Goats, Ninjas and Switching Things Up. Way Up

Lately I've been doing the same basic workouts: cardio followed by weights. Some days I do more cardio, other days I do less. One day, I concentrate on my arms, another, my legs. And so on, and so on. It's what I think I need to do to see the most results in the least amount of time and I think it is working.

But there are only so many times one can go on an elliptical, only so many times I can stare at the wall or out the window while the timer counts down. Only so many times I can stare at my weightlifting guide and figure out which ways I want to torture myself.

This past weekend we went rock climbing at an indoor climbing gym. It was something I always wanted to try and when friends suggested that we go, I was all over that in an instant. The nice part of it was that said friend didn't give me time to think about how I'd been at the gym the day before, and how my legs were sore from a rather strenuous workout.

Yup. Had enough. Coming Down

This is me, heading for the top!

So, my hubby and I put on our comfiest, stretchiest, least likely to get hung up on things clothes and headed out the door. My legs were unhappy. I normally get most sore two days after I work out but they were already aching and this was one day after. "Active recovery" I thought, and got my game face on.

One thing I've learned.... I'm very good at falling off the wall. Another thing? It's not how strong your arms are. It's about how strong your legs are. Because, you see, you don't pull yourself up the wall with your arms as much as you get your legs under you and then PUSH up with them. And I pushed up with my very sore legs. In between falling off the wall, that is.

Both hubby and I went up and down the walls a few times. We tried our hand (leg?) at a few different routes that varied from straight up and down with big things to hold onto, to slanty back out over our head routes with teeny itty things to hold onto. I learned my husband is some sort of rock wall ninja and that apparently one can cling to the wall with fingers while one dances one's feet back and forth to make sure they're in a good position. 

I think my husband might be part mountain goat. Or a ninja. 

I also know I am not.

Down safe and sound

Where Did The Time Go?

You blink and suddenly two years goes by. Okay, maybe not quite two years but so close. Things have changed so, so much.

In the last two years we've moved 1600 kms. The kidlets have grown up and are no longer living with me and the hubby and I bought a house. That, along with me starting a new career and a number of other changes has kept me on my toes. But finally, things are starting to settle down and I'm getting down to a routine that I think I can maintain.

One thing that did take a back burner was my fitness. I did get more into kayaking and now have a whole ocean to explore which is incredibly exciting. I also got my hands on a rather large, rather marvelous weight machine. That, along with my trusty elliptical and some free weights, has formed the basis of a rather nice little home gym.

I've started working out a lot harder and more frequently than I did in the past. We go to my husband's work gym three days a week and I work out at home two days a week. We take Fridays and Sundays off just to have a bit of a rest although I'm trying to make sure that I don't just sit on my ass and do nothing on days that we aren't going to the gym.

I have some weight to lose; that's for sure. Previously, my work was fairly active. I was getting a workout either from being on my feet all day or from moving heavy bags of pet food and cat litter but I switched to a desk job and stopped monitoring my weight. It crept back up over time but now I'm working on losing it. I just hope that this time it stays off.

Nicer Weather is Coming

While it's been a long time coming, nice weather IS on its way to my little corner of the world. That's a good thing for me for a number of reasons, both mental and physical. I tend to have a harder time being active and productive when the weather is cold and gloomy. I wouldn't say that I get depressed when the winter comes along but I definitely have the urge to hibernate and do the bare minimum I need to do to get through the day.

It's also good because I can get out and be more active outside. I love being outside. I have dogs that need walking, a kayak that needs paddling and a bike that needs riding. While I know that hopping in my kayak at this point in the year would likely mean hypothermia all the ice is off the river now and the water is calling me.

I plan to start running outside as well as using my elliptical. I do love the elliptical but I know that it doesn't translate into functional fitness the way a treadmill would. I want to be out on the road chugging up hills and trekking along paths. It's going to feel good and I know that I will enjoy seeing the results.

