It's unlikely I'll add a nifty picture to this post. Definitely not a selfie. The New Year, New You me is, meh.
Many friends and readers know that I live with CPT II deficiency. For those who don't, the quick explanation is that I am missing an enzyme (carnitine) that directly affects the strength of my leg muscles. As the neurologist who diagnosed me in high school explained, from the moment I put my feet on the ground in the morning, my legs have half the strength of the average person. The weakness in the muscles sometimes turns to pain.
The doctor's treatment protocol included sending me to a registered dietitian. I can control the pain partially through a diet that introduces carnitine and the foods that help my body metabolize it properly, and partially through moderating my exercise. In high school, that meant giving up basketball in order to keep playing tennis and throwing the shot-put and discus on the track team.
When I think of sitting in the UCSD Hospital office of that RD, learning that I had to give up most all kinds of fat and use MCT oil instead as the ingredient to metabolize the carnitine, I wonder if my 16-year-old self would have believed that one day I would be advising students in the Department of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at a university nearly 1,500 miles to the north. In other words, I am surrounded by RDs, and those training to become RDs, all day. It's a lovely kind of serendipity.
But, ... Days 5, 6, and 7: The struggle is real
Friday morning, Day 5 of the New Year, New You: Healthy Lifestyle Challenge, brought with it some deep leg pain. It let up slightly yesterday, and returned in the wee hours of this morning. I did too much on Thursday. Used my standing desk all day, walked several miles as part of a meeting and catch-up with a faculty friend, and then rode my bike hard for 30 minutes.
Mid-way through the work day on Friday, still using my standing desk, I muttered aloud, I'm struggling today. It took another hour or so before I admitted I needed to sit, on the couch, with my legs fully elevated. It meant giving up the big monitor for my laptop only, but the relief was good. And if I am honest, probably several hours late. Which is why for Day 6 and today, Day 7, the sense of struggle is still so real.
My Challenge teammates and I have a group text going, but I have not let them know how I am feeling. I am going to count that as an act of self-sabotage, and take away points for the day. The committee, after all, that designed this challenge knew we would hit walls. And who better to help you over a wall than a teammate, a buddy, or two or six?
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