An Art Work A Day

Went to see the Physiotherapist today. LOL we both had to laugh when we found out that I had been on that waiting list since late September. I would of course have gotten an appointment earlier if it had been more of a crisis and if I had nagged a bit heheh. The good thing is that the arm is fairly good so I do not need that wavesomething treatment in the next town. :-)

She also gave me good advice on how to adjust some of my training to avoid triggering it to be a problem again. For example which of the 3 possibilities on the seated row machine would put the least strain on my problem areas.

I will also attend a back and neck special 2 hour long training on Monday and Friday mornings that she will be holding. She thinks that will be good for many of my different medical problems. :-). She also gave me some nice exercises to do with a training ball. Unfortunately the sports shop told me they would not get my new one in before Wednesday. The old one got slashed to shreds when one of my cats chased an other one and the first one landed on it with claws stretched out.

Went straight from the physio to the gym.
40 min on treadmill, speed 5.4, incline 2.5 maxHR: 144
15 min various strength

Off to the shops and returned home with several kilos of fresh vegs so I made creamed cauliflower soup (low fat naturally) and added shrimps to get the protein in. Soups are such comfort food for some reason and makes a nice treat at the end of a working week. I made a big pot so I can keep fetching new portions during tonight and tomorrow. While it cooked I did the most necessary of housework. All in all a good days work.

Knees have been complaining a bit today especially when walking up the stairs, but hopefully they will toughen up soon. That as well as my other muscles keep confirming that walking on loose snow really makes the muscles work very differently than walking on a firm surface for the foot to kick off from each step.

Walked 53 minutes outdoors.
Strength 30 minutes
Chest Press Machine: 1 12.00 12
Lat Pulldown: 1 33.00 12 2 33.00 5 3 26.00 5(not happy that I could not finish the sets I started)
Seated Cable Row 1 26.00 12 2 26.00 12 3 26.00 12 (did all 3 versions of the grip)
Leg Press 1 155.00 12 2 155.00 12

Food and water.
Content is good but I still tend to eat too little for the two first meals of the day.

Weather forecast is for nearly 2 weeks of colder weather as well as quite a bit of wind. I will certainly have to get out my longlegged, longsleeved superunderwear if I am to keep doing my walking outdoors.

Weather was cold and windy today but with a beautiful and clear sky with a nearly full moon. I nearly did not go when I realized how biting the wind was, but in the end I put on multilayers and decided to at least do a very short one. It ended up being 1h27min :-) on a snowy surface which means that it resembles walking on sand a bit in how the muscles have to work. I could feel it all the way from my toes to my hips when I was done.

Day by day, walk by walk, training by training, meal by meal I will get there.

I very much look forward to the time when my muscles will allow me to increase speed much more because at the moment muscles and joints are more of a stopper than breathing.

The physiotherapist called me and apologised for the very very very long wait. They had been very busy. In short I am to see her Friday to see whether the tendonitis is "active" at the moment. If so I will get appointments in the city for some kind of ...wave treatment they have there which is supposed to be very good. After that she will help me get specialized exercises to build the arm up as well as prevent the inflammations to return HOPEFULLY.

No outdoor walking today - too cold again. I need to stay indoors and try to heat up the house as much as possible. One of the doorframes is getting wrong for its door again. Fortunately the forecast is for a short cold spell this time :-). Also going to the gym is out of the question for two reasons. One is as I said me needing to monitor a couple of the extra ovens needed in the cold. Secondly, I am pretty sore after yesterday's workout which is good but a signal to take it a bit easy today

Today I was not very motivated for a visit to the Gym, but I did it anyway. 10 extra points for me ;-).

cardio: 35min
strength + flexibility 45 min

Exercise : Set Weight Reps
Chest Press Machine: 1 12.00 12
Seated Cable Row : 1 26.00 12 2 26.00 12
Lat Pulldown : 1 19.00 12 2 26.00 12 3 26.00 12
Leg Extension : 1 26.00 12 2 26.00 12
Leg Curl : 1 33.00 12 2 33.00 12 3 33.00 12
Leg Press : 1 155.00 12 2 155.00 12 3 155.00 12

NB: Weight in kilos, 1 kg = 2.2lbs

I pushed myself a bit on the weights today and I am happy about the result. Of course it is still very early times so naturally I plan to increase the weights quite a bit more as the weeks go by. However it is hard enough for me now as it is. I can really feel the last 2-3 of the repetitions so the resistance is hard enough. Positive soreness later in the day confirms that hehehe.

I'm finding it a bit hard that so much time goes into this. It is not only the visits to the gym, but driving there, all the extra showers and changing in and out of clothes and washing of gym clothes and defreezing of car windows etc etc + for me to do this I do need to focus mentally on the journey as well and that too uses up time. I do not try to complain here, just stating the fact that 2-3 hours less available per day is noticed in the every day life.

My goal for tomorrow is very simple as usual: Do some exercise at the gym or take a long walk.

