So I haven't updated since I went to Orford for the summer.
Before then, I was running every day and losing a bit of weight and gaining a bit of muscle, although only in my upper half.
Since then, I had a lapse of leg pain and got to a point where I felt like I couldn't walk well and I had pretty much given up on stairs. Before school started I tried going to physio, with low expectations, to see if anyone could find out what was wrong with my legs. I was pleasantly surprised.
The first two weeks were really hard. I was told my muscles were too tight to really function effectively and that actually explains why I have always been a lousy runner. My muscles were tensed up and I couldn't get much power or stamina from them that way. I had to spend hours a day stretching, which I still try to keep up, but at the time it was relieving all the tension in my legs. I felt like I was walking on stilts. I have no control over them! Crazy! I did the bike every day and now I can go up a few flights of stairs a day and I am getting better at the bike for sure.
Tomorrow I start back running. I have missed the cardio so much! It's like I crave it! I might actually go out right now (it's almost midnight and I'll bring my pepperspray) and I think I'll go running up and down Wellington, the busiest part of town. I'm feeling wide awake and guilty at the same time....I ate about 1000 calories for dinner and at around 10pm. I thought I had planned it well enough so I wouldn't be THAT hungry by the time I got home tonight but I failed. I've been good about it and I had lost about ten pounds on South Beach. I think I just might have to cancel out carbs from my diet other than fruit for a very long time. I seriously think I treat grains like an addiction and I'm getting to the point where I have to approach it as if I'm an alcoholic. I get triggers, I am impulsive, I binge, then I feel disgusting. Then I hate myself for doing that to my metabolism (which has been crazy good lately!).
It's nice that I feel healthier. I don't think I was mentally prepared to attempt weight loss before but now I am. I am decently happy with my body right now but I would love to lose 15 pounds.
For the next MONTH I am not going to have any grains and we will see from there. I'm throwing my bread away tonight. -sigh- So it begins.
Sunday, 4 September 2011
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Day Twenty One.
For the past week I have gone through a mild version of hell.
I had hearing loss, sore throat, allergies, congestion, bloody nose, nausea, and even a trip to the ER for severe pink eye that led to my eyes bleeding. Yes, I have had quite the effing week.
I haven't played bassoon in 5 days, I haven't been able to even walk up stairs without feeling like I wanted to die, and my appetite has been all over the place from not eating at all in a day to not seeming to be able to satisfy.
I did push ups, sit ups, and stretching routinely though and my records for those are still improving so at least I am not stuck getting nowhere. I do feel more sluggish without running and biking and stair climbing so starting tomorrow I will do an all week running routine to make up for lost time. I knew it had to be this way when I had leg pains today for no reason. Time to start over.
Will keep this blog updated, going to try to get some sleep now.
I had hearing loss, sore throat, allergies, congestion, bloody nose, nausea, and even a trip to the ER for severe pink eye that led to my eyes bleeding. Yes, I have had quite the effing week.
I haven't played bassoon in 5 days, I haven't been able to even walk up stairs without feeling like I wanted to die, and my appetite has been all over the place from not eating at all in a day to not seeming to be able to satisfy.
I did push ups, sit ups, and stretching routinely though and my records for those are still improving so at least I am not stuck getting nowhere. I do feel more sluggish without running and biking and stair climbing so starting tomorrow I will do an all week running routine to make up for lost time. I knew it had to be this way when I had leg pains today for no reason. Time to start over.
Will keep this blog updated, going to try to get some sleep now.
Monday, 30 May 2011
Sunday, 29 May 2011
Day Seventeen and Eighteen and Nineteen.
I am not ashamed of double posts anymore.
