The Little Things! {Rebranding Update}

Hi Friends!

I have a huge announcement for you all! All summer I’ve been busy planning for a secret goal for the year- to rebrand and become a self-hosted blog! I’ve truly enjoyed blogging in this space, but a few months after I made this blog, I realized that someone else had the Fighting For Wellness domain outside of wordpress, so I guess I could say this new blog has been in the works since January of 2013.

I hope that you all will follow me over to my new book at The Little Things– I’ve transferred my blog over there but it’ll take a few weeks to really get everything straightened out. I’ve also added some fun new ways to connect on social media! Here they are (click on the links to go straight to the sites!). A huge thanks to Melissa (who also redid her blog this weekend too!) who sat beside me for hours over the last week as we worked on everything!

Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Bloglovin. I’m still at my same twitter handle!

Thanks again for the love and support you’ve given me here. I’ll see you at the Little Things!

Coffee Date Saturday #3

Tags

Holiday

Happy Saturday! Today I’m once again linking up with Jill Conyer’s Ultimate Coffee Date– are you ready?

If we were having coffee this morning… I would tell you all about my new blog rebranding that is in the process of being done. I’ll tell more on the blog very soon, but if we were in person, I’d tell you how excited I am for some of the new ideas that I have!

If we were having coffee this morning… I’d tell you all about this delicious bagel I got from Einsteins Bagels this morning. It was an everything bagel with honey almond cream cheese, and it was one of the best bagels I’ve ever had.

If we were having coffee this morning… I’d tell you all about my 4th of July- the race I ran, the pool party I went to, the dinner picnic I went to, the games of corn hole I played, and the fireworks I saw! The fourth was a really great day- exactly what I needed!

If we were having coffee this morning… I would tell you all about the smoker who moved in below me, and has completely ruined my ability to be in my place anymore due to how bad the smoke is. I’d tell you what maintenance is trying to do to keep me from moving…

If we were having coffee this morning… I’d tell you all about how much my friendships and relationships are changing right now, as most of my close group of friends have moved away in the last couple months. I’d tell you how sad I am about it, and I’d tell you about all the new friendships I have as well!

If we were having coffee this morning… I would tell you all about the delicious no bake energy balls that I’ve been making. They’re delicious and have become my favorite summer snacks.

Now it’s your turn to share! If we were having coffee today, what would you tell me? How was your 4th?

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
• Find me on ‘Bloglovin

 

Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein No Bake Energy Balls

Tags

Cooking, Food, Health

How’s that for a title that is bigger than the food itself? About two weeks ago I posted my first energy ball recipe (a Peanut Butter Cup recipe– it’s delicious!), and this is just a fun variation of that one. Again, no need to exactly measure out these quantities- I just eye ball them (but I’ll give you a rough estimate for each of the amounts).

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry oatmeal
• 2/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup honey (plus about 2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 2 tablespoons of cinnamon
• 1/5-2 tablespoons of chia seeds
• 1/4-1/3 cup chocolate protein powder

I tossed everything into the bowl all at once and mixed it thoroughly together, and then put the bowl in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes. When I took it out, I just rolled the dough into individual balls.

Delicious looking, right? For all of you flower folks out there- that’s a verbena in the pot behind the ball.

It’s SO easy, and really only requires 1 bowl and 1 spoon to be washed at the end. You can’t get better than that, can you? I’ve already come up with another 4-5 different flavors of these balls to make, and can’t wait to try them out. I’ll be sharing them all with you as I make them!

So seriously- make these as soon as you possible can! They’re worth it! For more recipes, click here.

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
• Find me on ‘Bloglovin

14 in 2014 Challenge Halfway Update

Tags

2014 Challenge, Biking, Exercise, Mental Health, Pilates, Planks, Race, Relationships, Running, Walking

Happy July! Are we seriously half way through the year already? This has been such a strange year of my life, and so different than the last few years, so it’s been hard to judge the passage of time the same way. Since we’re now halfway through the year, I thought I’d do an update on my 14 Challenges in 2014.

I challenge myself to run 200 miles. Running has gone much better this year than last year, and I’m not fully sure why that is, but I’m not complaining. So far I’m at 147 miles for the year.

I challenge myself to walk 275 miles. Last year I had to stop walking quite so much due to my tendinitis and IT band syndrome, but this year has felt ok. I try to hold back on pace and distance just so I don’t put extra strain on everything, since I don’t want to have to stop running. So far I’m at 177 miles.

