Health | BulgingButtons

April 30, 2015
by BulgingButtons 4 Comments

A Night Owl Living in an Early Bird’s World

Once again I sit here at my computer past the hour when I should be in bed. Why? Because I don’t want to go to bed! I don’t like going to bed. Oh sure, I’m perfectly happy once I’m there (most of the time) but the little kid in me still thinks I’m somehow going to miss out on something if I go to sleep.

This thinking, fortunately, doesn’t extend to naps. That’s good news, because by the time the weekend rolls around I usually need one. My sleep debt hits its peak and I have to make up for it somehow.

Back in the day, I used to stay up late reading. Then I went to college. It seems like nothing fun ever began before 11:00 pm, so my natural night owl tendencies were rewarded and strengthened. After college my first real job started late in the day, so I still had no reason not to stay up late. This pattern continued for a while, until I decided to go to graduate school to become a teacher. What a rude awakening that was (I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself).

Student teaching on the far side of town during the winter months of snow and ice required me to get up by 4:30 each morning. It was hell. I was used to just getting home around then. Still, I was motivated, so I adjusted. I also collapsed every day when I got home from school. I remember that time of my life as being sort of zombiesque.

Over the years I’ve managed to function pretty well in the regular world, in spite of my preference for late bedtimes and later wake up times. I’ve even begun waking up at about 7:00 am on the weekends for no good reason, other than it’s better than my weekday time of 5:20. Still, over my breaks from school, I find myself staying up later and later and then sleeping in more and more. At one time I figured I would do best sleeping from about 2:00 to 9:00 each day, but now that I’m older, I’ll say about 1:00 to 8:00. Honestly any seven hours in a row would do me a world of good. Maybe it’s time to get off the computer and go to bed, but then again, I might miss something if I do.

What kind of hours do you keep? Are you an early bird or a night owl? And how much sleep do you typically get each night? I know that sleep patterns change over time; have yours?

April 13, 2015
by BulgingButtons 5 Comments

Another Monday Do Over

Monday again.

That means a new week, which in turn means a new start.

I get to start over with my students, and yet again tackle the daunting mountain of paperwork that their education seems to require. I get to laugh with them, lead them, and help them learn.

I get to start again with my colleagues, producing and sharing lessons so that all of our students can learn in ways that are meaningful and helpful to them. I get to explore different ways to share ideas with our students, and I have the opportunity to learn from the experts around me.

I get to start again with my family, sharing my life and my home with them with love and grace. I get to choose how I communicate with them, and what to focus on. I get to set the tone in my home.

I get to start again with my goals and dreams. Will I write this week? Will I sew? Will I make my home more beautiful? Will I lavish attention on my beloved dog? Where will the week take me?

I get to start over with myself. Will I care for myself this week? Will I nurture and love myself? Will I feed myself correctly and push myself to make good decisions, even if they aren’t my preferred choices?

I feel so fortunate that it’s Monday, and that I get a do-over. I hope I use it wisely.

March 25, 2015
by BulgingButtons 15 Comments

When an All Time High Feels Like an All Time Low

Yesterday I had the pleasure of visiting my doctor for my quarterly check-in. We get together regularly (honestly, it’s more like three times a year) to look over my latest labs and talk about all the lifestyle changes I need to make. It’s super fun.

Yesterday was a particularly fun visit. I just knew it would be, after all, I’d been under the weather for weeks on end, leaving me feeling lethargic and lazy. Exercise? Phooey. Fruits and veggies? Screw ’em. Even taking my daily medication got to be a chore that I started to ignore on a fairly regular basis.

Not good.

SO not good.

The first sign of trouble was at the scale.

The digital readout displayed a number I had never before seen on a scale with my own eyes. Oh crap. Apparently the combination of zero exercise and seemingly unlimited amounts of sweets does not go unnoticed by that contraption. Go figure.

Then there was the blood pressure.

Gulp.

Yeah, I guess the medication does work best if you actually get it out of the bottle and into your body. It works even better if you don’t sabotage it at every turn.

Now mind you I still hadn’t seen the doctor, this was just the prep. The good news is that my doctor rocks. He is kind, compassionate, has a sense of humor, and isn’t all judgy (yes, I know the proper word is judgmental, but I like this one better). Still, he is my doctor and it’s his unenviable task to tell me what a horrible job I’m doing taking care of this one and only body that I have.

He did it nicely. He did it with numbers. The numbers on the scale, the numbers from the blood pressure cuff, the numbers from the labs. Yes, folks, some of my numbers have actually set new personal records (not ones I was aiming for, by the way).

So here we are again, only this time I’m starting from even further away from “healthy” than I’ve ever been. I don’t want to do this. I want to eat, drink, and be merry. I don’t want to think about vitamins and blood pressure and steps taken and reducing risks of heart disease and diabetes and cancer and blah, blah, blah whatever else. I don’t want any of that burden, but for better or for worse, it’s mine.

Oh boo hoo, poor little old me. I know, get over it. I got myself into this fix, so I have to get out of it. Besides, I don’t actually have diabetes or heart disease or cancer (my poor Dad, of blessed memory, had to contend with all three of those). What I do have is another whack in the face with the giant two by four of reality. The reality of the situation is that I’m doing myself a grave disservice by ignoring my health (pun intended, sorry). I need to snap out of it and take care of myself the way I deserve. So, on we go to attempt number 8,413, or, as I like to call it, time to crawl out of the gutter and climb onto the victors’ podium.