Whew! Good news!

Great news from the doctor. Nothing too serious with my knee. He said it's common ailment caused by muscle imbalance. Apparently, my quads are strong that my hamstrings. This is causing strain on my lower back, glutes, and knees.

He said to keep doing what I'm doing. The muscles around my knees are just getting used to exercise. He said the exercises Kimberly has me doing are perfect. This is reassuring because I was worried that I was causing some serious injury to my knee. It was also confirmation about her professional expertise.

****

I also found out there's a fitness center at the condo where we're staying in Florida next week. This is good news. I can get in some strength training.

Good news and not so good news

The good news is that I did a really good job food shopping yesterday. I got eggs, fruits, veggies, multigrain crackers, and protein shakes. I made a nice post of veggie soup. Today for lunch I'm going to have a nice salad with tuna.

My focus this week has been hydration and increasing my endurance level. Instead of drinking Crystal Light, I've been teaching myself to drink plain water.

The not so good news is that my knee is bothering me. The weird thing is that it's not the knee I was complaining about initially. Now it's my left knee. I did some stretching and yoga exercises. After this, my knee buckled about three times--very painful. It's happened two times today. So, I'm going to see a different doctor this afternoon. He specializes in sports injuries.

This is not good. My 5K is in 17 days. Today was supposed to be cardio day with Kimberly. We're going to try to have my session on Friday, after I see what the doctor says.

I'm on vacation next week so I'll be on my own, as far as training goes.

I remain hopeful. Kimberly thinks it may be the increased activity. I have been pushing myself. I hope she's right.

Pump It Up!

Great workout with Kimberly yesterday. I really pushed myself. When she said, "one more," I did my best to do an extra one or two.

Right now I am filled with so much self doubt about my upcoming 5K. I'm not sure where it's coming from. I have been working. I just feel tired all of the time. I talked to Kimberly about it and she feels my body is just reacting to the increased intense activity.

I'm going to the store in a while to pick up some food. There's no food in this house because I am fearful of overeating. Not good. I have to learn how to have a healthy relationship and attitude towards food. As long as I purchase the right types of food, I will be fine. Making a list and checking it twice is the trick. I'm going to make veggie soup and have a salad for dinner. Instead of coffee, I've been drinking green tea. I want to the dentist yesterday. For whatever reason, they now take your blood pressure--mine was 130/85. I'm not sure why it was that high. I forgot to take it while I was at the gym yesterday afternoon.

I'm really pressed for time today so I'm going to workout in my little home gym today. I'm going to do the step and dumb bells. Kimberly had me doing some circuit training yesterday. It was pretty challenging. I'm going to try to duplicate it today. I know it won't be as intense because my step won't go as high.

Sedentary Athlete

Isn't this an oxymoron?

Apparently I need to do more than workout at least 30 minutes a day to live a fit lifestyle. I just read an interesting article on Active.com, Are You a Sendentary Athlete? The author discusses how we need to do more than workout.

According to Neville Owen, speaker at the American College of Sports Medicine's Annual Meeting (Seattle, May '09), the average person sits 9.3 hours a day. This is A LOT of sitting! I probably sit more than this. I'm glued to my computer for my day job and when I teach online, this adds another 2 to 3 hours of sitting.

The fact that I work from home doesn't help. I get out of the bed in the morning and walk less than four feet into my office. There are days I'm in this office from 7:30am until midnight. In the past, there were days I did't leave the house.

I've been making a conscious effort to take frequent breaks and stand (and stretch) more often during the day. I'm also finding more excuses to run up and down the stairs.


http://www.active.com/fitness/Articles/Are-You-a-Sendentary-Athlete-.htm

Who needs emenies

Something very strange happened to me today. I was in the grocery store with my best friend, at least I consider her my best friend. We went out for sushi. I was sharing a conversation I had earlier that evening with my health coach. Well, after that we went to the grocery store. I'm standing there looking at these slices of cake and cheesecake. So, my friend goes...get one. I almost did. I picked it up, stood there, and put it back.

In those quick moments I thought about how disgusted and disappointed I was in myself. Then, I was disgusted and disappointed in my friend. How could she encourage me to get something like this when she knows I'm trying to be more healthy? I know her. She could care less. She'd just say it's my choice--and she's right. I have no one to depend upon on this journey but myself. I am solely responsible for myself. I'm the person who has to live in this body. I can be my best friend or I can be my enemy. I choose to love myself. Ultimately, the only best friend I have is myself.

Cancel

I had to cancel my workout session today. I feel awful. I've felt awful all weekend. I tried to walk on Saturday and only managed to do a mile. I've done some stretching here and there but I'm spent.

Most of it is self-inflicted. I need to get some rest. I need to go to bed at an earlier hour.

I have to do a better job at taking care of myself.

