12.6 Pounds & Counting

Greetings, Kittens!


I missed last month and for that I'm sorry, but at least it isn't because I've fallen off the wagon. As the title says, I'm down 12.6 pounds since January 1st and going steadily along. 11 of that happened in January. I plateaued the first two weeks of February when I stopped exercising to recover, and then dropped another 1.6 since I've been able to move more. 


I'm happy about this overall because it means that my eating didn't increase the way it usually does during my period and when I'm worn down and have to recoup. That's a very good sign for how the beginning of this year, and hopefully beyond will go. 


I haven't been back on the stationary bike or using my hoop like I'd hoped. Most of my activity has been getting my 10K steps or close to it, and bouncing to music on my balance ball which I love. Lately, it's been just the ball, but as long as it's working right?


I'm in a low energy phase with the CFS, but I'm steadily working forward with it. Everything is harder with a chronic illness, but no goal is impossible, some just take more creative thinking. In my case, when you can't run, walk. When you can't walk...bounce!


What ways have you all found to work around obstacles and sneak in the activity you need?


~X

In the Holiday Flow

Greetings, Kittens!

Happy Hanukkah, Blessed Yule, Merry Christmas and a Joyous Kwanzaa to all! I’m happy to say, the holidays haven’t added to the scale. Yay! They haven’t taken the number down either, but considering the abundant treats in every direction, I take it as a win.

I’ve spent the last month healing, with only a setback or two. I believe whatever happened, the inflammation is entirely gone and all the joints and muscles are doing well. I’m definitely grateful.

The setbacks have meant no riding, but hooping has worked well. As long as I pay very close attention to my knee, there have been no issues. I’m hoping the increase in my supplements will lubricate the joint further and I’ll be riding for the new year. I still have my 1000 mile goal to reach, I also have a goal of riding 260-300 of the 366 days in 2012. That’s five to six days a week every week, which is very reasonable. It means before I travel, if I think I won’t have access to a bike, I’ll have to ride daily the four to eight weeks before, depending on how long I’ll be gone. But that’s reasonable as well, since it’s right in the other room.

I’ve been hyper aware of my eating this month, which is awesome. My food journal had started collecting dust and now it’s back on duty. I haven’t sweated the numbers, rather simply wanting to get them down and keep them from being outrageous. Check and check. So I’m all ready to wed that awareness to increased cardio and strength training, and see results astound and amaze.

While the scale has remained steady, I’ve lost noticeable inches the last month and that’s another yay. Yay! I think that my measurements in February will be in more impressive after the increase in sustained cardio and the increase in walking for a full month. Speaking of which *Major Fitness Squee* I get my new pedometer this afternoon, I’m so excited!

I’ve missed fitness walking so much more than I could have imagined. There’s such a longing to have it back regularly, that I’ll happily alter my biking goal if my knee only lets me do one or the other. Between them, I’d much rather get in all my steps and get back the way my body and mind felt when 15-20k a day was the norm. Today I can start that. *Second Fitness Squee*

I’m looking forward to the yearly fitness craze to hit us in January. I have a list of things to pick up when the sales start. I need new handweights and resistance bands, some workout shorts and new shoes. I’m also hoping for a few Wii sports games at a reasonable price. Can’t wait!

What will you all be replacing and stocking up on during the January sales?

Happy New Year!

~X                 

Back in the Mix

Greetings, Kittens!

I'm on the mend and almost normal again. It was nowhere near as quick as I'd hoped two weeks ago. There are still twinges in my lower back, but I've walked unassisted for the last ten days. There have been knee issues, but I can also twist and turn as necessary. I'm calling it full movement restored and going for a short hooping sesssion this evening. 

I still don't know what caused it, but for the next couple months, I'm going to lay off of the strength training and mat pilates. I'll use my hoops to tone, and some basic yoga poses to stretch, but I won't do anything that causes stress on my back.

Even for cardio, I think I might stick with the hoops for at least a week and then jump back into riding the bike. I'm wary, but I'm eager, so here's to getting back in the saddle!

100 miles and counting!

~X

Um, Ow!

Greetings, Kittens!


I hope you’re all doing better than you were yesterday, and will be even better tomorrow! After wrenching my back on Friday, (or late Thursday, I honestly don’t remember in the haze), I’ve been primarily immobile until yesterday. Today I’m even more mobile, with the majority of the pain from my sciatica issues, rather than the dagger-in-the-back issue that had me getting around with a walking stick these last five days.


The whole thing completely sucked, but I made 97 of the 100 miles I wanted for October and I know the moment I can ride again, I’ll easily make 100 miles for November. As much as it sucks and as bad as the pain was, I can look at the bright side of the injury and acknowledge how much I missed daily riding while out of commission. I almost tried to ride while at the height of the pain in hopes that the increase in blood flow to the muscles would help. I don’t know if any of you have ever tried to ride a bike with back pain, but those who have know that I was momentarily delirious.