Going to and from work means traveling about 5km a day. I had started walking it last spring instead of driving and it is a nice walk. It doesn't take a massive amount of time and when the weather is nice and dry it's a great way to relieve stress before diving into the fun world of retail. I plan to start that up again in the very near future.

As for my dogs, they've been pining for the open road. One is large and really strong which makes walking him on icy roads a super bad idea if I don't have a broken leg fetish (which I don't). My other dog couldn't pull a mouse in a cart but she doesn't do well with cold. Or snow. Or wetness. She IS happy to chug along behind the big dog if we hike trails and she is capable of walking long distances without seeming sore or unhappy about it but winter walks are NOT a thing she loves.

My weight has bounced around a little. I've been trying to eat better but I do tend to love comfort food and am an emotional eater. I also have kids that love to bake cookies which wrecks havoc on my midsection. Now, though, I'm down to 180 and am looking forward to being down in the 170s for the first time in probably 6 months.

Signs of Progress

So, I recently saw an image online that kind of made me rethink how I have been approaching things. It was basically a picture of P!nk and the caption said that she, by conventional medical standards, would be considered obese. She is 5'3" and weighs 160 pounds but is definitely NOT obese by any stretch of the imagination.

It got me to thinking. I know that I tend to obsess over the numbers that show up on the scale but is that really doing me any good? Is the fact that the numbers are going down slowly or see-sawing back and forth something I should be getting upset about? It has in the past. In the past, I have found it incredibly upsetting that my weight fluctuates as much as it does. It seems like the instant I take a day off of the elliptical or eat something that is less than completely healthy that my weight pops right back up again.

So, I've decided to start tracking things a different way. Yeah, I'm still going to keep an eye on my weight because I do have a goal in mind but I'm going to try and put less importance on it. I AM choosing to focus more on how far I can go on an elliptical in a certain time frame. Right now I am capable of doing about 15 laps of 400m each in juuuuuust under half an hour. That's about 6km or like three and some odd miles.

My goal is to be able to go further in that time frame. I've been tracking my weight lifting and the length of time I am doing things like planks and want to see those numbers improving as well. All of these things are real, measurable, and impacted less by my choosing to eat a slice of pizza or an extra cookie once in a while. I DO need to keep weighing in just to make sure I'm decreasing my body mass but I am also planning to focus on other things as well.

Numb Toes

In my last post, I talked about the fact that using the elliptical ended up leading to numb toes on my left foot. I was hoping that by getting new shoes that I would be able to feel every one of my toes when I was done. Well, apparently that's not a thing I get to enjoy. The last couple of times that I have gone on the machine I have ended up temporarily losing feeling in parts of my feet.

It's not as bad, mind you, and the numbness goes away pretty quickly after I get off the machine. I do think the new shoes have made a big difference and now am going to try and pay more attention to where my feet are on the foot beds in case that's making a difference.

I've also found a new way to track what I am doing exercise-wise. I ended up getting a bullet journal which is basically a cool way of saying a book that has nothing but dots on each of the pages. What I like about it is that I can customize pages to record the things I want to keep track of. It makes the analog-lover in me sing with joy.

I have a weight loss tracking page.

I had a bit of a run in with some pizza and emotional eating so sadly, I have to wait a bit before I get back down to my start weight. But when I do I'm going to start using the weight loss tracker.

I also have a way to track my elliptical use, since at this point that seems to be the main component of my exercise strategy.

In each of the boxes, I am writing how many laps I did, when I did the workout and how long it took me to do it. This should make it easy for me to look back at what I'm doing and see my progress. And, of course, I've added in rewards at the end of 5 workouts.

I'm planning to increase my distance slowly over time. I learned from my sudden urge to go 8kms that I need to take it easy.

I'll show what the pages look like as I fill them in or if I add in any other workout type pages which I am planning to do. As it is, it's kind of neat to be able to have it recorded this way. I think that the positive reinforcement will help keep me in a fit frame of mind.

