Tag: fitness

Fitness, Health, Journal

A Year Today – Cancer and Kettlebell Swings

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It has been a year today since my husband’s surgery to remove a polyp that turned into a cancer diagnosis. It has been one heck of a roller coaster ride. I spend my days alone, while he is at work, yet when he was in the hospital I was like a little child, lonely and weepy, eating everything I could get my hands on, drowning my sorrows in food. It was awful!

Then, when he got home, it was time to play “What can he eat?” It has taken a year for him to be able to eat the fattier cuts of meat without pain or it running right through him. With that year of food uncertainty, I let myself go. It didn’t click how bad it was until I stepped on the scale and it lied to me, telling me I was 201 pounds. I tried it three more times before I realized it was correct. June 3, 2015 (15 days before his surgery) I weighed 176. That was the last time I weighed myself until this month.
I am happy to say that not only is he STILL cancer free but he has decided to begin exercising to build up his strength! So, while we slowly figure out how low carb/keto he can go, I am taking it slow. Very low/possibly keto during the day, then a normal dinner together (which is much better now that there are no children in the house again). And this is my current favorite exercise (which I have already posted on my Facebook page, so sorry about the duplicate):


Kettle Bell Swings

I actually read about them in the “4 Hour Body” by Tim Ferris. I knew what a kettlebell looked like. Heck, I even carried one into the house when my son was moving but I had never looked into exercising with it. So, I stole it from him (well, borrowed it). I began lowering my carbs and exercising March 29th. Day one, I managed to do 20 kettlebell swings. That was it for the week. I was wobbly and sore. The next week, I did 26 swings. This week, I have done 30 on Monday and 48 today. Since March 29th, I have lost a whopping 2 pounds according to the scale but I have lost 10 inches all over my body!!!!

My goal is to work up to 3 times per week with as many as I can do while still keeping good form. I can truly feel this all over my body (in a good way) so this is the exercise I am having hubby do. Thanks to the work he currently does, it won’t be too long until we will have to purchase a heavier kettlebell (since his first day he did 50, which was Wednesday … I need to write that down).

This exercise has not aggravated my carpal tunnel (which decided to flare a bit, thanks to writing a book) or a gem of a gangleon cyst that formed at the base of my right middle finger (no, I didn’t get it from overuse) OR my still-slightly-tweaky shoulder. I am hoping to take almost-before pictures tomorrow (kinda hard when I am alone). Not sure if I will post those or hold onto them to include with “progress” pictures.

Fitness, Health

Four Things Nobody Tells You About Successful Weight Loss

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I know I just told someone that this way of eating was like a marathon but I was wrong (and Dick Talens was right). You need to read this article.
Four Things Nobody Tells You About Successful Weight Loss

Here’s a preview of the article:

  • #1: It’s More Like Learning a Language Than Training For a Marathon
  • #2: You Will Face Numerous Crushing Setbacks
  • #3: Other People Will Annoy the S#!t Out of You
  • #4: Your Journey Is Never Over
Fitness, Health

Secrets From Your Personal Trainer – Give It a Year to Lose Weight

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This really is the secret to long-term success: give yourself time.  If you don’t see immediate progress, give it more time.  Some people (like I have mentioned before) see tons of weight come off immediately (or at least it seems that way) while others have bodies that are more stubborn than some.  See, my initial frustration at my lack of weight loss was why it was so easy for me to quit back in 2010.  Once I changed my focus from weight loss to better health, I developed the patience to persevere.  So, read this article for a bit of a true reality check.  🙂
http://exercise.about.com/od/gettingweightlossresults/fl/Secrets-From-Your-Personal-Trainer-What-We-Wish-We-Could-Say.htm

