Things Can Only Get Better

I met the partner of the doctor I've been seeing so far at physical therapy today.  I learned quite a bit.  In going over my history, he explained to me exactly what got done when I had surgery last year, the "not invasive" emergency disc removal that occurred about 18 months ago.  I was told at the time that the procedure was absolutely necessary, but not at all dangerous and that I should recover just fine on my own.

This doctor today showed me on a model spine exactly what they cut through to get to the disc that was removed (muscles tendons, etc.), and told me he couldn't believe that I didn't do rehab right after.  And while he commended me for my fitness efforts this summer, he explained to me that without learning how to get my brain and body used to working around the chunk of bone that's missing from the vertebra they cut into without doing damage to the surrounding area in conjunction with learning how to deal with the as yet not addressed low back spinal injury that I also have (I'm really trying to avoid further surgery), I won't be getting the best benefits from any exercise I try to do.  I could even make things worse for myself.

It's so nice to be dealing with people that know what they're talking about, and that care about making me better, not making themselves money.  My pain management doctor recommended four to six weeks or physical therapy and I worried that that might not end up being enough.  It's clear to me that these guys are going to keep me on with them for as long as I need to be there.  I feel relieved about that.  I moved from beginner to early intermediate exercises today, which are kicking my butt, but in that good "proud of yourself" sort of way.

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

A Slow-Going Start

Things haven't been moving along all that quickly for various reasons and I'm finding myself very glad that my doctor suggested physical therapy before I went out on my own.  It's just been harder for me this time around, and I'm not really able to push it as hard as I did this summer.  But since I'm doing this not for quick results but an improvement in my overall health I'm willing to be patient and follow my body's cues instead of rushing and hurting myself.
With that, I think I'll get going on my stabilization exercises, "homework" from my physical therapist.  Happy Election Day!

I'm back!

After what I'll call a long "fitness relapse" following a hospitalization this summer and a very stupid and unnecessary distraction, I decided to return to good nutrition and fitness.  I had let myself wallow in negative feelings after some major changes and disappointments occurred in my life and the setback cost me.  I gained a good 20 lbs. or so and lost most of the muscle tone I had acquired during the summer challenge. I felt overwhelmed and helpless, but eventually a thought occurred to me: Sometimes the thing that needs to change is not your situation, but your perception of it.  And with that, I decided to dust myself off and get back to work with getting myself healthy and stronger and feeling less pain.  I was doing great before.  I know I can do it again.
I discussed my plans with my spine rehab doctor and he prescribed four to six weeks of physical therapy before I try to take on any exercise regime of my own.  I met with my new physical therapist this morning and I thought things went very well.  I had done research on local physical therapists when I made the appointment and I'm quite happy with my choice.  My journey begins again tomorrow and I will be chronicling my efforts and progress as per usual.
I'm so happy to be back.  I hope this post finds everyone well and happy.  Good night!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, LAST DAY!

For the very last day of the challenge, I thought I would revisit an old fitness "foe," the KickButt! - Volume 4 - Floor Burn video from Amazon Instant Video.  I purchased this title around 2008, the last year I toured as a dancer.  I suppose the earliest onset of my physical injuries made me feel that I should get in better shape.  (I really wish I had followed through on that notion.)  This and a few other titles I bought ended up never really being used.  I remember getting through not even 10 minutes of Floor Burn and thinking something to the effect of, "Screw this - this woman is nuts!"  I may have even said that out loud.

I still think she's nuts, but in a way I can have an appreciation for these days.  I didn't finish the video today, but I did get more than halfway through it, which made me feel pretty good.  I also noted how proper form really changes the way an exercise feels, something I've been marveling at for this entire past month.  Also, I can manage pushups and chaturangas now, which I definitely could not one month ago.  

I didn't lose crazy amounts of weight  with this challenge.  I've lost what I've been averaging the entire time I've been trying to get fit  - about a pound or two a week - which is a good, safe rate at which to lose weight.  Somewhere in the middle I even gained a few pounds as my calorie needs became greater due to the work I've been doing and (I'm assuming) muscle building.  I feel stronger.  My "tight jeans" don't feel as tight as they used to.  That matters so much more to me than a number on a scale.  My back also doesn't hurt nearly as much as it used to. (Yay!)  Two months ago, standing for an hour or doing several loads of laundry would have made me feel like I wanted to cry.  I could do either without a second thought now. 

I'm proud of myself for powering through this past week's feelings of boredom and monotony to get to the end of this challenge.  These are feelings that all of us face when it comes to making a commitment to getting fit.  How we deal with them determines whether or not we achieve our goals.  I couldn't stress more the importance of keeping it fresh on a day-to-day basis.  If I was doing the exact same thing every single day, I probably would have quit at Day 10.  I feel very confident that I'll continue this effort on a daily basis.

