Wellness, Post Five

Again I'm going to open with how shocked I am by the speed at which the weeks are flying. And I'm thinking of how I said to myself, "Self, the weeks are going to pass by whether or not you do this." And pass by, they have. Five weeks. Wow.

So this past week I hit my first real obstacle: an injury. The inner part of my left ankle was a little sore for a few days, especially at night after a particularly hard work out. Then last Friday, the pain intensified to the point that I was limping. As I sat with some of my best hens, toasting the end of one of the most INSANE busy weeks ever, I elevated my leg and iced it. It was swollen, not horribly, but enough to notice.

Now, I am not a doctor, nor do I play one on t.v., but I do have a fairly good grasp on the human anatomy and my own especially. Yes, for a few fleeting minutes my inner hypochondriac was 100% sure it was a blood clot that was going to break away and travel up to my heart. But I shut her up. Given the location of the pain and the fact that I could actually hear my tendons weeping, the diagnosis was tendonitis.

Makes sense. You take someone who hasn't worked out vigorously for almost 3 years and put her fat ass on a treadmill 5 days a week, something's gonna give. So I stayed off of it for the weekend. Luckily it wasn't in my elbow so I was still able to hoist a wine glass up to my face. Yes, I had a lazy, imbibing weekend without my kids. I felt guilty about the not working out thing, but even I know that putting strain on an already stressed object can be disastrous.

So I went back to the gym on Monday, did my weight sets and then hopped back on the very Elliptical machine that tried to kill me on my first trip back. And guess what? I did it without even hovering near heart attack level! My heart rate was almost 40 BPM less than it was just 5 weeks ago.

Seeing physical progress is great, seeing that the stuff on the inside is getting healthier is even better.

Faith, my Wellness Coach, came over to my house for a check in. I really, really like this chick. She's soft spoken, candid and so very down to earth. As she left, she said, "You're doing so great, I don't even know if you need me!". Au contraire, mon coach. I NEED YOU. Whose face do you think I see when it's 10:00 at night and I want nothing more than to open my fridge, tilt it forward and empty the contents into my mouth??? Having a wellness coach has kept me accountable. Knowing that I'm going to report back to her about my week keeps me on my toes. It's a good thing.

Yesterday I did Body Pump and then rode the bike for 25 minutes. I kept the resistance level on the bike pretty high (for me) and judging by the pools of sweat that had accumulated on and around me at the end, I think I managed to get some good aerobic exercise.

The ankle is feeling much better.

One other awesome thing to report this week: my Molly is slimming down. I thought I had noticed it a couple of weeks ago, but didn't say anything to her. This past Sunday night, when she walked in the door from Big Daddy's, I noticed she was wearing a black down coat. And it was zipped up. Last year I bought her a black down coat from Target. She had outgrown her other one and this was kind of a quick, cheap purchase. When we bought it, she could barely zip it. And earlier this winter, she couldn't zip it at all.

So when I saw her on Sunday night, all zipped up, I asked if that was the coat we bought last year. She positively BEAMED and said, "Yep. And mom, I can totally zip it now." I asked her what she's been doing, eating-wise, to see these kind of results. She told me that she's just eating less.

On one hand, I'm thrilled to the gills for my girl. Her joy over shedding some lbs. is obvious. I want so badly for her to have the confidence and the self assurance that I never had at her age. I want her to have a healthy body, to start high school next fall with every single possible advantage she can have.

But I don't want her to get preoccupied with it, or let it become an obession. I am keeping a very close eye on what she's eating at home, and what I see is good. She's choosing fruits and vegetables and she's not begging for carby, salty foods like she used to.

I'm going to tread this new road very lightly and keep vigilant. My own mom put me on Weight Watchers when I was in 4th grade, and not a day has gone by since then, 34 years, that I haven't thought about my weight. I'm trying to avoid this for my own daughter, but sometimes I wonder if it's just something that happens, no matter how carefully you handle it. Parenting is a trip.

This week in Minnesota we are experience below-zero temps and biting windchills. I am dreaming of warmer days. The past few years I looked at the calendar with dread as winter wore on, knowing that every day I was step closer to spending another miserable summer trying to cover myself up.

Last night, I looked at my calendar. I saw April and May, and I smiled. I'm not quite ready for cap sleeves and tissue weight tees just yet, but it won't be long.

Stay well, friends. And stay warm!