Breenee’s BodyBlog

Thoughts to reflect on (this is a long blog):

 - this month has been full of challenges and obstacles:  Not as much time to dedicate to the exercises as during the summer due to returning to work after vacation plus taking online classes; then my back/sciatic nerve sidelined me from the very beginning of the month caused me to halt my exercise routine.  Last week I was in a car accident, no one hurt but my car is in the shop getting fixed, so no car to get to the gym!  Of course, there’s always my ongoing metabolic health issues…

- Surprisingly, my motivation hasn’t gone down that much.  I’ve followed my doctor’s orders and have recovered 90-95%.  Started with light activity last week and will progress with light weightlifting this week.

- Body finally reacted by showing more weight loss and muscle definition, even though I hadn’t been working out in 3 weeks.  Upped my calories for 3 weeks to start getting my metabolism going again.

For October my goals are:

- Keep progressing to where I was at, routine wise, before my back problems.

- Obviously, get my car back soon so I can return to the gym.  I’m working out at home in the meantime, but just cardio as I don’t have any weightlifting equipment at home.

- Super clean my diet - I do follow my nutrition but I have learned new things on this website like chicken breast that is injected with a solution to make it bigger, so I’m going to use all natural and look for foods without any of that stuff. Plus I’m planning on cutting down on dairy, mainly the low fat/no fat cheese I use in some of my recipes; also caffeine and sugar, which I usually take with my coffee (the source of my caffeine!).  Carb wise I’m going to cut down on the rice and try to add more vegetables instead. Will also try cycling my calories every 2 weeks or so.

I hope to see significant changes in October due to the "resting period" I had in September.  I won’t say how much I hope to lose because I’ve learned that with my body and all its complexities, its not as easy for me to pinpoint how much of a loss as well as others do.  But any change is fine, I’ll just be glad to be back to lifting again!

Thoughts to reflect on….

….yep, I couldn’t believe it because I was afraid I would gain because I haven’t been to the gym.  What’s even more puzzling is I lost bodyfat and have gotten more definition as well.  Makes me think two things occurred:  1.) I was getting more calories in so my body got out of its deficit and 2.) apparently my body needed a small break to recuperate.  I don’t know much about the physiological aspect of it.  I wasn’t able to see my regular chiro to get the ok to exercise, but I have been trying, for the past few days, certain movements to see how far I can go.  I will have to lay off any exercises that use dumbbells or barbells and stick mainly to machines for the time being and I can’t do any overhead lifting as that causes too much stress on my lower back.  Cardio will be restricted as well…starting off at 20 minutes until I build up to where I was before and am well enough to do more.  I’m just glad I’m not in any more pain and am able to start exercising again…

…is what I was told today was causing the pain shooting down my leg from my glute to my calf.  It started yesterday when I got home from work.  The pain was so severe each time I bent my right leg or tried to move it that I would almost pass out before it went away.  I had my regularly scheduled visit with the chiropractor today who checked me and said it was a clear sign of sciatica.  He prescribed that I take anti-inflammatory medicine to help bring the swelling down and told me to return on Friday.  I have to take it easy for the next few days to help it some, even though the chiro said the best thing for it is complete bed rest for 10 days!  I told him I was going to try everything before that, I can’t afford to be on bed rest I have a job, my classes that I take at night and my children to care for.  So I took the anti-inflammatory when I got home and have been taking it easy.  So far the pain has gone down a lot and I can move my leg freely without discomfort.  I have to laugh….last week I complained about not seeing the scale go down….I should have kept my mouth shut because you never know how worse it could actually be for you….and now I know!