Toshimi Levels up

[Toshimi]

After reading some of the other challenges (especially Treva's) I feel like my challenge needed a revamp. For those who have followed my challenges in the past, things tend to get a little crazy. Currently working  about 50 hours a week, taking a class online, going through physical therapy.... and work just got a lot crazier starting today (i'll add more later about this, still processing everything) 

 

 

Physical fitness:

Level 1 Stretch 5-10 mins

Level 2  Do All of the PT exercises

Level 3 Do All of the PT exercises, adding core or upper body training

Bonus: Kung Fu Practice

 

PT exercises

Spoiler

 

3@30 seconds laying hamstring stretch

30 short arc leg lifts with foam roller 1# weight

30 side lying leg lifts (top leg) with 1# weight (need to get weights for home)

30 bridges with clamshells

30 hamstring pulls (only doing this at PT right now, need to figure out how at home, i dont have the right band for this right now)

30 single leg heel raises

5x15 second holds on the blue balance foam (looking at ordering foam, or some sort of balance thingy)

30 body weight squats

Forward side and backward monster walks 2 laps of at least 15 feet. 

My adds: 

side leg lifts (bottom leg) 

 

Nutrition:  

Level 1 Drink at least 75% of water needed for the day (and track on plant nanny)

Level 2- Drink water, and Track all food 

Level 3- Drink water, Track all food, and stay between 1400-1800 calories each day

Bonus: No sugar

 

Mental Health:

To do before the end of the challenge: call list of therapists and make an appointment

Also do 1 thing every day to help with mental well being

-Take at least 10 mins of lunch and don't do work

- Read for at least 10 mins

- Do something artsy- draw, write, play with ink, sew

- go to bed early

- take a nap

- spend some time doing nothing

- pull weeds in the yard (yes i actually find this very relaxing, and the yard needs it!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Shotokan]

I used to have the same problems after the first couple weeks too.  After a while, it gets easier and then you get three full weeks in and finally four weeks.  I battle this for many challenges and then it got to the point where it was only Wednesdays each week that I couldn't train but I think I broke that bad habit over the last challenge.  

 

I know you can do it!  If you need some encouragement, let us know.

[Kishi]

It sounds like you'll have enough on your plate by the time Inktober rolls around that if you want a 3rd challenge, you'll have opportunity to make one. Which is cool! Inktober is definitely a time.

 

Also, don't kill that plant. Look at it. It looks so happy. Don't make it sad.

[Casbin]

Hey,

 

I'm a bit late but let's do this again!

Hopefully you will be able to keep moving g forward with PT.

[Toshimi]

Havent been so great with the PT stuff this last week. Forgot some of the stuff i needed at the conference. but back at it today, doing lots of stretching to try and make up for it (even after a few days feeling much more tight)

 

Tomorrow is my eval with the PT hoping to get some more appointments, but we'll see. 

[Shotokan]

7 hours ago, Toshimi said:

Tomorrow is my eval with the PT hoping to get some more appointments, but we'll see. 

I hope all goes your way tomorrow. 

[Kishi]

Good to see that you're trying to make up for lost time. All the same, be careful not to overdo it. Movement is like medicine - too much of the wrong kind can be poisonous.

[Toshimi]

After reading Treva's thread, might try reworking mine some. Have some new ideas, but still working them out. So far school hasn't been too bad, but I have a paper and my first test coming up. 2 assignments behind (thankfully that aren't due until the test, but should've been done the last 2 weeks with the reading). 

 

Basically working on a list of things that just have to be done every day (but simple things)... like drink water/non caffeinated liquids, which reminds me my plant was looking pretty sad this morning. Finally got him looking better, but was worried about loosing him... Also need to work on a bedtime, sleep has been rough lately. Waking up several times a night, waking up long before the alarm.... also been staying up till 11pm-midnight, and mornings like this morning where the alarm went off at 530 am, was a little tough. 

 

We did get some inktober supplies this weekend, but then I couldnt play with them because my cleaning a few weeks ago, apparently i cleaned up my ink so well I put it somewhere I can't find it now. 

 

PT got moved to tomorrow, apparently they had someone out today so they were moving some people around. (also the person out was apparently the PT i was scheduled to see...) not really upset about it, i was in to work at 6 am, so planning on going home by 3-4ish (hopefully)

 

Did a working interview with a possible new hire. Looks like it could be a great thing if it works out. She'd be working probably 15-20 hours a week, helping cut down my paper work and also helping with the estimating. 

[Toshimi]

Finally got it updated. 

