In mid July I decided it was time to start exercising again.  Oh, I had thought about it before that, but in July I finally set my mind to it and actually started.  I had stopped sometime after G had started with his various troubles, about 2 summers ago, when it seemed that I would get to the gym and my cell phone would ring and I would need to go home.  I could no longer walk along the trail near my house because I could not get home in a hurry if I was a mile or two away.  I stopped exercising at home because I seemed to be interrupted every 15 minutes.  

I know, one can exercise in 15 minute intervals, but it really wasn't working for me.  I just gave up.

But this summer I was just tired of being tired.  I want my stamina back, my energy back, and truthfully I wouldn't mind if the exercise helped me take off a few more pounds, but mostly I am just tired of being slow, weak and tired.

I finally managed to wean myself off the antihistamines in early July as well, after a 7 month battle with hives.   Without medications that made me tired and groggy, or hives that made my feet swell and itch, exercise also seemed like a more promising option.   I started slowly, and not perhaps as regularly as I should have.  I skipped a few days when my step-son was here, partially because of scheduling issues, partly because of a couple of minor gluten incidents which brought back the hives, although I caught them early and dealt with them efficiently.  That was my punishment for going along with something I did not think was a good idea just to  be sociable and be a good hostess.  Lesson (hopefully) learned.

Since the end of July though I have been more motivated and more determined to really stick to a schedule and push myself, exercising every day, because I know myself and know that if I allow myself to slack off now, before I am fully settled back into a routine, I will just continue to slack off.  It was not always easy and I was often tired, falling into bed at night in complete exhaustion.

And then sometime last week something changed.  I started feeling a little more energetic.  I started feeling a little calmer.  I started sleeping fewer hours, but far more soundly.  At first I just couldn't go to sleep at night.  I would be up until midnight, 1 or 2 AM and wide awake at 7.    I kept telling myself that I needed to sleep more, although I obviously didn't; and I would get frustrated that I couldn't go to sleep earlier.  One night, when G was particularly grumbly about my being up all night, I made myself go to bed at 11.  I was awake at 5.  It was dark out.  I was not happy.

But then I suddenly realized that I could work out early, before breakfast, and if I got up at  5 or 5:30 I could get an entire long workout in before G woke up.  I could even do an exercise tape or weight work without an audience or interruption.  Suddenly I was eager to get up early and watch the sun rise.  Suddenly, I was starting to have energy again.  

I still have a long way to go, but I am seeing progress and it makes me want to go further and do more.  I am reaching a point where it is easier to make myself exercise even when I don't want to do it.   I am not yet strong, and I have a long way to go with the weights.  I don't think I am up for my old loop around the Vanderbilt Estate, which is 3 3/4 miles round trip from my front door, and G isn't quite comfortable with my being out of touch, yet.  But I am walking, and riding the exercise bike, and my knees are thanking me.  And I have started strength training again.  

I am not sure that I will always sleep 5 1/2 to 6 hours a night, but I am happy now as it is making the process easier for me.  For many years after I went through menopause I slept 6 hours a night most nights.  Actually I would go through 2 or 3 weeks of 6 hour nights, and then 2 to 3 days of 8 or 9 hour nights and repeat the cycle.  I can't say I would object to that cycle should it recur.  But mostly I am just happy because I feel my focus coming back.  And that really is a good thing.

  

Comments

[Gina]

Hooray! You've re-inspired me.

[K-Line]

Excellent progress. It must be so challenging to get back into routine when you need to be on call all the time. And I think it's probably a good thing to try gluten every so occasionally - just in case all your great work with the celiac diet buys you a little latitude (not that it's likely, I realize). My mother had terrible hives in her 30s - thinking back. I wonder if it might have something to do with wheat sensitivity. Since my sister stopped eating wheat, my mother's got on the bandwagon (to be supportive) and she's finding it quite energizing. Hmmmm.