Health Journey-

 I had a doctor's appointment today and we talked more in depth about exercise; and I learned some things about myself.

For a long time I went to OrangeTheory Fitness and literally worked my tail end off doing 60 minute HIIT workouts at 5:00 o'clock in the morning five days a week.  I left after an hour having burned 500 calories and exhausting every muscle in my body.  It's a tough workout and I was pretty committed for a long time.  For years I didn't see any results (except mental health and friends made); in fact I gained weight (not muscle) and it showed in all the parts of my body that were already heavy.  I finally stopped going after it shut down for COVID and then I just couldn't muster up the energy to keep going.  Plus it's way too expensive and I didn't find the value anymore.

Today I asked my doctor if there was ever a possibility of going back to a workout like this; for the last five or so months I've been advised to do 20 minute HIIT, with three minutes of rest and 30 second all-out exhaustion, five times. So I've been walking at a normal pace on the treadmill and then running at 6.2 miles an hour for 30 seconds.  (It's way doable. It's like five songs that I love and then it's done!)  My doctor told me I could try it one day, but that probably not.  My body's chemistry, at least right now, supports this 20-minute type of HIIT, and if I want to add in any other high exertion then I should look at weight lifting.  Things like OTF are extra hard on my adrenal glands, which have an effect on: my immune system, my metabolism, blood sugar balance, lots of other hormones, and my response to stress.  So basically for all the hundreds and hundreds of times I worked out at OTF, I was putting extra stress on my body, which essentially made it go into a protective storage state (i.e. weight gain), caused extra fatigue, and did more harm than good to my body.  Side note: I think OTF is just fine, and other HIIT programs- not just for my body right now.

How would I have ever known that about myself, my own body, what works the best, and what doesn't? And how would I have ever known the specific foods my body has an intolerance to ('healthy things' to most people)? 

It made me start thinking of this pandemic going on, all the millions of people who are sick, and all of the millions and millions of dollars being spent on it for one reason or another.  It's my own (likely naive) opinion that if we took those millions and millions of dollars and helped people figure out their own immune systems, their own body chemistry, what helps and what doesn't help, how everything is connected... things might look a little different.  Why haven't I gotten sick, but my neighbor who is overboard germ phobic and careful with everything, got extremely sick and broke out in shingles?  Why did my co-worker die at age 54 and another friend had a congested nose?  Why did the vaccine have no effect on one person but caused havoc in my body?  It's not COVID or the vaccine- it's immune systems, what threats do to each specific immune systems, how our own individual systems work.  

It shouldn't take me thousands of dollars (that my paid healthcare insurance doesn't find worthy to pay for) in order to find out how my body works.  It's definitely my responsibility to do my own research, pay attention to my body and learn from it, study what I can- but I'm no doctor.

That's my rant.

Nevertheless, I can find a lot to be grateful for, and I believe a grateful heart will make grateful choices, so I will keep my opinions to myself and respect other people's.  :)  I am grateful for this body that gets up every day, that exercises and loves it (even minimal exercise), for doctors who understand genetics, body chemistry, and biology; I'm grateful for my family who supports me, for music to listen to when I run, for a place to record my thoughts, for opportunities that come my way each day, for the past I learn from, from healing foods, and of course for a God who knows and loves me, and counts each effort I make.