First Day Back at the Gym!

Yesterday was like a dream - if dreams left you feeling beaten the next day. I cannot even put in to words how much my butt hurts.

I am so happy to be back though, despite the fact that it hurts to put on underwear. I just feel better knowing that I'm exercising along with my good diet. Although diet is the biggest contributor to success, I just didn't feel like I was doing enough. I'm an all or nothing person.

Now, my doctor was a little apprehensive about me returning to the gym, which I understand. On the other hand, she doesn't understand weightlifting at all and had very little advice. "Don't do crunches or squats" What? When was the last time I used my abs in a squat? She even said no body weight squats. What? No, can't do that.

So I headed over to a few bodybuilding forums and consulted the experts of "bro-science" and found some really useful information regarding weight lifting post abdominal tear. The good news? I can do a LOT of the exercises I love as long as I start at a lighter weight and gradually build up. Pretty much all lower body exercises are fair game, which is awesome. On the other hand, upper body sucks.

I wanted to work on my push press, because I hurt myself on the press portion of the clean and jerk. So I tried a stand press with two 20 pound dumbells. I previously used two 35 pound dumbells so I felt that this was a good enough concession. Nope. I felt that familiar pull and tenderness as I raised my arms. I had to knock my press all the way down to two 8 pound dumbells. Ugh.

Oh, and, something I didn't read on any of my forums was bench supported bent over rows. Yeah, almost ripped myself open again. I thought it wasn't a core exercise. It is, it definitely is. Despite having my body supported by one arm and knee on the bench, the slight rotation that comes with bring the weight up was enough.

I think my upper body progression will be really slow for a while. For now, I need to use the upper body exercises as a form of core strengthening, not to work my arms and shoulders. At least for the next three months. At least no one will accuse me of skipping leg day.

Measurement Monday: June 23rd, 2014

I fell off the wagon, it backed over me, and then drove off. Friday I went to happy hour with a few friends. I really did a decent job. I had a skinny margarita and we split nachos and I ate a reasonable amount. Awesome, right? Then they sent me home with the leftovers...so I ate them for breakfast because I woke up starving after eating carbs the night before. Saturday, other than the nachos, I did pretty well. Then my fiance suggested Red Robin for dinner. I was going to get bottomless cooked broccoli and eat my burger without the bun, but then...I dunno...bottomless fries. Needless to say, I ate two servings of fries (how did that happen?) and a third of my burger. I will say I'm glad that I only ate a third of my burger. Normally I would have eaten both servings of fries and my whole burger!

So, then I took the remaining two-thirds of my burger home, and ate it for breakfast on Sunday. Then Sunday I met up with a friend and we had the nugget meal at McDonald's. It's a tradition, don't judge.  Then I didn't really eat the rest of the day. I wasn't hungry until 10 o'clock last night, and I was not going to cook that late.

But today is a new day. I'd like to change my measurement day to Friday (before the cheating), but I like the punishment and immediate repercussion of cheating based on how it affects my measurements.
Abdomen: 44 (-.5)
Waist: 34.5 (0)
Bust: 43.5 (.5)
Chest: 37 (0)
Hip: 46.25 (.25)
Left Arm: 14.5 (1 wtf?)
Left Forearm: 10.75 (0)
Left Calf: 16.125 (-.125)
Left Thigh: 27.5 (0)
Right Arm: 14.25 (.5)
Right Forearm: 10.75 (0)
Right Calf: 16 (0)
Right Thigh: 28 (.75)
Neck: 14.5 (.-25)
Current Weight: 201 pounds (+5)
Inches lost:+2.125
Running total: -3.665 inches, +5 pounds

You know what's most frustrating about this? The fact that the other day, before all this cheating, I had gotten down to 195. It was a new low for me! Ugh. Now I'm up 6 pounds from that. Today I'm seeing my doctor to see if she clears me for exercise. My gym membership starts back up on July first. I am going back to the gym in July regardless. I can't take this sitting around not doing anything crap. Plus, I feel fine! I've felt fine almost the entire time. my abdomen hurt the first month, and since then, for the last two freaking months, I really haven't noticed any change.

On another note, I can't believe my left bicep is up an inch. That seems weird. Yesterday my fiance John, and I finished painting the bathroom. I know there's such a thing as "pump" after exercise, but that seems excessive to me. Plus, I feel like my right bicep would have increased proportionately, especially because I'm right handed (although I paint with both).

I'm not going to cheat this week. It's not happening. I have my own wedding looming, and since I'm making my dress, it'd be great if there was less of me to cover. Sure, my wedding is still a year out, but still. I'm not going to be a fat bride.

Am I Skinny Yet?

I feel like I've been doing really well with not cheating, but I'm not seeing the results I want.

When I think back (okay, look back on my blog), I started keto on May 14th. In just over a month I've lost 10 pounds. I should be over the moon! 10 pounds in a month is a ton of weight for such a small amount of time (at least for a person my size). According to the internet (which is always right), this is what five pounds looks like:

While that woman may be a size zero, I'm going to assume she has normal adult hands. Just looking at how big it is in her hands, I feel accomplished because I've lost twice that. As great as that is, I haven't lost a single pants size. I have a pair of 14 Walmart jeans that barely fit last winter, and I'd like to fit into them again this fall, but at this point I'm feeling like it isn't ever going to happen. Since May, I'm down a half inch on my waist and hips, and up .125 inches on my abdomen. As someone who always loses from my stomach before anywhere else, I'm very frustrated.

This keto diet really seems to have altered how my body loses. I've only lost 4 inches across my body, despite my ten pound loss. Ugh. My follow up with my doc for my abdominal tear is on Monday. Hopefully this means I'll be back at the gym in July. If I'm still not allowed to work out after Monday, I don't know what I'm going to do. Probably cry and watch Disney Movies while drinking a giant chocolate shake.

Some day!

A Belated Evaluation of May's Goals

Today I realized I had set the goal of being able to touch my toes by the end of May. Hah. That didn't happen.

My doc has said no weightlifting, no crunches, no cardio, and no yoga. Apparently I'm one step above bed rest, which is infuriating given that I'm not having any pain from my abdominal tear. Whatever. I'm being re-evaluated on the 22nd, so hopefully I will have a clean bill of health and be able to go back to the gym.

Speaking of the gym, I don't think you understand just how much I miss it. I recently joined Fitocracy (a cool fitness based social network which I will be reviewing once I get more use out of it), which has only made me more anxious to return. It's just frustrating knowing that while some people get hurt doing something typically understood as dangerous (skateboarding, mountain biking, etc), I get injured at the gym.

It's frustrating and I'm really starting to lose motivation. I know that diet is 80% of your fitness, but it feels like I'm wasting my time without being able to lift.

Abdomin Update

I got my CT scan results yesterday. I am officially hernia free. This means I have an abdominal tear. The downside is that I don't really know how long it'll take to heal. I have a follow up in a month and I hope it brings good news, but until then no running, crunches, squats, planks, or climbing up and down ladders fixing my roof (doc already scolded me for that one). No more yoga either. Not for a month. How is my downward dog going? Stagnant. How is learning to touch my toes going? Pitiful.