Now I'm ready for summer!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 29

At this point and after how I felt weekend, I'm just going to relax and have fun.  I've found I really love Pilates.  I did this video this morning:

I thought it was great, but then, I'm biased.  One more day!!  See you then...

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Four weeks!!!!

Yesterday and today I had major housecleaning to do that's been neglected since I moved here, and I dare anyone not to count that as as worthy "sweat into summer" activities, because I was busy with it for hours both days and drenched in sweat when I finished.

I'm happy that I decided to keep this blog because it really made me keep my goals in focus, but the last week or so I've had anxiety about finding interesting material to write about every day.  I feel like I've been repeating myself for a while.  These feelings are valid and worth acknowledging.  I'll just be glad when this is over in two days and I can go back to blogging about what I like instead of filling a requirement daily.  It's quite likely I'll still exercise daily as I've come to grow fond of spending that time improving my health.

Two more days people.  I can do this!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 26

I believe after reviewing all the other Android apps I found interesting enough to download that I'm through with that here.  After we make some site revisions at Tech Reviews East, I'll continue to review technology related to fitness, but so far as my purposes go here, I'd rather go back to focusing on my personal experiences with getting fit and finding simple and effective ways to exercise without having to buy lots of equipment or join a gym.

I found a short but extremely effective upper body workout on YouTube.  It only takes five minutes and you just need yourself and a little floor space.

Intense (for me, anyway) but doable.  Recommended.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 25

Today's workout video came from the Pilates for Women app from Temple of Android, the makers of the app I reviewed on Day 22.  I really like these guys!  They make small little apps that don't muck up your phone.  Basically a little search engine for the type of exercise featured in the app.  I found this video there:

Nice little workout!  I enjoyed it.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 24

Today's workout was the "Daily Yoga for Back" on the Daily Yoga Android app from IMOBLIFE Co. Ltd.  I have to say, the app was problematic and the guidance left much to be desired.

If I didn't already have rudimentary knowledge of yoga I would have been confused and probably would not have been able to follow.  I was really excited about this app when I downloaded it.  If you'd like to see my technical notes on the app, please visit my new column over at TechReviewsEast.com, which should be up later today.

Six more days, people!  I feel really good about myself for making it this far!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 23

Today's Android fitness app review comes to us via one of my favorite fitness groups, Women's Health.  Women's Health Workouts is everything I could want from such an app.  It doesn't take up very much space on your phone and it gives you exactly what you want.  Today I did the "Get a Tight Butt and Legs" workout.

You can even track number of reps you've done in a set and log them to review later.  It automatically logs time spent on each workout.  Big thumbs up.  This one's a keeper.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 22

I downloaded several fitness apps to my Android phone last night.  One simply called "Workout Videos for Women" (available for free in the Google Play store) basically does what I've been doing for about half of this challenge.  The app is ad supported, but not in a terribly annoying way.  There are tabs for different types of exercises.  My choice today was this video:

It was a good workout, but I probably would have liked it better if the video hadn't stalled on me every minute or so.  I have an excellent wi-fi connection here.  Maybe the site was just overloaded.  I'll be playing with other fitness apps I just acquired and sharing results here over the next few days.  Happy Monday!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Three Weeks!!!

Today we revisit arms.  I've always wanted to have arms that were strong, yet still shapely and feminine.  And just to have better upper body strength.  Something like this is the ideal, except in color and in this century:

I found this great workout from http://www.mademan.com.  I'm happy to say I managed two sets of most of them.  The swan pushup was one I hadn't heard of before, and the downward dog pushup was interesting.  Overall, it was a simple, solid workout.  Recommended.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 20

Today begs to be a gorgeous, sunny day.  I am going for a nice long bike ride in a little bit and then am heading out for the day.  Happy Saturday and I will see everyone tomorrow!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 19

Sometimes you just have to deal with accepting your limitations.  Looking for great butt workout this morning, I found this post on the Women's Health site.  When I first saw the number of sets for each move, I thought they were kidding.  Already knowing I couldn't manage 2 to 3 sets of each, I bargained for one, but I still only got halfway through the workout.  That's okay - I met my Sweat Into Summer requirement for the day and the gauntlet has been thrown down.  I'll definitely come back to this one, and eventually I'll kick its butt instead of it kicking mine!

Right about here it all went sideways (not literally).

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 18

Livestrong.com just became one of my favorite websites.  Almost every day when I research my morning's activity I end up on this site.  It's well worth the look around.  Today I did some lower back exercises derived from yoga poses that can be found here.

Clockwise from top left: lower back lift,
bird dog, cat pose and lower back  bridge.

These exercises improve flexibility while reducing stiffness and strengthening your abs and glutes.  Simple, yet effective and easy to get through in no time at all.  This routine is not just for people with existing back pain, you can (and probably should) do them if your back is perfectly fine to prevent future lower back issues.  Highly recommended.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 17

Today is all about arms.  With summer almost here and months of short or no-sleeved shirts, it's good to get familiar with simple workouts to shape this area.  I found this article on the Livestrong site.

