Success

NOTE: I wrote this post last week but have had difficulty in getting my photos uploaded. It's no longer timely, but I figure everyone likes this kind of post, so I'll do it anyway. Enjoy!


I managed to get my booty out of bed and to the gym every. single. morning last week (two weeks ago now)! I also completed all but my Friday afternoon post-work workouts. :) To say I was exhausted would be an understatement. In fact, I was fighting to stay awake when I gave in and went to bed at 8:30 on Friday night. Yup, I'm pretty cool.

I'm going to count this as a successful week of workouts. We were supposed to do arms on Friday morning and I was supposed to do cardio Friday afternoon. However, we ended up doing a cardio circuit with jumping jacks, jump rope, shadow boxing, push-ups, lunges, and sit-ups for a good 45 minutes Friday morning. I shall count that as my cardio for the day. I'm really proud of myself for completing the week!

So, in celebration, check out some progress photos of me. I gained a lot of weight while I was pregnant. My Doctor never said I was gaining too much. I recently looked up something online that showed how much weight you should gain with a pregnancy based on your starting weight. I was surprised to see that I only gained a little bit more than is suggested. So, here is a picture of me pregnant. I believe it was a couple of weeks before Aiden was born.

Here I am about a week or so after Aiden was born.

Photo by SBChilds Photography

Here I am six months out.

Here is a picture just after Aiden's 1st birthday.

Photo by SBChilds Photography

This is a picture from earlier in September, right around Aiden's 2nd birthday.

I've come a long way. I've worked hard. I still have a ways to go, but as my blog title says, it's a journey.

Change of Plans

Good news, yesterday was upper body day and it went well! I modified my workout by lifting less weight but doing more reps. It felt kind of silly doing chest flies with five pound weights. In fact, I increased to 7.5 weights after my first set. That was probably the only time that I really felt my shoulder. I was careful not to go to far and stretched really well after I was done.

We then did my favorite abs workout. Two of us lay on decline benches and Dale throws a medicine ball to one of us, we both lay back and sit up, do a twist, and the person with the ball throws it back to Dale. He then throws the medicine ball to the other person and we repeat. It's a good workout for the abs, and it's fun. After we finished he had us turn around so we were holding on where we usually lock our feet in. We would then pull our legs up in a pike position and he would throw them down. Neither of us lasted long, but it was an awesome workout and I felt it last night.

Yesterday I met one of the girls who works out in the morning for lunch on the Monument. I'm pretty sure that yesterday was really my first time on the monument. I often see people sitting there to eat their lunch, but I had never done that. Unfortunately I had forgotten my lunch, so I grabbed a salad from When Eddie Met Salad and joined my friend. I couldn't believe how peaceful it was. Well, with the exception of the fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars that went by three different times. I will have to have my lunch out there more often! Here is a little picture of my view while eating.

I was planning on doing cardio with Jay after work, until my co-worker reminded me that we had a meeting last night at the Children's Museum. There was just not enough time to pick up Aiden, get to the Y, work out, shower and get back downtown. In fact, there wasn't much time to get Aiden, head home, make dinner, and then head downtown. So, Jay was so kind as to pick up Aiden and fend for themselves for dinner so that I could go to the downtown Y for cardio with my co-worker. We just did a quick 30 minutes on the elliptical, but it felt great to get that cardio in. Then we showered and headed for our meeting. Which was great by the way. I need to get to the Children's Museum with Aiden and Jay very soon.

I am so appreciative that Jay supports me in my quest to become healthier. He could have told me to get Aiden and make dinner, but he didn't. He did however go to a German restaurant that I have been dying to go to for years. Now I'm jealous! :)

Back in the saddle again.

Who isn't singing "Back in the Saddle Again" by Gene Autry now? You're welcome.

I'm two days in to returning to my regularly scheduled workouts. Yay! Technically today was supposed to be my first day back, but yesterday was legs day, so I figured that if my shoulder started to hurt (which it shouldn't) I would take it easy. Everyone at the Y was happy to see me again. It appears that they noticed my two week hiatus. It turns out that Dale was actually asking some of the ladies what they did to me to make me not come back. I'm not going to lie; it was nice to be missed. :)

So, I knocked out legs yesterday morning. It felt great! I didn't push too hard, but I am definitely feeling it today.

Then yesterday afternoon I did the elliptical for 50 minutes. It felt great. I managed to forget my iPod at home, but between the music playing at the Y, my reading materials, and the televisions, the 50 minutes went quickly. Still no shoulder pain.

Actually, my legs were starting to feel pretty sore last night so I took a minute to stretch. Never mind that I was stretching on the kitchen floor while my peach was broiling. The result of that stretching session was great. I got a good stretch and when I was done I got to eat a peach sprinkled with brown sugar, drizzled with honey, and stopped with vanilla bean ice cream. Yummy!

