09.07.08
Wii Fit!
I have a new game to distract me from work – but at least this time it’s somewhat beneficial to me! I got the Wii Fit!
I know it’s no replacement for real sports or weight-lifting workouts, but it’s a great way to get me off of my butt when I’m too lazy to work out, or when it’s cold outside.
I like the Wii itself – especially the tennis and golf sports games, so I was eager to get the Wii Fit. I also read in “Delivered from Distraction” by Edward Hallowell and John Ratey that balance board training helped some kids with their ADHD symptoms, so maybe working on the Wii Fit Balance Board will help my concentration, too!
04.23.08
Minor Achievement
OK, well I’m really only writing this because I need *someone* to share my minor success with… no one’s here at the office to celebrate, so I figured this type of achievement is an ADD-blog-worthy topic. I overcame a big obstacle in my quest to start exercising again (notice, it’s a quest just to get started, I’m sure you understand) – I rode my bike to work today!!
Google maps says it’s exactly 2 miles, and it is quite hilly. I walked my bike up the ‘big’ hill right outside my neighborhood (that scary hill was the biggest excuse for me not to ride, until my super-athletic sister said “Renee, you could just walk your bike up the hill.” – she disabled my biggest excuse! The nerve!), but I rode the rest of the way, stopping at the several intersections in-between.
I rode on the sidewalk, which is actually illegal here, but I’m too afraid to ride in the street on a small highway – even with a lot of intersections, cars go pretty fast on that road. I’ll leave the road-riding to my spandex-clad tour-de-france-in-training aerodynamic-helmeted friends. It would be funny if I rode an aerodynamic helmet, riding my brakes all the way down the steep hills.
So anyway, all winter I said I’d get outside and exercise when it got warm, then during the last couple weeks when it started warming up, I felt so lazy from being a bum all winter, that it was hard to get started. So, I thought I’d start big, and I made it!
I am in an upbeat mood now, and feel focused, so I think I’ll be able to get a lot done today. I’ve heard exercise helps ADD, and I’ve posted about it before (see the Exercise category), so in addition to helping me get fit, maybe this is the start of a new round of ADD self-treatment, too.
Now let’s hope I can get back home….
01.06.08
New Source of Exercises
Hi!
Well, I’m not really “back”, but I had a few spare minutes and thought I’d share something new with you. I know that physical health is definitely related to ADD and mental well-being in general, so I decided to join the millions of other people with a New Year’s resolution of “Get In Shape”.
I’m not really overweight, though I could stand to lose 5 lbs in my mid-section (especially after reading the previous post by Joan about waist-to-hip ratio… when I gain weight, it’s always around my tummy, and I have a really flat butt!), but I do want to gain some muscle tone and get back to the shape I was in a few years ago.
Problem is, back then I had a great college dining hall (yes, my school had delicious and healthy food), with fresh salads and seasoned veggies available at every meal that required no preparation from me, and I was in the college’s Tae Kwon Do club. With the easy healthy food that I didn’t have to shop for, wash, chop, etc. and with more time on my hands, I managed to have a pretty good diet. Lately, I’ve been eating pretty poorly, especially since there’s a convenient fast-food joint downstairs from my office that is open late when I’m working after-hours.
My main problem, though, is that I really had become sedentary over the last couple months. I used to attend rigorous hour-long Tae Kwon Do workouts 3 times a week. Now, I barely work out at all, and it’s showing. I have all of the normal excuses – I’m super-busy, I don’t want to pay for an expensive gym membership I probably won’t use, it’s too cold outside to take walks or ride a bike regularly, I’m tired after work and don’t want to go anywhere but home…. but now I found a solution that has been working for me for the past couple weeks: on-demand “free” cable workouts!
I put “free” in quotes, because I’m (over)paying for Comcast cable, and the on-demand service is part of the service package I have. I only recently discovered these workout videos because I thought the only on-demand things that were available were rental movies, or pay-per-view boxing fights. Boy, was I wrong! I finally looked through the menu, and there are “cable favorites” (re-run TV shows), older movies, and a ton of 10-30 minute exercise videos On-Demand at no extra cost! I can pause, rewind, etc. and play them any time I want! I don’t have to have buyers remorse after paying for a video in the store because if I don’t like the personality of the fitness guru, or the exercises they want me to do, I can just try another one! Yay! I’m so excited.