I challenge myself to bike 900 miles. I’m right at 516 miles for the year. Many of those miles have been done on my bike trainer, and most of the first 3 months of miles for the year were spent studying for my big test I took in mid-March. Since then I’ve had some great outdoor rides too!

I challenge myself to 75 hours of pilates. 75 hours may have been a little too high, and I refuse to push myself to do it just because I “HAVE to”, and then get burnt out on it. Either way I’ll end up pretty close. Right now I’m at 38.25 hours for the year, which definitely has me on track. We’ll see. I’m still really enjoying pilates though, and really appreciate all that it gives to my body.

I challenge myself to 250 minutes of planks. This one has been pretty easy so far, although less so now that it’s warm. In cold weather (October-March) I seem to have no problem doing planks, but the summer months I definitely cut down. No idea why? So far I’ve clocked a total of 152 minutes for the year.

I challenge myself to run 10 races for the year. Like 2013, these races can be in person or virtual, but I’d like at least 5 of them to be in person! So far I’ve done 4 races in person and 5 virtual races, so I’m doing well! I have a few more races set for the rest for the rest of the year too!

I challenge myself to read at least 14 books. This one has been so fun, and now that summer, it’s been REALLY easy. So far I’ve read 13 books this year, and have really gotten into crime books that have me on the edge of my seat (like John Grisham novels!). I’ve also read a few inspiring books like The Hiding Place and Notes From A Blue Bike. 

I challenge myself to go through all the clothes that I own. This one I finished at the end of January when I got rid of 54 or 56 (I forget which) items of clothing. I just did another haul at the beginning of June, getting rid of another 75ish items. I think that just shows how much I’ve really held on to over the years that’s been ridiculous! This podcast (Freedom From Stuff) has been inspiring!

I challenge myself to continue to be present. Am I present every single moment of every day- no, but I don’t think that’s fully possible for most of us! But being present has really changed my life, and I’m continuing to enjoy this challenge!

I challenge myself to continue to hunt for provisions and blessings (continuing to develop gratitude in my life). Yes! I’ve written it down twice a week, and am really enjoying it. I even started a gratitude journal outside of this blog, and it’s great to have a hard copy I can flip through.

I challenge myself to read the entire Bible this year. I found a plan online (it’s this one if you’re interested) and have been following that. I don’t necessarily exactly read what is outlined on the day, as sometimes I get ahead or behind (and then have to catch up). I’m just a few days behind on the reading plan, so I’m close to being on track!

I challenge myself to publish an article this year. I haven’t published it yet but I’ve written it and it’s gone through a few rounds of revisions now! We’re close to submitting it to the review board now!

I challenge myself to put more time and energy into friendships and relationships. YES! This one has been so much fun, and I’m loving the relationships that I’ve either strengthened or built over the last three months. I’ve even made some new blogging friends, like Melissa and Meg.

I challenge myself to be brave. Oh yes! I wish I could write blog posts about this, but at this point I can’t so much. Brave (or courage) is my word for the year, and while this probably deserves an entire post of it’s own, I thought I’d throw it out there anyways. I want to continue to push myself to be brave in any area of my life…

So, overall, I’m pretty much on point with where I “need” to be for the year in each of these goals, although slightly behind with one. It really hasn’t felt like too much effort, but knowing these goals are out there helps keep me motivated. So, we’ll see how this next quarter goes–

Now it’s your turn to share! How are you going on your goals/challenges/resolutions etc… for the year? Is there anything that you hope to accomplish in the next three months?

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
• Find me on ‘Bloglovin

5k Foam Fest Recap {includes a discount code}

Tags

Race, Racing, Review, Running

Disclaimer: I was offered a free Bib from the Foam Fest in exchange for sharing my thoughts on this race. No other compensation was provided. All thoughts are my own. 

I was so excited to have the chance to do another “fun run” this year, and while I love half marathons and more serious races, I feel like it adds some fun to training to have these types of runs too. I was supposed to do the race with Melissa, but she was sick, so I ended up going alone. I was really excited for this race, as they claim it’s “filthy clean”- a good mixture of mud and foam! The race website suggested getting to the venue an hour early for check in, so that’s what I did. I ended up not needing so much time at all, but in later waves (yes- you get to choose what wave you want to run in, which helped the lines at obstacles be nice and short) I saw a much longer line for registration. Just a head’s up! I turned in my waiver, left my stuff at gear check, and headed to the starting line. I started talking to 3 other women, and when they found out I was there alone, they invited me to run the course with them! One of them had even run the Indy Women’s Half the weekend before too!

