Teddie gets a grip.

[teddie.bare]

My father died the day after Christmas (deep breath). People following me know I had a lot of family health drama last year. His death was not unexpected, but compounded my desire to be better than my genetics.
 

BADASS WOMAN

• Part of my level 50 involves reducing my consumption. I did very well last challenge, and this time I am taking on one of my biggest problem areas: the kitchen.
  Cleaning out the worldly possessions of someone you love does something to you. It certainly reminds you that stuff is just that. I had already started my decluttering journey, and I'm ready to deal with my kitchen - my largest problem area and something I've been avoiding. I've already started. I even got my husband on board. I will have this area livable, presentable, and comfortable by the end of the challenge.
   
• When I think of what I want to BE, there are two physical capabilities that stick in my mind: a fire hoop dancer, and competent in self defense. For this challenge, I'm going to focus on the Hoop Dance aspect. I am at the uncomfortable mental hump of being able to work tricks in to flow. It sucks. I have joined a new Facebook group that focuses on this, and I hope to make significant progress in this area. I need to learn 1 new trick a week, and spend some time working on weekly dance flow areas presented by my group.
   
• I'm having a hard time deciding on my third aspect towards my Level 50 Baddassness. My diet is on point. My exercise is great - in fact, I've been doing intentional movement 7-days a week for a group challenge. So I'm working on increasing strength in a different way. Nothing else has worked, so I'm doing it with reps instead of actual dumbbell weight. I have a plan worked out and will focus on getting stronger to see if I can, or if I'm having a physical issue in this area.

SIDE QUESTS

• Something is going on with me, and I need to stop ignoring it. In December, my hands and feet started going numb during workouts. That hasn't stopped. I also am experiencing a ridiculous amount of muscle pain and soreness, to the point I can't handle anyone touching me, and I never stop getting extremely sore after EVERY workout. I looked through my workout log, and I haven't significantly increased strength since last FEBRUARY. And now my sciatic is starting to act up (I have a traumatic spinal injury). So, I'm going to actively seek help to figure it out my medical issues, now that I have new insurance and a fully loaded Flexible Spending Account. 
   
• I need to get a BodPod scan. For real. I need to see what's going on with my body, and get an update a couple times a year. It's free for me. It's right down the street. Stop making excuses. I need to make an appointment for a BodPod scan and have it completed.

MOTIVATION

PROGRESS
 

I usually do points, but I don't have the energy. All of my goals will be Pass or Fail for this challenge.

 

Each week I must do the following:

- Make progress in my kitchen, and update the details

  Week 1: Pass.

  Week 2: Pass and DONE. Now for upkeep.

  Week 3: Pass, upkeep is going well. Plus new washer/drier

  Week 4: Pass and upkeep is going well. Did some maintenance picking up over the weekend.

  Week 5: Pass. Super proud of this due to sick household and overworked spouse.

  Week 6: Pass. Kept my kitchen fairly contained.

TOTAL 6/6

 

- Learn 1 new Hoop Trick and do work towards the weekly hoop challenge

  Week 1: Pass. Up and down elevator

  Week 2: Pass. Overhead palm spin

  Week 3: Fail. I was able to get hooping in, but no new tricks.

  Week 4: Pass with a condition - I started to learn TWO new tricks.

  Week 5: Fail. Sick. Boo.

  Week 6: Pass. I actually worked on two tricks this week, a Hoop Hug and an Iso Pop.

TOTAL 4/6

 

- Increase reps in the gym for 3 workouts

  Week 1: Pass. Finish 8/10/12 reps

  Week 2: Pass. Finish 10/12/14 reps

  Week 3: Pass. Start 6/6/8/10 reps (gym days are off due to life, but I'm getting in the reps when I do the routines)

  Week 4: Pass, finished 6-6-8-10. I'm moving on to 8-8-10-12

  Week 5: Pass, got to the gym 4x last week. New sets are hard, yo.

  Week 6: Fail. Super sick last week. Missed the entire week at the gym.

TOTAL 5/6

 

Goal-long specific goals are:

PASS - Make appointments to figure out what's going on, and take steps towards getting better

     First appointment and bloodwork week 2.

        Blood Work came back "pretty good" on 04 Feb. Have appt on 16 Feb to go over results.

        Genetic Test of Hereditary Cancer came back "normal" on 05 Feb.

        Testosterone came back VERY low. Will be starting biodentifiable hormone replacement soon.

      Allergy appt with Food Testing scheduled for 10 Feb

         No new obvious seafood allergy. Have to follow up with blood work after I'm well.

