Thanks, both of you. I can't get over how nonplussed I was by their response, how that critical voice started up in my head immediately to refute what I'd just heard. What kind of impossible standards have I set for myself? And why am I so hard on myself when I don't meet them?
Oh, and I have a cane! A neighbor rummaged in the back of her closet and found her late husband's cane, and gave it to me. It's a neighbor who's irritated me in the past, so now I am feeling penitent for being judgmental.
No weigh-in today, which is Thursday. [Edited: I'm debating trying Pilates class tonight.]
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Ham, spinach and mushroom egg bake; home-made banana raisin muffin; sliced strawberries and yogurt
Lunch: Baby arugula mix salad, roasted vegetables, feta cheese, half an avocado, pecans, Craisins
Early dinner: Pesto chicken with mozzarella, steamed broccoli and green beans
Dessert: Frozen Jell-O pudding cup
Today's exercise:
Front leg raise 3x20, Lateral leg raise 3x20, Side clams 3x20, Lateral leg raise 3x20, Bicycle 3x20, Kickback 3x20 and High knee 3x20 (both these just left leg)
At the gym: 15 minutes recumbent bike, resistance hiked to eight, random hills; same upper body exercise routine, using pair of 20 lb dumbbells for db bench presses and flys, 17.5-lb dumbbells for alternating shoulder presses but only 15 lb dumbbells for hammer curls; adding weight to lat pulldown, for 75 lbs; back on a different bike afterward for 15 more minutes of random hills with resistance at eight again
Yes, Jay, that was a true sighting of higher-than-necessary standards being applied.
I have to remind myself of what I just read on Lyle McDonald's website, about returning to training after a long layoff:
Quote:
Years ago, my mentor gave me a valuable rule that I follow to this day both in my own training and that of trainees in the case of injury:
Wait until you think the injury is healed, then wait another week.
One rule for myself was that, before trying a Pilates mat class, I'd have to be able to get down onto the floor without a device or a handhold of something nearby to help me, and then get back up. I tried it this morning on my bedroom floor, and found that, yes, I can get down onto the floor and then up again, all on my own power, and without pain or straining anything. And that's also just a good general marker of health and physical ability. You want to be able to do that, if you have to.
I just got the cane last night and probably the time would be better spent practicing walking in the building basement. I wish I could go for a walk outside, but we're still mostly surrounded by glassy patches of ice and huge dirty frozen snow drifts.
My yoga teacher last night spoke during class about a horrific car accident he was in years ago. He had been doing yoga for 10 years at that point and the doctors said he probably would have died or been paralyzed if it wasn't for the yoga. He went back to yoga not being able to bend his knees even one degree-- he said he would lay on his stomach and just use his chest to lift up and then eventually, by minuscule degrees, he improved. He said he could do most of the postures by 7 months after the accident, and 5 years later he could do everything pain free as if the accident had never happened. He's almost 50 and while teaching he sits "Japanese Style"-- on his knees so I know they aren't painful now. I thought of you, Saef, and your journey, and hope and pray that you will be back to "normal" and all this behind you before too very long.
Makes me want to do more yoga, Michele. I'm rather limber in some ways (can easily touch my toes without bending my knees, etc.) but I know I'd benefit from regular yoga. I really need to get that DVD out and work with it.
My weight is down, holding two days straight. Alas, we've made dinner reservations for tonight. We really don't go out that often so I still want to go. I don't remember what the menu is, but I'll try my best to be careful.
And this weekend will be interesting. DD and DSIL are arriving tomorrow (we'll have leftover chili verde burritos for dinner tomorrow) and on Saturday we'll probably go out for lunch before we go to the Rhythm, Wine and Brews day-long tasting and concert (tasting from 2 to 5 PM, concert from 6 to midnight). Food is mostly foodtruck type things. Not sure what will be available.
And no golf, either. We could have gone on Sunday but the kids didn't want to go and we didn't want to abandon them.
Michele, that is indeed heartening, except for hearing that it took five years to be able to do the postures "pain free" as he did before the accident. So before that, there were five years in which he felt some pain ... I am still getting over my surprise at having to relearn how to walk, and how various parts of my feet and legs hurt all the time. They say in discussion forums on this injury that walking is much like a stroke victim regaining use of a limb.
Friday: 144.8, before breakfast but also before trip to the bathroom
(simple intake and out-take)
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Ham, spinach and mushroom egg bake; home-made banana raisin muffin; sliced strawberries and yogurt
Lunch: Spinach sauteed with garlic and basil, mixed with cottage cheese and some parmesan cheese, almonds on top
Snack: Sliced-up apple
Dinner: Roast chicken, steamed asparagus, steamed green beans & broccoli
Dessert: Frozen Jell-O pudding cup
Today's exercise:
Front leg raise 3x20, Lateral leg raise 3x20, Side clams 3x20, Lateral leg raise 3x20, Bicycle 3x20, Kickback 3x20 and High knee 3x20 (both these just left leg)
Physical therapy: 12 minutes recumbent bike; walking on staircase; tilting on balance board to strengthen ankles and proprioception of feet and ankles; leg curls/quad raises on machine; abductor and adductor machine; 12 minutes on arm bike
In January I switched from calorie counting to intuitive eating to maintain. For a long time I was trying to count calories in order to maintain, but even though I knew I could have 1800 a day I'd find myself stopping at 1500 or even lower "just to be safe" and so I was still losing weight which is not my goal right now.
