Really?

Wow.

This has not been a good month. Holiday eating (yum!), didn't go overboard but still had more sugary goodies than I'm used to. Travel eating (yum!), didn't go overboard, but selection is limited. Stomach flu (not so much on the yum), made me a picky eater for over a week.

Also haven't been Crossfitting. Have been keeping fairly active, but this last week has been cold, I've been wiped out from travelling, and there's just a touch of laziness thrown in there. Also, I've been sleeping a whole bunch again - whether or not it's the thyroid thing, winter, illness, or some other thing, it's a bit frustrating.

So, it was with some trepidation that I started myself back on track today and pulled out the tape measure to see how I'm doing. My weight is down a couple of pounds since I got home from LA, so I'm hoping the travel bloat has passed.

I did not expect this:

1/23/2007 (10/30/2007)
Thigh 27" (27.25")
Belly 42" (44.5")
Bum 45.75" (46.5")
Boobs No Bra 47.75" (47.25")
Chest Above Boobs 42.75" (44.5")
Upper Arm 14.75" (14")

Total 219" (224.5")

Since Halloween, I'm down 5.5 inches on my body measurements. Wahooo!

Since Thanksgiving, I'm down 2.25 inches. *grin*

I don't feel thinner, I don't think I look thinner, but I can't argue with these numbers. They prove that in some small ways, I am making progress.

Really.

Back from LA

Well it's been an interesting two weeks. Return home from Williamsburg, promptly get stomach flu/gastroenteritis, immediately upon recovery drive to Los Angeles.

Phew. Am exhausted.

Didn't CF on the drive out there - 5 days of driving and feeling jelly legged from the flu. Once we arrived in LA, I helped my friends move into their sweet apartment in Marina Del Rey, and started re-entering the world of the active person by going for walks.

Walk One : From my cousin's west of the marina, walked up to muscle beach then back to her place.

Walk Two : Dropped off about a mile north of muscle beach by another cousin, walked home to my friend's place just east of the marina.

Walk Three : Around the Getty Museum all day.

I had intended to do a longer walk, but it didn't end up working out. It was also a plan that received gasps of incredulity from locals. "You plan to walk WHERE?" "Do you know how far that is?" "I'll drive you!" "I'll drive you halfway!"

It's okay ma'am. I have a hat.

Here's the plan. I still consider it an active plan as I'd like to do this next time I'm in the area.

Start at my friend's apartment. Walk approximately one mile to the beach around the marina. Walk approximately four miles north along the beach to the Santa Monica Pier. Turn around, reverse directions, and go home.

I'm good at reading maps. I have a degree (undergrad) in Geology. That's reading maps. I have a degree (grad) in Landscape Architecture. That's reading maps. I spent my childhood following my parents through the woods and the desert, sometimes leading them. That's reading maps.

I have a good map of LA, and I have a ruler. I estimated that the walk was between 10 and 11 miles round trip (Google agrees with me). The walk is flat, in easy distance of food, water, and shelter. The walk is interesting. The walk is at sea level. It is probably the easiest 10 mile walk you can imagine, and it was almost unimaginable to the several people I pitched the idea to. Perhaps I've been spoiled by the 13-miler around Minneapolis' Chain of Lakes? I was also raised with my father telling me about the Lyke Wake Walk - a 42 mile slog through heather, bracken, and mud in Yorkshire. To be completed in one go, in one day.

Today I'm just going to do the CFWU to start getting into CF mode. Tomorrow is rest day I think, then back at it full speed.

The good news is that even with all the awful (but tasty!) travel food I've been eating, my weight isn't up. Phew.

Oy. Ve. Redux

Turns out the creeping crud was, and is, stomach flu. Am doing much better today - can sit up for entire minutes!

Of course, this has not been fun, and in some ways it could not have come at a better time. It didn't happen while I was staying at the inlaws, and it didn't happen during my road trip that begins this sunday.

It did, however, happen during my three days of work scheduled between those two trips. Boo.

The full body aches were the worst - even Crossfit doesn't do that at ya.

Feeling like Helen

Oy. Ve.

Happy New Year everybody! I woke up late yesterday after a long hard day of travelling. We came back from Williamsburg Virginia via Atlanta and Chicago, and our bags even got to go sightseeing without us! They got back the next day, safe and sound, and completely mum about their extra journey.

Simplest New Year's Eve ever. Romey and I ordered pizza, watched a movie, and I was in bed at 9:38 PM. Romey's made of tougher stuff than me and saw in the new year solo, playing video games.