         Had to do a breathing treatment and get lung steroids due to sick.

         Was appropriately chastised. Promised to come back yearly for maintenance, or as needed.

 

PASS - Complete baseline BodPod scan

   Done week 2. Can follow-up after 16 Mar (written on calendar).

[teddie.bare]

Oh my god, tap a talk. Four threads, really? Gonna see if I can fix that.

[PettyMort]

Heh, yeah, four topics does seem a bit overkill.

 

 

Silly tapatalk. 

[starsapart]

Oh, honey.  My hugs for you.

 

I'll be here to provide support in whatever manner you need.

[teddie.bare]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152492359295334

So. Much. This. I need this. I've never felt like I've been able to accomplish anything in the dance arena. I always hit a wall. I've broken down so many other walls, why not this one.

[starsapart]

Wow!!!  How awesome!

[Elastigirl]

Hugs. I'm so sorry. Funny story/cautionary tale: After my mom died I went on a decluttering binge. I was ruthless, so ruthless I threw away some stuff I really liked, for some odd reason that made sense in my mind at the time. The decluttering was good, but we did end up buying  some replacement stuff too.

 

Take your time and grieve how you need to. Be patient with your self. It is hard losing a parent.

[ApfelStrudi]

Oh, Teddie! I'm so sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do from afar, and if it's just sending a box of German goodies to cheer you up, please let me know!

 

That video you posted is amazing. I'm not sure if it could help you break through that wall, but hooplovers has a daily hoop calendar for January, you can find it right here. I put it on my wall, am not expecting to do every day of it but can't hurt, right?

[Cheeky_Echo]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152492359295334

So. Much. This. I need this. I've never felt like I've been able to accomplish anything in the dance arena. I always hit a wall. I've broken down so many other walls, why not this one.

 

Beautiful! Never even heard of hoop dancing before. You can totally do this! 

[Mad Hatter]

I´m so sorry for your loss, sweetie. Hope 2015 will be a better year for you and your family. Lots of hugs! Have a great first challenge!

[teddie.bare]

Because I have photo bucket open :

So much to post and edit when I am alone in a computer. Looking forward to having my routine somewhat back to normal next week

[karinajean]

<3 to you, endless love. 

 

I totally like your general goals. I can't wait to see what you do with hoopdancing. 

[teddie.bare]

Oh, Teddie! I'm so sorry for your loss. If there's anything I can do from afar, and if it's just sending a box of German goodies to cheer you up, please let me know!

 

That video you posted is amazing. I'm not sure if it could help you break through that wall, but hooplovers has a daily hoop calendar for January, you can find it right here. I put it on my wall, am not expecting to do every day of it but can't hurt, right?

 

I can't get the link to work, but thank you so much for letting me know about this! I had just filed her newsletters and hadn't read it yet, so I will see about getting it today (still having problems with both the copy on the blog, and the dropbox link. But I'll mess with it).

 

I hooped so much over my time off work that my abs are KILLING me today. I guess that isn't a bad thing. I'm going to update my challenge to reflect some hoop goals I thought of this weekend.

 

You know what, my inner child would LOVE a cheery box of German love. I'm going to send you a PM You are the best.

[NightWatcher13]

Also sorry to hear about your loss, there are no words that can encompass such a thing as saying your final fairwell to a parent. We're all here for you if you need ears to vent to <3

The challenge start-up you have set so far looks pretty sweet, and the hoop dancing looks amazing! I'm sure soon you'll be proudly posting a "Look what I learned to do!" vid to show off

[The.Introverted.Goddess]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I can't even imagine.

 

Your challenge looks great. Simple, but effective. Best of luck!!

[Devyn]

Wow look at you! Good, simple challenge but still effective! I love it!

[teddie.bare]

Updates!

 

The beginning of my Kitchen Control has started out well. I cleaned out both pantries this last week, and the biggest "junk" cabinet. I was able to move my blender container, yonana, and juicer off of the counter. I still use them, but not that often. I cleaned out two trashcans full of recycle (really, who threw all that paperwork under there, because it certainly wasn't me!?). My husband helped make a little coffee corner, organized my dishes, and started getting his spices sorted out. I still have a long way to go, but it's a start.

 

I have my clear plan for Increasing Strength in place, and had already started it.  Last week I did 6/8/10 drop sets. This week I'm doing 8/10/12. Today was my first set at the higher reps with drop sets, and it wuz hard. Oof. And my sciatic is pissed as heck today, so I only made it 10 mins on the dreadmill. And then I did some stretching. I hope it calms down over night, cause I am so not in the mood for this fight right now. It can take me like 3 months to get one of these flare ups under control, and at some point it will result in surgery. So I'm hoping it's just because I sat for too long last week.

