Spartan Indra Tzal Will Return With Her Shield, Or On It!!!

[IndraTzal]

I am posting this about a week late but have been working this week while I get this out of my head and onto a page.

 

I started my adventure in 2012 and went from 270+lb (I say plus because I never had the guts to weigh myself until I had been watching what I eat for over a month) to 170lb and loving the body that was shaping up. My workouts where mostly based on body weight like the Assassins and Martial arts like the Monks.

 

 

 

100lb  whoot.  ...... yea until I thought that I could start letting little things slip because I had done so well and I deserved it right??

 

Nope!  Fell into some really bad habits again and have now gained 20lb back.  Let stress from work, home, money, kids, workouts, nutrition stress me out.  THEN when I do decide to get my ass back in gear I pull a muscle in my back/hip (gluteus medius)  OUCH! 

 

It is taking so long to heal!  At first I could barely walk.  I have started to do Tai Chi but am letting myself get stressed out over not being able to workout.  I keep pushing myself and I know I shouldn't. I need to let it heal but I am finding that I am a huge stress and pain eater.  I am now over 200lb again.... Damn that was hard to type!  and I need community to get me back in gear.  I know what I have to do but this mindless eating and lack of workouts has me in a bad cycle. 

 

I have been reading the Nerd Fitness blog for awhile now but one of the articles that spoke to me the most was How to Live and Train Like a Spartan Warrier. I love the sense of family and fellow soldiers in arms. I also love the do or die attitude. I need to take on that attitude again to get myself through this hard time. I am making excuses and loosing myself and my goals. Time To

 

SPARTAN UP!!

 

MAIN GOAL:

To recover from injury while still eating well and exercise to loose 50lb

 

Battle 1:

Fight whenever, wherever, just fight!

I am really struggling with not being able to do my regular workouts while I recover.... I need to realize that gainz and loosing weight are not the only fights I have in store. This will be a long uphill battle to recover enough to be back to where I was.

 

Battle plan:

To do Tai Chi 6 days a week to help heal my back/hip.

I have been doing heavier workouts and because of my injury have been stressing out that I can't do them. I feel Tai Chi will be a good, low impact, healing way to help me get back to working order.

 

Battle 2:

Giving up is not an option.

I have let myself give in to pain/stress eating. Mindless and empty to the point that I don't even realize I just ate a whole bag of chips or the 3rd enchilada. I can not give up on myself or my goals. I need to learn to control both the pain and stress to get my body back.

 

Battle plan:

Focus on cutting out Fatty/Sugary snacking.

I have tried to really limit my intake by having particular macros and cal intake and that has stressed me out and made my pain eating and stress eating really bad. I have found that limiting myself to much (at least for now) is making me stress. I want to focus on finding the triggers that are causing the stress/pain eating and snip it in the bud. I need to go back to the basics while I heal and pay attention to what I am consuming, really paying attention rather then the mindless stress/pain eating I have allowed myself to go into.

 

Battle 3:

As I heal up over the next 6 weeks I may be adding more Battles. I am hoping it will not take the full 6 weeks to heal....

 

Scoring will be on the following grading system

 

36 full days of Tai Chi (Sundays off for family time ;})

A= 36-29 days

B= 28-22 days

C= 21-15 days

D= 14-8 days

F = 7-0 days

 

Eating and Battle 3

A= 42-37

B= 36-29

C= 28-21

D= 20-11

F= 10-0

 

 

Life Quest:

Look out for you fellow soldiers. I am here to share what I have learned with my fellow rebellions to overcome obstacle and find a battle plan that works for them. I will also remember that my family is in this with me and are also my fellow soldiers whom I need to lookout for.

 

Spend more time with my family. As my kids are getting older I find us all going in a million directions. We all have our individual things that we do apart from the family and spend little time together. Volleyball practice, Key club and “The Boy†for my oldest. Karate and hanging with friends for my youngest, Airsoft, our farm and Battle Field for my hubby and my life is just getting them to all of those events, work and a personal business ;} Even on days that I keep everyone home one is on the computer, one is playing games in their room, ones watching TV and one is on a Tablet. I would like to start doing things together. Even if it just going for a walk, watching a movie together or even a board game. We all have the things we love and I would never take that from them. I would like in the 6 weeks to have a game plan together for family time and ultimately a planned vacation that all of us have helped plan.

Scoring on this will be an pass or fail. Its done or not. I will update with little things we have done to get together and plan but over all we have the vacation planned or we do not.

 

Most important Come back with your shield, or on it! I will not let a silly pulled/torn muscle get me down. I will battle hard or come back licking my wounds and ready for another round

 

We all have our battles. Some of them we have to fight alone but these. These I have fellow soldiers. Others to help me on my journey. I have a family and I have duty’s as a spartan to live up to.

