Tag: Health Goals

It’s My Birthday and I’m Celebrating!

“A Black Dog”
Photo by Ken Reid on Unsplash

It’s my 57th Birthday! I don’t normally do much to celebrate the day but as I grow older, I have decided to celebrate these milestones. Each year that I reach has become milestones because the doctor in my youth diagnosing Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) said I would not be walking much 40! Well, I am.

When I was in my 20’s I learned a trick to help me to get through the challenges of CMT. The trick is to celebrate or acknowledge accomplishments as I fight physical battles with a gift or celebration. Of course, there needs to be a goal set that should be challenging. The goals have included completing a series of physical therapy sessions without skipping or canceling one, swimming more laps and surviving it, following a water workout regiment and being successful, and walking the dog a set amount of miles. You can create or determine the gift or celebration at the time of creating the goal or once you reach it. I’ve waited until I reach the goal and go from there. Most of the time it is something simple like a few CD’s I’d been wanting or something from my railfanning interests like a book. Sometimes, it’s a big celebration.

When I turned 55, I celebrated it by taking a trip to the western Pennsylvania area to see a Chessie System locomotive which CSX Transportation had recently repainted as well as visiting the Horseshoe Curve National Historic Landmark in Altoona, PA. A week of trains was awesome. I celebrated the day by taking the stairs up the side of the mountain at Horseshoe Curve just to prove to myself and to celebrate I can do it. After all, I wasn’t to be walking at 55! This trip took planning to make it special.

For my 57th, I do not have anything special except to do what makes me happy! Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, I will not get to go to church today. We usually go out to dinner with the church family after the Worship Service. I will miss that on this day. However, I might have to walk out on my deck naked, jump up and down, and shout ‘Happy Birthday!” a few times. But, I will celebrate the day taking a very long walk with my dog. He makes me happy and enjoys my company. I might have to grill a steak or something and drop a piece for him.

For me, birthdays are personal. I have never ever been one who enjoys parties or gatherings with other people, especially for my birthday. When the office would celebrate the birthdays in a month, I always dreaded it. This is why I will pay attention to what makes me happy and celebrate my birthday as I like.

Oh, and, this day acknowledges 17 years of walking past age 40!

Happy New Year!

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I love the new year. To me, it gives a chance to evaluate what went right and what went wrong in the last year health-wise, that is. When I do this, it gives me the opportunity to realize where I can improve myself this next year.

For someone with Charcot-Marie-Tooth, setting health goals might seem a little silly or maybe even stupid. No, not at all. I can have goals to try to reach, but, I need to be wise with what goals I set. For example, in 2017, I walked 312 miles. Of course, this was with the encouragement of my dog! I set a goal to walk further than that. I think I set it to be around 350 miles. Surprisingly, I made it!

The setting of a health goal, made me get off my behind and go for a walk! Instead of being totally lazy, I walked. As I mentioned, it helped quite a bit that my dog wanted to go out for a walk too. He always reminded me to go for a walk and not to forget!

Another goal I realized in 2018 was to take advantage of the Deep Water Aerobics classes on a regular basis. The classes are offered 5-days a week. Since I tend to “burn out” on repetitive activities like taking the class every single day but Sunday, I planned to take the class every Tuesday and Thursday when I am in town. Maybe on Mondays when I might miss one of those days. I succeeded in attending my classes and will plan it again in 2019.

Health goals, as I call them, for someone having Charcot-Marie-Tooth needs to be reasonable. For me to decide in 2019 to walk 500 miles is unreasonable. It is 150 miles over what I did in 2018. I might aim for 375. An easy way for me to think about it is a mile day and a little more here and there. However, if I aim too high and get too ambitious, I could hurt myself and get discouraged with not making my goal. Too low and I might feel like I didn’t accomplish anything.

An important aspect to keep in mind, is if you miss a day or two, don’t stress about it, just pick right up and get going again. For me, it took many years to reach the about to walk very far- it did not happen overnight.

Using an app on your Smartphone to track miles walked and any other exercise is really a great way to track your success.

As always, talk to your doctor about health goals and any, and all, exercise routines. Each Charcot-Marie-Tooth patient can have different symptom and situations. Your doctor will know what’s best for you.