Week 7 Day 6

It was so hard for me to get up this morning. I normally get up with my husband since he still has to work Fridays. But this morning, I couldn’t. This whole week has be energy-less and tiring.

In fact, I barely made it to my chiropractor and acupuncture appointments this morning. I was ten minutes late (versus the minimum of 5 minutes early I usually am). Thankfully, my chiropractor was also running late so it worked out just fine. But as I was sitting in the waiting room, my acupuncturist came out and mentioned how tired I looked. And then as I responded to her, I noticed my voice even sounded tired. I think it’s a sign…

I felt good after my appointments, but of course was ready to go back home and sleep. Unfortunately today’s workout looked a bit long so I went and did half of my chest workout at the gym so that I could go back and finish the other half with my husband later. However, I found this to be a mistake.

I didn’t know that my husband would be coming home exhausted as well. So upon taking a nap, then followed by going out for supper, the workout didn’t get finished this day. But I did go to sleep early and that was a bonus.

Week 5 Day 6: A Fantastic Day

Today I woke up on top of the world! I had quite a few things to get done, and I wasn’t sure how it was going to go, but I got up and got ready anyways. I took care of the animals, and tried to eat breakfast. I don’t know what to tell you, but it filled me so much I couldn’t finish the thing. This was breakfast:

Huevos Rancheros. So filling.

So it ended up being two meals for me today. This is the first meal I’ve found to be so filling. But hey, at least that means I’m not going hungry!

After taking care of home things, I went out. I first stopped at the registry to provide them with a copy of my husband’s work permit to extend his Health care. I then went to the bank to get a new bank card. I hate the chips they put on the cards. This is my third card since it has begun. I miss the swipe cards. I also took out the cash I needed for a later appointment.

I then went to the strip mall and looked in Wal-Mart for pyjamas for pyjama day but wasn’t really impressed with any of them. I went next door to Mark’s Work Wearhouse to see what they had for pyjamas but they did not carry any women’s sleepwear at all. So I put this task aside for now.

I then went to the DollarStore to pick up a few things for my classroom. I then went to the health food store to get liquid B12 for a morning drink. And after all of these things, I still left the mall at the exact minute I knew I needed to and got to my appointments on time. It was a morning for the books!

My chiropractor appointment went well today. She didn’t even have to use the little kicker thing on me. So I count this as a success. I then went to my acupuncture appointment and my acupuncturist was so impressed she said I should come one more time in two weeks and if things are still this good, I can be released until I feel I need to come back. Yes! Improvements are important!

I then went to the car and ate my second meal that I had brought with me. This was another Simply Whey Protein bar in chocolate mint flavour. This was pretty good and it helped to keep me on track!

After I quickly ate the bar, I drove straight to my physiotherapy appointment. I went to get that popping rib muscle checked out. I had a bit of time before, so I went to that Dollarama to find a couple more things I needed. I then went to the appointment, she assessed me and unfortunately had a hard time diagnosing me due to the area it was located on my ribs. However, she gave me some exercises to do and some stretches and told me to come back at any time that I felt I needed to.

Following this, I came home and did a few things while trying to get in my nutrition for the rest of the day. My meal three was the chicken salad snack (which I’ve had before). Veggies and a scoop of the chicken salad that goes on the chicken spinach salad. Delicious and again, filling.

When my husband came home, we had a bit of dramatic evening where my brother-in-law told us some awful news pertaining to their cousin, and some great news pertaining to himself. Of course this took up way too much time, and Fridays are always time-restrained because the gym closes early. So we went out to Pizza Hut where my husband had the usual amazing things and I had a salad with chicken. I did leave enough room for half of a breadstick, and that was my treat for the night. I fought any and all urges to eat the rest. A small, but important success.

Then we raced home, got ready for the gym, and had a phenomenal workout. It consisted of two circuits again, mainly for back, legs and abs. I pretty much died doing plank-ups and exercise ball planks with circular motion. Oh my. My abs will never be the same! And my legs were in so much pain because the gym was getting close to closing and I had to fit in hack squats, leg presses, and side chops. So my rests were basically non-existent and my legs were crying in pain. You know what they say, no pain no gain!

After the gym, I had two more meals to fit in. I couldn’t do it. I just was not hungry. I’m not sure what’s going on with my body. But I did eat one last meal.

Chicken Stir Fry.

And with that, I went to bed. Hopefully my appetite comes back!

Week 1 Day 5

What a day! Just another insane day to add to list of burdens to carry on my shoulders. Ugh.

Throughout all the stress, and changing my day plans, etc… I managed to stay proper with my nutrition. Not necessarily the times I normally would have, but no stress-eating food choices for me! My water intake was also slower today, but I’m still getting it all in regardless.

