kheret

My main issue is that I travel by car to my work destination incredibly early Monday morning, work all day, and then don't get to my hotel until the evening. I'm actually considering an ice chest, so I can make stuff on Sunday and actually keep it safe until I get to the hotel Monday night. But... this week I think I'm staying some place without even a refrigerator. Yay resort towns (resort in the rural Midwest sense, not the Florida sense).

I am often in the same boat - I probably travel 40-60 percent of the weeks of the year. Exercise is manageable, most hotels have a fitness center or a pool and I always bring resistance bands. Plus my job is pretty active. But nutrition is a problem. You're lucky to at least have a couple of stove burners. It doesn't take much to cook a couple of chicken breasts. If you want only small amounts of vegetables, hit the grocery store salad bar. That's usually what I do, and it cuts out the time of chopping vegetables. My hotels usually only have a microwave, so I either grab the chicken strips at the salad bar or steam some fish in parchment paper in the microwave. Those pre-cut steamer bags of vegetables are also handy. For breakfast I skip the hotel breakfast and eat fruit with nuts and plain yogurt. Lunch is my biggest challenge, since I HATE sandwiches, and I usually have to eat lunch out in the woods or something.

Date: 3-17-2016 Work: 7 AM to 9 PM, the last two hours of which were on the road. Walking: 17,150 steps (7.09 miles) Other exercise: Nothing. I biffed it and fell on a tree stump with my bad knee. No bruising or swelling, and it only hurts a tiny bit. But given the 14 hour day, there was just no way. Food: Breakfast: Banana, almonds, Greek yogurt. Snack: More of those sausage snacks Lunch: Hillshire Farms adult lunchable thing, bag of carrots Dinner: Kwik Trip cheeseburger. I don't like writing that, but I was driving home on a serious calorie deficit and my lizard brain took over. Late night: I had a Surly beer (16 oz) when I got home. It was St. Patrick's day, after all. Summary: Daylight Savings plus the intense work schedule kicked my ASS this week.

As someone with a recent knee injury, I agree with the others - see a doctor and if you can, get a physical therapy referral. There are a number of reasons your knees could be hurting, ranging from tendonitis to arthritis. A good physical therapist, in my opinion, will focus mostly on exercises and only use modalities (ice, ultrasound, dry needling) as a way to get you to a point where you can comfortably do the exercises. Seconding that swimming is pretty safe; if it's something minor then stationary cycling is also low-impact, but I'd clear that with your doctor. When my knee was really bad, I did still do seated upper body strength work with dumbells. I also did some core work that didn't involve putting pressure on my knees (like bicycles). And for cardio I did a lot of vigorous chair dancing. I'm not even kidding, if you really get into it that can be considerably better than nothing. It's important to not lose your cardiovascular fitness or general fitness when you're out with an injury, but you absolutely want to consult a medical professional about what is safe for you.

So I'm doing my PT exercises regularly and already feel like some of my weak spots are getting stronger. BUT it is so hard to avoid the urge to stretch! Especially when everything is sore from a long work day. Sometimes a hot shower helps. I've read that hyperflexible people can feel "tight" because our muscles are working to support our joints. Do any of you folks use anything like a foam roller? My back is the main thing that gets sore and kind of stiff feeling when I'm on my feet all day.

Good work for knowing what is right for your health. I think even with what seem like small steps, eventually bigger improvements will happen. So much is tied to diet anyway, so focusing on that first may lead to small improvements elsewhere. It usually does for me, anyway.

Date: 3-16-2016 Worked: 7 AM - 7 PM. Weather today was only kind of cold (40s F) but VERY windy, with gusts up to 40 mph. Just keeping myself from falling over was a bit of a task today. Walking: According to the iPhone pedometer, I took 12,559 steps today (5.88 miles). That's considerably less than the previous two days. I stood a lot more today, partly because of the work I was doing, and partly because of the wind. I also think it may be a good sign in some ways - I had been walking a ton because of my knee issue, since walking was more comfortable - I didn't have to keep constant pressure on the bad knee. BUT, I was able to stand pretty still today with almost no pain. Yay! Other exercise: This schedule is kind of tough but I will probably be able to do my Physical Therapy exercises tonight. I actually have really bad DOMS from 2 days ago and the bodyweight stuff, coupled with just being on my feet all day after my sedentary winter. Food: Breakfast: Cup of plain Greek yogurt, handful of blueberries, banana, handful of almonds. Lunch: Hillshire Farms "small plates" which is a pretty processed collection of meat, cheese and crackers, but at least there is no sugar. Also a small bag of carrots. Snack: And indeterminate and undisclosed number of Old Wisconsin summer sausage "snack bites." Also a banana when I finally got to the hotel. Dinner: Amy's black bean vegetable soup with a tomato, an avocado, and two wheels of Babybel gouda. Also I will probably eat some more blueberries. Awesome thing: I am already feeling my muscles in my legs getting more "solid," so yay! Although my calf muscle is still way bigger on my left leg than my right leg. Not awesome thing: Look at all that processed food today. Ugh. I should probably hit that grocery store salad bar more often. Tomorrow is going to be hardest, as I will be driving back home after the 7 PM end time, and not get home until about 9. There's no way I will a) make it home without eating or delay getting home in order to eat something healthy here. I can't do the second one because 9 PM is the absolute latest my ride can pick me up from the location where I drop off the work truck. Thursday may just have to be my "don't give a damn" day.

