Lighthouse Park Walk

Yesterday we went for a walk in Lighthouse Park with a friend & her dog. Of course, I brought along my Urban Poling Activator poles, & we were able to walk around the trails for an hour.

That might not seem like a big deal to you, but it's been years since I'd been to Lighthouse Park. I'm still finding it so much fun to do things like seawall walks or light hiking like this because I'd been avoiding it for so long with all the pain I had in my hip.

The combination of the nordic poles & the weight I've lost means I'm a lot more mobile now, with much less pain, after a few years of hobbling around & avoiding walks. I actually didn't even feel sore the day after our walk!

So glad I finally got a diagnosis last summer & started making changes to manage my osteoarthritis better.

Here are a few more pics we snapped in the park. I tried to capture all three of the juvenile bald eagles that were soaring around over our heads & chittering the huge trees, but I only managed to get one.

Disclaimer: I just wanted to mention that I was not compensated to write about or link to Urban Poling--I just really like the poles I bought from them!

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Hiking with Arthritis: Urban Poling Nordic Poles Review

My first urban test of the Activator poles

When I went to my OASIS clinic assessment with a physiotherapist, she recommended I try Nordic pole walking so that I could take some of the weight off my arthritic hip. I was a bit skeptical at first, but I tested some out at the clinic & noticed a big difference, even when just using them in a short hallway. I registered for the OASIS pole walking class to get more information & have a chance to try them out for a more extended period of time.

If you're not familiar with Nordic poles--they're also called trekking poles or exerstriding poles--they're much like cross country ski poles, but with rubber tips that fit over the metal points so they can be used on pavement in the city too. Using two poles, rather than one cane, means better posture & balance. Putting some weight on my arms takes enough pressure off my hip (apparently about 30%) that I can walk without pain.

Weight Loss Update: Slacking A Bit & "Eat To Live"

After a follow-up appointment with my doctor, I took her suggestion & read "Eat to Live", by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. It's a fairly extreme diet plan with a foreword by Dr. Oz, which pretty much gives you a good idea of the tone of the book. I found it a little infomercial-ish & condescending, but I think there are some good ideas in it.

Fuhrman basically advocates going vegan & avoiding most grains, particularly anything processed like bread, pasta or crackers, as well as oils & added sugar. This means you can basically eat vegetables & fruit, beans, nuts & seeds. Also, no alcohol. His plan requires you do do that for six weeks to drop a lot of weight fast. All of his testimonial style stories in the book of patients who succeeded on this diet are obese people who have major health problems like diabetes, heart disease, etc, & that seems to be who the diet is aimed at primarily.

Loading up on veggies 

Once you've done the six week Eat to Live diet, Fuhrman's plan allows a little bit more leeway, switching to a maintenance diet that allows you to get about 10% of your calories from dairy, meat, grains, oil, alcohol, etc. I'm not willing to go vegan--I like cheese far too much--nor do I plan to give up beer! I'm also not really in the demographic that Fuhrman's diet is targeting--I was only about three or four pounds overweight by BMI chart standards--I didn't have 50 or 100 or even more pounds to lose. So I'm loosely following the Eat to Live plan--more the maintenance stage, including a little meat & dairy

I'm finding it somewhat exhilarating that the scale keeps showing a smaller number every week or so. I do struggle with staying away from the junk food, especially during the times of day that I habitually snacked, like after I get Bronte to bed, while I'm watching a show. But I'm not finding it too hard to just eat more veggies--I tend to just load up at lunch with a giant salad--& reduce the amount of dairy & meat I consume. I feel hungry just before meals, but I'm not hungry all day--I'm not starving myself. My goal is to lose 20 lbs, which would put me right at the weight I was before my first pregnancy & the lower end of the range I was in during my 20s.

However, I have always had a sweet tooth & loved salty junk food too. When I was at that weight, my diet really wasn't that great--it included more added sugar than is probably healthy, tons of refined starches, not that many veggies, & a lot of dairy. So I wonder if I change my eating habits permanently to include tons of veggies (like the 2 lbs a day that Fuhrman advocates for in Eat to Live), much less refined carbs, less fatty dairy & meat, if my weight will stabilize at a lower point than it's been in past.

My weight loss started off fast & has slowed down a bit in the last month-ish. I'm down a total of 15 lbs, 10 of which I lost in the first 3 weeks, just 5 more in the next 5 weeks. I'm a bit lighter than I was before getting pregnant with Bronte & getting close to where I was at before I was pregnant with Linnaeus.

I don't see that much of a difference & my "bagel" is still there on my belly. However, I've noticed my pants are looser these days--some of them slip down far enough to drag on the ground. I finally got around to measuring myself: though I've only lost about an inch at the waist, I've lost three at the hips.