Why? Because at this point I don't need a blog to keep going. :) That's a good thing! But it's fun to log my progress. My posts are slowly becoming less imaginative, my writing voice sounds more busy than creative, but seriously that's fine. I am not pushing myself to the 110%, I could be doing something to better myself at every moment. Yesterday I thought to myself, I could really practice like 5 hours a day, practice piano and sight singing in between, study french and read books at night, exercise in the morning, etc. I would be a machine. An awesome machine. I'm actually considering doing a week of 110%. Doing something at every moment, no sedentary bull shit, no computer, just progress, practice, and persistence. I am becoming more inspired as I write this. I might do it. In fact the week before Boston would be a perfect time to do it, I have fresh reeds made, school is almost over, and my job watching the old woman is suspended until July for my vacation, the only "work" I will have is babysitting, which I love doing.
Hmmm. Okay, so maybe from June 4th to June 11th will be my 110% week. I will have to work out how talking to boyfriend works in to that, I don't want to cut him off, I miss him enough as it is. I might designate one hour per day and then I'll have the 12th to talk my face off with him before I see him. :)
ANYWAYS. Reality. Day seventeen? Ran 5 miles. Like a boss. In the rain. In running shorts I haven't fit into for a long time. Knees haven't hurt at all since. Over all, that's a huge win.
Day eighteen? 40 sit-ups in 50 seconds. New "15" record for girly push ups. Climbed 20 flights of stairs. I didn't realize how much of a work out I was missing by taking the escalators. I have a potential awesome work out for my legs with every trip I make, the metro takes me down 3 flights, so back up another 3, school is 3 flights up, 3 flights down if I only make the trip once. The library is 2 flights up and down or I guess one super long flight is better to classify it. Maybe 1.5 then. The point is, that's an effing lot. So from now on I will walk up all stairs, but I will walk up the escalators in the metro because those flights are seriously too much. There are probably 100 steps in one, I've counted 30 flight walking up the escalator on the smaller set of stairs at my metro station. Ha.
Today? (Day nineteen) 3 REAL push-ups! -tears of joy- 60 sit ups in 58 seconds!!! -tears of agony and joy- and I did 10 girly push ups before doing the 3 real ones. I am getting stronger and it feels awesome. So today's agenda is more practicing, I think I'm going to try out my new reeds, I'm going to do the bike, do my theory homework, and practice piano at school. Oh and clean. Ew. That'll be cardio for sure.
Stats:
-185 pounds----I weighed myself and I think I must have been heavier than I thought. I already fit into smaller clothes so either I underestimated the growth of my boobs (up 2 cup sizes in college) or I am gaining muscle weight fast. It could be either or both actually. I'm content on how I feel, so as long as I keep getting stronger and losing the extra fat I carry in my legs I'll be happy. My thighs have always been kinda thick, chafing sucks the big one, and they seem to be the most out of proportion part of my body. It's as if everything else is average weight except my legs. Boooo.
-1500 calories day 17, 1400 calories day 18, dunno how many today but so far 500 (3 eggs, a sprinkle of cheese, a banana, coffee with cream and sugar)
-All my work out activities are noted above
346 days to go.
-B.B.
Why? Because at this point I don't need a blog to keep going. :) That's a good thing! But it's fun to log my progress. My posts are slowly becoming less imaginative, my writing voice sounds more busy than creative, but seriously that's fine. I am not pushing myself to the 110%, I could be doing something to better myself at every moment. Yesterday I thought to myself, I could really practice like 5 hours a day, practice piano and sight singing in between, study french and read books at night, exercise in the morning, etc. I would be a machine. An awesome machine. I'm actually considering doing a week of 110%. Doing something at every moment, no sedentary bull shit, no computer, just progress, practice, and persistence. I am becoming more inspired as I write this. I might do it. In fact the week before Boston would be a perfect time to do it, I have fresh reeds made, school is almost over, and my job watching the old woman is suspended until July for my vacation, the only "work" I will have is babysitting, which I love doing.
Hmmm. Okay, so maybe from June 4th to June 11th will be my 110% week. I will have to work out how talking to boyfriend works in to that, I don't want to cut him off, I miss him enough as it is. I might designate one hour per day and then I'll have the 12th to talk my face off with him before I see him. :)
ANYWAYS. Reality. Day seventeen? Ran 5 miles. Like a boss. In the rain. In running shorts I haven't fit into for a long time. Knees haven't hurt at all since. Over all, that's a huge win.
