Fitness Friday: streaking edition

I’ve never really done a dedicated post for a specific day (WIAW, Wednesday Weigh In, and such). Its not that I don’t like posts like this but I am usually so last minute that I miss posting on this days. I would love to participate in Kenlie’s Friend Making Monday posts but I usually forget until its too late.
Anyhoo….
I woke up today thinking its my first day of summer. And what kind of plans I want to make for this summer. And what goals I would like  to work on this summer. My thoughts went right to my plans for today….drop Q at school, chiropractor, and take Lucy to the dog beach. I think this sounds like a perfect first day of summer break (even though I still need to go in next week to wrap up some paper work and get my summer program set up) and the weather looks perfect! It is summer and warm with low humidity and around here, low humidity is something to dance about!

I have been less than consistent with any sort of working out.  Working with the chiropractor three times each week and the end-of-school crazies left little time or energy for the gym. Plus, the chiropractic work is sort of intense so I have been babying myself in between appointments.

Yanno what?!?

Yes, I need to listen to my body and rest up in between chiro appointments BUT this does not mean I need to do nothing. I don’t like when my body hurts so I have been sort of letting that be my excuse to do, almost nothing.

How can I possibly think that can do me any good?!?

But what do I do about it?!?

Well, I get off my ass and do something about it!!

DO SOMETHING!

hmmmm…..

So, I started thinking….I don’t want to attempt something I can’t be successful, I want to set myself up for success not failure. I’m not sure where I read it but “success breeds energy” and its so true!! When I am moving and grooving, I want to do more and keep moving and grooving. When I’m not, I don’t want to do it.

I have to fight lazy all the time!

sooooo

I am going to fight lazy this summer.

I already told you I have new fitness goals, goals with no set end date. Before I can truly focus on these new fitness goals, I have to get myself better. Obviously that means first and foremost, I need my neck and back and hip fixed. BUT I also need to get moving and grooving consistenly.

sooooo I will start streaking!!

However, I will be keeping my clothes ON! Well, unless I am doing some naked yoga. But there will not be blog pictures of that activity!!

Sorry for the confusion.

Instead of naked streaking, I am talking fitness streaking!

I haven’t thought of a good name or anything but I am challenging myself this summer to do something fitness-ey every day and see how many days I can string together. I should mention that part of my do something fitness-ey every day is partially thanks to Carla also. She often talks bout not having starts and stops. I am awful about starting and stopping but I want to end that particular streak!

Jen’s Summer Do Something Streak?!?!

I will keep you posted with a weekly friday post. And since I will be dedicating every Friday for this post. I am actually stealing my good friend, Thea‘s post title. She has been doing Fitness Friday posts for a good long time and now I am jumping in with both feet!

So stay tuned for streaking updates!! Now, I need a good hashtag…..any thoughts?!?

 

I found bloglovin’

With google reader gone, I thought I would just read what popped up on facebook and check in on my friends. But then, I realized I wasn’t reading anything.

Then I found bloglovin’

So now you can Follow my blog with Bloglovin

 

who needs a pain in the neck?!?

 Last week I went to see a new chiropractor.

Actually, I scheduled an appointment for a consultation and evaluation from this new chiropractor AFTER a wonderful free chair massage. You see, this chiropractor sent his massage therapist to our school for Teacher Appreciation Week and gave us all free chair massages. My neck and back needed that little massage so much. But, I also realized my back and neck may need more work than just a simple massage.

I have had issues with my neck and back for a LONG time. I thought it was all those years of working at a desk doing data entry at the same time I was going to college at night. I could feel my back and neck tighten up as I typed and studied and researched my way into the wee hours of the night.

Fast forward a bunch of years …and I was still having off and on issues but I added on the wonderful issue with my piriformis. On the same side of my body as my neck and back issues. All on my left side. Oddly enough, I needed surgery on my right knee and right ankle.

I never realized just how connected all these things were until recently. Healing from my surgery has been a much longer process than I ever imagined it could be. I only thought I was prepared for what that surgery and healing and what I would need to make it all better. It has been WAY harder and has taken many, many extra steps.

Its like the expression….”take a step forward only to take two steps back…”

My knee and ankle are completely healed from my surgery. My ankle is sturdier than I ever remember it being. My knees don’t hurt when I walk or run or step. I did all the rehab and PT. But now that I have my knee and ankle fixed, I keep finding new areas that need help. My neck and back thing, my piriformis thing and my gremlin (that’s what I call my belly issue….but this is another story entirely) keep showing their ugly heads.