I snapped back to reality and paid attention to my body and rested so that I could heal. I’ve been downing the apples and 100% juices, and wishing I could stand long enough to make smoothies, to nourish my body and help heal. I don’t know where my weight is since I couldn’t stand on the scale, but I’m confident that I should be stable, if not down a bit. Hopefully, I’ll be able to check tomorrow or Thursday.


At my current rate of healing, I’m aiming to ride again on Friday. Of course, that will be determined by whether or not I still need the walking stick to get around on Friday. I’ve made the general rule that if I can’t walk on my own, pedaling isn’t the best bet—unless the walking is a knee issue. In that case, it helps.

Can I just say that I’m over this whole thing? Being sick, having no energy, being injured, I’m just over all of it. It’s old. Whatever cosmic lesson I’m supposed to be learning, the Universe can just send a memo at this point. I’ll read it, I’ll grok it, we can all move on. *Smile*


A Happy Wednesday to all!


97 Miles & Counting,


~X

Spinning Wheel, Gotta Go Round

 

Greetings, Kittens!

I’m Xakara, it’s great to meet you! I’m happy to have joined all the lovely ladies here and all of you, on this current leg of my health journey.

I’ve been struggling with repetitive injuries, as well as a downward cycle in my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. There’s more about my CFS and such on my page, so I’ll spare you the repetition. Needless to say, it’s in a bad place right now, but I’m happily in a much better one.

We all obsess on the numbers, usually the ones on the scale or printed on our clothing labels. I don’t know about all of you, but those particular obsessions have yet to actually help me along. No, I do my best when I get to obsess over different numbers, steps, sets, reps, minutes, miles and miles-per-hour are my golden zone. Since this is an energy game, I have to spend what little I may have on a given day, to reach for numbers that remain real and steady in a way the scale never can. This is what gets me going and keeping me doing so. And this is why, at my lowest point of motivation, and one of my highest points of depression, that I set a goal of riding 1000 miles.

 I’ve been riding a stationary bike off and on since June, but chronic knee issues and sudden drops in energy would stall me about three or four days into a new routine. In part, it’s because I’d push too far and too fast, focused only on how soon I could get the weight off and feel more like myself. The other part is that once I find a legitimate reason to skip a day, that day becomes a week, becomes a month, becomes three months with only a handful of workouts. Having to constantly start over and rebuild my endurance meant never really making progress.

It took a moment in September, of looking hard and deep while journaling, to realize that I was in a negative push-crash cycle on two levels. I’d push beyond my current energy levels with the CFS, and beyond what my knees can take with the injuries, which halted my efforts. Every time my efforts were thwarted, I’d get depressed and those days off would grow. It’s hard to struggle over simple things, when I was walking 20-30,000 steps a day as recently as February of this year. That’s just before my knee gave out and the CFS bottomed out as well. No energy, and no ability when the energy was there, well, it wasn’t a pretty sight.

 

I had to confront the push part of the cycle and why it so easily self-perpetuated. Flipping through journal entries, it became clear that somewhere along the line, I had come to equate getting my energy back and feeling good, with getting the excess fat off as soon as possible. Of course, that’s not at all how it works. As with anyone, fitness and health comes long before any kind of goal weight/size is reached. Building the fitness builds the energy, and everything stems from that. Going back to the tried and true fitness goals and decoupling it from weight altogether was the only way to build at a pace that wouldn’t cause me to crash later on.

To ensure that, I put a few rules in place for achieving my 1000 Miles in a year or less:

1.) Ride every single day. No exceptions!

This is vital. Daily is necessary for me to see these kinds of goals through, rather than put them off to write or because I'm too tired. I have CFS and I'm in a vicious insomnia cycle, I'm always tired. It can't be a reason to do nothing at all.

2.) Ride only as far and as fast as I can that day.

Some days will be 1 mile, some days will be 5 miles, my most current ride was a surprising 8 miles. Whatever I can do in a given day is a good day because it gets done.

3.) Do Not talk about Fight Club.

3.) Every day is a new day.

A string of 1 mile days has no bearing on how far or fast I ride the next time. It’s all open with the potential to be everything I can put into on a given day.

 The above mindset has been working beautifully and I haven’t crashed since I started October 3^rd. Following the rules, after months of nothing consistent, I’m now fifteen days in with daily rides, and I’m 60 miles into my 1000.

I don’t want to give the impression that the scale is unimportant. I weigh daily and chart the ups and downs to see which foods and activities impact it for good or ill. The scale is a very valuable tool, but it’s not my North Star in any of this. By getting caught up in the miles and my speed and how good I feel from the ride, the excess adipose tissue will come off as a by-product. This happened with walking. I got so focused on my daily steps and dancing in 2007, I actually forgot the goal of shedding weight and looked up to be 60 lbs lighter and then 100 lbs lighter.

Always go with what works, right? :)

Thanks for reading and good luck to us all!

 

60 Miles & Counting...

~X