So, you ADDers out there that either 1) misplace rarely-used exercise DVDs, or 2) have energy late at night when the gyms are closed, or 3) have the excuses I had above, or 4) get bored doing the same exercises every day – check out your cable on-demand shows! You might come across the good selection of short workout videos that I did.
09.08.07
Other People’s Blogs
Jeff ’s ADD Mind
I like this new blog I’ve been reading, called “Jeff’s A.D.D. Mind”:
http://jeffsaddmind.com/shoot-me-now-the-cure-for-adult-add-75.htm
He has found, like I have, that exercise and music can help alleviate the symptoms, too! That’s inspiration to help me get back into exercising, since I’ve been slacking in that department.
Oh, and he also makes piles of stuff, like I do.
Though, I might add as Jeff does, to keep this in mind: DNWFE
Shortattentionspan Man
The “ShortAttentionSpan Man” blog has 2 great posts detailing what it can be like to think with ADD. One account was posted by one of the blog’s authors, “Shortspan Man” here:
http://shortspan.wordpress.com/2007/09/06/the-way-my-mind-works/
And the other (hilarious) one that I’m sure many of you ADD readers will identify with, by the other of the blog’s authors, “Mr. Sidetrack” here:
http://shortspan.wordpress.com/2007/08/07/warts-on-a-hill/
Check them both out! And have a good weekend.
08.09.07
Blast From the Past Exercise Videos
I found some exercise videos on Google Video (YouTube) that my gym teacher used to make us do in class. They’re really “old school”, which you can tell by the music, outfits, and the lead guy’s reference to women wearing shoulder pads!
However, they are only 8 minutes long and the exercises change about every 30 seconds – perfect for my ADD brain. You can’t get bored with an exercise before the next one starts! So, I just finished “8 minute Abs” and “8 minute Arms” and bookmarked the rest. I haven’t watched all of them, so let me know if any of the videos are messed up.
Here are the links:
07.17.07
I wish I were a kid in Wisconsin….
OK, well I don’t wish that too often. It’s chilly up north! But, look at what I found online:
ThedaCare “Empower Me!” Summer Camp for Kids with ADHD
This medical center puts on summer camps for kids with ADD that expose them to a lot of different activities and help them learn techniques to manage their ADD.
Activities include:
- Art Projects
- Music Therapy
- Yoga
- Therapy Dog
- Karate
- A day with horses
- Computers
- Ropes Course
I love how the schedule (here - PDF) has little down time, and a lot of variety – sounds so fun! I took Tae Kwon Do as a kid and my parents said it helped me learn discipline (well, a little) and wore me out so they didn’t have to deal with so much hyperactivity! I also love music, art, computers, and animals, so I would have totally loved this camp.
06.28.07
Exercise on iTunes
I get bored with exercises really easily. I can’t watch the same video more than a couple times, and just laying on the floor doing situps and pushups just isn’t exciting enough for me to do regularly. So, I found some short exercise “podcasts” on iTunes. Even though they are called podcasts, you don’t have to watch them on a video iPod. I just watch them on my computer screen.
Some of the free podcasts are pretty lame, but I found one that is somewhat interesting. My favorite one at the moment is called “Workout Wherever” and is (surprisingly) created by the directors of Jazzercise. It’s designed for travelers, so you can do the exercises without a lot of space or equipment. All you need is something a little heavy (like a textbook or laptop case), a chair, and a resistance band. I don’t have a resistance band, so I just skip those particular exercises. The lady shows you how to do the move, tells you how many to do, then moves on. It’s nice and quick, and the exercises easily fit into my 15-30 min daily exercise goal. I have downloaded 9 of the workouts, so I can pick and choose which exercises I want to do.
If you know of any other good exercise video podcasts, let me know in the comments!
06.13.07
Daily Goal #3: GABA Supplement + Multivitamin
Here is an excerpt from Dr. Amen’s article, which you can read here: http://amenclinics.com/bp/articles.php?articleID=10
“From a medication standpoint I have seen antiseizure (also called anticonvulsant) medications be the most helpful for temporal lobe problems. One of the mechanisms these medications work is by enhancing the amino acid gama-aminobutyric acid (GABA). GABA is an essential neurotransmitter in the brain. It is formed in the body from glutamic acid. It’s function is to decrease neuron activity and inhibit nerve cells from overfiring or firing erratically. GABA can be taken as a supplement. It acts like an anticonvulsant and also as an anti-anxiety agent. In the herbal literature it is reported to work in much the same way as diazepam (Valium), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), and other tranquilizers, but without fear of addiction. I have seen it have a nice calming effect on people who struggle with temper, irritability, and anxiety (all which may be temporal lobe symptoms). The doses of GABA range from 100-500mg a day for adults, half that for children.”