So back to my new chiropractor, Dr. S. He did an evaluation which started with a 4-page questionnaire/history and was followed by an interview, x-rays, and a physical exam.  I came back a few days later and Dr. S. went over my x-rays and his analysis. In normal (meaning mine) language, here’s what he told me: 1. my neck is pretty screwed up – I sorta lean my head forward from the position it is supposed to be (which is a big factor in my muscle issues in my neck and back); 2. my hip hurts because the last vertebrae (I think that’s what it is) sits sideways or the wrong way (which is a reason for my hip/ass and low back pain); 3. I have a bit of a TMJ thing; and 4. I have a perfect pelvis.

Dr. S. is convinced he can get me stable and pain-free. Unfortunately, he also says I will probably feel like crap while I get back to right.  I wasn’t too concerned because on the day of the first adjustment I was scheduled for an endoscopy and knew the rest of the day was going to be yucky. I went back the next day and again felt pretty good. The adjustments were very different from any chiropractic adjustment I have ever had in the past. I can’t exactly explain all the hows it was different, it was just different. Dr. S. does an evaluation before each adjustment…so each adjustment is different. I woke up the day after my second adjustment with my back feeling worse and it ached for two days.  I was warned! Dr. S. was so right…I felt like crap. But, I know it was a different “I feel like crap” backache than it could be. Not that, I want to feel like crap and need to rest so much.

I know some days are going to suck and some days I am going to have to rest instead of lift and I am not allowed to squat more than 40pounds, using dumbbells. And even knowing all this, I am up for the challenge. I know I can only come out of this stronger. And seriously, what’s the point of working out and getting stronger if I don’t take care of these issues. A bum back can only get worse over time and cause more and more problems.

I have new fitness goals, long range fitness goals, goals with no set end-date.

1. Complete NROLFW
2. Join a volleyball team (right now I know I am not in volleyball playing shape)
3. Take a yoga teacher certification course
4. Hike somewhere really cool
5. Stand up paddleboard

 

I have learned a lot about myself and my body in the past 6 months. It started with a yoga class, then a yin yoga class, and now lifting weights. It being a much better understanding of a mind-body connection, a better way to slow my mind enough to hear what is going on with my body, and the role my mind has on my body.

I want to do many awesome things…..but first I must get my body working properly. I must mend a little more. This only seems like two steps back. In reality, this is forward movement….I am not pissed at my body and its brokenness but I am simply working on fixing the problem so I can get to that list of goals. I am not exactly accepting ALL of the what is going on but I am taking it in stride. I am resting when I need to rest, I am listening to my body and going to Dr. S. to fix the back. I figure the gym will be there when I am up to going, but if I need to fix my back so I can stay in the game as long as I want to stay in it.

Listening and mending and progress.

Do you enjoy the benefits of chiropractic care?

 

grieving, crying, healing

I have started this post about 20 times in my head. And then, I wasn’t sure I even should write this post. In the end, I am writing it because I need to get t he gunk out of my head. I am just going to let my mind dump out the thoughts that are currently rambling around in there.

Last week, I arrived at school on Monday like it was a normal Monday morning. But this Monday was unlike any other. On this Monday, I received the devastating news that one on my former students has been killed in a one-vehicle accident over the weekend. To say I was shocked, would be putting it very mildly.

I STILL can’t quite wrap my head around this young man of 21 being gone.

Work exploded with normal end of the year activities and a last minute chance to save our summer program. Work had a way of keeping me busy…too busy to focus on my grief.  Work had a way of keeping me so busy I couldn’t focus on much else. I did manage to get myself to the gym and out for a great nature walk last week and I am so glad. These activities helped me handle the stress of work and my grief.

Friday was a day of Tropical Storm Andrea and that bitched dumped some serious rain on our heads here in South Jersey. I worked all day, busy at my desk. This was the 5th day in a row that I was chained to my desk (when I was not teaching) and it took its toll. I missed out on participating in our school’s annual Volleyball Tournament. I could not take the time away from my responsibilities and join a student team and I didn’t even have enough time to break away for the Staff versus Students game. Missing out on volleyball upset me the most because I had been so looking forward to these games. It has been years since I have played volleyball and I was finally confident my knees (and ankle) could take some of the action. Friday’s rain matched my mood perfectly.

