When Cleaning Up Your Eating May Be Worth It for Auto-Immune Issues

It’s been a while. I’ve been thinking about resurfacing but life has been busy! Not that it has changed but apparently I found time!

While I’ve not been posting I have still been encountering a few things worth sharing. I’ll try to share them out as I have time.

First, a bit of background for anyone unfamiliar.

I have rheumatoid arthritis, or what I’ll refer to as RA in this post. I am trying to remember how long I’ve had it but I can’t remember. It’s probably been since 2013 or 2014 but that is just a guess.

At first it was annoying, I had a few flared up fingers, and sometimes it was frustrating that it made me felt limited in my life. Any pains or inconveniences that I experienced I was willing to tolerate them as opposed to letting them change my life.

To complicate things I was hit by a car I believe a year and change ago while biking to work.

While I walked away with any major injuries what did happen was that it sent my RA into cycles of rage. What annoying at first turned into almost unbearable .. and they started to happen more often. Sometimes I’d get hurt and sometimes it would just ‘happen’ .. I’d go through a week work of moving pains. It usually started in an extremity (i.e. ankles, hands, etc) for a day and a half, take a day off then move in closer to the center, and repeat the cycle all the way in. It would last about a week on and off. I’d be up miserable all night screeching in pain and by 4pm the next day I was back to normal until the ‘next cycle.’

So, a few things happened.

#1 I went to my doctor and he bumped my meds up, although I said ‘just a bit’ for now because I don’t want to medicate more than I need to. After xx weeks the flare ups would still surface but they weren’t as bad. They would, however, limit my ability to function and teach classes.

#2 I started taking probiotics consistently. I read an article that mentioned that probiotics may be linked to RA and figured it can’t hurt to see if they help with it or not.

#3 I start cleaning up my eating. I will admit to occasionally being tired or lazy and opting for quick food .. not necessarily fast food but quick and convenient food at home.

One day I looked down and noticed that the swelling in my hand was better.

One day I noticed that it had been months since my last flare up.

One day I noticed that my joint mobility limitations were .. all but gone.

I can’t say for sure that anything in #2 or #3 above helped with this but I have no reason to steer off course. Since noticing this I have also been talking to my mother, who has IBS (another autoimmune disease), about probiotics and cleaning her diet up. I am hopeful that it helps her out in the same way.

If this makes life a bit more normal than before then I have no problem keeping all of this momentum going!

I’ll check back in later!

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Keep Your Focus (whether in fitness, nutrition, or in life itself)

Keep your focus. Sounds easy enough, eh? We all know that sometimes it is harder than we think.

It’s so easy for us to become distracted in life, veer slightly off the path, and then wander a bit further. Next thing you know we look up and we have completely taken a wrong turn from where we meant to go.

There are always going to be kinks in life. Everyone has them, all the time. It could be personal drama, work stress, a bit of a cold, an injury from exercising, .. .. anything really. While it’s important to deal with those kinks as we encounter them it’s also important that we keep our focus and get back on track with our lives.

We are also going to have those moments when weakness gets the best of us. We’re human .. it happens. Trust me, it happens 🙂 What is important is that we recognize those moments, stop, regroup, and get back on track. But don’t wait until “Monday.” Start now.

We can do this!

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter

Be Better Tomorrow, Next Week, Next Month Than We Are Today

Sometimes we become too content with our place in life that we stop challenging ourselves to do better. We get exhausted at the thought because we always set ‘huge’ goals, sometimes with unrealistic expectations.

I want to lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks or I want to be the next President.

Thinking a little high, eh?

Instead of trying to conquer the world in one big gesture we need to think smaller, simpler. Think possible. Whatever it is that you want to accomplish in life start tomorrow. Start small. Be a better person tomorrow .. next week .. next month.

If it’s to have less stress at work pick one thing tomorrow that you just take a deep breath over.

If it’s to lose weight make a small, healthy eating change tomorrow.

Maybe you go from not exercising at all to promising you will give it 20 minutes.

Small positive changes are good for the body and soul!

Maybe you come home and spend 10 less minutes on the computer and 10 more on the couch snuggling with your kids.

We have spent years walking down the path that we are currently standing in. If we want to make that change and make it last we need to realize that it’s going to take time, desire, and dedication to start walking on a new trail.

Keep it realistic. Make small changes. It won’t be as scary and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish.

Make little changes every day then look back a month from now and celebrate how far you have come!

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter

Fight For It, You are Worth It!

When I was teaching spinning at the gym one day we were on the last strength song of the class and I could tell that people were getting tired and their focus was drifting. That was about the time I said to the class ..

How bad do you want this? Keep working and keep fighting for it and it’s going to happen.

To accomplish things in life it typically requires work on our part. Work. Picking the right path to get there. Determination. You name it.

If you want to lose weight it’s going to require you to make sacrifices .. start eating better, spend time exercising, make a few life changes. But if you want it bad enough you will do it and not look back. It’s when you hit your rock bottom that you’ll stick to your guns.

A few years back I had a friend that always talked about wanting to lose weight. She was so miserable with her size and was ready to make it happen. So .. she’d make some exaggerated effort to diet and lose ten pounds. Two weeks later she’d fall off the horse and gain 15 back. She wasn’t ready to fight for it.

I’d have to look up my original post to find the exact date but 9 or so years ago I hit ‘my’ rock bottom. I had gained 5 more pounds than I was willing to except. I walked into the gym and signed up for a membership 10 minutes later. When asked why I simply said ‘i refuse to buy bigger jeans.’ Fair enough.

The first year was more of a transition year for me .. I had a personal trainer and was slowly migrating out of some of my bad habits. After that first year, when the only one holding me accountable was ‘me,’ I started to take ownership of my path.

Now, I look up and see how far I have come. I have kept fighting and have enjoyed the rewards of those fights.

I have more energy at my age than I did 15 years ago. I don’t get sick near as often as I used to. I feel more alive and enjoying knowing that I am truly strong by my own efforts. I know that if I needed to I can run a mile without thinking twice. I could probably put a hurting on someone if they tried to take my purse. 🙂

I have kept fighting. And I keep fighting. No, it’s not a daily ‘war’ with yourself. It’s not even a struggle with yourself. It’s just making a change and wanting the new life bad enough that the old one is not an issue.

I don’t want to be that person again. Ever. In a year I want to be a better person than I am now, which is why I keep pushing on.

We have one life to live .. the clock is ticking so make the most of it. When your write your list of accomplishments make sure you have to ask for extra paper.

Thanks for reading!

Feel free to follow me on social media!

Follow @joschmoblo

Follow @_findingfitness – my blog’s twitter