With the aid of myfitnesspal.com and fitbit, I've been able to slowly creep my way back down in weight and increase my activity level. Fitbit has painfully shown me how much I sit on my rear end all day:
I love that on the fitbit website it will graph your active score, or calories burned, steps taken, and floors climbed. I usually will have the website open at work and try to get up and talk a walk or something if I have had grey for an extended period of time.
I've started doing two small things that have helped me feel better and clear my mind so I can work better. I've found that these things are also quite enjoyable. The first thing that I have started doing, is going on little walks. One around 11 and one around 3pm. The first one is a determined course and is usually somewhat brisk. For the afternoon one, I like to wander and just enjoy finding random little things or think about random things. I find this really relaxing. The other day I went on a walk and found the following in a random field. It made me smile. So random.
After work the other day, I took a simple walk in the foothills behind where I work. It was a beautiful walk and easy however, I was surprised at how many calories it burned. These things are so enjoyable, but it's just a matter of getting up and starting. The other thing that I have been doing is, every time I go to fill up my 1 liter water bottle I go all the way up the stairs and all the way back (about 3 floors). It is nice.
1. Last thing. So on MFP I added some random people for motivation or for inspiration. One of the guys that I friend-ed was super nice and informed me about a couple things in regard to weightlifting. One of the things that he sent me was in regard to workouts for knee pain. I thought I would share the article in case I need to reference it again. Thanks! http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/singleleg_training_modifications_for_knee_pain
This was a post from right before pre-surgery that didn't make it out before I fell off the face of the web. But I would feel like it was wasted if I didn't share it now:
So, this weekend I went to get my nails off. Not only because I was about ready to rip them off myself but because I was thinking of playing in a rugby tournament this weekend (I know, I know, I was supposed to give that up...but the fates intervened and the tournament was canceled anyway so I didn't have to make that choice myself.) I thought that the acrylic nails looked really nice but even the night that I got them on I was going to bed and felt, well I don't have a good word for it but kind of like claustrophobic. I have this thing where I can't handle things on my person that aren't normally there...so that first night was torture trying to get my mind off of them so I didn't rip them off. And then lately as they started to grow out I kept on picking at them. Also, Another thing that I found that was complete opposite from what I expected was that it is really hard to scratch your skin when it itches when you have fake nails...they are too thick to scratch. I did however, love tapping my fingers on hard surfaces when I talked though...weird I know. Anyway. So I went to get them taken off. It was intriguing. First off she sanded down the fake nails a little them she had me soak my fingers in acetone. It was crazy how the acetone turned the nails into this glob...
I'm melting! melting! Oh, what a world! What a world! Who would have thought a good little girl like you could destroy my beautiful wickedness? Oooooh, look out! I'm going! Oooooh! Ooooooh!
...and then she wiped it off with a paper towel. This was a messy and long process but very intriguing. I couldn't help wonder about people who work in nail shops if they have higher levels of certain types of medical problems due to working with all those chemicals all the time. Anyway. So they are off and my nails feel extremely tiny! When I got the fake nails on they clipped my nails down shorter than the end of my finger tip and since it hasn't been that long since I got them on my nails are really short right now. My roommate has been talking about how she wants to get a shellac manicure and when I was at the nail place the person suggested I get a shellac manicure. And that is what I did.
And I feel like I wasted my money. lol. The nails look like I painted them myself, in a color that I was cajoled into getting...I guess the thing about Shellac though is that they don't chip or wear off as fast as normal nail polish...idk. Anyway. So while all this was going on...I agreed to have the same person do my hair that was doing my nails. Ya, don't get your hair cut from a person that you don't understand very well...
I felt like I was sporting a skunkullet. A skunk mullet. Bad. My hair is pretty dark and those strips were blond blond. I had layers at weird places and...ya....just bad. I felt like I walked with my head down trying to avoid people I knew. I had it "fixed" by another hair stylist a few weeks later after I hid my hair beneath braids and scarves and hats for a week. It made all of the difference (and while perhaps not worth the extra $60 I spent, it was probably close to worth that much).
