Day Twenty-Two

I wore my new pedometer today. It read 7294 steps. I had cereal and coffee for breakfast. For lunch I had a small serving of pasta and a chocolate chip cookie. I also had about half a glass of soda-it was yummy! For dinner, I had a turkey burger, garlic fries, and a Manhattan. I thought that I was ready to try for 26 minutes on the treadmill, however once I was on the treadmill for about 4 minutes, I developed a cramp. I only was on the treadmill for 15 minutes. I started my new challenge and avoided the elevator with only one exception. I had to walk a patient to the ED and since she was lightheaded, we had to take the elevator. I did not feel like running a rapid response or a code blue if she fell down the steps and hit her head.

Fourth Seven-day challenge

My next 7 day challenge is to take the stairs if I am going one flight up or two flights down. Before I had the chiari surgery, I was compulsive about taking the stairs thanks to a tragic elevator accident at college that killed a coworker. I was terrified of elevators and would walk the fourteen flights to my dorm frequently. Once I had the craniotomy in graduate school, I would get a headache and become lightheaded while walking up and down the stairs. You burn about 10 Calories walking up a flight of stairs and 7 Calories walking down a flight of stairs. While not drastically large numbers and I am not going to stop other forms of exercise, those are Calories that I would not have burned anyway.

Update on Third Seven Day Challenge.

I achieved the 7 day challenge of no soda. It was difficult because there were tons of temptations of soda everywhere. While I will definitely try to drink water and diet soda when I can, I do not think I will totally give up on drinking soda.

Day Twenty-One

Today was an errand and shopping day. I was able to walk on the treadmill for 25 minutes today. I bought a pedometer and plan to start using it tomorrow. My old pedometer read 3086 steps. For breakfast I had french toast, low-fat bacon, and coffee. For dinner, I had the chicken dish, salad, and risotto.

Day Twenty

I failed at my seven day challenge for the treadmill. It was not until I was in bed that I realized I had not walked on the treadmill. I was threatened with abandonment if I walked on it. I had a very fattening dinner of Roquefort chicken and lemon risotto with two glasses of white wine. I did manage to stick with my other challenge and I had milk with my hamburger happy meal. I did not have my pedometer on for most of the day, but it read 2563 steps.

Day Nineteen

Heath and I had a fight today, but I still managed to walk 15 minutes on the treadmill. I had a bagel and coffee this morning for breakfast. I had a cheese sandwich and a vitamin water for lunch. Heath and I had Mexican food for dinner. I also kept up with my challenge and had no soda. My pedometer read 5264 steps.

Day Eighteen

I remembered to take my lunch today after vowing all week that I would take it. I got up this morning and had my usual bowl of cereal and coffee. For lunch, I had my cheese sandwich (from home) and water. I took the easy way out and had Taco Bell for dinner. I was not even health conscious in my choices. I had a burrito supreme and a soft taco supreme. I forgot about my soda challenge and Heath ordered me a drink. I thought he might be irritated if he spent $1.00 on water, so I knew I had to get something. All the diet drinks had caffeine, so I had to go with fruit punch, which I am sure is just as unhealthy as soda. I was careful not to drink it all. I also had some Sweet Tart bunnies for dessert.

I walked 24 minutes on the treadmill, did 2 reps of twenty with the hand weights, and did 50 crunches. I spent more time between 2.8-3.0mph than I had previously. My pedometer at work read 3722 steps.

100 steps a minute

I came along an article yesterday that I thought would be interesting to share: Strive for 100 steps a minute. Heath knows that I am embarking on a healthier lifestyle and he knows that I am blogging about it. I am not sure that he reads it though, which is just as well, because I blog about all my frustrations with him in my other blog: WobegonRabbit:My Ramblings, which can be accessed through this blog. Heath and I were discussing my treadmill use on Tuesday. He likes to kid around and told me that I was not going fast enough and maybe my short legs were holding me up and that he would walk faster-his legs are not that much longer than mine. His comments got me to thinking that maybe I am not going fast enough. I strive for 2.5-3.0 mph at the moment, with the majority of my time between 2.8-3.0. I plan to work on becoming faster in addition to adding time.

