I Was Invited Over… – Healing Journey Day 35

Journal:
It felt so nice to sleep in today. I was actually surprised how late I slept in, but did not regret it at all. Since I only have one of my dogs living with me at the moment, I’ve been letting him sleep on the bed with me and every morning, I wake up to him laying directly beside me, head on the pillow and everything! He’s such a cuddle bug. I love him.

So, today was pretty much another write-off day. I had been invited over for supper to a colleague’s house and because I’m only eating fruit at the moment, I knew that there wouldn’t be anything there for me to eat in the way of fruit. However, I did find out they were having haystacks which meant there would be veggies.

If you don’t know what haystacks are, they are a build-your-own dish. You start with some type of chips (usually corn chips) then put beans or chilli on top of the chips, usually some type of cheese on top of the beans, then top with all your favourite veggies (cucumber, tomatoes, olives, lettuce, onions, etc…). The final topping is your sauce and depending on who you are, you may put ranch, sour cream, salsa, guacamole, ketchup, etc. There are many, many different combinations you can do and it is all up to your preference.

For breakfast, I got out my new, electric orange juicer that my husband bought for me. I only had three oranges, but it was enough to make me fall in love with this electric machine. No more hand-grinding for me! Along with the orange juice, I mixed in some organic blueberry juice. Oh my goodness! I wish I could tell you how good it was. It was… a dream. I could have drank that all day! Next time, I need more oranges!

Following my little breakfast, I washed up the dishes, folded a load of laundry, got ready and went to the gym. We were having a bit of a snowstorm and I found out later that between the hours of 11:00 and 4:00, there were 157 accidents in the city. I’m thankful to say that though I saw one accident and watched a truck and trailer slide into the curb and bounce off of it, I was safe and was not a part of that statistic. It was a bit of a mess on the roads.

At the gym, I had a really good workout. I did some squats, chest press, hammer curls, pullovers, EZ-Curl bar bench press, and 3 ab exercises. I then finished up with 30 minutes on the elliptical. I came out of that gym sore and tired but feeling accomplished.

After I got home, I decided that I should use up some of the vegetables that are going ripe too fast since I’m already not going to be eating all fruit later. If I’m going to break my plan, then it needs to be within the same day so I’m not breaking my plan every day.

For a late lunch, I washed and chopped up a whole head of butter leaf lettuce. I then sliced up half of an English cucumber to put in it. I cut up two Roma tomatoes and threw them in. I took a whole head of broccoli, chopped it up and put it in. I also had some raw, fermented beets and their greens in my fridge so I put a couple tablespoons of that in. I then mashed a whole avocado, a tablespoon of raw sesame tahini, some lemon juice and a bit of garlic powder in a bowl to use as the dressing. Though the first few bites were good, it quickly got very bland. I then remembered the BeeFree Honee I had downstairs (honey made from apples, no bees required to do the work). I put a splash of that in and it was ok, but still didn’t do the trick. So I did a dangerous thing (out of control) and found some organic, green sriracha that I put in as well as some Earth Island ranch that I had. It did make it a bit better, but honestly, I shouldn’t have put all that in. I simply sat, looking at my salad, and thinking of how much fat was in this salad. This was definitely not at the same macro levels that I normally eat at and it was honestly making me nervous.

I tried my best to eat the whole salad, but I just couldn’t do it. It was more volume than I’m used to, not to mention all the fat that was in it. Before I hit the stage where I eat fruit all day and a supper salad, I need to figure out how to make a good, raw, fruit and veggies only dressing.

After I ate, I had to quickly shower and get ready to go. By this time, it had stopped snowing and the temperature was half a degree above zero celsius meaning that things were a little slushy and not frozen, so driving was relatively safe.

We honestly had an awesome night at my colleague’s. It was a night of relaxation and laughter.

I made myself a small haystack because I was still a little full from the salad. I used only a few of the small, round, Tostito corn chips (I didn’t want that nasty over-salted feeling again), some vegan chilli, some soy cheese that my hostess had bought just for me (if it wasn’t just for me, I would have left this off to be honest), tomatoes, lettuce, corn, an olive, cucumber, pickles, and salsa. I know it sounds like a lot, but when you consider that I’m only putting about a tablespoon of each topping on the half cup of chilli that I ate, it actually wasn’t that much. Needless to say, I was STUFFED.

