A GOOD YEAR: 97 days strong!

I want to wave a "That's Pretty Awesome Flag!" for Cathy. Cathy worked out for three months before missing a workout.  Almost a hundred days, without a miss!  Cathy had ONE rough week and called feeling a little melancholy.  I pointed out some things that can be helpful when you feel off your game.

She has successfully modified her life and is working out consistently for 150 minutes or more doing cardiovascular exercise.  This karate chops her risk of cancer, heart disease, stroke, and diabetes!

She is strength training two times a week, also decreasing her risk of disease!  

She is also stretching and performing yoga, addressing her flexibility! 

What got in the way?  She has some foot pain cooking up.  Her left foot has been as issue, and I recommended taking one week off of kickboxing and we subbed in a 30 minute circuit style workout with low impact moves. 

I want to point out to all that if injury comes your way, baring fractures and things where usage would make things worse, there is a way to get around it, keep getting fit, while you figure out the source.

Here is a note from Cathy!  Next week we will reflect on her progress and lay out her next week of working out.  In the next month, I would like to add one more day of strength training, to keep helping Cathy build muscles!

My challenge this month is for her to find a practitioner to help her mitigate the ouch.  I have suggested a rolfer or a really great injury recovery masseuse!  

Be Well,

Beth

I have to be honest, the last few weeks have been challenging emotionally.  I have been dealing with some tough things and it's really thrown me for a loop.  A lot of times my workout routine will lift me up or at least give me some good adventures to write about on this blog.  But I've haven't really been inspired to share much.

Part of the problem is that I have been in pain.  The pain was partly because I was so sore from aerial yoga and partly because my feet have been giving me a lot of problems. And with me feeling so blah on top of that I've had a hard time focusing on the positive.

Fortunately I have Beth.  And Beth dropped a huge accomplishment bomb on me when, after missing a workout on Sunday, she pointed out that for the past 97 days I haven't missed a single workout. Not one.  

• Legal frustrations with the divorce? I still worked out. 
• Days where I was overwhelmed with feelings? I still worked out. 
• Crazy work schedule? I still worked out. 
• Feet hurting constantly? Yeah, okay I need a time out. 

Ninety-seven days not missing a single workout is pretty amazing.  I've never come close to that before.  Although, I've never been this organized in my workouts before so it has been a huge eye opener to see how powerful it is to plan my workouts ahead each month.

But when pain sets in you need to rethink what you're doing and allow your body to heal.  Beth pointed that out.  And as frustrating it is to change up a routine that you like and is working, she's right.   

All of this started a few weeks ago when I went to that aerial yoga class.  Watching the instructor move through poses on each on a hanging silk, a trapeze, and a silk fabric hammock was amazing. I tried each apparatus and really gave it my all.  But it was crazy hard.  Do you remember the rope climb in middle school?  Um, yeah.  If you see someone who does aerial dance regularly do not mess with them. They are insanely strong and could probably crush you with their thumb. 

At the end of the class the instructor told me that I would be sore the next few days.  But I didn't have the ability to wrap my mind around the ridiculousness that would be the next week of my life.  I could barely move and I was not able to straighten my arms.  I looked like a t-rex with my tiny, folded-up arms that couldn't reach anything. 

Exhibit A: Me trying to reach things

The pain lasted until the following Sunday when yoga finally loosened me up.  But, when I went to my kickboxing class Monday night I had a ton of trouble keeping up. Even though I wasn't sore, my muscles were still really tired and it slowed me down.  That was really discouraging.  I really don't like to be the guy who can't keep up in a class setting.  Normally that's been kind of a good thing because I push myself harder.  Monday night it really left me feeling super insecure.

On top of everything else, I noticed that I was icing my feet multiple times per day because they hurt pretty much all the time. I've had problems with my feet since high school. I've tried seeing a podiatrist. I've tried using orthodics. I've tried physical therapy. I've tried sucking it up and pushing through the pain.  Eventually I just stopped trying.  Since not trying is not an option this time, I need to figure out another plan.

