I HEART My Physical Therapist!!

Last week I started physical therapy and I just LOVE Jana.  I know she is going to help me rehabilitate and get back to the level of exercise that I'm used to.  I woke up this morning feeling so rejuvenated!  I had a fun girls' night with a new group of friends (I also HEART sushi!), and was looking forward to my therapy session. 

I was cautiously optimistic to hope that I could return to teaching my classes by May, HOWEVER, Jana believes it will be more like June (growling to myself...).  Here's how she explained it:  even though the machine is now fixed (aka, my injury is healed), it is still not working properly.  In other words, during my healing, my left foot, ankle and calf atrophied and now I must work on restabilization and balance.  I still have soreness and pain, but that's because those muscles are all "waking up" and have to be strengthened.

I LOVE that she has given me clear parameters to my gym workouts: 
-recumbent bike for no longer than 30 minutes and no higher than a 4 (to which I keep my RPMs above 100 and have been getting a great sweat!) - and only every other day
-Swimming no more than 2x a week - 75% breaststroke and 25% freestyle (due to the tendonitis that flared up in my right shoulder)
-Weights: only performing lifts that keep my elbows close to my body (bicep curls, alternating bicep curls, hammer curls, tricep kickbacks). 
-Continuing with leg lifts, strengthening the hips, outer and inner thighs, and adding in clamshells to strengthen the glute muscles that assit in your stride.

Another thing I've been working on is being conscientious of my stride because I've been walking on the outsides of both feet while favoring the injury site.  I've been trying to thinking about it:  make contact with your heel, roll slightly out on the outsides of your feet and finish by pushing off the ball of your big toe. 

Next week I believe I'll begin using the regular bike.  Jana doesn't actually like the recumbants as well because she says they put a strain on your quads and hamstrings and a false sense of stabilization in your back.  I'll be looking forward to transitioning away from them!  (And I'm DYING to get the "go ahead" to attend spin class!)

Here are my thoughts on returning to teaching:  June is looking good for teaching Turbo Kick at a low impact intensity level (no jumping); it will probably be closer to July before going back to Hip Hop Hustle, as that class is difficult to modify.  I also have high hopes to return to PiYo in the next couple of weeks.

I've been feeling so hopeful and energetic ever since learning that my foot has healed.  I'm going to start the Three Day Shakeology Cleanse next week and boost my metabolism even more.

Here's to a great week, everyone!  Keep your chin up and remember this:  SOMETHING is better than nothing.  Find the workout that you can squeeze into your day/week and make it a habit!  I would LOVE to be your coach, so please contact me if you have questions!

I WILL be back to Turbo Kick...VERY soon!  ;)

Happy Happy Joy Joy!

Guess which girl has a healed stress injury?  THIS girl!  Guess which girl gets to stop wearing her rigid carbon insole?  THIS girl!!!!  That's right, the MRI shows that my injury is HEALED, PEOPLE!!!!  So that means no more tennis shoes in my house all day every day.  It also means that I'm not ready for high heels yet.  But I'm hoping to find some cute flats with a good arch that can suppress my urge to throw my tennis shoes out the nearest window.

So why, pray tell, does my foot still hurt?  According to the doctor, my foot is de-conditioned and I need to undergo physical therapy to SLOWLY return it to normal activity.  Translation:  I probably should not pop in my Turbo Kick DVD tomorrow and start learning the current round.  HOWEVER, I have my first appointment with the physical therapist (one who specializes in getting athletes back to their sport of choice) and I'm anxious to get on her program.  I'll be slowly, incrementally, gaining strength and getting back to Turbo.

Awwwwww  Yeahhhhhhh.... that's what I'm talking about!!!!  (Doing a happy dance, albeit it's more of a "hopping in a circle on my right foot" dance).

Bring on the Physical Therapy:  this Tuesday at 10:45am (not that I'm counting down the minutes or anything).

What was your workout today and how is your nutrition?

