Stalled…very uncool

I originally hit 189 on June 6th (my first goal). I’ve been hovering around there since then. That’s also around the same time all the rain started so nighttime zombie runs became a thing of the past. The rain is finally gone so it’s definitely time to get back into gear!! I don’t know if they have anything in common, but if my stall stops after I start back again, I’ll be happy.

I went to Freight House four days last week – I was going just two or three days a week. I plan on continuing that trend (I don’t go on Fridays because it’s more of a game day and I don’t to feel like I’m holding a partner/team back with my bad knee and weak arm). I had originally planned on four to five days a week, but since I injured myself during my first week (falling out of a bronco, not in the class), I haven’t been able to…I’m comfortable enough to modify exercises that I can no longer do until my knee is completely healed.

As a side note, I get frustrated at the weakness of my arm during workouts, but I really have to focus on reminding myself during those times that a few months ago, I couldn’t even use weights and my arm got tired MUCH sooner than it does now. I just wish it was back to normal. I wish *I* was back to normal. IIH sucks.

Rain, rain, go away!!

The weakness in my right arm is rearing it’s ugly head lately and I’m really not digging it. I had been able to use 12 pound weights for a short period, but I’m back down to 5 pound weights. I use a heavier weight in my left arm sometimes, but I’m not back up to 12 pounds again. Ryan had to help me do my bun after I got my hair up into a pony tail this morning. I pretty much used all my strength just to get it into a pony tail and couldn’t hold my arm up after that. So frustrating and makes me feel even more weak. I think that’s probably one aspect I like about going to boot camp, I know I have gotten stronger if I think back to my first few days (or weeks!) there.

Freight House today was pretty killer. It was harder on my knee than I expected (I injured it in typical fashion – falling out of a bronco – two months ago and I’m still not 100%). I had to ice it for a long time when I got back. Other than that, man was it good. I wish I could get into a whirlpool hot tub after bootcamp…that would be ideal. =D

It has been raining constantly for the past two weeks – getting really tired of this much water, but on the flip side it’s not nearly as hot as it usually is in the middle of June. I guess we have to take our wins where we can! However, because of the rain, Taryn and I haven’t been able to get our evening runs in. Crossing our fingers that we are able to go tonight – it will be a pick up from Week 3 (hey, as long as we aren’t quitting, I don’t care where we pick up from!). We may just do an extra day this week and next week to catch up.

We did go swimming for about an hour and a half on Sunday afternoon, though – and goodness knows that swimming burns calories!

I said hey, what’s going on

This is my first entry in four years…I have some catching up to do!

As I’ve mentioned, I have a rare neurological disorder known as intracranial hypertension. One of the many side effects that I’ve had to suffer was that I was slowly losing the use of my right arm. I was oftentimes unable to do simple tasks like brush my own hair, pour milk, even hold my purse or fairly light objects in my right hand. The strength in my hand would just give out and I would have to drop things I was holding. My arm was just too weak.

Being on large amounts of various medications also doesn’t help – I had had high blood pressure prior to my diagnosis, but the medications that I ended up on actually raised my blood pressure even more (typical blood pressure for me was well over 200) and I was prescribed a triad of high blood pressure meds that worked together to control it. On average, I was taking nearly 15-20 pills per day.

I knew that I had to do something about my health – I wasn’t gaining anymore, but I was holding steady right around 200 pounds and it wasn’t going anywhere. I had trouble getting from point A to point B because I was always so tired.

Ironically, what’s been my biggest motivator has been my workmates. I started a new job in March of this year. About a month later (right at two months ago!), everyone got into a health kick and they brought in trainers Sean and Kendra from Freight House Fitness to talk to us.

In a word, Sean and Kendra are awesome. I felt immediately relaxed and comfortable with them. They invited us to come and try their gym. Several of us did and still, two months later, an average group of about four to five of us still go every day. This kind of accountability is incredibly motivating and makes me want to go each day. I get in about two to three days each week.

Since starting my Freight House membership, I’ve lost over 16 pounds and have completely overhauled the way I look at food and my diet in general (sugar is almost cut out of my life now). That’s a whole separate post.

My arm feels almost normal (it’s not 100%, but pretty close). I’m down to three pills a day and my blood pressure has stayed in check. I did end up busting my knee falling out of a Bronco after my first week and that’s held me back a little bit, but it’s almost healed (man, knee injuries are the worst!)…but I’ve also started the Zombies Run 5K program with my daughter (which has been a blast!).

So, that’s my “in a nutshell” update – more to come!