slow recovery

Well, it's been one week since my injury and the speed at which I'm recovering is S-L-O-W. I had a very severe sprain, so I'm not surprised that I still can't walk on it, but I was so hoping...

I can't put any weight on it yet and it is terribly frustrating. The swelling is almost gone now but I still have bruising all around my ankle. I did a number on it alright! And I managed to get a subungual hematoma on my big toe as well. I was saying that I don't know HOW I managed to mangle my ankle AND my toe and the Dr. said the same thing. He kept asking me how it happened because he never sees those two injuries together.

The doctor also said I can try walking on it as much as is comfortable. Unfortunately it just isn't possible, try as I might. I guess in the past it was thought that resting this type of injury was best but studies show that movement is going to speed the healing. Seems scary to me because every time I try to step with any amount of weight on it, I feel like I'm just going to hurt it worse.

I graduated from the boot to a splint. The inside of the splint has gel so I can put it into the freezer and strap it to my ankle nice and cold. It's ok but it doesn't give the same support as the boot so it's pretty much useless as far as a walking aid. Today I wore the boot so I could walk around the house and actually DO something. I figure that can't hurt. I'm at least able to put pressure on it that way.

Good news? I can start weight training any time. I did do some last Sunday but nothing since. I was uncomfortable and maybe even a tad depressed by my situation and just didn't feel like it. Maybe I will feel up to it in another day or two.

Gosh, I hope I can stop injuring myself so I can reach my body goals one of these days! Some unforeseen force is keeping me from it. Maybe it's bad karma. I told my mom that and she laughed. Not a big believer in karma apparently.

I probably won't have much worth posting for a while, at least not on a regular basis. Just another speed bump in the road of life, eh? I'll get there. It's my destiny. I just know it!

Another injury

Gosh darn it all, people! I'm injured again!!

Sprained my ankle this time, playing basketball. At least, I think it's just a sprain. Went to the ER right after it happened because it swelled up pretty bad almost instantaneously. Dr. said she thought she saw a chip in the bone but couldn't be 100% sure. The radiologist was supposed to call me the next day and let me know but never did.

Anyway, I see an ortho dr. tomorrow. I've been in a boot and using crutches since it happened (last Thursday night). Today I started walking on it with the boot on. Seems to be OK although it does get sore after a while. So mostly I'm sitting with my foot up, surfing on my laptop.

Needless to say, my exercise routine is at a serious standstill. May even have to push my goal date back. UGH! But, I was able to do some weight training exercises yesterday. This is what I was able to accomplish with the boot on (and I was very careful):

deadlifts w/ 15lb dumbbells - did quite a few, maybe around 50

one legged deadlifts - 'bout 20 of 'em

rows w/ 10lb dumbbells - 20

bicep curls w/ 10lb dumbbells - 20

leg lifts on floor - 3 sets of 15 each leg

bent leg lifts on floor - 3 sets of 15 each leg

push ups on knees - 3 sets of 10

tricep dips - 3 sets of 10

Ab work - hip lifts, knee ins, bicycle

I may have forgotten one or two but that looks about right. I did as much as I could, lots of reps and no rest, so I could get a good sweat going and keep my heart rate elevated. Gotta do whatcha can, right? I could have done more but I was starting to feel light-headed, it had been a while since I had eaten and I had been doing nothing but lay around the past two days. I hate to think of how long it will take me to build up endurance again. Oh well. I guess this is the perfect opportunity to build up the muscle in my right leg, which seem considerably smaller than the left for some reason. I have had to so everything with my right leg since the injury, bending, squatting, etc., so it actually might do some good.

I was planning on running with my kids in their fun run (they can have one adult run with them if they want - and they wanted) but I don't know if that will be possible now. It's almost a month away but I really have NO CLUE how long it will be before I am able to run again.

I guess I should welcome the little break. Sometimes you have to take a step back to move two steps forward. It's always so hard for me to make myself take a break from working out, but this way, I have no choice. Who knows, it could prove to be just what I needed when I'm all healed up and back in the game. Trying to keep a positive attitude!!

Get Ripped!

Yesterday, (Monday April 19th) I did the Ripped 1000 DVD with Jari Love. OUCH! That video is tough. Lots of reps, lots of lactic acid, mixed in with short bursts of high intensity cardio between tracks. They have tested these techniques and claim they burn 100% carbs and can bust you out of a plateau. You should see results within 2 weeks, although I'm not sure what type of result they are referring to. I plan on doing this DVD 3 times per week, (M,W,F) for the next 6 weeks.

