iMessage to my patients that I work with via a large Bariatric clinic as the concept of five minutes of something is better than no minutes of nothing. I think I’ve completed about 2500 Bariatric mental health, evaluations, and what you wrote is very good message to all of us.
Hi Jo! That's amazing, thank you for sharing! And I'm so glad it resonated. I truly believe in this whole view. I haven't had experience in Bariatric clinics but I'm sure the mental and emotional component of such big changes are huge and vital too.
Another very informative and useful lesson! Thank you!
Loved the suggestions for how not to stress AND get exercise at the same time. I grew up in L.A. where everything is done by car. (I drove 4 blocks to high school - don't laugh!) Haven't owned a car since moving to Japan almost 30 years ago and don't really miss it.
The reason I loved your exercise list is that for many of us, there's no time during the day to "go for a run", no money to "join a gym", or no interest in doing any kind of sport. With the list, though, movement seems manageable.
I would like to "do" more stairs (here comes the "Yes, but...") every day, I haul around stuff I need for teaching my classes, 20 lbs+, in a carryon bag with wheels. I used to carry it by hand, but that got to be hard. With that weight, stairs are not a choice except at the station if there's no elevator. But you've given me other ideas. (Can't wait to try out the swings on the nearby playground! ;-)
The one good thing I do is a series of stretching exercises I learned 40 years ago in my Aikido class here. Still doing them, and I can tell a difference when I do and don't do them.
My mother lived to the age of 100 and, although she was in a wheelchair the last few years, she was also the "cheerleader" at her assisted living facility. They had a beanbag baseball team, and she went to every game with her little pompoms and megaphone. They loved her, and it got her out and about. Using her legs, she wheeled herself backwards down the hall to the games. Talk about a role model! (Roll model? 🤣)
This is amazing, Louise! And I hear you about your mum too. My grandma loved until 108 and she was always the most active person since I can remember. Up until 102 she was walking around perfectly to run her errands each day. And when I think back about her habits, it was all so simple and consistent. I want that definitely to be one of my examples forever.
And I'm so glad the easy list helps! It's almost like magic when you discover all the little things you can actually do (or already do!) through the day without knowing. And yeeeeees to the playground!!!! I love this more than anything 🎉
I'm so so so glad this is all so helpful and inspiring. My work is working and I love it. Thanks for being here!😊
I love that you played on the word kettle without making this about kettle bells 😅. Very clever, Doc.
I miss exercise dearly. My body LOVED the endorphin and chemical bath. Long COVID made most exercise not possible for me (yet; I intend to recover still), but I so appreciate your examples here of small daily movements because they are even attainable to me in my condition.
Haha well spotted, Amy! And I hear you about the long Covid and all it's weird range of ailments, so individual and unique to each person. It's still quite puzzling for us from the medical perspective. I had Covid early on in the 2nd wave, before any vaccines were even on the talks. I had to be on leave from work for almost 3 months due to shortness of breath. It took me around 8 months to recover from it slowly, on my own, as there was no screened damage that they could quantify for me to get further medical assistance. I mostly noticed an improvement when I started trying to dance again, very slowly, very mild steps, but I did felt a change in my lungs when I pushed them a bit each time. Like I would push them some, and they would expand from scarred tissue. I can't prove that but it's just the way it felt physically inside of me. Eventually, I was able to dance normally again, even when the lungs feel slightly scarred.
At the time, if it helps, I made a point to really hack my sleep and my eating habits/schedules, alongside a set of vitamins to strengthen my entire immune system. I don't know if that's something you've been able to discuss with your doctors, but just in case, I'll leave that on the table for you. I took Vitamin D, Zinc and Magnesium for a few months to make sure my immunity wasn't getting weaker, specially when winters came. Plus the diet: I became very strict for a while regarding inflammatory foods. I feel it all helped me, but again, each body is unique. I do believe though that sharing my advice and experience, might be helpful to some.
And hopefully, with tiny steps and easy moves, in each area that your body needs, you can recover even more within time. :)
I’m so glad to hear you recovered, and relatively quickly too. I stayed working my super stressful job much longer than I should have, which didn’t give my body a chance to really get into a healing state. But yes, I’ve been doing all the “hacks” - diet, supplements, gentle movement. I have had great doctors through most of this, but TBH, their testing and treatments haven’t helped much (they have helped me get disability though, which has given me some space to heal). Check out my newsletter - it’s actually a lot of fun and very informative 🤓
iMessage to my patients that I work with via a large Bariatric clinic as the concept of five minutes of something is better than no minutes of nothing. I think I’ve completed about 2500 Bariatric mental health, evaluations, and what you wrote is very good message to all of us.
