Legs

Hooray! I can exercise my legs without scaring my heartbeat and drowning from lack of breathing.
It's not just my legs. I can do hips and even waist, so long as I'm seated or lying down.


I WANT TO WALK!
I miss long rambling walks.
I miss quick trots (so to speak)

So, the legs are a good place to start.
That's one reason why I wish my pedal thing hadn't fallen apart.
I wish I still had my gazelle, but I don't know if I'm ready for that. It involves standing and moving-- both at the same time. That's a problem. For now.

I do get terrible cramps in my butt muscles, where the holes in the hip bones are.
I get sore in my groin joints and my knees get tender.
My traitorous back ties itself in knots.

I'm still bloated. They keep telling me my legs are really swollen, but I still don't see that. My legs just look like my same-ol' fat legs to me. Heck, I can even see my little round ankle bones once again. Haven't been able to do that for a while.

My feet, however do swell tremendously. My feet look like balls with toes. Even Hailey has commented on them. Usually not painful, but cartoonish to look at.


Health professionals still on their "lose weight" mantra.
Still refusing to believe my food diary or reports. Insisting exercise is the answer even with limited mobility. Haven't yet figured out how to move without moving. (I did semi-research joining the Y for swimmercise but too expensive and too far to drive with gas prices push-push-pushing $3.)

I think I am losing weight. I think my body is turning everything into water. Water is NOT weightless. The way my clothes fit is changing. That's almost always the first clue. My  pants are getting longer and the waistbands (on any and all types of clothes) are rubbing.
The scale is as always -- bouncing between 7 to 10 pounds different from day to day. They say to report weight gain that high but that is and always has been normal for me.

This weather hasn't made being able to "do" an easy option. By "do" I mean things like walk to my car, stand at the sink, take a shower.
Oh, to live where it is forever spring or fall! With sunshine and showers for the Glorious Fourth and snow for Christmas. the end.

All I can do is try and do what I find I can, I suppose.
Starting with the legs.

Changes

I've been trying a few basic changes.

The results thus far rather are less than encouraging.

I have switched to wheat bread instead of white, and pretty much cut potatoes out. Not completely, but down to twice a week at most. Trying the not-white concept.
Also eating soup and crackers.

The results?

I am sleeping 15 hours a day.
Muscle spasms in my upper back (just below my shoulder blade on my right.)
Increased hip pain, both sides, but more on my right.
Something jumping around inside my rib cage (like a baby kicking) whenever I am lying down.
Not much energy for not much of anything. (most likely related to the sleeping, although unsure of the relationship.)
My heart pounding over the least exertion and extreme breathlessness. One of my prescriptions has expired, and I am stuck in the middle of the pharmacy says this and the doctor's says that and either neither is listening to the other, or no one at all is listening to me. (Nothing new there.)

I don't think most of this is related to the dietary changes. I think most of it is related to the need for dietary changes.

I swear that I can actually feel my metabolism slowing down. I wonder how slow one's metabolism gets before organ failure starts to happen. (Especially with a baby in my chest.)
My metabolism is currently averaging sloth; heading toward slug.

Or maybe I'm just trying to hibernate. It's done turned February cold in mid-December.
If that's the case, I have done my body a disservice changing those lovely snow colored carbs for dirt colored ones. Bears pack on the carbs to live off of while sleeping.

I have my next doctor visit on the 18th, and a visit to my cardiologist on January 17.

Thank goodness for Tammy and the kids. They won't let me turn into no more than a quivering lump.