When we finally came home, I didn’t do much but go to bed. I was really hoping my digestion would kick in, but it didn’t. It takes so much longer to digest cooked foods – particularly processed foods – than it does the fresh fruits and vegetables. I was almost sure, with all the fat I ate today, that I would be up another 8 pounds like that one day I went up 8 pounds from eating cooked foods. However, I was ecstatic to find what I stated below. To find out how much this day set me back, keep scrolling down!

Review of Symptoms:
-Tongue is clear. 🙂
-Acne still bad; almost thinking it’s worse today.
-First day in a long time feeling stuffed.
-Digestion is delayed… a cooked food/processed food result.
-Hair is not so greasy (will try to explain this finally tomorrow).
-Noticed that my thighs have shrunk A LOT! I was getting to the point I hated my legs and didn’t even want my husband to see them. I couldn’t even look in a mirror with shorts on in the summer or I would take them back off. Now? I am LOVING my legs again! Eating naturally has made such a difference!

Weight at the end of the day = 172.2 lbs (only up one pound from yesterday!!!)

Total Calories = 2051 (58% carbs, 36% fat, 6% protein… way too much fat!)

Day 16

Meals:

Breakfast – 2 Minneolas
Lunch – 3 Organic Bananas, 2 Small Bags of Chips
Snack – Chocolate-Covered Almonds (need to find a dairy-less chocolate)
Supper – Vegan Teriyaki Noodle Bowl (lots of veggies!), One Vegan Samosa
Post-Workout – Cappuccino Soy Milk, Remainder of Vegan Teriyaki Noodle Bowl

Workout:

Bench Press
Shoulder BB Press
Close-Grip Bench Press
Incline Bench Press
Cable Flyes
Rope Tricep Pushdowns
Drop-Set Lateral Raises

It was a much more intensive workout than I have been doing the past couple of weeks, but believe it or not, my energy held up! I’m not any weaker nor any less capable than when I was eating my miserable diet. I’m celebrating!

My Rib is Injured… Again!

Several summers ago, I got sick. The worst part of getting sick for me is always this nasty cough that I get. This particular summer, the cough was so bad that I heard a “snap” following a hard cough. I didn’t notice anything at first though I had a huge feeling that something was terribly wrong. It wasn’t until later that I figured it out.

I jumped in my father’s truck that he had let me borrow while working away. And as soon as I had jumped up into the seat, I felt it. It was a tight feeling at first, but then quickly developed into a bad pain. I could barely turn the steering wheel. In the short 5 minute drive to the trailer I was renting, I knew I had to call my mother to come drive me to the hospital. I had to wait a fair time for her as I was about 45 minutes away, but she quickly came and took me to the hospital.

The hospital was about another 30 minutes from where I was, and the wait at the hospital was about 2 hours. The problem was, by the time I was registered and sitting in the waiting room, I was having a hard time breathing. All I can remember is intense pain and focussing on low and shallow breaths.

We waited for awhile until my mother decided to check where we were on the list, only to find out that we had been bumped down rather than up and the wait from that point was longer than 2 hours. It hurts to breathe but I’m not a serious case? My mother was mad to say the least.

We hopped in the car, and headed to the next hospital an hour away. It was a shorter time than I would have had to wait at the first hospital, and this hospital took me in right away. The only problem was, I had popped a rib muscle, which the doctor promptly told me hurts as much as breaking a rib (crazy pain), and there was nothing they could do except give me Tylenol 3.

Now some people I knew would have gone crazy over Tylenol 3. My mother had a mini freak-out session about how I might become addicted to it, but after telling her everything would be fine, I got my prescription and was on my way.

It was a painful summer. The T3s didn’t touch the pain hardly at all. I always walked around with one hand putting pressure on that rib area. It was awful. Nothing but time was able to heal that wound.

Once again, I was sick a few weeks ago and the cough has mostly gone but not completely. I know my body has suffered a little more than normal (didn’t help when my chiropractor asked what happened except I had been doing nothing but sleeping and sitting on the couch, trying to get better), but my body still seemed in decent shape. I worked out this week and everything seemed good.

Last night was a chest workout, and even though I warmed up and stretched, in the very first exercise (bench press), my rib started to hurt. I can’t remember if it is the same side or not, but I’m pretty sure I popped a stupid rib muscle again. It hurts so bad and I have to put pressure on the area to even try to take a deep breath. My abs are also starting to hurt because of the way I have to modify my body when I need to cough. It’s miserable.