 

So my PT is going to request more appointments. She doesn't think I'm anywhere near ready to be discharged. She's also going to add a lot more hip stability stuff to my program. I have an idea of what a few might be, so I might add them to my program at home. It is doing better than it was, but still not even what I would consider better. I still have quite a bit of pain in the evenings. Even if I dont get more appointments, a lot of it is doing what I probably should've been doing anyway. Also might add in a few on my own to the PT exercises that I've done in the past. 

 

It's not up yet but we did get a pull up bar, and I'm hoping to get a few more exercise things too, so hopefully I'll soon be adding in some upper body work, and some of the stability exercises at home. 

 

Not sure I'm going to be back to Kung Fu this month as planned. It's just mentally hard going and barely being able to do things. I know I'll learn, but I know I will be very limited in what I can actually practice. Just not sure I'm in a mental place yet to do so. hopefully soon. 

 

Lots of ideas though for moving forward, plan is to test some things out this challenge, then start next one.... excited for things to come. 

 

Going to try and get to finally catching up on everyone else's challenges tonight, or at least some, 

[Kishi]

13 hours ago, Toshimi said:

Not sure I'm going to be back to Kung Fu this month as planned. It's just mentally hard going and barely being able to do things. I know I'll learn, but I know I will be very limited in what I can actually practice. Just not sure I'm in a mental place yet to do so. hopefully soon.

 

Mentally hard and also possibly unsafe if you got out on the mats. There might be something to going there with a notebook and jotting things down, but it's just not the same, and some things you need a body to practice with.

 

Anyway, this might not be a bad idea to use this challenge as a testing ground to see if some new things work or don't. I hope things turn out well! Just don't compromise your recovery...

[Shotokan]

On 9/19/2017 at 9:14 PM, Toshimi said:

Not sure I'm going to be back to Kung Fu this month as planned. It's just mentally hard going and barely being able to do things. I know I'll learn, but I know I will be very limited in what I can actually practice. Just not sure I'm in a mental place yet to do so. hopefully soon. 

I have been there before and even though I told myself I would take it easy in class when I was injured, I ended up pushing myself, as if I wasn't injured, and ended up hurting myself and my progress more.  Even though my instructors would tell me to take it easy, it's not easy to take it easy when everyone else is training hard. One thing that really helps me, when I cannot train, is doing the techniques in my head.  Going through the techniques, in perfect form, in the mind is something that might be of help to you.  I notice that when I do a kata in my head, my heart rate rises.  The bad part is, don't do this before bed or it will keep you up.

[Toshimi]

Still haven't heard anything back from the PT. Trying to figure out a plan to move forward without them, because I have not been consistent with my exercises (but have been more so with stretching) , and I know I need to (I know some of it is just doing it, time isn't an issue right now)

 

I've been really feeling all outs of sort lately. nothing big but lots of little things.

Trying to work through what things matter, and what can/should change. Sadly the Kung Fu/Dojo is on this list too.

Spoiler

 

Apparently I didn't read their contract as well as i should've and owe them some money, but they're "being nice" and letting me date my actual cancellation so I only have to pay 2 months, instead of paying for this year too...  I guess i missed the part where the contract auto renews and you have to pay for a full year (or pay an extra 40 a month) I love the style, I love a lot of things about it, but there's just some things that kind of rub me the wrong way. Like the first few tests are every 3 months, then they go ever 6, then year + for first degree black and beyond... I know some places do, and others dont charge for testing, and I didn't really mind that they did. but I also knew that there were pass reviews that i thought were an option for when you're doing tests that are 6 months + apart... they weren't very clear that you couldn't test until you did a pass review... and in some ways it felt like just a way to get more money, not a needed thing. You don't really get much more feed back than a normal class... and other than practicing for a test (which i get in some ways but yeah pretty pointless feeling)... 

 

overall it might mean some more exploring in the near future when it comes to my martial arts. I've been following my old dojo on facebook, and lots I miss about that. Might at least call and see what days/times the classes are now days. 

 

Had this idea in my head floating around, but not sure what it means yet for me. I want to focus on getting strong. I know core strength will help my back (which has been all sorts of pissed off lately), would help loose weight potentially, and would also help with my knee. In the past I've had a hard time with regimented programs, but have a few I have my eye on (taking bits of p90x3 and making my own workout schedule, looked at GMB elemets, P90x, NF yoga). I want to start playing around with it, we'll see where it goes. 

