Results!

I went to the orthopedist on Monday to get the results of my MRI and the doctor's final diagnosis.

I waited for 2 1/2 hours to even get in the office.  TWO and 1/2 HOURS.  When I first walked into the waiting room, I was one of maybe 20 people in there.  One and a half hours later, it was just me so I politely asked how much longer - she told me 10 minutes.  THIRTY minutes after that, the front desk lady called to me and asked me if I was just sitting there waiting for someone to come out.

I sat there shocked.  And honestly, it's beyond me how kindly I responded that no, I was still waiting for my 3:00pm appointment since it was now 5:00pm.

I was taken back after another 10 minutes and then waited in the examining room.  By this time, all my questions were out the window.  I was so aggravated I just wanted him to look at my MRI and tell me what he thought.

Finally he came in.  Long story short at this point - the MRI didn't reveal any real damage.  I guess that's good.  He didn't see anything severe enough to be causing all the chaos in my body so we agreed on physical therapy, muscle relaxers and a follow-up in 6 weeks.

I was happy that he didn't find anything severe but was unnerved I didn't get an exact answer.

The next day at work, a co-worker suggested going to this holistic massage therapist he had seen.  I was in so much discomfort I said yes.

Besides, my insurance won't cover physical therapy until I fully reach my deductible which I'm not anywhere close to doing.

I went to see this guy last night and it was pretty amazing.  I told him what the doctor had told me and he seemed to know what was going on.  It was more like physical therapy than a massage.  He poked and prodded and stretched out my muscles and asked me lots of questions.  The next thing I know, he's asking these weird questions like "did you have a cough in the fall?".

I had.  I had had this really bad cough from September til early November.  And then he asked "did your back and neck pain really start after that cough?".

I thought about it and realized that it had.

He told me I had a rib out of place.  He put it back and then I immediately felt the right side of my body give way.  He said it's very common with coughs and sneezing and he said he felt like that was part of my problem.

He said body pain is like a ball of string.  If you can find the end of the string, you can unravel it.  He said my rib was the end of my string.  So from there, he found a couple of other places that needed crazy work.

 I walked out of there like a new woman.  Was I completely healed?  No.  But I felt better than I had in months.  He told me we'd have to wait and see about my elbow pain.  Since it comes and goes I have to wait to see if it comes back. 

I went to bed last night pain free and crazy relaxed.  Today, I feel a little sore from all the work and I can tell there is still a little bit of stuff that needs to be worked out in my upper back, but I definitely feel better.

Even though it was a pain in the butt, I'm glad I did the MRI and found out that nothing major was going on structurally in my spine.  I know now, that I CAN workout.  I also know that I can go back to this guy and have him help me some more.  

So I guess this means that I should start working out.

Today's Menu:
B:  coffee
L:  orange ginger chicken salad + soup au pistou
D:  baked ziti

My MRI

I just wanted to let you all know that I had my MRI yesterday.  I'm sure it will come as no surprise to any normal person that it was not horrifying in any way.  In fact, once I was in the room it took about 20-25 minutes.  It was a little uncomfortable only in that since they were looking at my neck, they didn't want me to swallow too much or breathe too deeply if I could help it, so naturally that is all I thought about.

But that was the worst of it and that's not bad at all.


I also got to go home and not return to work which is always a huge plus.


My orthopedist is supposed to get the report in 2 days or so and then I have to schedule a follow up to find out the results.

Such a process.

Hopefully by this time next week I'll either:  A) Be all clear to workout and/or B) At least know what's going on so I can start to get better.

Today's Menu:

B:  coffee + almond milk
L:  i have no idea
D: mushroom stroganoff

I woke up with enough time to take the quickest shower on earth, throw on clothes, and run out the door.


I'm a mess today.

Weigh In Is TOMORROW!

This week has gone really well eating wise.  I really think it gets easier to "keep it clean" as time goes by.

I remember the first couple of days of changing my eating and I'd see commercials for all sorts of food and treats on the tv.  And I'll admit, I'd look at them and think "yum!".  These days, I look at them and all I can think is "they can't find a way to make the food look more appetizing?".  That's it.  I think McDonald's, in particular, needs to do something to make their television commercials show the food in a more appealing way.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm well aware that the food tastes awesome.  It's just that the mere sight of these foods really doesn't bother me or tempt me anymore.  You know, I've heard people say this before.  In fact, I have a friend who, years ago, changed their way of eating and in the event they HAVE to eat fast food they like to say "I can totally taste all the chemicals.  It doesn't even taste like real food".  Yeah, I don't ever think that I'll be that person.  I may be eating clean but I will be the first to say "YES, it tastes phenomenal".

