inkstained

A year ago, a dear friend escaped from a fire. She survived due to her own resourcefulness and strength and spent a long time in recovery and rehabilitation, but she is alive and creatively kicking ass. I have a lot of things to be thankful for, but this is at the top of my list. 

I am really thankful for my body and what it does for me. I'm struggling with aging, which is just a part of life. Aging and death happens to all of us no matter how amazing our bodies are. But my body is doing a wonderful job. It is a middle aged body, but that just means it's been holding me together for more than half a century while I have my adventures and nourish or don't nourish it well.

On Tuesday, I have my annual and will be having my bloodwork done. In anticipation, I've been concentrating on upping my fiber these past three weeks while also trying to eat enough protein and not overeat. It's hard to be so conscious of what I put in my mouth while also trying to manage my other life obligations and needs. It probably won't make a difference - I anticipate high cholesterol and maybe even blood sugar issues common with perimenopause. I need to schedule in time on Monday to plan my argument for HRT because I think that will help my body during this time of transition. It's something I've been thinking about for a while to help with things that lots of women experience when estrogen drops:

-Cholesterol levels (I recently learned why - cholesterol is a building block for estrogen so when the body makes less estrogen, cholesterol levels naturally rise, leading to a host of cholesterol related issues.)
-Tendon and joint issues
-Memory issues
-Sleep issues
-Temperature regulation issues which feed into sleep issues
-Emotional regulation including rage and anxiety
-Increased inflammation (which makes recovery from exercise harder and prolongs tendon and joint issues also affecting exercise)
-Increased rate of muscle and bone loss (we all go through this as we age but during perimenopause, the rate increases)

Despite all this chaos, I am grateful for my body. It still lets me run. It still protects me from diseases and heals when I do too much and injure myself.