Saturday, September 7, 2013

The post about how much fun running is and my arm and leg measurements



My co-worker Cathy showed me this last week (just before I fractured my ankle). 
I thought it was quite amusing, so I'm sharing.  

I don't really have much to report today.  Same old shit, different day.  Literally.  The morning started off the same as always.  I drank coffee, admired my cast, then admired the scab on my left knee where I skinned it. It's coming along nicely.  Then I watched as hubby left for his morning run. The bastard.  Then I read some literature.  Then I ate some hard boiled eggs and drank more coffee.  Then I think I posted stuff to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  You still reading this?

Hubby's laughing at me, but I believe that he had to run
through a torrential down pour.  Wish it was me:(

Anywho, I did not know how I was gonna spend my day.  I couldn't laze around all day.  I'm a touch stir crazy.  So after I showered and ate lunch, I busied myself with meaningless tasks. Tidying up, laundry, preparing meals.  It doesn't sound like much, but when you hop around on one foot to do everything, it takes a lot longer.  Hubby took Jules to the mall and to Value Village to pick me up a 1000 piece puzzle.  I thank Luana for the suggestion.  I would have eventually gotten there myself, but I'm glad she put the idea in my head sooner.

In the comments from yesterday's post, I had to laugh at what my good friend Marc from Montana wrote: Very nice Captain Morgan Spiced Rum pose you got going on there;) The fact that I know that pose from a bottle of rum is a sad affair:( aye.  Now this gave me the giggles and it hurt Marc.  It hurt real bad.  Because of my messed up cheek, it hurts when I smile, laugh, hop around on one foot, accidentally touch my cheek with my brush when I'm blow drying my hair.  The list is endless.  But it made me curious enough to check out the Captain Morgan Spiced Rum bottle.  I don't know.  What do you all think?  Anyway, go check Marc's blog out.  He always does interesting, funny and informative posts.

Too bad I don't have Julien's pirate sword and hat.

My spirits are pretty good.  Don't get me wrong, I'd rather be running more than anything else right now.  I'm gonna let you in on a little secret though.  I have always worried that I would be told I couldn't run anymore due to my foot issues.  That always freaked me out because I put all my success as a maintainer on running. I figured that if I couldn't run, I'd gain weight.  Well we all know how much I love a challenge.  And this is the ultimate challenge for me.  Not only can't I run right now, but I can't replace running with another form of cardio.  My challenge is to prove to myself that I can eat right and not only maintain, but lose a few pounds in the next 6 weeks.  After my cast is off and I start physio again, I'll be more than ready to start running again.  The best part about that will be that I'll be leaner and stronger.  And this will give me lots of confidence as a maintainer. Challenge accepted!

Today I took my arm and upper thigh measurements.  Those are the two main areas that need firming and strengthening.  My abdomen has gotten a touch loose over the summer.  I took my stomach measurement just out of curiosity and it looks like I'm down an inch.  I need to work on firming up the loose skin around the area.  Strengthening my core will help with that and I'm doing my physio/strengthening exercises daily. It's not the physical activity I'm used to, but it's something.  I'm keeping as active as possible.  And while I hop around on one foot, I suck my gut in!  Strengthens the abs!

Measurements are left to right. Meaning left arm, right arm.
Left thigh, right thigh

I'm pretty sure my face looks better today.  It still hurts like crazy, but the swelling is definitely going down. If I didn't have the shiner and the red splotch on the outside of my eye, I'd almost look normal.  Although the urgent care doctor said it was likely fractured, there's no treatment for that except for it to heal on it's own. She asked if I wanted an x-ray and I felt there was no point.  My chest, arms and neck are still sore.  I have a massage booked for Wednesday and I'm on the fence about whether to keep it or not.  I initially booked it because I was supposed to be running 29K tomorrow (sob), and I figured I'd need some tuning up.  Now I feel like it may not be a bad idea to have him work on my neck and upper back area.

Top: day 2   Bottom: day 3   Right: day 4

Finally, my food.  I figure that since it's only been 5 days since I've run, my metabolism is still working pretty good.  That is why I'm hungry so much.  Once my body gets used to not doing cardio any more, my hunger will lessen.  I just have to suck it up for another week or so.  No biggie.  I'm usually only hungry in the morning and my good friend Dave pointed out that I could just drink more water in the morning.  True it makes me visit the bathroom more, but that's a win, win.  I get in my water and I'm getting exercise.  Our stairs are extra long because we have 10 foot ceilings in our old house.  I need to be as active as I can be.  I never thought I'd see the day where being sedentary would be such an issue for me.  Just over two years ago, lying on the couch all day, eating junk food and watching daytime television would have been heaven for me.  Now I loathe my couch, don't watch TV and am only eating lean protein and vegetables.  My how times have changed.

Today's eats.  Although it may seem silly, "other" activities take up a lot
of my energy and time these days.