Right now, I am up to 23 minutes on the treadmill. Once I am at 30 minutes, I plan to focus solely on speed and incline. I do focus somewhat on speed, I have increase the amount of time I spend at 2.8-3.0mph significantly and only spend a warm up minute at 2.0 (to adjust everything-volume of TV/music, phone and remote in the cubbies, etc) and 2.5 for 3 minutes in the beginning and 1 minute at the end. So my thoughts were to search the Internet to see if there were guidelines to how fast one should walk. Much to my surprise, the next morning-one of Yahoo's teasers was referencing this article.

So, apparently one should be walking 100 steps a minute, which since 30 minutes of activity is advised, one should be walking 3000 steps in 30 minutes. That calculates to 1.5 miles in 30 minutes or 3.0mph. Apparently I am only doing that about 5-7 minutes of my time, so I need to speed it up. At the moment, when walking 3.0mph, I feel as though I am going to fall off and I have vision of lying unconscious on the floor. I hold on for dear life onto the side rails or the crosswalk arms. The article does recommend starting off slowly at 1000 steps for 10 minutes, which I shall try tonight.

One important note is that the study at San Diego State University was done in healthy young adults, not those who are obese or overweight. I think my decision to start slowly was advisable and one I would make to all my patients. If not because of the dangerousness of doing activity your body is unable to handle, but that if it is too hard in the beginning, then one is likely to give up and not want to continue. The days, I have not walked have been due to lack of sleep (on night float) and lack of time (the day trip to Myrtle Beach). My excuse has never been not wanting to walk on the treadmill because I did not enjoy it or I felt it was too difficult.

Of note, I have not read the actual study-my library does not have access to it. I plan to read it when it comes available an make comments as necessary.

Day Seventeen

Today, I avoided all regular soda-and I really wanted a Dr. Pepper. For breakfast, I had a bowl of cereal and coffee. For lunch, I had a rice and black bean bowl with cheese, sour cream, and guacamole and a diet Dr. Pepper. For dinner, I had a piece of cheese (random, I know) and some lasagna. My plan was to have some salad, but after eating a few bites of lasagna, I did not want salad. I also had some water. I did eat two Butterfingers eggs today. I am weak when it comes to Easter candy. One egg was filled with Butterfingers creme and was absolutely fabulous. The other was a solid egg with bits of Butterfingers. I also had 5 Sweet tart bunnies.

I did get on the treadmill today. I walked 23 minutes and then I did 2 reps of twenty with the hand weights and 50 crunches. I had my pedometer on at work and I walked 5037 steps.

Day Sixteen

Happy St. Patrick's Day. No green beer for me! I had my cereal and coffee this morning. Due to my early morning start-the flight left at 6:15am, I really wanted more coffee. On the way, I passed a Dunkin Donuts and had a lite latte with Splenda and an Old-Fashioned Donut. I really did not need these Calories and need to be more mindful in the future. For lunch, I had a meatball, salad, mashed potatoes, brownie, and lemonade. For dinner, I had water, lasagna, and bread. I am going to have to watch those Calories. I think I will be keeping a food diary in the near future. I walked 22 minutes on the treadmill, did 2 reps of twenty with the hand weights, and did 50 crunches. The pedometer read 2628 steps today.

Day Fifteen

My day began with a lazy start. I made an "egg mcmuffin" for breakfast. Unfortunately, I did not get to eat any lunch. For dinner, I made a lasagna, not the healthiest choice, and some bread. I also ended up having a Manhattan. I did walk on the treadmill for 21 minutes, did 2 reps of twenty with the hand weights, and 50 crunches. The pedometer read only 4178 steps.

My Third Challenge

Upon thinking of my third day challenge, I turned to my food log for the past week. I had a lot of soda-of course I always do when I am on call-drink too much water and you spend more time in the bathroom than talking to patients. Plus I do not think night float is possible without caffeine. However I am sure I can do without the Calories. On average, I drink about 12oz of soda a day. That would come out to 155 Calories. A week would be 1085 Calories. A year is 56575 Calories or 16.2 pounds. My challenge this week is to cut out the soda. Since I already had diet soda this morning, my challenge will apply only to Calorie-containing sodas at this time. In addition to the Soda challenge, I will also be attempting my first challenge again-I plan to walk on the treadmill everyday.

Update of the Second 7-day Challenge

I succeeded in my second challenge-I went a whole week with no fast food. It was definitely a difficult challenge and now I will try to work my mindset to avoid fast food and make healthier choices when I do eat fast food. I however did not succeed at the first challenge of walking on the treadmill everday for seven days, so I will attempt that again this week.