As planned I walked outdoors today since the Gym is closed on Sundays. I walked for 1h35min. Speed was not great but my muscles tell me that I got in a good workout nevertheless, probably due to the road's surface being snow so that it was partly like walking on sand. That means that the muscles has to work differently and harder, at least that is what my cramped toes told me hehehehe.

Being a very wise lady I chose to walk on a one way forest road. That means that I walk one way untill I start to feel that I have soon had enough LOL then I have no choice but to walk the whole way back hehehehe, no matter how much my toes cramp or how fed up I get. A great way to force myself to stretch an hour's walk into one and a half one.

The weather was a bit cold and windy so this was a walk with me looking like a mummy walking with a scarf twisted 3 times around my lower face.

All in all, I am very happy about today's activity this far.

Now I need to find some energy to evaluate and grade a huge stack of students' papers, wash some clothes and do a bit of house cleaning. SIGH.

I am happy to tell you that I noticed a difference in flexibility today. One of the everyday tasks that have been difficult for some time was easier today. It is such things that matter the most, that life in some small way becomes easier.

Sleep was interruptet 3 times last night but since I did not have to get up early I managed to catch up on some of the deficit which was one of my primary goals for today. Stress and lack of sleep are among the worst things to sabotage health projects so both are major priority areas for me.

That meant that I only managed to drop into the gym 30 minutes before closing time but having a bit of a lay in was so worth it. I spent those minutes on the treadmill. Tomorrow I hope to do some walking outdoors as well as shovel some snow.

Foodwise I have made myself a Saturday treat today: A heathy version of Chicken Tikka Masala with wild rice. It tasted wonderfully and looked great

Tikka Masala, lazy persons recipe

100 g Thinly sliced carrots
100 g cut chinese cabbage
200 g chicken
100 g pinapple and juice
200 g Uncle Ben's Tikka Masala (jar)

200 g wild rice

Very satisfying both nutritionally as well as psycologically. Got it all: the meat, the fruit, the vegs and the starchy carbs. In addition both the sweet, the spicy and the creamy taste as well as looking visually good. Things like that do matter a lot when on food plans.

I had bought myself a new titanium covered frying pan so only 2 kcal of fat was added during the cooking. :-).

Sleep continues to be a problem. The least times my sleep has been interruptet this week is 3 times per night. That means that most night I get about 6 hours sleep and quite a bit of that is not deep, proper sleep but twisting and turning a bit in half sleep as well.

I think that is the reason why after an hour enjoying myself at the gym I suddenly felt so tired and had to end my visit prematurely. It could also be that the room was too warm. LOL I prefer to produce the heat myself in the gym.

I got in 35 min of treadmill, light cardio level HR: 130

Leg press 1x12x125kg, 1x12x135gk and 1x12x145kg
Lat pull down: 2x12x19kg 1x12x26kg 1x10x26kg
Tried chest press but had to give up today. Arm would not cooperate

I have had a bit of extra meetings and extra chores at work this week too. That too drains some energy.

Goal for tomorrow: Do something physical at the gym.

Here is today's strength training. Duration: 1:30:00 653 kcal

I also did 35 minutes on the treadmill, fatburning level, HR 120: ca 200kcal

All are displayed with set nr weight and reps

Chest Press Machine 1 12.00 12 2 12.00 12

Triceps Pushdown 1 12.00 12

Triceps Extension Machine 1 12.00 12

Leg Extension 1 26.00 12

Leg Curl 1 33.00 12

Leg Press 1 135.00 12 2 145.00 12 3 155.00 12 4 155.00 12

Front Lat. Pull-Down 1 19.00 12 2 19.00 12

I've had a couple of bad nights with trouble getting to sleep as well as awakening 3-10 times during the night - each time it took some time to be able to get to sleep again. It was very hard finding a position for my bad arm that felt comfortable.

Today I have taken a chance and done some upper body work as well in the gym.

about 2 hours in total
35 min treadmill, medium intensity. HR 133-140

seated leg press
1x12x105kg
1x12x115kg
1x12x125kg
1x12x135kg
1x12x145kg
1x12x155kg

Seated leg curl
2x12x33kg

Triceps ???? ( the one where you pull down all the way from high up to the chest while leaning back a bit.)
1x12x12kg

Triceps Pulldown
1x12x12kg

Chest press
1x12x12kg

Seated Row
1x12x19kg

Leg extension
2x12x26kg

Lots and lots of stretching

Now the big question is how my arm will react.

I will do some foot exercises while watching tv tonight, using the "torture stick".

To loosen up a bit of the stiffness in my body I exchanged the Gym for outdoor walking today. It was grey, cold with tiny ice drops in the wind and I LOVED IT!. hehehehe.
I brought my mp3player along and my camera so I got visual as well as audiatory help in enjoying this walk. It did well too physically. Much less stiff afterwards. :-). My arm is not well though which is kind of annoying.

Food: Good
Water: Good