Another New Toy! Best One Ever!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

I have just discovered the most amazing piece of fitness equipment!
If you haven’t checked out the TRX, you might want to do so.

The TRX is a very simple device that looks like a few cargo straps hanging from a hook. When I first saw it I thought it would be way too simple or too gimmicky to do anything for me. Then I saw a short review of it by Spark Coach Nicole (at least I think it was Coach Nicole) and so I gave it a second look.

I started watching youtube videos about it and I started to get interested. Within a couple of days I was convinced that I couldn’t live without this amazing thing. The problem is that they cost about $200 bucks.

I’m not saying that it isn’t worth $200, in fact I think it is. It’s worth every penny. However, that doesn’t mean that I can afford it. So I made a trip to the hardware store and for $34.11 I built my own.

I’ve only had it for a week and already I’m amazed at what it has done for my flexibility and range of motion. I know that with consistent use it is going to greatly improve my strength.

I have adhesions in my ribs on the right side and sometimes the pain is intense. There have been days when I can't bend over, can't twist, can't even sit still without it hurting. I’ve done physical therapy before for it and that helped, but a week of TRX has reduced the pain more than any 6 weeks of physical therapy ever did. Thanks to the TRX, I'm hopeful that in time, the problem may go away completely.

If I only owned one piece of fitness equipment, this would be it.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxzQjbJLLJk&
feature=channel

There are many different companies that make a similar product and I'm sure they all do about the same thing - I just chose the above video because it was the best video I found so far and this particular design was the one that I found easiest to replicate at home.

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

If I haven't gone to sleep yet, then it isn't the next day yet.

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sleep is a big issue for me right now.
My schedule is a mess and getting healthy is just complicating it!

I normally sleep for about 2 or 3 hours in the evening before my first shift and then I sleep for 4 hours in the late morning before my second shift. I work about 8 hours a day, but it's two 4 hour shifts, right at 12 hours apart. That makes it difficult to fit everything else in. Sometimes I skip one of my sleep times because I'm too busy.

Now normally I am so tired by the time I find my bed that I fall into it and begin to snore almost instantly. However, now that I'm eating better and getting some exercise, I'm not always tired when it's time to sleep. I'm finding myself revved up when I should be falling down.

Right now it is 7:45 in the morning and I should have been asleep for a couple of hours, but I can't do it. I want to go run, maybe do some tae bo, I could go run some errands this morning and get them out of the way, etc.

Getting healthy is messing up my already fragile schedule.
It's getting tougher and tougher. I know darn well that the only reason I went to bed yesterday morning is that I wanted to start tracking food for a new day and I felt like I could declare it a new day whenever I woke up from my nap.

The day before I had the opposite problem. I hadn't eaten enough and so I ended up just tracking food on that same day's page until it filled in because if I haven't been to sleep yet, then it must still be the same day, right?

At this point I actually have no idea when one day stops and another starts. Apparently it has nothing to do with the clock, calendar, sunrise, or number of hours that has passed. As near as I can tell, the day is over when I have eaten enough calories and it isn't over until I have!

My dog, Meana, is always by my side. She complains about the lack of routine. She kvetches and grumbles when she is tired and I'm not going to bed. She's tried to adapt, bless her heart. She can't help it that she has more sense than I do.



For a couple of weeks now I have wracked my brain, trying to figure out why my workouts have been so bloody difficult and why my muscles cramp up within minutes of exertion.
I posted a question to the experts concerning hydration. I've blogged about nutrition. I've taken my friends' suggestions seriously. I've gotten vitamin and mineral supplements. I'm tracking potassium, sodium, calcium, and magnesium on the nutrition tracker. Still my muscles cramp.

I wonder if it could have anything to do with the lack of sleep and the way in which I creatively measure the length of days?

Well...Okay, maybe...

Okay, that's it. I've put this off long enough.
I'm changing my schedule, effective Monday morning.

My new goals are to get all of my sleep in one stretch, to get enough sleep to function somewhat normally (?), and to actually have days begin and end on a regular basis (like maybe once every 24 hours or something).

I've just been putting it off because when I change my schedule, some of my clients will find it to be inconvenient and I can lose customers. At this point, I just have to do it anyway. Wish me luck!

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

Success!

Friday, August 13, 2010

It's been a very successful day for me!
Good things happen and I celebrate them by blogging and sharing with my wonderful SparkFriends!

My day started with a nice run - I use the word "run" very loosely, but I use it!

