So it's been over a week since my last post here on this blog.
That's just how I am. I may go a period of time where I'm posting almost daily...and other times I may not make a post for weeks.
And that's okay! I give myself permission to take my time and go at my own sporadic pace with this blog!
....Today I'd like to go over some of my goals for this year. I have many things I'd like to work on and improve in my life and it all starts now!
I've made some HUGE strides in my life over the past 5 years. I very much so plan on continuing to take large strides throughout this year.
And even though I haven't posted in the last week...doesn't mean I've been sitting idly waiting. No! I've been actively taking part in working on several of my big goals for this year! I've made some great progress in this past week!
----My Weight And My Diabetes.
I don't have a goal to lose weight per se at this time. I don't want to focus on losing weight...I am obese and do need to lose weight...but that's not where I want my focus this year.
Instead I just want to focus on getting healthy. Eating better, working out, taking better control of my hygiene...just taking better care of myself in general.
In the past week I've started to walk on a daily basis. I've hit at least 5,000 steps each day.
--I have a goal to walk everyday, eventually hitting 10,000+ steps each and every day.
--I also have a goal to work on what I eat. I'm not planning on going on a full diet or counting every calorie at this point. I'd like to work towards that, but I don't want to jump into a diet or calorie counting just yet. I'm afraid that I wont stick with it if I jump head first into a diet and counting my calories.
Instead for now I just want to work on my portion sizes, I want to eat more fruit, eat less sugar, and make healthier choices.
Portion sizes is the biggest thing I can work on right now at this point. I'm often found eating far more then I should. I often continue to eat even though I'm no longer hungry! It's a real problem I have.
A small (though not tremendously healthy) step I've taken in the last week, is buying a bunch of microwave dinners. They're single serving meals and I've been eating them along with whole grain bread 3 times a day. I will need to change this eventually as it is not a healthy diet. There's a lot of carbs in these meals (lots of noodles) and TONS of sodium (salt).
But it's a whole heck of a lot healthier then what I'm use to. So even though I know full well I'm going to have to find healthier options soon, it IS a step in the right direction for me!
--One more goal I have in this category is working out. I'd like to get in some exercising on top of my walking. I don't power walk or anything...it's very casual walking right now.
I'd like something more rigorous then this. Something that'll make me sweat!
I have a nintendo wii, and Santa just brought me a nice t.v. for Christmas. I've really been eyeing Wii Fit U for the last month. I've watched lots of videos on youtube and it's really excited me! It just released today (jan. 10th) but with the wii balance board and the pedometer, it's been out of my price range I can afford this month ($90). Well it went on sale at amazon yesterday for $65...a $25 decrease...so I jumped on it and made the purchase!
I can't wait for it to be delivered (should be here Tuesday the 14th)! It looks really fun and I'm hoping that it'll be fun enough to keep me motivated to keep at it!
Can't wait to update this blog with my progress!
With all the walking, exercising and eating better...I expect to get my diabetes better under control. I've only been walking for a little over a week now...and already my numbers have improved TREMENDOUSLY! I've been consistently in the 150-180'ish blood sugar range over the last 4 or 5 days since starting to walk...and it feels so great! Those still aren't ideal numbers...but I'm telling you, they sure as heck beat the 300+ numbers I've been getting!
----My Mental Health
This is a big one. If I don't get this better under control, then I'm wasting my time with everything else. It's just the truth.
I've spent so many years in therapy. So many years and still I haven't had a proper diagnosis. I was beginning to wonder if I was beyond the scope of help. 10 years with my current therapist and neither of us could seem to pin point what my problem was. I felt broken, alone, and like I was a mistake. Something was wrong with me...I am so different from everyone else...and yet I had no name or words for it, and professionals were clueless on it. I didn't know what was going on, and I so desperately wanted a name for it...to know I wasn't alone...to know that there was an explanation out there waiting for me!
Well over the previous 2 months I've found my answers! I've found those explinations! I've found that proper diagnosis!
Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder - Primarily Inattentive (ADHD-PI). I randomly bumped into this while searching out answers for why I struggled so badly in college this last semester. It described me so well! I then found ADDForums.com and have been thoroughly convinced that I have ADHD ever since. I just relate with so many people on the forums (and so many relate with me!).
So I wanted to seek out a proper diagnosis.
I talked to my therapist, but she has no experience with ADHD and admitted to not knowing anything about it. So she had me go see a psychiatrist to see what she thought.
I saw my psychiatrist yesterday, and she diagnosed me with ADHD-PI, with the possibility that I could also be bipolar. She also gave me a prescription for Adderall. 10mg (of instant release) 3 times a day. I'll meet with her again in 2 weeks to see how things are going.
I'm very excited about all of this. I finally have what I feel is a proper diagnosis. Something I've been seeking for over half my life. I'm frustrated that no one's ever picked up on this before. That ADHD has never been a consideration. But I know now, and I'm SO looking forward to my future now! I feel like now that I finally know what's going on with me...that so many doors have suddenly opened up for me, and I greatly look forward to figuring out how to work with my ADHD in a way to make it work for me. Not against me.