I talked to Beth and about it and we decided to change some of the workout plan for the next few weeks. For one, I skipped kickboxing on Monday. It pains me to not go. I worry if I miss even one class I won't go back to it (I'm still working on the black and white thinking). Instead, I did a great online workout with Beth that still kicked my butt. We are also adding more weight training to improve strength. I've read that is better for weight loss so I'm curious about what kind of changes I see.

Next weekend Beth has suggested I take my measurements again so I can see the changes.  If there are changes I think it will really help with feeling discouraged about my feet.  If there aren't changes... well, I'll deal with that when it comes.  Either way I promise to share my progress.  

A GOOD YEAR: Kapow! Bap! Thwack!

I just got back from Portland and it was an AH-MAZING trip. I got to go on beautiful hikes in Forest Park, take a couple of yoga class (including aerial - more about that next week,) try out a new workout video, go to a kickboxing class with Beth, drink skim lattes with fancy designs in the foam, meet goats living in a field designated just for them in the middle of the city, drive to the coast, and eat amazing food. There are so many other things I got to do and every day was super fun. Honestly, between my cozy room, the great workouts, and Beth's wonderful massages I really felt like I was at a health spa. The difference was that I was hosted my kind and caring brother and sister-in-law who are truly the best. I'm sure my stories from the trip will continue to show up in my blog posts as time goes on so I'll stop gushing for now. 

So in the week leading up to my trip I tried my first kickboxing class here in the Detroit area. I've had an on and off relationship with kickboxing over the last 10 years - I'll go for a while, get super into it, and then stop going for no good reason. Through it all kickboxing has proven to be my favorite fitness activity. I love my gloves, I love the way my body feels hitting the bag, I love the way the music syncs up with the timing of your feet as you bounce from one foot to another. 

But it's been a long time and a lot of pounds since I went to a class and I know this is an intense workout. I wasn't sure if I was at a weight or level of conditioning where I could make it through an entire hour. I mean I've been doing awesome with the program so far but I have always loved kickboxing so it would be heartbreaking if I got myself to class and couldn't finish. But Beth was great. She really encouraged me to just show up and try and do the best that I can.  

So how did it go? First of all, it was hard. Crazy hard. The class started with a 25 minute intense cardio session where you hop from foot to foot in a sparring stance while you deliver jabs, crosses, hooks, uppercuts and front and side kicks at a quick pace, just not on the bag. Jumping is hard. Have you done any plyometrics? (Yeah, I'm using technical jargon now.) It's one hell of a workout. So even with just the hopping foot to foot, the back of my legs immediately cramped, locking up from my ankle to my hip. I pushed myself to keep up but had to step touch my feet instead of hopping around. That was discouraging because when I "used to" go to classes, years ago, I was able to keep up without a problem. Why I expect that to be the case three years and 50 pounds later is, well, something I should probably talk to my therapist about. 

With me struggling to keep up, unhealthy thinking found an opening and took over my head. I could see in the mirror how my weight hindered my movement. It made it hard for me to just execute the moves let alone keep up. With mirrors on every wall in the gym, I watched myself struggle and then proceeded to size up everyone in the class only to decide I was the heaviest person there. 

Fortunately I'm stubborn. And I'm competitive. And I was not walking out of that class having quit after the first ten minutes. So I just kept trying, continued to just step-touch instead of hopping and I got through the pure cardio portion which lasted about 20 minutes.

After we finished cardio we moved to the bags. That was when it all came rushing back - why I love this sport, how good hitting something can feel, and the strength I often forget I have. I began with jabs, then moved to hooks (my favorite) and then to combos (jab, cross, hook, hook, uppercut, uppercut). I hit that bag over and over again and each time I could feel the painful emotions that had taken up residence within me over several years just pour out. Sorrow, anger, frustration, guilt, and pain all went into that bag with every hit and kick. It was freedom and I remembered why I loved it.