Guess what I learned?  Before 20 minutes ago, I had no idea how to properly do a pushup.  That certainly makes this post irrelevant.  But that's okay.  I meant for this challenge to not just be a physical one.  By trying to find a new set of exercises to do every day, I intended to learn more about my body and how to make it stronger.  Realizing that I haven't even come close to doing this exercise right (when I finally did, I found I could only manage 7 of them - and just barely) made me appreciate the importance of proper form when doing exercises.

Moving on, I loved this article.  I focus on finding exercises you can do without any equipment but yourself, not only because I have limited access to any such equipment, but because so many people skip out on exercise by making excuses such as, "I don't have any weights/machines" or "I can't afford a gym membership."  You don't need either of these things to get strong and fit.  You just need to have the motivation to do it.  Hey, if I can find this stuff every morning surfing the net, so can you!  It's interesting and fun to do something different every day.  Why not give it a try?

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 16

This morning I thought I'd revisit the 10 Minutes Solution: Pilates video I wrote about on Day 4.  I did the Pilates For Abs section again, happy to note that the one move I couldn't do then I managed today (with slight difficulty, but still).  Then for an added challenge I also went through the Pilates Burn routine.  I'm happy to see that I can take on more of a challenge.  I thought my back was bothering me for several days and I think what was going on is that my core muscles were getting stronger.  I'm starting to feel stronger all around.  I'm noticing muscle definition in my thighs and calves I haven't seen in a good couple of years.  I don't know that I'm ready for before and after pictures just yet, but they are forthcoming.

Here's the thing, also:  I don't know if any of you noticed my goal on my weight loss ticker at the bottom of the page.  That 65 lbs. I've been working on losing only represents what I've been working on this year.  At the beginning of 2011 I was 100 lbs. overweight.  I'm looking at the screen  as I write this and can hardly believe I'm able to say that, but it's true.  And my weight went up and down a few times last year due to extenuating circumstances with different health issues.  But somehow, without the drive or inclination to take exercising seriously I managed to lose half that weight.  50 lbs. overweight puts you into the obesity BMI bracket.  You never see these things coming, it just snowballs on you.  It's as if one day you wake up and you're sewn into a suit that looks terrible on you, and there's no way for you to take it off.  I was overjoyed to upgrade to just regular old "overweight."

15 lbs. from now, I'll no longer be overweight.  I don't foresee this being a problem.  But since this is about fitness and not vanity for me, I'm not stopping there.  When I took dance as a child all our classes were half an hour of stretching and "tumbling" (gymnastics), and then half an hour of dance.  I've not been in such good shape since I quit taking those classes when I was 11.  I want that body back.  I want every inch of me strong again.  I'm pretty sure I can do it.

Have a lovely day, everyone.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 15

Who says you can't move forward by standing still?  I had heard of callanetics and isometric exercise in childhood, mainly because my mother was always looking for the best way to exercise with the least amount of effort.  It kind of seemed like hooey to me, but I remember reading books and pamphlets about it that were lying around the house and even being interested enough by the concept to do a little library research on the subject.  This morning I woke up feeling more sore than I'd care to, and I remembered this kind of exercise.  So one Google search later, I found this video.

Screenshot, because Blogger only lets you embed YouTube videos

About 5 minutes in, I made a mental note never to view a workout video on Daily Motion again.  There was an ad every couple of minutes, and when you're doing a stationary move that you have to hold for 100 counts, you really don't want that kind of interruption.  Their hamstring stretch was a no-go since it was basically a 100 count toe touch.  Other than that I liked the exercises I did.  I wonder if they used callanetics as a basis for pilates.  It would seem so.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Two weeks!!

Most women want a better bustline, but not every one of them has the financial resources and/or the inclination to get surgical enhancements.  The free and natural solution?  Work your pecs and your upper back.  So I set about finding good exercises for women targeting this area.  I stumbled upon this:

I found a lot more than I bargained for - in a good way!  When I was searching Netflix for exercise videos, it completely slipped my mind that I could search on YouTube for the same.  Talk about endless options.  These exercises are challenging, with easier or more difficult modifications.  She doesn't count out every rep with you like almost every other workout video on the planet, so you're on your honor.  No cheating!  The move where you start in the "swan dive" position was a little too much for me.  I had to cut it down to half a set on each side.  I'm looking forward to when I can manage all the difficult mods.  Happy Sunday, everyone.  Two weeks down, two to go!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 13

It should be noted at this point that I do some sort of aerobic/cardiovascular exercise every day, whether I mention it in my post or not.  I try not to blog about just that to avoid redundancy.  What I find interesting about this is that when I started, everyone I knew was telling me, "Be careful, don't overdo it."  Really?  Because at this point I'm feeling better than I have for a while, and now when parts of me hurt, it's muscles I'm dusting off after a long period of inactivity - the "good" kind of hurt.  When I'm feeling it too much, I give those muscles a rest until they're feeling better.