This morning I got up to swim. I grabbed a kickboard just in case my shoulder hurt. I considered just using the kickboard, but decided to try a couple of strokes in the shallow end, just to see how it felt. Amazing!!!! No pain at all. I was able to swim the entire 50 minutes without using the kickboard. I was even able to do push-ups in the deep end. I didn't do as many as Dale wanted me to, but I didn't want to push it too far on my first day back to swimming.

When we were done Dale complimented me on my improved swimming. He said that I have improved 100%. I mentioned that it would have been difficult to get much worse. He agreed, but was really pleased with my progress. I'm doing so much better with breathing and getting more comfortable in the water. It still bugs me to no end to have water in my ears, but I have swimmers ear that I use when I get out of the pool. Hopefully someday I'll get over that.

I am so happy to be working out again. I was so busy the past two weeks and in so much pain for a portion of it. I'm glad to once again be pain free and moving. Thanks for sticking around!

Peanut Butter Bars

Well, I started this post yesterday and then realized that my pictures didn't upload to dropbox like they should have. So, now you get two posts in one day. Lucky you!

This weekend I decided that I was going to make some kind of protein breakfast type food to eat before my workouts. Having a little bit of protein before my morning workout is something the nutritionist recommended. So, I searched my pinterest boards and came across peanut butter bars that required three ingredients and about 15 minutes of my time. The best part was that I already had all of the ingredients on hand. Well, I think the recipe called for natural peanut butter, but I have an abundance of regular old Jif in my pantry, so that's what I used.

Here are the ingredients

(I'm pretty sure that my water dispenser is photo bombing my picture!)

I mixed a cup of peanut butter and a cup of the honey together in a large skillet until liquidy. Then stirred in three cups of quick oats.

Finally, press the mixture into a greased 9x9 pan and let sit overnight. I might have left a little on the spoon to try right away. :)

The next morning I sliced them into nine bars and grabbed one on my way out the door. On my way to the Y I drank my Zija and couldn't even attempt to eat the bar. However, as soon as I got back in my car I was able to eat the bar on the way to work. Boy, was that good! It is very thick, so I probably could have used more water. I actually drank most of a bottle of water while eating it. I really like it though. It is nutritious and tasty and helps me want to drink more water. Win, win, and win. :)

Do you have a simple recipe for protein foods/breakfast foods that I should try? Let me know if you have tried this one or a variation of it.

Eating well while traveling

Since I'm still on a work out hiatus, I don't have anything exciting to share. However, I drove to Bloomington and back after work on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of this week. To say that I'm tired of being in the car would be an understatement. And since the question has already been asked, no, I could not have combined my trips into one day, or even two for that matter. I really have a hard time eating well when I'm on the road. Certainly I'm not alone.

Tuesday's trip was in the afternoon after a half-day of work rather than after a full day of work, so that wasn't bad. I also ended up getting a cortisone shot. I rewarded myself with a reese cup blizz from Chocolate Moose. Yes, I'm five and need a reward for getting a shot without crying or throwing a fit. But, if you grew up in or around Bloomington, you know that Chocolate Moose cannot be duplicated. And for the record, I did not get eyes. :)

Wednesday's trip down and back did not allow me time to have dinner with my parents and Aiden. Therefore, when I got home at 8pm I had to give Aiden a bath and put him to bed. It was just after 9 before I could even consider dinner. Everything in my house required preparation and I just wanted to go to bed. Unfortunately, Steak N Shake is across the street from my house. So, I headed across the street and got a Chicago hotdog and fries. None of it tasted good, I knew it wasn't a good decision, but I needed food, fast.

Thursday's trip down and back didn't exactly allow for time for dinner either. I ate lunch early (for me) and never got a snack. So, on my way to pick up Aiden I stopped by Subway and got a kids meal turkey sandwich and apple slices. I then had some left over pulled pork at my parent's house, but was still hungry. I headed home and was so tired I didn't want to make anything again. I had two slices of bread with a little bit of butter, Aiden's left over macaroni and cheese from the weekend, and a pumpkin donut that Jay had lovingly saved for me. I forced it all down and passed out.

I hate eating fast food but sometimes it seems like the only option. I know my food choices have not been wonderful the past three days, but I kind of did what I could based on my situation. We are heading to Ft. Wayne this weekend. I will pack fresh fruit and string cheese for Aiden, and probably some extra for me and Jay, but I'm not sure what else travels well. Any suggestions? What do you eat on the road? Where do you go for nutritious meals on the go?