I also had a chiropractor and acupuncture appointment today. Of course your body undergoes a lot of bad changes with stress, and this week had a high dose. But she was also concerned about my embarrassing but damaging fall at Wal-Mart the weekend before. So thankfully, my acupuncturist also targeted my stress points. Funny enough, when I was done, my wrist no longer hurt, but the pain had gone into my hand which is what I’m guess the needles have done. I am kind of glad the pain has left my wrist, but the aching pain in my hand is still not great.

I want to just take a moment and fill you in on a couple goals I had for this challenge. Aside from excelling in the workouts and staying on track with diet, I also wanted to increase my water to 3L (12 cups) a day. I know I don’t get enough water, so by purposely adding it to my challenge, I have been able to do this successfully each day. As a side note, try going from little daily water to that much water, and be prepared to run to the washroom 10+ times a day. I honestly was wondering if our secretary thought I must be pregnant… Promise it was just the increase in water!

My second challenge I added on was sleep. Now this week has SUCKED for getting in sleep. But next week is always a new week, and that is another that I plan to work on.

So that’s basically it for today. The workout was awesome and again in a circuit style. I finished up with 12 minutes of HIIT on the stairs. I was a sweaty mess!

I’ve just about finished up my nutrition and I’m ready to surrender to my bed. My body needs the rest and the break from everything, so on that note, have a good night everyone!

Acupuncture: My First Time!

So, yesterday I went to the chiropractor for my weekly visit. I didn’t mention anything to her about how my week had gone as far as my bones and problems. She was so excited telling me about the school her son had managed to get into with an amazing teacher and a sport’s program that allows her son the extra movement he needs. 

Then she got to my neck, shoulders, and ribs, and her face dropped. She asked me how my week had been. And I had to tell her that my rib had been popping significantly more than usual, possibly more than ever, and that I had been waking up at 4 in the morning without fail, even though I would go to feel without feeling stressed or thinking of anything. Let’s just say, I’ve never seen someone look at me with such concern (aside from my mom of course). 

Sorry for the blurs on this picture, but there was honestly no better picture that described my chiropractor’s look yesterday.

The chiropractor uses a tool she calls the “Thumper”. It basically gives a little kick to areas where smaller bones exist and it helps to put the little bones in place. I have NEVER had her use it on my ribs before, but it was bad enough that she did. In fact, she continued to comment how even my neck looked tighter and how everything was (and really get this) WORSE than the FIRST time I ever walked in her clinic! Woah.

So she asked me about acupuncture. To be honest, I never thought I would ever do acupuncture. The thought of having tonnes of needles in me just is not a vision I wanted to live. But my chiropractor recommended acupuncture and upon consideration, I agreed if it would help. So instead of booking a later appointment, she went next door and arranged for an appointment right then. Talk about being serious!

The acupuncturist went through everything in great detail, expressing that it is NOT PAINFUL, but would feel–if anything–like a mosquito bite initially and then should feel like nothing. She also explained some precautionary things, but it made total sense to me. Key point? Don’t move when the needles are in you! Makes total sense, eh?

So we got to the process. She put needles in my neck, my shoulders, my back, and my ankles. To be quite honest, I hardly felt most of them. The ones I felt the most were in my ankles, but I have incredibly non-fat feet. They are very thin and boney. And even so, only the one in my ankle seemed to bother me a little, the other ones were no big deal.

These needles are the same width as a piece of hair!! So tiny!

And my acupuncturist? Amazing. She continued to ask if I was ok, if everything felt ok, if I ever felt sick, etc… She was there every step of the way and made me feel like I was in amazing good hands. 

I basically laid there, face down, breathing and relaxing. She even encouraged sleeping! But my face was fairly squished in the bed. I’m assuming the massage bed was fairly new because the material around where your face goes was pretty stiff. So no sleeping, but I was able to relax with a heat lamp making sure I was warm.  She even took great deal afterwards to massage the right places after she removed the needles (painless) and makes sure you get up slowly and carefully to make sure your body is handling the process properly. 

Basically the position I was in for the 20-30 minutes. I think I may line it with something more “cushy” next time.

Boy did I feel tired afterward! And I slept like a baby last night! 

It’s something I’ve been so scared of for so long, and yet it was not painful at all and helped me so much. If you have any problems (I was treated for stress and lack of sleep), you should definitely try it. It’s so worth it. Just watch that the clinic you go to is sanitary, they use new needles each time, and the person knows what they’re doing and can answer any questions that you have.

Have you ever tried acupuncture before? What were your thoughts?