The Shingles and Me

I got the shingles for Christmas last year, and even though it rhymes with jingles, let me assure you there's nothing festive about them.  Oh, they are rather red, but again, nothing festive.  So when I went to the doctor for the second time (the first one was young and inexperienced and didn't recognize what I had), in addition to saying, "Shingles!  You've got shingles," she mentioned my blood pressure was high.  I said it was probably due to the fact that, until that moment, I didn't know what was wrong with my arm and suspected some horrible, dread disease, possibly resulting in my arm falling off.  Anyway, a follow-up appointment was scheduled for me to check out the situation.

I dutifully took myself to the doctor (a new one recommended by the lovely lady doc who had recognized my shingles) and he said, yup, it looks high.  I said I didn't want to take a bunch of meds and amazingly enough, he agreed to let me try without, concentrating on diet and exercise.  He also mentioned the DASH diet which gave me a starting point.

I went home, researched DASH and ordered several books from Amazon.  By this time it was early January and the exercise issue was a real dilemma.  There was snow outside, and ice, and it wasn't looking good for walks which was his recommendation.  As I was talking about all this to Ann, she mentioned that my old NordicTrack was languishing in her basement because, as she put it, she had a two-year-old.  The whole family brought it over that night and left it for me.  My exercise issue was solved.  (Of course, I had to use it myself, but thanks be to God, I have used it five days a week since then.  We're talkin' real miracle here, folks.)

I got my DASH books and set about reading them.  Of course, one main course of action is to limit salt intake, but another is to eat a lot of grains, fruits, and veggies. And not in chip form!!!  When you start limiting foods based on sodium content, it's amazing what gets tossed from your diet.  I began to try many new foods and cooking methods.  A new row of spices showed up on my shelf.  Good thing I enjoy cooking!  It has actually been, for the most part, fun, and I look at it as a challenge. Some good stuff has resulted and even Dan says he enjoys it.  

Oh, a couple of points I've almost forgotten to mention: it worked!  After two follow-up visits to the doc, he turned me loose, saying it was a pleasure to work with someone who actually did the right thing.  And second, a totally unexpected benefit has been my new shape.  I had long tried to lose some pounds, with no luck.  The combination of my new diet and the NordicTrack knocked off twenty pounds and tightened quite a few of this old girl's muscles (formerly known as dimpled flab).  Who knew?!?  

I have tossed almost all my old clothes and purchased new ones and it's actually been fun!  And it's helped me to keep motivated.    I have to confess, I'm still not a lover of exercise, but I force myself to the family room each morning and get on and go.  I tell Dan I feel like an alcoholic, but instead of a drink, I'm just one missed morning away from going back to my old ways.  I also confess to slipping a few chips into my mouth on occasion, but I guilt up pretty fast and swear off for at least a week or so.  

On the food front, one of my favorite new lunches is a huge salad.  In my old days, a salad was just a way to add croutons, olives, cheese, and yummy salad dressing. After reading labels, it turned out that wasn't such a good idea.  Right now my current fav is:  a huge bowl of spring mix greens, strawberries, blueberries, a little reduced fat feta cheese, sliced chicken breast (home cooked on my George Foreman), and sliced almonds.  I make my dressing using olive oil, balsamic vinegar and sugar.  It's yummy!

I have to say, getting the shingles was a blessing.  And outside of not knowing for a few days what I had, it wasn't awful like you hear on the ads on TV.  I have some residual scarring, more like polka dots, but I can't complain.  Dan says the scars are on muscle, not flab.  ♥