Carey Rossi @careyrossi - Tumblr Blog

My Cat Makes It Harder to Lose Weight

How my adorable kitty is creating the perfect storm between a lack of estrogen and a lack of sleep.

Well…not really, but he is creating the perfect storm of roadblocks. You see, my furry friend wakes me up anywhere between 2 AM and 5AM to be fed. Then, again at 6 AM and if I am not awake by 7:30 AM, he meows and scratches until I rise and shuffle my way to the kitchen. Yes, I know that I should spray him to train him not to do this and I do when I am awake, but groggy me forgets. But this is…

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#Hormones #menopause #sleep #weight loss

300 Minutes of Exercise for Weight Loss: A Personal Story

More exercise not only creates a deficit but changes our appetite. All things that I can attest to. In some ways I feel like I am living science.

In January 2019 I decided that I would try to exercise for 60 minutes each day. My workouts could be anything and any intensity. And for most of the year, I have been able to keep this goal for at least five days a week. as a result, I have lost about 8 pounds without changing my eating.

So in another not surprising research moment, a new study found that people who exercise for 300 minutes…

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#Fitness #weight loss

The Plant-Based Study My Family Will Love

I come from a diet-loving family. There isn’t a diet that someone in my large extended family hasn’t tried at least once. And during 2020, the plant-based diet has been their jam.

The aftereffects have been great for my cousins, some of whom are diabetic, or battling arthritis, or dealing with other conditions. So when a JAMA Network Open studytouting the health benefits of a low-fat vegan…

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#Diabetes #diet #plant-based #weight loss

How Does Wearing a Face Mask Affect My Workouts

By now, you know that I am a huge fan of wearing a facemask to keep the spread of Covid-19 to a minimum and to keep me and my family safe. When my gym re-opened last month, they required (and still do) that everyone in the facility wear a facemask. No gators because they are suspect in the anti-aerosol spread or containment department.

When I went back to the gym, I was downright giddy. As…

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The best thing I've done during the pandemic

The best thing I’ve done during the pandemic

For the first time in my life, I worked as a poll worker. In the middle of a pandemic, in which I am in a high-risk category, I decided to help my community and volunteer to work the polls. It turned out to be the best thing I have done during the Covid-19 pandemic.

I wanted to make sure that everyone in my city could vote and if I could lend my time (and my PPE) to help make sure that there…

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#community #COVID-19

My Personal PSA: Know the Symptoms of Stroke

There aren’t too many things that I am scared of, but having a stroke is one of them. I know the symptoms that should be sending me to the nearest ER: numbness, weakness, severe headache, or difficulty speaking or seeing. In this case, I’m not waiting for the symptoms to subside, I’m going.

Stroke is the No. 5 cause of death and a leading cause of disability in the United States. Each year,…

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#Stroke

Face Mask Update: Neck Fleeces Might Not Be Effective Against COVID-19

Face mask or neck fleece? A new study says one isn't as effective as the other against COVID-19.

When I go out for my walk, I wear a neck fleece. It has been my go-to face covering when exercising because it stays on my body and allows me to cover my mouth and nose easily when I can’t keep 6 feet away from people on the trail or sidewalk. Now, a new study out of Duke University says that it might not effectively block COVID-19 droplets.

Researchers report in Science Advancesthat my handy…

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#COVID-19 #face mask

Could 4 Health Habits Help You Survive a Bout With COVID-19?

Adopt these now so a bout of COVID-19 could be easier later

Coronavirus is a novel virus that none of us are immune, and so it is only a question of when we get it rather than if we will get it. My biggest fear is that I will end up intubated (i.e., place on a respirator.) If there is anything I can do to prevent that, I am in —face masks, hand washing, social distancing, of course; taking…

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A Weighted Blanket Could Be the Sleep Game-Changer You Need

Sleep is an issue in my house. And while the coronavirus stafer-at-home orders have helped some and hurt others get some shut eye.

