Ch-ch-ch-chia!

I have had trouble posting. I feel like my progress is still slow. Friends that haven’t seen me for a few weeks or a month say I’m doing great. I feel pretty good. I have really focused on my health and coming from me you all know this is very new. My physical therapist has been great at helping me build my strength. She considers me one of her “high-functioning” patients. This is very good for my ego, but makes me wonder how low that bar is set. The one exercise I can’t seem to master is standing on a couch cushion with my eyes closed. I keep telling her I’m not sure I could have done that before GBS but she promises me I could. I would be interested in how many of you can. Of course I would also be concerned if many of you have been doing this in your spare time, but I guess that would be a different conversation.

Sadly I’m still eating large amounts of the girl scout cookies… but I am trying to cook more. I have found some great recipes on Pinterest – Carmel bars, lemon bars, chocolate coconut pie. Again, this is not helping the healthy eating so I decided to balance all of this with Chia Seeds! (Yes they are the same as the Chia Pets) These are little miracle seeds, high in Omega -3’s, Fiber, Protein. I could go on and on about them but I’ll let you Google it for yourself. I put them in my cereal, protein shakes, eggs, everything I can. I have learned I can’t add them to Diet Coke. That was a bad experiment, looked like something between snot and what my dog had coughed up. I wouldn’t recommend that. Otherwise they are wonderful! The best part, if I stop eating them I can grow my own pet!

I still get tired pretty easily so I’ve been looking for activities to stay busy but not over exert myself (that is a nice way to say get my ass off the couch). I found a yoga class that meets on Monday nights in my neighborhood. She can’t possibly be ready for yoga? You are right, but this is Laugh Yoga. For 45 minutes I hang out with 30 other strangers and laugh. Laughter Yoga combines laughter with Yogic Breathing (Pranayama). Once I read this, I knew I was in!

”10 minutes of healthy laughter is equal to 30 minutes on the rowing machine. Laughter is the best cardio workout. As an exercise it has similar benefits as compared to any other aerobic activities like jogging, dining swimming and cycling.” 

Is anyone really surprised that I would find a way around actually jogging? Whether I had GBS or not? I will keep you posted on the benefits of Laugh Yoga and Chia Seeds. This could be the beginning of a whole new healthy me, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of my Diet Coke.