Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Time to Take Some Time Off

Today is unofficially becoming a light day for me. Unfortunately, this has been forced upon me by a series of incidents that just got in the way of my enormous to do list. Fortunately, rather than fighting it, I decided to just give in. I had a day that was totally free of any required activities, after several days of very hectic activities. Yesterday I had to drive two and a half hours up north to handle a very contentious matter. Through a snow shower. It was a little stressful and very energy draining, but I actually survived it much better than I thought I would. When I got home, I had enough energy to throw the ball around with my son! And since I was feeling so good, I was able to come up with a wonderful long list of things to do. Now, after several days of really pushing myself, I was so surprised to have so much energy last night, so I really didn't anticipate how I would actually feel today. After getting through the morning routine, I started on the first task of my list, and instead of being a short phone call, it turned into an enormous errand that took all of the morning. In the middle of it, I started to get very frustrated, but then I realized this was probably a sign that it is really time to slow down. I went home and decided to just mill around the house, do a little light housekeeping and relax. It turned out to be so rejuvenating. Now I am realizing that there are things that need to get done today, but now I have the energy and the positive attitude to get it done. I guess the Pfizer card is right - if you are having a bad day, take it easy, but if you are having a good day, don't push too hard. I am learning that if I give myself regular breaks, I have more energy, more focus and I am able to accomplish more than if I just keep pushing myself. Hope I can remember this in the future.

Monday, April 6, 2009

Coming back - what a challenge

Well, I haven't posted anything lately because I have been out with a horrible cold, and therefore, my activity was reduced to virtually nothing. What a pain that is, since the fibro just loves a still body. So what to do? Well, I decided it was time to just play the games on the WiiFit. At least it was some activity. Happy to find out that I reached my 100th day on the WiiFit! It also helped me tremendously. Started to slowly walk again. I am coming back, but it continues to be a challenge. Not quite up to the levels I was at a few weeks ago.

It is amazing how a brief period of inactivity can be such a set back. It is also frustrating when you try to explain to your doctor that you really dread the inactivity because of the difficulty in coming back. Worse part for me is I have no energy to make healthy food, so I end up eating whatever is available, which is usually some kind of flour, fat and sugar combination. Well, I tried to keep that in mind this time and deliberately made sure I had plenty of fruit to snack on, especially grapes. The idea of raw vegetables was just too much for my stomach, but vegetable soup worked really well.

As a result of trying to at least keep the diet healthy, I feel like I might be able to come back from this a little bit better. Unfortunately, I know that the life of a fibromyalgic includes many unwanted suprises, so I am trying to have fewer plans (fewer Easter projects, for example) so that I can actually accomplish what I plan and don't feel bad. I think that this could be one of my better Easters. Being flat on my back this past weekend wasn't part of the plan, but with fewer plans, everything is still capable of being accomplished. Wish me luck!