But later I did have a fabulous experience getting a pedicure. It really was amazing! I think that I will continue to pamper myself with one every once and awhile. It really does feel really good. I don't know why somebody never sat me down before and explained to me the degree to which it makes a big difference in your life.
Side note: I got thinking maybe there was a weird disease that people have where their body mentally rejects anything that isn't natural and just for fun I hit up the web. Didn't really know what search terms to use and didn't really find anything (not that I was really expecting to) but I came across this website: http://webecoist.com/2010/07/19/worlds-15-weirdest-diseases-medical-conditions/all I can say is....Crazy!!
So, it's been a little, *cough*, ok, long while since I last posted. And yes, I thought that this adventure was dead in the water. But alas, I believe I will revive it again. I stopped because financially I needed a break as well as mentally and physically. I tore my ACL playing rugby and have spent the last four months recovering from knee surgery.
The last four months have been an incredible struggle for me to survive let alone care about the fact that I look like a frantic lunatic. When dressing, I mainly looked for attire that would work with that massive brace. Trying to get around, walk again, go to work full time, go to school full time, go to physical therapy, stay up to do homework, and other family and personal stresses has taken quite a toll on me and my appearance. I own two pairs of TOMS now and have worn them almost every single day for four months straight.
Four months of feeling like this was four months too long.
Only recently have I started wearing heals and I can only tolerate those for a couple hours at the most. I had my nails taken off, and now finally (only 4 months later) are my natural nails back to normal looking. The biggest change that I feel is that I haven't been active for months and my body has become even more of a massive blob. The thing that really woke me up was that I stepped on the scale and it read....I don't even know if I can post this.... 203.7 lbs. Gasp. So, I have taken action. My goal is 150 lbs. It's where I technically should be but haven't been there since HS. So. It has begun.
1. At physical therapy I've started running on an anti-gravity treadmill that lets me run at a percentage of my body weight. (http://www.alter-g.com/product/anti-gravity-treadmills) This lets me run and get a great work out but doesn't kill my knee. I tried running outside before this and ended up doing a limp run two blocks out. This makes me feel great and has drastically boosted my recovery.
2. A friend showed me an app that she was using called my fitness pal. (http://www.myfitnesspal.com/) It has been amazing. I typed in my goal, my weight, and other information and it helps me track my eating and my exercise. It has a function on my phone that I love that allows you scan barcodes of foods to insert in the nutritional info and such. It also allows you to insert in recipes and then it calculates the info for you as well.
3. I've also bought a "fitbit", an amazing pedometer that links into my fitness pal and updates my exercise and then adjusts my calories I can consume through out the day. It is neat. Nay, it is beyond neat. It has really motivated me to move more and it makes it fun to try to reach certain goals. (http://www.fitbit.com/). It also tells me how well I am sleeping and the website gives me awesome random things to look forward to. (Like how many flights of stairs I've gone up and what that is equivalent to: Today so far I've climbed as high as The Hollywood Sign or 5 floors). I really like that not only can I put it in my pocket or clip it to my waistband but I can also clip it to my bra, as I often wear things to work with no waistband or pockets.
4. As my knee is getting stronger, I've really been tempted to go back to playing rugby. At least for now, I really really need to stay away so that my knee can fully heal. It has been extremely hard, especially lately as this weekend is a tournament in Las Vegas that my team and friends have been asking me to go to. As my facebook newsfeed is filling up with comments regarding all the fun that I am missing right now I desperately need something else to distract me. I've started Salsa dancing lessons (http://www.utahsalsa.com/) and have started going out dancing more. I used to go Latin dancing all the time but as my local friends changed, this dropped off. But, even if I go alone, I am making it a priority to go. It's a great way to strengthen my knee without killing it and it helps distract me. Tomorrow night I've made an appointment with the dance floor so I can dance away my Vegas envy.
So, for now, it is this. Weight loss!! and also, being healthy. I am trying to eat better and get the vitamins that I need. I started taking the Women's One-a-day multivitamin. Because having the proper vitamins makes your hair, nails, and skin pretty right? lol.
