DIY

I took a week off from the Y over the March break so that I would have more time to work on my bathroom DIY.  I put my body through a lot of trauma over the week and probably burned more calories than if I had gone to the Y.  Luckily, my legs only suffered bruises, so when I started back to the Y I was pretty much where I had left off.  Not much exciting has happened over the last couple of weeks.  I have been fighting with sugar cravings, so all my efforts have only been preventing my weight from ballooning.  I’ve come to look forward to my workouts and seem to be doing well at fitting them into my schedule.  My only complaint is that my fibromyalgia pain seems to be getting worse, but I don’t think it has anything to do with working out.  I’ve only managed a few hours of sleep the last couple of nights, so my body is starting to feel it.  I see my doctor soon, so hopefully I will get all of that sorted out and then I can get on with my quest.

The Flippin Flipper

My quest to go to the Y every weekday is going well so far this week.  Today marks three days in a row.  Yesterday’s workout was a bit disheartening.  I didn’t sleep very well and I wasn’t feeling that great.  I had to take it a little easier than usual and I was pretty careful with my physio routine.  Today was a much better workout – except that the Collingwood Y is seriously lacking in the T.V. entertainment department.  I got to watch an HGTV show, the flippin flipper or something like that.  At first, having sound only in one ear annoyed me, but once I got watching the show, I was grateful.  It went surprisingly well, considering I’m only 9 days into quitting smoking.

TGIF

I quit smoking on Tuesday.  I knew that it had an effect on my cardiovascular system, but it was interesting to see just how quickly I started to bounce back.  I managed 4 workouts so far this week.  Each day, I was able to increase my speed without raising my heart rate.  Soon, I will be able to move up a level.  I’ve wanted to run and have had to talk myself out of it a couple of times.  I’ve never been very good at sticking to a program, so to have stuck with my plan for at least three weeks is a pretty big accomplishment for me.  I’m hoping to get out again tomorrow, but I’ve been neglecting a couple of things around the house, so I’ll probably have to wait until Monday.

Back in the Saddle

Eight months since my last post!  To be honest, I didn’t make much progress in all that time.  A busy summer turned into a stressed out fall, and all the while my hip would remind me every so often how much it doesn’t like running.  I definitely lost momentum for fulfilling my promise and I seemed to have a dark cloud following me around.  I’m not sure exactly when it happened, but somehow I got out from under that cloud a few weeks ago.  I really had to think about how I was going to go about getting back into running.  My first conclusion was that I needed to lose more weight before attempting to run.  Losing the first 60 pounds was an amazing feat that I take little credit for.  My new goal is to lose another 15 pounds before thinking about running again.  My plan to do that involves strengthening my cardiovascular system with the use of elliptical trainer (oddly named a Mustang Crosstrainer) while burning a few hundred calories.  I’ve also committed to a stretching regimen that focuses on my hips and legs.  In February, I spent over 15 hours doing a variety of fitness activities – a nice start.  I booked an appointment with my doctor to discuss my hip issue.  After a month of physio, there doesn’t seem to be any improvement with the snapping in my hip.  I’m pretty sure that’s not weight related, so while I shave off some pounds, I can work on getting that sorted out.  So, I have a short term plan and hopefully I will be able to fulfill my promise at some point.