I decided that since I've been able to manage two straight weeks of cardio for the first half of the challenge without hurting myself, what I'd like to focus on for the second half in addition to my daily calorie burning workout is some kind of strength training exercise every day.  Today I decided to focus on the area that has the greatest impact on my overall condition, my abs.  This morning's search yielded this result from WebMD.  What I like the most about doing this particular sort of research is that I'm seeing and reading about a lot of the same things my doctors and my physical therapist have told me about, which makes me believe I'm on the right path.

One thing I noticed from this article is that it's the first place I've seen ab exercises on the net that mention keeping your stomach muscles tight while doing them.  I do this anyway.  And I'm really surprised to only just now be seeing this after the many, many web pages I've visited since the thing I remember the most about post-surgery rehab is my physical therapist drilling the words "engage your core" into my head whenever she showed me an exercise.  What you do with your stomach muscles when you're doing... well, any exercise really, is hugely important if you care about how they're going to look as they develop.  It's kind of the same principle as when my ballet teachers used to constantly tell me to pull my stomach in, even when I wasn't in class.  If you hold your muscles in that manner all the time they train themselves to stay that way.  So when people bear down and push out their bellies on an exertion, their muscles will get stronger, but they will protrude.  I wouldn't want to get stuck with that, would you?

Back to the article, I was relieved to hear I never have to do toe touches, sit ups or double leg lifts again as any of these would exacerbate my condition.  I'm well familiar with the hamstring stretch and knee to chest stretch, since before the surgery I couldn't get out of bed in the morning without doing them.  I modified the wall sit with my fitness ball.  That just works out better for me and I don't believe it makes the exercise any less effective.  Overall, I thought it was a great article, especially if you have a situation similar to mine.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 12

Yoga for strength training?  Why, yes - it's true.  In my search for great at-home arm exercises, I came across this article from Prevention. 

It consists of three poses:

 

downward facing dog variation

chaturanga

reverse chaturanga

If you're thinking this looks too easy to be an effective workout, you're in for a surprise. These poses work everything from your wrists to your shoulders.  I definitely see this working its way into my permanent routine.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 11

Who says exercising has to be drudgery?  I was stuck in the car for half of today, which could have been really annoying except that I had really good music and that put me in a fantastic mood.  When I'm really happy it makes me want to dance or sing.  I know that makes me sound like a character in some cheesy movie geared towards teenyboppers, but it just so happens to be true.

Me, dancing in my past life, circa 2000.

So I sang all around the Chesapeake Bay and as I considered the hour and that I hadn't fulfilled my challenge requirement for the day, it occurred to me to just go home and dance.  I came home, ran upstairs to my loft, cranked the stereo all the way up and danced until I felt like I couldn't - hair damp, clothes soaked.  How wonderful, it had been a while. 

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 10

Yesterday and this morning I was researching more ways to exercise at home without equipment (We have the cross trainer, but honestly I won't go there unless I have no other alternatives - it's boring), and I came across an e-book called The Trouble Spot Tune-Up.  You can download it for free here.

What woman doesn't want to know more about this?  Maybe not every one, but a lot of us do.  A few fellows as well.  This is what I thought: Most of these exercises are fairly common with a few interesting modifications.  The third exercise had a huge editing error.  This screamed at me since I'm a writer first, and a fitness enthusiast second.  I know that's a side issue, but I think if you're going to put out what's supposed to be a professional exercise manual, it shouldn't have such errors.  Kind of like when I see tweets full of internet jargon or spelling errors, it tends to make me think the author is an idiot.  Just an opinion.  The fourth exercise is the most effective for hamstrings I've ever done without using a gym machine.  The standing exercises were interesting.  I had to skip the lunges due to my back giving me some grief the last few days.

All in all, it was alright.  Worth taking another look at later.  I'm really glad I started a diary for this challenge.  At the end of the month I'll have great and varied resources all bookmarked and organized.  Until tomorrow...

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 9

Let me tell you, I never thought the staircase I climb to get to my bedroom loft could be used as a home gym, but as it happens it can.  I heard something the other day about this and it sounded interesting, so this morning I Google'd and I found this article on womenshealthmag.com.

There were four exercises preceded by a two minute stair-walking warm up.