I’ve read about GABA elsewhere, including here: http://www.webmd.com/add-adhd/news/20031204/brain-scans-reveal-adhd-differences
Since I most likely have the Temporal Lobe type of ADHD, and since GABA seems to have many other benefits, I have decided to start taking a GABA supplement in addition to my Omega-3 supplement. I am also going to up my Omega-3 supplement since I did well taking 2 per day last week and didn’t notice any adverse effects, so I will up my intake by using “Smart Balance” buttery spread instead of butter, cooking with Olive Oil instead of vegetable oil (which also has additional benefits), and also replacing my normal peanut butter with “Smart Balance” peanut butter. I’ll let you know if that seems to make any difference.
I also wanted to share this in-depth analysis of Omega-3 uses with you: UMM Omega-3 Article . This article recommends a slightly higher amount of Omega-3s per day, which is one of the reasons I will attempt to add more to my diet.
In addition to the GABA supplement, I’m going to now track my multivitamin usage. I like the GNC Ultra Mega Women’s vitamins, but they are pretty strong and have way over the necessary daily amounts of most of the ingredients. I also like Centrum chewable adult vitamins because they have 100% of everything and they are easy to take. So, I will take one or the other multivitamin every day. I will probably try to take the stronger GNC vitamin 3 times a week.
OK so now, my goals are
- #1: Exercise 15-30 mins a day (still working on achieving that one)
- #2: (modified) Take 2 Omega-3 capsules per day and also add Omega-3 fatty acids to my diet
- #3: Take 200 mg of GABA supplements and one multivitamin daily.
I will add the third goal to my spreadsheet and start tracking it as soon as I purchase my supplements. Now I’m off to the store to figure out which supplements contain GABA!
06.11.07
Progress Chart – Download
OK, so I am ready to upload the progress chart I created so I could have some way to objectively track my progress. I listed my major “add problems” in column A, then for each day, I gave myself a score (0 to 10, 10 being best) on how I did in that area. Some may seem repetitive, but to me they are each individual issues I am dealing with. Each day, I average the whole column to see how I did overall, and each week I will take the average of the daily scores for each row and add them up to get a weekly total. I’m hoping that over time this number will go up!
Goals: You will notice that the numbers for how well I accomplished each goal I set up on this blog is in grey. I figure that the number of goals will go up, but I don’t want to increase the overall possible total (160) so I can have a weekly score that is comparable week to week. So, all of the daily goal scores get averaged into one score (in row 20) that shows how well I did at meeting all of my goals that day. Now, if I add a goal, it will just get averaged into that number.
I also am going to make charts to show visually whether I improve over time, and if you download the file you can see the charts. You can also see the hidden columns with my daily notes if you download the chart.
So, here is a picture of the chart (click to enlarge) with the comment columns hidden so I could show all of the numbers. You can see that my total “weekly score” was a 79.9. The highest possible is 160, because there are 16 rows that get added in, and the highest possible average for each row is 10.
You can download the excel spreadsheet here: Renee’s ADD Progress List
06.09.07
Exercise and AD/HD
I remember reading in the great ADD book Delivered from Distraction that exercise is not only a long-term therapy for ADD, but also an “emergency fix” – that if you are feeling your symptoms, that sometimes a burst of exercise to get out that distracting fidgety energy will do the trick.
I also read an article recently that said Yoga can help increase your body’s natural production of GABA, which has a calming effect, so I will probably do some of that next week.
For the moment, I am feeling anxious -both because I am feeling fidgety and haven’t exercised yet today, and because I am not getting as much done tonight as I wanted to. So, I think I’ll get my tennis shoes on and do a little workout. I haven’t done my 15-30 minutes of exercise yet today anyway, so I’ll also feel like I’ve accomplished a goal.
Edit: This did seem to work. About 15-20 mins after I exercised (and my heart rate came down) I did feel more focused than before.