We finished the class with an intense core and butt workout (fire hydrants, row boats, kneeling leg lifts) and I walked out of that building feeling like I was ten feet tall. I was proud of what I accomplished, I was proud that I still had good form all these years later, I was proud that I kept pushing even when everything in me wanted to stop.  I was also pretty sure my muscles had liquified. 

In spite of how great it felt to hit that bag, I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I felt like 11 year old fat Cathy for a few days. Watching my body struggle with the first part of class was a big blow to my self esteem. Additionally, for the rest of the week my body was so sore that it was challenging to do basic things, like stand up and sit down, which are important to be able to do it turns out. I also had trouble with my feet for a few days from the impact (most kickboxing classes are barefoot) which made my walks a lot harder and required a lot of ice packs. 

But all of that passed. When I went with Beth to a class in Portland it was still a really hard workout. But having Beth there helped push me to keep up and motivate me to try harder. I pushed my heart rate to the max. And you know what? I kept up the entire time. 

I'm really glad I procrastinated on writing this post because on Wednesday I went back to the class here in Michigan. I was nervous about how making it through the hour because the last two classes were such a huge challenge. But right away I saw a difference in my mentality. I didn't feel like the fat girl in class. I didn't mind being surrounded by mirrors. I was proud of what my body could do and excited to try again. When class started I immediately noticed a huge difference in my ability to keep up. I was able to bounce from foot to foot most of the class and pretty much kept up the entire time. And as my first jab landed on the bag, joy crashed over me like a wave. 

So here is my advice to anyone trying a really challenging class based purely on my experience (I am not a professional):

1. Go in with the goal of finishing - Don't worry about getting every move right or keeping up. You won't. Do the best you can so that when you go back you will know better what to expect. 
2. Go to at least three classes - Give your body time to get comfortable working new muscles before you decide it's too hard. I know class three was a game changer for me in terms of what I was able to do. 
3. Just showing up the first time is the hardest part - But being the new guy is not fun to me. I hate feeling like I don't know what I'm doing. But if you'd never done this before how can expect yourself to be perfect the first, second or third time you try something? I made a whole bunch of excuses of why I shouldn't go on the day I went to my first class. Fortunately Beth saw right through them and pushed me to try. Just trust that it will get easier. 

I have not traditionally made the best decisions when it comes to releasing stress. I usually tried to stifle my emotions and distract myself from what was bothering me by drinking too much or going on an online shopping bender. Facing this realization has helped me rethink how I deal with the things that bother me. The best way to release stress for me is to hit things. Fortunately, there is a healthy way to do that without getting arrested for property destruction or assault. Kickboxing needs to be a part of my life and I am so grateful to Beth and Go Training for helping me find my way back to it. 

Cathy takes Portland!

Cathy came to visit Portland! And she kinda tore it up! Fearless is this lady!

Here is Cathy's story from the beginning, if you would like to read her insights from day one, and where we started her journey.

1. A GOOD YEAR: Getting Started
2. A GOOD YEAR: Let's Get Moving
3. A GOOD YEAR: Fitness Challenge: Yoga
4. A GOOD YEAR: Month One...Check!
5. A GOOD YEAR: Olive the Dog
6. A GOOD YEAR: Taco Bell Fiasco

She is my sister-in-law, friend and this past week, my exercise partner.  She is well on her journey to making healthy choices.  She will be blogging her journey with GO Training for the next year.  She is 2.5 months down already! As a physical therapist and personal trainer, I get to be part and parcel of this sweet transformation.  It also shows my style of training and my perspective on getting people started.  And I am so happy she agreed to blog about it; her voice is relatable and honest and funny.

Here are months 1and 2 of Cathy's workout plans.  She has done every workout thus far!

Month One Challenge: Yoga!

Month Two Challenge: Kickboxing! Done week 9!

Then there was a couple in between weeks before Cathy came here and during her visit.  We decided to use this time to discuss what is working, readiness for resistance exercise.  And work out together!