I hope to see some improvement in my stamina soon. I'm no stranger to exercise and perceive myself as being pretty fit, but this DVD makes me feel like a total beginner! It wipes me out! And though I'm used to lifting some pretty heavy weight, it's quite a change to use light weights and TONS of reps. It blasts my muscles! If I was bored with my old routine before, I won't be complaining of it anymore. I was sweating like a pig and working hard!

Hopefully it won't become one of those "dreaded" exercise routines that I don't look forward to. Like I said, I'm going to TRY and stick with it for at least the next 6 weeks. I've got two other Ripped DVDs besides the 1000. I have Slim and Lean, and Ripped & Chiseled. So if I want to mix it up, no problem there. I did Ripped and Chiseled last Friday but I found it to be too focused on the upper body. There were about 3 good lower body moves (again, lots of reps & lactic acid), but the rest of the 50 minute DVD was all upper body. And MAN were my arms and chest (especially chest) screaming the next day or two. Oddly, my legs aren't sore from yesterday.

One of the tracks in 1000 is push ups....70 of them! I can't wait until I can do 70 push ups on my toes! I have been doing push ups the sissy way for quite some time now (on my knees). In Denmark, I had gotten up to quite a lot of reps on my toes, and then something happened, can't remember what it was exactly, hurt my shoulder somehow. After the break from that injury, I never built myself back up.

And the legs portion has this side squat back lunge combo, (including lat raise) that uses pulses for an "I just want to die right now" burn. I can see how this stuff will give good results! I just hope I don't puss out, cuz it's hard!

Happy Saturday

oh me oh my....I've been neglecting my journal. Shame on me! It's just been a whirlwind of a week.

It is absolutely GLORIOUS outside today in Fargo, ND!! No wind for a change, blue skies and sunshine. It was a perfect day for a run outside this morning. And a lot of other people thought the same thing cuz I sure met a lot of other happy runners!

On the fitness front:
My training is taking a turn. Starting to get into a boring runt with the weight routine. Even though I've mixed up the sets/reps situation, I'm bored. And when I'm bored with it, it becomes a daunting task. And I don't want to be dreading my workouts.

I've pulled out some of my good old DVDs of Jari Love. Know of her? She's really beautiful and encouraging. Her routines are tough though. She does a lot of high (I mean HIGH) reps lower weight stuff. Works up the lactic acid with pulses that leave your muscles burning and screaming by the end. Love it! Anxious to see if I will notice any changes in body composition after a month of that, since I'm used to heavy weight, low reps. That ought to be a good shock for the old muscles!

Diet:
You may remember that I was carb cycling a while back. Was doing great! Lost an inch around the hips in two weeks (WOW). Then I had a moment of weakness, that turned into a week of weakness, that turned into "the hell with it!". I made it through 4 cycles (a personal best for me....cuz it's hard). I was planning on 12 weeks BUT, it ain't gonna happ'n capt'n. So, right now I'm just enjoying life. Eating right, trying not to take my calorie intake past maintenance. I don't expect to see amazing or fast results by summer.

One thing that I have continued with is my ramped up cardio sessions. I'm still running most days of the week 45 minutes or there abouts. And like I said, I'm still hitting the weights 3 times per week.

All is well.

Bad week :(

Last week was not good from a diet/fitness standpoint. I started off a little weaker than usual, I blame it on having to eat pie at Easter dinner. Seriously, I was blindfolded and forced to eat it. I have pictures to prove it :)

Anyway, not eating sugar for two weeks, and then getting it reintroduced into my system, drove me mad! I think I ate more pie/cheesecake/cake in the past week than I have in the past 3-6 months! sigh....

I didn't feel much like taking my measurements yesterday...I knew after my horrible week I wouldn't see any improvement. I'm bloated and miserable.

But today is a "refresh" day. I am telling my body to hit the "refresh" button and forget last week ever happened. On a positive note, I did make it farther into the carb cycling than I ever have before! I did 4 consecutive cycles without flubbing. Then I had a week of stupidity. Now I'm going to pick it back up again, where I left off.

I ran outside yesterday morning. It was the perfect morning, calm and sunny. My 7 year old ran the first lap around our beautiful neighborhood with me. She is practicing up for the mile youth run next month! This morning, her legs were really sore...it was so cute. I'm glad that I at least have one child that seems to be interested in picking up the good habit of exercise. Hopefully she will continue to be a motivator for me.

