Haha, it's a bit of a shock to know that my spine's not in very good shape, but at least we finally found the cause and it's not something that's going to kill me in a few months. I must have looked silly to the doctor, and my manager even found it weird, but I'm just so relieved and happy that I'm not going to just drop dead from all these headaches in the near future.
I'm still worried though, and believe me, the pain can really be terrible - there are days when even just lying in bed doesn't ease the pain and I just barely manage to drag myself to work - so I've been doing some research and coming up with things to help make things better.
Lose weight through a healthier diet
I've always had a pretty healthy diet - I don't even know of anybody who loves vegetables more than me - that is, if you ignore my sweets snacking binges. That has always been my problem. All the greasy rich junk food like burgers, steaks, fries, pizza or what not I can live without, but it seems I cannot really get through a day without chocolates or anything really sweet. So from today, I promise to limit myself to 100 grams of sweets per week and nothing more. Wish me luck!
Exercise more
Even though my weight can easily disprove this little known fact, I actually love exercise! I also love playing sports like basketball, badminton, and for a time, tennis, even though I'm not too good. I even love doing weights, although now, Marvin warns me not to do much weight training anymore since I sort of developed the muscles in my arms and legs too much already (for a woman not trying to show off her defined muscles anyway), and he says I already have the grip and the arm strength of a man bwahaha! Anyway, I haven't been doing much exercise in the past 2 years because of work, hobbies, and some other excuse, but I promise to go to the gym at least on weekends not only to lose weight but to hopefully strengthen my muscles to prevent further damage to my spine or to at least slow down the degeneration.
Take more supplements
My mother has been advising me to take calcium and vitamins, but I always seem to forget to buy those supplements or when I do remember to get those, I always seem to forget to take them! From now on, I'll find a way to work taking calcium and vitamins into my daily routine.
Get more rest
It's already 1:00 in the morning and I'm still awake and in front of my laptop. Obviously, I'm not a fan of sleep (recurrent episodes of sleep paralysis may be one of the reasons, but that's another story hehehe...), and my body's taking the hit. I think I really should try to get more sleep or at least rest my body for at least 8 hours everyday. Of course, with work and my de-stressing hobbies after work, that's easier said than done. But I promise to at least try.
Make adjustments at work
I've already made a request to my manager to let me come in to work at 10 AM instead of 9 so I can avoid the very stressful rush hour and so I can at least find a seat in the less crowded trains, and I'm really grateful that he said that it wouldn't be a problem. I also promised myself that I'll always try to go home at 6:30 PM and that my maximum overtime is just until 8 PM. I'm just a little worried about what my teammates would think - Marvin said the coming in at 10 AM thing might be bordering on special treatment - but at this point, I'd rather not give a f*ck about what they might say and instead focus on what would be good for my body. Besides, I can always get another job, but I only get one body, right?
Buy stuff to help my back
I'm planning to buy keyboard wrist rests and mouse pad rests for the office and here at home. I might also get an ergonomic keyboard and mouse and also a backrest for the office but I'm just a bit worried that it might attract attention. Hmm, still thinking about this one. And since I'm planning to move to a new place anyway, I might also invest in a better bed and mattress as well.
See a physical therapist!
Nothing beats seeing a professional to make sure I am indeed doing things right.
No comments:
Post a Comment