I knew it was looking at the number that was messing with me, so I stopped tracking my food and just started eating intuitively - eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm satisfied, and still focusing on eating mostly veggies, fruit, and lean protein with some whole grains.
I splurge when I'm out with my boyfriend sometimes, have a few drinks, eat a donut for breakfast, whatever, but after two months of this I am in fact successfully maintaining Feel great! I've been between 124 and 126 every time I've weighed in.
Of course I'm still working out while I eat enough to maintain, and I'm hoping the result will be some inches and body fat lost due to building muscle and toning. I've decided to check that for sure on April 1. Then I'm going to reevaluate whether I want to go back to eating at a deficit for a month or two or continue to maintain.
Wow, dinner last night was fabulous. Sat across the table from a couple of guys who got their dinners comped because they were writing/photographing the evening for publication. Really nice guys and we had a great time. Got to meet the chefs (probably due to the writers) and ran into some old friends as we were leaving. The sodium content was obviously pretty high (I could taste salt at times) and my weight is up due to that--but not as far up as I had thought. It's all good.
Saef-- I wouldn't find it totally disheartening-- he is an instructor-- he teaches 15 or more classes a week, plus takes classes most days-- he does the poses "to the max", much more than the average person. Even my hubby with a knee that desperately needs replacing, is able to do the poses more now than before-- he swore he'd never be able to do some of them, and he does modify, but he's definitely getting benefit and stretching from them.
Allison-- glad you had so much fun! I'm hoping my dinner auction tonight will also be very fun! Not sure about the dinner part, but hopefully the rest!
Dh has a sinus infection (went to the doc yesterday finally)-- I slept on the couch Tuesday night when his snoring reached astronomical levels, Wednesday night wasn't too bad, but he woke me last night by 4 and I couldn't get back to sleep. I usually get up at 5:00 but 4:00 is soooo much earlier.....
Saturday, how sweet the sound of that word. But then the usual anxiety: What to make of it, and how best to use it?
Weigh-in: 144.8 again after breakfast, later in the morning than usual
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Ham, spinach and mushroom egg bake; home-made banana raisin muffin; blueberries with cinnamon and yogurt
Lunch: Baby arugula salad with cold asparagus, feta cheese, pecans, Craisins and half an avocado
Dinner: Roast chicken, steamed cauliflower and green beans
Dessert: Bag of Bella Viva Orchards dried apple rings
Today's Exercise:
Front leg raise 3x20, Lateral leg raise 3x20, Side clams 3x20, Lateral leg raise 3x20, Bicycle 3x20, Kickback 3x20 and High knee 3x20 (both legs! to practice standing entirely on the recovering leg!)
Gym: 15 minutes on recumbent bike, random hills at resistance of eight; weight routine, upping dumbbells to 22.5 lbs each for pressing, flyes and rows, the rest all the same except for hammer curls at 17.5; back on the recumbent bike for another 15 minutes, same program & resistance. Did the balance board for my ankles again. Then went into empty mirrored studio to see how much I could manage of Pilates. Also laid still with my legs up against wall to rest.
Just got my spring/summer capris. I'm still a size 8, though there's a lot of spillover muffin top stuff that I'm determined to get rid of before May.
I have now been off weights for two months and am about to retry getting back on them tomorrow. I'm going to do 1 set of 15 reps of 6 exercises and that's it. I figure I'll start slow and work back up, rather than go gung ho and reinjure.
Had a good time at the bottle swap last night. It was interesting, basically they had a couple beers you could try but you sat around and people would come by and pour you some of their beer and you'd pour some of your own for them. Met some interesting folk and listened to a good local band and was home and in bed before 10 PM.
Slept in this morning, DD made breakfast, then I went to the grocery store. Now I have 2 hours to kill before we meet for lunch and I'm chomping at the bit. I've done every imaginable chore around here (which means cleaning up a lot of dog pee as DD's new dog doesn't seem to be house trained--ugh). And I can't knit because all the knitting projects are a secret to DD and DSIL. I really want to knit, too!
Sunday, which would be sweeter to contemplate if we weren't facing yet another snow storm, forecast to start in the afternoon.
No weigh-in today.
Today's Meals:
Breakfast: Roasted squash and peppers with spinach egg bake; home-made banana raisin muffin; blueberries with cinnamon and yogurt
Lunch: Baby arugula salad with roasted vegetables, pecans, feta cheese, Craisins and two tablespoons of hummus
Snack: Bag of Bare Fruit cinnamon apple chips
Dinner: Turkey chili with beans, steamed cauliflower
Dessert: Frozen Jell-o pudding cup
Today's Exercise:
Gym: 30 minutes straight through on recumbent bike, the longest yet, random hills, resistance at eight; 12x4 abductor machine; 12x4 leg raise machine for quads
Front leg raise 3x20, Lateral leg raise 3x20, Side clams 3x20, Lateral leg raise 3x20, Bicycle 3x20, Kickback 3x20 and High knee 3x20
Birchie, I make the egg bake in a square glass baking dish and use a full dozen egg whites with about two or three of the yolks also thrown in. I cut it into nine squares, which I eat cold at the rate of one each day. It always contains some vegetables and always has some shredded cheese sprinkled on top. It's basically a crust-less quiche.
Feel great! I've been between 124 and 126 every time I've weighed in.