1. Side squat
   Works core, back, hamstrings, inner thighs, quads, and calves 
2. Spider-man pushup
   Works shoulders, rotator cuffs, triceps, chest, core, hips, and glutes
3. Stair dips with bridge
   Works neck, shoulders, triceps, wrists, chest, core, glutes, and legs
4. Rotational reach
   Works shoulders, core, and back

I had a little trouble with the Spider-man Pushup.  I'm not completely sure I was doing it right... but this is definitely an exercise routine I intend to revisit, so I'll work on it.  This is a workout you really can feel and it takes very little time to get through.  Women's Health suggests two non-consecutive days a week.  I highly recommend it.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 8

I'm going to keep today's post simple because it is the tail end of a holiday weekend and it's still up in the air whether or not another trip to the beach is in order.  This morning I went for a bike ride.  What I noticed about that today is that for once, I didn't want to take music.  Music was requisite for all outdoor exercise ventures when I started, because I didn't really want to do it.  I needed a distraction to keep me motivated.  And while I still love it as much as I used to, I'm finding now that I don't want it when I exercise.  I'm not knocking anyone else for going there, but for me lately I'm finding it messes with my pace and breathing, because I'm paying attention to the song more than myself.  I suppose I could make playlists that would wouldn't do this, but for now I'm content with silence or just whatever sounds I hear outdoors.  Interesting, that.

Happy Memorial Day. everyone.  See you again tomorrow...

30 Day Summer Shape Up, One Week!

This morning I started thinking about the how the last couple of days I had been going on about how I was overdoing it, and that I was afraid in doing so I might not be able to finish the challenge, and what all of that meant.  I realized I was going from one extreme to another, the same as how in my youth I used to eat whatever I wanted all the time and then starve myself to get thinner when I felt I was putting on too much weight.  I decided that if I managed to find balance in my diet, I could do the same with exercise.  I wanted to re-visit strength training since all the cardio in the world just isn't going to get me the figure I've always wanted.  I found this (see picture insert) in my garage the week I moved into my new house.  I thought I'd give it a shot, today just focusing on the strength training portion.

Exercises included the wall crawl, calf raises, the lift (butt lift), ball pushups, abdominal curls, back extensions, triangle press, rear deltoid press, bicep curls, tricep overhead extensions (I had some trouble with this one, but I managed it), gluteal extensions, gluteal orbits and gluteal presses.  In order to not swing back to that other extreme where I sprain muscles and such, I did one set each with the minimum number of reps.  And believe you me, that was enough.  I like this program.  There are modifications for more or less of a challenge, and I can add more sets as these become too easy.  When I get around to the cardio portion I'll let you all know how that goes.

Well I'm feeling pretty good about today, how about you?  Happy Sunday!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 6

In the spirit of the holiday weekend, I thought I'd meet the day's requirement outdoors.  So my roommate and I headed out armed with yummy homemade smoothies and went to the local beach.  It was a perfect day to go, the sky almost cloudless after a week of frequent spring showers and the beach was packed.

Norfolk is covered in Mermaids.  I love it.

I mentioned in my first post in this series how I'm awed by the majesty of the ocean, but I recently found out another reason I'm so drawn to that locale and why it's a good idea to get in a workout  there at least occasionally when I read this article on negative ions posted on Twitter by Jennifer Fitone.  If you're not following her you ought to.  Her feed is full of posts I find quite useful and informative.  Quoting from the article, "negative ions are believed to produce biochemical reactions that increase levels of the mood chemical serotonin, helping to alleviate depression, relieve stress, and boost our daytime energy."  Hey, that all sounds pretty good to me!

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Memorial Day weekend.  Have fun and be safe!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 5

Today's topic: How much is too much?  I began the challenge going at it like I've been doing regularly a few times a week.  As it turns out, I can't keep that up on a day-to-day basis.  I believe I was onto something yesterday with the 10 Minute Solution video.  I think that's about where I ought to stay for the duration.  I'm really feeling the burn.  I feel changes occurring and I'm happy about it because I know this is my body upgrading.  But I also know that if I keep pushing it too hard I'll end up shutting myself down, which is the very last thing that I want.  On the upside, I feel that by the end of the 30 days, exercise will have become a more regular habit in my life, and that's fantastic.

This morning I wanted to slow things down a little so I did 15 minutes of yoga, which I love because it's not only great for your body in myriad ways, but also has that wonderful calming, centering thing about it.  Sweat broken, daily challenge met.  I hadn't done yoga in moons, and I want to do so much more than 15 minutes when the Summer Shape Up is over.  Everyone enjoy this beautiful day and I will see you here again tomorrow.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 4

Last night I was searching through Instant Netflix titles for exercise videos.  If you have an account, this is a great resource because you don't have to go buy it or pick it up from the store, it's just right there waiting for you.  I picked 10 Minute Solution: Pilates.  I bought several DVDs in this series around a decade ago.  Each one has five different workouts, which you can do singly or in combination with others, or if you're really in shape you can do all of them together.  I'm not there yet.  And since I'm only on day 4 of 30 and I'm really feeling it, I can't kick my own butt or I don't see myself finishing the challenge.  So I think one at a time will do quite nicely for now.

Today I chose the first in this series, Pilates for Abs.  This form of strength training is particularly important to me as core training with improve the situation with my back injury substantially.  I liked that many of the exercises had already been taught to me by the physical therapist I worked with last summer.  I had to take a break during part of the workout despite modifications, and one exercise just wasn't going to happen at all, but that's okay.  Best not to overdo it.  I learned my lesson with that after the foot injury in April.

