Well That Was An Eye Opener

Before I start, a follow-up on my last blog. I reported on a number of accidents and the fact that I usually have several bumps, scrapes and bruises. I am delighted to report that being more intentional and slowing down a bit has made a huge difference. I have had a few bumps and one trip up the stairs, but overall it's been a success. Proof positive that it is never to late to grow!

Good thing I'm falling less, because after breaking my wrist in April, I had a bone density scan done. I was totally confident that it would be fine. It's always been good; It was good 5 years ago when I broke the other wrist. I was surprised to get a call that my doctor wanted me to come in to discuss the results. Honestly, I expected to be told there was a slight decrease and keep doing weights, taking calcium, etc. But no, I was shocked to hear that it has decreased to the point that I am at high risk for a fracture if I fall. Whaaaaat???!!! I have always been confident about my strong bones. I owned a weight training gym, I've been running for over 40 years, I take high quality supplements, I take lots of vitamin d -- I'm ACTIVE! So, how could this be?

Well, I have a wonderful Naturopathic Doctor that brings balance to my life. She is very "middle of the road", and I work with her along with my doctor's recommendations/prescriptions. That conversation with my ND was the eye opener.

Here's what I learned:

1. It was pretty much inevitable that I'd end up here. Our body is always breaking and making new bone. Various factors including loss of estrogen makes it harder for our body to make new bone. A person with small bones has less to draw from as they age, making them higher risk.

2. Just taking the prescribed injections is not enough. She described it as magic, but can I sit back and relax? Oh, no.

3. We must continue to put in a lot of effort to preserve these bones!

I absolutely know that osteoporosis is a serious health issue, and is also a leading cause of death in older women. I, in fact was often on the proverbial soapbox about this with ladies that didn't take working out seriously. Hmmm. Once again I am humbled.

I do not want to be one of those statistics. As challenging as all of the necessary, bone protecting strategies she provided will be, I am working to put each of them in place. (and of course taking the prescribed twice yearly injections)

Here goes:

1. Do the calcium calculator at the Osteoporosis Canada website. I learned that I need an additional 250 mg per day of my Magnesium/Calcium supplement.

2. Take one scoop daily of Collagen for Bones. This is what she recommended as the best brand.

3. Reduce caffeine to 1 mug of swiss water decaf per day, as caffeine leaches calcium from bones. (can you hear me weeping?) This is so hard for me as I LOVE my 2 huge mugs of dark roast. I look forward to it the evening before! I questioned this one, whining "if I do everything else, do I really have to do the coffee thing?" She came right back with "do you really want to have a fracture, Pat?". Well, no, so okay.

4. Eat five prunes every day. Yes, really - interesting data out there, and I don't mind prunes at all.

5. The most important exercises to do are lower body resistance such as squats and lunges with weights. Wearing a weighted vest. Yes, you read that correctly. I am shopping for a weighted vest to wear while I walk (or run, not sure if I can do that) and while I do my squats lunges and other lower body/weight bearing work. This is proven to be the most effective exercise strategy to build Bone Mineral Density! One more great article!
   

So. This is a lot. It was an overwhelming appointment to say the least. I was a little down at first. Mostly at giving up coffee.* Also at realizing this is a lifelong commitment to maintaining bone health. As a footnote, my ND is a very small framed person and she does ALL of these things already. She is much younger than I am, but realizes that with her frame she is also at very high risk. I laughed when she told me that she goes for walks wearing her weighted vest and he husband tells her that it looks like she's wearing a bullet-proof vest. That will be me soon😂.

My frame of mind changed over a few days, to gratitude that all I broke was my wrist when I slipped on that wet tile floor. Putting things into perspective helps doesn't it? I absolutely know how serious this is, so guess I'll be taking it seriously. Remember me? I am the slightly obsessive person that plants to run, chase and play with all the grand kids for many more years. Doing the research for links for this blog was enlightening and reinforced all that I learned. I hope that you learned something from this post -- and that, if necessary you will add some strategies to your health regimen!

Pat xo

*It hasn't been that bad. I had a single mug one day (compared to my two large mugs), then went to Swiss Water Decaf for the past 3 days. I had a headache for two days and was sooooo tired without my caffeine boost. But, here we are on day 5 and I feel fine.