Nutrition

I'm sorry I've been MIA. I hurt my shoulder about a month ago and reinjured it while having a dodge ball fight with beach balls on Labor Day. Yup, I was acting like a kid and hurt myself. Oh well. I'm pretty well used to that at this point in my life. I went to one of my favorite Doctors on Tuesday and he somehow convinced me that a cortisone shot was the way to go. Now, two days later, my shoulder is actually starting to feel better. I guess he knew what he was talking about. :) Thankfully I can return to working out next week. Tuesday is probably the day he wants me to return to working out, but Monday is legs day and I don't do any machines that have pads resting on my shoulders. Of course I will take it easy and not do something if it hurts my shoulder, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the gym!

Tuesday was a big day for me. Not only did I get a cortisone shot, I also met with a nutritionist. I won't tell you where, and I honestly don't remember her name, but I don't feel like I got much out of the meeting. However, in her defense, she doesn't know me at all and could only speak based on her knowledge of nutrition and the very limited amount of questions she asked me. In my defense, I wasn't sure what all to tell her. I certainly didn't try to hide things from her, but really, how much of my life story did this girl really want to hear?

However, I did mention my previous conversation with my friend from high school regarding not consuming enough calories. She asked me my typical diet, which I laid out for her, and she agreed that I am not eating enough. We did not discuss number of calories consumed on a daily basis, but she then proceeded to tell me that I should be aiming for 1300-1400 calories a day. Huh? Did we not just come to an agreement that what I was eating was not enough? So, thinking I misunderstood her, I asked if I should be increasing my caloric intake on days that I work out. She said to only eat more if I'm hungry. So, that seemed like a bit of a conversation that was going nowhere.

We then switched gears and discussed a meal plan for me. Which is identical to what I eat right now. Thanks. Now, she did suggest that I have some protein before I lift first thing in the morning. I don't typically eat before a workout because I feel like my food is sloshing around in my stomach. But I have been drinking my XM+ on my way to the Y and adding a hard-boiled egg or tablespoon of peanut butter shouldn't be that big of a deal. So, there was a benefit to our meeting.

I'm sure this was a difficult meeting for her. Other than my inability to drop desserts, I tend to eat pretty healthy. I guess I wasn't specific enough in my conversation to help her help me. Don't get me wrong, I am certain that she is incredibly knowledgeable and she was very sweet. Like I said before, I'm sure that I didn't do a good job of letting her know what I am looking for. So, I will meet with her again and see how the next meeting goes. I think I can meet with her a handful of times before I have to start paying. I don't want to waste my time and I don't want to waste her time, but I want to give her another chance to help me.

So, in the meantime, and going forward, I want to learn about food. I want to learn about what foods fuel my body and when I should be eating them (before/after workouts, how many times a day, etc.). I realize that there are many different thoughts on these topics, but I know that I have several friends that have significant knowledge in this area. So, what books do you recommend that I check out? Really, anything that you recommend that I check out, books, videos, etc. I'm all ears. :)

Sometimes I think I should have become a physical therapist.

Seriously. I have spent so much time at the orthopedic Doctor's office, at phyical therpay, with athletic trainers, etc. Dr. Weidenbener, one of my two favorite orthopedic Doctors, says that I have the thickest file of anyone else my age. Now that's something to brag about! Ha! Really, who else at 31 has had three knee surgeries after many years of wearing knee braces (I even had one specially made to match my high school cheerleading uniform!), a stress fracture in her back, broken cheekbone, shoulders that partially dislocate on a regular basis, plus an assortment of broken feet and arms, and cesnoiditis (which really means they have no idea why my foot sometimes feels like it is broken even when it isn't)? Am I missing anything? Probably. I am a walking injury waiting to happen! You would think I would give up and sit on the couch. But I don't.

Tomorrow morning I will go to a different Doctor for my foot. Did I mention I thought it was broken six weeks ago? I wore a boot for about a week and then ditched it. I wasn't suppose to run for two weeks but could swim, bike, and do the elliptical. I have run four times in the past six weeks, all of which were after the two week time frame. My foot still hurts, it's still swollen, and still bruised. I don't want to go to someone other than Dr. Weidenbener, but this Doctor is closer, and I already have an appointment scheduled.

Now my shoulder is killing me. The Wednesday before the Warrior Dash I felt a tweak while doing chest flies. It didn't hurt too bad for the Warrior Dash, but there was a little bit of adrenaline during the dash. I've tried to take it somewhat easy, I skipped shoulder day last week, but swam twice last week. Yesterday we ended up playing an impromptu game of "dodge ball" with beach balls. It was a lot of fun, but one throw teeaked my shoulder again. It kept me awake last night. I hurt to do my hair, it hurt to get dressed, etc. Really? My foot isn't enough? Wrap me in bubble wrap now! So, I skipped swimming this morning and will probably have to skip lifting tomorrow morning. Arg! I know that I need to rest in order to heal so that I can continue to do all of the things I love to do, but it's hard. Ya know?

So, what do you do when you have an injury? Change the workout routine or become a bump on a log during recovery?