Hi Jo! That's amazing, thank you for sharing! And I'm so glad it resonated. I truly believe in this whole view. I haven't had experience in Bariatric clinics but I'm sure the mental and emotional component of such big changes are huge and vital too.
My experience has been about 70% have trauma. Instead of drinking or drugging it they eat or ate it. Lots of trauma
Dr. Mariana,
Another very informative and useful lesson! Thank you!
Loved the suggestions for how not to stress AND get exercise at the same time. I grew up in L.A. where everything is done by car. (I drove 4 blocks to high school - don't laugh!) Haven't owned a car since moving to Japan almost 30 years ago and don't really miss it.
The reason I loved your exercise list is that for many of us, there's no time during the day to "go for a run", no money to "join a gym", or no interest in doing any kind of sport. With the list, though, movement seems manageable.
I would like to "do" more stairs (here comes the "Yes, but...") every day, I haul around stuff I need for teaching my classes, 20 lbs+, in a carryon bag with wheels. I used to carry it by hand, but that got to be hard. With that weight, stairs are not a choice except at the station if there's no elevator. But you've given me other ideas. (Can't wait to try out the swings on the nearby playground! ;-)
The one good thing I do is a series of stretching exercises I learned 40 years ago in my Aikido class here. Still doing them, and I can tell a difference when I do and don't do them.
My mother lived to the age of 100 and, although she was in a wheelchair the last few years, she was also the "cheerleader" at her assisted living facility. They had a beanbag baseball team, and she went to every game with her little pompoms and megaphone. They loved her, and it got her out and about. Using her legs, she wheeled herself backwards down the hall to the games. Talk about a role model! (Roll model? 🤣)
Thanks again for your helpful advice!
This is amazing, Louise! And I hear you about your mum too. My grandma loved until 108 and she was always the most active person since I can remember. Up until 102 she was walking around perfectly to run her errands each day. And when I think back about her habits, it was all so simple and consistent. I want that definitely to be one of my examples forever.
And I'm so glad the easy list helps! It's almost like magic when you discover all the little things you can actually do (or already do!) through the day without knowing. And yeeeeees to the playground!!!! I love this more than anything 🎉
I'm so so so glad this is all so helpful and inspiring. My work is working and I love it. Thanks for being here!😊
I love that you played on the word kettle without making this about kettle bells 😅. Very clever, Doc.
I miss exercise dearly. My body LOVED the endorphin and chemical bath. Long COVID made most exercise not possible for me (yet; I intend to recover still), but I so appreciate your examples here of small daily movements because they are even attainable to me in my condition.
Haha well spotted, Amy! And I hear you about the long Covid and all it's weird range of ailments, so individual and unique to each person. It's still quite puzzling for us from the medical perspective. I had Covid early on in the 2nd wave, before any vaccines were even on the talks. I had to be on leave from work for almost 3 months due to shortness of breath. It took me around 8 months to recover from it slowly, on my own, as there was no screened damage that they could quantify for me to get further medical assistance. I mostly noticed an improvement when I started trying to dance again, very slowly, very mild steps, but I did felt a change in my lungs when I pushed them a bit each time. Like I would push them some, and they would expand from scarred tissue. I can't prove that but it's just the way it felt physically inside of me. Eventually, I was able to dance normally again, even when the lungs feel slightly scarred.
At the time, if it helps, I made a point to really hack my sleep and my eating habits/schedules, alongside a set of vitamins to strengthen my entire immune system. I don't know if that's something you've been able to discuss with your doctors, but just in case, I'll leave that on the table for you. I took Vitamin D, Zinc and Magnesium for a few months to make sure my immunity wasn't getting weaker, specially when winters came. Plus the diet: I became very strict for a while regarding inflammatory foods. I feel it all helped me, but again, each body is unique. I do believe though that sharing my advice and experience, might be helpful to some.
And hopefully, with tiny steps and easy moves, in each area that your body needs, you can recover even more within time. :)
I’m so glad to hear you recovered, and relatively quickly too. I stayed working my super stressful job much longer than I should have, which didn’t give my body a chance to really get into a healing state. But yes, I’ve been doing all the “hacks” - diet, supplements, gentle movement. I have had great doctors through most of this, but TBH, their testing and treatments haven’t helped much (they have helped me get disability though, which has given me some space to heal). Check out my newsletter - it’s actually a lot of fun and very informative 🤓
Will do! I've read bits but haven't read in detail all of your story! 😉