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.

The post about keeping active and swearing like a sailor

I cannot believe that I was totally remiss in thanking everyone for all their well wishes.  I received so many blog comments, Facebook messages and comments, Twitter messages and Tweets, emails.  Thank you all so much.  Each and every one of them brightened my day.  It really touches me that so many of you took the time to reach out to me.  Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So here we are into day 3 of captivity.  I felt like less of an invalid today.  I am MUCH more mobile. I'm still pretty sore in my shoulder, back and neck area.  But I've gotten really good at hopping around on one foot. I've actually broken out into a sweat a few times today.  Definitely more work hopping on one foot than walking.  Not as much work as running though:(  I managed to shower, clean up the house, answer some work emails and messages, do my physio and strengthening exercises, prepare dinner in my crock pot, delegate a lot of duties to my hubby and go to the bathroom seven times.  Basically I've tried to move around as much as possible. Although hopping around on one foot is a lot of work, I don't get winded.  My leg muscles do get sore though, and I did get a wicked cramp this morning.  Since I'm working my left leg so much right now, I fear it will be much stronger than the right one.  So I worked the right one a bit harder when I was doing floor physio exercises for my hamstrings and glutes.  Gotta try and keep them balanced.

Yep.  Just as boring as yesterday.  I warned you and yet you still came back!

Eating is going well.  I'm hungriest mid-morning.  I cannot wait for lunch to roll around.  I spent the better part of the morning listening to my stomach grumble.  I kept reciting "I am not hungry, I am not hungry" in my head.  It worked.  I made it to lunch without hopping to the kitchen for fruit which was what I wanted.  Since I'm not running, I can't eat as much fruit and veggies as I want any more.  I ate a lot of carrots today.  I had carrots for lunch and dinner and snacked on them in the afternoon.  I wonder if I'll start to turn orange.  I don't even like carrots that much, but it was better than eating the abundance of fruit that is in the house right now.  Hubby is in heaven.  He doesn't have to share anything with me anymore.  The nuts, fruit and starchy veggies are all his!

I thought my face was less swollen today.  But when I look at the comparison pictures, I don't think it is.  It still hurts like the devil and sometimes I forget and accidentally touch it, or brush it too hard.  Makes me swear like a sailor when that happens.  Thank goodness Julien was in school when it happened.  He definitely doesn't need to hear that stuff at home.  He hears it enough on the playground.

I've taken a "before" photo of myself to see if there will be any noticeable difference in my body over the next month or six weeks. Or whenever I stop my strict eating plan and strengthening exercises. Well now, that didn't come out right.  I'll always have to keep my eating regimented, and I should always be doing strengthening exercises. Well, when I stop trying to lose weight and get to my next goal of 150-155 pounds. Tomorrow I'm going to get hubby to help me take my measurements and I'll photograph the numbers for posterity.  I'm off to read some "literature" now. In case you're wondering, that's code for historical romance.

Yep, she's still pretty swollen.
Let's also see how much my hair grows in the 4-6 weeks!

The post about my shiner and going back to the basics

Day two of captivity.  I am bored! My gaoler is being very accommodating, yes.  But I can see my incessant demands are grating on his nerves.  He is constantly toying with my emotional well being by flaunting his freedom to run and "do hills".  The inhumanity.  I'm not sure how much of this form of torture I can take, but I must continue to trudge along and accept my fate.  I have to keep reminding myself that this is just for now, not forever...Enough grovelling.  I'm actually not bad, just incredibly bored.  Thank goodness I can borrow smut electronically from the local library.  I also have some literature books to read.  I'll get along to them once I'm done my current bodice ripper. Don't judge me.

So I woke up this morning sore as hell.  I supposed I jostled myself really good when I fell yesterday.  I'm sore everywhere.  From my neck, chest, joints.  Everywhere.  My left knee is also nice and swollen from where I skinned it.  I am getting quite the workout though.  We don't have a main floor bathroom and I'm drinking water like it's going out of style.  So up and down the stairs I trudge (ten times so far today).  My left leg muscles are good.  I'm hopping around on one foot most of the time and leaving the crutches because I also managed to skin and bruise the palms of my hands, so the crutches are a touch painful right now.  I'm giving myself a pass on physio exercises today because I'm so sore.  I'm hoping after a good night's sleep, I'll be ready to go tomorrow.  I'm  moving around as much as possible, but it's certainly not the same as running 50K per week.

It looks like my right cheek is stuffed with cotton. Sadly it is not:(

This morning I also woke up with a nice shiner.  The urgent care doctor suspected that I fractured my cheek bone when I slammed my face against the sidewalk yesterday.  It was very swollen and tender to the touch. It's 100x worse today so I reckon she may be right.  I tell you, when I fall I do it right.  No half assed tumbles for me. No sir.  I make sure I injure myself real good.  I always say that if you're gonna do something, give it your best effort! Well to be completely honest, I only started saying that 2 years ago.

I'm confirmed off work for the next week.  Since I fractured my right ankle I can't drive and I need to drive for work.  My follow up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon is next Wednesday morning. My phone conference with my HR department is the next day.  I want to work from home and they want to ensure that my attending physician says I can do light duties from home.  So I have to get my functional abilities form filled out by my doctor next Wednesday.  I never take time off work...or at least very rarely.  Coming off five weeks of vacation and being stuck at home indefinitely is not a recipe for a happy Leigh, I assure you.

So today was my official first day in weight loss mode.  I am following Phase 1.5 of Dr. Poon's Metabolic Diet, minus anything processed or artificial, and I'm allowing for most veggies.  So I'm basically following the Paleo Diet without fruit, nuts and starchier veggies.  I'm sure that it will prove to be successful for me. Basically, I didn't want to give up tomatoes, onions, carrots or colored peppers.  So to keep myself accountable once again, I'm doing my food diary and pictures.  I know, I know.  So exciting.  My eats are boring on a good day. Now that I'm at the mercy of my husband to prepare my meals, they are going to be super basic. I'm definitely the more creative cook in the house.

Back to the basics for weight loss.

 
I'm not going to weigh myself again until my cast comes off for good.  I weighed 166 on the weekend, so we're going with that as my starting weight.  Lets see what happens with a month of eating strictly and working solely on strengthening exercises.  It could be a month, it could be six weeks, we'll find out on Wednesday.  Although I may be blogging more than normal to curtail my boredom, I promise you, the posts will not be exciting.  Proceed at your own risk!