Exercising side by side was great.  Cathy loves the walking portion of her program, and is READY for resistance exercise!  She is also committed to attending kick boxing weekly.  Going to a kick boxing class together here in Portland we problem solved modifications for some plyometric moves.  Plyometrics is a type of jump training which definitely can help in the future but right now Cathy has some issues with lower leg muscles and feet, so I am recommending she modify, or do just one or two moves a class that way until performing those moves is not pain provoking.

We also did a resistance training video together and she followed along great!  I am making a video for Cathy and will post it here for her base resistance program tomorrow.

Big change for month three is rolling in resistance training, which I am going to start out with basic moves and one or two dynamic moves, and lots of core training. Once Cathy does a month of this, we can discuss how she is feeling and progress from there!

Hill Walk: same all month!

Hill repeats:

5 minute warm up,Find a small to medium hill, 4 X up and down, 5 minute cool down

Intervals:

Week 11 and 12: 20 minute
5 min warm up
2 min on, 30 seconds off X 4 repeats Effort: 10 point Berg 6-7
5 min cool down

Week 13: 25 minute

5 min warm up
3 on, 2 off X 3 repeats Effort  10 point Berg 6-7
5 min cool down

Week 14: 30 minutes

5 min warm up
3 on, 2 off X 4 repeats Effort: Effort: 10 point Berg 6-7
5 min cool down

Month 3.5 is on!

BY the hair of your Shinny Shin Shin!

Shin splintz! That's the 90's way to spell it...I started this post a while ago, when Cathy started her program and wanted to make sure it was informative but not too long, I am not sure I have achieved either...BUT I do feel super proud chest and confident you WILL possess solid knowledge about shin splints after this post.

Also known as Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS), shin splints is a catch all term, it is the universal "my shin hurts" term.  But the pain could be lots of things, muscular irritation, compartment syndrome, stress fracture, or sometimes the actual periosteum of the (perisoteum is a thin connective tissue that is the most outside covering of a bone) of the tibia.  How do you know what's contributing?  Read on my friend!

The number one reason for shin splints to arise from the musculoskeletal abyss is usually/always too much, too fast.

I also want to say that shin splints are pretty normal, and manageable.  Easing into walking, aerobics, running, whatever your flavor of exercise is, will mitigate the ouch.

Reasons why shin splints arise:

• A too large increase in mileage, speed, or terrain change for walkers/runners.
• Any scenario where you are increasing the demand of shock absorbing and work in foreleg muscles, will stir up this super unpleasant sensation. 

First, I just want to remind all of us, myself included, that the body likes a little prep.  The body will respond to stress and get stronger.  The smart way to train is to gradually increase that stress over time to let your body get a little inflammation, rebuild tissues, and get back at it!

On the front end of my weight loss journey (30 down, 20 pounds to go), I weighed 183 pounds, at 5'2".  And one day, after a stirring talk with my buddy Angie, I jumped on my weight loss train with gusto, toot toot!  I remember my first run after being pretty patchy with exercise for about 7-8 months.  It was intense/terrible/uncomfy. Shins a'fire!  My caveman crazy brain over rode my physical therapist brain, and a walk with intervals, or just a walk the first time out would have been a great call.

Please ease into your program! But if you got a little wild and crazy read below, and we will talk about bone structure, anatomy, and some strategy to make shins go right!

Let's get all sciencey about shins.

Boney anatomy and bone irritation:

Shins have two boney maroneys. Then tibia on the inside, and the fibula on the outside.  They articulate at the foot with the talus.

How does the bone get irritated?  The tibia flexes back just a wee bit as we strike the ground with our foot.  When we train too much, too fast the bone tissue gets broken down faster than it can be rebuilt.  It's akin to you cleaning up after one 2 year old pretty good.  But if you had to keep up with a room full of  2 year olds and they had popsicles and several bins of toys, you could clean up a bit but you would never clear the room, and every person in the room would have sticky hands.  Same idea with bone stimulation, and bone building.

Weight bearing,  cyclical,  repetitive exercise stimulates bone growth, but the growth needs time to happen.  You pull the trigger on bone building when you do more than your normal level of activity. That tells your bone to start building up that area of bone, and it triggers bone building cells called osteoblasts to make stronger bone.  This tissue turn around usually takes about 6 weeks.  Longer in those with healing issues, and maybe even shorter for others.  This process of rebuilding tissues after stress is called Wolff's law, a link is provided if you want to delve another layer deep into the theory and physiology.  If the stress of the new activity is too great, the bone cannot remodel fast enough to recover from the stimulating inflammation, and irritation of the outer layer of bone (called the periosteum) occurs.  If you keep training hard, this inflamed periosteum may start to fail and a stress fracture may happen.

http://www.atlantaequine.com/pages/client_lib_sequestrum.html

It would be rare to have JUST boney inflammation without a mad tendon or muscle too.  And why is that muscle mad?  Usually a weakness or tightness SOMEWHERES in the biomechanical chain.  Or maybe you kept going when you were pretty fatigued.

Muscular anatomy:

Many muscles that attached to the lower leg are also movers and shakers of the foot.  They contract to decelerate and accelerate your body and maintain your balance as your foot strikes the ground while walking or running.  Dorsiflexors live on the front outside of your shins, and pull your toes up and plantarflexors point your toes, and live on the back side of your calf.

Academics divide the bottom of foot into four layers of foot muscles, ligaments and tendons because there is so many important structures there. Lots of tiny muscles here flexing, extending toes, spreading toes!

Most dorsiflexors and plantorflexors also do other jobs, like pulling the foot in or out, flex or extend toes! Muscles work in concert with each other during the running cycle, turning on and off as needed.   Also rotation happens at the foot causing pronation and supination of the foot.  Just throwing out this info to illustrate how complicated the anatomy and function of our glorious lower legs and feet really is, and why getting shin pain if your go out to hard is so easy to bake up.

I found great images of muscles on a massage therapy sight, and encourage you to visit this link http://medicfrom.com/publicpress/Massage/Basic_Clinical_Massage_15.html.  Scroll like a champ down to the foreleg pics and just 'preciate all the LAYERS of muscles and tendons that surround the leg and foot!

Overuse and irritation in these muscles may be the source of your shin pain. And treating the muscles will aid your recovery.   If your foot is slapping the ground as you walk or run it could mean weakness and tightness in the calf is making it hard for you to pull up your toes.  MAYBE an old ankle sprain may have left you with decreased range of motion into pointing or flexing that wasn't really called out as a problem until you started walking or running.  All of these issues may not be part of your story but even a mild asymmetry in core, hips, knees, or ankles can cause big problems if your are progressing into running.  Even mild injuries from the past, if not addressed or rehabbed may have left a small mark in your symmetry.

Most of these issues are totally addressable and the comments above are not a full list of causal reasons for shin splits, just keep in mind asymmetries and weaknesses even from years and years ago CAN be improved.  I am talking to you "I have always had weak ankles" people.  Your body is strong and if you have never TRIED to strengthen a weakness, please don't assign yourself a label!  (Last two sentences....a physical therapy rant!)

What to do?

So with front of the shin pain, most likely caused by a jump up in training, here are some recommendations.

1. Just be aware of other shin ouch sources and make sure this isn't your kind of pain:

• Stress fracture: stress fractures require the attention of a physician and imaging to rule it in, and will require rest from running to recover and heal it.  Women typically are more vulnerable to this injury, and it may be characterized by pain lasting after a run, an ache along the tibia or fibula, painful to touch along the bone.  It is a weakened spot of bone that cracks a bit from repetitive stress.  A stress fracture can also happen in the bones of the foot.

