For Cathy, December has been focused on getting back in the healthy habit routine. The holidays in general upset the normal flow of life. It can be a tough time to stage a comeback. Despite this natural time of change and challenges, Cathy got in about 75% of her planned exercise, which is a great achievement during the holidays.
She has had some challenges we all can relate to, travel, illness, injury, and dealing with a major life changes including divorce logistics. I have listed her December exercise log, which we had to modify a bit due to injuries, and January below it. She kept moving in December which was huge! Keeping her chin up has been hard as she has been navigating injuries. Injury and pain can really effect ones desire to workout. I also feel that fear of re-injury or worsening of an issue can be a barrier to getting fitness in. Our three main goals for December were to get back in the groove, focus on making lunch with clean protein and veg, and to get Cathy's back, neck and calf right.
In month 7, we want to freshen up Cathy's routine and have her join a gym. One of the main goals is to provide a non-weight bearing exercise to let her calf really heal and get her doing weight lifting 3-4 times a week. A muscle tear or strain takes a while to heal, at least 6 weeks.
From Cathy: It's been an interesting fall and winter. I had a lengthy take down by a wicked virus that took a while to bounce back from. Fortunately, about the time I was starting to feel back to normal we traveled to Portland to see Beth and my brother and celebrate Thanksgiving.
This was great for rekindling my routine. Everyday we got in a workout or at least took a short walk and Beth made a tasty and super healthy meal at least once each day. So much goodness!
While I was there, I noticed new kinks in my back. My back had been bothering me for weeks and following the five hour flight to Portland it really came to a head. It had become difficult for me to walk, bend or sit comfortably - the pain was constant.
Beth being so proactive and experienced with pain management and the importance of healing, immediately got me appointments for my first ever acupuncture appointment and massage therapy.
When I got to the appointment the acupuncturist (such a kind lady!) and I talked through what I was experiencing in terms of pain and talked through my physical and emotional health. Then she had me lay face down on a massage table. I settled in comfortably and she began inserting needles in my hands, wrists, feet, neck, head, and along my spine. It really just felt like a slight pinch each time a needle was inserted. That was until we got to my lower back.
She inserted the needle and I am pretty sure I levitated about three feet off the table. To say it was a burst of pain would be a vast oversimplification. It was physical pain, emotional pain, nerve pain, all in a pop or burst. It immediately subsided but wow! I think I was storing up a lot there.
Once the needles were in, she just had me relax and lay on the table for 30 minutes. During that time I meditated and tried to release all the tension I was carrying in my lower back. When she returned she removed the needles and did some cupping (I LOVE CUPPING) where she used cups on my back that she heated to remove the air and moved around like suction cups to loosen the fascia. Then she let me know we were done and left the room so I could get dressed.
Except I couldn't get up...
I tried lifting myself up to all fours but the lower back pain was so intense that I couldn't do it at first. I started managed to get dressed using some serious creativity and walked downstairs. When I walked my legs were straight but my torso was tilted to avoid the shooting pain that would intermittently hit.
Beth and I went to lunch and figured the pain would subside eventually so I went back for my massage. I told the masseuse about my pain and she did a thorough massage that felt amazing. But the same thing happened when I tried to get dressed.
By the time we got back to Beth's house I was concerned. I hadn't experienced this much pain before and I feared there was a real problem. Beth set me up in her room with pillows under my knees and I read until I went to sleep. The next morning was Thanksgiving and Beth, my brother, and I had plans to do a Turkeython 5k. I pretty much figured that wasn't going to happen.
When I woke up the next day, I was on my back I dreaded trying to roll over. I rolled to my side and pushed myself up with my arms. It didn't hurt. I sat up. I didn't hurt. I walked to the bathroom. Nothing. No pain. I was blown away. It was if all of that tension and pain needed to be released for me to really heal. It was a Thanksgiving miracle!
Beth, Mike and I completed our 5k and I felt great.
I landed back in Michigan feeling primed and ready to resume my fitness routine. Except when I went to kickboxing I landed on my foot funny and felt a SPROING in my calf - like a mattress coil springing out of a bed. Really calf muscle, first day back!? Then my back was irritated again after doing a superman exercise.
I was pretty discouraged. Pain doesn't just hurt physically, it starts to mess with your head too. I was frustrated and down in the dumps. Beth is really amazing though. She is positive and supportive and that perks me up immensely when I'm with her - even if it's on Facetime or just a regular phone call.
We decided to make December all about healing. My focus was on going to yoga, doing a light weight routine with Beth via Skype once a week, and working on my eating habits - which had kind of nose dived at this point.
The biggest food hurdle for me was eating a healthy, lower calorie lunch. I was able to focus in on fixing that and started eating a salad with veggies and one ounce of feta cheese, 2.5 ounces of deli turkey, and greek yogurt if I was hungry after that. I didn't believe I could go without bread at lunch and still be satisfied but I really was. Lastly, I still tried to do mindful walks that were less rigorous so that they didn't strain my calf. When Beth and I re-evaluated December a few days ago, we agreed that I completed about 75% of my workouts, and all of my goals. I got back in the groove, cleaned up lunch, and managed my injuries. For December, we agreed that was pretty darn good.
This brings us to January 1. I'm going to join a gym. Walking is fun and I really love it but the snow and freezing temps present their own set of challenges. I need to change things up and also do lower impact exercise while my calf heals. I'm also going to focus on being consistent with my workouts. I'm also going to start cooking. I want to try some of Beth's great recipes so I can integrate more food prep into my routine.
What I've learned from all of this is that you cannot ignore pain, whether it is physical or emotional or both. You need to admit you're in pain and seek out resources that can support you and help you even when it doesn't feel like that's possible.
A year ago I was in a painfully debilitating depression and was no longer in a place where I could handle it on my own. I needed help. Beth co-captained a team of my closest friends and family that got me to a place where I could begin to heal.
In both instances, pain was my inner voice sending up a smoke signal for help so that I would finally do something about it. In both cases healing took time. It took work. It took patience. It does not have an end point. There will be bumps in the road. You don't have to have you're own Beth to heli-vac you out but you probably have someone comparable. Be grateful for them and all they can teach you as they clear a path for your well-being.
Cathy's words are so generous and sweet. I have to say part of our success is that Cathy is a receptive person, and able to honestly give feedback about what things are working and what is not. Her openness is key to her hard won progress! We make a good team together.
Here is Cathy's month 6 and 7. Month 6 has been edited many times over, and we had to skip workouts and tweak this plan due to injury.
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