Yesterday marked my 28th day of ... I don't know what to call it.  My new life?  My way of eating?  My foray into the world of whole foods?  My experiment???  I guess I'll just call it change.

Yesterday marked my 28th day of change (it'll do for now).  That means for 4 weeks solid I have kept to my guns about eating more healthily.  They say it only takes 21 days to make a habit, but I think I'm going to give it another couple of weeks before I test out whether I really do have a habit or not ;)

I will say that for the first time in a long time I feel like I have more control over food and eating.  Over my choices, my appetite, my hunger all those good things.  In fact, I even had a dream last night about it.  I dreamt I was at work and a co-worker came by my desk offering up cupcakes for their birthday.  I took one, said thank you and then discretely threw it away.  However, I do remember another co-worker standing to the side laughing at me because he knows I'm not eating those kinds of things these days.   But that just made the dream even more realistic because that would really happen.  The point is, even in my DREAMS, I'm handling things.  I think that's a good sign.

In other news ...

I went to the orthopedist on Monday.  I didn't get a direct answer (do you ever?) however, I did get a referral to get an MRI.  UGH.  Yup, I have myself an appointment this coming Monday to have an MRI on my cervical spine (neck).  He thinks all of my problems are stemming from my neck.  I don't know about you but that doesn't sound so good to me.  Hopefully everything will be ok.  He didn't say anything about me not working out but honestly, I didn't ask him.  I was trying to process what he was saying.  I figure he would have said something if I'm not supposed to since I DID tell him that I first got the pain FROM working out and that I had CONTINUED to do cardio since that time.

I don't know.  I want to go to the gym but I'm seriously hyper-focused on my neck right now.  Every time it creaks or aches or I move my head around I can't help but think something is wrong and I'm destroying my spine and my head will pop off.  I'm such a hypochondriac. 

Today's Menu:
B:  Blueberries + Pea Rice Protein (vanilla) + Coconut Milk = smoothie
L:  Chunky Tomato Bisque with Shrimp
D:  Cheeseburger + awesome lettuce bun + caramelized onions + fixins + oven fries

PS:  I took half of a muscle relaxer last night before bedtime.  I got them for my neck - they make me pass out AND hallucinate!  I woke up in the middle of the night and looked around my room to see tv web cams everywhere.  And I sat up in bed and thought "aw man, they're all watching me again" and I reached around to make sure my PJs were covering everything.  And then I looked up at the ceiling to see plastic animal-like things scurry along the ceiling.

You'd think these things would terrify me but apparently it was business as usual in my head so I went back to sleep.

Baby Steps to Working Out ...

I not only need to workout.  I now desperately want to workout.

What happened?

Well, while walking into work this morning I had my A-ha! moment.

I was walking thru the parking garage carrying my gym bag and lunch bag in my left hand by my side.  I then started lifting both bags up so that I could carry my gym bag on my shoulder.

But something happened.

I couldn't do it.

At first I thought I just had a weird grip so I tried it again.  Nope.  I literally could not lift them.  I didn't have any pain or anything, I just didn't have the muscle for it.

So I went to my desk and made an appointment with my orthopedist.  If any of you have been following me, you'll surely remember my run with p90x last year.  It was awesome.  I gained muscle.   I lost inches.  I felt great.  However, I also hurt my elbow.  And I've been resting it since I wrote that post back in June 2012.  It still hasn't gotten better.  And I've stayed off of it because any time I've used it too much it starts hurting constantly.  In fact, 3 weeks ago I went to the Urgent Care doctor because I had some crazy, out of the blue swelling around my elbow that was painful.  She gave me some pain medicine and said "please go see your orthopedist".

So, I'm going to see my orthopedist.  I mean, if I can't lift a gym bag then something isn't right.   It was a shocking moment to be honest.  I knew I had lost a lot of my strength but this felt different.  I felt scary weak.  After a couple of hours passed, I picked up my bags again and tried again to put the bag on my shoulder.  Fortunately, I was able to do it.  I don't know why I completely failed when I tried earlier but either way, it shouldn't happen.

My appointment is Monday afternoon.  And whatever he tells me to do, I'm going to do it.

I'm going to get better and then I'm going to happily workout.

I don't like this being weak thing.

I don't like it one bit.

I might even do p90x again.

But first things first.

To the doctor I shall go ...... 

Today's Menu:
B:  coffee + chocolate pea rice protein + coconut milk = makeshift mocha frappuccino!
L:  rice + thai green curry
D:  steak + mushroom sauce + mashed potatoes + green beans

Trying to Work Out

Just wanted to give an update on my progress.  I am still working out but am dealing with another injury.  I just got back from the doctor's office and I have torn some muscles around my ribs.  And trust me, it is as unpleasant as it sounds.