The first part of the course started in the woods, climbing through webs of ropes, down trails, and up and down little hills. This was the first time I’ve ever thought that I might actually really enjoy trail running. Once we popped out of the woods, we hit the first Foam and Mud pit. The ground was really slippery due to the mix of mud and and foam. They had inflatable balls hitting you as you ran through, making it even more difficult to keep balance!

Seriously- doesn’t that look like fun?

From that point on we ran most of the race on the sides of a soybean field, which meant the ground was uneven. Some places in the fields were so uneven that we had to slowly walk so we didn’t twist an ankle. This was a little frustrating as it would’ve been fun to run a bit more of it! The most crazy obstacle for me was crawling up a rope ladder thing about 20ish feet in the air and then climbing back down. I was totally ungraceful, but it was fun.

This was sort of a huge inflatable slip and slide. It was so long that you had to run the last part of it, which was tough, but so fun.

The end came far too quickly, and I really wished I could run through the course again. The final obstacle was a huge inflatable slide with water on it- I may have yelled a bit on the way down! It was a really fun way to end this great race!

 

Even though I had gotten muddy throughout the race, I had very little left on me by the end, as you can see in the picture above. They had little stations to rinse off too, but I didn’t bother waiting in line for them.

A few suggestions for you: I brought a towel to sit on in the car, which I would strongly encourage you to do. I also brought a bag to put my shoes and socks in, since there was mud still in them. I loved being able to switch to flip flops right away. Bring sunglasses to run in so that spraying water, soap, or mud won’t get in your eyes. I wore contacts and sunglasses and was just fine. My clothes and shoes cleaned up just fine (although I didn’t wear my current pair of racing shoes for the event).

My thoughts on the race: Positives: The race was SO FUN, and I had a great time running. The obstacles were quite a bit of fun, and it was incredibly well organized. There were two places to get water to drink on the course, which was a nice touch. They had all sorts of other activities that you could do after the race too (but obviously had to pay for them). They gave out shirts at the end, and they were great. They had women’s specific shirts that fit really well and were cute! The volunteers were all very nice and helpful too.  Negatives: The entry price was $75, and I would’ve never paid that for this race. It wasn’t $75 worth of fun, for sure, even though I did love the race. I know that lots of people were able to get discounts (the women I ran with got it half price on groupon). Parking was also $10, so the price of the race in total could add up pretty quickly. I had asked a question of Foam Fest via twitter a few days before the race, and didn’t get a response, which was a little disappointing. For post race food they ONLY had pure protein bars, and they have milk and whey in it. For anyone who is lactose intolerant (like I am), vegan, or has a milk allergy, there was no post-race food available. I’d highly suggest the race look into other options that everyone could eat… especially if they’re going to charge $75 for the race. Luckily I had brought other food in the car!

So, overall, the race itself was a LOT of fun, and I really enjoyed the obstacles and getting a chance to play around in the mud. I would definitely consider doing the Foam Fest race again… but wouldn’t pay full price for it! For those of you who’d love to run the race but don’t want to pay full price, use the following code at checkout for a discount (good nationwide): FF3380

Now it’s your turn to share! Have you ever done the Foam Fest before? What fun runs have you done in the past or are wanting to do?

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
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Cornfields and a 50 Mile Biking PDR!

Tags

Biking, Nature

On Wednesday morning I set out for what I was planning on being about a 25-28 mile bike ride. I’ve been sticking in the 20-22 mile range since hitting the road again, so I thought this would be a nice step up. My first few miles flew by, and I was feeling really good. I decided to try a new-to-me part of the trail, and ended up going about 14 miles before deciding to turn around, which would put me at home around mile 28. I enjoyed biking alongside the corn and soybean fields- I think they’re beautiful and really peaceful. The trail had people biking and walking on it, but there were plenty of times I didn’t see people for a few miles. (I do bring pepper spray with me though!) I listened to a few Jillian Michael’s podcasts, a podcast from How To Blog, and enjoyed a few miles of silence in the middle of all that too. When I hit mile 26, I decided I was feeling good, so I kept going on the trail in the other direction. At some point, I think around mile 32, I realized that I was feeling great, didn’t want to stop biking, and could easily beat my bike PDR I set last August at 40 miles, so I kept going!

That’s when I realized that I definitely wasn’t prepared. I had brought enough fuel to easily get me through about 30 miles, but not much beyond that. I hit hills around mile 32, and that, combined with it being the longest ride I’ve done since August 2013 and the lack of fuel really caused me to start bonking (although not nearly as bad as this ride!). Around mile 38 I stopped back by my place, grabbed about 14 ounces more to drink, ate a string cheese and two more shot bloks, and finished up my last 12 miles. Those miles felt strong, and I was able to maintain a pace fairly similar to my first few miles, which I was happy about!