Day eighteen? 40 sit-ups in 50 seconds. New "15" record for girly push ups. Climbed 20 flights of stairs. I didn't realize how much of a work out I was missing by taking the escalators. I have a potential awesome work out for my legs with every trip I make, the metro takes me down 3 flights, so back up another 3, school is 3 flights up, 3 flights down if I only make the trip once. The library is 2 flights up and down or I guess one super long flight is better to classify it. Maybe 1.5 then. The point is, that's an effing lot. So from now on I will walk up all stairs, but I will walk up the escalators in the metro because those flights are seriously too much. There are probably 100 steps in one, I've counted 30 flight walking up the escalator on the smaller set of stairs at my metro station. Ha.
Today? (Day nineteen) 3 REAL push-ups! -tears of joy- 60 sit ups in 58 seconds!!! -tears of agony and joy- and I did 10 girly push ups before doing the 3 real ones. I am getting stronger and it feels awesome. So today's agenda is more practicing, I think I'm going to try out my new reeds, I'm going to do the bike, do my theory homework, and practice piano at school. Oh and clean. Ew. That'll be cardio for sure.
Stats:
-185 pounds----I weighed myself and I think I must have been heavier than I thought. I already fit into smaller clothes so either I underestimated the growth of my boobs (up 2 cup sizes in college) or I am gaining muscle weight fast. It could be either or both actually. I'm content on how I feel, so as long as I keep getting stronger and losing the extra fat I carry in my legs I'll be happy. My thighs have always been kinda thick, chafing sucks the big one, and they seem to be the most out of proportion part of my body. It's as if everything else is average weight except my legs. Boooo.
-1500 calories day 17, 1400 calories day 18, dunno how many today but so far 500 (3 eggs, a sprinkle of cheese, a banana, coffee with cream and sugar)
-All my work out activities are noted above
346 days to go.
-B.B.
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
We will call this "Day Sixteen".
I've been gone for two days. I would say sorry guys, but it's more like sorry to myself.
It's okay though, boyfriend came into town from Boston and has never been to Montreal before. We walked for hours and I think I was actually the most sore I had been in a while from climbing and walking alone. I also ate less because I was distracted so that's good for maintaining weight during a slight change in schedule at least.
Well I'm off to a good start getting back into the swing of things. I warmed up on the bike this morning and did some push ups. I haven't done push ups in a while but I am strangely improving. Perhaps the break helped give my muscles time to settle down from being sore. :) I'm going running after I go to dog walking today and then the rest of the day is mine to dedicate to my paper and reed making.
Good times! This is a short post. Stats later :)
349 days to go.
-B.B
It's okay though, boyfriend came into town from Boston and has never been to Montreal before. We walked for hours and I think I was actually the most sore I had been in a while from climbing and walking alone. I also ate less because I was distracted so that's good for maintaining weight during a slight change in schedule at least.
Well I'm off to a good start getting back into the swing of things. I warmed up on the bike this morning and did some push ups. I haven't done push ups in a while but I am strangely improving. Perhaps the break helped give my muscles time to settle down from being sore. :) I'm going running after I go to dog walking today and then the rest of the day is mine to dedicate to my paper and reed making.
Good times! This is a short post. Stats later :)
349 days to go.
-B.B
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Day Fifteen.
Soooo like I mentioned before, I expected leg aches and pains.
Before I started this, leg pains would occur every now and then, maybe twice a month. Now I have had pains three days in a row. I upped the resistance on my bike so I am thinking that is a factor. But you know what I don't do enough of? Stretching. Stretching is so important, I know this. But I take it for granted.
I propose for myself that I will 1) stretch every morning 2) stretch before and after every exercise routine I do 3) stretch before bed. I want to see if this helps. Last night my right leg kept me awake for about an hour longer than I would have hoped (but it didn't matter, I slept in! Hee hee!) and today it is my left leg but this time canceling my plans for the bike this evening. =( Awww.