Cancel - all the thoughts in my mind that tell me I can't meet my fitness goals.
Cancel - all those sugar cravings.
Cancel - the urge to give up.
Cancel - the disappointment I feel right now.
Cancel - my habit of skipping breakfast.

I can do this! My trainer was very positive and encouraging today. She sent me the following email:

No worries, Sheila! I know you are dedicated, and I appreciate your calling me. So sorry I freaked out* :o) I can't wait to see you Wednesday if you are feeling better! I'll check up tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Kimberly

I'm off to finish my tea, take a nice hot shower, and get to bed at a decent hour.

One Month

I have 30 days to go until my next fitness event. Truthfully, I'm not feeling so good. I had a really good workout yesterday. I wanted to cancel so badly. I wasn't feeling it. I was so sleepy. Somehow, I found the energy to push through.

I'm working harder than I ever had since I began this journey in January. There are small bouts when I feel good and energized. For the most part, I'm tired! I overslept this morning. Actually, I woke up about 4 this morning because my body was aching and I was thirsty. I stretched, took some Motrin, and watched the news for about 30 minutes. The next thing I know, it's 7:40!

I'm planning to go to the gym today and work on cardio.

Weekend Work Out

I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm sore. This means I'm really working those muscles. I haven't work out like this on my own in a while. I can really tell I'm getting more out of my workouts. I owe it all to Kimberly. She's showed me some great exercises and taught me how to balance my workouts.

Friday 10 leg lifts each side - 2x
10 leg lifts both - 2x
15 crunches - 2x
10 squats - 2x


Saturday 10 squats - 2x
15 crunches - 2x
Walked 1.8 miles - 33 mins. (goal was 30 mins.

I'm resting today. I'm sore and my right shoulder has been sore all weekend it. I've been doing some stretching and will repeat Saturday's workout tomorrow and Thursday's workout at the gym on Tuesday. I'll be back in Kimberly's capable hands on Wednesday.

On My Own

I had a great workout today. I am on my own until next Wednesday. I went to the gym. I did five minutes on the ellipitical, 20 minutes on treadmill, and four minutes (my goal was five) on the bike. I really pushed myself. My work out was over 30 minutes ago and I'm still dripping sweat. I focused on increasing my speed.

In addition, this morning I did stationary lunges, crunches, and squats. I'll do another set before I go to bed.

Cardio, Cardio, Cardio, and more Cardio

Guess what Kimberly wanted to focus on today? Oh...my...gosh! Can you say sweat? Gross, yucky sweat. I like to get to the gym a little earlier and start my warm up on the treadmill on my own. I'm proud of myself for walking at a 7 incline at 2.1. Kimberly walks in all bubbly, says hi, and starts pushing buttons. Lol! I know I was working hard because I started getting that nauseous feeling. I tell her I can't do anymore and she says two more minutes.... I did it!

We're off to do some weightlifting on the Smith machine. I love that thing. More sweat.

Then we move onto the elliptical. I've never been on this machine. I did not like it. I managed to stay on it five minutes and that was four minutes too long for me.

Into the next room for crunches. I did two sets of 15. She initially said do 10 but I told her I could do 15, maybe 20. I've been making it a habit to do at least 10 before bed. We did some other upper body exercise (I can't remember the name) but it was pretty hard on my back.

Next, we went outside for a walk. I had to keep up with Kimberly's pace. It was not easy. There I was huffing and puffing and she's going on, not breaking a sweat, chatting away about her honeymoon.

Back inside I worked on Lats and then I had to hop on the bike.

This is it for Week Two.

So, tomorrow, I plan to get on the ellipitical for 5 minutes on my own. I'll continue focus on picking up speed on the treadmill. If I'm feeling ambitious, I'll get on the bike for 5 minutes.

Kimberly and Carolyn

Great session with Kimberly yesterday. Boy, she worked my butt. We beginning to bond. I feel more comfortable in my uncomfort zone. Yesterday's workout consisted of strength training and spurts of cardio. Again, I thought I was going to vomit. Now, I have learned to push through my uncomfort zone and say my mantra - I can do this!

Today I'm going to do the treadmill on my own. I'm going to push myself on the incline and speed. Right now I can do 8 at 2.3 as my max.

I also talked to my health coach, Carolyn, yesterday. She wasn't too concerned with me not being consistent with keeping my food journal. Truthfully, she's probably used to people not keeping their commitments. Anyhow, my goals for the next three weeks are to continue focussing on portion control and limit my late night snacking. So....since I know I do most of my eating late at night I'm going to reset my rule of no eating at 8 p.m. This is going to be a HUGE challenge for me. There is nothing I like more than a bowl of popcorn while I'm grading papers. After the gym I'm going to get some sugar free gum. This seemed to get me through the last time I tried to eliminate my late night snacking.