Yesterday at the gym I just did hand cycles for ten minutes at 30 watts, recumbent bike for 10 minutes. I played around with the battle ropes a little bit, but nothing too intense, but mostly I did some coaching for my S.O, setting up machines for her and giving advice. I am trying to rest but if I don't do any exercise, I find I get stiff and just don't feel any better.
Later in the day, I had a crash and started feeling the fibro flareup raging, and I think I was getting dehydrated too, and had some lower back pain around my kidney area. I checked my ketone levels are they were somewhat higher than they probably should be, and it's possible the lower back pain was the kidneys dealing with some kind of metabolic acidosis and not enough water. I hadn't eaten much that day so we went to a local family owned Indian restaurant and ate alot of food (the prices were reasonable). I think that's helped restore my energy levels somewhat. Everybody talks about losing weight being good for you, but it can also be hard on your body because as body fat is released and burned, all kinds of toxins and metabolic waste are produc
I tried to go to bed and I think I finally realized the twin mattress I sleep on is old and worn out. Combine it with the after effects of COVID, and I think that's why I'm sleeping poorly and being fatigued alot. I ended up sleeping a few hours with my S.O. I'm a light sleeper though and it doesn't always lead to a restful night sleep. It's an older mattress, a queen size, but doesn't have as much use or wear. So I'll probably be buying a new twin mattress from IKEA soon. I'll probably get a cheaper foam mattress with a memory foam topper. Anything would be better than having the mattress I currently have. It's about there and a half decades old or so, well past it's warranty.
I guess the mattress didn't occur to me because to be blunt, I hate the idea of shopping for mattresses and beds (does anybody really like shopping for them?). Especially hate bedding stores. The guys in them always seem like snake oil salesmen.
“I am trying to rest but if I don't do any exercise, I find I get stiff and just don't feel any better.”
Working out has helped my back and all the walking I do has helped my knees. I think it‘s because I started with DDP Yoga. It started with laying on a mat and doing mobility exercises. Then working out in a chair, then using the chair for balance. Then standing without the chair. I took pictures of myself trying to bend down and touch my toes, seated trying to touch my toes, squatting down and also standing holding one leg up like a kick and seeing how high I could get it. Each month I could stretch further and further. On the standing toe touch at first my hands were barely below my knees. A couple of months later they were on the floor. I did it for four months. I was doing it with my wife. She is a teacher and when school started back we quit doing it. I intend to start again starting with the chair workouts.
When I started the new job there was a lot of walking and I had been doing very little at my other job. My knee hurt terribly. The only way I could get through the day was taking pain medication. I was weary about it but I needed it.
So many people get addicted but for me I didn’t get any good feeling or buzz from the pills they just helped the pain. After I ran out of them I have a knee brace I would use occasionally. The pain was in the back of my knee and at one point my general practitioner said I had a Baker’s Cyst. I went to an orthopedic surgeon who told me I needed knee replacement but said I could put it off as long as I could tolerate the pain. He gave me a shot in my knee and that has worked for over a year. I think all the walking has helped too. I went back a few months ago and got a shot in the other knee. I haven’t used the brace in quite a while.
I have had nerve pain. Usually the pain is at its worst when I have been sitting and when I stand up it’s unbearable. But when I start walking it’s tolerable.We have different posts at work we change posts every hour and the best one is Rover where you just walk and check zones and answer any calls that come up. If I want to keep getting assigned to it I have to do my zone checks and call them in so I do the walking even when I have nerve pain in my leg. I think this is better for the condition than sitting and being inactive. At my last job I was sitting all day and did very little walking.
I think the Mace work and Kettlebell Swings are helping my back. I work out even when I have leg pain. I have an epidural scheduled for Thursday that should help and I have Lyrica.
I’m reading a book called “I know what to do so why don’t I do it “ The author said when he was in middle school he played an instrument and he was constantly competing for first chair. He and an older student went back and forth being first chair.
His family moved and at his new school seniors got first chair regardless of talent. After a few weeks he quit band and never played the instrument again. He said he thought he loved playing the instrument but it was actually the competition he loved. He said to think of a time you have been successful and figure out what motivated you.
For me it’s progress. I started lifting weights right about the time I was going into puberty so I was growing naturally as well as from lifting weights. Seeing the results in the mirror and all the comments and praise I was getting motivated me to work harder.
When I have lost weight it’s seeing the progress in the mirror and on the scales. At work it’s being promoted to supervisor and at first it was all the comments about how I was learning so quickly and being able to do things that the other officers can’t or won’t do. Dispatching is very complicated. There is a computer program that all the information goes into. Several things also go into written log books. There is also a daily report that has to be done in Word. There are also gates you have to open and a door at the ambulance bay you have to open to let the EMTs and the patients they transport in so you have to watch the cameras. You have the controls and you’re answering the phone and the radio and sending officers to calls. The hardest thing to learn was the camera system. It’s so vast and being able to find the cameras you needed to pull up footage and turn the cameras back and record video and pull still pictures took time to learn. The dispatcher was telling me no one ever caught on so fast and now I’m the only officer who can fill in for the dispatcher and the only one who can operate the camera system. It’s being able to learn and the praise I get that motivates me. It’s progress. Posting here and on my website helps too. It’s the Connect step in Create Connect Commit. Sharing with like minded people helps to keep me motivated.
With my workouts I am seeing progress in the mirror, on the scales and with heavier weights and improvements in endurance. It’s progress that motivates me.
I have new goals set and I’m motivated to train. I’m still slipping on my diet and have eaten some chocolate chip cookies in the morning the last two days, I tell my wife not to buy them or at least hide them but they were sitting on the counter. I try to make up for it by cutting back the rest of the day.
I’m confident that I’m going to finish losing 100 pounds. I only have 45 more to go and I know I can do that. I may not do it in the time I have allotted for myself but I will do it eventually.