I had just gotten well enough to start back in the gym and this is what happens! Ah!

To be honest, I wasn’t going to complete my workout last night because of the pain. But as I sat in the locker room, looking at my open locker as I was going to change, I got mad, closed and locked my locker, and went out and did the incline dumbbell press. I’m pretty sure it was a very dumb idea. I’m pretty sure I made it worse. I had written down to do 4 sets of 12, but after 3 sets, I knew I was being ridiculous. I shouldn’t be mad, although it was hard to not at least be disappointed.

So here I am with heat packs and taking it easy. I would much rather be in the gym but I’ve done my damage and I should know better. Injuries are something to take serious and it’s very important to know when to quit. So learn from my mistake and save yourself some pain. I’m all about lifting heavy and “sucking-it-up” in most situations, but I felt the pain and knew I should have quit. Next time, I will.

Celebrate Your Successes!

I’ve been working out fairly seriously for about 2 years. It actually has probably been 3 years, but there were periods of time where I took breaks (later regretted). In those two years, I have changed my view on so many things.

At first, I just wanted to be thin and worked out in so specific routine, but whatever I felt like for the day.

My next phase involved my husband introducing me to structured workouts. This was a bit of a battle at first, but I came to appreciate and realize the potential of structured workouts. This is the stage I also realized that I could not even bench press the 45-lb bar! I honestly couldn’t do it!

The next phase involved my diet and changing what I ate. I was still in the mindset of not wanting to look muscle-y but wanting to be thin. There were a few arguments involved in this stage as well and I’ve “wobbled” on this a few times.

After that phase, I think it finally became serious. I no longer thought that having some muscle was anti-feminine. In fact, I’ve grown to love the look. I would never compete in women’s bodybuliding as that is not the amount of muscle I would be comfortable in. But a shapely body with muscle is very beautiful on a women, and that’s been a total mind-change.

I had a 2-month phase where I was actually tired of working out. I had a rough year and just wanted to have a break from everything (except my marriage). I was on vacation, didn’t want to be so structured, and totally rebelled. This of course led to some awful weight gain and I kicked myself about it for a long time after.

But after that 2-month period, I’ve been in my final phase, and that is dedication. I’m dedicated to my workouts because I want them. I’m dedicated to eating clean and fitting my macros because I want to. Nobody is forcing me to do it. It’s all me and I love it. I have goals, I have an ideal body look, and I’m going to continue to fight day after day to get there!

When I look at how far I’ve come, it’s incredible. I’m nowhere near my end, quite close to the beginning. But the funny thing that I realized tonight was my success with that bench press. You see, I mentioned I couldn’t lift the bar because when I started, I honestly couldn’t. I was so much weaker than I thought. Tonight I was able to bench press 70 lbs for 5 sets without help. I hope to bench press much more than this, but just the fact that I’ve not only become strong enough to lift the bar but to go above and beyond that is something to celebrate.

Celebrate the successes. Make the successes and progress your own. Don’t do it for someone else, do it for yourself. When you want it, and you own it, you will do that much better.

Crazy Gym Story #1: I Guess I’m Invisible?

So normally I have amazing times at the gym. Other than being too busy sometimes and having to wait FOREVER for the machine or weights that I need, I have never had a problem at the gym. But last night? I don’t know what was going on!

I was doing bench press. Even during my rests, I was sitting on the bench. I never got up once. And what happens? Well, two things.

#1: Keep in mind, my husband is standing behind me to spot me. A guy comes over and starts unloading one side of my bar! The very bar I was using! My husband was like.. “Um, excuse me? We’re here, we’re still using it.” The worst part? The guy looked like it was no big deal, but put my stuff back on.

#2: Seriously like a minute or two after, the guy on the bench press on the other side of us takes weight off of his bar and puts it on mine! I had a clip on my bar to hold my plates in, and he just threw the weight on. So again, my husband touches his shoulder and gives him this “Are you crazy?” look. Then has to say to him, “Um… we’re here. We’re using this bar.” And this guy at least was apologetic.

But seriously?! I began to wonder if I’m invisible. Of course I say this while laughing now. But what a crazy night at the gym!

Do you have any crazy gym stories? I’d love to here them! Comment below!