Cephalopod_Dreams recovers in February

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

My last challenge was a bit of a failure, so I'm going to change my focus for this one.

 

My fitness goals will be hard to manage this month - I got hit by a car 10 days ago and injured my elbow, and on the 12th of February I'm having laser eye surgery so I won't be able to do full contact karate for 4 weeks after that either.

 

However I dont want to lose all my momentum and energy just because I cant lift weights for a while. So here's my plan:

 

 Quest 1: 

Mindfulness. I downloaded a mood tracker to help me gauge how fitness / diet / pain affect my mood, but I havent used it since I downloaded it. 

Goal: A = track mood daily B = track mood 5 times a week C = track mood 3 times a week

Reward: A = +3 Wis, +2 Char, B = +1 Wis, +1 Char. C = +1 Wis

 

Quest 2:

I haven't lost a pound since I joined NF 5 months ago. Obviously I need to track my diet better, as I'm pretty sure I have no good idea of what my calories or macros are. I'm scared of food tracking as I don't want to get obsessive and my partner is the one who cooks and I don't want them to think that I'm getting obsessive but something has to be done,

 

EDIT: Ok, my SO is REALLY resistant to me measuring my food. So I'm going to start simple. East at least 80g of protein per day. 

 

Goal: A = 7 days a week . B = 5 days a week . C = 3 days a week.

Reward: A = +3 Str, +2 Con  . B = +2 Str, +1 Con C = +1 Str

 

Quest 3:

Have at least 2 alcohol-free nights a week. I WILL GET THIS DOWN.

 

Goal: A = 3 nights a week free. B = 2 nights a week free. C = 1 night a week free. 

Reward: A = +2 Wis, +3 Con,. B = +1 Wis, + 2 Con.  C = +1 Con.

 

 

Has anyone got any tips on low impact exercise for recovery? 

[sarakingdom]

People underestimate walking.  It's easy on the body, and easy to do a lot of it, which can get a nice baseline level of fitness and burn a lot of calories, especially if it's not flat where you live.  It is relatively slow, which is the downside, but it's the kind of thing you can use podcasts for, or take a walk with partners.  Beyond that, there are things in the gym, all the cardio machines.  (Minus rowing, probably, due to the elbow, which is a shame, because I like it for getting a bit of a resistance workout in with your cardio.)  But, honestly, with eye surgery on the one hand, and a big physical trauma like a car crash and an elbow injury, I would not feel bad taking a month or two at a slower pace.

 

Things like food tracking can become obsessive for some people.  I think it can help to think of it like an audit or a check-in.  If you do it for a couple of weeks to see where you are, you'll probably learn your trends well enough to make some choices without having to permanently track.  If you're worried about your partner's reaction, I think it's very reasonable to say that you've been working hard on your fitness, and that diet more important now that your exercise is restricted for a couple of months, so you're just finding a baseline.

[Kishi]

I second walking. Walking and hiking if that's available are both a lot of fun and relatively low-impact, not to mention good for recovery. Yoga, once your elbow's better, can be a good thing for that also.

 

As far as managing your body and its composition are concerned, getting the diet on track is totally going to be the most important thing. But you can't really tell what needs to change until you track and figure out what it is that you're doing. It isn't something that you have to do indefinitely if it doesn't make you comfortable, but getting some data is useful if you want to figure out what's going in and doing something about it.

 

And, uh, yeah. Either way, fantastic. Good luck with all this. You know we got your back.

[Toshimi]

I didn't want to get obsessive about tracking either, so I do it a little different. I use a food scale and weigh portion sizes. It's super easy for what  I think is a portion to get way larger than it should be. Veggies are kind of a free for all, but I weigh meat and starches. When I started I do it for every meal, at this point as long as I do it a few times a week it keeps me on track. 

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

Thanks for the support guys. It helps me stay motivated and cheerful when I know that I have lovely people to support me.

 

I like the idea of focusing on tracking carbs and proteins, that should be easier.

 

What I need is to find a friend who lives near me whose dog I can borrow to take on long walks! Maybe I should look into Borrow My Doggy.

