Whew! Sunday's finally here. For a week that was supposed to be for relaxing and recharging before starting the new job, it's been pretty busy.
On the injury rehab front, I've decided to go to the gym six days a week and alternate the shoulder rehab exercise program with the back/glute program Rog gave me. This forces me to do foam rolling and mobility every day. This worked out well this week; however on Saturday I did a group core class which put me over the top as far as my back is concerned. I was hoping it would be more like the class I took a couple of months ago...slower and focused on good form with lots of modifications. Unfortunately, it was one of those "cardio-style" classes with fast pounding music and choreographed ab routines where the instructor does 3-4 slow reps to demonstrate and then does the rest to the tempo of the music. Totally not good for my back. That, along with my shoulder program and all the walking I did for grocery shopping, was way too much and my back was sore by the evening.
Today is for cooking and laundry but mostly relaxing. All my equipment for the new job arrived on Friday so Chris and I spent some time yesterday getting it set up in my upstairs office. I've got some space logistics to figure out but once I have everything right where I need it, it will be awesome because I have all my exercise equipment in there. I plan on using the Air-Dyne much more often since I'll have it right there to jump on during the day. Which I need to do since I don't have the opportunity to walk as much during my work day as I did at NorthShore. I'm still formulating the plan to make sure I do it.
That's about it. I'll be back in the gym early tomorrow morning and figuring out the timing of my new morning routine.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
Thursday, July 26, 2012
Mama Got a Brand New Pair of Shoes
Sorry for not posting for a couple of days. I'm sort of in a transition haze between my old routine to the new one (still in formation) for the new job that I'll start on Monday. Top that off with the sugar detox, switching to a new food plan and a new workout due to the PT and low back problems and I'm still kind of a mess. But getting better every day. So I try to be patient with myself knowing that's a lot of change to deal with all at once.
I bought a new pair of running shoes on Tuesday. I knew the ones I had were not doing their job anymore and the bad back really confirmed that. I went and got a new pair of New Balance which is my preferred brand along with an insert for extra cushioning. Boy, does it make a difference. The back is still a bit ouchy in the morning but I can stand to cook and clean and walk the dog without too much problem if I'm wearing the shoes.
I had another PT session today and have been bumped up to doing the I,T,Y,W exercise on a ball instead of flat on my stomach. And I'm to do all exercises for 2 sets of 15. I did talk to her about doing them every day and she agreed that is too much and to back off to every other day. I think I'll be doing these for quite a while because I can tell how weak the muscles are, especially on the left where the injury is. However, I'm seriously thinking of going to the gym 5-6 days a week anyway because I tend not to do the foam rolling and mobility if I'm at home. That alone is worth a trip to the gym.
The sugar detox is continuing. I'm on day 6 today. It's really been up and down as far as my mood and how I feel overall. Day 3 was miserable because I felt so depleted and cranky. Day 4 was good but on Day 5 I had trouble sleeping. I've been doing the new food plan Whole30 about 90% to the letter. I finished reading It Starts With Food so I know the tweaks I need to make to be completing following the plan 100%. I even talked to Chris about not going out to eat for the month of August (to eliminate the possibility of eating something that's not on the plan) and he agreed to that, which is a good sign for success. I'm glad I'm doing this detox now and getting that part of the transition out of the way.
To conclude on a happy note...some food porn for you bacon lovers out there. Enjoy.
Bacon-Wrapped Smoky Chicken Thighs!!!
I bought a new pair of running shoes on Tuesday. I knew the ones I had were not doing their job anymore and the bad back really confirmed that. I went and got a new pair of New Balance which is my preferred brand along with an insert for extra cushioning. Boy, does it make a difference. The back is still a bit ouchy in the morning but I can stand to cook and clean and walk the dog without too much problem if I'm wearing the shoes.
I had another PT session today and have been bumped up to doing the I,T,Y,W exercise on a ball instead of flat on my stomach. And I'm to do all exercises for 2 sets of 15. I did talk to her about doing them every day and she agreed that is too much and to back off to every other day. I think I'll be doing these for quite a while because I can tell how weak the muscles are, especially on the left where the injury is. However, I'm seriously thinking of going to the gym 5-6 days a week anyway because I tend not to do the foam rolling and mobility if I'm at home. That alone is worth a trip to the gym.
The sugar detox is continuing. I'm on day 6 today. It's really been up and down as far as my mood and how I feel overall. Day 3 was miserable because I felt so depleted and cranky. Day 4 was good but on Day 5 I had trouble sleeping. I've been doing the new food plan Whole30 about 90% to the letter. I finished reading It Starts With Food so I know the tweaks I need to make to be completing following the plan 100%. I even talked to Chris about not going out to eat for the month of August (to eliminate the possibility of eating something that's not on the plan) and he agreed to that, which is a good sign for success. I'm glad I'm doing this detox now and getting that part of the transition out of the way.