I got the go ahead to continue to exercise but not to do anything that causes any pain.  So no twisting, turning, jarring movements.  I think I'm pretty safe with walking, running, biking, and the elliptical (the one with no arms).  I can't do any lifting with my upper body (no problem because the elbow is still out of commission) and the lower body needs to be done with caution as squatting and lunging requires the particular muscles that I've torn.

My body is broken.

The key is to keep moving.  Within reason.  The good part is that the more I move the better I feel.  When I sit for too long then the pain sets in.

As for progress.  I'm still making gains in the lean mass category.  I have had very minimal fat loss.  Since I ended round 1 I have gained 3 pounds of muscle and lost 0.1 pounds of fat.  Unfortunately, I do not want any more muscle gain.  I have plenty and I'm starting to look bulky.  I need fat loss.  That means only one thing.  Calorie deficit.  And apparently I'm not in one.

Calorie restriction is not my friend.  I'm really good at working out but really bad at staying within my calories.  I have no choice though.  If I want the fat to come off I have to watch how much goes in my mouth.

So diet now needs to become my focus more so than it is.  In fact, due to a friend's request, I have decided to go vegetarian for one week.  I have a friend who had to change her diet for health reasons.  She started out as vegetarian and moved to vegan recently to help out a condition she has.  She is loving it so far and honestly, looks great.  So I told her I'd give the vegetarian a try.  Well, Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian.  I honestly have no fear about doing this because little known fact, I really don't like meat at all!  I know I need my protein to keep my muscles strong so I eat it.  However, when I made my menu for this week I had to be creative to keep the protein content up.  I'm pretty happy with what I came up with and will let you know how it goes!

Today's Menu:

B:  Oatmeal + Coffee
L:  WW noodles mixed with Greek Yogurt and Cottage Cheese topped with Chunky Vegetable Tomato Sauce and RF Cheddar Cheese (1/2 serving)
S:  1/2 serving of above
D:  Roasted Ratatouille with Baked Eggs

Plans

My week of weight loss was set to begin yesterday but I guess my body had other plans.  I woke up on Saturday not feeling well and by lunch time I had what was clearly the flu.  I have been bed ridden for four days and it's not been fun at all.  And on my vacation no less!  And to make matters worse, the interview that I was set up for never happened.  I don't know what happened but out of nowhere it disappeared.

Truly it has been a horrific week.  I hate that I'm sick but honestly, if I were well I think I would be incredibly distraught and stricken over this job thing.  But I can't concentrate on anything other than trying to get well because I haven't been this sick in so long.  So in a weird way I'm thankful for that distraction.  Also, I can't imagine what kind of impression I would have made in the shape I'm in.

Anyway, just wanted to jump on here and let you know that my week is NOT going as I have planned.  Never in a million years did I imagine this week would turn out this way.  Hopefully I will wake up tomorrow feeling somewhat better.

Until then, I'm going back to bed.

The Giant Hole

Friday, April 1st I had my lower left Wisdom Tooth removed.

No, I was not asleep, I was heavily, heavily numbed and I sat there as my dentist, whom I love, had a heck of a time getting it out. I thought my jaw was going to break. No lie. That sucker did NOT want to come out.

I have known for a month now that I was getting this done and yet somehow I had convinced myself that it would be no big deal. Well, I guess I should have planned better. I was and still am in quite a bit of pain. I still can't open my jaw and chewing is a huge problem. Thankfully, I'm 5 days in and it's getting minutely better each day.

The big obstacle for me this past week has been food. I've managed to eat soup, mashed potatoes, pasta and scrambled eggs and now I am DESPERATE for some other varieties of food. I've tried fruits and cooked vegetables and soft breads but those still required me to open my mouth way too much. The problem has been my calories. Usually I eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, meats and whole grains. Yes, your standard healthy diet. And because these are all very filling I am able to keep my calorie count in check. Well, since I've been on a mainly soft carb diet, I find that these foods don't keep me satisfied long and thus my calorie count has been kind of out of whack.

Ah, the perils of healthy teeth.

I have, however, managed to keep my exercise in check. I haven't done anything too vigorous. I found the harder I worked out the harder the pain in my head pounded. So, mainly walks and ballet strength training for me.

Now I sit and wait for this giant hole in my mouth to fill, for my jaw to start working again, and for the ability to chew food on BOTH sides of my mouth.

It's funny. Pure bliss for me right now would to be able to take a huge giant bite of a sandwich, or hamburger or anything that A) had some sort of meat B) had crisp, fresh vegetables on it and C) required me to open my mouth more than half an inch.

You know, it's the simple things.

30 days to properly stretched calves

My feet have been causing me all sorts of trouble over the last couple of years. I've fallen and stubbed toes and overtrained -- just all sorts of stuff that have caused me pain.

