AARP Muscle Babe

Florida was great! Low 80s during the day, palm trees & flowers, blue ocean waters… what more could you want? It was so nice to go there for a winter break but it always a bummer to come back to the cold weather. I figure we will do the snowbird thing one of these days and spend our winters in Florida.

Got back in the gym this week. I’m quickly catching up to where I was before surgery. It’s fun to watch muscles grow!

I am going to participate in the Online Bodybuilding Federation’s spring contest. They have 2 categories: bulk & transformation. I picked the transformation. Photos of before and after will be used for judging. If anyone else wants to join in the contest, please visit their website:

http://obfbodybuilding.com/

Just wanted to write a note that I will be offline until Feb 22. My family is taking a winter vacation in Bonita Springs, Florida and man, we are looking forward to wearing something besides bulky (but warm) clothing! We are lucky enough to know someone with an oceanfront high-rise condo with all the extras, including a pool just a few steps from the white sands of the beach that overlooks the Gulf of Mexico. I’m not sure if the condo bldg has a fitness center of any kind so I will be taking my exercise bands just in case. I’ll try to be a good girl and get in some workouts!
So think of me this next week, lying on the beach getting a tan, playing some golf, doing a little fishing, and generally forgetting I live in the cold and snowy Midwestern state of Iowa. Florida… here I come!

So if you peek at my photos, I don’t look much improved from the last one. I just wanted to post where I am right now so I can see improvements again. Darn depressing to see how I look after being forced by surgery to sit in a recliner for several weeks. I was just getting to where everything was coming together and boom… here I am, working my way back. Nothing to do but jump back in and not dwell on how much I used to be able to lift. It will come back soon! I’m still way ahead of where I was a year ago!!

It has been 8 weeks since my surgery and time to get back in the gym. I have gone to my fitness classes twice a week for the last 2 weeks to try my foot out and just generally get back in the groove of exercising. Today was my first day back at my "real" gym that is a 20 mile drive one-way for me to get to. It is so worth the drive time and gas money!

It was crowded as it was late in the afternoon so the gym was full of college and high school aged guys. That lead to having to wait for the bench or barbells for my turn. I got spoiled by going during the day when the place is almost empty. Still not a lot of women lifting weights that I’ve seen but I don’t mind hanging with the guys!

It was a drag to see myself in the full length mirrors though. I’ve been literally sitting for several weeks, waiting for my foot to heal, so a few pounds creeped back on. It’s not horrible, just 5 pounds but I worked so hard all last year to lose those darn 30 pounds and I don’t want my fat to hang around very long. I feel better knowing I’m back on track to losing fat and gaining muscle!

Had surgery on my foot Dec. 5, 2008. I knew it would be a few weeks to heal but being in pain with a lot of swelling six weeks afterwards was not expected. I have had to live in my recliner with my foot up, wrapped in compression bandages with ice on it. Total bummer! I have been slower to heal than I wanted but a body has mind of its own when it comes to fixing the surgery invasion. I had part of my bone removed where there was a spur and the doc tightened up a ligament too. Glad to have it done but I’m going crazy sitting in the chair.

I have been able to attend my fitness classes last week without lots of pain. Used the elipitcal to "run" a couple of miles with success. At this rate, I should be back in the gym next week!

I still can’t get to my home gym in the basement so I found some exercise bands to use instead. It feels really good after sitting on my behind for a week to be moving around and using some muscle groups! I still can’t stand for very long without pain but I can do a few exercises than rest. I overdid yesterday and was in a lot of pain at the operation site by the end of the day so I’ll be a good girl and go easier today. I’m healing well and the doctor was pleased at my post-op visit yesterday. I’m hoping to get the OK to drive next week!

I am slower than a snail but I am up and walking without a cane today! YEAH! I am recovering fast and hope to get better every day. It has been hard to sit in the recliner, wanting to get up but as soon as I do, I remember why I have to sit and keep my foot up. I got around to wearing "real" clothes today instead of jammies or sweats so that is making me feel better too. Having to bath out of the sink is a drag but I can’t get my foot wet for several more weeks. Thank goodness I have lots of perfume LOL!

I had surgery on my foot at our local hospital on Dec. 5 (Friday). Nothing major but being wheeled into an operating room and have someone make you sleep is a little scary in my book! The surgery went well; my right foot needed removal of extra bone growth plus the doc tightened the ligaments in a few places. I have been living with foot pain for a few years now and finally got around to getting something done about it.

I am walking with a cane for a few weeks. Will probably not be able to drive for a month or longer so I can’t go visit my new gym… bummer! I will start doing some upper body workouts now that the worst of the surgery pain is over. Those first two days were hell! Thank goodness for pain meds!

And I’m a happy camper! My little weight bench at home just wasn’t enough anymore and the fitness center in my town had also been left in the dust. Not fun to work out when it is too easy and you are ready for more!

A new gym/fitness center opened up in a town nearby. It is only a 20 minute drive and the cost is $15.00 a month so I could afford both the membership and the gas since I drive a little VW beetle. I started this week and have been very pleased. Lots and lots of free weights, all kinds of machines and equipment and best of all, it’s all brand new! No rips in the benches, all the dumbbells are there, etc. When I’ve gone, the place has been kinda empty since it is in the middle of the day but I like it that way. No waiting around for what you want!

Here are a few pics I took with my phone:

I am a substitute fitness instructor at our community center. Since Halloween is tomorrow, I thought it would be fun to do something different than just lifting weights and cardio. I mess around with belly dancing at home and know how much of a workout it can be with no impact on the knees.

My class is mostly ladies who are over 60 so their eyes got big when I put on the music and got my hip scarf on. We did simple moves without worrying about dancing per se. I got them to do hip drops, hip circles, shimmy, some different arm movements, etc. I just wanted to give them an overview of how to do the basic moves. I tried to encourage them to combine what we learned and dance to the music I had brought but that was too much for them. They were good sports to try!
One of the staff of the fitness center said that maybe we should start a new class featuring belly dancing!