To conclude on a happy note...some food porn for you bacon lovers out there. Enjoy.
Bacon-Wrapped Smoky Chicken Thighs!!!
Monday, July 23, 2012
Good Riddance
Today is day three of my sugar detox. I have to say I've never been happier to get this stuff out of my life. Usually I'm all baby wah wah about giving up sweets but I'm so intent on changing my lifestyle this time around that I'm happy to see them go.
My new obsession is veggies, or more specifically how to get more of these little devils onto my plate. Last night I made a favorite, sauteed green beans and cherry tomatoes. I had a heaping pile of those with my lamb chops and mashed sweet potatoes. I must say that sweet potatoes have become an all-time favorite. I've even got the hubby eating them without complaint.
This morning it was sliced sweet onion and mushroom sauteed in coconut oil with a couple of beaten eggs to make an omelet. Add half a grapefruit and some coffee and it's a yummy meal.
I'm looking forward to getting back into the gym. My back just doesn't want to stop with the morning hurt so I'm learning to deal with it while I focus on rehab and strengthening my weakness. The big lifts will have to wait for a while. The physical therapist gave me two new exercises to do along with the rotator cuff and scapular strengthening exercises. Both are for the serratus.
This is the first one. She has me doing it lying length-wise on a foam roller with a 3# weight in my hand.
Serratus Exercise #1
The second is similar to a pullover (I couldn't find a video of exactly what this looks like). Still lying on the foam roller with the 3# weight in hand, I bring the arm up from my side over the head in an arc until I feel pain or pulling in the shoulder and then bring it back down again. One set of 20 on both exercises.
I need major work on the glutes and hips since that seems to be main areas affected (or affecting) my back problem. Rog is going to give me a couple of routines I can use for at least a couple of weeks to get things back into balance. Between the PT and Rog's workouts I've got plenty of work cut out for me!
My new obsession is veggies, or more specifically how to get more of these little devils onto my plate. Last night I made a favorite, sauteed green beans and cherry tomatoes. I had a heaping pile of those with my lamb chops and mashed sweet potatoes. I must say that sweet potatoes have become an all-time favorite. I've even got the hubby eating them without complaint.
This morning it was sliced sweet onion and mushroom sauteed in coconut oil with a couple of beaten eggs to make an omelet. Add half a grapefruit and some coffee and it's a yummy meal.
I'm looking forward to getting back into the gym. My back just doesn't want to stop with the morning hurt so I'm learning to deal with it while I focus on rehab and strengthening my weakness. The big lifts will have to wait for a while. The physical therapist gave me two new exercises to do along with the rotator cuff and scapular strengthening exercises. Both are for the serratus.
This is the first one. She has me doing it lying length-wise on a foam roller with a 3# weight in my hand.
Serratus Exercise #1
The second is similar to a pullover (I couldn't find a video of exactly what this looks like). Still lying on the foam roller with the 3# weight in hand, I bring the arm up from my side over the head in an arc until I feel pain or pulling in the shoulder and then bring it back down again. One set of 20 on both exercises.
I need major work on the glutes and hips since that seems to be main areas affected (or affecting) my back problem. Rog is going to give me a couple of routines I can use for at least a couple of weeks to get things back into balance. Between the PT and Rog's workouts I've got plenty of work cut out for me!
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Endings and Beginnings
Two more days until the new era begins. It's been really sad saying goodbye to so many people. But it's been gratifying to hear that these people will really miss me. I've spent most of the last year like a turtle inside her shell just trying to deal with the BS going on in my work life that I lost sight of all the good I've done and all the positive vibes I've spread during my time there.
Part of starting the new era, I think, will be a new focus on my fitness program. I went to physical therapy on Tuesday to have the initial assessment done of my torn rotator cuff. Long story short, the weakness is in the muscles in the upper back and around the scapula and also in the rotator muscles (duh) particularly the one that brings the arm up parallel to the side. I had no strength at all when the therapist pushed down on my outstretched arm. It was scary. She also commented on the stiffness in the extension of my thoracic spine.
I was prescribed a series of exercises to do every day:
1. External and internal rotation with a band. I think this is pretty standard for shoulder strengthening.
2. Something the PT called "full can" which was to anchor the band with my foot and then, with my thumb pointing up and my arm at a 45 degree angle from my body, raise the arm up to parallel. This will strengthen that supraspinatus muscle.