I had intentions on going to the gym after school but when I left my school and ran to my car I was DRENCHED. The puddles were deeper than my ankles so my sneakers were drenched and the extras in my bag also got soaked. I went home and napped. I went to the gym a few other times last week and I am glad I did. It was good for my head. However, on Friday, a nap was a better idea! I am so glad I napped because the rain just kept coming down stronger for the rest of that night.

Right now, on Saturdays I clean changeovers in Ocean City. Basically, this means we clean beach condos when one renter checks out and before the next renter checks out. We rearranged our schedules so that I could attend the funeral for my student.

Funerals are hard.

I listened to many people talk about this young man. I was a bundle of raw grief. I cried for his mother, his son, his fiance, his father, his sister and brother. I cried for his friends, my other former students, and I cried for me. After the service, I spent a few moments with a few other students. They were in the same class and I have many fond memories of all these boys.  There were five of them that sat around my table each day and standing with them after Brian’s funeral had ended brought back many many fond memories. Granted, they weren’t all great memories….the boys tortured me a little but they taught me so much about teaching and especially, teaching this population.

Brian, the young man we lost, was always smiling and goofing around.  He will be missed!

Until the funeral, I did not realize just how hard his passing had hit me. Seeing other former students alive and doing well (some had overcome addictions since graduating) and growing up was so nice. Seeing them, had a way of reminding me its not all negative and nasty out there. There is negative and nasty but there is also life and promise and positive all around.

After the funeral, I went home and I talked to my husband about my students and my job. I told him stories of awesomeness and stories of sadness and despair. I probably told storied for over an hour and it felt good to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly. It was also very exhausting.

I took another nap.

And then on Sunday, I didn’t do a whole lot. Honestly, I felt like I was recovering from a hangover. Not a booze hangover, but I just broke up with my boyfriend-I’ve been crying all night sort of hangover. I probably ate too much junk and lazed around too much but I really don’t think I could have done anything differently yesterday.

Q was with her friends for most of the weekend, but when she came home last night and hugged me, I felt alright. One little hug from my little girl (who is growing up too fast) and I knew I would be alright.

slowing my roll

I see sparkles and I get excited!

I see a challenge and I get excited!

My friends get excited and I get excited for them!

I am a joiner, a people pleaser, and a yesser.

I agree to things, I join things, I jump on bandwagons.

I get SO EXCITED! I scream from the rooftops making HUGE announcements of GRAND plans….and then I do good with said grand plan…for about 5 minutes before something comes up causing me to miss a day. I can’t miss a day when I am doing an EVERY day challenge. OR I can’t miss a day when I am training for something big.

Because that one day I missed means I am a failure.

 

I am FINALLY starting to realize just how fucked up this behavior is; its absolutely detrimental to my success and to my mental state.

And its been a cycle I have been in for too long!

When I made the HUGE announcement to run a marathon, I thought I would finally break this cycle…

well I didn’t really start training because I couldn’t get my head in the right space to want to run/walk more than 5 miles. So I started skipping training runs. I felt like a huge failure. So I just stopped going to the gym.

Then someone – on twitter or facebook – mentioned New Rules of Lifting for Women. I had started this program last year and I loved it. But I didn’t complete it. I think I started it too soon after my surgery and my mind and body were not ready.  My calf was hurting too much to continue and then my gym membership ran out.

I am not doing this program again to redeem myself from previous failure. I started it again because of the structure it provided. No clueless looking around the gym trying to figure out what to do next.  Then when I actually got in the gym and re-started the NROLFW program I remembered how much I liked it!! I get sweaty and read and sore. AND I LOVE IT! I look forward to going to the gym. My husband says now that I am lifting, I get pissy when I don’t get to the gym regularly.

I have actually been working through the NROLFW program for about 3 months. I completed Stage 1, adding extra workouts in to really work on my form and I am on the second workouts in Stage 2. I did not make my usual grand announcement. I joined a FB group for support and advice on things like form.

I stopped talking about what I was going to do and just did what I wanted to do!

I realized:

and I need to just:

I am breaking my cycle,

slowing my roll!

I will continue doing what makes me happy. I will still blog…maybe more often than I have recently, but I was making my workouts a priority. Something had to give and blogging took a big old backseat.

I have embraced the word’s of Walt Disney and I got started!!

Sometimes we all need a little reminder

I know I did!!

Do you need this reminder?