Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Progress

I made it through last week without exercising better than I expected. I was able to go on a walk (with my doctor's permission) the Wednesday after I received the Cortisone shot. I was so happy to get outside but I had to fight the urge to run the whole time.

Pic from my walk:)

I struggled with pain all last week and my hip felt loose (I guess because the swelling went done) which really freaked me out. I did not feel an improvement until Friday. On Saturday I attended my first cylce class since the shot and I was so glad to be back. I felt some discomfort that I wasn't expecting since I have never felt pain in cycle. By the end of class I felt great and I was relieved that the twinges I felt in the beginning of class passed.
Sweaty but relieved to be back


I was also relieved to know that I maintained my weight (I actually went down some from the previous week):



I actually went for a short (1 mile) run on Sunday. I plan to continue adding to that mileage to see if I can keep building up without too much pain. I didn't have much pain during my run Sunday but I can not believe how sore I was the next day! In spite of cycling regularly and strength training multiple times a week running still got my thighs burning;) I am praying that I will continue to build up the miles without intense pain. I plan on being very smart about my running this time and even though I only ran a mile I still stretched like crazy and foam rolled!





Tuesday, February 26, 2013

What I Eat

I spend a lot of time each week planning meals for my husband and I. Throughout the week I add to our grocery list and then on Fridays I grocery shop as soon as I leave work. I visit both Walmart and Whole Foods to get the foods we need. I was shopping at Kroger but recently I have started focusing on saving money and Walmart really does save me money. During the week I typically eat one of two different breakfasts. Most mornings I have a Thomas' Multigrain English Muffin with a wedge of light laughing cow cheese, chia seeds, an egg, and a small wedge of Cracker Barrel white cheddar cheese. When I get tired of this I will have oatmeal with chia seeds, a couple of dark chocolate chips, and a tablespoon of peanut butter. For the eggs I eat in the mornings I bake the eggs in the shells:
I got this wonderful idea from never homemaker. I am awful at boiling eggs so this makes things so easy for me. I bake a dozen on Sunday and then keep them in the refrigerator all week to take out for breakfast or for a snack.

For lunch, I ALWAYS take a big salad and some form of protein. Recently I have been making barbecue chicken in the crockpot and then I take it with my salad each day. For my chicken I dice an onion and a green pepper. I place 1.5 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breast in the crockpot with the onion, pepper, and some jalapeno pepper slices from a jar. I then add one bottle of Kraft Original Barbecue Sauce and cook it on low for 5 hours. With one hour left to go I shred the chicken breast (it basically just falls apart).
For dinners I typically rotate through dinners that my husband enjoys and that I can make healthy for both of us. My husband doesn't like vegetables as much as I do and he has no trouble maintaining a healthy weight so he gets more carbs than I do for dinner. Often I make fish, chicken, or ground turkey and then a large salad for me and mashed potatoes or another starch for my husband. Recently we have both been loving stir fry. I cook broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots and then add diced chicken breast and a stir fry sauce. My husband eats this with jasmine rice and I eat it with a salad. Recently I tried a great recipe for Turkey Pesto Stuffed Shells from Lovely in Pink that I loved and my husband also enjoyed. I actually enjoyed these best for leftovers the next day! I had to modify them because my husband is allergic to tree nuts so I couldn't use pesto. I used a basil paste instead as a substitute and I thought it tasted great!
Although we typically stick to a standard plan each week, I do enjoy trying new recipes as long as they don't have too many ingredients:)

Tuesday, February 19, 2013

I WON!

I won the giveaway from Parris Chic on Brittany's blog! I rarely enter giveaways but when I saw the amazing items offered by Parris Chic I had to enter (and then restrain myself from ordering everything before the winner was announced). My bedroom is decorated in black and white so the Parris Chic pillows are going to look awesome! I am planning to order this one:

Together is Our Favorite Place To Be 16 x 16 Personalized Pillow Cover, couple, wedding gift, engagement gift, newlywed, wedding shower



and this one:

Me Plus You Personalized 16 x 16 Pillow Cover, couple, wedding gift, engagement gift, newlywed, wedding shower, valentines day gift

I am so excited to add them to my bedroom! I will do a post when they come in showing you how they look:) The items in the shop are so cute and make great wedding, engagement, or graduation gifts. I am also thinking about ordering this pillow for my office:

She Turned Her Can'ts Into Cans and Her Dreams Into Plans 16 x 16 Pillow Cover, home decor, house warming, dorm room, encouraging gift

Since I work with middle school students I think it is a great message for them as well as me when I am having a tough day!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

It's Been Awhile

The good news is I have maintained my weight loss. I fluctuate between 130 and 134 depending on the day. The bad news is that I am suffering from a hip injury that has completely sidelined my running:( I have been taking cycle classes at the gym 5 days a week and also doing weight training but I feel empty without my running. I have not been on a run since January 5th. The pain in my hip began in November. I slowed things down but continued to run. Over the holiday break from my job I stopped running for 2 weeks due to a particularly painful run the Saturday before Christmas. During that break I cycled almost everyday with no pain. Two weeks after my painful run I went out an ran a very fast and comfortable 5k. I felt great...until I stopped. My hip started hurting again.

That Monday I visited OrthoOnCall and was told that I may have a labral tear in my hip. I scheduled an appointment with a specialist for January 24th and went to physical therapy 3 times a week until the appointment. I had no improvement with physical therapy. At my appointment with the hip specialist I was told I needed an MR Arthrogram. I went the following week and then waited another week for my results. I have a hip labral tear...I also have a retroverted hip socket which predisposed me to the injury in the first place. The prognosis is not good. Surgery involves a HUGE recovery period (As you can see from Lady Gaga's recent cancellation of her tour dates...she has the same injury http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1701979/lady-gaga-cancels-born-this-way-tour.jhtml). The doctor is not certain he can fix the problem due to the retroverted hip socket and he doesn't want to put me through the surgery if he isn't more sure about the outcome.


Yesterday I went to get a cortisone shot for the first time to see how I react to that. For a cortisone shot in your hip you have to be sedated since it is such a complicated procedure. The actual procedure was fine but I passed out when getting the IV and when they took it out. I wasn't allowed to eat from midnight until the procedure (11:00) and I think that must have had something to do with it. I have no fear of needles but the doctor indicated that it is my body's natural response to "intruders" in my veins. I have been asked to take it easy for the weekend so I have been laying around, watching a lot of TV, reading, and trying not to eat too much:) Over the next week I cannot exercise....this terrifies me. Logically I know that not exercising for one week will not result in me gaining all of my weight back but it still makes me nervous. I have maintained this loss without having to track too much but over the course of the next week I will be using my Weight Watchers online tools and MyFitnessPal. I will also be going back to the original phase of the 17 day diet so that I will feel more comfortable about not getting my sweaty workouts in.

These past few months have been really tough for me. I love running and I often define myself by it. How far I went and how fast my pace was were things I felt proud of and bragged about. In addition, running is an amazing stress reliever for me. I know that I get great cardio benefits from cycling but I get something different from running. It is hard to explain but I am terrified that I will never be able to run again without pain. I don't really want to have the surgery. I would not be able to do ANYTHING for 4 to 6 weeks (no work at all). After that I would have to do 6 weeks of physical therapy and then I may be able to consider introducing physical activity back in to my life. I have come so far and I feel that I am in the best shape of my life. The thought of giving it all up for a surgery that might not even work is terrifying.
Neptune Festival 8k September 2012

I am trying to be positive and I am looking forward to the fact that after this week is over my doctor wants me to try running to see how my body reacts. I will follow up to see how that goes!

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