Strange times. This week I feel better and worse at the same time.
Went to see my doctor on Monday night. He did a whole bunch of tests on me, so see why I'm feeling so tired and generally icky. They all came back fine. No problems. The only one worth mentioning is that my cholesterol is on the high side of normal. So he ran me through some small changes I could make to bring it down a bit. Basically to eat low-fat dairy foods, more greens, more olive oil, avocado and fish; and avoid shellfish (not hard for me, I hate it!). All that kind of jazzy.
The problem with my knees, he said, is wearing away of cartiledge, which a lot of young women get, whether they're overweight or not. I was really relieved to hear it - I was dreading the answer would just be "you're getting old" or "it's just because you're overweight" or even "it's early-onset arthritis". (It was nice to be described as a 'young woman', I have to say! eheh) So he told me to avoid stairs where possible, and also losing weight would lessen the effects as well.
So it seems that physically there's nothing wrong with me, which is great. Then we had a good old chat about things in general, my routine, how I've been feeling lately, etc. It was a bit of a pep talk, too. I definitely came out of it feeling more more motivated and happy. Yesterday I was even in the mood for making grand declarations like: "My new routine is walk Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, weights training Tuesdays and Thursdays! More walks on the weekend!" Today, I'm not feeling quite so enthusiastic. Or maybe I don't believe that I can really do it. Or maybe I'm just tired!
When I explained my lunchtime walks to him, he said they're not the most effective exercise because you need to exercise for at least 20-30 minutes minimum to start burning fat, less than that and you're just burning carbs. He didn't discourage me from doing it at all, just encouraged me to try to fit in longer exercise sessions. It was a little disappointing, but I'm certainly not going to give them up! Because: a) at this time it's the only time during the day that I have the energy to do anything, so I want to take advantage of it; b) burning carbs is better than sitting on my butt burning nothing!; and c) I feel mentally much better and less sleepy in the afternoons. As well as d) it's good for me to get out amongst people and see things; and e) it's something to do anyway.
I just got back from today's walk, and I feel pretty good about myself. Yay!
