0 to 60... And stuck in a hospital!

I've always been a restless person...I can't actually remember a time when I wasn't.  When I decide to take on a new project, I don't start small, I go all out.  When I plan a party, I can't leave it at some streamers and a cake; I have to have favors, themed decor, and an entire spread of food large enough to feed an army.  When I take up a new hobby, I don't buy a piece or two of the necessary equipment and then see if I like it; I buy everything they make, set up a project station, and read everything I can get my hands on about it.  When I start cleaning a room in my house, I don't just pick up, dust, and vacuum; I have to open all the drawers and rearrange them, move furniture around, and organize everything.  This seems to be a theme in my life.  I've had around 40 jobs in my lifetime, and I'm only 36!  Once I master my duties, which happens quickly because I don't stop until I know exactly how to do what I need to do, I find myself completely bored to tears and end up quitting.  My husband likes to say I go from 0 to 60 without taking a breath in between, and he's right.

Well my 0 to 60 attitude has gotten me into trouble again, and this time it landed me in the hospital for an overnight stay.  I know the importance of a proper diet and exercise, and I know how my anxiety reacts when I don't take care of myself.  In the past, I've been able to blow this off by coming up with a million excuses, but I don't take AAMH lightly.  I know there are thousands of people reading my posts every day, and I take that as a serious commitment.  I decided it was time to get serious about my health, and I didn't want to be a hypocrite and tell people the importance of doing something that I wasn't doing myself.  I'm pretty overweight right now (thanks to Lexapro and comfort food!) and I'm also rather sedentary.  I decided to get off my duff and start working out, and...well...I went 0 to 60 as usual.  I broke out my workout DVDs and chose two that I like.  By day three, I did Leslie Sansone's 4 mile walking video.  

Let me assure you now if you aren't aware...that is not purely a walking video.  It's got interval training, and the intervals are fast jogging.  There are lunges and squats, arm exercises and leg work.  It's intense...especially for someone who hasn't been exercising!  Well, I pulled a muscle in my chest.  I guess it would be considered the muscle right under the breast bone...I don't know.  All I know is that it hurts!  I went into the ER to ask for a muscle relaxer, and they immediately worried that it was my heart.  Now having had health anxiety in the past, and still a little bit today, this might have really freaked me out.   But this time, I knew it was a pulled muscle, and I knew I was just fine.  Nonetheless, they wanted to check me out thoroughly...better safe than sorry.

After a chest X-ray, an EKG, a stress test, two blood tests, and a miserable night in the hospital, the diagnosis is...a pulled muscle.  A few days of rest and I should be a-okay.  Nonetheless, that little visit has impressed upon me the importance of several things.  A) I need to be in better shape.  B) I need to slow down and allow my body to get used to the new movements I'm subjecting it to.  C) Hospital gowns are not attractive.  :)

And last, but most important, is the fact that I have an amazing body that I am taking for granted.  It does amazing things every day, and it does what I need it to do.  I've been taking that for granted, and all of this has reminded me what a gift and a blessing my health is.  I want to make sure I do everything I can to honor my body and treat it well.