My bike, biking alongside a farm, and a new-to-me gel to try.

I loved getting to spend so much time in nature! I loved seeing the fields, the flowers growing alongside the train tracks, another muskrat running down the trail, birds chirping, and chipmunks playing alongside the trail. The sun was shining (I have some awesome lines from my bike shorts now), there was a gentle breeze (but not bad enough to make it difficult to ride except for maybe 2-3 miles)- all in all, it was a fantastic day for a ride!

I definitely could’ve kept going, but had to shower to head in to work for the afternoon, so I cut my ride at 50… which is probably better for my body anyways!

50 miles done! And a stream I biked over at one point…

Here’s what my nutritional breakdown looked like: I started the day by eating a bowl of oatmeal with almond milk, blueberries, and a handful of life cereal on top, with 10 ounces of orange juice. Then while riding:

• mile 6.5: 2 fruit punch (extra caffeine) shot bloks
• mile 14.8: half of a gel
• mile 21.5 other half of a gel
• mile 38ish: 1 cheese stick, 2 margarita shot bloks
• To drink: 20 ounces water w/1 camelbak elixir electrolyte tab in it (orange- w/caffeine), 12 ounces water w/half of a nuun tab in it, about 6 ounces of plain water.

I definitely would’ve liked some fuel between mile 21 and 38, but I’m glad I had something other than water with me, so at least that provided me with something! I’m definitely getting my nutrition down more and more each ride that I do. I actually was thinking about a PB and honey sandwich at some point along the way. Would that be weird to bring a sandwich with me? 🙂

I use runkeeper to track my mileage and pace, and I enjoy that it’ll talk over my music at regular intervals! I put one earbud in my right ear, but leave my left one out so I can hear my surroundings better. All in all, this bike ride was one of my favorite rides I’ve ever done. The time flew by, I felt strong (minus the few miles when I ran out of fuel), and it was really peaceful.

Now it’s your turn to share! Tell me about one of your favorite experiences outdoors? What’s your favorite fuel for a long bike ride?

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
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Thankful Thursday

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Thankful

Happy Thursday! It’s been quite the week on my end- I’ve had some huge job related opportunities pop up, which is exciting, had one of the greatest bike rides of my life yesterday (will be on the blog tomorrow), and my step-grandpa died yesterday (I only saw him a small handful of times ever though- maybe around 5 times?). Lots of stuff going on here. Here’s what I’m thankful for at the moment.

I’m thankful for a fun weekend running and going to the pool with friends. This weekend was comprised of some of my favorite things- food, friends, TV, nail polish, and exercise! I loved running the Neon Dash race with Meg and Melissa, and am glad I got the opportunity to run with them (even though the race was poorly organized).

I’m thankful for fun nail polish colors! I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again. I smile almost every time I see my nails painted. I don’t know why… I just love it. I tried these two new colors at Melissa’s this past weekend, and really like them both (sorry for the feet picture- if I had access to the blue color on my fingers, I’d obviously use that instead.).

I’m thankful for having access to a gym for free! This is one of the perks of my job- a free gym! It’s not as nice as the gym I grew up with, but I save a lot of money by using the one at work, and I appreciate it quite a bit!

I’m thankful for my bike. I love being able to hop on my bike and go where I want. I love getting to experience nature up close. I’m also thankful that I didn’t have to pay for my bike (it was a hand me down from my younger brother).

I’m thankful for fans.  I’ve been able to pay less for air conditioning while also being comfortable because of them the last few weeks. What neat little inventions 🙂

Now it’s your turn to share! What’re you thankful for right now? What’s your favorite summer nail polish color?

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
• Find me on ‘Bloglovin

 

Freedom From Stuff

Tags

2014 Challenge, healthy living, simplify

After reading the book Notes From A Blue Bike, I subscribed to Tsh Oxendreider’s podcast. A few weeks ago I was listening to Tsh Oxenreider’s podcast on Freedom From Stuff, and about 10 minutes in I started going through a bunch of old containers of papers (it was that inspiring).

The thing is, I actually have a really difficult time getting rid of things. I connect memories to material objects so much that it sometimes feels physically painful to toss things (and of course there’s the whole “but I might need or want this someday” thoughts too). However, I like living in clean, organized spaces, so that requires me to toss things. This is why I included “going through all my clothes” in my 14 in 2014 Challenge– to give myself an extra little kick.