So I guess there are three major focal points to this new routine of mine:
1. Aches and pains in my legs
2. Eating habits
3. Making my heart healthier
Those are my most pressing concerns, I think about those things the most during the day. Walking up stairs, taking my first steps in the morning, walking to school--I am thinking about aches and pains. When I'm hungry, when I'm full, when I'm bored--I am thinking about my eating habits (and the potential consequences of the next choices I make!). When during all of these things my heart races or palpitates or I have caffeine--I am thinking about my heart. I'm really in this for being healthy. If it makes me look better that's a bonus and I know that feeling lighter feels better but my heart is a muscle and no matter how many pounds I lose I need to make it stronger. I'm a musician, I plan to be employed until I'm 70! Ha. Maybe. But you see my point, have to maintain my health and state of well-being.
I did sit ups today and went for a long walk, right about the time my left leg had had enough.
That's all I have for today! Boyfriend is here tomorrow though, busing in from Boston. That will be nice :) Anyways!
Stats:
-1700 calories
-20 minute walk, 40 situps, 10 push ups
-8 cups of water
350 days to go.
-B.B
Before I started this, leg pains would occur every now and then, maybe twice a month. Now I have had pains three days in a row. I upped the resistance on my bike so I am thinking that is a factor. But you know what I don't do enough of? Stretching. Stretching is so important, I know this. But I take it for granted.
I propose for myself that I will 1) stretch every morning 2) stretch before and after every exercise routine I do 3) stretch before bed. I want to see if this helps. Last night my right leg kept me awake for about an hour longer than I would have hoped (but it didn't matter, I slept in! Hee hee!) and today it is my left leg but this time canceling my plans for the bike this evening. =( Awww.
So I guess there are three major focal points to this new routine of mine:
1. Aches and pains in my legs
2. Eating habits
3. Making my heart healthier
Those are my most pressing concerns, I think about those things the most during the day. Walking up stairs, taking my first steps in the morning, walking to school--I am thinking about aches and pains. When I'm hungry, when I'm full, when I'm bored--I am thinking about my eating habits (and the potential consequences of the next choices I make!). When during all of these things my heart races or palpitates or I have caffeine--I am thinking about my heart. I'm really in this for being healthy. If it makes me look better that's a bonus and I know that feeling lighter feels better but my heart is a muscle and no matter how many pounds I lose I need to make it stronger. I'm a musician, I plan to be employed until I'm 70! Ha. Maybe. But you see my point, have to maintain my health and state of well-being.
I did sit ups today and went for a long walk, right about the time my left leg had had enough.
That's all I have for today! Boyfriend is here tomorrow though, busing in from Boston. That will be nice :) Anyways!
Stats:
-1700 calories
-20 minute walk, 40 situps, 10 push ups
-8 cups of water
350 days to go.
-B.B
Friday, 20 May 2011
Day Fourteen.
Today was a good day!
I gave myself a very lavish gift of sleeping in this morning, I woke up when I had absolutely no more sleep left in me. Jasper was sprawled out next to me, basking in the afternoon sun, stretching his legs after a big brushing that went down the night before. =P
I got up and stretched my legs myself, my back felt a lot better, my knees were good, everything felt decent. The rest of the afternoon I spent cleaning my apartment and organizing things from my computer. I bought my tickets to Boston today, I sorted some things out with UPS, I signed up with Hydro-Quebec, and I started my paper---all good things that needed to be done. In between all of that I played games, watched shows, made meals, kept hydrated, and exercised.
That sounds like a pretty good day, no? I didn't practice, but tomorrow will be a big bassoon/reed and laundry day for me. Currently my pile of laundry is half the height of my closet. I am serious. The clothes hanging down are touching the dirty clothes. Time for an intervention? Haha. I think I might just bite the bullet and get washing and drying machines, I have the equipment for them but I was waiting so I wouldn't put my parents in an inconvenient financial situation with having to pay for so many other things at once. It would be so nice though to have my whole apartment smell like clean laundry! Heaven!