New Year's Day was lovely, though Romey made the unfortunate discovery that bronchitis plus 5 degrees outside plus clearing the driveway equals lung damage and relapse. He has spent most of his time since clearing the driveway on the couch and coughing.

I woke later than usual and was pootling around the house when Jmz calls. I ask him immediately how he feels. "Uh, fine?" was the puzzled response. "Me too!" I say, "Isn't it wonderful being in our thirties?" He then invites me to come over and meet him at his gym, and have a go at Helen.

It went pretty well. I suck at pull-ups. No way to gloss over that one. At least I'm working at it - am hoping to be able to do them by next New Year's, or at least spend the year trying. Jmz and I both agree that the primary issue is my weight, and the secondary issue is my strength. The weight is up a touch after the holidays, but I am more slender than I have been in a few years, so I'm obviously trading a bit of pudge for a bit of muscle. May I be lucky enough for this to continue. The pull-ups assist machine was the same old friend I used for pull-up assistance for my three years of weightlifting as an undergrad. I had it on max assist, and biffed many of them. I attempted each one though, and managed the yo-heave-ho my way up a couple of times using swinging, pumping the assisting foot-rest, and light cursing.

The running went just fine. Was only for 200 meters, and I held a 10 minute mile pace, though I ended up pretty winded at the end and with a stitch.

The dumbell swings, at 10#, were laughably easy.

Jmz says that apart from the pullups, I'm not really a buttercup any more. *grin*

Anywho, today I feel like Hell. H-E-Double Hockeysticks. The creeping crud that I have deftly avoided for so long has finally caught up with me. Back of nose is goopy, lungs are claggy *coff* *coff*, energy is low, appetite is completely non-existent, and headache is persistent. From Helen to Hell in 20 short hours. Boo hoo.

My arms and back are lovely and sore though, and that at least feels very very good.

Could have been worse...

Well I'm at the inlaws and we've had a lovely Christmas! I didn't work out over Christmas Eve, Day, or Boxing Day mostly out of laziness. It was lovely.

Yesterday I spent the day intermittently helping my MIL prep for a party that evening, and fretting over my husband. Late afternoon he ended up going into urgent care and came home with a diagnosis of Bronchitis and Acute Sinusitis. This is especially bad because we've got to be careful not to give this to my FIL because he's susceptible to lung infections and he's got a couple of other health issues that make this very dangerous for him. It doesn't help things that I've got a very very mild little cold too. We're such charming houseguests!

So my workout for yesterday happened today. I went rooting around in the storage area and found two 8 lb dumbells. Perfect!

16 lb thrusters (2 x 8 lb dumbells) and 16 lb (2 x 8 lb dumbells) dumbell swings.

Round 1 : 21 of each : 2:48.06 minutes
Round 2 : 15 of each : 2:59.05 minutes (I was really sucking wind at this point and had to rest twice)
Round 3 : 9 of each : 1:40.07 minutes

As I finished I was completely destroyed, jelly legs and all and my first thought was "Hm, I could have worked harder at that."

What? I wasn't tired enough? Seriously, I had a hard time washing my hair afterwards, and also didn't perform a particularly elegant descent down the stairs. It was a bit hobbly. I also didn't so much as sit down in the computer chair to type this up as much as get halfway and fall the rest of the way.

Crossfit really messes up your definition of a "good workout". I'm utterly destroyed, having difficulties with normal everyday functions, and I'm thinking "Well, it was good, but I could have pushed harder."

Reality Check, Aisle Three.

Really? That's all?

Hm.

Playing with my new watch, and seeking ways to work out with no equipment at the inlaws.

Figured I'd try push-ups today. One in the first minute, two in second, three in the third, etc. Made much easier with bleepy mode on the watch.

My rules: These don't have to be perfect pushups, but they've got to be pretty good. The set has to be fairly continuous - pausing allowed, resting is not.

So what is the magic number?

7.

Only seven. Boo! I failed on the sixth push-up in set number eight.

Well, that's actually pretty good progress. When I'm doing my 10 push-ups in my warmup, I usually rest a couple of times. This way I can guarantee that my form stays decent. Decentish.

So, I still can't do 10 awesome ones in a row, but I know that I can do 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 6 in less than eight minutes. 34. Maybe that's the power number of the day. Not 7, but 34.

Legs no workie

Well it's been a heckuva week. Husband had to flit off to exciting and exotic Cranbury, New Jersey for an urgent work thing. I was stuck at home in the smog (can you believe it? in Minnesota?) with a dog who is pining dearly for his beloved Dad, trying like heck to get through a ginormous to-do list that always seems to precede travel. On Saturday we fly away to scenic and educational Williamsburg, Virginia for a week with the inlaws. Phew.

