Breenee’s BodyBlog

I was finally given the ok to start lifting again after a long time dealing with a back injury.  It’s been great!  The combination of going to the Chiropractor, while slowly working with the weights to get back to where I was has helped greatly in reducing my back pain.  It’s been a week since I started and as of today, I no longer have any back pain!  It’s hard to believe because I was being told I needed surgery.  It took working with the Dr’s and adjusting my fitness routine to get this result.  The beginning of the week I was in serious pain and this made me feel depressed and hopeless about ever reaching my goals.  It upsets me to have to stop each time my back gives out and wait weeks and months to feel well enough to start all over again.  The dr’s could never find out why.  But now in one week of working with the chiropractor, I’ve been able to exercise pain free.  I told the chiro to get ready, because with their help I’m going to start hitting the weights harder than ever…Yay me!!

Got a kick ass lifting routine from one of my bodyspace friends and I’m already seeing results.  Have been going to the gym at 5am and working out on an empty stomach to maximize fat loss.  Just trying to get back into being consistent on a daily basis again. 

…..at my first visit to the Chiropractor.  I never thought hearing the sound of "cracking" my spine would bring me such relief!  It’s been years, literally, YEARS of pain, restrictions and limitations on daily activities.  I was so excited to finally lift weights without feeling the tug in my back from the pinched nerves….plus I was finally able to do my high kicks in kickboxing!!  The Chiropractor did say mine was a very complicated case, but I do not need surgery and the best thing I have going for me is that I’m so physically active and flexible.  He was quite surprised at that, but I always surprise everyone in that respect…on to heavy weights tomorrow!  LOL!

…with a new attitude to go with it!  I posted some progress pictures…..how hard it was to put it out there!  I haven’t taken many pictures of myself over the past few years.  Just looking at who I had become and the weight of my illnesses showing up on my face, my body, my attitude was too much for me to handle and much less have cemented in a picture that would last a long time.  But with my new outlook the past few weeks, and my determination to return to who I am plus the help of my Bodyspace friends, has given me the courage to face up to my demons.  This was the hardest part, now I can concentrate on pushing my body to the limits and gaining the benefits of a healthier and stronger body….or die trying!! It’s a new day…and a new me!

….this has been the first time I’ve ever actually taken my P/T’s advice to have a cheat day.  Not that I didn’t want to before, but due to my food sensitivities it makes it very hard to find something that I can enjoy that won’t make me sick, literally. But this weekend I was prepared and to my surprise, I actually stuck to my portions and never went over my limit.  What was the most surprising is that even if the craving would have been so bad as to make me do it, I was actually full and satisfied.  In fact, I had to fight myself from doing any exercise at all and force my body to get rest.  Especially with the back pain I’ve been feeling,I really didn’t want to overdo it.  I’m so psyched and have been looking forward to the beginning of the week to gladly commence with my torture again….

So today is day 4 and I did 2hrs of cardio, 20 minutes of resistance training (upper body, abs and glutes)!

Afterwards, it was time for my next meal which was very colorful to look at: mashed sweet potatoes(no butter or salt) w/ cinnamon(a natural fat burner!); steamed green beans; tuna fish and strawberries.  I had orange, green, white and red on my plate which made it cheerful to look at! 

The worse part was afterwards, I had to cook for my family.  My daughters were tired of baked meats and BEGGED me to make them fried chicken wings.  ON top of that, they wanted a staple of the Puerto Rican diet….arroz con gandures (rice with green pigeon peas - a type of bean).  Talk about torture!!!  Not so much the chicken wings, eventhough the smell is heavenly, but the rice is my favorite dish!! Not to toot my own horn, but if I were a bad cook it wouldn’t have bothered me so much.  But I’m not going to give in especially after all that sweat and hard work! 

It’s times like these I wish I had a cook….

Today logged in 1hr 20 minutes of cardio.  I took it easier today because of the back pain that I experienced yesterday.  I didn’t use the elliptical or do swimming, but I used my aerobics tapes.  I have a lot of tapes that I can change based on what I want to do.  For instance yesterday I did:  1 hr low impact cardio; 15 minutes of lunges, squats; 15 minutes of a mini Tae Bo workout and 20 minutes of Pilates.  I also did upper body resistance training with weights and pushups.  This combinaton worked for me because I got a lot of cardio in but I also targeted my legs and abs a lot

For today, I had to go light so I did and hour of advanced Tae Bo plus the 20 minute Pilates.  The advanced Tae Bo really left me soaked in sweat, so my cardio goal was reached.  AT the same time you do a lot of leg, glute and abdominal work throughout, as well as the last ten minutes are dedicated to hitting it hard.

You might find it hard to believe, but its already giving me visible results….my apple bottom is plumping up!  LOL!!

….to keep up with the other ladies in the Thick Chicks group Cardio Challenge!  Ha, ha…so here it goes: 

Today officially started my summer break from work (I work in a public school), so I will have 2 1/2 months to concentrate more on me.  I officially started the challenge this week and so far have done 4 out of the 5 days of cardio (30 minutes elliptical/30 minutes swimming in my pool!).  But today my back started hurting me again. Plan on going to a chiropractor on Tuesday and see how it goes.  If it works, I will continue to go during the duration of the challenge because I’m too competitive with myself and tend to push my body to its limits and I definitely don’t want to go at a turtle’s speed!  Next week’s goal will be to up the cardio to 45 minutes in both areas as well as return to some light lifting (that’s if my back doesn’t hurt).  Hopefully, I’ll have as much guts as the rest of the girls to post my pictures, too…..LOL…..(yeah, right only after 2 shots (the first one and the last one!)….just kidding, that would only mess up my diet!