Brandy
Freddled gruntbuggly
I just entered the maintenance phase at 1.5 years and have been thinking of the tools that I use to help manage my new body and thought I would list them here and I would also like to see other peoples favorites.
In no particular order:
http://www.biffy.com/
The Biffy, or poor persons bidet, was easy to get set up, except for the heater, which is waiting on an electrician for reasons that have nothing to do the product and everything to do with living in a really old house. We could hook it up but with old wiring, water and no GFCI it just seems smarter to wait. I live near Seattle, WA and the ground water is brisk! The heater sounds heavenly and I brace before turning it on, but really it isn't that bad. I would choose the $99 no heater version over not having this at all. At first, with an active hemorrhoid infestation going on, I used this every few hours and it gave such relief. Now that I'm a week or two past that, I use it after any poop, but generally don't feel the itch to use it otherwise, though I typically do if I'm there, cuz why not, cleanliness is close to godliness. My husband (not a DS'er) has grown to really love this too. We can tell that we will someday upgrade to the Japanese toilet, but for now, we are really happy with this. I wish I had put one of these in before my surgery.
The Squatty Potty (amazon) is a little bench that you put your feet on when you sit on the potty. We are not quite so sure about. I love it, it seems to make things go faster and that can mean less pain. DH says that it is no different than leaning forward. He has not had hemorrhoids since we got it though, so what does he know? Nothing, that is what!
I think this might be a YMMV thing based on your anatomy. I have been surprised by long farts right after getting on it, so I think it might also help with the rare case of bloats, but it is too early to say for sure. You can make a box about the same size if you want to try out the concept for free.
Count Down Timer Applications
I have different ones installed on every phone and computer and use it to trigger the next round of vitamins. My schedule varies wildly every day and so I had a hard time with trying to take my pills at specific times and reminders don't really work if you are shifting your whole schedule back by 6 hours or so. So I take pills and then trigger a two hour count down timer and when it goes off, I take pills and reset the timer. It has helped my compliance more than anything else and is free!!! A physical one would probably work just as well as a computer one.
Personal Trainer
Once I passed a year or so, I started seeing one twice a week. It has been amazing and probably more like physical therapy than anything else. We spent the whole first few months on balance and wind. I used to be twice the size I am now, so it is no wonder that my balance was wonky. He is teaching me how to move again and he also spots muscles that need help because my left side and right side seem to have specialized in different things over the years. I am 100% sure that I would have hurt myself if I was trying to figure this out by myself. I want to do a longer post on this sometime, but I do want to say that working out like this as a thin person is twenty thousand times easier than as a fat person. I love my gym sessions now and they were always anathema to me before. I'm happy with my decision to wait a year for this. If I had returned early and failed and hated it again, I'm not sure I would have given it another try.
Therapeutic Massage
This is another area that was pretty painful as a fat person but much less so now. I started this because I heard it was one of the best things you could do for loose skin. Too soon to tell that, but it is another case where the ghosts of my old body were still haunting me. For example, he had done a lot to change the angle that I carry my pelvis because it doesn't need to carry what it used to carry. I feel like these sessions turn back the clock on my 55 year old body and really make it hum again. This is another one that might make sense to wait a little, massaging through a thicker fat layer is not as effective and a lot more painful. Still, progress can be made, so your choice.
if I think of more I might add them, but I can't wait to see what others say!
In no particular order:
http://www.biffy.com/
The Biffy, or poor persons bidet, was easy to get set up, except for the heater, which is waiting on an electrician for reasons that have nothing to do the product and everything to do with living in a really old house. We could hook it up but with old wiring, water and no GFCI it just seems smarter to wait. I live near Seattle, WA and the ground water is brisk! The heater sounds heavenly and I brace before turning it on, but really it isn't that bad. I would choose the $99 no heater version over not having this at all. At first, with an active hemorrhoid infestation going on, I used this every few hours and it gave such relief. Now that I'm a week or two past that, I use it after any poop, but generally don't feel the itch to use it otherwise, though I typically do if I'm there, cuz why not, cleanliness is close to godliness. My husband (not a DS'er) has grown to really love this too. We can tell that we will someday upgrade to the Japanese toilet, but for now, we are really happy with this. I wish I had put one of these in before my surgery.
The Squatty Potty (amazon) is a little bench that you put your feet on when you sit on the potty. We are not quite so sure about. I love it, it seems to make things go faster and that can mean less pain. DH says that it is no different than leaning forward. He has not had hemorrhoids since we got it though, so what does he know? Nothing, that is what!
I think this might be a YMMV thing based on your anatomy. I have been surprised by long farts right after getting on it, so I think it might also help with the rare case of bloats, but it is too early to say for sure. You can make a box about the same size if you want to try out the concept for free.Count Down Timer Applications
I have different ones installed on every phone and computer and use it to trigger the next round of vitamins. My schedule varies wildly every day and so I had a hard time with trying to take my pills at specific times and reminders don't really work if you are shifting your whole schedule back by 6 hours or so. So I take pills and then trigger a two hour count down timer and when it goes off, I take pills and reset the timer. It has helped my compliance more than anything else and is free!!! A physical one would probably work just as well as a computer one.
Personal Trainer
Once I passed a year or so, I started seeing one twice a week. It has been amazing and probably more like physical therapy than anything else. We spent the whole first few months on balance and wind. I used to be twice the size I am now, so it is no wonder that my balance was wonky. He is teaching me how to move again and he also spots muscles that need help because my left side and right side seem to have specialized in different things over the years. I am 100% sure that I would have hurt myself if I was trying to figure this out by myself. I want to do a longer post on this sometime, but I do want to say that working out like this as a thin person is twenty thousand times easier than as a fat person. I love my gym sessions now and they were always anathema to me before. I'm happy with my decision to wait a year for this. If I had returned early and failed and hated it again, I'm not sure I would have given it another try.
Therapeutic Massage
This is another area that was pretty painful as a fat person but much less so now. I started this because I heard it was one of the best things you could do for loose skin. Too soon to tell that, but it is another case where the ghosts of my old body were still haunting me. For example, he had done a lot to change the angle that I carry my pelvis because it doesn't need to carry what it used to carry. I feel like these sessions turn back the clock on my 55 year old body and really make it hum again. This is another one that might make sense to wait a little, massaging through a thicker fat layer is not as effective and a lot more painful. Still, progress can be made, so your choice.
if I think of more I might add them, but I can't wait to see what others say!