So...  I have worked out every day this week and feeling really great.  I've been hitting it hard on the weights and my legs, so now my body's totally sore.  Today's workout consisted of a great swim.  40 laps in 35 minutes.  I'm sure I'm not breaking any records, but I guess it's a good pace for me because it's consistently my time.  Also, I only swim once or twice a week.  It's pretty hard for me to get to the pool and the times you can lap swim are scattered, so I don't go as often as I'd like.  But I'm trying to make the hand bike hip (come on - you see how cool I look on it and you know you want to try!) and using that and the recumbent bike as part of my cardio routine.  side note:  YES - it's true!  You can burn 22 calories in 10 minutes on the hand bike!!!  Isn't that inticing!??  LOL  I seriously don't know how it's only 22 calories because it really does feel like more of an exertion that THAT!  But oh well.  It gets my body warm and ready to lift.

Now to the next subject...I've said it before and I'll say it again... Nutrition and what you put in your pie hole constitutes for 80% of your efforts.  In other words, if you workout every day of your life, but eat like crap, you're never going to lose weight and/or change your body.

I have to say, this is a big reason how I've stayed in "somewhat" good shape during this LOOOOOONG drawn out injury ordeal.  Like I've said in past posts, I did put on some weight due to depressed and emotional eating at times, but I'm over it now and I'm back on track.  A lot of my nutrition depends on my health shake for which I preach about all of the time (probably driving most of my friends mad), but I'm so passionate about the impact on health that this one little shake makes.  For more information on it, click here.

Make sure you're eating whole grain carbs (DON'T YOU DARE cut out carbs.  That the WORST health trend I've ever seen. Very unhealthy and it will derail your efforts), plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and getting lots of protein.  Try to stay away from processed foods if you can, but as with everything... MODERATION is the key.  You don't have to cut out processed foods altogether (hey... I'm not!), but try not to eat them daily or rely on them for the bulk of your nutrition.  I'm talking about frozen meals and basically most things in the pantry.

I guess I'll get off my soap box now.  Just wanted to lecture today, I suppose!!

I'm gearing up for my 2nd MRI tonight and a follow up with my doctor tomorrow.  I can't wait to see how my foot is healing and to hear when he thinks I may return to Turbo.  Plus, the thought of laying in the MRI machine sounds dreamy.  Am I crazy?  Some time to myself, laying down prone, with no one needing anything from me?  Sorry, it sounds lovely to me.

Peace out!

Time keeps on slippin slippin slippin... into the future...

First off, by recommendation of a dear friend, I have changed my blog name to reflect that I am, in fact, a fitness "addict" more than anything else.  It's true.  Exercise is certainly my drug and I really have been feeling like I'm going through withdrawls.  Once you become addicted to exercise and you're pulled out of the game, it can be very depressing and sink you deep deep down to a dark place.  HOWEVER, I believe that I've pulled through the worst of it.  My attitude, though I still feel low at times, is SO much better and now I'm dreaming of a day when I can TURBO again...

I've also decided to call this my "Diary" instead of "Adventures."  I guess that's because sometimes it just doesn't feel like I'm on an adventure.  Adventures are fun and this has been stressful!  ;)

Moving on!

Okay folks, March is gone and I officially felt it was my best month in terms of "being good."  Lots of swimming, leg lifts, core training and upper body lifting.  Zero biking (well, one 5 minute session on resistance level 1...boy that was a hoot) and zero impact on the foot... sans your basic walking around plus up and down my stairs eighty times a day due to the small children and their constant need for this or that.  But I have been wearing my shoes with the rigid insoles at all times, just like I was told!!  See?  I CAN follow orders!

This past week I had a bone density scan and that came back normal.  So now I know that I am actually a low risk for stress fracture.  Great.  Thanks bone density machine.  Can you please tell my foot that?

Now I wait...next orthopedic check up is this coming Tuesday.  Waiting...waiting...waiting...  Tick/Tock...

In the meantime, I feel that over the past 2 weeks I have really put my nutrition and eating in check.  No more eating just because I'm sad or feel sorry for myself.  Feeling a lot better and things are starting to seem brighter...

Maybe the doctor will tell me that I can do squats!  WOW!  (These are the little things that make my day).

Side note:  Here's another thing that always makes my day... when I slip on a hoodie I haven't worn in a while and find a Pomegranate Burt's Bees lip balm in the pocket.  Mmmmm-mmmm ... luscious!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for reading!  XOXO