CardioGrl’s BodyBlog

I was always that woman/girl who was told “if you only lost some weight you’d be so beautiful”.

And now, that I have lost weight, the very same people are telling me “You look emaciated”.  Others tell me “Why have you bulked up so much do you want to look like a guy?”
Is there a happy medium? Are people ever happy for the success of another human being?

I hated myself when I was heavy, wouldn’t take pictures, wouldn’t go near mirrors.  I hid myself from the world in a bucket of lard! I was making myself sick.  Didn’t want to socialize, didn’t want to go shopping, not only did I neglect myself physically I also deteriorated mentally. 

I often hear overweight individuals take snipes at people in shape, calling them vain, full of themselves, Barbie, Ken etc…  How beauty is from within yada yada yada…

The reality from where I stand, and from having been in the shoes of the fat person, I can tell you right off the bat it’s pure bullshit.  NO ONE wants to be fat, NO ONE wants to be unhealthy.  We’re all vain.  And while, beauty certainly is part of what we have inside, having a beautiful inside and an ugly / unhealthy outside is never anything that anyone wishes for.  So when I hear the typical bullshit line of “I’ve accepted myself for how and who I am” and it’s coming from an unhealthy overweight individual, I shrug and move on and wonder just how much more dishonest can someone be?.

I’ve been consuming Premier Nutrition Protein bars (30g of Protein) after each workout session.

I noticed last night while brushing my teeth that in between the teeth there is discoloration, brownish lines (where the teeth meet).  Needless to say it’s a cause for an alarm.  Who wants stained/brown teeth?

Is it at all possible that protein has this impact on teeth? How would I even find out?

In July of 2007 I was diagnosed with two disc herniations, one in the cervical-spine and another in the lumber spine, as well as degenerative disc disease, a fancy word for aging.
It happened when I gardened, I went to pick some tomatoes cucumbers peppers and fresh herbs for a dinner salad.  I bent down and could not straighten out from the position again.  My husband carried me into the house and from there to the chiropractor.  The chiro gave me an adjustment and a few heat treatments which did help slightly but not enough to solve the problem.
Prior to the incident I’ve been consistently suffering from crick neck, crick back etc.   As a result of my back and neck problems, I visited my family practitioner who subscribed anti inflammatory and muscle relaxants.  He also referred me for an MRI which revealed that I have a problem that really has no solution.
I have not experienced any back or neck pain since then.  I woke up today with a nagging pain under my right shoulder blade.  It’s driving me insane, but I don’t want to take anti inflammatory medication, because when I do I tend to retain water and it slows down the progress for my goal weight.
The pain didn’t slow me down at the gym.  I still packed the hour cardio followed by a great weight lifting session.  But I just want the pain to go away, and not sure how to go about dealing with in a natural way. 
What a pain!
 

I was on my way home from the gym listening to the local readio station.  They were talking about working out addictions, the signs:

1- If you must burn a certain amount of calories by a certain time. 

2- If you feel guilty on days that you don’t go to the gym. 

3- Lifting until you are sore. 

I finally inquired into what Hydrolyzed means. 

This is what I found

from wikipedia:

Hydrolyzed protein

Hydrolyzed Protein is protein that has been hydrolyzed or broken down into its component amino acids. While there are many means of achieving this, two of the most common are prolonged boiling in a strong acid or strong base or using an enzyme such as the pancreatic protease enzyme to stimulate the naturally-occurring hydrolytic process.

According to the FDA, hydrolyzed protein is used to enhance flavor and contains monosodium glutamate. When added this way, the labels are not required to list MSG as an ingredient.[1] Many in the organic food industry believe this is a way for dangerous food additives to be hidden from public scrutiny. [citation needed]

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and:Obesity

Monosodium glutamate has been shown to indirectly cause obesity in lab rats by downregulating hypothalamic appetite suppression and, thus, increasing the amount of food the lab rats consumed. Animal research compels some researchers to theorize that MSG has a role in the occurrence of obesity in humans.

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WOW!

Quite a concern isn’t it?

A friend suggest that I try: Metabolic Drive by Biotest, that it’s micronized protien (what does that mean?) and that it’s better for you.  Anyone try this? Any other recommendations?

One would imagine that on a Saturday people sleep in. Again, I found myself wide awake at six am thinking that I must get to the gym.

Had an Activia cup. My vitamin, Omega 3, Glucosamine, B complex. Drove to the gym through my favorite town.  It takes me half an hour to get there and I have many different ways that I can go.  On a cold and crisp Sunday morning, what could be more enjoyable than driving leisurely, watching the foliage swirling all around me.

Did 35 minutes on the elliptical cross trainer. Followed by a fairly decent shoulders and triceps work out. Driving home I munched on a Premier Nutrition Protein bar, a nice 30g protein doze! Good god, why are they so difficult to chew? . After running a few errands, had a whole-wheat toast with some leftover turkey breast and a drop of mustard. Some Romaine lettuce and ¼ avocado.

We’re going clubbing tonight. My drink of choice is Ketle one and cranberry juice. Hopefully I wont overdo it on the drinks tonight .

Black Friday.
For some today was a day to battle the crowds to get that great sale on some toy or a gift.  For B and I it was another day when we woke up around six am, got into our workout clothes, fanny pack in hand, our ½ gallon jugs filled with water ready and off to the gym. 

As always we began with cardio, but decided to get in a longer session than we normally do due to the eating that we did yesterday.  It’s not that we ate a lot, those days are in the past.  It’s what we ate.  Though we’ve been eating clean for years, when the holidays roll in and the family congregates in our place, we can not force them to eat what we eat.

B did an hour on the treadmill at eight minutes mile.  And I did an elliptical crosstrainer for the same amount of time.  Both drenched, and after re-hydrating our bodies we went on to lift; Chest and back day.  After 30 minutes of lifting we had to run home.  The kids were about to wake up, time to feed them and go out there to get that sale .