It takes more than a few tries to get through these stressful interruptions while still exercising, still eating right and still taking care of yourself. You’ve got years, decades, maybe even a lifetime of ingrained habits to contend with. Think about how long you’ve been:
Cleaning your plate
Stress or emotional eating
Sleeping until the last possible moment, rather than getting up and exercising
Stopping for fast food on the way home because you’re too tired and too hungry to make dinner
Eating out because you don’t have anything to make for a healthy dinner
Not even knowing how to make healthy dinners
Sitting for hours a day, leaving you with a stiff, achy body that feels too much pain or discomfort to exercise
Dealing with fatigue or lack of energy with caffeine or energy drinks rather than physical movement

Fitness, Journal

Sciatica – "Old People Issue"

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Yeah, that’s what I thought. Only old people get sciatica. Then, one day a few years ago, I got this shooting pain that started at my rear end and ran down my thigh. By the time it had gotten unbearable, I looked to Google. When I discovered what it was, I told my mom and she giggled, “You are getting old”. Well, I fought back. I found some stretches on my own that, a few weeks into them, relieved the pain. After about 6 weeks, the pain was gone completely and I never had an issue with it again. That is, until two weeks ago.
Just after I started exercising again, I noticed that if I sat too long, my lower legs would almost fall asleep (I didn’t realize that’s what it was … I was just not able to fully walk properly. Then, I felt my calf, and it was numb). I thought, maybe it’s just lack of circulation, so I started rotating my ankles, getting up more often, bouncing my legs up and down like I was nervous, hoping that keeping the blood flowing would rid me of this annoyance. Well, yesterday was a banner day. Instead of numbness, both legs were tingling, like they had been asleep but were waking back up. So, back to Google.
It turns out THIS is sciatica, too! I had thought sciatica was just the pain but no. There’s a muscle in your rear end called a piriformis (to read more about this check out this article: http://www.spine-health.com/wellness/exercise/stretches-and-exercise-sciatic-pain-piriformis-syndrome). It runs from your tailbone across to your hip and if it gets tight, it can pinch the sciatic nerve and cause numbness. What the heck? So, I get to add another set of stretches to my ever-growing arsenal of stretches.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbZzeO4P9YA
One that I used to do before … I don’t know if I came up with it on my own or saw it somewhere but I stand in front of a wall. I keep one leg straight, lift the other foot off the ground, then, using the wall, I turn my body, stretching my straight leg at the hip. Then I repeat for the other side.
The other one was standing with both feet on the ground, legs straight, then slowly push my hip out to the side just to the point where I feel tightness up the side of my hip, hold, then repeat on the other side.
All these stretches must be very gentle and you must ease yourself into them. So, my conclusion from all of this? I’m either really working my glutes deeply or I’m not positioning my feet correctly when performing my cable exercises. Either way, if I ever want to be able to sit for longer than 5 minutes stretches of time, I will be stretching every day. I need to finish reading the book, “
Becoming A Supple Leopard“. My brain is so disjointed it’s like I don’t have enough time in the day for everything.

Fitness, Journal

New Weight Training Program

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I’ve added a new weight training program to my Physical Training page. So, why am I doing this? Well, because I’m bored. I’m bored and tired of having to remove exercises from my training because of my shoulders. So, while I was trying to work myself into training mode this morning, I stumbled on an article posted on Fitocracy. I have enjoyed every article I have read on T Nation but this one got me really excited. Why? Well, let me tell you. 🙂


Bodybuilders have always held a special place in my heart. I have never sat there, looking at Arnold, thinking, “I want a man like that”. I have always thought, “I want to look like that!” Not really (I LIKE looking like a female) but I love muscles. I always have. I read Muscle and Fitness, watched Pumping Iron (and Pumping Iron 2), read up on supplements, etc. and that was all in high school, when women in the weight room were frowned upon by all those manly football/P.E. coaches (fast forward 30+ years and almost 100+ pounds and I finally began weight training). So, when I started seriously thinking (that’s the key term) about implementing weight training, I ran across Arnold’s book, “Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding” at a thrift store. What luck! I paid $4 for this massive book! I read it cover to cover, then wrote down all the exercises I needed to do, … that was in August of 2012 (remember, I didn’t actually start any weight training until August of 2013)!


