April Challenge / Self-Care!

 April is my month to refocus on the concept of self-care. Last week Saturday, I decided to take a day off of caring for others or working from home and drove myself to Yosemite National Park.  I have been to the Sequoias several times but kept hearing how fantastic the water falls in Yosemite were this time of year.

I had never been to this part of the country before, and it is practically in my back yard.  The drive to the gate was 2 hours, and then another hour drive to the valley floor and trails I had decided to hike.  "Awe" is the first word that comes to mind.  It truly was a religious experience.  When I began my 10+ mile hike, I couldn't help but smile.  This is simply a breathtaking park of the country.

My friends at HMR offered some useful suggestions with regards to hiking while maintaining an HMR diet.  I brought plenty of water, of course.  I purchased a small thermos (remember those?) and mixed the turkey chili entree with the 5-bean entree.  It remained hot for several hours.  I also packed a few HMR bars.  When I hungry, I sat out on a rock and nibbled on one of my bars, with the river churning and babbling by.  "What diet?" I thought, as I sat in a state of contentedness, surrounded by nature's animated yet serene beauty.  "Spectacular!"

Occasionally on my hike I would pass another hiker, or several in a group.  Some had headsets on.  "Your missing this!" I thought, but then just a quickly let the thought go.  That was none of my concern.  Soaking it all in was!

So I had one day to "recover" and then back to work.  I felt renewed!  I mentally was more prepared for the week ahead.   

It is surprising that the idea of self-care is still controversial to many.  In the mental health field, it is astonishing how many people appear to ignore this concept.  Or more likely, we preach the concept, but frequently fail to apply it to our own lives.  I am guilty for often burning the candle on both ends, but am making a concerted effort to schedule in "me" time frequently.  In fact, succumbing to the idea of putting oneself first has helped me to lose and maintain the weight loss that I have had.  I take time out of every day to exercise in one way or another, even if it means rejecting a ride and getting in some extra steps at work.  That IS making a decision to make my health a priority.  
    
Self-care is not a selfish thing.  The concept is similar to the flight attendant safety instructions we are given upon waiting takeoff, indicating we need to "secure our own masks first" before helping others; we need to take care of ourselves before taking care of others.  If we run out of oxygen (actual or metaphorical), we are no good to anyone else around us.  In fact, we become dead weight.  We need to keep our bodies, minds, and spirits healthy.  Then, when we do reach out to others, we can put our very best selves forward!

 Self-care involves many aspects of one's life.  It includes saying "no" when we need to.  It means setting boundaries and protecting your self and time.  It doesn't mean becoming an island onto yourself and not reaching out to help others.  But when we do so, it should be out of a place of love, caring, and respect, and not simply out of a place of self-sacrificing obligation or guilt.   

 
Self-care includes giving yourself a voice, being assertive, and allowing your voice to be heard.  Be aware of where you are and who you are with when you feel free to be yourself.  Are there times and situations where it is not okay to be your genuine self?  Do you need to set boundaries for yourself to limit the times that you find yourself in those situations?  Being genuine for me means having free open and honest exchange of ideas with those around me.  It does not mean that I bully others or that I allow myself to be bullied by others. 

Self-care means taking care of the environment we live in.  In particular, I look around my home and realize that there are particular spaces that feel cluttered.  My goal this month is to permanently declutter one area of my home, and make it a more inviting space. 

As for weight-loss goals, my April challenge was to get into the 150's.  I am happy to report that I am almost there!  My last HMR weigh-in indicated that I have 0.3 pounds left to go!  So close!  I am optimistic that I could make it next week.

HMR's concept of "more is better" is still challenging for me.  Basically, if you are hungry, you are supposed to eat more HMR foods.  The idea is that if you feel hungry or deprived, you are not going to sustain the diet for very long.  Certainly that has been my experience with diets in the past.  So the HMR foods are designed to fill you up with high volume shakes, oatmeal, and entrees.  If the foods are high in volume but low in calorie, you can eat quite a bit before you actually gain weight.

My mood continues to fluctuate.  For example, when I hit several days last week in which I felt "hungry", I doubled and even tripled my food intake.  That was followed by self-deprecating thoughts of "you blew it" and "you failed".  I anticipated a gain on the scale this week.  It has been harder and harder to lose weight the closer I get to goal weight, so that has also been part of the battle.  Surprisingly, I found that I lost 2 pounds this past week!  That was worth a happy dance!  At this point, if I continue to lose 4-5 pounds per month, I will be right on target.  Overall, I am hoping to get down to 138-140.  However, I will reevaluate that goal with my health team when I hit 150.  I may just be satisfied at a little higher weight.

I will continue to trust the program and not get too concerned about the scale.  Again, it is an overall 4-week total weight-loss that I will use to gauge if the program is still working.  In reviewing my current weight-loss statistics, I continue to meet the 4-5 lb loss monthly, so I will continue with Phase I of this program (probably through August).                

Day/Date:	Weight (pounds):	Amount Lost on HMR:	Total Amount Lost on HMR Program:
Monday, 10/08/12	213.9	n/a	n/a
Thursday, 10/11/12	211.0	2.9	2.9
Thursday, 10/18/12	209.2	1.8	4.7
Thursday, 10/25/12	204.0	5.2	9.9
Thursday, 11/01/12	203.4	0.6	10.5
Thursday, 11/08/12	198.4	5.0	15.5
Thursday, 11/15/12	197.6	0.8	16.3
Thursday, 11/22/12	194.6	3.0	19.3
Thursday, 11/29/12	194.0	0.6	19.9
Thursday, 12/06/12	192.2	1.8	21.7
Thursday, 12/13/12	190.6	1.6	23.3
Thursday, 12/20/12	188.8	1.8	25.1
Thursday, 12/27/12	185.4	3.4	28.5
Thursday, 01/03/13	185.4	0.0	28.5
Thursday, 01/10/13	182.4	3.0	31.5
Thursday, 01/17/13	181.4	1.0	32.5
Thursday, 01/24/13	179.4	2.0	34.5
Thursday, 01/31/13	177.0	2.4	36.9
Tuesday, 02/05/13	177.6	+ 0.6	36.3
Monday, 02/11/13	175.4	2.2	38.5
Thursday, 02/21/13	171.0	4.4	42.9
Thursday, 02/28/13	169.8	1.2	44.1
Thursday, 03/07/13	170.4	+0.6	43.5
Thursday, 03/14/13	166	4.4	47.9
Thursday, 03/21/13	(No weigh-in; out of town.)	-	-
Thursday, 03/28/13	163.4	2.6  (2 weeks)	50.5
Thursday, 04/04/13	164.0	+0.6	49.9
Thursday, 04/11/13	162.2	1.8	51.7
Thursday, 04/18/13	160.2	2.0	53.7

And check this out!  Total weight-loss: 85 pounds!  That's a whole other mini-person! 

Day/Date:	Weight (pounds):	Total Amount Lost:
Wednesday, 10/06/2010	245.2	-
Thursday, 03/14/2013	160.2	85 lbs

When the term "self-care" comes to mind, what is one area that jumps out at you as an area that you would like to work on, or continue working on?  What are you going to do during the remaining days in April to take better care of you?

To my friends and family in the Midwest, warm thoughts are sent your way!  You sure have had your share of drastic weather this year!  Healing thoughts sent out to the victims and their families in Massachusetts.  As well, healing & loving thoughts sent out to the numerous friends and family who are dealing with life-threatening illnesses and difficult situations. 

On your life journeys, be sure to take good care of you!  You are the only you there is!  


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