 

school is going well. I got a 20 out of 20 on a paper I only worked for about an hour on. Have a test this week and I think that's about it assignment wise. Have a few quizzes i need to catch up on... and going to start on my paper due in 4 weeks (want to spend more than an hour on it) 

 

Water has been going fairly well... need to be more intentional with doing things to take care of myself. Went on a cleaning rampage yesterday when I got home from cooking class... not really pretty, but we got a lot done. Need to now deal with our old mattress, Clean off our dresser, and do some organizing in the bathroom, then the master will be good to go... still need to finish organizing the guest room. I think I can get all that done this week. Then the office and front room/work out area the week after, then the kitchen/tv room... then by that time will probably be time to start over again!  not sure why we can't seem to keep things cleaned up, but I"m working on my part of it. 

[Kishi]

17 hours ago, Toshimi said:

Still haven't heard anything back from the PT. Trying to figure out a plan to move forward without them, because I have not been consistent with my exercises (but have been more so with stretching) , and I know I need to (I know some of it is just doing it, time isn't an issue right now)

 

Well, if you have to move forward on your own, the good news is that YouTube has a lot of different demos available for various kinds of exercise. At that point, it's a programming issue, which is trickier, but.

 

18 hours ago, Toshimi said:

Trying to work through what things matter, and what can/should change. Sadly the Kung Fu/Dojo is on this list too.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

Apparently I didn't read their contract as well as i should've and owe them some money, but they're "being nice" and letting me date my actual cancellation so I only have to pay 2 months, instead of paying for this year too...  I guess i missed the part where the contract auto renews and you have to pay for a full year (or pay an extra 40 a month) I love the style, I love a lot of things about it, but there's just some things that kind of rub me the wrong way. Like the first few tests are every 3 months, then they go ever 6, then year + for first degree black and beyond... I know some places do, and others dont charge for testing, and I didn't really mind that they did. but I also knew that there were pass reviews that i thought were an option for when you're doing tests that are 6 months + apart... they weren't very clear that you couldn't test until you did a pass review... and in some ways it felt like just a way to get more money, not a needed thing. You don't really get much more feed back than a normal class... and other than practicing for a test (which i get in some ways but yeah pretty pointless feeling)... 

 

 

 

 

 

overall it might mean some more exploring in the near future when it comes to my martial arts. I've been following my old dojo on facebook, and lots I miss about that. Might at least call and see what days/times the classes are now days. 

 

Spoiler

Oh, ick. Cash grabbers.

 

Well, it's always a journey, though. Things work until they don't anymore, for whatever reason, so you find what does and move on. You gotta do you, you know?

 

18 hours ago, Toshimi said:

Had this idea in my head floating around, but not sure what it means yet for me. I want to focus on getting strong. I know core strength will help my back (which has been all sorts of pissed off lately), would help loose weight potentially, and would also help with my knee. In the past I've had a hard time with regimented programs, but have a few I have my eye on (taking bits of p90x3 and making my own workout schedule, looked at GMB elemets, P90x, NF yoga). I want to start playing around with it, we'll see where it goes. 

 

Well, getting strong is good for its own sake, but shedding excess weight is as always a matter of dialing in your food. Which is no reason not to get strong with bodyweight movements, obviously, but I wouldn't advise you to expect one tool to do another tool's job. A hammer's great at hammering, but it doesn't make a very good drill.

 

18 hours ago, Toshimi said:

Water has been going fairly well... need to be more intentional with doing things to take care of myself. Went on a cleaning rampage yesterday when I got home from cooking class... not really pretty, but we got a lot done. Need to now deal with our old mattress, Clean off our dresser, and do some organizing in the bathroom, then the master will be good to go... still need to finish organizing the guest room. I think I can get all that done this week. Then the office and front room/work out area the week after, then the kitchen/tv room... then by that time will probably be time to start over again!  not sure why we can't seem to keep things cleaned up, but I"m working on my part of it. 

 

I need to get better at this too. I thought I'd be OMW out of my parent's place soon and needed that to be a kick in the pants to make travel easier. But that seems far off now, and that external motivator was what kept me going.

 

Life is just a messy business, I've decided. But hey, cleanliness where it can be done, yeah?

[Toshimi]

Got stretching in and a few of my PT exercises last night. Already stretched this morning. 

 

Last night ended up being a relax and watch old episodes of Will and Grace. Was needed, feeling much better today. 

 

Today is going to be a bit of a long day at work, just need to get stuff done. 

 

46 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Life is just a messy business, I've decided. But hey, cleanliness where it can be done, yeah?

yup! trying to break it into smaller tasks so it's not cleaning for 4 hours at once, but trying where i can

 

 

16 minutes ago, Kishi said:

Well, getting strong is good for its own sake, but shedding excess weight is as always a matter of dialing in your food. Which is no reason not to get strong with bodyweight movements, obviously, but I wouldn't advise you to expect one tool to do another tool's job. A hammer's great at hammering, but it doesn't make a very good drill.

yup totally get it! I feel like I've been slowly dialing in the food. Still have some tweaks (and figuring out how to get through the weekends without regaining all the weight I lost during the week) I don't expect the working out to make up for crap food choices, I guess more using it as a motivation for keeping up with the food, if that make sense? 