 

I got some good Hoop Sessions in. I haven't forgotten anything, which is good. My arms are bruised, and my abs are super sore. I even spent a whole song working on just playing and dancing with the hoop, which is super awkward for me still. This week, I want to work on the down part of an escalator. I can do the UP quite easily, and sometimes nail a down, but I'm still having a hard time. I will work it in to a mini-flow, as seen here in one of Deanna Love's amazing videos. I can't do a chest roll, but I can do everything else but the down on the escalator (that's when she puts it around her ankle, sends it up to her arm, and then back down).

 

 

I have my first doctor's appointment next Monday. This is my hormone specialist, who wasn't there at my last visit, and his PA was absolutely no use to me. I'm going to start with him. There is a good chance that I just need to get on testosterone replacement - which he's already tried to talk me into. I did a lot of research over my forced holiday, and I think I can narrow it down to three things

1) Low Testosterone (which I know I have)

2) Fibromyalgia (which I have all the symptoms of)

3) I need more quality sleep

 

It could be a combination of the three. I think fibryo is kind of a catch-all for "we don't know what's wrong with you muscoskeletally" so, I'm really trying to get a better answer than that. I am afraid of hormone replacement because my mom had a stroke when they put her on it, and my sister got breast cancer probably from birth control. So I'm looking into some alternative means, I've just been hesitant to commit to it. It's also not cheap and my husband isn't working. So, I have to start somewhere, and this is probably going to it.

[The.Introverted.Goddess]

Sounds like a great first day!! I hope your doctor's appointment goes well next week.

[Fortuositea]

Hi Teddie! So sorry to hear about your loss - hugs! Hope your challenge is going well - good luck with everything!

[teddie.bare]

Man did I see a great quote today,

 

"The measure of greatness is not found in your accomplishments. It's in how much discouragement it takes to stop you."

 

Last year was a pretty big nightmare for me, and I'm just finally coming to the point where I can deal with it. I'd like to just take a moment to recognize how amazing I did sticking with my new healthy habits. Despite my sister getting breast cancer, having to put both a lifelong cat AND dog companion to sleep, having to have an emergency appendectomy, and my father dying, I did not go off the deep end with either my eating or working out. I think that's pretty darn great.

 

Ok. So yesterday was super hard coming back to work. I had a card from my employees waiting for me, and I haven't even been able to read it yet. No less than a dozen times someone said,

"oh my holiday was so horrible. My family all go the flu, and were sick the whole time. How was your holiday?"

piffle. I hate feeling like the one-upper or buzz kill, no one expected me to say,
"well, my dad died the day after Christmas, so I've had better holidays."

Luckily, I've only had to talk about it 3 or 4 times so far today.

 

I got home and I was absolutely wiped. I went to clean up the kitchen, and my husband had forgotten to unload the dishwasher. I was in no shape to deal with it, so I ended up just straightening up the areas we've already started to work on, and put dirty dishes in the sink. After dinner, my daughter fell asleep in my lap (again), which makes for a bad night. Because she was on my lap, I didn't get anything else done. She woke up right before I went to bed, so I handed her off to her daddy and tried to get some sleep. That's still a big struggling point for me.

 

This morning my sciatic was worse. I was in a very serious car accident 18 years ago, and my L5 S1 disc slips out of place about once a year when the weather is cold - it routinely pinches my sciatic by up to 80%. It's starting the bulge before the slip, which causes me a great deal of nerve pain in my hip/leg. I got up and did 20 minutes of stretching, which I never do. It was a nice way to start my day, while watching the sunrise. When I hit the gym today, I did 20 minutes of the stair machine, which doesn't aggravate it, worked on some upper body bodyweight strength, and then stretched for another 20 minutes. At the end I was definitely starting to get the deep pain and stiffness in my lower back that the disc slip causes, but my sciatic so far has been far less angry. I'm about to get up and take myself for a short walk to keep from sitting for too long. I'm really hoping it calms down easily, it is a nightmare to get it to slip back in to place. It's super painful the entire time it's out, and I have to keep up with my exercise to convince it to get better. Eventually it won't work and I'll need surgery, but now is not that time (YOU HEAR ME!? NOT THE TIME).

 

So no hooping last night. I'm not sure about today, I have to make my dad's funeral announcement after work. I'm sure I'll need to take a mental break, so I'll try to work on my elevators then. I have GOT to keep my daughter from falling asleep tonight. I know I screwed up her sleeping habits when I was home, but it's been a mess to get her back on track.