Normally, I sleep pretty well. I tend to have a routine sleep schedule: read before bed, lights out before 12 midnight, then I wake up between 2 and 4 a.m. to feed the cat and go to the bathroom and then again around 6 or 7 a.m.. This happens every night, both…

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#Anxiety #depression #sleep

How Routine Can Calm Uncertainty

I know that my morning routine will not help me find a new job or open my child’s school sooner, but here's what it will do.

Every morning I wake up and slip on my workout clothes, either for a walk or to do yoga. I make my way to one of the few loops or to the spot in the park where I know it is easier to social distance. When I return, as I head into the stairwell to return to my apartment, I hear a Catholic service playing in the first-floor apartment of my elderly neighbor. These are our routines. This is how we…

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#Anxiety #exercise

COVID-19: What to Know When You're Normally Short of Breath

COVID-19: What to Know When You’re Normally Short of Breath

One of the symptoms of COVID-19 is shortness of breath—and that sign can be an anxious one when you’re someone who experiences it on a semi-regular basis.

In the nearly two months that we have been at home, I’ve talked to my doctors twice about this. Here’s what I’ve learned.

The first time I was interviewing my cardiologist for a series of articles about managing various diseases in the…

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#coronavirus #COVID-19 #lung pleurisy

Why We're Being Asked Stay Home: A Reminder

Why We’re Being Asked Stay Home: A Reminder

“This disease is no worse than the flu, and it’s the media just scaring everyone to stay inside.”

“If liquor stores and hardware stores are open, this shutdown isn’t about health — the government is trying to control us!”

Being in lockdown for as long as we have, you’ve probably found it hard to avoid social media. So, you may have seen the posts of family, friends, or long-lost…

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#coronavirus #COVID-19

How to Make Your Face Mask More Effective, According to Science

Cotton masks filter out at least 30% of droplet particles flying around in the air. Here's how to boost your face mask's ability to block out particles, according to the latest research.

In New York City, you must wear a face mask when going out. The masks I’ve seen can be characterized in a number of ways: utilitaritarian—some version of a surgical or N95 mask, fun—a homemade or Etsy-bought cotton mask with a print, or improvised—repurposed eye masks, bandanas, and scarfs. All-in-all they filter out appropriately 30% of droplet particles flying around in the air. Recently,…

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#coronavirus #COVID-19 #face mask

What if We Looked at Exercising Differently?

This month and last month I have exercised nearly everyday. And in years past, this would have meant one of my mysterious attacks. Not this year. I’m not sure why.

I have leaned on activities I have always done—racewalking, indoor cycling, yoga, stretching and weight training. (The last one has been absent from my training for a few years, but I will speak to this at another time.) It makes me…

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#exercise #Fitness

The Lung Pleurisy Chronicles, Episode 2

My shoulder ached. The dull aching lasted for weeks. My family went out of town to visit my in-laws. I walked to and from work—leisurely strolling home. My shoulder still ached.

It had been a year since my half-marathon/Monterey fiascoand, honestly, it scared me away from training hard. If each time I was working out regularly that pain would overtake my body and land me at point zero again,…

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#lung pleurisy

The time when I had lung pleurisy

Some things are not what they seem.

About a year after my heart surgery, I decide to train for a half-marathon. In my eyes, the goals wasn’t a big one since I’ve completed the 13.1 distance dozens of times.

So I picked my race and I trained. Racewalking nearly everyday, taking active recovery days, and a rest day here and there. I even started strength training again.

And then my…

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#Fitness #Lungs

Get the balance right

New job, new pressures, but does everything need to go to pieces?

When I was in high school, Depeche Mode sang a song called, Get the Balance Right. Anytime I feel out of sorts—my diet, exercise and health are a mess—that song’s chorus wiggles free from the depths of my brain. Maybe it’s a siren song; maybe it’s a sign; and maybe it’s my brain’s way of saying, Get your sh!t together. The song has been playing on a loop for a month—one full of stress, sickness,…

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#balance #Stress #work

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Carey Rossi