 

Since we're on the topic of food, decided not to continue with the nutritionist, but still using some of the things she suggested. I've been doing oatmeal pretty consistently in the mornings, and it seems to do alright. Also being intentional on getting the carbs in during the day seems to be helping. I might not be doing it with exactly the grains and such she recommended, but I have been working on getting the 30%-40% carbs. I know there used to be some days where it was how few carbs could I eat (ended up in the 10% ish range) and I seem to be feeling better now that I'm not there. I want to play a little more with getting fresher fruit in my oatmeal. I love raisins but I know they're high in sugars. Thinking about cooking up some apple chunks to put in them. 

 

I haven't been packing my own lunches, but found some pre made salads at the store that aren't horrible. I want to get back into packing my own, partly because I know it's not going to take long to get tired of the 3-4 I can get at the store, but it's nice to know they're there. 

 

Dinners- just been keeping it simple, winter squash, potato, or some sort of starch/carb... meat... veggie... Have been working on some meal plans/menu's... hoping to soon get back into more cooking. I have been enjoying it more this week which is nice. 

 

Still playing around with the calorie per day goal.... which would be easier if I was better at tracking dinners... going to try to consistently track all day starting today... 

[Toshimi]

Still around, Not much going on, will report back later in the week

[Toshimi]

The short is mentally not been a great week. Written several updates and ended up deleting all of them. Short of it... bike ride flared my knee again. Not as bad as before but was only a 9 mile ride, almost totally flat other than the 2 over passes. After 2 weeks of no PT my insurance decided i only need 3 more appointments (so not even 2 weeks worth). I also don't think i can deal with going to get a second opinion, because every MRI, scan, test ever done on my knee/shoulder/back shows that there is nothing wrong. Trying to figure out how to move on even if it means living with the pain. 

 

I think my one thing to get done before the end of the challenge is to find some sort of mental health help. My doctor was able to find some in the area that are covered by my insurance. I've had the list for a few weeks now, just never called any of them. 

 

Hubby is out of town for work the rest of the week. Going to try and get all my homework done so we can enjoy this weekend. Also trying to get the pull up bar installed we've had the last few weeks. My dad is going to come over and help with that. Hopefully that will be a good surprise. Also trying to get some cleaning done that just hasnt in the last month or so. Lots to do not a lot of time, but I have a game plan! 

 

 

 

[Mistr]

Sorry to hear that your knee flared up again. As someone who has been dealing with knee pain for years, let me offer you hope.

 

There are all kinds of things that can go wrong with knees. Most doctors don't have a clue on how to fix them. If your knee has no actual damage, they can't just stitch it up or replace it. Because of that, I think you are correct that a second opinion is not likely to help.

 

Rest, supplements and exercise are likely to help over time. Does your knee hurt when you press on a specific area? If so, you may have pulled a muscle or have a soft tissue injury. It takes a couple months for that type of injury to heal. You can help by strengthening the other muscles of your legs. That will help take the strain off the sore muscle. Gentle massage and mobility exercises can help. Probably the same exercises recommended by your physical therapist. Once things are past the initial healing phase, GMB has some good knee exercises here.

 

YMMV - I found that taking magnesium and vitamin D made a huge difference in the muscles around my knees. I still have a lot of tightness to work out, but far less pain. When I did have pain I found that a heating rub like Tiger Balm helped much more than ice.

[Kishi]

I can second the efficacy of knee exercises. When I was younger and dumber than I am now, I got into squatting heavy weight. I did so without the necessary respect to form and my body's limits, and I trained through pain. As a result, I did something to my left knee, and it's never really been the same. It's kind of a trick knee now - it doesn't always stand up and sometimes it tries to buckle out of nowhere before I can remind it to stiffen up.

 

I didn't have insurance at the time it happened, and I've never gone to a doctor to get it checked, mostly because I suspected that what's happening to you is what would happen to me, ie charge lots and lots of money to tell me that nothing can be done.

 

That doesn't mean it's a hopeless case, though. The truth is, pain is not the end of the story. Like @Mistr said, you can strengthen the muscles around the knee to bear the strain, reduce pain, and support the joint. If you can, spending a lot of time in a deep bodyweight squat with the knees tracked over the feet can be really beneficial. Further bodyweight leg movements past that point can be extremely helpful in getting the knee back on track, once it's healing proper again.

