So, days 4 and 5 of the juice fast/cleanse went well. Still get VERY hungry, but I've been able to quell that with lots of hot tea or lemon water. I just wanted to get through Saturday - and I did!
Today started with my hot lemon water and juice, then we went to wash the car - oops, closed - and for my first 100 Day Challenge purposeful movement. We went for a nice walk along a local hike and bike trail. It took us 32 minutes for the part we walked. The weather was beautiful and the company even better! I felt wonderful as far as completing the walk - but horrible with a cold and stuffy nose! Boy was I ever hungry when we were done! We went to SuperSalad for our first solid food in 6 days. I had raw veggies with a light drizzle of vinegar, salt and pepper, and two bowls of their wonderful Holiday Harvest soup. (I couldn't find any vegetable soup! Pepaw found it later, LOL) . It was good and I felt like I had done well staying with my healthy eating. I may do some juice along with a bit of veggie soup for dinner tonight too!
Day one done - are you incorporating more movement into your New Year too?
100 Day Challenge on Facebook
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label walking. Show all posts
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Monday, July 4, 2011
Back to it :)
Well, it has been nearly 3 weeks since my surgery and I'm well into recovery mode. I have walked over a mile at a 16 minute pace (their goal for me was 1 mile in 30 minutes - kinda blew that one out of the water didn't I?) When I went to my 2 week check up they were all very pleased with my progress. The nurse that walked us back to wait for the Dr. was amazed at how well I was moving and commented that I could walk as well as she could :) . The Dr. had them take more x-rays of my back and I was able to take a look at how much space they were able to put back in my spine. Where once it was bone on bone, now there is space in between.
Recovery has been slow but sure. At first I was having pain going down my left leg and my thigh felt like it had a pull or tear in it. When I talked to the Dr. about it she said the thigh pain came from them moving everything in my abdominal cavity to that side to do the surgery...as for the other leg pain - that comes from nerves that have been coiled up for years suddenly being stretched out! They don't like that change very much. But the best news it that I don't seem to have the back pain at all now. Although it is too soon to tell what my pain level will end up being, right now it is looking pretty good.
So far I can go pretty much all day with no pain pills at all...an occasional pill for muscle spasms in my leg is all I need. I still take the medication at night - I still want a full night of sleep pain free - and since I don't wear the brace while laying down and I do toss and turn a lot at night I just want to be sure I can sleep all the way through.
The brace is an inconvenience I put up with. It is a "chair back" brace and keeps me from bending or twisting too much or too quickly as well as offering support when I sit or stand while the bones in my back fuse together. In one more week I get to exchange the large chair back for a smaller model unless I am driving - I'm looking forward to that! I also go back for my next check-up at the end of July.
In the meantime my training will consist of walking as much as I can and want to (I'm trying for 5 days a week when life doesn't get in the way.) I wear the Garmin just so I can track how far and how fast I go. I am also trying to lose the weight I gained while I couldn't do much of anything. So far I'm down about 5 lbs. with too many more to go - but at least I'm making progress in the right direction again. The meds help here too because they make food tast funny and the brace makes me stop eating sooner because it is wrapped around my tummy and I get fuller faster - BONUS, LOL....
Anyway, I keep on keepin' on and hope I'll have more good news to report soon!
Recovery has been slow but sure. At first I was having pain going down my left leg and my thigh felt like it had a pull or tear in it. When I talked to the Dr. about it she said the thigh pain came from them moving everything in my abdominal cavity to that side to do the surgery...as for the other leg pain - that comes from nerves that have been coiled up for years suddenly being stretched out! They don't like that change very much. But the best news it that I don't seem to have the back pain at all now. Although it is too soon to tell what my pain level will end up being, right now it is looking pretty good.
So far I can go pretty much all day with no pain pills at all...an occasional pill for muscle spasms in my leg is all I need. I still take the medication at night - I still want a full night of sleep pain free - and since I don't wear the brace while laying down and I do toss and turn a lot at night I just want to be sure I can sleep all the way through.
The brace is an inconvenience I put up with. It is a "chair back" brace and keeps me from bending or twisting too much or too quickly as well as offering support when I sit or stand while the bones in my back fuse together. In one more week I get to exchange the large chair back for a smaller model unless I am driving - I'm looking forward to that! I also go back for my next check-up at the end of July.
In the meantime my training will consist of walking as much as I can and want to (I'm trying for 5 days a week when life doesn't get in the way.) I wear the Garmin just so I can track how far and how fast I go. I am also trying to lose the weight I gained while I couldn't do much of anything. So far I'm down about 5 lbs. with too many more to go - but at least I'm making progress in the right direction again. The meds help here too because they make food tast funny and the brace makes me stop eating sooner because it is wrapped around my tummy and I get fuller faster - BONUS, LOL....
Anyway, I keep on keepin' on and hope I'll have more good news to report soon!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Cool Tools
Today I got the opportunity to try out my newest toy~my Garmin. DH and I waited until about 8:00 pm to go for our brisk walk around the block so I could see if I could get the Garmin to work. DS (Dear Son) was kind enough to show me how to get it all started. I hit the start button and off we went! Around our block ended up being 1.58 miles. We walked it in 23:22 with an average pace of 14:39. So much GREAT information!
Once we finished our walk I came in and uploaded the information to the software. Hmmmmm, OK, it took a bit for me to figure out what I was looking at, and once again it was DS to the rescue. He came in and showed me how to look at only one data graph at a time so I would know what I was seeing. That was pretty cool.
THEN I wanted to try out some new software I had found on the web to try to get even MORE information. So DH helped me download the software from the website and I installed SoftTracks. We got that up and running and I imported the data from my Garmin. It was REALLY simple...how simple you ask? Well, I did it MYSELF! I didn't need help from DH or DS! This software allows me to take the satellite information from my Garmin and look at it with Google maps, an arial view, or a topographical map...just to name a few functions. I can keep my runs in different folders, I can track my activity by week and month...I haven't even begun to explore all the capabilities! It was just the coolest thing for me to be able to look at the simple route around the block on a Google map when I didn't have to do any more than click on the title of the type of map I wanted to see!
Now I ask you, aren't those some COOL TOOLS!?!
Once we finished our walk I came in and uploaded the information to the software. Hmmmmm, OK, it took a bit for me to figure out what I was looking at, and once again it was DS to the rescue. He came in and showed me how to look at only one data graph at a time so I would know what I was seeing. That was pretty cool.
THEN I wanted to try out some new software I had found on the web to try to get even MORE information. So DH helped me download the software from the website and I installed SoftTracks. We got that up and running and I imported the data from my Garmin. It was REALLY simple...how simple you ask? Well, I did it MYSELF! I didn't need help from DH or DS! This software allows me to take the satellite information from my Garmin and look at it with Google maps, an arial view, or a topographical map...just to name a few functions. I can keep my runs in different folders, I can track my activity by week and month...I haven't even begun to explore all the capabilities! It was just the coolest thing for me to be able to look at the simple route around the block on a Google map when I didn't have to do any more than click on the title of the type of map I wanted to see!
Now I ask you, aren't those some COOL TOOLS!?!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
About Me
- runningmemaw
- This is about my life. My life as a wife. My life as a mother. My life as a Memaw. My life as a teacher. My life as a runner. My life such as it is.