No News is Good News

... so here's the news:

Last Saturday I learned about two of my temporary limitations. Jumping and fast lateral movement.

In my new favorite group exercise class, Butts and Guts!, we had a kick ass 25 minute routine last Saturday. Part of this routine included jumping up in the air and bending down to squat and touch the floor. About 24 times. I remember doing these in basketball practice in high school. My first thought when I did this Saturday turned out to the be right one. You shouldn't be jumping. Nothing happened immediately. I modified to smaller, less frequent jumps. Still... bad idea as it turns out.

Another part of the class routine included a Bosu ball workout. I've grown to love and admire the Bosu for it's ability to provide continuous challenges and rewards. Staring at it like it knows it just made my life harder for the better. Smirking at it as I contemplate the positioning, balance, and agility I need to master it.

Saturday in "Butts & Guts!" we were literally leaping like ballerinas laterally over the Bosu to land one leg on the soft inflated part and one leg on the floor, and sitting back into a squat. BAD IDEA. What fun it seemed like at first... and then, that little voice. Side to side leaps over a half ball followed by one legged squats? Probably not there yet. Slow down, girl.

Well, yes, I continued... modified and slow, but still pushing the limits... wondering what my body will say to me later.

Here it is Thursday... six days later... and this week has been somewhat hellish for the ole left leg. I've had to scale back my workouts and walk a bit gimpy. Sharp pains through the inside of my knee. Soarness and stiffness from hip to toes. Rubbing the massive knot in my upper calf (probably from landing on my toes continuously instead of flat footed) and standing up to stretch during meetings more often. I've taken a few thousand milligrams of Tylenol and ibuprofen over the course of the week and today, reported all this to my physical therapist.

She told me exactly what I had learned, "You're just not there yet, but you will be!". We practiced some "jumping" and "running" simulation exercises using about 60-70% of my body weight. That was encouraging. We used the Total Gym for the running and a 2 inch high box platform for the jumping. This all felt pretty fine which was good. Although walking is not so easy tonight. I feel like I just don't want to move my leg at all, or else, pain. Fortunately, this is not the kind of pain that wakes me up at night. 

For all intents and purposes, I am doing great! The last two weeks or so I have observed marked (albeit small) increases in mobility, flexibility, feeling "light" and relaxed muscles. I'm walking A LOT and I'm much better at stairs (no awkward thumping). I also had my first REAL bike ride out on the open road yesterday! I rented a chill little step through cruiser-type bike by GIANT from Full Cycle and peddled my way to the gym. I even rode through the corner where I was in my accident. It was at least 70 degrees and sunny and that's all I really cared about. I was in complete bliss... peddling... warm... and free. I want to do this all day, every day. The weather has been so perfect for it. Another temporary physical limitation observed on the bike ride: standing and peddling... um, not so much. Hence, the term "cruiser". I am excited to continue to watch my progress, find balance in my every day experiences, and focus on more good times ahead.

The Super Cool Pre-Op X-Ray of My Completely Obliterated Tibial Plateau!

Okay, so here's what you are looking at in the picture below (the most obvious injuries):

• Femur up top (thigh bone, the human body's largest bone) and tibia (shin bone) beneath it.
• See how the femur is slanting to the right (my body's left lateral side)? Well, it's supposed to be straight up and down.
• Look at my tibia. Your right (my left side of body) is crushed. The femur has sunken into this crushed space of the tibial plateau. Crushed from the compression fracture. Pretty sick!

 

What is a little bit harder to see is the medial (your left) side of the tibial plateau: the flared top part of the tibia that meets the femur/knee joint, is also fractured. Nearly split off from the shaft. The fibula, which is the smaller bone behind the shin, connects to the tibia at the top lateral side (the crushed side). Because of the crushing fracture, the fibula broke too. Oopsie! There's a fracture in the shaft of the tibia, lower down, not visible here. The medial meniscus tore (was cut and sewn), and the ACL, still intact, took a chunk of bone and split right off of the knee joint.

Anyhow, I'm keeping the faith. I'm 31 years old. I've got a plate and 6 screws in my left leg. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before. This accident happened on August 26, 2011 while riding my bike going less than 10 mph, doing nothing fancy, just taking a turn I've taken a dozen times three blocks from my home. Freaky things happen! Life happens. I'll make a 150% recovery because I plan on being in bad ass shape after this "recovery" is behind me.

That is all.

Yes!

159.8 pounds. A number I am proud of. Somehow my new yoga practice and mindful eating is really paying off. Not just in pounds but in attitude, in love for life, in ability to let go, be honest, and see things in a new light.

In one word I feel: WONDERFUL.

Eight months ago, January - something - 2011... my boyfriend and I set out on on a mindful eating regimen. Diet if you must, but I prefer mindful eating regimen. Yes, so that is what we did. The books we read included: The 4 Hour Body by Tim Ferriss and Engine 2 Diet by Rip Esselstyn. I gotta say two great books, two very different approaches. First 30 days were dedicated to the approach dictated in The 4 Hour Body. My binge day, Saturday, my first binge day... was INSANE. After 6 days of meat, fish, spinach, kale, broccoli, beans, hot sauce, lemon water and green tea - I had lost about 3 1/2 pounds. Binge day was pancakes, butter, syrup, eggs, butter, toast, butter, marmalade, juice, coffee. Aaaand... a 5 hour sugar crash nap followed by the worst hangover ever... I mean UP there with early 20's binge drinking hangovers. Prior to that day, the week was a little difficult, but I felt healthy, clear-headed, and overall satisfied as I began to monitor and change what my body actually required in terms of caloric intake to stay energetic. 

