Quote from: Rachel on November 28, 2017, 07:03:44 PM
Faith, I love that name.
You are so lucky to have an accepting and encouraging wife. Never let her go and get her flowers just because. I am so happy for you that you have a special someone that loves you for who you are.
You look so young and you are not on HRT yet, just wait. One thing hrt did along with acceptance and the feeling of being more and more congruent with every step I took was I wanted to take more steps. HRT is a slippery slope.
HRT, I walk in a park in the weekends. The first time I walked passed the dam (about 2 foot high but 200 foot long). I heard something familiar. As I kept walking the noise became louder and something I could not quite put my finger on. Then as I was parallel with the dam the noise was exactly what I heard all my life from puberty till age 50. It was a continuous drone of water. That was what I had in my head until I took HRT. It took me 6 months to get use to the silence.
Can you share your diet and exercise?
young? don't let that avatar fool you .. I'm 57
That avatar is a past dream, I'll never look like that no matter when magic I use.
Diet? nothing special. here's the typical daily:
Morning:
- One cup of real coffee, minimal sugar/creamer
- Metamucil wafers .. well, because
- One banana (I hate bananas, it's for the potassium)
Mid-morning:
- One large glass of Soy Milk (light vanilla) with chocolate soy powder mixed in (because I like chocolate)
- Once cup of Hot Spearmint tea, if I'm cold (can't drink too much due to kidney function)
Lunch:
- One large salad, mixture of lettuce, cabbage, peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, ground flax seed. Newman's own dressing (Olive oil and Vinegar, I remove some of the olive oil before shaking - there's too much for me)
Dinner- one of these as a small portion meal depending on craving; typically with green beans & potato variation:
-- veggie burger, fried in Olive oil (from the salad dressing
) I don't have the brand, they're pretty good though.
-- chicken, not fried
-- turkey, I prefer chicken
-- absolutely NO red meats or pork ... and I hate fish. I do NOT snack on chips and crap any more. 5-6 blue tortilla chips does well to settle the chip craving - and they go well with the veggie-burger. Seasoned air-popped popcorn is good for a switch-up - no butter stuff!!
-- sometimes just another salad. No need to eat other crap if you don't feel like it.
I pick brands based on lowest sodium; lowest calorie; lowest phosphor-based (kidneys). If the flavor sucks, I try another brand. You have to like the taste or you won't stick with it.
Evenings:
NOPE, I don't eat in the evenings. I'll make up a late dinner sometimes because you shouldn't starve yourself.
Exercise (simple, I walk a lot):
Weekday:
-I try to get 5000+ steps in at work (I sit a lot so I need it). Typically, I hit near 4000
- Another 5000+ after I get home. It generally takes about 45 minutes to get 5000+ steps.
Weekends:
- similar, except I try to get a bit more in. Average is 1 hour in the morning and one hour in the evening to get slightly more steps in than the weekdays.
None of that power-walk silliness. I walk slow or fast depending on my mood. I don't jog, it's hard on the knees. I don't run, hard on knees and ankles.
Daily stretches. Low impact.
- Leg lifts, two variations, one for abdomen, one for hips.
- side planks (harder than you think)
- butterfly stretch (couple variations, yoga stuff)
- split stretches. Nope, I can't do full splits, never will. I do it to limber up. It's helping.
After the stretches you should be breathing slightly heavy. You may or may not break a sweat.
That's it. Not much to it. The big key .. burn more calories than you take in. That is true for most weight-loss diets.
I do not feel starved, I don't feel weak or wobbly. If you feel wobbly, EAT. It's not good for you.
If you happen to feel like snacking, try cauliflower or broccoli. If that settles it, then you're not really hungry, you're just boredom snacking .. stop it!
