If we remember, in January of last year my brother discovered some heart issues and cardiologists suggested I needed to watch out for a few things myself.
The big things they suggest changing (and really, all of us could/would benefit from these) are diet and exercise. For me specifically it is to watch sugar, starch and carbs, and to up exercise.
I'm waiting to talk to a Nutritionist just to clarify a few things as what might be best for heart disease may not be best for prediabetes and so it's a little confusing. But I'm trying to reduce sugar and increase good things and watch others.
In terms of exercise, I've been working at getting myself back to the gym. It has been less than wonderful in a few ways, most notably, certain parts of my body not wanting to do anything and so causing pain.
So now that we've caught up a bit, it's time for me to talk about the pool, and swimming.
I talked about it a bit here, but I have sort of wanted to and meant to try swimming for a long time but have had a lot of .... "issues?" with it. Back in January I made the big leap forward to reduce some pool fears and then at some point after that I actually got into the pool for a swim.
It was, for me, a really big deal.
Swimming is something that practitioners have suggested I do for ages as it can be easier on the body than some other forms of exercise. And when I started to up my cardio, I'd get little injuries here and there and I didn't want to be set back by them but I also didn't want to make them chronic or serious so I wanted to throw swimming in there as a cardio option and so I did.
Now, I'm not like everyone, but I do know myself a bit better these days so I made sure I was comfortable and that meant me getting some things before I hit the pool. It was a little bit of an expense, but has made the process easier for me so I'm glad I did it.
I got swim type shoes for walking around the pool (and not having to go barefoot), I got a "wet bag" to carry wet stuff home in, and after my first attempt at showering with soap, I got some liquid soap and a poofy shower thing and, I also got a swim cap but that's a whole other story let me tell you!!!
But yeah. I've been getting myself into the pool and I'm really proud of myself for that. I did have to kind of push myself the first few times but it actually helped a bit to have an "injured" hip or knee or whatever it was because I couldn't do the bike or the treadmill but still wanted cardio.
Not that swimming hasn't caused some pain itself and some issues around realizing I have no swim skills anymore and can't even breathe "properly", but I'm making it work. And that's what counts.
I have noticed some improvement. I wish I'd written it down but I swear the first few times I'd go in I'd get to one end, rest for a bit and then get to the other end and rest for a bit whereas now I'm not resting for the time I'm in there. It's just weird because I swear it doesn't feel like I'm exercising or even getting my heart rate up, probably because I'm not warm or seeing/feeling sweat in the water, but when I stop and feel my pulse it's certainly not at rest so... I must be getting some activity, right?
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