Staying Fit as a Family This Summer

The middle of the summer often makes it difficult to stay fit due to the temptation to stay inside out of the heat.

Here are some great fitness activities that will make the summer memorable and bring you closer together as a family:

• Park and Yard Games – Footballs and Frisbees can get you moving if you have access to an open, grassy space. Many neighborhood parks have activities the whole family will enjoy.
• Swimming – If you don’t have an in-ground swimming pool; an above-ground pool can be purchased fairly inexpensively and is a great way to stay cool and fit in a little exercise.  A lake is also a great place to picnic and swim.
• Hiking – It’s likely that you have some hiking trails near your home. Hiking can be a great workout and can be educational by pointing out certain plants, insects and birds you can enjoy.
• Family Team Sports – Putting up a basketball or volleyball net can add fun to your family summer. If you have a large family, it’s especially nice to have a good, old-fashioned “It’s ON” game. Don’t forget to help out the younger ones and help them interact.
• Bicycling – This is a sport the entire family can enjoy while getting the best exercise. If you have smaller children or babies, there are carriers available for the bicycles. Search for some bicycle trails in your area – and don’t forget to wear a helmet.
• Water Games – You don’t have to have a swimming pool to get wet and cool and enjoy a summer day. A simple sprinkler will do – or take it a step further and purchase one of the inexpensive water ‘toys’ to play with.
• Plant a Garden – The entire family can participate in tending a garden.  Even the youngest children can help with watering, weeding, and harvesting.

You don’t have to venture far from home to experience summer fitness and fun. A little research and some imagination and creativeness on your part will ensure that everyone has a great summer without becoming a couch potato.

What are your favorite summer activities that will keep the whole family active?

Can Somebody Help Me?

If you've been reading my blog for any amount of time, you'll know that I've been struggling with extreme fatigue and heart palpitations for a number of months now.  The blood work I had done came back normal, and I wasn't really sure where to go from there.

I don't know why I never came up with this information before, but it certainly seems logical.

Has anyone ever heard of postpartum thyroiditis?

You can develop it anytime in the year following the birth of a baby.

Symptoms include:

• Anxiety
• Irritability
• Rapid heartbeat or palpitations
• Unexplained weight loss
• Increased sensitivity to heat

Those are hyperthyroidism symptoms.  Later, the symptoms can swing to those of hypothyroidism:

• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Unexplained weight gain
• Increased sensitivity to cold

I don't really know where I fall in there, because I have pretty much all of these symptoms other than the weight gain.  However, come to think of it, I did go back up about 10 pounds after I got back down to my pre-pregnancy weight.

According to what I read, most times postpartum thyroiditis goes away on its own.  However, some women develop true hypothyroidism and it is has to be treated the rest of their life.

Anyway, I'm kind of glad to find that at least I have a logical explanation for how I've been feeling.  I'm really hoping that this stuff truly does go away on its own.

Some days I feel pretty good.  I'd say about 75% of the time, though, I am struggling just to do the basics like feeding everybody, changing diapers, and keeping the house relatively clean.  The past few days I've really had a hard time; getting out-of-breath just by talking, feeling dizzy and like I'm about to pass out and feeling extremely weak.  (Close your eyes, mom.)  (My mom doesn't like to let me drive if she knows this stuff.)

I'd love to know if anyone here has experienced this or if anyone knows of any natural remedies for thyroid problems.  I have heard that coconut oil can help stimulate the thyroid, but I'm wondering if that would make things worse if I have hyperthyroidism.  I don't really know which one (hypo or hyper) I have since the doctor didn't order the proper blood tests.  I've been taking blackstrap molasses every day, but I don't really know what else to try.

Anyone?

Still Tired

I updated you after my doctor's appointment and told you that I was waiting for the results of my blood work to come back.  Well, a few days ago I got a note in the mail that said “The results of your bloodwork are normal.  Continue taking B vitamins.”  “That's it?!” I thought.  What about the heart palpitations?  B vitamins are not going to help my heart any, and I've been taking vitamins and they're not helping the tiredness! 

I decided to call the doctor's office and see if they would let me speak to the doctor so I could ask her what she thought I should do besides taking B vitamins.  I can't just continue to ignore the heart palpitations.  This has been going on for 3 years.  I've got to get it checked out, but I don't really want to start over with another doctor.  I want the doctor I already went to to tell me what to do next.  They said they would make a note for her to call me.

 It's 3:05 p.m., and I need to be in the kitchen by 3:30 to fix dinner.  We have VBS tonight, so we have to eat an early dinner.  My husband I are teaching 2's and 3's like we have many other years. They wear me out!  I want to take a little nap before I make dinner, but the doctor will probably call as soon as I lie down.

I'm still going to try to sneak in a little nap.  I can hardly even think straight.

I'll try to give another update when I hear anything else.        

Anti-Procrastination Challenge: An Apple a Day…

…doesn't always keep the doctor away.

Tomorrow morning will find me at the doctor's office trying to find out some answers about the fatigue with which I've been struggling, among other issues.

Believe me, folks.  This is a big deal for me.  I'm the kind of girl who doesn't even take a Tylenol when I have a headache.  I don't just go running to the doctor for every little ailment.  But when my health is keeping me from taking care of my family the way I'd like to, and when there could potentially be something wrong with my heart, it's time to go.  That's not really something I should mess around with.

Hopefully I will get some answers, or at least get started down the right track.  I will be going to see my ob doctor simply because the medical center is booked until August.  After having had 3 babies with the same ob, I'm wonderfully comfortable talking to her anyway, so I'm hoping she can at the very least point me in the right direction and use her medical influence to get me in to a cardiologist if that's what I need to do.

Now, is there anybody reading this that knows you need to go see a doctor for some reason or another?  Perhaps you're the type that always puts that sort of thing off.  I was just talking to a lady the other day who had two adult children diagnosed with cancer within one week of each other.  Her daughter found out right away, and the cancer was only stage 1.  She will probably be fine.  Her son?  She told me with head down and tears in her eyes that “He waited too long to go.”  His cancer is stage 5, and things aren't looking too good.

If you need to go…then go!  Don't try to convince yourself that it's probably nothing.  If you go, and it's nothing, then you can be glad to know you're fine!  If you go, and it's not nothing, you'll be so thankful you went sooner rather than later.

If you're just now joining our Anti-Procrastination challenge, you can read all the details here. Be sure you're subscribed to email updates or follow me on Facebook to receive each day's new challenge!