As you can tell, I'm happy about the changes to my appearance from the weight loss, but I'm a little disappointed that I don't feel much of a change with my bad hip. The arthritis that spurred this diet is causing less pain in general, but I'm not sure how much of that is the reduced weight on my joints, or the physio exercises I was doing, or starting to use a cane. In any case, it isn't worse...

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Eating Habit Redux: Some Results

I actually did a bit of hiking again! This is in the LSCR

As I've said before, the main reason I'm changing my eating habits is to ease the physical strain on my arthritic hip & hopefully reduce inflammation in general. Of course, I can't pretend there isn't a part of me that wouldn't like to buy a smaller clothing size or fit into some of my favourite pre-kids clothing better. But the reason I'm actually sticking with this huge change is pain. My hip really hurts every day.

On top of the food stuff, I'm doing my physio exercises (mainly core strengthening & working on my transverse abdominus specifically) & taking a few supplements (Vitamin D, Calcium, Fish oil for Omegas) too.

The pain is starting to get better. I find I can walk a little farther without as much pain. I even did some hiking on the weekend on a tour of the Seymour Watershed--more on that soon! I'm still popping ibuprofen & acetaminophen regularly to deal with soreness after I do anything much, but it's better than hobbling & gasping from the sharp pain when I move my legs which was where I was at on flare-up days in the past two years or so.

Secondary to that, but maybe what you're wondering about, is how much weight have I lost? I'm losing faster than I expected--but I'm not starving myself. I don't count calories but I feel full after every meal & I'm eating 3-5 times a day, with lots of fruit & veggies in there. I'm not feeling tired either, so I think I'm getting enough calories. Which means I must have been eating so much more than I needed before. Yikes.

So yeah, the numbers: I'm down nine pounds in 18 days, lost about two inches at the waist & one at the hips. My clothes are fitting better, or falling off in some cases. I looked at my belly in the mirror the other day before a shower & was happy to see it's starting to look a little more like it did years ago. Still got my mama tiger stripes though! :)

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My Weight Loss Plan, Or, Eating Habit Redux

It all starts with a good breakfast, right?

For the first time in my life, I'm on a diet. Well, sort of. My doctor flat out told me I should lose some weight, as much as I can, to ease up the stress on my arthritic hip. In past I've always tried to stay healthy by keeping active, not changing my eating habits. But since adding in more exercise is tricky with a hip problem like this, those calories have got to come from somewhere.

So I took my doctor's advice to heart & started the next day on a list of how I'm going to do it. I'm a list maker, if you didn't already know. Planning things like this & committing it to paper (or Evernote at least) gives me a more concrete goal & a path to follow.

Anyway, the reason I said I'm 'sort of' on a diet is because I'm not counting calories or completely eliminating anything from my diet. I'm not following any specific plan like Weight Watchers or the Atkins diet or getting the help of any experts. I've changed how I eat quite a bit--ten days or so in I'm still adjusting--mainly getting rid of bad habits.

In case you want to hear the details, this is what I'm doing, in no particular order:

1. Portion control. I'm learning what the serving sizes for various foods are supposed to be, instead of just heaping my plate full of whatever I like. This means some measuring until I can more accurately eyeball a cup of pasta or 1/3 cup of bran cereal, for example.
2. No more emotional eating. I used to eat a big snack after I'd put Bronte to bed, sometimes finishing off most of a whole big bag of chips on my own. I also did a lot of mindless snacking during the day when I was home. Then there was the therapy eating. Bad day? 100 grams of quality chocolate should fix that, right? So I'm consciously trying to reach for veggies or fruit in these situations, or just have a drink instead.
3. Slow down. I am a classic fast eater. Having children, particularly a food chucker like Bronte has made this habit worse because I eat as fast as I can when I get the chance, in between dodging flying dishware, refilling sippy cups & all the other madness that goes on during meals here.
4. No more midnight snacks. This is one of the hardest things to cut out, I'm finding. It's the only time of day when I get to eat in peace, without a child stealing half my food, or dumping it on the floor, or 
5. More fish. I'm not a huge fish eater, but the healthy fats in it are good for arthritis, so I will endeavour to eat those omega-packed critters at least once a week.
6. Less dairy & meat. I was never worried about my calcium intake before because I ate so much dairy. Greek yogurt, cheese of all sorts every day, milk, ice cream, butter. I'm fairly sure I was eating at least double the recommended daily servings of the stuff... which leads me into my next point.
7. Less fat. Fatty foods like 11% Greek yogurt, cheese, ice cream, butter, chips & fries, etc, etc are my Achilles heel. But I just can't keep eating all that stuff AND lose weight, so it's got to go. It's easy to jump on the 0% fat processed product bandwagon, but I'm trying not to just switch to the 'diet' version that is often reduced fat but increased sugar or sodium.
8. Oil-free cooking when possible. Braising, steaming, baking or just raw instead of fried.
9. Healthier alternatives. Unbuttered popcorn instead of chips. Unsweetened fruit smoothie instead of milkshake. Salsa or mustard instead of mayonnaise or fatty dip.
10. No pop. I love fizzy drinks, but the huge amounts of sugar in pop are empty calories I just can't afford. So I'll treat myself to sparkling water sometimes. Plus I'm still drinking beer--just less of it.
11. More veggies. I usually ate a good amount of fruit before, but didn't really eat enough vegetables. Now when I'm really hungry I will try to stuff myself on veggies. Having tons of celery, cucumbers, carrots, bell peppers, & tomatoes in the fridge really help with this.
12. More fibre. I'm trying to eat whole grain everything. We already weren't too bad about this, but there are 
13. Limited treats. I'll allow myself a dessert like a chocolate bar or cupcake once a week so I don't have to feel guilty about joining in the sugary fun at birthday parties. I can have chips once a week, but only one proper serving. Those are my main vices & I have to admit, I ate one or both daily until this month. When I get sweets cravings I'm trying to eat fruit or chew gum instead.

