Ocean's Fitness Log

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Hey Ocean! I just wanted to tell you, the hubby and I went on a mini road trip this weekend, and one of the places we went was a Japanese grocery store that we really like (Mitsuwa - in the northwest suburbs of Chicago). I remembered your post from awhile ago about that recipe for the purple sweet potatoes. This grocery store carries purple sweet potatoes, so I bought a few and I'm going to try the recipe this week! I'll let you know how I like it (I will be substituting something, maybe rice, for the sesame seeds since I can't have those, and I'll also be peeling the sweet potatoes, so I'm going to slightly change up the recipe to suit my tummy needs). I'm excited though and wanted to share with you that I finally found purple sweet potatoes.

 

[theOcean]

Ahh, I'm glad! Good luck with the recipe, and tell me how it goes!

Also: I've been (purposely) bad about replying to this thread because I didn't want to respond until I'd worked out again... which I finally did yesterday. Went on the bike, did stretches and some weights but have definitely lost some of what I had before. Couldn't work out as long and got tired much quicker, so I need to work myself to the point where I was before again! I could see myself losing muscle tone in my arms and knew it was time to start again.

I'm seeing my GI today in two hours or so about the hemorrhoid situation... I really want it to get taken care of so I can stop existing on Miralax.

I also need to talk about my job situation, I guess... I got let go the other week because I didn't seem naturally social enough when dealing with customers. But when I've talked about it to others they all think it's actually how I was trained, and that it's my boss's own fault. I was fine at admin stuff and picked it up super fast, but in three weeks she only ever briefly showed me the retail area once and never really trained me properly for that or for phones, and then fired me for not being comfortable with those aspects. So I'm back to looking for a job again, and doing a more intensive look at school to see what I might be good at in the future.

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

I'm sorry to hear about the job situation. It sounds like it's for the best, though. If their solution is to just fire you rather than talk to you/try to re-train you or work with you on whatever issues, then it sounds like your boss wasn't very good. Good luck with your future searching, I hope you can find a job or school program that fits your personality much better. And I totally empathize - I'm a huge introvert and really awkward, and social-type stuff does not come naturally to me either. I can sometimes fake it, but it's definitely not one of my talents. My extent of faking being social is to ask "how are you" and talk about the weather. If the conversation turns to pets then I get happy because I actually can talk about my pets without feeling too awkward. But yeah, I'm basically socially clueless (sometimes I suspect I might have asperger's as I'm literally that awkward, have a hard time with eye contact, and I fit a bunch of the other criteria too). Then sometimes I vascillate between being an over-sharer or just clamming up completely which is even more awkward. I'm probably the least-fun person at parties - thank goodness I almost never go to parties!

I'm glad you're re-focusing on fitness. Try not to let it slip by the wayside again when you get a new job and/or re-enroll in school! Even if you just take quick walks on your breaks from work or in between classes, you should be able to squeeze in workouts here and there. I work a full-time job but I make time for fitness either on my lunch break or after work - sometimes that means I can't do other things, but it's worth it for me to prioritize fitness over other stuff. Anyway, I'm rambling again. Good luck with figuring out what the next chapter in your life is going to be, whether it's school or work or both!

 

[theOcean]

Haven't posted about it (obviously), but I've been working out a bit again the last week or so. I've started using the rowing machine in my building and like it a lot! But I feel like I'm not pushing myself enough, and part of it is because I find I'm just not really a person that sweats. In truth all it would probably take is putting myself back on the treadmill again, which is a good idea anyway because stamina.

Thanks for the comments about the job loss, guys! I'm over it at this point and ready to get back to the job hunt again, sigh. Also looking into school stuff a bit more thoroughly and am hopefully meeting with someone who can give me advice re: future careers. Finding something that a) I actually might like and b) makes me money is pretty difficult. Or at least seems so when I don't know what all my options are...

I also had my GI appointment last week -- I don't have a hemorrhoid! I have an anal skin tag WITH a fissure on it, which is wonderful. I did some quick reading up and it looks like it can be treated somewhat similarly to a hemorrhoid, though... but I've also heard depending on the method there's a risk of incontinence -- I'd guess in case the sphincter muscle is damaged at all?

I need to book an appointment with my surgeon for her to assess. I know that the skin tag appeared around the time all this pain started, so maybe removing that would also deal with this fissure problem because I don't have them anywhere else. I also keep building up a tolerance to Miralax (the only thing that helps keep things livable and pain-free) so then the process just keeps starting over again. I've also been given a topical calcium channel blocker in the meantime but I don't think that will do much, honestly. I just really need to see my surgeon.

 

[CrohnsChicago]

Glad you are back to it! How do you like rowing? I thought about trying it out periodically but the machine looks a bit intimidating and complicated to me lol.

With regards to jobs, what sort of skills do you already have and which ones would you consider/are interested in learning at any point?

I don't know a great deal with regards to hemorrhoids and fissures so I have no comment on the incontinence but I'm sure someone else can chime in on that. Definitely sounds like a localized issue if you have no other pains so hoping that whatever treatment you need will fix your other symptoms.

I know what you mean about Miralax tolerance. I feel like I need a little bit more these days to get things moving if I eat too much fiber or am feeling a bit backed up for whatever reason. The only thing I could maybe suggest is that other ways I manage to get things moving is via ginger tea and juicing fruits and veggies for detox. Maybe take a day if you are able to predominately drink your meals and see if it helps to start cleansing out your system?

 

[Cat-a-Tonic]

Ocean, when you say you're not a person that sweats - do you mean physically your body doesn't produce sweat (meaning a workout would be very uncomfortable) or do you mean you just don't enjoy sweating?

As for your fissure & skin tag - I've had fissures but never on a skin tag! That sounds pretty awful and I hope you can figure out a way to get it to heal.