Best Father's Day Gift -- At-Home Wife

Today I was checking in at statcounter.com to see who was coming to this blog and from where. Someone from St. Charles, Illinois googled "healthy housewife" and found my blog. When I clicked on their search term, I discovered that I was google's #2 healthy housewife. But best of all, I discovered just how housewives have impacted the health of their husbands.

I came across this article from the Telegraph, a Brittish on-line publication. Click on the "this article" link mentioned previously for a fascinating read on why having an at-home wife provides big benefits for husbands. (You're welcome, honey!)

I've got a new doctor . . .

I don't know about you, but most of the time when I see a doctor I know that when I leave the office I'm going to be out of sight and out of mind. I'm hoping that will be a thing of the past with my new doc.

When I had that heart scare in early December the folks at the ER wanted to know who my doctor was. I gave them the name of my OB/GYN. They said he wouldn't know what to do with the results from the Holter monitor, so I gave them the name of the family physician that the rest of my family sees. He's been a friend of our family for years. In fact, he and my brother married sisters. So he's my brother's brother-in-law. Which makes him my what? Yeah. Doctor.

Yes, it will be a bit weird for yearly physicals. (Don't want to even think about that now.) But I can already tell things are going to be different. He called this morning with the results from the labs they took at my office visit on Wednesday. His nurse didn't call. He called.

When I went in to see him, I'd made yearly charts from four years of records from the medical files I have from my OB/GYN's office. I graphed my weight over time and circled each office visit in a pen color that coordinated with the key of symptoms I usually complain of. Below the graph I listed the office visit date and any medications, weight, blood pressure, lab results and/or changes in treatment. (Note: If you're a computer programmer and want to make a program to do this, my doctor said you'd become rich.) I found it interesting to note that I never seem to go to the doctor during the spring and summer. Only during the fall and winter. I'm hoping that the light therapy I've started this year makes my fall/winter visits less frequent. (Either that, or I've been telling my husband that maybe we ought to think about moving South. Somewhere nice and warm and sunny.)

Anyway, when my doctor called this morning he said that my thyroid has flip-flopped from being over-active to under-active. Way underactive. (TSH of 12 -- I've never seen my TSH results that high.) He thinks that's part of the reason why my weight hasn't dropped despite dieting and exercise.

I appreciate how my new doctor takes the time to listen to me. After Wednesday's visit I'm optimistic that he'll find the right approach to helping me feel better. Weight loss would be nice, but right now I'd just like to feel healthy, feel strong.

Grateful for my Body . . .

This is my prayer this morning:

Heavenly Father, I'm grateful for my body. I know you hear me complain about it quite a bit, but today I'm grateful. Really! Despite the health challenges I've struggled with, my body works well. I'm grateful to have eyes to see the beautiful golden hues of fall, to have a nose to smell the acorn squash baking in the oven, to have legs that carry me where I want to go. I especially enjoy using them as I walk Beans to school each morning. She is such a joy. Thank you for sending her to our family.

Speaking of family, I'm grateful to be a mom. The P.C.O.S. I have often makes conceiving children difficult to impossible. Until those little bundles of joy came into my life, I had no conception of what having children would mean for me, how they would change my outlook, alter my perspective, cause, as it were, my heart to walk around outside of my body. I marvel that an imperfect body/person (me) could be part of creating such exquisite individuals.

About my body. I've been feeling dizzy the past few days. Please help that feeling to go away. And while it lasts, please help me to do the best I can. Help me eat smart, not trying to fix how I feel with food. I'm excited to start using hand weights here at home and to use the giant hippity-hop balls we have in a new exercise routine. Give me patience and keep me from getting discouraged while I wait for the dizziness to pass. (If you've taught me anything, it's that all things come to pass.)

I'm thankful for my muscles. They're not as toned as I'd like them to be, but they all seem to work. I'm thankful for modern medicine. For the chance to get a flu shot at the health fair my husband's work sponsored yesterday. And, yippee! My cholesterol levels are awesome! So I guess I'm grateful for fish oil tablets, how they helpled lower my overall number. And whatever made my HDL go up (it's 84!), well thanks for that too. The intricacies and finely balanced system that make up human anatomy never cease to amaze me. I'm so grateful for my body!

Well, that's about it for this morning. I know I've focused this prayer on my body and health, I hope that's okay. I haven't forgotten the needs of those around me. I only ask that you give me the health and strength I need to be able to perform the tasks Thou would have me do. I love serving Thee! Thanks for being my caring and compassionate Heavenly Father. Amen.

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Daily Menu: October 29, 2008

3:00 PM (at the health Fair and after fasting for the blood tests they took)
2 oz. cheese (1)
celery sticks / baby carrots / Ranch dip (4)
4 crackers (7)

4:00 PM
apple juice, 1/2 c. (14)
1 oz. mozzarella, proscuitto & basil roll
salad with cubed pork, celery, cucumber, 1/3 c. pineapple, Ranch dress. (15)

6:40 PM
Swiss Miss hot cocoa pkt., no sugar added (9)
24 pistacios (2)
2+ Tbsp. natural peanut butter (6.5)
2 slices celery (1.5)
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Total net carbs: 60 grams

Eating Together as Husband and Wife . . .

Hubby and I had a long talk about how he's feeling, and how I've been feeling. During the course of our talk the problem became clear to me. We're like oil and water. Our personalities are poles apart, but because we have similar goals and values, we have a stable marriage. It's just that sometimes our oil/water personalities clash. That's when we have to give things a good shake, add a little vinegar and spices and create a great vinegrette!

So here's the thing. I am an action-oriented, try-it kind of person. And my husband is a cautious kind of guy who likes to take things slowly, do his homework, not rock the boat. Yesterday he mentioned feeling anxious/fearful that I'll take my new way of eating (low-carb) to an extreme. Boy did that sound familiar.

Whenever I'm changing things up a bit and trying something new, hubby's knee-jerk response is to feel anxious or fearful. We've gone through this before as it relates to spending money and pursuing business possibilities. He'll watch and wait, anxiety building, until he has to say something. At that point his "whoa!" communications make me feel like he's not being supportive and doesn't understand me.

I'm a responsible kind of gal who has never even carried a balance on our credit card, but in past "whoa" run-ins, Hubby has been been fearful that I'll spend us into bankruptcy. This eating/lifestyle conflict feels just like our past money/budget conflicts.

I need to remember the advice of the counselor I saw a few years ago. He said, "Don't take it personally." Which flummoxed me. As a wife, how do I not take my husband's actions personally? The answer: "Your husband would feel like this, respond like this no matter who he had married. It's not about you. Don't take it personally."

Of course that advice is easier said than followed, but I'm going to use this post as a reminder not to take my hubby's "whoa" responses too personally. That's just him. He's quirky. I'm quirky. And we love each other!
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New Daily Feature: My Low-Carb Food Menu
October 27, 2008

Note: numbers in (parantheses) indicate net carbs

6:16 AM
2 slices of bacon (0)
10 pistacios (1)

7:25 AM
1/2 c. low-fat cottage cheese (5)
8 oz. non-fat yogurt sweetened with sucralose & acesulfame (15)

12:15 PM
salad greens (4)
chicken (0)
salad dressing(3)
veggies (corn, beans, carrots) (6)
1/2 c. pineapple (9)

1:15 PM
1 c. frozen raspberries (6)
1/2 c. half and half(4)
Splenda packet (0)

5:30 PM
chicken/vegetable soup (9)
2 Tbsp.(scant)nat. peanut butter (5)
2 celery sticks (2)
small piece of son's b-day cake (25)
1/2 c. ice cream (18)

Day's Total of Net Carbs: 112