Wearing the Cone of Shame

It seems to be really difficult to fall back into the pattern of blogging every day ! It's like part of your brain misses that regular message to do such and such , and it takes an extraordinary event to kick things back into gear. I got mine yesterday, and it is forcing me to not only blog , but wear the cone of shame , like the dog in the movie Up that did not do as he should

Yes, it is unpleasant to wear, but you have to suck it up and pull on the big girl panties.

What made me don the Cone of Shame ? It came in the form of a friend. For the last week I have been getting back into a very , very modified exercise program because the injury saw me spending lots and lots of days doing absolutely nothing. It was necessary to let it heal, but lack of movement and the injury made my arthritis flair terribly, and even standing up brought pain. When I reached the six month mark I realized that things were as healed as they are going to get and now I better start working on rebuilding muscle and getting flexibility back, so I started doing some Qi Gong exercises. Qi Gong is like Tai Chi- designed to increase flexibility, mobility and vitality. 

Like the gentleman in the above picture, minus the white suit and flowering trees in the background.Every day brings a little more mobility , and finally I felt confident enough to go for a very short walk outside. Something like 10 minutes, and my legs started feeling shaky enough that I was afraid of falling and re-injuring myself , so I stopped. 10 minutes is a start though, and I mentioned the walk on Facebook- where everybody is talking at everyone else about nothing at all  . One of my long time friends commented that she is also trying to get back into the swing after a nasty bout of a respiratory illness, and it unfolded that we would be exercise buddies to encourage each other. She is recovering, a homeschool mom of 10 children , athletic abilities are the same as mine , so it is a good match. We both have the Wii Fit, and we are including it in part of our daily plans. She would focus more on the aerobic and yoga, me on the balance and yoga at the moment.

So, yesterday for the first time in 197 days, I got on the Wii Fit balance board. For any of you who have the game, you know what that means- the body test. Balance abilities and.....your weight. Here is where the cone of shame comes in- I learned that all this inactivity and focusing on balancing my hormones AND helping my son overcome more of his challenges of Autism through diet  has seen me gain 27 1/2 pounds.

Good news is, I know how I gained it . Bad news is , I am not completely sure what dietary approach is going to help to make these pounds and friends go away. Some things are certain- daily exercise is a must. Another thing that is certain- dairy foods and any food from the nightshade family ( tomatoes, eggplant, peppers amongst them ) , foods high in oxalic acid ( spinach, cranberries and such) and foods high in purines ( organ meats and red meat) bring on horribly nasty arthritis flairs, so they are banished from the house. Foods that are beneficial are oily fish, nuts, any fruits and veggies that are not from the above categories and a moderate level of whole grains. These foods help me to feel good, have more movement and should help to remove the weight. Losing weight puts less pressure on the joints , and less pressure means more mobility and a more active life.
The guys have not stepped on the scale , but they are in agreement to support me in this. It seems that however mom operates, the rest of the family will follow. If mom sits like a slug from pain, the others will join her in sympathy. If mom stats moving , the others will happily join in because it looks like a good idea. Mom seems to be the keystone, and this keystone is back in the modified for mobility issues saddle !