Saturday, June 25, 2011

Day 176 - Pain

I am in pain.  It's not a good pain.  It's sciatica, and it has gotten worse.  I can't walk or stand more than 5 or 10 minutes at a stretch without needing to sit down for a minute. 

I googled exercises that I should avoid when suffering from sciatica and discovered many of the exercises I have been doing are on the "do not do" list.  This includes squats, lunges, crunches of any kind, running, and any sort of strength training where the lower back is engaged either actively or as support.  Also on the list are deadlifts, which I have not been doing.  At least I got one thing right.

To heal, I figure I need to reduce and limit my activity for about 4 weeks.  Hopefully not longer, but I'm not too optimistic as this juncture.  In the past 4 days, I have taken two rest days and have swam the other two.  That's it.  No walking, no lifting, no biking.  And the outcome?  I'm still in pain.  Lots of it. 

What can I do?  I can swim.  I can do some strength training as long as it doesn't put stress on my lower back.  I can bike.  And when things start to improve, I can begin incorporating walking back into my routine, starting with short walks around the neighborhood and stopping before the pain really sets in. 

I am frustrating by this pain.  It makes me tired.  I feel derailed and a little defeated.  I know that I can still lose weight, but I will have to watch what and how much I eat more carefully.  I can still exercise, but not nearly as much and without the variety that I need to stay motivated. 

This will be a difficult 4 weeks. 


My pain is concentrated right at the nerve.


Friday, June 10, 2011

Day 161 - Office CHeats

I did well five days in a row this week.  Right up until I went to the office.  I didn't eat sweets, which is a good thing, but I did eat bread and potatoes one night for dinner, and the next day, I ate potatoes at lunch and carb heavy mexican food for dinner.  Started this morning out with a bagel and a donut.  Ugh.  What was that about?

Next week will be a challenge, as I will be up in the office for 4 days.  I'll make a couple of meal over the weekend that I can freeze and take up with me.  That should help me avoid temptation.  I'll need to pick up some paleo snacks from Trader Joes as well. 

Finding myself doubting my weight loss.  I have to take a look in the full body mirror to convince myself that I have actually lost 35 lbs.  I guess I figured I would be in a smaller size by now.  Guess it doesn't really matter.  I wear the same t-shirts, yoga pants, and hoodies that I wore at my heaviest, so sometimes it's easy to forget that I have lost weight.  Because the yoga pants and hoodies both have stretch, it's difficult to tell that they fit looser.  But they do.  Some of my workout t-shirts have gotten too big.  So there is progress. 

Concerned about my sciatica and the triathlon sprint in October.  Will I be able to do it?

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Day 156 - Losing Steam

I've been unmotivated lately.  Still exercising, but my eating could use improvement.  Over the past couple of weeks, I've eaten paleo about 60% of the time.  More meals are paleo than are not, but I have eaten peanut butter cups, ice cream, french fries and other foods that are high in sugar or simple carbs.  I could feel it.  When there's a lot of sugar in my diet, my right hand tingles every once in a while and my sleep is interupted. 

I know I feel and am healthier when I stick to a paleo diet, but lately I've felt overwhelmed by the effor required to eat paleo the majority of the time.  Although I do not as a rule buy or eat processed food, preparing three meals a day without starch or grains takes focus.  It takes time. 

I've hit a weight loss plateau.  I am rarely sore, so I suspect my exercises routine(s) aren't challenging my muscles as they once were.  Couple that with three weeks of an only moderately paleo diet, and the scale isn't moving.  I know this is about more than the scale.  That I am losing weight for my health and for my happiness.  But I do get discouraged by how slow the weight loss is in comparison to how much effort I am putting out in the gym and in the kitchen.

My sciatica was getting better with a few trips to the chiropractor/physical therapist and a couple massages.  Then it got worse.  Much worse.  I was thinking about what I had done that might have made it worse, and then it occured to me that I had incorporated sit ups into my circuit training, which I have never done before.  I do lots of core work, but never sit ups.  So I googled "sit ups and low back pain" and discovered multiple warnings that people with any sort of low back pain or injury (including sciatica hip pain) should never perform sit ups.  Never ever. 

I'm tired of hurting.  I have to sit two or three times during a half hour walk to releive the nerve pain in my hip.  I can't run.  I can't hike.  I hate this sciatica.