The fact is that stuff DOES load us down. We need some of it, but doesn’t it get exhausting to wade through the piles of clothes we don’t want, the stacks of magazines we’ve read but haven’t thrown away, or the _____ (fill in the blank) that we’ve saved because we might need it again. Our physical stuff can weigh us down and take away energy that we can use for other things. I’m really forcing myself to actually evaluate why I’m keeping what I’m keeping, and going through and tossing (or donating) more things than ever this year.

So far this year I’ve gotten rid of about 110 articles of clothing, a few books and movies, 4 pairs of shoes, 4 old belts, and a bunch of other random things. On top of that, I’ve tossed about 70 old magazines (YIKES- why was I saving all of them!?!), and tossed about 5 or 6 other bags of old papers from school, notes, articles, etc… that I was saving. I think about some of the stuff from time to time, but overall I’m enjoying the extra breathing room more than being able to visually look at the stuff.

On the left is the VHS tape I used in college to record TV shows that were on when I was in group meetings or night classes. Clearly I still needed this in 2014… right? 🙂

I try to take a few pictures while cleaning every year, just to remind myself the following year that I got rid of all that stuff and was happy that I did it.

So here’s my challenge to you- this next week try to throw out one bag worth of things. Sometimes it can be really overwhelming to look at everything that needs to be cleaned, so start with what’s easy first, and enjoy the feeling of creating some space and breathing room in your life. The week after, do the same thing. Who wants to join me in doing this for the next few weeks?

Now it’s your turn to share! Are you someone who has a hard time getting rid of things? What are some of your tips for getting rid of things?

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
• Find me on ‘Bloglovin

Neon Dash 5k Race Recap

Tags

Friends, Race, Racing, Running

This past Saturday evening Melissa (that’s the link to her neon dash race recap), Meg, and I ran the Neon Dask 5k. This is the first night race I’ve done, and I have lots of thoughts on it, so let’s get started.

Melissa went and picked up our packets on Friday, which was really nice of her (so I can’t speak to packet pick up on race evening). I was a bit disappointed in what the race gave to us- there were generic cotton tee-shirts that fit awkwardly and were not in any way ideal for running. So that’ll get tossed pretty quickly. The other thing they gave was this weird neon dash scarf thing that looked bad no matter what we did to it. So Melissa and I decided to just go with it and did cheer leader bows with it.

Because we were feeling really weird about our whole outfit (there was LOTS of laughter as we were getting ready), we had to take a funny pic- ninja, cheerleader, ballerina.

We drove to the race site and started to deck ourselves out with glow bracelets and necklaces (Meg purchased these online- far cheaper than buying them at the race).

Nice and Clean before the race start…

The race was originally supposed to start at 8:30, but a few days before the race we got an email saying they were starting at 9 instead. Around 8:50 we walked to the race start to get in line… and proceeded to stand there for half an hour before we started running (they let tiny groups go every few minutes… but never communicated that to us. We would’ve gotten in the starting shoot much earlier if we had known).

LOVING the tutu action.

The first color station took almost a half mile to come to, and it was a powder station. Then it was almost another half a mile before the next color station. Then there were a few color stations really close together. I really wish they had been more spread out.

They had specifically said multiple times that walkers were to stay to the right, and runners to the left. That obviously didn’t happen, and it was a little annoying. I wasn’t expecting to run fast, as this isn’t a normal race, and I wanted to have fun at the color stations. However, it was really annoying to have to weave around really slow walkers.

There was water once on the course at mile 1.5, and I was looking forward to it. It was hot and humid, and going through powder stations had made my mouth extra dry. We got to the water station and there was a LONG long long line, so we decided it wasn’t worth it to wait the multiple minutes it would’ve taken to get a cup of water. When we passed we realized what the problem was: they were filling tiny cups with a water hose! SERIOUSLY. The entire thing was really inefficient, and I was not so pleased.

Mid race

We continued on, enjoying the black light stations they had to take pictures at after the color stations along the race course. That part was fun. It would’ve been fun if they had music playing around the course too- it would’ve fit in with the black lights and neon vibe.

Post-race!

Once the race finished, we went in search of water. Again, they were filling tiny cups with water that was not cold or refreshing. They had the Honest Tea company there with samples too. This was cold and refreshing, but only about 2 ounces too. So, at the end of the race, we were given about 4 ounces (MAYBE) of liquid, and that’s it. Not fantastic. The post race party was “meh”, so we headed out pretty quickly. French fries were calling our name.