It's beautiful outside.  I think I'll catch a little sun on the deck before getting on with my day.  See you tomorrow!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 3

I thought I should incorporate some strength training into this challenge since that's an area of exercise I tend to skip over.  After yesterday's post, I got to thinking that I couldn't find a good reason to keep putting that off.  So this morning as I was going through my my Twitter feed I found a post that asked an intriguing question.  How many pushups should you be able to do??  I've always considered myself as having poor upper body strength, so I thought I would find out.  I borrowed Sarah Klein's 20 pushups as a starting point, figured I'd see how I did with that.

I did much better than I thought I would!

I was pleasantly surprised.  I also really liked the site this came from, it's worth the look around.

ibodyfit.com

Also, I'm liking the first-thing-in-the-morning fitness effort.  I think that's something I want to explore further.  I'm going to try to something different for every day of this challenge.  I'm not really sure how that will work out, but I'm going to give it my best shot.  Everyone have a fantastic day!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 2

It seems the focus of today's post has become finding time in your day to exercise.  When I started this day, I imagined it would turn out quite differently, but life intervened as it often does. So the question becomes: What does one consider truly important?

I often hear people say they just can't find time in their day to work out.  I've said it.  But how many of us that go around saying this will spend a couple of hours on the internet or watching TV?  The bottom line is you make time for what you want to, and if your health matters to you then you'll find the time.

Tonight I'll be hitting the cross trainer before I set about making dinner and that will be the day's effort.  I hope some of you reading this have joined me in this challenge.  If not, it isn't too late to start!  You can sign up here:

http://link.huffingtonpost.com/join/30daysummershapeup

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 1

So I decided to join Huffington Post in their 30 Day Summer Shape Up Challenge.  I was a little concerned about what this might entail, but it actually seems pretty reasonable and not something I'll have a hard time committing to.  Basically, you just have to do some activity every day from now until the start of summer on June 20th that makes you sweat.  Whatever you want to do.  I'll be chronicling this on Twitter if you want to see how I'm doing.

The Challenge launches today.  You can read more about it here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sarah-klein/summer-shape-up_b_1527589.html

And you can sign up here:

http://link.huffingtonpost.com/join/30daysummershapeup

Let's go!

6:12 pm

On my way back from my walk on the beach I came up with the idea to do a diary for the challenge, because tweets are such short bursts of information and I found I had more to say.  Like that when I started my personal challenge it was like pulling my own teeth to motivate myself to get out there, get up, get moving.  But now it's starting to be something I look forward to, and I love that I feel that way about it.  And I also love that there's a beach just a few minutes away because there's just that thing about the ocean that floors you with it's beauty and how awesome (in the literal meaning of the word) it is.  Although I really wish people would not drink and/or litter on the beach.  I personally like walking in the sand barefoot, and I nearly sliced my foot open on some idiot's broken beer bottle.  I strongly dislike that I have to be vigilant of such.  In any event, it was still a beautiful breezy afternoon and I rather enjoyed myself.  See you guys tomorrow!!

Motivation

When I decided to make this blog and all things pertaining to related topics the focus of my Twitter page, I thought I'd be cheeky about it.  Like, 'Oh, so an ex-stripper hurt herself and got fat and now she wants to tell everyone about it.'  I don't know, I guess when you've existed in that field for so long you get used to presenting yourself publicly in a certain way.  You're not allowed to have certain weaknesses, and if you do you better joke about it before somebody else does.  And I'm not getting down on the industry at all.  I'm the first to tell you that if I hadn't injured myself I would never have retired.  I miss being on stage just about every day of my life. But at this point in achieving my goals, a new focus is emerging and I'd like that to be clear.

This isn't about vanity, or about complaining about bad things that have happened to me, or trying to shock people with my errant and sometimes seriously misguided attempts to lose weight.  I started all this because I really want to feel better, in every way.  The injury surely slowed me down, but a cavalcade of other mishaps and misfortunes occurred over the last several years and had contributed to the deterioration of my health and mood.  Two years ago I visited my hometown for the first time in five years.  I remember I felt it necessary to issue a group notice to my friends letting them know ahead of time that I had gained weight and I was self-conscious about it.  Here is an excerpt:

"This is not a big 'throwing in the towel' I'm-going-to-become-complacent speech, it's just sh*t I'm going through in my life right now and I want to get this anxiety and low-grade dread off my chest, especially since my last trip home only lasted a few days and I want to be happy about going there now. I've always been super-active, ever since I was a little girl. It's been weird and scary being one of those "I have a bad back" people for the last three years. It's just a thing I have to acclimate to, I guess. I will. I can do whatever I want. But that takes time. For now I'm just me the way I am today..."