[Elastigirl]

Sending more hugs.  Good call on not dealing with the dishes. Sometimes you are just too emotionally exhausted too deal with life, and it is ok to give yourself some rest time. I hope your back feels better soon-ugh not what you want to be dealing with right now.

And I wholeheartedly agree, you have done amazingly well this year. Any of the things that happened, many people would use as excuses to quit, but you kept to your eating plan and did a good job of exercising, but also listening to your body. You inspire me!

[starsapart]

Man did I see a great quote today,

 

"The measure of greatness is not found in your accomplishments. It's in how much discouragement it takes to stop you."

 

Last year was a pretty big nightmare for me, and I'm just finally coming to the point where I can deal with it. I'd like to just take a moment to recognize how amazing I did sticking with my new healthy habits. Despite my sister getting breast cancer, having to put both a lifelong cat AND dog companion to sleep, having to have an emergency appendectomy, and my father dying, I did not go off the deep end with either my eating or working out. I think that's pretty darn great.

 

I've said this before - I think you're a superstar.  You're amazing and should be so proud.

[karinajean]

^^^agree. And your day went really well, all week-meaning coworkers included.

Sent from my iPhone while riding a unicorn through the cosmos.

[Alexandrite]

Let me just...

Because I have photo bucket open :

So much to post and edit when I am alone in a computer. Looking forward to having my routine somewhat back to normal next week

...pull this down here and repost the EPIC CHANGES. Ones that only YOU could do for yourself.

No really, think that over. You are the only one who got up every day, kicked your butt and emotions into gear, and did whatever needed to be done. All year long, every year. There's an award for that, it's called Rocking Life. Give yourself some mirror fist-bumps.

I've lost a parent, my mother back in 2007 from a long health battle. I am also the oldest child in my family and ended up with all the belongings and trappings of her life and dreams. I gave myself a year of using/storing/whatever with everything. At the end of about a year, I was able to say, 'this is who I am' and get rid of what didn't fit, or return it back to family or extended family. Give yourself time.

Also, I handled everything pretty well considering, until I had to deal with the sympathy cards. I think I cried after opening the first one, and then as one or two would arrive in the mail I think they just received my ultimate fury and anger at losing my mother. How some innocuous thing like a card can illicit responses so emotional, I will never understand. It's okay if you leave them be, no one is going to expect you to display them or ask you if you read them yet! (Thank goodness)

I am definitely sorry to hear about your father. If you need a place to rant feel free to PM me, I definitely won't judge.

- Sent from my magic Navi-powered device!

[teddie.bare]

Let me just...

...pull this down here and repost the EPIC CHANGES. Ones that only YOU could do for yourself.

No really, think that over. You are the only one who got up every day, kicked your butt and emotions into gear, and did whatever needed to be done. All year long, every year. There's an award for that, it's called Rocking Life. Give yourself some mirror fist-bumps.

I've lost a parent, my mother back in 2007 from a long health battle. I am also the oldest child in my family and ended up with all the belongings and trappings of her life and dreams. I gave myself a year of using/storing/whatever with everything. At the end of about a year, I was able to say, 'this is who I am' and get rid of what didn't fit, or return it back to family or extended family. Give yourself time.

Also, I handled everything pretty well considering, until I had to deal with the sympathy cards. I think I cried after opening the first one, and then as one or two would arrive in the mail I think they just received my ultimate fury and anger at losing my mother. How some innocuous thing like a card can illicit responses so emotional, I will never understand. It's okay if you leave them be, no one is going to expect you to display them or ask you if you read them yet! (Thank goodness)

I am definitely sorry to hear about your father. If you need a place to rant feel free to PM me, I definitely won't judge.

- Sent from my magic Navi-powered device!

 

I appreciate this. Truly and deeply. I know that part of me is just grasping for the silver lining. I am super proud of myself that I have made my health a priority and that my good habits took me through hard times. That's what this is all about.

 

I'm also frustrated that I'm not where I want to be yet despite my best efforts. I'm super grateful that I had more progress last year than I did the year before. I know I'm at the painful mental hurtle of weight loss. My body doesn't look like I thought it would, and it's hard not to be upset when I put in so much hard work, and see less results than other people. That's -MY- problem. But it doesn't help that I'm stuck on a freaking plateau at the same time I'm dealing with the grief of losing my father. It's just.. a lot. On top of that, whatever hormones issues I'm having is making it hard for me to find joy in pretty much anything. Honestly, I'm tired of struggling.

 

But I have good days and bad days, like anyone. Today isn't a great day.