Day Fifty-Seven (Wed., Apr 29th) – Playin’ Hooky

Wednesday’s Schedule:
• Yoga (1 hr)
• Playin’ Hooky (7 hrs)
• Chiropractor

Today I was SUPPOSED to go bike riding and hiking after the yoga class, but alas, but shoulder and my legs would have none of that. I love doing the yoga, but this morning it was impossible to do most of the floor positions which required weight on my shoulders. Besides that, my calf muscles were still sore and stiff from Monday’s stair climbing. Ugh. I hate losing a day, ‘cause that costs money, baby. I will have to do more running on Thursday to make up for it. When I returned to my apartment after the yoga class (we do our yoga in a room at the apartments rather than at the gym), I sat down and just could not move. My arm was throbbing, and any centimeter of movement in my legs was sheer soreness. Waaaah waaaah I felt like a big baby today. I thought I would skip the bike ride but then head to the gym to go on my first hike (that is, my first one here in Santa Monica) but as the time to depart approached, my body still didn’t want to move. I really believe my lack of good sleep (i.e., where I don’t wake up in the middle of the night after 5 or 6 hours) is having negative impact on my weight loss and my energy levels. I dozed off a few times and stayed on the sofa all day, and watched a couple of movies that I Tivo’d (“Enchanted” – LOVED it, and “88 Minutes” – was good, not great) until about 4:30 when my new, dear friend Michael collected me to take me to the chiropractor. I was very anxious to see what the results of the Xrays taken on Monday were. Happily there is no evidence of an actual injury. Rather, there is a tiny calcium spur between two of the vertebrae in my neck, and it’s likely that some heavy bicep curls that I did in the 2nd or 3rd week aggravated that spur which is now pinching or pressing on the nerve which leads from my neck down to my left hand. To work on this, I will have to lie on a special neck pillow for 5 minutes every night and I just have to watch that I’m not tensing my shoulders when I’m doing any exercises. I can lift weights, but have to be careful with the bicep curls. I still have pain and will continue with the chiropractic treatments. I feel that the acupuncture and cupping treatments have helped to eliminate the big knot that is in my back by the shoulder blade, so I’m going to hold off on any more of those treatments for awhile. I actually wouldn’t mind continuing the acupuncture and cupping just because I LIKE it, but time is of the essence now since I’ve fewer than four weeks left at Camp.

So, today, I thought about what I would write since I didn’t workout. I watched Biggest Loser last night as I always do. On this episode each of the contestants was shown a history of their previous 16 weeks at the Biggest Loser camp, and each one of them reflected on what they’ve learned about themselves. The common thread for all of them was strength…they all realized that they had the strength to do what it takes to get healthy and accomplish things. Well, I thought about that…I thought about what I have learned so far. I think I already knew that I am a mentally strong person. My Mom has reminded me several times over the years that “God never gives you more than you can handle.” So, when the times have been the very toughest for me, and just when I thought I couldn’t take any more, I remembered Mom’s words and kind of had to pat myself on my back because I must be pretty damn strong to be able to put up with that kind of crap. You should do the same if you don’t already…when you feel like you have hit rock bottom emotionally, mentally, physically, etc, remember that you are already strong enough to endure. OK, so I already believe in my mental toughness, my perseverance, and my tenacity. What have I learned then? Arleigh, one of the long-time trainers at Camp Technique, has a note on her profile on the Camp Technique website that says that “clients can do far more than they think they can” or something to that effect. She’s absolutely right, especially about the “FAR more” part. I swore that I would not start jogging, and now I’m doing it (I’m still swearing off any 5k, 10k, 20k, or marathons!). Last week at the Dunes, I ASKED to do one more climb before we left (I’ve gone insane, I’m pretty sure). Even at the stairs on Monday, if we had had about 5 or 10 more minutes, I would have done a full rather than a half ascent. I CAN push myself on my own. I CAN eat smaller portions (the real test will be when I’m in New Orleans and faced with crawfish, oysters, beignets, and muffalettas or some sangria in San Antonio!). Now that I think about it, this goes hand-in-hand with what Mom says (and I think she said that Granny used to say that to her). Not only does God not give you more than you can handle, but you can handle A LOT MORE than you think you can. That’s pretty cool, don’t you think? If any of you are having a difficult time, I hope you repeat that mantra to yourself, too. What else have I learned? I’m not a good multi-tasker; actually, I realized this fact when I was packing up my things in Bermuda. I’m not capable of working on more than one or two tasks at one time. We’ll just call that a weakness that I have and anyone else has to accept about myself. Right now this is apparent in that I have to concentrate really hard when I’m working out, so I don’t like to have chit chat or have a conversation; I just want to think about what I’m doing so that I can keep the proper form and push myself past my limit if I’m physically able. I also have learned that I still think too much about the past or the future instead of concentrating on the present – which kind of contradicts what I said about concentrating on my workouts, doesn’t it? Hmmm…see, what I can’t do is not worry about retirement, being alone, planning a trip, finding a job, when all I should be worrying about right now is losing inches and weight and improving my fitness and general health. There’s a practical side of me that wants to plan ahead, but I’m too tired and sore at night to do any of that, and that causes me to worry more. Geez. I gotta work on that.

So, I’m FINALLY caught up with my daily blogs! Yaaay! That was worrisome, too, so I can scratch that off the list. Since I played hooky today, I don’t know what’s on the schedule, but typically on Thursdays I have the Beach walk/jog (gonna push again tomorrow!), swimming (but maybe spinning this time), a partner or solo training session, a massage (!!), and the cardio & a movie. There might be a “critic’s corner” in tomorrow’s blog. I hope your Thursday goes well. I love Thursdays. The best stuff is on TV (for me, it’s “The Office” and “Survivor” and “CSI”) and there’s the anticipation that there’s only one day ‘til the weekend (since Fridays are awesome, too). I hope I can get on my bike tomorrow just to get to and from the gym…here’s hoping that my calf muscles will decide to stop mooing loudly!