 

Duty to my family to be a good remodel.

 

Duty to my friends to be proof that anyone can do it.

 

Duty to myself to be the healthiest person I can be to be alive and healthy for as long as possible.

 

I am ready to Spartan Up. Are you ready to go to battle with me? 

[IndraTzal]

Week one update!

 

Battle 1!  6/6  Tai Chi done all 6 days.  It is soooo frustratingly slow.  But after doing the assessment at the beginning of the week I knew I had to do it.  I just could not move the way I wanted to.  I need to take it slow and moving on to something harder is just not in the cards right now.  It hurts still the leg rocks and some of the poses left me really sore right after but seems to be feeling a little better than it has been. Hope this is what my body needs.

 

Battle 2!  6/7 Lost weight this week.  REALLY concentrated on what I was eating.  Thought about the fight every time I was tempted by something and would put it back down.  Thursday was hard and was in a lot of pain....  I gave in to a bunch of cookies and some cupcakes my daughter had made.  

 

Life Quest

The family begrudgingly agreed to a walk Sunday afternoon.  They did seem excited about the idea of putting a family vacation together and they had lots of great ideas.  It was even mentioned to do a family run together.  Do Mudders have family events or are they separate?  I'm sure we could find a run to do together.  

 

Over all

Honestly I am questioning the diagnosis about a pulled muscle.....  The medication doesn't seem to be working very well.  Could it be a nerve issue?  sciatic?  I am tempted to get a second opinion  This is ongoing for over 3 weeks!  I know pulled muscles take time but with the medication should it still be hurting so much? 

[Blaidd]

congratulations on the weightloss so far and welcome to the rebellion.

[Marenki]

Hey, awesome job with week one! Hopefully you'll keep it up during the next weeks  

[GingaNinja]

Great job so far, really enjoying your updates. Keep up the good work!

 

I am King Leeroy a Adventurer Ambassador, if you have any questions don't hesitate to drop me a line on my challenge page or in a PM ask me anything! Here is my current challenge and some if you need them wee tips for using the forum on this tutorial.

[Cookiebreaker]

wow your attitude rocks keep it up. will keep checking to see how your doing.

[IndraTzal]

Thanks so much for the support.  I have set up an appointment for Wednesday with my regular doc to follow up on the back/hip pain and make sure we are treating the right thing.  I am antsy to get back to regular workouts.  Slow and steady right? *sighs*

[Cookiebreaker]

yes pls do take it slow the last thing u want is to injur your self. id rather see slow progress than no progress

[IndraTzal]

... But it's so hard!   I know.  I will take it easy.  Hope the doc has good news.....

[Toshimi]

Life Quest

The family begrudgingly agreed to a walk Sunday afternoon.  They did seem excited about the idea of putting a family vacation together and they had lots of great ideas.  It was even mentioned to do a family run together.  Do Mudders have family events or are they separate?  I'm sure we could find a run to do together. 

 

Spartan lets 13+ participate in the regular race, and have a kids race at a lot of the sprints. Some of the fun ones unfortunately have gone under recently (foam fest being one of the first that comes to mind, ROC race, i think is still going on ) I'm not sure about battle frog or tough mudder.

 

The neon/color runs might be a fun option. No obstacles but they're something i've wanted to do. And with the lack of obstacles it might be a little more friendly for young ones

[lullaby88]

Did someone say Assassin?!?!?! 
 
Welcome Indra Tzal to the NF forums. I'm Lullaby, one of the Ambassadors for the Assassins' Guild. 
 
In case you haven't explored the Assassins' Guild yet, here's a link to more information about us. We also have a Q&A chat thread for Level 1's where you can stop by and ask any questions you might have. We also have an Assassin Phonebook that lists the skills of our Assassin so be sure to check it out.
 
There's also a chat thread called the Assassins' Den where we hang out and chat. If you have any questions, I as well as the other Assassins are happy to help you out. You can reach me by using the private messenger system (click the envelope at the top right of the screen) or you can post on my thread.
 
Can't wait to see how your first challenge goes. You've lost the weight once, you can do it again. We'll help keep you motivated.
-Lullaby

[IndraTzal]

Went to my regular doc yesterday. She decided it is not a pulled muscle but a pinched nerve. The muscles around it are trying to tighten up and protect the injury.  Few new meds and PT. I was SO sore from PT last night. I didn't sleep well but I'm up and ready for a new day.

I have been doing pretty good with my nutrition. Doc thinks the Tai Chi is a good idea but PT is a little skeptical. He doesn't want anything that has me bending forward at all right now. I may continue and at least do the Reboots for the foam rolling and just follow along just watching not to bend forward.