Trying to break my fatty-salty midnight snack habit.

As I said, this isn't any specific plan, it's just improving some of my bad habits & eating more sensibly. So far it seems to be working. I feel full after meals, but I actually get hungry before meals now, which I never used to with all my mindless snacking & huge portions. It ain't easy to say no to chocolate & dessert & chips & cheese & all my other vices, but I find that I can do it. Osteoarthritis is a good motivator, I guess. Ha!

I'm not planning on turning Spokesmama into a diet or fitness blog--don't worry--but I will probably post about this more in the coming days & weeks. I've actually already been on this 'diet' for over two weeks, so there will be a 'results' post soon.

Let me know if there's anything you're curious about in the comments below.

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Osteoarthritis & Other Sucky Things

Photo Credit: pinkcigarette via Compfight cc

Last week I realized my life needs to change in a big way. It has been a long time coming, but it's still hard to process. Here's the story.

For the past couple of years, I've had hip pain that makes it difficult to walk. I've had issues with my hip on & off for about fifteen years, but it wasn't until Bronte was a newborn that it became really debilitating. However, dealing with it was lower on the priority list than our breastfeeding challenges, her health concerns & all the other the usual parenting two little kids stuff.

I eventually went to the doctor & then to physiotherapy, but didn't keep up with the daily exercises. The problem & the pain worsened, so I avoided standing & walking as much as possible. I biked everywhere instead--even a block or two--because cycling is very low impact & doesn't put as much strain on my hip as walking.

After talking to the orthopedist at Children's about Bronte's hips--she was born with dysplasia like I was--I started to realize that I really needed to deal with this. I finally went back to my family doctor & I had an X-ray.

When I went in to discuss the results, I was prepared for bad news. She said she'd only call if there was anything of concern & I already knew from the pain I've been dealing with means there's a problem. The X-ray shows that my left hip is okay, but not great. My right hip is showing signs of damage, wear caused by the irregular formation of the bones due to the hip dysplasia that I was born with. Hearing all the medical anatomy terminology in the X-ray report, it all seemed so abstract.

When the doctor said she was referring me to OASIS, the Osteoarthritis Service Integration System program at Vancouver General Hospital, it really started to hit home. She joked that I'd probably be the youngest person in the room at the various classes they offer.

Being told, before I even turned 40, that I have osteoarthritis in my hip & that surgery is not an if but a when, was a bit of a blow. But what she said next hit me hard. I need to lose weight, as much as I can. I am still carrying around about 20 pounds of 'baby weight' since Bronte was born.

I love food & I don't believe in dieting. I have always just eaten what I feel like & used active transportation--walking & cycling, plus some fitness classes here & there over the years--to stay fit & healthy. That formula doesn't work when I can't walk because of my hip. I was sort of in denial the last couple of years, thinking that when my hip got better I'd be able to exercise more & the weight would come off.

So I'm going to have to change how I eat permanently to lose weight. In the past, I always tried to focus on being healthy & fit, not my weight. But now that number on the scale, my actual weight, really does matter. Every extra pound on my body puts more force on my joints. More pain, more damage to the cartilage.

The other thing I'm struggling with is that I may have to quit stilting permanently. I've only performed a handful of times in the past few years. I paid dearly for it each time, with a flare up of pain for days afterward. I've been in denial about this, thinking that my hip might get better & I could return to stilting, pain free. However, even if I can consistently stick to my physio exercises & strengthen my core muscles to help hold my joints in position better, I'm not going to 'fix' the arthritis.

I may be able to reduce pain & improve function somewhat, but the damage to my hip joints isn't ever going away. Well, until I get hip replacement surgery. But I'm trying not to think about that. I'm focussing on what I can do right now: how to change my diet & what supplements are shown to help.

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