Date: 3-15-2016 Worked 7 AM-7 PM today, in heavy driving rain for about half the day. I feel like that always makes me hungrier! - Walking According to the iPhone pedometer, I walked 9.49 miles today, or 19,557 steps. You'd better believe I am considering walking around my motel room to get that # up to 20,000. But probably not, 18 miles of walking after a winter off will wear a gal out. - Exercise (other) My knee is bugging me a little bit, so I'm just going to do the balance work that my PT prescribed. Food: Breakfast: Plain Greek yogurt (nonfat, because that's all the local grocery had), a handful of almonds, and a banana. Snack: Babybel Gouda cheese Lunch: Whole wheat crackers with swiss cheese and salami; a mini bag of baby carrots. Dinner: A GIANT spinach salad with a large amount of grilled chicken, bell peppers and broccoli, a small serving of pasta. Snack: I will probably eat another banana and most of a container of blueberries. Maybe even more cheese. All in all, I'm pretty ok with how my food turned out today. When I'm working in the field and moving all day, I burn more calories so I'm not as much worried about quantity of food as quality. Past field seasons, a long day like today plus the motel living would have had me eating like total crap - we're talking Burger King levels of crap. I don't know what I'd do without grocery store salad bars.

Field season has started again which means I'm living in hotels most of the week. This log will chronicle my attempts to be somewhat healthy despite that: at -DATE: 3-14-2016 -Food: Breakfast: 2 Kwik Trip eggwhite, ham and cheese sandwiches. Horrible, yes but when you get up at 4 am on the day of the time change, sometimes you make poor decisions. Lunch: Turkey and Finlandia swiss sandwich Dinner: Undressed chicken and black bean salad, one wheel of gouda cheese, and a banana As you can see, my diet deteriorates when I'm working 5 am - 7 pm and living in a motel. I eat so well at home! - Walking: Clocked 8.9 miles on pedometer, 20,389 steps. - Workout: 30 minutes of bodyweight strength training combined with some relaxation/breathing.

Have you seen a physical therapist? They would be able to assess your overall biomechanical issues and identify the precise weak spots to recommend exercises. I have hypermobile hips which need strengthening. Clamshells with a resistance band are good, as are the lying hip raises. You might try modifying the squats and doing wall squats or stability ball squats for a while to build strength safely.

I don't have much to add about anything else, but I've sprained both ankles in the past. The only thing that most PT's have consistently advised is the soleus stretch, and it does seem to help if I'm religious about doing it.

YES! At the university gym where I work out (I'm academic staff) the pushing of yoga and flexibility is serious - it's the main fitness class marketed to women. And I LOVED doing yoga - I enjoyed the breathwork and the relaxation. But there is definitely a subset of women for whom that flexibility is not necessary, and for whom building flexibility may even be harmful, and no one ever talks about that. I am hoping to eventually take up something like Tai Chi for the mind-body without the stretching, but the flexibility fetish persists. In fact, most women's "fitspo" demonstrates flexibility from what I've noticed. And here I am just trying not to hyperextend my joints during daily activities (I'm still not sure what the 'normal' range of motion is for hips...)

lwow - that's awesome that you've been able to improve so much! I went to my PT again today and I've already improved my ankle dorsiflexion considerably, particularly in my right ankle (the less serious, more recent sprain), but the left one is also improving. He said I "actually did my homework" which I guess is not the norm. I'm starting to wonder if there aren't a lot of women out there who don't find out about this problem until they're quite a bit older and showing serious problems, because their lifestyles didn't expose the weaknesses sooner. I also get a little resentful at our society's lack of encouragement for women to build their strength. I have noticed it's gotten a LOT better in recent years. Certainly when I was younger, women's fitness was focused on cardio and flexibility with at most a little "toning" with 2 lb hand weights.

Those are both good ideas; we had a snowstorm last night and it would be a lovely walk this morning. And I do need to get over my fear of swimming. But this morning I decided to use my rest day to well, rest, and slept in an hour. I kind of forgot that was an option!

I think that just underscores the crucial nature of proper form for us. I can do an overhead press ok if I watch my wrist position and make sure I don't hyperextend the elbows, but I think I'd just fall over and die if I attempted a handstand!