We stopped my McDonald’s on the way to Melissa’s house (we spent the night there), where we stocked up on Fries and McChicken’s (it was after 11 pm at this point, and we had dinner at about 5 pm, so we were HUNGRY).

A few tips for you: Bring a towel for your car after the race is done. We were covered in liquid and powdered color, and it would’ve soaked the seats if we hadn’t brought towels with us. Bring snacks and drinks for the car on the way home, as you won’t be getting any during the race. If you’re going to bring your phone, put it in a plastic bag. My phone was in a bag, but the bag was covered in color by the end. It’s worth it to bring your phone so you can get fun pictures along the course! Line up early on in the starting shoot so that you’re not waiting around for 45 minutes after the official start time to actually run.

Pros for this race: It was pretty cheap. I paid 22 dollars I think, so of course I wasn’t expecting some of the race amenities that I was used to expecting. It was a fun environment and something different to do with friends! Running in a tutu was a blast…. and there might be more of it in my future 🙂

Cons for this race: It was REALLY unorganized. Our start time was later than expected, the water station was poorly managed (they should’ve had more tables set up, and maybe tiny water bottles or something to accommodate the crowds. Warm water from a hose was just not ok). More hydration post race would’ve been nice as well.

Would I do it again? Yes, as long as it was as cheap as it was. I would’ve been really disappointed if it had been more expensive. This race could be awesome if it was just a little more organized. Really though, I just had a fun time running in a tutu with lots of glow stick bracelets and dancing in liquid and powder color- all things I don’t do in my normal life. Running it with Meg and Melissa was a blast too!

Looking for more ways to connect?

• Connect on twitter @kalolainastar
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POTS and Vision {How I Make Tiny Adjustments to Live With POTS}

Tags

Health, POTS

I was talking to my parents a few weeks ago about how most everyone in my life has no idea about all the tiny things I have to do each day to manage my POTS symptoms. To be honest, I haven’t even shared much with them. However, I was talking about the issue with my vision in regards to POTS, and they were really surprised I do this one thing every day to help deal with my symptoms. I thought I’d share here too:

As I’ve said before, with POTS I get really dizzy upon standing up, sometimes almost to the point of passing out (when I first got diagnosed, before I was on my beta-blocker, I actually did pass out a few times). With dizziness and passing out comes loss of vision. I’m sure many of you reading this who don’t have POTS have experienced some loss of vision (or at least seeing black dots) when you stand up. This is a similar experience to POTS, except with POTS it can be much worse. There are times where my world is completely black for 15-20 seconds or more, and at first this was really scary and overwhelming for me to deal with.

When I stand up, sometimes I’m completely fine, but other times I lose complete vision. At this point I have two choices- stand in one place until my vision comes back, or continue to walk forward and wait for it to come back that way. When I stand up in my office with clients, I can’t very well stand in one place, so the walking to the door option is what I take. So this is how I’ve learned to manage it- before I stand up, I look at my surroundings. If it’s in my living room or office, I know how many steps I need to take to get different places. I look for things I might have put on the ground (shoes, books, etc…) so I can avoid them.

When I stand up and my vision goes, I can continue to walk forward despite the fact that all I can see is black. I don’t think my clients have ever noticed that at times I can’t see them start to leave my office. Usually by the time I get to the door and start to open it my vision is back, and I smile as they are on their way. As I said, this certainly doesn’t happen every time I stand up, but does definitely happen from time to time.

That’s the thing when it comes to any long term diagnosis or illness- it’s about normalizing what is going on within us and then learning to manage it as best as we can. This is something I’ve done so much that I don’t even think about it much anymore, which is nice. But when we have to do these little things to manage our illnesses, it takes energy. If you’re a friend or family member with someone with an illness, have a little extra patience with them. It’s likely that they are constantly using energy to manage themselves in small ways so they can remain functional and live a full life!

I wanted to share this for a few reasons- First of all, no one told me that this brief vision loss was part of POTS, and it freaked me out at first. I hope that this might serve to encourage some of you who have POTS. Secondly, this is meant to give a little insight to family and friends about what your loved one deals with on a regular basis (in multiple ways- it may not even include vision loss).

For other posts in my POTS series, click here.

* I am not a doctor, and these posts should not be taken as expert medical advice. I’m simply someone who has lived many years with POTS and has found resources around the internet that help to explain this syndrome. I’m just sharing my personal story. Please contact a doctor if you have questions about POTS or think you might have it.