Sunday, November 13

there's good pain and then there's migraine

I'm getting to the age where nothing I do seems to make a dent in my weight. Not that I'm fat, but these tires of blubber around my midsection are very tiresome. I would like to make them go away. In fact, I've been wanting to make my pot belly disappear since I was 15. And that was decades before anyone ever heard the word "liposuction."

I did hear of a cosmetic surgery known as "apronectomy" however. It refers not to the removal of one's apron, of course, but to the fat area that the apron usually covers. I don't know if that word is even used anymore [hm, quickly googling...] yes indeed, still used, but more often called abdominoplasty or tummy tuck. The description of it still sounds as gruesome as ever, too: "A triangular area of skin and underlying fat is removed from hip to hip above the pubic hair and below the umbilicus. The umbilicus is left attached on a stalk. A pocket is made underneath the skin and fat of the upper abdomen as far as the ribs and this skin is then stretched downwards to join the lower incision."

Thank god I can't afford to do it, because if I led the kind of lifestyle where I could, I really might. And some part of me really sees putting oneself through that sort of thing for vanity as insane.

But the vanity remains. Too bad I can't get a "vanitectomy" -- that would save a lot of grief. Instead, I must pull up droopy eyelids and imagine gluing them in place, or ironing out the beginnings of jowls, or plumping up a lipline that appears to be caving in inconveniently. Bah.

Although it's very difficult to change my caloric consumption, one thing I do still have some control over is my fitness, and I'm trying to push myself to keep the metabolic rate up. To motivate myself, I recently started a series of sessions with a personal trainer. It's not that I really need this, but working with a trainer forces you to push yourself more than you would on your own.

As a result, I spend 3-4 days following each session feeling like I've been beaten up. Right now, the muscles around my waist are feeling the burn after doing several sets of some exercise where I hang sideways off this machine and then just pull myself up straight, like a sideways situp. Last week, I couldn't straighten my arms for several days without going OWWWWW. The muscles from my forearm, over my elbow and all the way to my biceps were killing me every time I stretched my arms, and I had to cancel the next lesson. The time before, it was my upper legs and the back of my arms, just above my elbows, that made me yelp even if I picked up the phone receiver and put it to my ear -- for 4 days.

I have to admit, though: I enjoy being bossed by my hunky trainer.

That's the good pain. The migraines are another story, and now they're happening every 3-1/2 weeks, for anywhere from one to three days. Lately I've been trying a new supplement, 5-htp, but so far nothing. Although ... it actually might be putting me in a better mood. The jury's still out. On Thursday, well into day 2 of the headache, I left work early and dragged myself home, only to find that young ms. squarepeg was also home early with a fever and other flu symptoms. And that was my weekend laid out for me. Call this scenario, "Being Indispensable While Coping with Migraine."

Well, the fun's over, I'm back at work feeling like I haven't had a weekend, and it's BOOOOOOOOOOOORing!!!

3 Comments:

At 13/11/05 19:19, Blogger Lucy said...

You poor dear!

(Before I forget: Happy birthday, whenever it may be.)

There's some new migraine medication here that apparently ups your metabolism so much you drop ten pounds almost immediately. It's a preventative medication, but I cannot recall the name of it.

I wish there was a seasonal allergy medication with the same side effect.

 
At 16/11/05 04:16, Blogger dazpup said...

Happy Birthday, I think it is on the 15th. In Tacoma it is the 15th. now, maybe it is the 16th in Israel or the 14th?? No wonder people can't get along we don't live on the same day... SAM

 
At 16/11/05 18:12, Blogger squarepeg said...

thanks for the birthday wishes!

esbee, would love to know the name of that medicine.

noorster, don't knock those bits; they could come in handy (see http://tinyurl.com/d8beb) ;)

 

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