Day Fourteen

Today was a lazy day around the house. I made a scrambled egg, bacon, and an English muffin for breakfast. I then did some household chores, including cleaning up the kitchen and doing laundry. I had a turkey sandwich for lunch/dinner. I need to find a way to get more fruit, vegetables, and water into my diet. I walked on the treadmill for 20 minutes, did 2 reps of twenty with the hand weights and did 50 crunches. I did not have the pedometer on for most of the day. At some point I think I will have to get a pedometer that is easier to clip on to my waistband.

Day Thirteen

Heath and I drove to Myrtle Beach and back today. It was a long trip, but worth it because I got to meet some of his family. We started the morning by eating "egg mcmuffins" made by me. I definitely like to be in control of the amount of butter and the English muffins. I also baked some Hash Browns which Heath threw in the garbage. I thought they tasted fine, but apparently he wanted to make some point. Since we left early and did not make it home until past midnight, walking on the treadmill did not happen. I did have my pedometer with me most of the day and I walked 5858 steps.

Day Twelve

Today, I did get onto the treadmill for 17 minutes. I also made it to the store to buy breakfast for the weekend and dinner for sometime in the immediate future. Lean Cuisines were on sale, so I stocked up on eleven different dinners. Definitely a handy thing to have on hand and the best way to avoid the fast food restaurants. I had a roast beef sandwich for dinner and a Cobb Salad from the pub for dinner. I know they aren't the healthiest choices, but compared to what I really wanted, they were the better options. I also had two Manhattans-night float got to me. The pedometer read 6262 steps.

Day Eleven

Last night on call I had Frito's, soda, and a mozzerella and tomato sandwich. When I got home, I had some cereal and went directly to bed and sleep for eight hours. I decided not to do any exercise due to my being tired due to my three hours of sleep on the previous day. I was beginning to have auras and was frightened that I might have another seizure. I had my pedometer on at work and I walked 6449 steps. So two days of not walking on the treadmill means that my challenge of seven days on the treadmill did not go so well. I am going to restart, although, I have a feeling that the treadmill will not be feasible on Saturday due to the day trip to Myrtle Beach. I'm not on call next week, so hopefully it will happen then. I am becoming discouraged. I have been doing well in my second challenge of no fast food for a week. Heath and I already discussed not stopping for fast food on Saturday. We discussed eating before we go, so I guess I will stop by the store and pick up some items for breakfast on Saturday and perhaps something to eat on the trip.

Day Ten

Today was not a good day. An incident happened on night float that caused me to spend the whole day crying and I barely got any sleep. I decided to skip the treadmill after my doctor's appointment and try to sleep-it didn't work. I probably should have worked out. I only walked 6441 steps at work. My doctor told me that she was proud of the healthy eating and the exercise and told me not to get too down about work-residency is nothing like the real world. Last night on night float, I had a salad from home, Frito's, soda, and an ice cream bar. I also had breakfast of eggs, bacon, toast, and hash browns. For dinner, I had cereal and coffee.

Day Nine

I was a little better on night float tonight. We were slammed, but I didn't take out my stress by eating tons of junk food. I had a spinach salad, Frito's and some soda. When I got home I had some cereal and then I had some cheese ravioli before going in for night float. I was able to avoid the fast food places.

I walked 17 minutes on the treadmill, did 50 crunches and two reps of 20. I had my pedometer on while on call and I walked 7252 steps.

Step to it

I usually have a pedometer on me, but I rarely look at the number anymore. It has been shown that pedometers increase physical activity. According to a review in JAMA, "use of a pedometer is associated with significant increases in physical activity and significant decreases in body mass index and blood pressure." Perhaps, I should be looking at the numbers more closely. I always like to challenge myself. The first few days, I would surely just try to beat my day before. Despite working in a small clinic, I am sure I can find more ways to add steps in, like taking multiple trips to the workroom from my office.

The daily goal for an average person is 10,000 steps (which is around 5 miles). Of course, one can not be expected to start off walking 10,000 steps. A person gradually works their way up. It can be surprising how high your number can be to begin with though. I remember reading a study in medical school that looked at the physical activity of female factory workers. They labeled their amount of physical activity high and the researchers thought the women had not perceived the amount of activity correctly. The women were given pedometers and when the researchers were amazed to find that the women were actually walking several miles a day.

