Category Archives: health & fitness

A narrative of my journeys with diet, exercise, and various healthcare professionals

health & fitness 2 Comments

Ouch.

I really fucked up my back this weekend. Now I know how Aaron felt the few times he messed up his lower back.

I’m still going to work tomorrow, but I’m calling the chiropractor shortly after 9am. Hopefully Dr. Smith can get me in sometime tomorrow. I’d even be willing to take half a day off of work to go get fixed up sooner.

Man. I’m OK as long as I don’t fucking move. As soon as I go to switch position or stand up or whatever, though, my way-lower back hurts like a bitch. I’m not usually one for going to doctors, but I’m definitely going to the chiropractor tomorrow. This is ridiculous.

Update, 7/5/06 12:40pm: Ended up taking the day off of work. Woke up this morning with an improved back, but tired as hell. Called in at 7:30am and told my boss’s voicemail that I screwed up my back painting over the weekend, and that today would be devoted to having quality time with my chiropractor and generally getting better. Promptly went back to bed.

Called the chiropractor’s office at 10:15am. The earliest I’d be able to get in as a new patient would be next week, and that would be with someone other than Dr. Smith, as she’s out of the office. I told the nice receptionist that I’d give it some thought and get back with her. I promptly went upstairs and went back to bed.

My back does feel a little better today. I have plans for maxing and relaxing for a good part of the day, using either the massager or the heating pad on my back to keep it loose. I’m not terribly keen on going to a different chiropractor, as Dr. Smith has been heartily approved by both Aaron and Kris. We’ll see how I feel after today.

weight loss 2 Comments

Diet & Fitness Update, Week #22

Just a quick update this time…

I realized during my inadvertent hour-long nap this evening that I forgot to measure myself last Friday. So, although I know that I’m back down to 208 lbs and 34.2% bodyfat as of Saturday morning, I don’t have measurements to share.

Last week’s exercise was kind of slack: I did my PUSH workout on Monday, jogged on Tuesday, then did nothing for the rest of the week. I focused mainly on getting my carb-protein-fat ratio looking better, and keeping my calories under control, which I did fairly well.

The beginning of this week so far hasn’t been spectacular, and my Mom’s coming to visit starting on Thursday night, so I don’t have any preconceptions of losing a crapload of weight this week. We’ll see, though.

health & fitness 1 Comment

More Exercise Observations

Today, I opted against going to dinner in BG with some old co-workers, because I was looking forward to my jog and a healthy dinner instead.

Have I been abducted by aliens? Replaced with a Beta, a la The Last Starfighter?

I think I crave the dopamine or something. I feel soooo much better when I work out, even if I’m no more productive during the rest of the evening. 🙂 What would normally make me all depressed (‘I’m so unproductive; woe is me’) instead makes me look for something to do (like blogging).

I’m also better able to stave off hunger pangs late in the evening (like now). Or, rather, just flat-out ignore them.

I write this as kind of an historical record (yes, Diana finally exercised on a regular basis), but also as a future motivator. I know I’m going to want to slack sometime soon, and hopefully getting these words down on… well, not on paper, I suppose, but in writing of some form — hopefully that will help re-motivate me when I need it.

weight loss

Diet & Fitness Update, Week #21

After a month-long hiatus of slackitude, I’m back with a vengeance. After gaining back most of my recent weight loss, I managed to lose two pounds this week, bringing me back to 210lbs and 34.5% bodyfat (or thereabouts).

The big deal this week was exercise. I returned to doing my PUSH workouts, and I added jogging into my repertoire. Granted, it was a walk-jog, but it did the job of getting my heart rate up and getting the blood flowing. Even better, Aaron and I went on a walk-jog together on Saturday! If we can make this a weekend habit, it’ll be much easier for us to keep it rolling, I think.

So, the week’s exercise was: Monday, PUSH. Tuesday, jogging. Wednesday, PUSH. Thursday and Friday, rest; and Saturday, jogging. I hadn’t intended to put those rest days in there, but my legs were killing me, and Aaron convinced me that I should let my legs heal instead of going for a jog on Thursday. 🙂 And, as usual, the slackitude rolled over into Friday, when I’d had every intention of doing my PUSH workout. Ah, well. I’ll shoot for more consistency next week.

Food was pretty much the same as usual this week, although I continued to get caught up in my work and ended up foregoing the morning snack, for the most part. Dinner was more protein than usual, though, as I’ve been cooking up chicken breasts for most of the week. I haven’t been tracking my actual calories or carbs or protein lately, which is something I should be doing again. I think I’ll charge up the Palm and start using my Diet Organizer program again.

So, overall, this week was the long-awaited introduction of cardio to my lifestyle. I know I didn’t do nearly as much as I should, but I at least learned that a little cardio won’t kill me. In fact, it feels pretty good.