 

My copy of Level Up Your Life wont get here till about March/April (boo for being in the UK) so I bought an ebook copy of The New Rules of Lifting for Women. It's a good read so far, hopefully it will help me get this macro thing down. I do have a set of food scales at home so there's no reason not to get started straight away.

 

I still dont feel quite ready to set goals though - I've heard 40/30/30 touted a lot but I want to do a little more reading (and taking notes!) first.

[The Shogun]

Hey! I know of another Monk who's currently at the UK who might want to walk or run with you: JediJem! She's on and off on the forums but PM her, maybe? Nothing can be wrong when Nerds are nearby!

[Kishi]

Ooh, I've read NROL. It's a good book, based around results more than anything else. It'll help.

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

Thanks Shogun  

 

I've been walking more recently - it's the one upside of not having my motorbike. Now that it's springtime I'm really enjoying taking a walk and looking at the new flowers and song birds.

 

My silly elbow still wont support exercise so there's no karate and no weights I miss lifting and I was only doing it for 4 weeks! 

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

My colleagues bullied me into going back to A&E today as two and a half weeks after my accident my elbow is still swollen and painful and I keep getting pins and needles in my hands. I can now definitively say that my arm is NOT broken, but swelling in the elbow is pressing on the ulnar nerve causing the pain and numbness. It will go away eventually.

 

However I'm stuck in a position where I can't do karate or weights, so I haven't worked out since the first / second week of January - and that was after a christmas break! My weight is going up, my trousers are getting tighter and I am extremely frustrated with my lack of progress.

 

On the plus side I seem to be getting this alcohol reduction thing down! Three days with no booze at all last week and I'm feeling positive this week. Fingers crossed I can at least get something right.

[sarakingdom]

This I can help with.  Ice pack on your elbow as often as you can stand it.  That'll help the swelling a lot, and hopefully stop that worrying pins and needles.  Just ice all day long, if you can.

 

For recovery exercise, see if you can get in some longer walks, and maybe focus on drinking more water and getting some more fruits and vegetables, and see if that helps along with your protein goal.

[Kishi]

Sara's right. I've had times when I couldn't train as such either, and during those times I've had a lot of success with bringing the calories down low and focusing on high quality proteins and veggies. Get lots of sleep and try not to stress too much if you can help it. You'd be surprised at how much that'll help you shed excess weight, or at least keep you at maintenance.

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

Well this was a difficult weekend.

 

I had my surgery on Friday and it all went well - laser eyes installed successfully! I had a checkup the next day and I was super excited because my dad was driving 139 miles to come and visit me. Unfortunately before I got home from my checkup Dad was in a traffic accident while parked outside my house. Thankfully he wasn't hurt but it was pretty stressful, put a cloud over Saturday and cut his visit short, as he had to get a tow home on Monday morning rather than stay until Tuesday.

 

We had a nice Saturday night anyway and went out for a meal with friends so that was lovely, although I seriously over indulged. Dad took the kids out on Sunday to spend some quality time with them, and also to give me and my SO some quality time. Unfortunately despite having gone out for a lovely dinner the night before, and milkshake and cooked breakfast on Sunday, my daughter was an absolute cow while out with my Dad, doing things that she absolutely knows she's not allowed to do. I was furious with her and unfortunately disagreed with my SO on how to handle it, which really took over our Sunday and just made the whole thing stressful.

 

I'm now entering week 3 of this challenge unable to exercise for at least another week due to my eye surgery, with the added pain that my elbow is still sore. I feel like my weekend was a massive failure, I'm annoyed with my daughter for embarrassing me with her poor behaviour and I'm feeling completely low and exhausted. I've continued gaining weight since Christmas and despite the protestations of my SO i KNOW it isn't muscle because I haven't been exercising. I feel like a failure in quite a few aspects of my life right now and it's exhausting. 

[Kishi]

Geez, what is it with you guys and traffic problems out there? If it's not one thing it's another.