I think I will start wearing a pedometer and determine my average daily walking distance. In addition, I will look for ways to increase it.

ref:JAMA. 2007;298(19):2296-2304.

Day Eight

As I predicted, night float is a difficult time to change bad habits. I was able to resist the fast food on the way home. During the night, I had a muffin, Frito's, cheese, and 32 oz of soda. Once home, I had a bowl of cereal and hot chocolate for breakfast. I also had cheese ravioli and coffee for dinner before going into work.

I walked on the treadmill for 17 minutes, did 50 crunches, and 2 reps of 20 with the hand weights. I carried my pedometer and my total was 9653 steps. I only had the pedometer on at work. I probably should wear it around the house.

Update of First challenge

I failed my challenge of 15 minutes on the treadmill for seven days. I did 15 minutes on the treadmill for 6 days out of the 7 days. I let an arguement with Heath distract me. Due to my not meeting this challenge, I will challenge myself again this week to do 15 minutes on the treadmill for the next 7 days in addition to my abstaining from fast food for seven days.

Day Seven

Tonight I start nightfloat, so as it always is when my sleep and work schedule are messed up, it will be a challenge to exercise and eat healthy. I slept most of the day, but not before having an egg, bacon, and toast for breakfast. I also had a cup of coffee and hot chocolate. When I awoke last this afternoon, I had another cup of coffee and a bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond Cereal.

I then walked 17 minutes on the treadmill and did two reps of 20 of the weights. I also decided to add crunches to the mix and did a total of 50.

My second challenge

I remember when fast food was a treat. I remember the excitement and anticipation for what was going to be for dinner when my father was out of town and my mother decided we should go out. While my father was frequently out of town, my mother's unwillingness to let us have fast food often stood in the way. I remember when my small town got its first Taco Bell. No longer did we have to drive an hour to have a Burrito Supreme with no black olives. Yes, I remember when Burrito Supremes had black olives-now it seems they are basically ground beef and sour cream. Good luck finding the few shreds of lettuce and the 3 bits of tomato. I remember when I considered them a treat. There was a time in my life when going to McDonald's for a happy meal was on the same level as celebrating your birthday.

I no longer look at fast food as a treat I very seldom have. It has become a way of life. Working 80 hours a week, I am too exhausted to think about what to make for dinner, much less try to prepare it. Fast food has always been my weakness throughout college, graduate, and medical school. If I was stressed about a test, it was much easier to turn to a cheese pizza for comfort than to actually study more.

As I have put on more weight, the credit card receipts show a trend that is not surprising. I eat so much fast food, that I spend more on it than food from a grocery store. Yikes! In beginning my journey to a Healthier me, I made my first goal to increase my exercise. I challenged myself to exercise everyday for a week and I did not accomplished it. I figured my goals would be things like exercising more and adding water to my diet, drinking less alcohol, and things of that nature. I assumed that it would be easy to stop eating fast food, so it did not even occur to me that not eating fast food would be something on my list. It occurred to me, as I left McDonald's with a McFlurry and a Happy Meal after a particular stressful day, quitting fast food will be rough. I was wondering if I could even go a few days with no fast food. The first 18 years of my life, I definitely went more than a month without it. My challenge this week is to go a whole week with no fast food. It will be a big challenge, seeing that I am on night float and when I am post call, I enjoy going and getting breakfast from Hardee's or McDonald's. I think I am up for the challenge. I guess we will see.

Day Six

This morning started with making breakfast for Heath. I made him French Toast, cheese grits, and bacon. I did not plan ahead for some fresh fruit to include. I will have to do a better job next time. I also had coffee. While the meal was breakfast food, we ate at noon.

I started the day on the treadmill, probably due to my guilt of not walking on the treadmill the day before. I walked 16 minutes, but I did again forget to lift the weights. I am definitely less tired on the treadmill and will definitely be SLOWLY increasing the time and speed.

Heath and I went to the driving range and I hit a bucket of balls. I am definitely no where near ready to play golf. Heath wants me to take lessons. I might reward myself if I pass Step 3 and buy a few lessons.

Heath and I went to a Japanese Restaurant for dinner and I had Tonkatsu which is fried pork. It is defintely a yummy and high fat dish. I did have some sushi and think that I probably should have just stuck with the sushi. I had some saki and two glasses of water to accompany my food.