Thus, I have unwittingly missed a whole bunch of workouts this week. I have been pretty grumpy about this too. Boo!

However, there was one I managed to do, it was one I could do from home. It was a repeat of My First Ever Crossfit Workout (tm). The realdeal omfg ur insane workout is something along the lines of "Walking Lunges - 300meters".

Um, no. Just no.

First time I did this I did "Walking Lunges - two laps in basement". It crippled me. I was walking like I'd had surgery to replace my thigh muscles with wood. Walking down stairs was an essay in controlled falling down stairs. Walking up stairs was a trial in self control - think Muad'dib with his hand in the burny box. Rumor has it that that workout reduced my brother, he of the impressive buffitude and really good legs, to scooching down stairs on his bum. The workout is that bad.

Of course, that means I love it. Heh.

Well, I made it three laps in the basement this time, and had to dash because I was late for something. Forgot to time myself. D'oh! I even have a fancy new "I'm an official Crossfictim"
stopwatch watch thing. Thanks Jaho!

Two days later, I'm fine. The legs hurt, of course, and I have a delightful new awareness of the subtle and complex musculature of my own bum, but I'm really fine. A bit slow on stairs, of course, but not falling down them and crying up them.

One might say "progress". :)

The walking lunges went much better this time too, my balance was much better and it was a true walking lunge, not a step-lunge-stand-wobble-lunge-wobble-step-whoopsie-wobble...

I'm trying to hatch a plan for being able to exercise at the inlaws next week. I think I might pick an exercise or two to work to exhaustion at each workout with a short run. Maybe situps/goodmornings, pushups, squats, rest, squats, handstands, lunges, rest, pushups, dips etc... Equipment is a little limited, but I think this plan will help me minimize the time necessary for the workout, and should give me lots of lovely sore muscles. Upon my return home I can dive back into the regular schedule and hopefully not miss again for a while.

Suggestions?

Up the dosage!

Just got back from a checkup with my Endocrinologist. She's thrilled that I've responded so well to the medication so far, and was a bit surprised that I had such a dramatic change with such a low dose. They did a blood test on me, to see how my blood numbers are doing and we got a very strange result.

In July?, my TSH was 2.91. Not very high, but definitions of "high" vary. Some people say over 6 is high, some say over 2 is high. Under.5 is very low.

In October, my TSH was 2.3 or thereabouts.

This week, after 8 weeks of treatment, my TSH was 3. This is weird. It should have gone down.

TSH is the messenger hormone that is produced by the pituitary to stimulate the thyroid and is believed to be the hormone that indicates how the thyroid is doing. So, if your body feels a bit short on thyroid hormone your body sends out more TSH. The thyroid reacts to this and makes more hormone. If your body feels like you have plenty of thyroid hormone, your body sends out very little TSH, and the thyroid makes less hormone.

With me so far?

Well, of course things can go wrong. If your thyroid is sick, your body might have to send out a lot of TSH to really get it cranking so you can make enough of the good stuff. Do this enough and you can stimulate the thyroid to grow. Twice as much thyroid, working half as hard as healthy tissue, should maintain healthy blood levels. As time goes by, and the gland packs it in, even a high TSH can't rev things up enough, and you become deficient in hormone and hypothyroid.

Well, my thyroid has supposedly been keeping up pretty well considering its injury. By supplementing thyroid hormone, the thyroid should have been able to rest a bit. However, my TSH is higher. What the? This means my body is asking for more thyroid activity, not less. We expected my TSH to drop.

Now, I've stated before that TSH is important to know, but really truly doesn't tell us everything. This redoubles that assertion.

My doc was surprised my TSH was up, and when I asked why it was higher, she shrugged and said that she really didn't know. I was glad she said that, I don't mind a doctor saying "I don't know", I do mind a doctor saying "I'm not interested" but that's a rant for another day. She is interested, so I'm satisfied with that.

My theory is that the low dose I've been taking has revved up my body to the point where it wants even more. We gave it an inch, it wants a mile. We'll see...

So the upshot is that she's upping my dosage! We're rechecking my blood numbers in 8 weeks. Yay!

She said I don't need to avoid so-called "goitrogenic" foods (cabbages, sprouts, almonds, etc.). Yay! Turns out that I don't have that kind of goiter. She did say that I have to make absolutely sure that I get enough iodine in my diet, but that she wasn't concerned since I take a multivitamin and eat seafood and seaweed (I have a little scrap a few times a week). We mix iodized salt with our kosher salt for cooking at home too.

She said my chance of recovery is 0%. I've got this for life. My thyroid will slowly continue to fail over time, and my need for supplementary hormone will only increase with time. This doesn't mesh exactly with some other information I've seen, so I'll do some more reading.

She also said that my thyroid should shrink, and that eventually it will probably atrophy almost completely. Much as this makes me sad - I'd rather it heal, I'm pleased that the goiter will shrink away. I'm self-conscious. I don't mean that I'm embarrassed by it, heck, I whip it out at parties and show all my friends. I just mean that I'm continually aware of it - I notice it in mirrors, especially at the gym where the light above the treadmills makes it especially apparent. Husbeast and I see it too often to be able to judge if it is shrinking, but my Mum says it is. Thanks Mum!

Go go gadget goiter!

So Sumo Me

Buttercups, 3 rounds for time

Run 200m
15 Sumo Deadlift Highpulls : Broomstick or 15#
15 Thrusters : Broomstick or 15#

Started at 20#, and to prevent puking I went down to broomstick for the next two rounds. Luckily I'd read up on this workout and it is a metabolic conditioning workout. Work it, and work it hard, and keep the weight light enough to do so. With a higher weight, you slow down and you get a very different result.

I was still pretty slow 6 minutes, 8 minutes, 5 minutes.

It did mark the first time EVER when the run felt like rest. I was bright red, sweating bullets, and Mr Oh-It's-So-Amusing-That-You-Are-Red came by with a couple of smart comments. On the last one I just said, panting, "You try it". He is very good-natured, and does mean well, but Jmz (brother) will hopefully agree that it is hard to think of full, socially graceful sentences mid-workout.

Sumo Deadlift Highpulls are fun. Sumo means wide leg stance. Deadlift means, um, deadlift. Highpull means you get it up to your chin.

Important points of note:

Deadlift form stipulates that you can lightly drag the bar up the fronts of your legs as you stand. Logically, when doing the highpull, you do this up to your shoulders. Unfortunately, I discovered that my boobs are very effective barriers to progress and just about unhinged my bra. Note to self, hoik the bar out a bit.

Second note to self. Don't hoik the bar too much, lest you punch yourself in the chin with a barbell.

Third note to self. Hair in bun does not survive this workout. Hair fell down. All of a sudden had five (yes, five) random men smile at me a say hi as I walked by. Gym rats do prefer blondes, I guess. Well, long hair at least.

Fourth note to self. Flipping through Muscles 'n Gonads or some such similar publication at the reading table, I noticed something. There was a proportion of the women who didn't look like women. There was some key element of femininity missing - a hardness to the face, a squareness to the jaw. All of these women had tremendously impressive bodies, and very oily tans, but this perfection seems to have sapped something from them too. That got me a-thinkin'. All of the uber-buff ladies on the Crossfit site have really impressive bodies too, but they are all stunning. Beautiful and healthy looking, and undeniably feminine, even if very lean and very buff. Makes me wonder about the hormonal effects of the Crossfit program.

Fifth note to self. Remember that this workout gives ya jelly legs.

Now that is interesting...

Well then.

I was naughty this weekend. With the husband away at a Judo thing, I went a little nuts. I had bacon sandwiches, ice cream, brie and grapes, and a small tub of asian pasta salad.

Husband returned, and we had pizza at a friends house.

Then yesterday we had French onion soup.

Carby carby carby. Granted, at no point in this little oo-I'm-being-naughty diversion did I overeat, but I still expected there to be some damage.

I weighed myself and I measured myself.

Weight is the same. Yay!

Measurements are down. Yup. I'm surprised.

Thigh: 27.25" to 26.5" (starting measurement to today's measurement)
Belly: 44.5" to 42.5"
Bum: 46.5" to 46"
Boobs (No Bra): 47.75" to 47.5"
Chest (Above Boobs): 44.5" to 43.5"
Upper Arm: 14" to 14" (bigger!)

10/30 total is 224.5"
11/27 total is 221.25"
12/4 total is 220"

Belly and Upper Arm dropped since last measurement. Boobs are up a bit, but boobs do that.

So, I had an awful lot of fun, and didn't do too much damage. This is good.

Michael's Back!

I celebrated my return to Crossfit with my favorite workout. Wait... no, scratch that. Second favorite workout. My favorite is the dumbell swinging one. That's fun!

As a reminder, my Michael is:

Three rounds for time of
400 M run
10 back extensions
20 situps

Reflections compared to last time? Last time it took me 7 : 9 : 8 minutes (I think). This time it took 7:9:7 minutes (I think). Overall, I did it one minute faster this time.