I feel a little embarrassed telling you about my failed past week, since I've been writing these "inspiration" and "motivation" posts. And then there is the "I'd rather feel awesome all the time when I hit my goal than awesome for 5 minutes while eating junk...." blah blah blah. Well, apparently I have human days like everyone else. I can really see a difference in motivation levels from that post to the past week! HA HA! I feel like a hypocrite! I need some encouragement! I need that push.

I was so excited to get downstairs and workout hard every morning and lately it has seems less than thrilling. I don't know why that is, honestly! I would have thought my oomph would be thru the roof after getting such awesome results on my plan. Maybe that is what is making me lazy. Maybe I'm getting into a comfort zone again. AGH!

Anyway, here's hoping that a better week lies ahead for me. I have the power to make it great or make it suck. I DO! I am going to decide for myself right now that it will be great!

Have a good one.

Had a bad day...

You're taking one down
You sing a sad song just to turn it around...

Yep, had me a bad day. The sun was shining, the sky was blue, and the typical ND wind wasn't blowing 50 mph to ruin it for once! I took my Emma for a looooong ride in her wagon, we came home and ate peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, then we played out in the back yard. We hid jelly beans in the grass for the other to find, we kicked the soccer ball around, and I did some much needed gardening while she played toys on the deck. Doesn't sound like a bad day does it?

Actually it was perfect. So perfect that I didn't want to spoil it by worrying about when I was going to fit my workout in or not enjoy brats on the grill with my family.

You see, some days I tend to be over careful and meticulous about my diet and fitness regimen. Ok, ok....MOST days. And although I pride myself on the hard work I do to improve my health and fitness, it can sometimes feel to me like it's taking away from the REALLY fun stuff. The important stuff like enjoying a carefree day with my kids.

And then sometimes, life creeps up on you. I put off my morning workout session because it was so beautiful that I just wanted to get out there. I fully intended on getting it done in the evening but then I had to help my oldest with her homework until 8pm. Then, my husband who seemed a little desperate for attention, asked if I wanted to watch a movie with him. We hardly every get time alone to snuggle and watch movies together...so I caved.

And not only did I skip out on the workout, but I ate brats and WHITE BUNS (sin of all sins, right) when I was supposed to grill myself a chicken breast. Well, it just so happens that I forgot to take the bird boob out of the freezer, and then when it came to be supper time I panicked. AND, I had a piece of cheesecake. AND, I had some Ritz crackers with easy cheese.

Total failure.

But, I can't look at it that way. Instead, I'm going to look back on the day for what it was. Absolutely fabulous!

We are ALL human. We slide once and a while. I slid today and I enjoyed myself. Are my body stats going to suffer on Sunday, when I take my measurements? Maybe.

But look, I'm going to keep going with my schedule. Tomorrow is a scheduled high carb day, and we have already planned a "pizza bender night"...(which in this house means ordering delivery pizza and watching Futurama). I'll enjoy myself tomorrow like every other high carb day and continue with plan A.

Sounds wonderful!

Wenesday night

I ran 45 minutes last night. I usually run in the morning but I had other things to do. Man, it took me like 20 minutes before I found my groove! It felt like my feet were so heavy and it was downright tough that first 20 minutes. But I tried my inspiration and motivation techniques and I finally found the burst of energy I needed!

I think it was hard cuz I was so full from dinner that evening. I was busy during the day so I didn't have much of a lunch or afternoon snack, which made me pretty hungry at dinnertime. I had two (home made) low carb enchiladas...they were SO yummy! And then I had a sliver of cheesecake (I know, naughty).

I hope I will still see more improvement in my results on Sunday after having 2 slivers of pie this week :(

what inspires you?

Friday(april 2nd) - did lower body workout #2 and ran 30 minutes
Saturday(april 3rd) - did upper body workout #2 and ran 45 minutes
Monday(april 5th) - did lower body workout #1 and ran 45 minutes
Tuesday(april 6th) - did upper body workout #1 and ran 40 minutes

A couple posts back I mentioned motivators. They are a powerful tool when it comes to working out. Cuz WORK is essentially what it is. Sure, it's enjoyable too (to some people, me included), but it is also tough work.

Another powerful tool you can utilize is inspiration. Who inspires you and why? Think about this for a second, and then I'll share with you who inspires me.