New Shoes

For the past few weeks, I've been experiencing pain in my left ankle. It's not all the time, just sometimes when I take a step or turn my foot a particular way. At first, I thought it was due to a fall I had when skiing but after a while it didn't seem like it could be that any more. I know that as I age and settle more into my potato-ness that it's going to take me longer to recover from things but this seemed a little excessive.

Then I realized. It was the shoes.

Back in August of last year, I bought a really comfortable pair of runners. In the past, I haven't spent much on athletic shoes and they have lasted for years because I didn't use them that often. That's changed. I bought some good quality running shoes and wore them constantly. Since I work in retail and have dogs that need walking, I was putting close to ten miles a day on my shoes every. single. day.

Those are the old shoes. On the right, you see them in all of their beautiful newness. On the left, they sit. Defeated. Worn out. There are holes in the toes and the back of the right shoe is broken so it tends to slide down when I put them on. It's not comfortable.

Then, we got the elliptical and I started putting more miles on my shoes almost every day. It's no wonder that I ended up with no padding or support left. It was definitely time for a change. So, when my income tax return came in (thank you, Revenue Canada) I decided to shell out and get two pairs of shoes.

Both pairs have a lot of what I need. Cushioning. They cradle my feet like supportive clouds and I am in love for sure.  I'm still getting used to how bright they are but since they're so comfortable I'm willing to deal with it.

I got a pair of Sauconys again and my other pair is made by ASICS. I've always wanted to try ASICS but I couldn't justify the price tag at the time. Now, though, I feel like I can. It's important to have comfortable shoes when I run or work out. Here's hoping these pairs do me proud just like their predecessor did.

Taking it Easy

I took it a bit easier than I normally would have last week. I fell skiing a little while back and hurt my leg. It wasn't really serious. If anything, it felt like I strained something in my left knee and ankle and when I would turn or move in a certain way I would end up with pain radiating out of my knee and down the outside of my left leg to my ankle. While it wasn't overly uncomfortable, it was irritating and I wanted to let things heal up a bit.

I tend to have to deal with knee issues on a regular basis. I have actually had surgery on my left knee but that was about 20 years ago. My kneecaps don't sit on straight and as a result I had horrible knee pain back in my late teens. The surgeon ended up severing all of the ligaments, moving my kneecap into the right position and then stitching everything up. It healed well and I only end up with pain when I don't exercise and my leg muscles become weak. Since that is something I want to avoid, working out isn't really an option. It's a necessity. 

I went on the elliptical a few days early in the week and then on Thursday it was delivery day. I ended up  moving heavy bags of pet food etc and my leg wasn't happy as a result. So, I skipped yoga and took it easy for a couple of days.

That hasn't really seemed to improve things so this week I am back at it again. I am being a bit more careful and am doing things in a less strenuous way. This has mainly meant keeping the resistance and incline low on my elliptical and not pushing myself to go at top speed. I've been feeling good after my workouts so I think I'm handling things correctly.

I did 8km yesterday and 10km today. In the past, I have set the incline as high as 10" and my resistance level as high as 12 or 13 and that definitely ended up with me pushing myself a lot. Today and yesterday, however, I only got to about 4" incline and level 7 resistance. It may mean that I didn't burn as many calories but it also meant that I am not injuring myself further which is more important in the end.

I've also been adding in other activities as well on days that I am doing cardio. Yesterday, I added in crunches, burpees, squat jumps and back kicks. I'm not super used to these actions so I am starting out low and trying to build up the number of reps that I can do without hurting myself.

Progress is continuing. I haven't updated my weight because it hasn't changed much over the past few weeks. I do notice, however, that I am able to workout longer at a higher intensity without praying for death and that I have more energy so I am using those as guidelines that my fitness level is increasing even if my weight isn't going down as quickly as I would like it to.