Recently I re-started the c25k program and am using the week 1 podcast.
Here is what happened:

1st attempt - I ran the first two intervals and as I started the third one, my thigh muscle attempted to tie itself into some sort of sailors knot. I turned around and limped home - muscle cramping all the way.

2nd attempt - I got through the 3rd interval, when I began the 4th interval my thighs started again with the cramping. Again I turned around and limped home.

3rd attempt - Yep, we are talking the third attempt at DAY 1! Knowing that my body is struggling, I decided to run every other interval. I ran 1,3,5, and 7. I just walked through the even numbered ones. At least I didn't turn around and go home.

4th attempt - I was able to run 1,2, and 3 - I walked through the 4th, then I ran 5,6,7, and 8! I'm getting closer!

5th attempt - That was today. I made it! I finally did it! I ran all 8 of the intervals.

Success is what happens when you don't stop trying!

I'm finding this to be so much harder than last year and I'm not quite sure why, but I'm determined to not compare this time to last time, but to just keep going.

These muscle cramps are getting on my nerves. Last night I could only spend 14 minutes on my exercise bike before my thighs gave up on me. It's that muscle on the outside portion of my leg, toward the back. Now that I'm eating well and drinking water, I'm hoping that this issue resolves itself. Time will tell.

Meanwhile I am going to celebrate a successful w1d1 run and the fact that 14 minutes of cycling is a vast improvement over zero minutes of cycling!

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

New toy

Thursday, August 12, 2010

If you don't already use Freecycle - you might consider checking it out.
Freecycle is a yahoo group where people give away stuff they don't want any more and people ask for stuff they are looking for and can't / won't / don't want to buy. I get a lot of cool, free stuff there.

So far this year I have gotten an old lap top (a dinosaur, but still working!) my van, a new bread machine, and today I got an exercise bike - all for FREE. I've also gotten rid of some old furniture, a boat, an old stove, a Rhode Island Red hen, and a freezer full of vegetarian foods that I wouldn't eat.

There is a little bit of everything on Freecycle from pets and plants to building supplies and books. It's active almost every where so there is likely to be an active group in your area. It's free to use.

Don't pay to have things hauled off if someone in your community could use them, and if there is something you need, just ask and someone might have one that they will give to you.

When I get done torturing myself with this thing, I'll probably put it back on Freecycle and let someone else have it.

I was just sitting watching tv last night and I thought to myself, I sure wish I had a treadmill or exercise bike to use right now. Well, now I do!

I had a really good day today. Beside getting a new toy, I got to start catching up with my old spark friends! I also went grocery shopping and got some healthy stuff - and they were having a great sale and I saved a ton of money.

Today I even measured my food and logged it! WOW! That's a real accomplishment for me.
I even...drum roll please....DRANK WATER!!!!!

Yep, I drank 4 cups so far and will probably have some more later. I am amazed to find out that the human body can actually function for months on coffee and cokes with no plain water what so ever - it doesn't function well mind you, but you don't die or anything.

I do think this is the number one reason that my c25k program has been so amazingly difficult. I've tried 4 times so far and can't complete day 1. It just goes to show that when you don't treat your body with some respect, it won't work right.

So I drank that water today and I swear, I could hear the rust loosening in my joints as I did it. Tomorrow is my 5th attempt at c25k day one. Maybe this time I'll make it!

  Member Comments About This Blog Post:

I'm really torn

Thursday, August 12, 2010

I got all set to come back to Spark and then I thought to myself, geez I really should just start over. So I made myself a new page and began to get back into the swing of things.
.....but I missed my old friends.....a lot.
Sure I was making new ones, and that's awesome, but still.....

It's been a VERY long time since I've visited Spark, and still, some of my Spark Friends keep commenting on my page and sending me stuff.

They just don't know when to give up.....
.....aren't they awesome?!?!?

That's what friends are for, they don't give up on you even when you have given up on yourself.

Not only do I still get stuff from my friends, I keep being friended by folks. These people can see that I don't log in, I don't check in, I don't do jack squat, and still, they friend me! Amazing!

So now I am torn between just giving all my friends my new user name and directing them to my new page, or just resetting everything here and using this page.

Any ideas?

Oh and a quick update: I'm back to jogging, I've had to start all over on the c25k program and for some reason it's much much much harder now than it was the first time. I'm divorced. My son starts high school this month! I quit smoking, again. I haven't ridden my unicycle in I don't know when. Geez, I haven't eaten right or drank a glass of water in I don't know when! I went through some depression, but I'm done with that now and now I gotta get back to some healthy living!

  Member Comments About This Blog Post: