A Few Deeper Breaths

Today was the first day that I started to feel quite a bit better. Unfortunately I'm still coughing, and although I can take deeper breaths, I still cannot deeply inhale and exhale without choking/coughing ... so there's a ways to go.

Today marks 1 full week off from the gym. I cannot describe the frustration ... but I am just trying to hold on to the thought that this is needed rest time. Rushing back could cause a relapse, and then that would just be devastating!

Dad has been visiting from Bangladesh for the past few days. He leaves tomorrow night.
When he was visiting back in October [you can read this past post], we had quite a few issues with food. I was in the middle of the Whole Life Challenge and he just didn't get it. As a diabetic, he should be extra careful with his food intake ... but he isn't, and it drives me insane.

The second day he was here we stopped at the supermarket - he bought some chips, some chocolate, cake, and different types of bread - sliced, pita, croissant. In the days leading up to his visit I kept telling myself - don't get into a fight with dad over food. He's only here for a while. Just let it go. I tell you though after seeing him put those things in the shopping cart, it was insanely tough to bite my tongue. Of course he offered me the foods; he commented about my eating habits; he joked about food (which gets me the most) etc. etc. I had a really rough time dealing with it ... but I still kept quiet. I decided that it was his life. He could do whatever he wanted to do. In my house, I'll only provide tasty, healthy options. If he wants something from outside, then he can do it ... but that does not mean that I need to partake.

The main reason that I didn't want to get into an argument with him is because he's my dad after all. I tried to make clear (again) that his joking about food really upsets me but I also didn't harp on it. He's set in his ways and his mentality. I do not want to fight with him and then have him travel back to Bangladesh ... I do not want there to be bitter feelings between us because I might hurt his feelings by being angry about food. It's not worth it. I would be so devastated if something happened to him and the last the we had done was leave each other in anger.

Bigger picture. Bigger picture.

The best I can do is lead by example and stay true to my new lifestyle.

So, that has been quite a challenge. It's gotten a bit better though of course there are a few daily incidents that drive me crazy. Still. No need to lose sleep over it. We all make our choices and then have to deal with the consequences.

I'm hoping to get back to the gym by Saturday. I'll probably ease myself into my routine, which is fine. I just want to move again (and not cough)!

Hospital and Home

Just a quick post to say thank you so much for all the well wishes.

I've been flat on my back since Friday except for a trip to the hospital. I had a really high fever and was fatigued beyond belief.

The doctor put me on 3 days bed rest plus antibiotics and a few other meds.

My appetite and energy level have been absolutely zero.

Today was the first day that resembled something slightly normal - feeling better after showering and having a light breakfast of 2 dates and some green tea.

My dad is here for 5 days, mostly for doctor's checkups, so I needed to muster up some energy to drive him to the hospital. I know he could have taken a taxi but I felt like I needed to get some fresh air. The fresh air did feel good, but boy was I feeling shaky behind the wheel.

Back home now with another cup of tea. I plan on curling into bed with an old season of Top Chef and just dozing.

I hate missing the gym, but seeing as how I find walking from the bedroom to the living room absolutely exhausting, I know there is no way I can do anything else.

Surely in time.

Out of curiosity I had to weigh myself this morning. I knew I had dropped a bit, but I've actually dropped 4 kg (almost 9 lbs) since New Years day. I know it's not a pure loss since I'm ill and don't have a normal appetite, but seeing that low number just kept reminding me that as much as feeling ill makes me crave a bit of comfort food (actually, only my best friend's Mac n' Cheese at the moment), sticking to light soups and nutrient-rich/high energy foods is what I need to focus on first.

Ok. Enough computer time for now. Perhaps a bit of blog commenting later.

Thanks for all the love guys.
It really made me feel warm and fuzzy.

Feeling like a total Loser

Last night I felt like I was getting a bit of a cough. This morning there was no doubt that I had some sort of a cold ... and by mid-morning it was completely clear that my bronchitis was back.

Seriously? What is going on?

I spent a lot of time moping and crying about being such a loser - Here we are in the new year. It's Day 4 and I've already got a string of excuses for not being able to do all that I want - sore arm/cough - Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Cranky is an understatement of a description of how I feel.

I cried a lot this afternoon. I know it doesn't achieve anything, but it was the only way I could release some of my frustration.

I'm on a roll. I don't want to stop now - for any reason.

D was great in trying to keep me calm but I'm stubborn and was pretty adamant about remaining cranky. Still, I couldn't help but agree with some of the things he said.

I think the biggest help was realizing that I wasn't 'starting over.' It's not like I fell off the wagon, gained  a lot of weight at the end of the year, and was dusting off my gym membership card.

I'm continuing what I started last year. Today is not the beginning of a new year with a new plan with a new attitude. Today is day 369, and on day 369 I happen to be ill and need to take a break.

It makes sense to me, but I'm still cranky and grumpy about it.

It's only 2 p.m. I don't know what I'm going to do today. Ideally I would be doing 60 burpees (ok, did I just use ideally and burpees in the same sentence?) and going to CrossFit.

Right now my reality calls for a ton of water, Kleenex, my inhaler, and my bed.

I feel like a total loser. Bah.

Bewildered

I feel pretty confident that I know the difference between being sore and being injured. Although my arms and my thighs have been feeling crazy sore - the kind where you say ouch with every movement & you can't lift your arms to move your coffee cup to your lips let alone brush your hair - I really did put my soreness towards Monday push-ups/push presses & squats along with bike riding for the first time on Tuesday ...

The pain really did get quite bad so I took a painkiller. It didn't really help. This morning when I woke up, it felt worse (though possibly from inactivity during sleep). What really shocked me, however, was that both my triceps were swollen. My right arm was huge! I had never seen my arm react like that before.

Still, I'm convinced that it's not an injury. I guess my body just reacted negatively to the workout ... add the burpees plus the kickboxing from yesterday (particularly throwing elbows at the pads; that definitely didn't help), and I don't think I did my arms any favors.

I hate having to take painkillers, but I'm sticking to that at the moment. I decided to also try some KT tape. I really don't know if it works, and although their website is quite detailed, I have to admit that I'm a bit skeptical as to whether or not it really is effective. Still, it can't hurt, right? (I hope) [Has anyone ever used this tape? Did it help?]

This pain, unfortunately, has overshadowed the really big news of the day which is something that I've been looking forward to with great excitement and anticipation for the past two weeks ... I joined a martial arts academy!!

Sidekick Academy is the leading martial arts (namely taekwondo and jiu-jitsu) academy in Kuwait. I've heard many, many good things about it ... and today I decided to check it out. They told me you could try your first class for free - so I did and then I signed up! :)

I have quite a few things to say about the academy and my experience so I'll save that for another post.

In the meantime, I'm resting and trying to get through this soreness plus resist what feels like an oncoming cold (seriously?!).

My food was less than stellar today which surprises and disappoints me, but I know it's not a habit. It was carelessness on my part.

Today's Workout
Stretching: 15 minutes
Sidekick Academy: 1 1/2 hours (taekwondo/kickboxing & jiu-jitsu)
Burpees: 20 - arms and legs were just way too sore to continue past 20 {challenge total: 140/20,130}


Today's Food
Breakfast: Lebanese mezze with bread (again)
Lunch: Small baked sweet potato with black bean salsa (I've come to really like this combo)
Dinner: Pan seared white fish with half a baked potato and black bean salsa (as I said, I really like the combo plus I had made a ton of that salsa)
Snacks: cup of green tea; 6 chocolate covered coffee beans; 1 chocolate chip cookie; 1 chocolate tart (I'm not proud of those chocolate items; I think my emotions/general funk of my arm/leg pain got the best of me)

Pushing through the soreness

I was still super-sore this morning. I mean, super, super, super sore --- I could barely lift my hands up to my head to tie my hair back. I guess that's what I get for the 200 push presses (only a 20 kg/45 lb bar though - wtf?) along with 200 push-ups that we did on Monday. In addition to my arms, my thighs were killer sore - I think it's a combination of the 200+ squats from Monday as well as the frantic biking  of yesterday ...

Am I complaining? No.

I'm just surprised at how sore I am. Not doing CrossFit for 3 weeks will do that to you I guess!

I went to the gym this morning and couldn't help but laugh when I saw that it was empty. What happened to everyone's New Year's Resolutions? lol

I didn't have anything adventurous planned for this morning. I decided to do a slow and steady walk on the treadmill at an incline to loosen up my thigh muscles. The first 3 minutes were really painful. I actually thought about stopping, but I knew that the only way to loosen them up was to keep moving. Slowly but surely, my muscles began to loosen up and by the end of the half hour, I felt fine. My legs were still a little sore, but not anywhere close to how they were feeling before.

I then decided to tackle the burpees challenge that I set for myself. I never, ever thought that I would do burpees voluntarily, but as both Jenn and Norma have said before - if you hate it, you should do it! How else will I get better at them unless I practice (I'm saying all these positive things but believe me, I'm still resisting inside). Anyway - 60 burpees done.

Unfortunately since nobody showed up for Body Balance class it was cancelled so I had to stretch on my own. The instructor did work with me for a bit though to help me loosen up my tricep and chest muscles. It helped SO much!

I had the rest of the afternoon to get some errands done and rest a bit before heading out to kickboxing class. I was really nervous about how my legs and arms were going to hold up for the class, but I survived! I definitely paused more times than I would have liked to, but there were points when my arms were just burning. Still, no pain, no gain ... so I kept punching on. It was tough, but it felt great to be back!

At night I met up with a friend of mine who is visiting from the States. She's actually the only person I've literally known my whole life. It was lovely catching up :)

Today's Workout
Stretching: 20 minutes
Treadmill: 30 minutes (slow, inclined walk)
Burpees: 60 {challenge total: 120/20,130}
Cardio kickboxing: 1 hour {class at ClubFit}

Today's Food
Breakfast: Egg white and black bean salsa scramble (turned out much better than I expected)
Lunch: Small baked sweet potato with black bean salsa (I've got a ton that needs to be used up)
Dinner: Grilled lamb with some hummus and a few other bits of mezze + a piece of bread that I should have resisted :/
Snacks: 1 banana; 1 tablespoon of peanut butter; cup of green tea; 3 dates; 6 cranberries

New Year & New Adventure + January 2013 Goals

Here we go! It's the start of 2013.

Since we're starting off a new year, I decided to try something new today ... learn how to ride a bike.

I've never ridden a bike before. I know I tried a couple of times when I was younger, but I never really got into it. Then when I got older I was too scared of falling and breaking something ... so I never pursued it though I was always interested in doing it.

One of my friends, LAF, told me that she'd teach me how to ride a bike. So today we gave it a go. We went to a place called Green Island here in Kuwait where she told me we could rent bikes. There was only one adult sized bike left at the rental place so we grabbed it. It was a bit wobbly. I wasn't sure it was safe to ride as it didn't look sturdy at all. LAF tried it out first and saw that the wheels weren't straight ... when she went to adjust it, some screw fell off so we decided to take it back. I was going to carry it so I grabbed onto the handles and lifted it up, and this is what happened:

The handles came off and the front wheel fell off!! It caught me completely by surprise! We could not stop laughing. It was hilarious - and of course I was relieved that this did not happen while I was on the bike!!

Unfortunately no big bikes were available so I took a small one. It wasn't very comfortable, but it was something. LAF did what anybody teaching someone how to ride a bike would do -- she held on and ran alongside me while I got the hang of it. I felt like I was 5. The island was so crowded! I was constantly freaking out by oncoming kids on their bikes (show offs! lol), bouncy balls coming my way, and a ton of pedestrians! For some reason my bike was very attracted to crowds and objects ... the sidewalk would be empty save for one pillar and my bike would head towards it ...

One of many light crashes -- I'm just glad I didn't cycle into the sea!

After a few rounds we saw that the bigger bikes were back and could finally swap out for normal sized bikes. This felt much better. I didn't fall, phew, but I did screech to a halt many, many times, as well as just hit a wall because I couldn't bring myself to brake properly. By the end of the 1 1/2 hours, I had worked up a great sweat!