I'm glad I decided to get a second opinion on this. The meds were not doing anything to help and it was not getting better.

Right now I am just focusing on Tai Chi and PT, cutting out junk food and watching my portions and forcing myself to sit down every now and then to rest. I need to heal up to get back to BEASTING UP! ;}

Spartan lets 13+ participate in the regular race, and have a kids race at a lot of the sprints. Some of the fun ones unfortunately have gone under recently (foam fest being one of the first that comes to mind, ROC race, i think is still going on ) I'm not sure about battle frog or tough mudder.

 

The neon/color runs might be a fun option. No obstacles but they're something i've wanted to do. And with the lack of obstacles it might be a little more friendly for young ones

Those all sound fun!  I will do some more research and find out.

[Teirin]

Hello!  Getting the recheck was smart.  Hope the PT and new meds will help the nerve.  You have the right of it: focus on healing first :-)

 

I'm one of the Monk ambassadors and I see you're potentially interested in hanging out with us.  If you'd like to drop by, the Courtyard is the main Monk chat/hangout thread.  We have a few Tai Chi practicitioners running around.  If you have any questions or need anything, please say so!

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Good plan - and I hope you start to see results and get relief soon ... but do take it easy!! 

 

Lots of Color Runs and similar fun 5Ks have been popping up around the country - I'm going to aim to do a bunch of those first and then ease into the harder Spartans etc. as I work on improving my upper body strength. 

[SevenFootGeek]

Hi IndraTzal!  Teirin's already been in here, but monks gotta stick by the fighters.  Welcome to the Rebellion!

A large group of nerds just ran the Spartan Sprint in Boston last week.  I can tell you, having run three obstacle races this year, that doing them as a family is a thing.  At the Spartan, two of the nerds ran with their teenage sons.  I may have seen a young girl running by in this.  The 5k Foam Fest is still operating in Canada, and my wife and I ran it with two of our friends and their three kids, aged 7, 10 and 11.  And the Warrior Dash had a very large contingent of teens and pre-teens running the crap out of it, including the daughter of my wife's co-worker.  I highly recommend those races as family activities, especially given how active your kids are already.

 

I don't know what your Tai Chi club is like, but when I was taking Tai Chi through the Taoist Tai Chi Society, they were extremely good about modifying the movements to account for injury.  Listen to your body and heal.

[IndraTzal]

Such fantastic support here! This week has been hit & miss. PT leaves me really sore. They put me in midevil torture devices. I'm serious! They are trying to pull me apart! They say its for my back buts its just to see me squirm while strapped down with buckles and velcro. Its evil!

BATTLE 1! 6/6. I feel a little better. I can't get into full plank yet without pain. But. From knees I am throwing in some tricep pushups. Trying to keep the rest of my body limber. Slow... Progress.

BATTLE 2! 5/7. No loss this week BUT no gain. Work is killing me. I work in sales so all day I am on my feet walking around all day. I have been the go-to person to get things done. They still want that even though Im strait up broken. I feel guilty sitting down to rest. I feel like I should be doing something. By the time I get home I'm so sore I just want to make a microwave meal for everyone and just sit. Blah. Suck it up Buttercup!! A question.... How do you guys keep yourself in check? Do you have something you keep with you? Some little riminder to help you stay on track? I feel like I need a lil reminder..... Something that in weekness I see and it reminds me of my goals? Like a wrist band or something?? Any ideas?

LIFE QUEST

Runs were discussed agian. Found some fun local runs but decided to hold off untill spring to do one. I told them to do some more brainstorming. Runs, the beach, fishing..... Lots of ideas. Now to get everyone to agree.

OVERALL

I think I am feeling better but I am finding that when I start feeling better I try to get a lot done and end up making myself sore. I have a PT Monday and will ask what he feels my limits should be. I need to make it clear with co-worker that I need to step back or I will never get back to normal. I need to find a lil reminder. Something I can see. I need to hunker down on the this nutrition. Stay out of that mindless state that numbs me. This week will be hard. Four Thanksgiving dinners on a few different days. Portion control will be the key.

[GingaNinja]

Hey well done so far, looks like you are doing an awesome job!

 

I think when you are busy and stressed losing weight is a bit harder, sounds like you are doing all the right things though!

[SevenFootGeek]

Greetings prospective Monk-in-training!

 

Blaidd may have you guys hopping with your introductory mini-challenges to help you organize your goals and get you used to life in the Rebellion.  But we monks are a social bunch and we need your help.  Yes, you young go-getter!