In August of 2013, I took another look at the exercises and training schedule and knew I would burn myself out (or hurt myself) if I went from absolutely no movement whatsoever to that. That’s when I found Omar Isuf on You Tube. His basic program was perfect, and still is despite my shoulders. I am much stronger and more fit than I can remember being. Now I feel like I need to step it up a notch.


So, I found this article today: Reg Park’s Three Phase 5×5 Program. So, who is Reg Park, you may ask? Well, not only was he the hunky Hercules throughout the 1960’s (check out this picture from Hercules In The Haunted World from 1961)


BUT he was Arnold’s inspiration for becoming a bodybuilder. AND, if I can’t yet workout like Arnold, then why not work out like his mentor? So, beginning today, I am beginning Phase One of Reg Park’s Three Phase 5×5 Program (if you are interested in reading the article or checking out phases two and three, please visit this link).


Reg Park’s Three Phase 5×5 Program
Phase One
45-degree back extension 3×10
Back squat 5×5
Bench press 5×5
Deadlift 5×5
Rest 3-5 minutes between the last 3 sets of each exercise.
Train three days per week for three months.
The only special equipment I do not have is anything to do the 45-degree back extension on but I will! Remember that first video I posted regarding my shoulder stretches/exercises? Remember the stool he made? I will use that and hook my feet underneath either the drawers or bottom of the desk we have in the garage (It’s a big, metal, heavy 1960’s behemoth). So, now that I’ve spent the entire morning on this, it’s time to get busy! I’ll post updated stats tomorrow morning.

Fitness

Shoulder Injuries

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Well, I think I have to accept that my shoulder issues are not going to go away on their own.  As I mentioned before, this week’s second weight training session went fine, with normal muscular pain which morphed into tendon pain in my right shoulder, then (since my left shoulder felt left out) the pain switched to my left shoulder and is still there.  I’ve known for a while that it was tendonitis but thought that if I just went easy with my range of motion (don’t do anything heavy over my head, basically) that it would improve over time.  I was wrong, so now I have to do something about it if I ever want to gain the strength I envision.


Disclaimer: This doesn’t surprise me, though it does irritate me.  I am, after all, 45 years old and have pretty much lived in front of a computer since I purchased my first one in 1998 (well, before that, when I would do whatever I could to learn about them.  Heck, I learned typing on the first incarnation of a Macintosh computer).


So, now, I’m sitting here, with my horrible desk posture, trying to figure out how to fix this NOW (I wish it could be that quick).  Before today’s workout, I did this stretch.  Now, I didn’t have the stool setup so I just leaned over the arm of the couch (the bungee cords were in the garage, where my weights are).  They all just about killed my shoulder!  I lifted my arms above my head as far as I could without excruciating pain.  So, I’ll either hold off on doing this or just NOT raise my arms so high.


I’m going to do these every day (they suggest two times a day to start with).  These are the best stretches I’ve seen for shoulder pain yet (and I’ve been looking off and on for about 4 months).


I’m not sure if I’ll wait to add this (depends on how I deal with these stretches) or do these in conjunction with the stretches.  These are basic exercises to correct posture.  The way I’m looking at my shoulder pain is that my entire upper body is the problem, not just the shoulders.


And then I’m going to throw this one in, since bad posture includes my neck.


Since I was able to get my entire weight training in today, I know I didn’t do anything to aggravate my shoulder (good thing) so I SHOULD be able to continue working out while doing all these stretches/exercises too.