3. Another pretty standard set of exercises for the upper back. On my stomach, raise the arms in an I, T, Y, W position. I'm starting with just bodyweight although she told me to use 2 lb weights. Once I'm comfortable with just bodyweight, I'll start using weights.
One set of 20 reps for each exercise every day.
I'm still working on the sore low back. I'm having a lot (a lot!) of discomfort in the hips. It's not pain really, just more of a heaviness. I'm focusing on using a lacrosse ball to target painful areas over the sacrum and then stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes for extended (2 min) periods of time every day. I'm also working on painful areas around the bottom of the scapula near the armpit of the left arm. I assume this is related to the torn rotator but it has gotten a lot more painful since I stopped working out.
So basically I'm a mess. I've been swimming in such a toxic stew at work for so long and I think my body has been holding in so much anger and tension just to get by. Now it needs to work itself out so I can feel normal again. I want to get back to strength training but I think for now I need just to work on lots and lots of rehab for as long as it takes. Fortunately with the new job I'll have time to do that at home. I have next week off and I've decided to spend that time focusing on lots of detox techniques (which I'll talk about in future posts), spending time alone in my favorite nature spots and working on getting my mental status healthy again.
Part of starting the new era, I think, will be a new focus on my fitness program. I went to physical therapy on Tuesday to have the initial assessment done of my torn rotator cuff. Long story short, the weakness is in the muscles in the upper back and around the scapula and also in the rotator muscles (duh) particularly the one that brings the arm up parallel to the side. I had no strength at all when the therapist pushed down on my outstretched arm. It was scary. She also commented on the stiffness in the extension of my thoracic spine.
I was prescribed a series of exercises to do every day:
1. External and internal rotation with a band. I think this is pretty standard for shoulder strengthening.
2. Something the PT called "full can" which was to anchor the band with my foot and then, with my thumb pointing up and my arm at a 45 degree angle from my body, raise the arm up to parallel. This will strengthen that supraspinatus muscle.
3. Another pretty standard set of exercises for the upper back. On my stomach, raise the arms in an I, T, Y, W position. I'm starting with just bodyweight although she told me to use 2 lb weights. Once I'm comfortable with just bodyweight, I'll start using weights.
One set of 20 reps for each exercise every day.
I'm still working on the sore low back. I'm having a lot (a lot!) of discomfort in the hips. It's not pain really, just more of a heaviness. I'm focusing on using a lacrosse ball to target painful areas over the sacrum and then stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes for extended (2 min) periods of time every day. I'm also working on painful areas around the bottom of the scapula near the armpit of the left arm. I assume this is related to the torn rotator but it has gotten a lot more painful since I stopped working out.
So basically I'm a mess. I've been swimming in such a toxic stew at work for so long and I think my body has been holding in so much anger and tension just to get by. Now it needs to work itself out so I can feel normal again. I want to get back to strength training but I think for now I need just to work on lots and lots of rehab for as long as it takes. Fortunately with the new job I'll have time to do that at home. I have next week off and I've decided to spend that time focusing on lots of detox techniques (which I'll talk about in future posts), spending time alone in my favorite nature spots and working on getting my mental status healthy again.
Monday, July 16, 2012
The Farewell Tour
The long goodbye, which started two weeks ago, is coming to its end this week. I met with my boss for the first time since I gave notice. He's going the kumbaya route, all happy for me and subtly implying that it's better for me since I can't handle the stress of my job. Whatevs, dude. Believe what you will. There's going to be a long round of being taken out to lunch, after work "drinks" and taking my team out for a farewell dinner. My food has been so-so. I'm experimenting right now with going with just coffee with a few tablespoons of coconut milk first thing in the morning and delaying the first meal until 9 am. That went pretty well this morning. My first meal was protein and fat (egg salad) and coffee with coconut milk and protein powder. That held me pretty well until lunch where I had homemade chili, half an avocado and 1/4 c. mixed nuts and raisens. That held me until around 3:30 and then the afternoon hungries hit. I gave into pretzels and oreo cookies...so I've got some work to do figuring out what lunch will hold me until dinner. Dinner is going to be chicken breast, mashed sweet potato and salad.
The back is slowly getting better. I'm back to doing foam rolling along with gentle mobility. I added some stretching this evening for the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes. I'll work on all of this twice a day until I feel totally back to normal. I still have pain in the morning after getting up but it was not as bad this morning and walking the dog was tolerable. Yesterday I got on the exercise bike yesterday for 20 minutes for some easy pedaling and that went well with no pain. I probably will do that every day until I can start walking again without pain.
Physical therapy on the shoulder starts tomorrow...soooo details to follow!
