Looking like an Athlete

Lets be honest, we compare our bodies to athletes and wonder why we look like crap. If you see someone and they look good and healthy and they are in shape? They didn't wake up that way. They work very hard to achieve that. You just might not see all that work and effort they do.

I have a theory that if you want to look like an athlete you must do the things that an athlete does.

If you do all the things an athlete does (work outs and diet) then your body will start transforming to look like an athlete's body.

So, how do you learn what athletes eat and how they work out? I have started following the Abrahamson sisters. The oldest sister, Ellie, is a professional tri-Athlon. The middle sister, Emma, is in college sports and does health food videos . The youngest, Sarah, was in college sports and spends time eating healthy and exercising.

I find it motivating to see the work and effort these ladies put in. For them, living healthy and exercise is just a natural way of life, it is just what they do. That has helped me to understand that becoming healthy isn't something to do for a few months, but is a life change. It is a life change that doesn't have to be torture - there are good tasting healthy foods, and exercise that can make you feel good. I can't imagine being excited about a frozen blueberry, for example, but they are happy and excited to eat healthy. If that kind of motivation helps you? Check out their youtube stations:

Emma: https://www.youtube.com/user/awesomebracelets/videos
Ellie: https://www.youtube.com/user/elliebellyy95/videos
Sarah: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNMJMwzWXZy6wI2DnuBHFHA/videos

My Office Snack

As previously mentioned, I am no longer sleepy thanks to my CPAP, and I have energy thanks to finally getting my thyroid medicine levels correct. I am past the holidays so it is time to get all this weight off. I am employing many of the techniques I have already described in this blog and am down five pounds so far.

Something I struggle with is snacking during the day at work. I'll often have crackers, chips, nuts, or candy at my desk and several times during the work day, I go for a snack.

I have been doing something different for several weeks and it is working well. I place a bowl of tangerines, celery, and peanut butter on my desk and snack on those instead of reaching for the crackers.

I was surprised how well this works! If I am working on a report or on a long boring telephone call, I just stack and get some fruits and vegetable's added to my diet. It is surprisingly filling and satisfying.

 

 

What do you do for snacks during the day? Do you snack during the workday?

 



Update on my Thyroidectomy

If you followed this blog you probably noticed I was really active and then disappeared. That was due to a number of disappointing cancer related news. My brother-in-law died of colon cancer shortly after getting diagnosed. A friend of the family died of lung cancer during his treatments. My nephew, who has suffered for 15 years with cancer, is reaching the end of his story. And here I am with the "Good Cancer". By "Good" I mean: I am still alive. There is nothing really good about thyroid cancer. The fact that I am still alive unlike so many around me has caused me to question my mortality. I have stopped participating in the online Thyroid support groups because there are so many stories of people's thyroid cancer returning even after complete thyroid removal. Many of the stories are depressing and they pull me back into questioning why I have survived cancer while others haven't.

Several months ago I met with my endocrine for my one year check-up and she congratulated me and said "You are cured!" And I was like... well... all right! And then I met with my surgeon for the one year check-up and he said "You will never be cured. You will always have to come see me so we can check to make sure the thyroid isn't growing back." And I was really bummed out.

The CPAP has helped me a lot. Finally, I am not sleepy during the day. But I have no energy. All that motivation I had earlier in the year to lose weight had been erased, plus having no energy - the weight loss didn't stick. I returned to bad habits in attempt to get through the day.

But then, around late October, I got a thyroid medicine level change from my doctor. And it worked! Thanks to the CPAP I am no longer tired, and now thanks to my current dosage I have energy.

I spent November and December balancing weight control with the holiday goodies and was able to maintain! That doesn't probably sound like much of an accomplishment, however, if you've been down the thyroidectomy path - you'll know that this is an incredible accomplishment! It appears I have been able to stabilize my metabolism into something predictable.

That's the update! I can't promise I'm going to post often to this blog simply because I am finding greater comfort trying NOT to think about cancer and just go live my life. But I did make a commitment that I wanted to help others who struggled with thyroid cancer and thyroidectomies, so, I'll provide periodic updates.