• Compartment syndrome: so think of your leg as a container.  When you exercise blood flow increases to your legs as the muscles demand fuel.  Sometimes the swelling or flow of blood causes pain because the container fills up and is not relieved of this fluid shift fast enough. The lower leg is divided by fascial compartments, and a compartment may get too full pressing on blood vessels and nerves and due to it not being real stretchy.  Muscle groups are covered in connective tissue that can trap the blood flow and cause pain, pins and needles, redness, and can be serious.  If the pressure in the compartment is high, tissues actually cannot get blood flow and tissue death can occur.  Totally not fear mongering here! It is rare but possible source of shin pain with exercise.  Compartment syndrome in the lower leg is much more common in trauma situations (fracture, crushing type injury, gun shot wound)  where there is a lot of damage and the swelling response is significant in a short amount of time. 

• Check out the links for the above issues to allow you to explore the above issues deeper.

• WHEN EVER IN DOUBT, stop, collaborate and listen, but also see a physician.

2. Self Massage and stretch:  Roll out the affected muscles with a can, tennis ball,  golf ball, or foam roller.  And do some good stretches!  Never stretch cold by the way!  Check out this video I made for Cathy, the author behind the Good Year series, who went out too hard at the beginning of her program and has had some shin splint issues.  Always remember, when addressing a really mad muscle, you may get more muscular relaxation or tissue softening with a gentle approach.

VIDEO!  Disclaimer:  It's long! 13 minutes worth, and I am talking to Cathy, and I was going to remake it for public use cause I don't LOVE my outfit, but as this is my Portland launch month who knows when free time will arise again!

3. Ice: the magic elixir!  10-15 minutes at a time with a towel or other barrier to protect the skin several times (4-6) will help reduce pain and swelling.  Always check your sensation and skin make sure that you are not "burning" your self with the ice.  A good safe way to ice is to let the tissue come back to normal temp before reapplying more ice.

4. Rest: Definitely give the running or walking a rest.  Bike, swim, and let the inflammation go down. When walking no longer reproduces pain, start back with a gentle walk, and reassess before you jump right back into running.

5. Elevate: elevating your feet above your heart will help to mechanically tilt the swelling away from your shins and back towards your heart.

6.  Address muscular imbalances:  Is one of your gastrocnemius (calf) muscles tighter than the other?  Is one hip stronger than the other?  Is your core getting tired out as you walk or run and then your form degrades?  There may be something in your biomechanical chain (pelvis, core,  hip, knee, ankle, and any of the stuff that attaches to these arts) breaking down a bit for you, and seeing a medical or fitness professional might help you get there!  Or sign up with me and we will figure out your imbalances!

7. Give yourself time to build up.  SO remember all the muscles that just make up your foreleg and foot?  And how your core, hips and all kinds of other factors affect your walking and running gait?

The study listed below followed collegiate athletes and monitored those who got the MTSS.  Those with less than 5 years of athletic experience, orthotics, and a prior history of stress fracture or MTSS were most likely to get  MTSS.  Through my therapy eyes, I would say anyone with orthotics is already predisposed due to someone in there course of life saw a motion that needed to be controlled by an orthotic.   And I also want to highlight the years of experience and maybe throw out that the larger base of strength in hips, pelvis, buns, calfs, quads the less likely you will have glaring asymmetries or weaknesses.  This month we are kicking off a strengthening program for Cathy, so check it out if you are interested in a nice base strengthening program.

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2009 Mar;41(3):490-6. doi: 10.1249/MSS.0b013e31818b98e6.

8.  TLC.    Establishing a relationship with any of the take-care-of-your-body professionals. Rolfers, massage therapist, acupuncturist, etc may be necessary to help you stay as fit a s a fiddle!  Maybe even a physical therapist?

Summary:

• Start slow!  Slower than you think.  
  
  
• Address tight and sore and weak muscles! 

• REST, ICE, ELEVATE!

