Feeling Old

I know I disappeared again, I'm really sorry about that.  I really do intend to post but the biggest hurdle is that I don't want to do it via my work computer and by the time I can get my hands on a computer at home, say after the kids are in bed, I am half asleep myself.  I have to figure out a routine that works obviously since this one is not cutting it.

So I am on the cusp of 43 and for the first real time in my life I am feeling significantly old.  Not like, oh look a new wrinkle old, I mean like my body is seriously falling apart, I can't keep up with the rate my hair goes gray, and I can barely stay awake past 9:30pm old.  I need Matlock!

Something happened to me this year.  I started 2013 off getting my wisdom teeth out and remember being in a lot of surprising pain for two weeks after that and the year hardly got better physically.  Yes, I lost 23 pounds (halfway to my goal), and began a routine of working out 6 days a week (at 6am), but despite all that healthy improvement, something is going south quickly.

First it was severe pain in my heel, plantar fasciatis, and when that finally went away (in August), my left lower back/hip area took a nose dive.  I ended up seeing a chiropractor and he has given me treatment and some stretches I now do every day, but still, at the end of a day, as I am trying to parent and clean up the house, I am crippled.  If I lean down to put something in the dishwasher, sometimes it is hard to straighten back up without a "click" in that area.  I think my next step might be seeing a doctor to get a referral to see a specialist because something ain't right.

There are other good things going on in my life obviously but I find that it is sometimes hard to see them through the curtain of chronic pain.  For me, it is mostly at night, almost beginning from the second I arrive home, kids in tow, at the end of the day.  For most of the day I am fine-ish.  But since I only get to see my kids during the workweek for hurried mornings and tired evenings, I don't want to be cranky to them because it hurts.

I also had a setback regarding the diet.  I have stopped losing weight for a good 3 months now - not an ounce even.  I realize I likely need to adjust the diet to less calories (I was doing @1500/day) or maybe take out wheat entirely, but you know, that shit is hard!  I can take out sugar with 9 months of proven success (with the exception of a very dramatic day of sugar gorging I had last week at work when a client sent cupcakes and our company had a pie baking contest) but taking out all bread, pasta, and rice when you are also taking care of kids seems like a nearly impossible mountain to climb.

Have you tried restricting your calories to less than 1400/day?  How does it go?  Give me tips!  How do I not go insane trying to prep dinner for hungry tired screaming kids at the end of the day when my stomach is also grumbling and not grab for some crackers?

Anyway, I know I shouldn't come back after weeks away and be all Debbie Downer but that is where I am at the moment when I get some awake time on the computer and a few minutes to blog.

I hope you are all well!

Comments

[Shannon-from-old-job]

Happy early birthday! :)

I feel you on the chronic pain issues - no good at all. I hope you can figure out something to get you some relief.

On the calories thing... you may hate me for saying this, but I think you may be eating too few calories. Especially if you've plateaued for so long, you may need to shake things up for a bit. (Oh lookie, how nice that the holidays are here to help with that.) I'm sure you've looked at the calorie calculators like http://www.webmd.com/diet/calc-bmi-plus - but I remember when I was all calorie-riffic and plateaued, my doc actually said to bump up my calories for a week or two. But with all your exercise, I think you need to eat more. I don't know what your RMR is, but I'd guess you're burning 500 calories with your workouts, so I'd go for only eating 500 less than your RMR. Or even try a week of eating your RMR and keep burning 500 calories/day with the workout.

The "professionals" say you can go down to 1200 calories, but that's fucking insane, especially if you're working out Jillian-style at 6am.

Of course, I'm such a hypocrite right now but I've got the baby to blame for that. ;)

Good luck! :D

[Melissa]

Yeah, 1500 is just not that many calories! I wouldn't go below that unless you talked to a doctor or something. I love carbs and every time I read someone blogging about the paleo diet, I want to punch them, but from everything I've heard, it is a good way to lose weight. If you can stand it, that is. You could maybe try it for a week or something? Or only eat carbs on weekends?

That's awful about the chronic pain. Definitely get it checked out!

[Steph]

I've missed your posts! I'm with you on the "body going to hell" since turning 40 a couple years ago. I have a tail bone issue that isn't going away after 20 chiro appts so I guess it's here to stay. Can't sit or stand up from sitting without pain. I too lost over 20 lbs the past year, and plateued (sp?). I started doing the C25K and am on my 3rd week. I saw numbers on my scale last week that I hadn't seen in 10 years! So I guess our bodies hurt, but we're still in good shape at 40ish!