So back to fitness. I biked today for 15 minutes, but at 3 times the resistance this ride. That means I'm getting stronger! My right leg is currently doing that weird thing though where it hurts a lot inexplicably but as I brainstormed before, I think it happens when I'm building muscle. Anyways, the bike felt great. I did another 80 sit ups today, 40 in the morning and 40 at night and I skipped push ups because I did some of those yesterday.
One thing I am noticing is that my skin is more oily these days. I am definitely keeping hydrated, at least WAY more than I used to, sometimes I would go a week with only having about 16 oz of water a day, and not all at once, and not always just water (soda and juice and what not). Now I'm having at least 6 cups a day but now my skin is oily from sweating more than I'm used to. Any sweat at all would be more than I'm used to. So yeah I use my Neutrogena Morning Burst Scrub in the shower every day now, I love it. I never really had skin problems as a kid. I have naturally smooth, dry, skin. My feet and hands are leathery though. Apparently they have been that way since I was born. Mom thought it was pretty weird when I came into the world with hands and feet like a gorilla's.
Well now that I've curbed all of your appetites, it's time I wrap up this post. Nothing but good news, so I'm going to go to bed (watch one more show).
Stats:
-1400 calories
-15 minutes of the bike, 250 cal burned (I take what the machine says and divide it in half), 80 sit ups, lots of scrubbing (I'm sure that counts, I was working up a sweat doing that too!)
-7 cups of water
351 days to go.
-B.B
I gave myself a very lavish gift of sleeping in this morning, I woke up when I had absolutely no more sleep left in me. Jasper was sprawled out next to me, basking in the afternoon sun, stretching his legs after a big brushing that went down the night before. =P
I got up and stretched my legs myself, my back felt a lot better, my knees were good, everything felt decent. The rest of the afternoon I spent cleaning my apartment and organizing things from my computer. I bought my tickets to Boston today, I sorted some things out with UPS, I signed up with Hydro-Quebec, and I started my paper---all good things that needed to be done. In between all of that I played games, watched shows, made meals, kept hydrated, and exercised.
That sounds like a pretty good day, no? I didn't practice, but tomorrow will be a big bassoon/reed and laundry day for me. Currently my pile of laundry is half the height of my closet. I am serious. The clothes hanging down are touching the dirty clothes. Time for an intervention? Haha. I think I might just bite the bullet and get washing and drying machines, I have the equipment for them but I was waiting so I wouldn't put my parents in an inconvenient financial situation with having to pay for so many other things at once. It would be so nice though to have my whole apartment smell like clean laundry! Heaven!
So back to fitness. I biked today for 15 minutes, but at 3 times the resistance this ride. That means I'm getting stronger! My right leg is currently doing that weird thing though where it hurts a lot inexplicably but as I brainstormed before, I think it happens when I'm building muscle. Anyways, the bike felt great. I did another 80 sit ups today, 40 in the morning and 40 at night and I skipped push ups because I did some of those yesterday.
One thing I am noticing is that my skin is more oily these days. I am definitely keeping hydrated, at least WAY more than I used to, sometimes I would go a week with only having about 16 oz of water a day, and not all at once, and not always just water (soda and juice and what not). Now I'm having at least 6 cups a day but now my skin is oily from sweating more than I'm used to. Any sweat at all would be more than I'm used to. So yeah I use my Neutrogena Morning Burst Scrub in the shower every day now, I love it. I never really had skin problems as a kid. I have naturally smooth, dry, skin. My feet and hands are leathery though. Apparently they have been that way since I was born. Mom thought it was pretty weird when I came into the world with hands and feet like a gorilla's.
Well now that I've curbed all of your appetites, it's time I wrap up this post. Nothing but good news, so I'm going to go to bed (watch one more show).
Stats:
-1400 calories
-15 minutes of the bike, 250 cal burned (I take what the machine says and divide it in half), 80 sit ups, lots of scrubbing (I'm sure that counts, I was working up a sweat doing that too!)
-7 cups of water
351 days to go.
-B.B
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