...

...

...

Did you think about it? Good. Moving on.

Who inspires me? Is it the person who has been at an ideal weight pretty much their entire life? No. Because then I would inspire myself. I have never been overweight, but I'm not my own inspirer.

Is it the genetically gifted mesomorph, who is naturally muscular and lean without having to work at it as hard as the rest of us? Um, no. Jealous maybe, but not inspired.

No, I'm inspired by people who are big. The ones that have 50-100 pounds to lose, that don't just use being big as an excuse to stay big. I don't mean those that say "Well, I've been big my entire life, my family is big, it's just in my genes". I mean, the people that say "I'm overweight, but I can do something about it"...and then DO IT!

People who work hard at it consistently and drop that kind of weight are the true inspirers. They don't give up when the going gets tough. They say no to junk food and sweat their butts off every day. To see someone transform themselves from obese to healthy and fit....is such a wonderful thing! They must be so proud of themselves. I admire those people immensely.

It can't be easy to start out. Just think of all that weight they have to move around, especially if they have been pretty sedentary in the past. I use that vision if I start to get tired when I'm on the treadmill. Because it's pretty darn easy for me to run, when I think about it. I exercise regularly so I'm used to it. When 30 minutes go by (which is what I shoot for every day) I usually end up saying to myself, "I can make it another 15 minutes"....and I usually do! Getting your mind to constantly tell your body what to do is an important part of keeping your momentum going.

My personal battles never involved losing tons of weight, just annoying fat pockets.

To maximize fat loss, you must combine strength training and cardio. I strength train 4 times per week and try to hit the treadmill every day for 30-45 minutes. On weights days, it feels time consuming. If I run for 45 minutes and then hit the weights for a half an hour, I'm pretty drained by the end. Typically working out for more than an hour (I have read over and over) does more harm than good, so I try not to do that.

Two or three years ago my sole workout routine was running, with maybe a strength training session in there once a week if I felt like it. And even then it was only 5 lb dumbbells. Did I lose weight? Yep. Was it all fat? NO! I was a skinny fat person! I weighed 109 pounds and still had dimply legs that looked disgusting! Why is that? Because I was cutting my calories too low and and losing more muscle than fat. So even at a weight which was considered "underweight" for my age and height, I felt fat because of the appearance of my legs. Such a frustrating thing!

I think it's probably tougher to be in my situation than it is to lose 50 or more pounds. Because the closer you get to being as lean as possible, the harder it is. Your body fights you like hell to hang on to that last little bit of fat. Which is why I needed to implement the carb cycling, to try and trick my body into losing that fat. So far it seems to have helped me break past a plateau. But it's a slow process, I need to keep my patience in check. Unless you have LOTS of weight to lose, losing more than 1-2 pounds a week means you are probably losing muscle too!

For seriously overweight people, sometimes just making minor adjustments to their diet (i.e. not drinking soda, alcohol or consuming other empty calorie foods) or increasing their activity level will easily help them drop weight like that *SNAP!*

So, I've gotten past the first two weeks of seriously increased cardio and carb cycling. And I've seen some results too! I want to keep that momentum going, keep feeling inspired and motivated by people who have it worse than I do but don't give up. Because they are real fitness heroes!

bad news/AWESOME news

Well, I broke my 13 day streak.

I found out Thursday morning that my ex-husband, and father of 2 of my children, was in a terrible car accident. I was terrified that I might have to give my girls some very bad news that day...he was in surgery and I really had no information on his condition. It was bad, he rolled his vehicle multiple times going 70 mph. You have to be pretty lucky to survive that. And he did, thankfully. Needless to say, I wasn't really focused on exercise that day.

So I skipped Thursday. But I was back at it Friday. Did my lower body #2 workout and ran 30 minutes.

Saturday I did upper body #2 and ran 45 minutes.

Sunday - Easter Sunday...and I rested. But I also took my 3rd round of measurements.

I am SO HAPPY to say that the results were awesome again!!!

Sunday 4/4/10
weight: 113.8 lbs (started at 118.8 on 3/15/10)
hips: 36" (lost an inch in 2 weeks)
thigh: 20"
waist: 24"
belly button: 25"
bodyfat: 15%

If you compare those results with last week, I went down in weight, and size. I'm on the right track! This carb cycling is REALLY doing the trick for me! My only concern is that my lean mass is still showing a bit of a drop. I'm going to have to start to eat more on my high carb days I think.