Taking Some Time Out To Write

Most of the visitors here know that my main passion is my writing. If you didn’t know that, go check out the Links page, it’s pretty self-explanatory. But what you may not know is that, during the last few weeks, my writing has taken a serious back-seat to my desire to eat and behave healthier.

Well, with the pain coming back, rather than be discouraged, I am choosing to make the most of being stuck on the couch by taking the time to get some writing done! I have my third novel to work on, and I am determined to finish it this year, along with my goals of losing the weight and getting healthier.

I am taking control of all aspects of my life. I will not let my pain control what I do any longer. I have this year to get things in order — until the end of November, really — and I want these behaviors to become habits well before then. I want to be up and moving around when I am able, eating better, fresher foods when I am capable of preparing them, and writing when I am not.

It’s the best way to maximize my time. I have a 10-day window currently to be up and active. Then it’s more blood tests to look for other autoimmune disorders that we haven’t checked for yet, but until then… I have 10 days of prednisone to help with the inflammation and the pain. They couldn’t prescribe longer, it’s just my regular doctor’s office, not a pain specialist. I get it — longer prescriptions of steroids cause nasty side effects and really nasty withdrawals at the end. I don’t want that. My doctors don’t want that. Nobody wants that.

So I have 10 days to be up, to be active, to be even a little tiny bit manic so I can kick-start my weight loss again. I was doing so well on the Methyl Prednisolone treatment, I dropped 11 lbs in a week! It just goes to show, a fair amount of the excess weight I’m dealing with is inflammation. Not all, mind you, but it’s like dropping water weight at the beginning of a journey. It’s so rewarding to see that number drop so quickly at the beginning! Very encouraging. In my case, it’s inflammation, and the steroids reduce it. When I go off the steroids, some of the inflammation comes back, and so does some of the weight. I’m back up to 368, where I got as low as 361. It’s frustrating, but at least I understand why it’s happening.

So here we go again, we’re testing my theory to see if salad kits and prednisone will help reduce my inflammation and therefore my weight. I think they will. And when I have to go off the steroid and the inflammation and pain come back, I can sit here on my comfy couch and write. I’ll still have my salads!