 

But, yeah. As annoying/disappointing as it is, it's not the end of anything. Or at least, it doesn't have to be. It's just a setback and an adjustment. And as most of the strength people I follow these days say, there's nothing wrong with going back to go forward.

 

[Shotokan]

I am very sorry to hear about your knee flaring up again. I hope that it settles down for you.  

 

I am no doctor but I have worked with multiple people with knee issues.  Unless there is a structural problem, which your MRI and other tests have ruled out, there is a good chance that it is lack of mobility in your ankles and or hips and possibly a strength / muscle balance issue.  If you want some suggestions on exercises and stretching movements, let me know.

 

Another thing, if you have access to a good chiropractor, with your insurance, you might want to visit one.  I have had a great deal of success with the chiropractors that I seen over the years and I credit a lot of my longevity to the work that they have done on me.  

 

Either way, don't get discouraged, you will get through this.

[Toshimi]

On 10/4/2017 at 3:59 PM, Mistr said:

Rest, supplements and exercise are likely to help over time. Does your knee hurt when you press on a specific area? If so, you may have pulled a muscle or have a soft tissue injury. It takes a couple months for that type of injury to heal. You can help by strengthening the other muscles of your legs.

After talking with my chiropractor last night (which I almost trust him more than my orthopedic I saw) he thinks I might have a strained pattelar tendon. It is a little odd that i have pain on one side more than the other, but it's right where 95% of the pain is. 

 

On 10/4/2017 at 3:59 PM, Mistr said:

heating rub like Tiger Balm helped much more than ice.

I have a few rubs i've been trying and got a new one from my chiro yesterday (although didn't get a chance to try it last night) I also purchased a tens/estim unit that I've been using with a hot pack (like they do when i'm at my PT) which has also been helping a lot when I get a chance to just sit and do nothing for a few. 

 

On 10/4/2017 at 3:59 PM, Mistr said:

GMB has some good knee exercises here.

I've been looking at the elements program from them too. Just waiting until I get a little further along in recovery before i do so

 

On 10/5/2017 at 6:22 AM, Kishi said:

If you can, spending a lot of time in a deep bodyweight squat with the knees tracked over the feet can be really beneficial. Further bodyweight leg movements past that point can be extremely helpful in getting the knee back on track, once it's healing proper again.

 

Hoping to get back into squats soon, right now can barely go down more than 4-5 inches from standing just doing a body weight squat. Leaving them out of my at home program for a little while until I can get thing back under control 

 

 

14 hours ago, Shotokan said:

Another thing, if you have access to a good chiropractor, with your insurance, you might want to visit one.  I have had a great deal of success with the chiropractors that I seen over the years and I credit a lot of my longevity to the work that they have done on me.  

I love my chiropractor. right now it's a mix of PT once a week (at least for 2 more weeks) Chiro every other week, and a massage therapist every 3 weeks...

 

 

Just wanted to say thanks everyone for the encouragement. I'm going to also look into maybe starting pilates to help strengthen my core and back. The teacher is great, I've taken a few classes with her, and is really willing to help with modifications for injuries. Sent her a message last night to see about maybe doing a private or two so I can figure out what I can and cant do before starting the regular group classes. 

[Toshimi]

So finally called and got an appointment for next week with a therapist. Hoping it goes well, I had a good feeling when she called me back. (I had left messages with 4 of the 5 on the list). I got a call back from one of the others today, didn't have that same feeling so keeping the appointment made yesterday. 

 

Last PT appointment is on Monday. I sort of doubt I'll do more. Not sure what I'm going to try and work on workout wise. I've been looking into different gyms that have pools, but most dont have great times for water aerobics that I've found yet. Still a few more to check out. 

 

I've gotten most the house clean the last few days. Today I need to focus a little more on home work than cleaning, but still hoping to get the master bathroom cleaned/wiped down. That way I can vacuum the carpets and Swiffer the tile tomorrow and I think other than the office everything will have been cleaned this week. I think now it will be a little easier to keep things up. Trying to figure out how i can get all the things done and still get a decent amount of sleep. Trying to encourage the hubby to help out a little more, but also keep it manageable if it's just me. 

 

3 days left in the challenge. Not sure I'd call it a win, but it's not a lose on this challenge either. No idea what I'm doing next challenge, but i should be around

[Mistr]

2 hours ago, Toshimi said:

Trying to figure out how i can get all the things done and still get a decent amount of sleep. 

 

When you figure that out, let us know. I've been struggling with that for years.