Me at the end of the bike ride! I survived without breaking anything (or hurting anyone)! :)

It was a great way to start off the year! Who knows, maybe I'll work this into my workout schedule too :) It was a nice break and definitely lovely to be outdoors and get some fresh air.

---------------------

I know that I set larger goals for the year, but these are my specific goals for the month.

1) Complete 2 outdoor runs

2) Complete Week 7 of C25K (yes, I'm still not done, ugh!!)

3) Complete Complete 4 Body Balance/Pilates/Yoga classes

4) Complete a total of 15 cardio sessions

5) Complete a total of 15 weight training sessions

6) Complete a total of 15 MMA sessions (any form of MMA - boxing/kickboxing/etc.)

7) Complete Quizzes 2-4 of my Fitness Nutrition Course

8) Try 2 new healthy/clean recipes this month & post them on the blog

9) Complete the outline for my piece of writing that's due in April

10) Finish organizing my bookshelves in my home office


It may sound like a lot, but there's a lot I want to do and there's a long way I need to go before I get to where I want to be ... so let's get to it!


Today's Workout
Stretching: 15 minutes
Cycling: 1 1/2 hours
Burpees: 60 {challenge total: 60/20,130)


Today's Food
Breakfast: Egg white omelet with mushrooms and tomatoes; green tea
Lunch: A couple of dates, a handful of walnuts, and a tablespoon of peanut butter {I couldn't think of anything else to eat}
Dinner: Grilled salmon with mustard and herbs + steamed carrots and broccoli
Snack: 6 cranberries

13 in 13 Post #1: Goals for 2013

Planning and setting goals have definitely helped me achieve everything that I did in 2013. It took time and it definitely took discipline to stick to the plans (and I didn't always succeed at that & I found out the hard way - not sticking to the plan = not getting the results I want). This year, I'm hoping to continue on the positive trend I started in 2012. What better way than to join a challenge with some other amazing bloggers? Here's my first post for the 13 in 13 Challenge hosted by Rebecca at Weight Wars.

Question of the month: If you could wake up tomorrow and have everything the way you wanted it to be what would it look like? Describe it to us. 

I have to start off by saying I am very happy with everything the way it is right now. I love where I live, I love my job, I love my friends and family, and I love the newfound health/confidence/lifestyle that I've established and developed so far. I think it's for this reason that my main goal for 2013 is to continue on the path that I'm on. That being said, there's still a lot of work to be done.

If I were to have everything exactly as I wanted it ...
- I would be a master at whipping up delicious, 100% healthy meals without too my fuss or worry
- I would be at my goal weight, in my goal size dress, and fantastically fit
- My house would be totally de-cluttered and organized to my OCD specifications
- All the things on my bloody to-do list would be accomplished
- There would be a few more stamps of new countries I had traveled to in my passport
- I'd have a Harley Davidson of my parked in my driveway :)

I'm hoping that the goals that I've set for 2013 will help me wake up on January 1, 2014 with everything exactly as I want it! Here we go - my 13 goals for the year:

Personal Goals: 

1) Streamline all my 'memories' into my 2 memory trunks

2) Complete Project De-Clutter


Academic Goals: 

3) Complete 4 publications in whatever form (journal/book chapter)

4) Read 1 chapter & 2 entire articles per week (related to my research)


Health & Fitness Goals: 

5) Eat clean - plan meals weekly, stick to the plan, enjoy the benefits of eating healthy!

6) Lose weight each month, no matter how much; I should end each month lighter than when I began

7) Burpee challenge inspired by Jenn: 20130 burpees in 2013 [divided over 365 days means 56 burpees a day - not including any that are done as part of a CrossFit workout/any workout]

8) Yoga stretching everyday for a minimum of 15 minutes

9) Run an entire 10km

10) Complete a sub-2 minute 500-meter row

11) Achieve at least 30 consecutive double-unders

12) A complete pull-up; work towards reaching this goal each month by doing back exercises & tricep strengthening exercises


Ultimate Goal for the Year:

13) Be at my goal weight by December 31, 2013 [which means losing a total of 15kg/33 lbs this year]