011

Lola seemed to enjoy eating the wrapping paper almost as much as getting the presents, and we all enjoyed watching her experience her first Christmas. She saw cousins and uncles and aunts and dogs, as well as all her grandparents, and we showed her off to many friends as well. We are so happy to have Lola and her parents visiting Seattle for the holidays, and we're making the most of the time. She's adorable!

Wishing for a Happier 2012

Would it be too much to as for Peace on Earth and Goodwill towards all humanity? I swear the emotional climate of this country and of the world is crushingly nasty and violent. Whether people are bullying at a personal level or corporately or politically, I really am not sure I've ever seen it this negative and hateful. Fortunately, I occasionally read about someone somewhere who has shown true compassion for a fellow being, but all too often I hear of hate crimes, paranoia, bigotry, cruelty, and amoral behaviors and pronouncements.

Let us hope for some return to sanity in the coming year; it won't begin, probably until the elections are over, but perhaps we'll still see something more akin to goodwill than we've seen this year. I'm not holding my breath, but I'm still hoping.

Lola has developed a love of good literature at an early age. Unfortunately, at the moment her only desire is to literally tear into it, but I am sure she'll be reading voraciously when she discovers the printed word has more than nutritional value. :-)

Tarzan?

At a little over 7 months, Lola is now crawling and getting into everything. Here she appears to be doing her impression of Tarzan trying to scale the dining room table. Note the trendy diaper cover-up. We look forward to having Lola and her parents here for Christmas. Oh...That reminds me...I'd better start child-proofing the house!