I'm also excited about finding meds that will work for me. I truly believe finding proper meds will play a key and crucial role in my life. Meds have been a missing link.
2 goals for this.
--1. Take my meds properly. Take them as prescribed and really give them a chance to work for me. I have a long history of being placed on anti-depressants and anti-psychotics...finding I don't like the way they make me feel or the side effects...so quitting them before I've given my body a chance to adjust to them and throwing them away.
Not this time. I need to really give my meds a chance before I give up on them.
Also...not playing any stupid games with my meds. Taking them at the times I'm suppose to take them. Not abusing them by taking 2 or 3 doses at a time.
--2. Finding more out about ADHD and figuring out ways to work with it. I don't know a whole heck of a lot about ADHD yet. There's so much I want to know! To learn!
I want to read books and continue to read people's stories and experiences and to relate with them. To read online articles and to watch documentaries.
I fully intend to learn a whole heck of a lot about ADHD. I feel that the more knowledge I have about it, the more I'll be able to find ways to work with it...and to take advantage of it!
ADHD doesn't have to be a disability for me. I fully suspect that it can be used to help improve my life with proper knowledge and strategies.
----My Apartment
Here's another important one for me.
I live in such a pigsty. Looking around my room right now there's large piles of trash. It's something that causes great shame and embarressment. Living the way I do just holds me down! It does nothing to improve my self esteem.
I want to come home each day to a clean environment. I want a place I'd be proud to invite my friends to. I want a place I can love to call my own. A place that doesn't cause shame and resnetment.
And this is something so absolutely obtainable for me! I know it is!
And now that I know why I've struggled my entire life with keeping a clean environment, I really feel like I can start tackling this aspect of my life and really getting it under control!
I think meds are going to be very important for me with this.
And I have made a BIG start already!
Over the past few days I've really made a big push to clean up my kitchen and my living room.
I bought TONS of cleaning supplies and I just dug in!
I took out all my trash in my kitchen and living room (4 very large trash bags worth. My counters were all covered in at least 2 feet of trash. I hate saying this in a public place like on this blog. I feel SO much shame!), and really scrubbed the heck out of my counters. I also emptied my fridge of any old foods (ketchup, jelly...etc).
I still have a lot to do in the 2 rooms (vacuum, mop my kitchen floor, I'd like to scrub all my counters and walls, and I need to clean the outside of my fridge). But it's looking GREAT! So well in fact that I've had my curtains in my living room fully open for the last few days! I'm happy for people to peek inside if they so wish to! (I ALWAYS keep my curtains closed because I'm so afraid a neighbor will see how messy I am!).
goals...
--Continue, slowly, picking my apartment up. I'm not in a race...slow and steady. Work on 1 part of my apartment at a time. My goal is to eventually get my entire apartment cleaned (not just picked up...but truly clean!) and then to develop routines and daily habits. To keep my trash picked up, and my dishes cleaned and my laundry done. To develop weekly and daily routines to vacuum, and to clean my bathroom, and to sweep my floors.
I think keeping a clean apartment will really boost my self esteem this year!
----Work & School
My lack of employment and not doing anything productive with myself is another source of great shame for me. Something I so often beat myself up about. Something I loathe about myself.
--It is my goal to find employment this year. It doesn't have to be that 'dream' job. It doesn't have to be full time. I just want to work again dang it! So badly!
--Volunteering.
I've wanted to volunteer for years now. I keep thinking about it, but pushing it aside as something I'll look into later.
This is a big goal for me this year. I want to volunteer. I've been wanting more dogs in my life, and I just LOVE kitties...maybe I can help at a animal shelter.
There's also a halfway house in a near by town that is expanding. I have a deep love for humans, especially those who I know have had to struggle in life. I'm a very empathetic person. I think working in a halfway house would be very challenging for me (I'd feel so bad so often for so many!) and yet, ultimately, a tremendously enriching experience. I think I'd learn and grow a lot volunteering at this halfway house.
And for the selfish side of things. Volunteering is a great way of getting my name out there and meeting important contacts. Volunteering could eventually lead into a job for me.
At the very least, volunteering would be an extremely powerful thing to include on future resumes.
--And college. I dropped out last semester. I became overwhelmed and just lost control.
This is NOT my end in college. I LOVED college! It was an amazing experience!
I just need a break to catch up on myself and my health.
I WILL be back! I wont let this be the end of my college.
I have 21 credits to my name. I can always (after paying my financial aid back) return to the college I was attending and jump right back into where I left off (I'm pursuing an associates degree in criminal justice).
And so there's a bunch of the goals I have for this year!
There's more I haven't touched on here in this post, but I can always make more posts in my future to more fully explore them.
For now I feel the above goals are a great foundation. A starting point!
(((((((HUGS)))))))
I'm very excited for this year!