 

Pardon the pun, but look on the bright side - your training is being curtailed for medical reasons that do have a definite end-date attached to them, as opposed to an ongoing thing like with the elbow.

 

As for the kids, well... that's not something I'm qualified to give any advice or encouragement on. On the other hand, I hope it's helpful if I point out that even if you and your SO don't agree on how to address this, you both agree that it needs to be addressed, and in time the issue will pass.

 

I definitely understand being exhausted by feelings of failure. I can't really tell you how to feel, because feels are feels. FWIW, though, it doesn't sound to me like you're a failure at all. You set out a couple weeks ago with some goals, and... life happened. As it does. It gets all of us around here; none of us are immune. I like to use a quote that I've attributed to the Marines, but I've heard lots of variants of it - Adapt, Improvise, Overcome.

 

The truth is, even if it doesn't feel like it, you do have choices and you do have options. So the goals of two weeks ago aren't working. Okay. Time to abandon that position and adapt to circumstances. Figure out what you can do that would be good for you, and go to work doing those things. Which may mean just relaxing and taking it a day at a time; that's a legit strategy when things go sideways, and sometimes all you can do is wait your life out. Doesn't mean you have to be idle while waiting.

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

Thanks for the support, I appreciate that you keep making positive comments even though I've been mostly whining for a while.

 

I had a small victory yesterday: we had friends over for role playing games and even though everyone else was drinking and my SO repeatedly offered me wine I stuck with tea and coffee and had fun, without feeling like I was missing out. Hooray! From such small steps is progress made I suppose. I'll do my best to take it one meal and one day at a time. 

[Kishi]

Large victories are made of small ones. That's honestly how they tend to work. Cool.

 

You got more to get. You can do it!

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

I'm keeping up with the mood tracking, but booze limitation and actual exercise are not going so well. The insurance company messed up my claim and between family stuff and health stuff it's all just gone wrong. I know that I'm making excuses for myself and I'm pretty full of self loathing for that reason. 

 

I worry that maybe I dont want it enough, that I'm not trying hard enough, and it makes me hate myself. 

[Kishi]

Vicious cycle, huh? For what it's worth, I know how you feel. My challenge has turned out mostly the same way - all this stuff I wanted to do that ultimately I ended up not doing.

 

It's not a happy place, but factually speaking, it's no different than being back at the starting point.

 

For the sake of your happiness, I would advise that you take the next few days to breathe and figure out what you would most enjoy, and then take the steps necessary to make these enjoyable things more a part of your life.

 

We're here with you. We're all of us struggling, and we'll keep on going.

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

Thanks Kishi.

 

I actually had a good week last week. I went alcohol free five days of the week and reduced my drinking on the other two days - I lost 2lbs. I'll need to take some time to look over my goals and decide if I've earned any points, but I might take a while to examine what I want before I jump in to another challenge.

 

Hopefully I'll be able to get back on track now, as I'm back on the bike and back at karate as of yesterday. All I need to do now is head to the gym and keep it up. 

[Cephalopod_Dreams]

OK, time for a quest summary I suppose.

 

Quest 1: 

Goal: B = track mood 5 times a week 

Reward: B = +1 Wis, +1 Char

 

Not quite there yet but I'm making progress. Making an active effort to be aware of my moods swings is slowly improving my ability to notice when I'm not as ok as I think I am. 

 

Quest 2:

East at least 80g of protein per day. 

Goal:  B = 5 days a week 

Reward:  B = +2 Str, +1 Con 

 

OK, I didn't ACTUALLY track my food as my SO is WAAY against that, but I did find myself making conscious decisions about food based on the nutritional value and my goals. Hopefully this is a good start. 

 

Quest 3:

Have at least 2 alcohol-free nights a week. I WILL GET THIS DOWN.

Goal: B = 2 nights a week free. 

Reward: B = +1 Wis, + 2 Con. 

 

I consistently managed 2 nights free, with reduced consumption on the nights I did drink. On the last week of the challenge I went 5 nights alcohol free and lost 2lbs! Then the weight came back