The back is slowly getting better. I'm back to doing foam rolling along with gentle mobility. I added some stretching this evening for the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes. I'll work on all of this twice a day until I feel totally back to normal. I still have pain in the morning after getting up but it was not as bad this morning and walking the dog was tolerable. Yesterday I got on the exercise bike yesterday for 20 minutes for some easy pedaling and that went well with no pain. I probably will do that every day until I can start walking again without pain.
Physical therapy on the shoulder starts tomorrow...soooo details to follow!
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The Back Saga Continues
My bad back is slowly getting better. I was able to do without the muscle relaxant during the day yesterday. The thing that seems to bother my back the most is doing a lot of walking. After about 5 minutes, the muscles over the sacrum at the top of the glutes get so tight and painful. Fortunately, the pain goes away once I sit and allow them to relax.
I started going some very gentle mobility and stretching last night. Cat-to-neutral, pelvic tilt, pulling knees into the chest. Things like that just to start loosening the muscles. Did them again this morning right after getting out of bed. I've got grocery shopping to do today so I'll see how things go as far as walking around. I fear this is going to be a slow recovery.
I started going some very gentle mobility and stretching last night. Cat-to-neutral, pelvic tilt, pulling knees into the chest. Things like that just to start loosening the muscles. Did them again this morning right after getting out of bed. I've got grocery shopping to do today so I'll see how things go as far as walking around. I fear this is going to be a slow recovery.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
When It Rains It Pours
I hope this is happening because I'm going through such an intense transition phase in my life.
Happening #1: I messed up my back doing deadlifts yesterday. I did the exact same workout I did last week and what felt pretty good last week totally messed up my lower back yesterday. Today I'm walking like an old lady and being EXTREMELY careful about what I do and how I move lest my back muscles seize up. Not fun and not fair!! I'll be sleeping on a heating pad tonight to hopefully relax the muscles. No workout tomorrow.
Happening #2: The diet saga. Doing this total 180 on my eating has proven challenging. Sunday I had a pot roast in the crockpot all day but had it turned to warm rather than low. So by dinner time that sucker was nowhere near done. Chris and I looked at each other, I said pizza, he said ok and so sausage pizza it was. However, it occurred to me that if I had a backup meal always waiting in the wings I wouldn't have this struggle in the same circumstances in future. After talking it over with Chris we agreed that eggs would be a good Plan B meal that I could always have on hand in an emergency. So out of adversity comes good.
On Monday I discovered just how quickly I get hungry after eating. Like super hungry 60-90 minutes after eating. This is the consequences of being a sugar burner. Once I started paying attention, it was so apparent what I've been fighting every day and how much of a struggle it's been to get from one meal to the next. So my goal for now is to learn to eat enough fats at each meal to go 6 hours between meals and eat only 3 meals a day. I'll still take snacks (emphasizing protein, healthy fats and veggies) in case I do get ravenous in between meals but my goal is to eventually eliminate the snacks because my body will be tuned to dipping into the fat stores instead of yelling at me to eat.
One of these days this adventure will become fun. I can hardly wait.
Happening #1: I messed up my back doing deadlifts yesterday. I did the exact same workout I did last week and what felt pretty good last week totally messed up my lower back yesterday. Today I'm walking like an old lady and being EXTREMELY careful about what I do and how I move lest my back muscles seize up. Not fun and not fair!! I'll be sleeping on a heating pad tonight to hopefully relax the muscles. No workout tomorrow.
Happening #2: The diet saga. Doing this total 180 on my eating has proven challenging. Sunday I had a pot roast in the crockpot all day but had it turned to warm rather than low. So by dinner time that sucker was nowhere near done. Chris and I looked at each other, I said pizza, he said ok and so sausage pizza it was. However, it occurred to me that if I had a backup meal always waiting in the wings I wouldn't have this struggle in the same circumstances in future. After talking it over with Chris we agreed that eggs would be a good Plan B meal that I could always have on hand in an emergency. So out of adversity comes good.
On Monday I discovered just how quickly I get hungry after eating. Like super hungry 60-90 minutes after eating. This is the consequences of being a sugar burner. Once I started paying attention, it was so apparent what I've been fighting every day and how much of a struggle it's been to get from one meal to the next. So my goal for now is to learn to eat enough fats at each meal to go 6 hours between meals and eat only 3 meals a day. I'll still take snacks (emphasizing protein, healthy fats and veggies) in case I do get ravenous in between meals but my goal is to eventually eliminate the snacks because my body will be tuned to dipping into the fat stores instead of yelling at me to eat.
One of these days this adventure will become fun. I can hardly wait.
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