What really surprised me is how many friends around my same age responded saying they felt similarly about themselves and their present state of fitness.  At that point I wasn't yet feeling well enough to actively pursue getting healthy, but the seed of an idea was planted.  I knew that when I was ready to commit to this, I wanted to find and interact with other people working towards the same purpose.  To share my journey and find inspiration and hopefully offer the same.

In April when I turned to exercise to pull me through dealing with making some pretty stupid personal choices, I really noticed one unanticipated benefit of my efforts.  My mood drastically improved.  For a while I had been wrapping my hopes up in others trying to achieve the same, and here - on my own - and completely by accident, I managed such.  For me, maintaining focus, balance and a positive mood are essential as I am a rapid-cycling bipolar.  So it's not about "being hot."  Sure, that result doesn't hurt but that's not why I'm doing this.  It's about feeling better, inside and out.  It's about deciding that the negative events in my life are not going to defeat me.  It's about realizing that even though I may have done some things the wrong way every second of my life until right now, as a human being I am capable of growth, change and improvement.  And taking all that and sharing it with other people that are going through the same thing.

Be well, everyone.  And do something today that makes you feel good about yourself.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

So some of you are probably noticing that last week I was in Massachusetts and now... Virginia?  Yeah, it was a leap - and a really necessary one.  Several weeks ago I was cold, pale and grossly unhappy with my living situation, and my life in general.  When things look lousy for longer than you think you can bear, you start to let yourself settle for sub-par scenarios.  I have no one to blame but myself for allowing myself to exist in a head space where it's okay to make bad choices. And I acknowledged that if I wanted to not just survive, but thrive, changes had to be made.  So I set about making some.

I accepted that my commitment to living healthy alone was not enough to sustain me in my present environment, so I sat up late one night a few weeks ago and I thought about my recent choices, my present options, and most importantly which decision would lead to my greatest happiness.  I realized that all the choices I'd made in the past year or so were made based on what was most convenient - primarily to others.  It was time to make choices based on what matters, to me.  I remembered that an old friend from my hometown had been making off-hand comments for about a year about how she wanted a better roommate and how much I would like her place in Virginia.  Since it had never been mentioned more than casually, I didn't know how serious the offer was.  When I asked her about it, her instant reply was, "Come tomorrow!!"  Well, I couldn't make that happen, but I did set the machine in motion.

It wasn't easy to pull off, but I did it all on my own in under a week.  And here I am.  I left Boston in a winter coat.  On the third of May.  I arrived in Norfolk on the fourth in a tank top and shorts.  I already have a decent starter tan.  I had to take a break on the exercise, but I think moving and unpacking ought to count for something!  Maybe more than what I was doing up north since these tasks have kept me busy from morning until night since I've been here.  I started walking in Boston for lack of a better plan of action.  Here I can walk, or bike, or swim (in the ocean if I want to).  I plan to start back on a regular exercise schedule this weekend.  I'm at the start of a brand new adventure and I can't wait to see how everything turns out.

On the deck in my new house.  Warm, tan, happy.

Too much protein is bad... who knew? aka Laura learns about nutrition

By the end of 2008, it became apparent that life as I knew it was not going to continue.  I had become really accustomed to life on the road even though it's a bit alienating.  I must get that from my father, who had been a touring musician for many years.  He never got off that schedule and I was sort of raised that way, staying up til all hours and getting up whenever I wanted to (barring school days, when I just learned to take a nap after I got home).  For four years I traveled so much that I spent a little less than half my time in transit, sometimes not remembering right away where I was.   I spent a few days a month at my apartment in Boston, maybe  I know all major American airport hubs like the back of my hand.  I still have points on all my hotel accounts.  I have an impressive city and state T-shirt collection.  Upon seeing Up in the Air, I completely identified with it.  I kind of didn't know what to do with myself with that all ending.

I was also really tired of living in Boston, and had been making frequent trips to Los Angeles for several years, so I thought I would give living there full-time a shot.  The last time I was in L.A. I was in much better shape, which made me very nervous about making the move since it's such an image-conscious place.  But my roommate had a tread climber and I made some advice inquiries.  Someone told me about a protein powder I ought to try.

Now, I knew virtually nothing about fitness at this point.  I only got exercise from going out clubbing or at work, and I ate whatever I wanted.  When I wanted to lose weight, I went on extreme crash diets.  That only keeps working for so long, eventually completely messing up your metabolism.  I started using the tread climber a few hours a day.  I ate only smoothies three times a day, with the protein powder (which contained about forty-five grams of protein per serving), some fruit and maybe a little skim milk or yogurt.  Knowing what I know now, I don't think they should sell that stuff in a store, you should have to get it from a doctor.