Day Five

This evening I made spaghetti, salad, and Texas Toast for dinner. I am not a big fan of Texas toast, so I was able to eat only one piece. I did not get lunch today and I had a blueberry muffin for breakfast. I had a glass of wine with dinner and 2 cups of coffee. I drank very little water today.

My first challenge came crashing down. I did not walk on the treadmill today. While it was my own fault and I am not going to make excuses, when I look back I want to remember why I failed. I had a fight with Heath and by the time the fight was over, it was too late to walk on the treadmill.

Day Four

This evening Heath and I went to Ruby Tuesday for dinner. I tried to make healthier choices, but I am not so sure that I succeeded. I choice a sauteed chicken dish with 2 sides of broccoli and rice. I was hoping it would be broiled, but it did not taste broiled. I had originally planned to eat a salad for lunch, however when I tried it-it was definitely past the expiration date, so I got a rice and bean bowl with cheese, sour cream, and guacamole. Breakfast was my usual bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond cereal. To drink all day, I had water, coffee, and coke zero. I still had a cookie and some Doritos.

Despite going to dinner with Heath, I was still able to do 15 minutes on the treadmill. I somehow got distracted after the treadmill, however and did not lift the hand weights.

Day Three

I did manage to exercise today despite the long hours. I walked on the treadmill for 15 minutes and lifted weights. My eating still has to improve. I had my morning bowl of cereal, a turkey sandwich, a cookie, and a happy meal. I also had a coke and a small Dr. Pepper. Since my goal this week was to exercise everyday, I was trying to find a goal for next week. I will be on nightfloat, so it has to be obtainable.

Day Two

I give advice almost everyday to my patients on being healthier, however I don't always follow it. Currently I have a patient in which I spend an hour a week, focusing on being healthier. I don't know why I don't apply my advice in my own life. This week, my goal is to exercise everyday. I decided to not even try to tackle the eating. Today was another day where stress and convenience won over healthy eating. I ate a bowl of Special K Vanilla Almond (my favorite cereal), poached chicken, zucchini, salad with no dressing, Doritos, a fast food crispy chicken sandwich, and the LAST slice of birthday cake. I needed that temptation gone-unfortunately it found its way into my mouth instead of the garbage. I did a little better in the beverage department. I had milk, coffee and 36 oz water (I'm still working my way up to 64oz).

Back to my goal of exercising: I spent another 15 minutes on the treadmill and burned 65.2 Calories and walking 0.65miles. I also did 2 reps of twenty with the 5lb hand weights.

First Day

So, last night on call I was thinking that my journey to a healthier me would be reinforced if I blogged about it. I am not sure what all I will blog about in addition to recording my triumphs and failures. I will write about the different steps I am taking to be a healthier person. It will not be all about weight loss, although that will be the primary focus in the beginning. I definitely want to be a happier person spiritually also.

My first day starts as a post call. I basically ate too much junk food. I had a sub sandwich for lunch and dinner. In addition to that, I had a slice of birthday cake, some Doritos, and cup of hot chocolate. Definitely not a great start. I did spend 15 minutes on the treadmill and walked 0.65 miles and burned 65 Calories. I also did some exercises with the 5lb weights.

My First Challenge

In deciding what should be my first challenge to myself, I knew I should pick something I would actually stick to and would not get frustrated with if I failed. When I was stressed out my second year of medical school and on into my first year of graduate school, my favorite stress relief was to run. Not many days went by when I did not run and if I did miss a run, I would happily do 45 minutes of aerobic exercise at my apartment. I remember the thrill and the rush of endorphins. When I learned that the chiari surgery would put my running on hold, I became very depressed. What I should have done and of course hindsight being 20-20, I should have looked for exercises I was still able to do.

Now I am disgusted that I can't walk very fast and become tired before most people. I want to have that feeling back about exercising. My first challenge is to exercise everyday. Since I want it to be something I will do, I have chosen 15 minutes of walking on the treadmill. I want to do it everyday because it is easy to get in the habit of "well, I'm tired-I'll just do more tomorrow," but when tomorrow comes, the same thing gets said. I know 15 minutes daily for seven days is below the recommended 2 hours and thirty minutes by the 2008 Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans. I plan to work my way up from my starting position of 1 hour and 45 minutes.