2 years ago I really, really got into running. In hindsight, I probably was increasing my weekly mileage too quickly but I have problems with restraint when it comes to running. Anyway, one day after one of my long runs I noticed that my right foot, heel and calf were acting funny. Everything was tight and sore. The pain went away after some rest but would reappear periodically in the form of just throbbing heel pain. Nothing too major but definitely annoying.

A couple of months later in that same year I fell and did some damage to my right ankle. I went to the doctor and he did an x-ray - I had just sprained it pretty bad. But, the x-ray also showed I had a bone spur on that foot. He also threw out a word: plantar fasciitis. He told me not to worry about the bone spur yet and to go do my physical therapy and get myself better. I did do my physical therapy but I'll be honest - I probably did like 20% of the at home work and then had to suddenly stop due to the combative HR person at my place at work. You see, this was a work injury so they were footing the bill. In hindsight, I should have stood my ground and finished my PT (they told me I definitely needed more) but I let some HR guy who is absolutely the most difficult person in the world get the best of me and instead of dealing with his attitude I quit going. Anyway, when I met with my physical therapist I mentioned to her that the doctor had said in addition to the sprain I had something called plantar fasciitis. She explained it to me and I realized that that was the cause of the pain that I had started experiencing.

Cut to:

1 year ago, I hurt my toe on my right foot. This one happened at home. After confirming with 2 different orthopedists that I just had a long road of healing in front of me, they also told me that I had plantar fasciitis. They also told me some physical therapy would help me out tremendously. This time I didn't do physical therapy due to some insurance and money retraints.

If you don't know, plantar fasciitis is irritation and swelling on the bottom of the foot and manifests as lots of heel pain. My bone spur is most likely the culprit of mine. Also, my Physical Therapist told me I have really tight calves which also contributes to it.

So what's the point of all this? I've been recently back into the working out game full force. And due to all of this, my foot has flared up again. And from what I've read on the condition, I should count my blessings that I don't have it as bad as some people - apparently it causes immobility from the pain. So I need to get a handle on this now. From the knowledge that I gained at my physical therapy and information online I need to incorporate a stretching program to see if I can get a handle on this pain. I really don't want it to become an "issue" because to be honest, I'm sick of being sidelined due to injury.

So I am going to do a stretching program for 30 days to see how much of an improvement I can get.

It's 2 stretches for my calves - each to be held for 40 seconds 5 xs / 3 xs a day.

That's a lot of calf stretching and I will have to find a place to do it at work but I will be a fool if I don't at least try.

30 days to flexible calves!
March 15 - April 13

Fever!

*** I wrote this days ago while having a fever apparently because I don't remember much of this :)

Sickness has struck. It was running rampant through my office and I held out as long as possible. I actually think I'm the last person to get it.

Needless to say, it's been a rough, rough week. Before it started to hit, I was a workout machine! Ok, so I was working out with purpose, eating well and even my steps were good. I'll get back to that but I'm aware that my body is going to take some time to heal.

In the meantime, if I can't workout like I want, I'm going to have to be extremely conscious of what I'm eating. The first two days of the sickness didn't produce such great results. I was miserable, laid out on the couch, hurting all over and easy food was well within my reach. I just couldn't bring myself to cook all the healthy food I had bought for the week. Also, my sweetheart bought me the most wonderful valentine sweets :) Have no fear though, I have since rejoined the bandwagon.

***** Yeah, I apparently wrote all of that while still pretty sick because I had no idea it was in here waiting to be published. It's all true though.

I'm still out of the workout loop because I'm just plain tired and I have chest congestion which is causing me to hesitate on my heavy cardio routine. I'm going to definitely try tomorrow as it's Friday and I feel safe trying it out as I can sleep in on Saturday and not worry about a bad night's sleep.

On top of the horrible sickness that is in its 12th day (however, diminishing nicely) I have been having problems with one of my wisdom teeth. I never got them out and one of them decided to cut its way on through this past week. I have to be honest, I have never experienced pain like this in my life. I was horrified at how much it hurt and STILL hurts. It started LAST Tuesday and while it is relinquishing its hold on me it is a slow, slow process. What once was a stabbing murderous pain has softly turned into a burning, ripping pain. I don't care who you are neither one of those are fun. If this is what happens to babies when they teethe I say scream away. Scream til the world can't take it anymore. It's horrendous.

And yes, I'm going to the dentist. I made the appointment the day after the pain started and I still have another week to go. Don't you just love insurance and their rules!?! So convenient and helpful to the masses.

I can't wait til the day when all pain is gone. No coughing, no sneezing, no stuffy nose, no PAIN IN MY MOUTH. Oh sweet day, please hurry.