Staying Motivated for the Long Haul

@hopeful33250 we love that hotel, it’s our third time staying there. We always have a little deck off the room and on a nice day i’s pleasant to sit out there with coffee in the morning or other beverages before we head to dinner.
JK

@contentandwell It really is lovely, I can understand why you chose that hotel! Feeling any better from the GI issues?

Teresa

@mnretired, Good Morning, and Welcome ! I am happy that you have joined us here. I joined Connect to meet others who shared my health conditions, and I have found so much more - like this group who are working towards meeting some weight goals.
I don't have access to water exercise classes, but I (along with my husband) have joined a local 24 hr gym a year ago. A bonus for us is that our Silver Sneakers pays for it:-) I used to walk with my girlfriends, but they have one-by-one dropped out, and I do not like to walk at the park alone, so this works great for us. My husband is much more motivated to go to the gym, and I am more motivated to eat healthy, so we kind of balance each other!

Do you have anyone that you go with with you? Sometimes a buddy can be a motivator.
I find myself going in spurts, so that I am trying to focus on short term goals. Right now my goal is to get there 2 or 3 days a week. When I do that, I feel successful. Any extra walking or activity becomes a 'bonus' activity in my mind. I also celebrate my days off-because I earned them!!
How often do your classes meet?
Rosemary

@contentandwell, We spent a week in Bar Harbor the summer before my transplant. The picture is beautiful! We had a room with a balcony overlooking the harbor and I used to enjoy watching the tide changing and the lobster boats.
Rosemary

@hopeful33250 Thanks Teresa. I am fine now, it always lasts basically one day with a second day of slight queasiness and fatigue from the sleeplessness and of course the exertion of the gastric issues. I need to do a little more research tonight and choose a gastro to go to. It's amazing how many things can cause this. I even found one article, from an English site, where it was caused by untreated hypothyroidism, something that can happen but is not common! I am on levothyroxine but my dosage was cut in half a while back, perhaps it needs to be increased again. I have asked my PCP to put in for a TSH test for me, which he has. If it shows low I will go back to the higher dose and see where that will bring me. I don't want it to go on though, particularly with summer quickly approaching, which means spending time at our rustic cabin in Maine with my kids. That would be a problem if I got sick up there.
JK

@mnretired I go to my water classes at least three times a week, usually four or sometimes even five. On days I don't go I try to get to the gym at the club, but I prefer the water. On some of the days there is a teacher whom everyone loves and she gives a great class so it's always well attended. Although I have not made friends there whom I see outside of my club they are a great group and make the class enjoyable. I guess that is what makes it easy even though I don't have a friend I go with.
I am also finding it difficult to eat correctly. I did fine for a long time but I've been "off the wagon" for a while now. 🙁

JK

@rosemarya That's much further for you than for us of course, but the Maine coast is really special. I think there are only two places with rooms on the water and balconies, The Bar Harbor Inn where we stayed, and the Harborside, where we stayed the first time we went to Bar Harbor.
We really enjoy going into Acadia National Park too. It's always very interesting. One of the Rockefellers is responsible for that park.
JK

@contentandwell. We actually stayed outside of town and took advantage of the bus get into the town because of the parking. We spent a lot of time in Acadia - that was our main reason for going - and the lobster! We also did a whale watch. We also went to Camden (I think) for a sailboat to Mohegan Island. Great trip!
Rosemary

@rosemarya I do remember on one of the roads leading into town that there are a number of places to stay but I don't think we took that road this year.
I ate lobster one time, actually on our way into Bar Harbor we stopped for dinner. It was delicious of course but it is high in sodium so I only eat it rarely. I would love to do a whale watch sometime.
We went to Camden for a Memorial day weekend one time, probably about five years ago. I loved Camden too, the home of the windjammers. I would love to go out on one of them sometime. The next town (Rockport) has an art museum with a lot of work by Andrew Wyeth.
JK

Hi All:

I subscribe to Mayo Clinic's Heart Healthy Living emails and they had a great article in today's email about how to shop for healthy eating. I thought you might find it helpful and perhaps inspiring as I certainly did. Here is the link, https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/dash-diet/art-20045913/
Teresa