Needless to say, I was reluctant to embrace the next binge day with such fervor. The sugar withdrawal was by far the worst part of this diet, and the sugar binge was equally as horrifying. It was obvious I needed to cut back on sugar in some ways. But how?

We do the 4 Hour Body diet for about 22 days in January/February. I lose 10 pounds. I keep it off. Yay.

March/April roll around and my beloved and I agree to embark upon another foodie adventure, with Rip Esselstyn in the driver's seat. We went vegan + eggs. We even eliminated oils for whatever reason - they are "just not worth it" in Rip's eyes. You want healthy vegetable fats, then eat avocados. So we did. This diet was nice, but the recipes were actually quite a bit of work. We derived some decent fundamental thoughts - like keep your veggie intake HIGH - and experimented with some fun salad dressings sans oil. So that was all nice and good. And fruits - I ate as much fruit as my little sweet tooth desired. That part was bliss. No juices though - just the real thing.

May/June rolls around and I have witnessed myself in a dieter's dilemma. What the hell am I supposed to eat? What do I want? What makes me feel good and satisfied at the same time? This caused me much stress, and I actually found myself eating LESS overall and feeling increasingly frustrated by food.

This was sad to me. I loved food. I grew up in a house that loved food. My Mom is a great chef and baker. It runs through to me and my siblings too. At this point I was just worn out from trying all these different foods, recipes and eating regimens. I think I blacked out part of this experience because I don't really remember how I handled it in the end... other than just telling myself to relax and you'll figure it out.

July. The middle of blissful summer. My partner and I have just moved into a beautiful, quiet 1920s cottage just east of downtown Boulder with a gorgeous garden to boot. I feel strong and energetic and clear-headed and ready to take on life again. I am seeing a Shiatsu healer as well as a Thai masseuse. Despite feeling content mentally, my physical body is screaming at me. Lower gastrointestinal problems. Need I say more. Chest pain. Lower back pain. SUCKS. I see my MD – IBS she says. She prescribes an antispasmodic. And there I go, off on another food finding mission.

Goodbye caffeine (chocolate, coffee, green tea)… goodbye dairy (yogurt, cheese),.. goodbye gluten. Didn’t you know that Siliac’s Disease is contagious in Boulder? You don’t actually need a blood test here, you just need to know someone who actually has it, or pass them on the street.

Okay, so my body is HIGHLY sensitive to these foods and substances. I attend a Shiatsu healing session. One a week for three weeks actually. Then every other week and I am still going (on week 8 now). I remember this helped tremendously when I had a similar experience after my Mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2009. Dale says “liver deficiency, spleen and stomach imbalances”.  We treat. I take prescribed Chinese herbs. I am feeling better. Two months into it all. I am still caffeine, dairy, and gluten free. And my body is thanking me. I can relax a bit and enjoy my garbanzo bean and tapioca flour-based seedy breads.

I start yoga on Sunday, July 10^th. I create for myself a 10 week doable yoga schedule. I kick it off with Restorative Yoga. It is nothing short of awesome and restorative. I hit hot yoga again on Tuesday night. I knew I loved hot yoga from classes at my past gym, which inspired me (months later) to join a yoga studio that offered many hot yoga classes. I felt great, and sweated like nobody’s business. It was easy to lose weight in the form of water with this regimen.

I ate. I felt hydrated. Dale, my Shiatsu healer, advises I try the caveman diet. Meat and veggies. This wasn’t hard because I had been craving meat lately, and already ate a lot of salads and other veggies. I felt satisfied. Cooking and grocery shopping were easy. Ahhh... sigh of relief.

I stopped my birth control medicine. Continued the Chinese herbs for my tummy/spleen/stomach imbalances. Had my first period in like 3 months. And was losing fat and gaining muscle. My energy and mood are stabilizing.

So that’s the short of it. The intro to my new life. Yoga. Shiatsu. Thia massage. Meat. Veggies. Free of caffeine, dairy, and gluten. Oh, and I left out COMMUTER BIKING. How could I forget that?!

In May 2011, I sold my Boulder-iconic Subaru Outback wagon. Kissed it goodbye. It was a conscious lifestyle change. One of the best decisions of my life! Living in downtown Boulder makes it all very doable. I bike everyday to and from work, to get groceries, to the movie theater, to the creek, etc. My boyfriend has joined me, though he still co-owns a car with a friend. A few miles a day on bike makes a huge difference in the way I see life, the way I experience it, the way I approach challenges, and my physical and mental fitness are improving. Cycling brings light into my day and strength into my heart.

And so, this morning, a sunny late August day. Two days before my birthday actually. I hop of the scale. 159.8. BMI going down too. Yes! After a reggae Core Power Yoga 1 class, a couple cookies, a piece of pie and a late dinner (BBQ chicken, cucumbers, and tomatoes) the night before: this is what I am blessed with. This is the first time I have weighed under 160 pounds in over a decade. And I feel strong and good about it.

Obsessed with weight? No. Just proud of the fact that my physical health is improving without it feeling like a chore or confusing, and my mental and spiritual health are improving right along with it.