Breenee’s BodyBlog

Today I met my bodyspace friend Wicked_Witch at Lake Eola park in Orlando, Florida.  We had a great time while walking around the park a couple of times.  We talked about our nutrition, our exercise, our families, our jobs…basically a little of everything that shapes us and makes us who we are as people.  It was a great motivational moment for me, because with all challenges I’ve experienced in the past couple of months,  I was really feeling my motivation go down.  With no support from ANYBODY around me, it’s hard not to get down because you try to explain what you’re doing but unless the people around you can relate to it, they just seem to look at you like you’re crazy….crazy for eating six small meals every 3-4 hours…crazy for drinking mega amounts of water…crazy for getting up at 4:30 to get the gym and exercise….crazy for eating so much chicken, veggies, fruit and taking supplements on top of that….crazy for not eating greasy, fat filled foods or lots of sugary snacks/desserts…..well the reason this "crazy" opened a Bodyspace account was to get support and valuable information for all those other people that have gone through, are going through or are getting ready to go through this part of our lifestyle change.  Honestly, without the support of all the friends I’ve made on Bodyspace, I think I would have fallen back into a complacent, unhappy lifestyle and would have given up…..

 So to Wicked_Witch:   thanks for an awesome Saturday pow wow and we’ve definitely got to schedule some more of these!  You’re an inspiration to me and a very positive influence…keep up the good work!

and to all my other Bodyspace who are not as close but always are encouraging me through their comments and private messages…….

THANK YOU AND YOU ARE ALL VERY VALUABLE TO ME!

<strong />

This week I was finally able to incorporate both cardio and weight lifting, but very light resistance.  I want to just go right ahead and jump to where I was at before the back injury and it takes all my strength to stop myself from doing so.  I know that will only lead me back to a longer recovery period and I definitely don’t want that.  It was scary and exciting to lift again, and I took my time and focused on the area I was working on while still analyzing any problem my back might give me.  I used only 5lb weights (wow, that makes me feel like I’m back at the kiddie pool instead of the adult one), and I did get a good workout because I hadn’t lifted in so long.  So I continued with the 5lb for the whole week.  I did cardio as well, but mostly yoga type and pilates.  I finally did a higher intensity cardio on Saturday by doing a bellydancing workout.  I probably shouldn’t have because of all the hopping and jumping, but it felt sooooooooooooooooooo good to move around and get my heart rate up that high.  It’s a great leg workout, not just the hips, but my calfs were burning afterwards which was great being I don’t feel I work them that much.  I won’t do this every day, so as not to create any problems for my back. As I’m writing this my biggest goal is to finally return to the gym.  UPDATED comment 10/12/09:  on Tuesday will be my first day back at the gym.  I will do only machine assisted exercise because my chiro said that would keep stress off my back.  He said I can finally return to the elliptical for cardio, which I have to take slow.  (I was already at level 8…now I’ll have to go back down and gradually go back up.  Here’s to another week…