 

Part of the Monk's Week 3 mini-challenge is to list one thing you are thankful for.  That sounds fairly normal for this time of year, but we are nerds and we have to nerd it up.  Each Monk (or Monk-in-training) is recording what number he or she falls at in the record of posting and uses the corresponding letter of the alphabet to give thanks.  

 

To give you an idea, here's what I wrote.

 

SevenFootGeek:  6

 

F - I am thankful for my Friends, who are the family I wasn't born with.

 

Help us fill out the entire alphabet!  And if we get all the way to Z, let's loop back around again!

[IndraTzal]

QUICK UPDATE :

Heyla! Sorry guys this injury has had me really bummed. Messing with my head. I have honestly felt like I am going to have a panic attack. Injuries SUCK!

But today went to PT and we had a chat about how I have been feeling and we decided to go in another direction. Feel a lot better about this and after PT finally had some relief from the pain. Its been weeks! That is so very encouraging. Hope to be back on top soon. Keep up the amazing work guys!! You are all amazing!!

[Teirin]

oh good, glad your PT is helping. Injuries do mess with your head and talking about it with someone can help.  Do what you can but healing is your biggest priority!

[Amdhiel]

Hey there Indra, good to hear that you've made some progress and that you've started to get some relief. Injuries are very frustrating and I agree with Teirin that talking helps. I see you had a question a few days ago about staying on track with decreasing fatty/sugary snacks. I personally use a variety of tools to help me keep my eating on track but based on your first post some won't work for you. Other than tracking daily, I also try to plan out what I'm going to eat during the week over the weekend and try to prep everything in advance. Another option would be to give yourself a limit of x snacks per week and then only track those.

[IndraTzal]

Progress!  Feeling some relief.  Walking is MUCH easier.  Still gets really sore if I go too long w/o sitting and If I try to push it it reminds me I am still injured.  The new PT regiment seems to be going far better than the last.  I am ecstatic for the relief and feel myself getting out of the funk I was in.  

 

BATTLE 1:  6/6  I feel great about my progress.  The slowness of it is still killing me.....  I miss my jumping and pushing stuff around.  I do find it extremely relaxing though.  I just have to remember that it is not a workout as much as time for my body to move and stretch in a calm meditative manner.  The moves are very singular right now as we have not started putting them together yet.  It doesn't look nearly as cool as those doing it at the Bridge at Dawn  ;}  But the process is good for me right now. I may try to add a few more workouts in......  Maybe do some floor exercises....  PT had me do some stationary bike, leg presses with my hips stationary and arm workouts sitting down. Haven't used gym equipment like that for a LONG time.  Always been a body weight workout type.  PT was impressed with how much I could lift.  ;}

 

BATTLE 2: 6/7   I need to get my nutrition under control.  I never realized how much my moving around and being active was distracting me from mindless bored eating.  Had a really bad day Wednesday!  Thanksgiving was actually really good.  Lots of family around to keep me in check ;} Pain/Stress eating is definitely down this week.  I really am excited about the progress I just need to keep it under control and not over do it.

 

LIFE QUEST:  We decided that we want to take a trip together.  Utah has such amazing National Parks.  Camping was mentioned.  I really wanted to do something sooner but I think most of the big stuff with have to wait until summer when the girls are out of school.  Meanwhile it has been decided that the girls can be with their friends during the weekdays and Saturday but Sunday is family.  We don't even need to go do anything but we will all stay home and make an effort to be with each other.  Today we watched How to Train Your Dragon 2.  Really cute movie and it was fun to watch together.  Little things at a time.

 

OVERALL:  It was a good week.  Progress all around.  Nutrition as always will be my bane.  I will get it under control for sure.  Weight is up a bit but I'm not going to stress too much about that just yet.....

[IndraTzal]

Went to PT yesterday morning. I am definitely feeling some relief. He seemed pleased with my progress. He made me run! Honestly it felt good to work! I was super sore later that night but feel like I'm making progress. May do some strength training and running if he oks it Thursday. Squat type moves are still hard. I can feel my flexibility and indurence is down but for now I need to Keep the jumping cardio to a minimum for a bit. So happy to be making progress! Lil Sore this morning so maybe some weights tonight.

[Teirin]

Congrats on the progress!  You'll get back to the jumpier cardio stuff.  In the meantime, it's very cool that you impressed your PT with how much you can lift.  PT, running and lifting is a solid workout program. 

[starsapart]

Good job with the PT!  it's so difficult to recover from an injury.... so easy to get impatient and want to do more... I just went through this a couple of months back, so I'm doubly impressed with you!  You're doing great!  I'm sure you'll be jumping around in no time.

 

How did week 4 wrap up for you?