Getting Healthier in 2011 – October Health Goals

Since starting my “Getting Healthier in 2011″ series, I have accomplished the following goals for my health:

1. Getting allergies under control – I used to have allergy attacks on a very regular basis.  Now they only come rarely…very rarely!
2. Lost 10 lbs of body fat, and people are noticing!  Heck yeah!
3. Elimination of acid reflux symptoms for a year (these recently returned, but more on that below)
4. Pain management improvement – While I still have some back, shoulder and neck pain, physical therapy and changes in my activity and posture are making a positive difference.

Obviously, coming up with monthly health goals, even when I don’t stick with them as much as I’d like, is helping me to make a positive change in my health and wellness.

What I’m doing for my health right now

Take your vitamins!

I take Vitamin C Supplements on a daily basis in the form of Emergen-C (which also contains B- Vitamins) 1-3 times per day.  That’s 1,000-3,000 mg of Vitamin C every day to boost my immune system, help with allergies and asthma, and assist me with my weight loss goals.

I take Flaxseed Oil on a daily basis containing 1,100 mg of omega 3 fatty acids per day to assist with weight loss and to help boost my mood.  I find it helps when I stick to it, but I don’t always do this.

I take Quercetin (500 mg) daily for allergies and energy in addition to Chaste Tree Berry (400-440 mg) to help with PMS symptoms.  The Chaste Tree Berry definitely makes a huge difference.  The Quercetin helps with my allergies, but I haven’t noticed any difference in my energy.

I have continued taking my prescribed medications including Zyrtec (Cetirizine) and Prozac (Fluoxetine).  I take Nasonex steroid nasal spray as needed for allergies.

I recently increased my dose of Prozac on the advice of my doctor.  However, this change made my symptoms worse, so I’ve reduced my dose back down, and I’m waiting to hear back from my doctor to decide what the next step will be.

Health Goals for October

Don’t gain weight. I’m not going to try to lose weight (maybe I am subconsciously, but it’s not going to be a goal), but I just don’t want to gain any weight back.  I will continue brewing my own coffee at home as much as possible and avoiding Starbucks (I’m there now, but whatever – haha) as much as possible.  A few when I crave it is fine, but mostly, I will make my own coffee and avoid sweets as much as I can.

Image by epSos.de via Flickr

Get more sleep. I will go through spurts of getting plenty of rest, but then I stay up late one night and throw off my entire sleep cycle and end up exhausted.  I need to decide on a bed time and stick with it!

Discuss options with doctor to treat dysthymia.  Upping my antidepressant dose hasn’t helped. In fact, it made me worse.  So I need to have a discussion with my doctor on another option and consider seeing a psychiatrist and therapist for better care.

Continue Physical Therapy and do my exercises at home to reduce back, neck and shoulder pain.

Continue taking supplements. Try to take them more consistently and regularly.

Continue prescribed medications.

Go Gluten Free!!!

Quinoa - my favorite gluten free grain

Yes. I went gluten free for a couple of week long or 2 week long spurts.  Each time I go gluten free, I feel pretty good.  Once I eat gluten again, my acid reflux returns with a vengeance.   It’s excruciating.

I’ve been gluten free before, and when I was, I didn’t have all the pain and mood issues that I have now. I also didn’t have as many issues with my sinuses.  I was better all around.  It’s time to go back to what worked for me in the past and stop eating gluten and crappy processed junk!

Learn About Mindfulness Techniques

I’m learning a little bit about being mindful. A good friend, who seems to be the most relaxed, peaceful and in tune person I’ve met in my whole life, is helping me a bit with this process. She introduced me to it, and she’s allowed me to borrow some books as well.  This will help me to connect with my thoughts, take control of those thoughts, help me to enjoy my life more fully and reduce my stress.

Don’t Eat the Halloween Candy!!

I think these are good goals for October.  I will add more posts later about going gluten free and mindfulness techniques as I go.

Question:  What are your health and wellness goals for October?  How did you do last month in September?