Here's the funny thing, I made an effort to rest a lot less. I ran a bit slower, at 8 to 8.2 kmh rather than 8.3 to 8.5 kmh. I didn't take a moment to recover after running, and I went straight to the followup exercises.

So, I think I did each individual component a bit slower, but rested less so my overall time improved.

Weird.

Oh, and the situps got easier as time went by. Explain that one to me.

Other things of note...

Had trouble having a brief conversation with my friend Tom during my third run. I could get about two words out at a time. Also got a wicked stitch. OW.

There was a two-person kettlebell class in the back room. That looks like fun! They were really sweet and didn't mind if I snuck in to do my situps. I was going to chat to the lady teaching it and ask about the classes, but she was swinging a kettlebell vigorously and I was trying not to toss my cookies, so I didn't have a chance to ask her.

I was, again, the only person in the gym who was all red and sweaty. Again. There were a couple of guys on weightlifting contraptions who were grunting plenty, but no sweaty. No red.

The closest I saw to someone suffering along with me was one of the ladies in the kettlebell class, she didn't look like she was terribly fit -pretty much, she looked like me- but she was working really hard. She was pushing her limits and it made me really happy to see her! I think she's going to be sore tomorrow.

On Guilt and Rest

Well, I skipped the workouts for Thursday and Friday, and am probably skipping today too.

I hate doing that, it makes me feel guilty. It makes me feel like I deserve the body shape I've got. It makes me feel lazy.

However, I've had a bout of stomach upset. I'll save you the gory details, but will say that I didn't trust myself not to embarrass myself with exertion in public. Today I'll be shovelling the driveway and helping a friend move a concrete mixer - that'll be plenty. Back on the bandwagon tomorrow.

This is my confession, because I seek forgiveness. I do know, however, that the point of exercise, the point of Crossfit is not to never miss a workout. The point is to make it your lifestyle, make it the default. Who cares if you miss a few days or a week, if in general you're at the gym, taking your lumps, and doing the work.

So tomorrow, barring further intestinal woes, back atcha.

I was right... it does hurt today

Don't make me laugh. Abs in bad shape today.

The brother told me a while back "The simpler the workout looks, the more in trouble you are." You ain't kidding.

Take, for instance, yesterday.

Warmup almost as usual, but finally had the strength to go to the next level with developing a solid pushup. Until yesterday, I'd start laying down, push up, descend wobbily, recover for a moment, rinse, repeat. Yesterday, I had the strength to start up in plank pose, at the "up" portion of the pushup, descend wobbily, push up, and recover up in plank pose. Massive difference. It means my core was engaged the whole time. Getting up I thought, gee... that's gonna hurt tomorrow.

I was right.

The workout for yesterday was tremendously simple - scaled down to buttercup level it was "5 pullups 5 times" subbing as necessary if you can't do a pullup.

I can't do a pullup. If I was at my ideal body weight, I think I'd be close, but I'm about 60 pounds overweight right now. I had been working on doing pulldowns, and have tried unsuccessfully to work on jumping pullups. Then I discovered the standing pulldown. Really engages your core - I can't lift as much standing as I can sitting on the squashy seat.

So I start with something easy: 110# 5 times. Work, but not too hard.

Again 110# 5 times. Harder, but not hard enough.

120# 5 times. Um. Have to jump a bit to get it started.

130# 5 times. Gosh, I must look ridiculous. Have to jump quite a bit to get it started. Really working at controlling the nadir before letting the weight down.

140# 5 times. Even with jumping, I failed on the final three.

Ow.

Onto other news. My weight today is officially EXACTLY the same as it was on 10/30/2007. You don't get to know the number though - state secret.

The good news is that my body measurements are down by 3.25 inches

Thigh: 27.25" to 26.5"
Belly: 44.5" to 43.5"
Bum: 46.5" to 46"
Boobs (No Bra): 47.75" to 47"
Chest (Above Boobs): 44.5" to 43.5"
Upper Arm: 14" to 14.75" (bigger!)

10/30 total is 224.5"
11/27 total is 221.25"

If this continues, I might just be out of plus sizes by summertime!

Just occurred to me

It just occurred to me that my brother and I were the only ones at the gym yesterday sucking wind and sweating buckets.

Granted, there weren't many people there, and there was a guy sweating a bit as we were leaving. However, I'm constantly amazed at how often I'm at the gym and I'm the only one who is red faced, sweaty, and breathing hard. Was very glad to have brother along.

Misery loves company. ;)