Tuesday, September 28, 2010

W15 D4 - (I think)

No blogging for a couple of weeks. No exercise, no healthy food. I have had the flu, and also hella-busy (as my friend Kelly would say). I took on a job with a 2 week deadline; it was always going to be tight, with some evening/weekend work, but then my daughter had an assembly that I had to go to, and pick and return my husband to/from work so he could come too, taking a big chunk out of one day (I only have about 12 hours per week kid-free work time), and then I got the nasty flu and was struggling through that, staying up to 11pm the final couple of days with my RSI playing up.

I have felt wretched, and have been eating for comfort and energy to get me through.

The last couple of days I have been over the flu, except for a residual runny nose, but I still feel very lack-lustre and tired and in need of recouperation. But I have to get back into exercise sometime, and my mum is here with the kids this morning (school holidays) so I am about to go up to the gym and have a gentle ride on a stationary bike.

I have been sick so much for the past few months! Oh well, it has to end sometime.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

W13 D6 - sick yet again

Hasn't been a great winter/spring for health in this house. I went to the gym on Monday but haven't been for the past 3 days and don't expect to go until I get better. Again. My little boy Aiden has been sick (cold or flu) since Tuesday, and Tim & I came down with it on Wednesday. I don't have the runny nose so much, but a very sore throat and headache and general blahness. And I will have to do lots of work on the weekend, I am a bit behind.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

W13 D1 - 82.7kg

I made it to the gym this morning for my 50/50 class. Then did a little gardening (Tim did lots more than me). This afternoon we (the family) went to Floriade - Canberra's spring flower show. So quite an active day. And the first day of low-salt.

After the gym I started to get a headache in the shower. Tim thought I might be dehydrated but I have been drinking lots and it hasn't helped. It has been getting worse all day. I finally just took some Panadol but that hasn't kicked in yet. The pain is mainly at the front, just above my eyebrows. Ow.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

W12 D7

A bad week for weight loss. A combination of a sore shoulder, PMS, and general laziness meant that I haven't been to the gym since Monday. Yet I eat and eat.

A while ago (more than 3 months) I had a health check up, mainly because I was feeling tired a lot. Everything was fine except that my cholesterol was high and I was low in Vitamin D. Pretty crazy for someone living in Australia to have low Vitamin D, but I don't go outside a lot. Since then I have been trying to get a little more Winter/Spring sun, and am also taking tablets when I remember. But, apart from a half-hearted scan of the internet, I have done nothing to combat my high cholesterol.

BUT on Thursday Tim had his health check at work. In the past he has been quite fit, but he hasn't ridden much since he broke his shoulder blade 6 months ago and then recently got a company car as he is doing his bosses (high stress) job until Christmas, and of course he has been eating my cooking for the past 10 years. This year, his check up showed that he is now slightly overweight and that his blood pressure is VERY high. Stress would be a big contributor, but all the salt I have trained him to eat can't be helping. I had already shopped for the weekend when I found this out, but from Monday's shop we will be on a low-salt diet. And low-fat, for my high cholesterol. A healthier diet, essentially. The main thing, at least to start with, is to completely cut out convenience food. I cook every night, but often use things like a jar of pasta sauce, or a packet of taco seasoning. All high in salt and sugar and various nasty chemicals. So they have to go. I had a scan of our pantry and was rather horrified at the sodium levels. Tim should cut down to about 1,600mg per day. The lasagne I cooked tonight would have ended up with more than that in his serve, and that is just one item of the day.

What I struggle to do for myself I can enforce for someone I love (like sticking to my gestational diabetes diet when I was pregnant with Aiden). Hopefully the new diet will help the whole family.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

W12 D2 - shoulder pain

I went to Zumba, finally, last Thursday night. I enjoyed it, perhaps not quite as much as I had hoped. I've done a bit of dancing, but this was mainly based on Marenge (?sp) which I had never done, a bit of salsa, and a bit of Calypso - which even the instructor said made her feel stupid to do! I was pretty fun, and trying to learn the steps distracted me from the workout.

Friday was my day off, then Saturday was so stormy I didn't leave the house, then Sunday was Father's Day devoted to Tim (and lots of yummy food) so I ended up having three days off exercise instead of one. I went again this morning.

I weighed myself on the weekend, 82.9kg on Saturday and 82.7kg on Sunday. I don't feel like I am getting anywhere, but then I haven't been very consistent sofar.

The really bad news is that my left shoulder is gradually getting worse. I had problems, starting 10 years ago, that originated in my right shoulder and spread down both arms and hands. RSI and then frozen shoulder. It was a really bad time, I had endless painful physical therapy, anti-inflammitory drugs that turned out to be very bad for many people, and I ended up having to leave work altogether. I couldn't even dress myself and I got quite depressed. I am very careful with how much time I spend on the computer etc now, the RSI starts to come back if I don't look after it.

But this brand-new pain is in my left shoulder and doesn't feel muscular like the RSI, it feels more like the frozen shoulder. It really hurts when I move it abruptly and I have lost a lot of movement, I now can't do up my own bra at the back. It is scary, I don't want to go through all that again. I will see a doctor soon. I can't remember exactly when it started because it has been gradual, was it before I started exercise 12 weeks ago or around the same time? Is BodyPump too much for it? But why frozen shoulder anyway? That is more likely to come from lack of movement, like when I stopped using my right shoulder due to the RSI pain. It may not be frozen shoulder at all, but it has been there for at least 12 weeks and it getting worse. Do I stop any exercise that involves it (I am always careful) or do I use it more? Do I put a total ban on computer use, which would mean giving up my new job, even though I only work 15 hours a week with lots of breaks? It is hard not to get depressed about it.