Fitness

6 Habits of Highly Effective Lifters from Muscle and Fitness

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Most of the time, I toss these things aside (well, I read them first, say to myself, “Yeah, right” then forget them). This one, I actually agree with (all of it). They even talk about the benefits of fat in your diet! The first slide talks about carrying exercises. I am no fitness guru so I had to look some of the exercises up (thank you, Google). One was called a farmer’s walk. It showed the guy with special handles on barbells that you lift, then carry around. My first thought was, “Heck. Load up a wheel barrow with concrete blocks or bricks!” (which is what I was doing for the first few months after we moved in here). AND for all you who have been shoveling snow, you’ve all been getting quite a workout with no extra equipment required!
BUT what struck me was the carb cycling. I think that is what has changed my weight loss/fitness for the better. Since I finally got back on track (after the great Christmas cookie binge of 2013), I haven’t been consistent with my carbohydrate intake. One day I might get in 10 (at the most … I refuse to give up my dairy in my coffee) and the next I’m right there around 20.
I’ve also started basically doing this with my exercise. I’m adding a little more weight until I can’t handle it, then dropping it down so I can complete my sets. Also, swapping my standard cardio for digging in the dirt (after the second day, I was amazed at how much my stomach, shoulders and biceps hurt from throwing those shovels of dirt) has actually lengthened my cardio times. I went from doing 20 minutes, then dying, to 30 to 40 minutes before my muscles give out BEFORE my lungs. I’m loving that aside from my added strength, I’m seeing physical progress in my yard. I know I have a before picture of that stupid mound of dirt somewhere … I’ll find it then do a video or just take an after picture when I’m ready to build the raised bed.
Anyway, take a look at their suggestions. I’m so surprised!
http://www.muscleandfitness.com/news-and-features/galleries/training/6-habits-highly-effective-lifters

Fitness, Journal

So, Who Am I and Why Am I Here?

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I am a married 40 something over-weight type 2 diabetic who intends to remain med free. That is pretty much all those pages up there, rolled into one sentence. Of course, if you want more information, just click on the pages above. I’m brutally honest about myself. I’ve been heavy as far back as I can remember (my first double chin was in 4th grade). I was resigned to remain that way until 2010, when I was diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes. I began Atkins, lost 10 pounds (got off my meds though my doctor didn’t know about it), thought my blood sugars were under control since I wasn’t gaining any weight, so I fell off the wagon. At the beginning of August 2013, I went back to the doctor. I was wrong. So, I embarked on Atkins again but this time I could not control my blood sugars (amazing what happens when you continue to test yourself, huh?). While desperately searching for the cause of my blood sugar swings, I stumbled upon the nutritional Ketogenic diet. It has been a life saver (literally).  So, check out the pages above (see some awful pictures of me) for more information. On my stats page, you wil find my weight, measurements, and fasting blood glucose reading for the day and here you can find my physical training schedule.  I recently update the About 1972 Atkins page to include a snippet about the first week (Level 1) AND the menu included in the original book.

Fitness, Level 1, Levels 2 And Above, Recipe, Soups

Low Carb Chicken Broth

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If you don’t know how to cook (or didn’t grow up with the “use everything more than once” principle) this recipe is for you.  Well, it’s not really a recipe.  It’s more like instructions.  I woke up with a chest cold (it’s been REALLY windy here lately so I was hoping it was allergies … nope!) and pulled a gallon Ziploc bag of this out of the freezer.  My favorite broth is to use the bones from a rotisserie chicken.  I don’t have to doctor up the broth so much that way.  Otherwise, when I de-bone the chicken thighs, I just throw the bones in the freezer (usually in sandwich bags) until I have enough to make a broth.  Now, I usually make enough for an army (well, almost).  I have a 10-quart stock pot I make my broth in.  I don’t add any veggies, since if I want to make soup with this I can always add veggies then (btw, kale is FANTASTIC in soup).  And the best thing about this over bouillon is the chicken fat is still in there.  Just season this with whatever you like (garlic, black pepper, red pepper flakes, turmeric, etc.).  I’ve gotten pretty lazy over the years, though.  I usually end up seasoning the broth with dried bouillon or paste soup base.  Just read your labels!  I have found too many paste soup bases that contain sugar.  The last time I was sick to my stomach, the only thing I needed was this (my usual before was saltines).  I just simmer until the water has reduced by at least 1/3, strain, then once cool, pour into gallon Ziploc freezer bags and toss in the freezer.
http://genaw.com/lowcarb/chicken_broth.html