Weekly Challenge

Rather than trying to do everything at once to get in shape -- which would be my usual MO and result in feelings of frustration and defeat -- I'm going to add a small change each week and track. The next week I'll continue that change, and so on. This week's challenge is smaller than I expect future ones to be: I'm going to make sure I'm eating a total of five fruits and vegetables every day. I think I do that most days, but I may be exaggerating to myself when I say that. I thought about getting adorable fruit and veggie stickers to put on a chart on my fridge, but I'm neither that adorable nor that organized. I don't know where to get such stickers (although I would imagine Michael's sells something that would work) and I don't feel much like going out. Making it a big deal would give me a fantastic reason to procrastinate, and I'm at a high-motivation point. I will print out a chart, a very simple one where I can write my daily choices.

I had my follow-up appointment with my doctor today and, despite my being dubious, he assured me that the Bystolic could indeed suddenly lower my heart rate even after months of use. Even though my blood pressure wasn't high, he wanted me to go on a mild dose of a different drug. I don't want to say anything bad about my past experiences with ER doctors. I know many are wonderful doctors. Some just don't have as much time in as others. But my doctor said that they were right to have admitted me and correct about the change in medication. One thing the hospital doctors hadn't told me that my doctor did was that it can take up to a week of being off the beta-blocker (which Bystolic is) before the bad effects go away. So as far as the weird, off-kilter heartbeat feeling I've been having, I'll just have to ride it out. On the upside, my doctor said that it is just a feeling at this point; my heart is beating strongly and evenly.

As I mentioned yesterday, this whole episode has scared me into getting my weight back to a better place. I'd like to lose at least forty pounds, but I can't think that far if I want to make any progress. I know I will do better if I take small cumulative steps toward better health. Join me if you like! I'll be talking (briefly) here about each week's challenge. And if you have any reasonable challege suggestions, let me know. Time to make a chart.