IzabelaKaramia

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

in front of my thighs and I felt happy to know she was right beside me.

I definitely seem to be generating more body heat, though it wasn't quite enough yesterday to deal with the damp chill and temps in the low 50s much of the day, though it did warm up towards 60 in the late afternoon and there was actually steady sunshine so I took a short easy bike ride of 30 minutes to enjoy the feel of sunlight upon me.

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

During the night one point when I was awake and falling back asleep I realized that it was about a year ago that I got Dinker Donkers as I bought him around the time I got the swimsuit for summer last year. I bought him because his stuffing has weighting to it and it gives him a more solid feel...

and I missed having Brinkley, aka Binker Bonkers, sleeping with me.

So he's part of the sleeping arrangement we now have with Ginza, Dinker Donkers, and me.

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

Now heating up 2nd breakfast.

Something that people who aren't type 1 diabetics are likely not all that aware of is how much work and thinking there is for a type 1 diabetic who wants to do aerobic endurance activities. Although I think now there are some closed-loop insulin pump and CGM systems that are capable of handling things...

but I've never used an insulin pump and so I have to do a lot of thinking and plotting about when to eat, when to do things, all because

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

of how fast I can burn through blood sugar when walking, running, cycling if I have too much insulin in me.

My basic rule is to avoid exercise when I still have bolus insulin remaining from meals. There are some minor exceptions and workarounds, but it's still more dangerous with risk of exercise induced hypoglycemia.

In that way, I sometimes feel like I never have the freedom many people have, to just go out and run. And I'm constantly making notes on paper and in my head about

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

the difficulties that can occur.

But being able to run? It's so worth it to me to have pieced together the knowledge I have of myself and operating the pancreas in a manual simulation of its functions.

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

In the past that extra work of working around food and meal bolus insulin sometimes made me skip meals...

There's something unfortunately on point on how I ended up with crushing fatigue that was apparently caused by nutritional deficiency, in particular magnesium deficiency.

Which is why now I often toot about getting food in me and how important it is. Super important because recovery only gets harder the older you get and I'm 54 years old. I sometimes feel like

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

this might be the last chance I get to get myself running again, running well enough that it becomes a daily or near daily activity for me and that I will be able to run half-marathons again, my favorite racing distance for running.

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

I turned to look at Ginza and smiled at how comfortable she looked sleeping on the bed. Then I grabbed the phone to take a photo or two. I like this one that shows while she is sleeping deeply, she has her fang ready.

I also figured I could post a photo from last evening showing the way how she will sometimes fold her paws in front of her chest instead of tucking them under in usual cat loaf form.

#CatsOfMastodon

Ginza is up on her cat tree and perched in a loafy position. She has her left paw folded in front of her right paw.

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

If it gets sunny and proper warm this afternoon, I'll likely go for a 10 mile or so easy paced bike ride. Just go that dawdling pace, enjoy the sensation of warm sun on me and moving myself and bike through space. I don't know why it is, but the past month and a half has made it clear that movement and covering distance is an important thing to me. It was rather hard on me being crushed down by fatigue and not getting the enjoyment from the stimulation movement provides me.

IzabelaKaramia, 5 days ago

Ginza does amazing paw work. Look at her using her front paws to be a pillow for her head. #CatsOfMastodon

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

But even if I lost mental recharging time yesterday because of the rain, I probably gained physical recharging with the rest and how I ate 4 meals, with dinner being particularly large. So yesterday was net positive that way.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

Sometimes I wonder if all the years where I wasn't getting all the nutrition I needed numbed me to my sense of hunger. But now that I am getting everything I need and my body can feel itself getting better, it's lighting up my sensation of hunger to try to get me to eat more and more...

and maybe then I can finally feel about as well as may be possible for me.

But wow there are times I just get so so hungry.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

Still overcast and chilly damp outside, the temp still hasn't reached 50F. Can't say I'm too impressed with the PNW's reluctance to warm up to properly warm temperatures in the late spring.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

Always make sure to tell your kitty cat they're a good cat every day.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

Slowly getting myself ready to take an easy ride on the bicycle. Just gonna do some loops around the home basically. I've decided it'd be good to make this week pretty much all easy and cut back on time and mileage. I've been increasing every week in activity time and distance for 5 or 6 weeks and it'd be smart to let my body have extra recovery time so it can catch up.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

8 years ago on this date in 2016, a year where I ran at least one mile each day and ran more than 2000 miles for the year, I ran 4.6 miles.

4 days later I started a somewhat impromptu goal of running at least 10 miles each for 10 straight days, taking advantage of the Memorial Day weekend so I'd have an extra day off from work in that time. On workdays I'd run before and after work to collect the 10 miles.

That end of May surge got me close to 250 miles running that month.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

I had 7 more months of good running left in my legs. And then running stopped feeling fun and good though I persisted for a while after.

But I didn't know then I had outrun my nutritional input for too long thanks to exocrine pancreatic insufficiency growing worse in me. Didn't get that diagnosed until the end of 2022.

It's been a long climb back to get to here and now where at least I'm walking and cycling again.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

All right time to go ride. Hope to do around 7-10 easy paced miles. I hope it doesn't feel too damp and chilly.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago (edited 6 days ago)

2 loops for a 7.5 mile bike ride. I would have liked to do a 3rd loop but it's just too chilly and damp out there for me today.

Now I'm gonna eat a quick meal, hope that the weather actually clears to some sunshine and take a walk in about 2 to 2.5 hours.

IzabelaKaramia, 6 days ago

Took a 1.8 mile walk and immediately ate dinner after it.

One thing that shows my legs have more strength now is that today when I did my ride, I kept it in the biggest gear the old mountain bike has. It's pretty flat round here but there had been some places with enough slope to them I would shift down a few gears, but today my legs said I didn't need to do that anymore.

IzabelaKaramia, 7 days ago

Super wet and gross out there, unless there's a break in the precip I'll probably have a zero day for walking and cycling.

I'm okay with that. It might even be better than doing anything like that anyhow, but maybe especially so in weather like this which could make me feel miserable and weaken the immune system.

I have done the Awesomiser drill once today since it can be done inside. I'll probably do it again before going to bed.

IzabelaKaramia, 7 days ago

Cooking up chicken thighs in the cast iron pan.

Rain continues outside, at times heavy enough to hear it against the windows.

Looking forward to eating a big dinner. More nutrients is always a good choice for me.

IzabelaKaramia, 7 days ago

I ate a gigantic dinner. So so hungry.

So today is just going to be a rest day from physical activity and take in a lot of calories and nutrients. That's a good day for me with where I am currently. It should move me along to a healthier me.