A funny thing happens to you when your body takes in more protein than you can digest.  Your speech slurs, your motor functions are impaired, you vomit and eventually you lose consciousness.  This process takes three to four days.  My roommate had been sober for 20 years, which I thought was great because I met several strung-out whack jobs in L.A. and didn't want to live with one.  He felt the same, but that ended up biting me in the ass.  I suppose he thought I was on drugs as I got obviously more sick, so instead of calling 911 to save my life, he called to have the police to remove me from his house.  Nice guy, right?  The cops complied even though they told me they didn't believe him.  They gave me a ride to a Super 8 motel around the corner.  I felt more tired than I had ever been in my life, so I just crashed.  

The next morning the manager knocked on my door to ask me if I planned to stay.  I said I did, but wasn't feeling well.  He said to give him money and he would bring back change and a receipt.  When he returned he did an obvious double take as I stepped into the light.  I looked down at the change in my hand and blood was dripping on the bills.  I went to the mirror and was horrified at what I saw.  My face was swollen, eyes almost completely shut.  Blood was running from every hole in my head.  I called an ambulance.

I took this with my netbook in the ICU about half a week 
in.  The swelling was almost  completely gone by then.
I remember thinking the blood in the whites of my eyes
reminded me of the alien stuff from the X-Files.

It took a little bit to figure out what was wrong.  I had thought at first that my roommate had followed me and jumped me.  I was so out of it when I got to the motel that I couldn't remember if I had locked or even closed the door.  It turns out that when you consume much more protein than you should, your kidneys shut down.  I was in acute renal failure.  There was talk of dialysis.  I literally almost died trying to get thin.

It was pretty hairy for just over two weeks.  I remember this one religious zealot nurse that kept saying I was going to die (which I think is evil to tell a patient, even if it's true) was drawing angels on the dry erase board in my room.  By the grace of whatever wherever (I'm a staunch non-Christian, I'm always going to make references like that), I pulled through.  My kidneys bounced back completely.  I'm not on dialysis.  But they had me meet with a nutritionist several times and I learned about eating right.  Balance your protein and your carbs.  Control portion size, but get enough calories and fat.  And yeah, you have to get some fat all the time, even if you're trying to lose weight.  Etc., etc.

I guess I wanted to share this so it doesn't happen to anyone else.  Most people don't eat right.  I'll never understand why good food is so expensive and junk food is dirt cheap.  As a result, when people want to look better they go to extremes because they don't know how to do it right.  I use hemp protein in my smoothies now, which only has eighteen grams of protein per serving.  And I can only use half the recommended amount or it kind of makes me want to barf.  I've seen some recipes online, but they have really esoteric ingredients you can't generally find at your corner grocer.  If anyone reading this knows how to cut the yuck factor down with this stuff, I'd love to hear about it.

Everyone have a great day and eat right!

I didn't know you could do that to yourself

So I recently started exercising.  Not incidentally. I've never done that for its own sake before in my life.  See, about five years ago, my back started giving me a lot of grief.  I mean, like having to walk with a cane kind of grief.  And that got better and worse over the years, but what it essentially meant is that the life (and livelihood) I was used to having - which was largely based on my ability to move - got pulled out from under me.  When everything you do hurts you don't want to do anything, so I got out of shape.  And the pain medicine made me want to eat all the time.  So I gained weight.

Last year I found out that if I had been working out the whole time I was a dancer I would still be able to do it, and I probably wouldn't have had to have the surgery I had last April.  At the beginning of this year, the neurosugeon that did that surgery said I had to have spinal fusion.  He said, "That's the only option at this stage."  That sounds pretty scary all by itself.  And then he had this big talk with me about how any time there is invasive back surgery there is the perceivable risk of paralysis.  What??  I got second, third opinions.  This is what I learned:

1. Of course the guy that did my last surgery wants me to have another one.  That's his paycheck.
2. If I did go the spinal fusion route, they'd be fusing my last few vertebra to my tail bone.  I would lose considerable range of motion and would never move right again.
3. Losing weight and getting my core strong will get my body to hold my lower back together naturally instead of having to cut my back open again to accomplish that with wires.

So would I end up like this?

Or this?

Hmm... Decisions, decisions...

So I got off my lazy, feeling-sorry-for-myself bum and started walking.  Now I'm not talking about a leisurely stroll.  I mean target heart rate, three to five mile walks.  As often as possible.  And it's not as fun as dancing, but I have great music with me when I go, and have a fantastic pedometer app that really motivates me, and I get an inkling of what I felt when I used to dance.  I guess that's the endorphin thing(?).  I learned not to be overzealous when I had to take a break to let my sprained foot muscles heal.  I didn't know you could you could do that to yourself.  So now I've decided to listen to my body's cues and rest when I need to.  I've been doing pretty good and I'm confident I'll feel comfortable in a bikini again by summer.

Fun fact: I sing at top volume as much of the time out as I can. (I get dance acts that lip-synch in concert now.  You try sustaining a note for five secoonds at your target heart rate.)  Sometimes only the harmony parts.  Wonder what my neighbors think of that? :p