• Make sure it's not something else that needs the help of a medical professional! (Pain that does not go away when you stop exercising, numbness, tingling, loss of feeling or strength in the shin muscles)

A GOOD YEAR: The Taco Bell fiasco

Now Cathy and I are turning our focus towards diet.  Cathy is tracking on a free app, MyFitnessPal, which is also a website, in case you don't have a smarty pants phone.  Just tracking what you are eating is super effective, even without putting a limit on calories.  Using a calorie limit is easily figured out by said app, or by several online calculators that take in age, height, sex, and current weight.  Once a calorie estimate is established, you may need more or less calories depending on how you feel, and how your actual weight loss is going.

The key is to develop the behavior, habits, and system that is not only effective but works for you.  Cathy shares some belief patterns that she is overcoming as she continues with her journey!

When I was in college I used to go to Taco Bell and order one value meal for me and then pretend to forget what my "friend" wanted before ordering a second value meal (for me) and an extra taco (also for me). I would get home and go to my room and just gorge. When I was done, surrounded by wrappers, the guilt and shame would set in.

I went on my first diet when I was 11. It was the summer between 5th and 6th grade and I didn't want to be "the fat girl" when I started Middle School. I was sick of being teased by this mean girl in school and tired of feeling so anxious and insecure about everything. 

My first diet was really strict - no snacks or second helpings at meals and I had to exercise 60 minutes every day (biking or jogging) no matter how much I didn't want to (even if the idea of exercise made me cry). From my perspective, at the time, it was a success. I lost so much weight that one of my friend's moms suggested to my mom that I was anorexic.

So here I am trying to get healthy and telling you all how well that's going. In doing that I'm really only telling you half of the story. The exercise is going well. I'm enjoying walks and yoga and I'm working through a lot of stress and frustration and powerful emotions at the same time. 

But food is a problem and weight loss begins in the kitchen. 

I started month two by tracking everything I ate.  When I lost weight several years ago I tracked my calories and it worked really well. But that was so long ago that I had forgotten what a difference writing everything down makes. I have the MyFitnessPal app and find it super useful. It seriously has calories for everything and you can even scan things. And that's great because I focus on portion control using a food scale and monitor my snacking. I have even lost five pounds this month just from refocusing on food. 

But here's the problem. The binges haven't stopped. Neither has the obsessive behavior that accompanies losing weight for me. I'm not sneaking out to Taco Bell and binging alone (although I do tend to sneak in the kitchen and steal cookies when nobody is looking which is odd behavior for an adult) but if I end up at an ice cream shop you can bet that I'll end up with a waffle cone in my hand and two scoops of moose tracks piled on. It's like this compulsion where pressure (probably stress) builds up and at a certain point I have to eat until I can't feel feelings.

I also don't want to be forced to track everything I eat for the rest of my life because it fuels my obsessive need to control every bite. It feeds into the "food is a reward/punishment" mindset I carry with me which ends up looking in my head, a lot like the "no more wire hangers" scene in Mommie Dearest. 

Instead, I want to eyeball correct portions.  I want to make good choices when I eat out. I want to just put whole, healthy food in my system. I don't want to let emotions fuel my eating.

So normally I like to end my posts with some big "aha" moment. Unfortunately I can't do that this week. I don't have this figured out. I don't know how to control the urges or obsessive micromanagement of food. But I do take some comfort in my ability to see the problem. I guess the last time I tried to lose weight (which is different from my 'get healthy' mindset today) I didn't see an issue with my control issues around what I ate. I didn't let myself think about the binging because it made me feel ashamed. By recognizing the problem I can at least start to figure it out. 

A GOOD YEAR: Olive the Dog

Prologue:
I wrote this blog post back in mid-June when I just started walking again and began "training" for the walking program.  I considered publishing the story  a while back but I thought it was more appropriate to focus on my progress with the Go Training walking plan.  Well stuff happened this week that made this more relevant so I'm sharing it now.

Just so you have a little background, I got Olive back in 2008 through a rescue organization.  I decided I needed a dog after being mugged in my driveway in the "transitional neighborhood"where I owned a house in Atlanta.  The irony is that Olive was the most anxious, timid, nervous lady dog ever when I got her and she certainly was not a guard dog.  But I couldn't resist her sweet face and her loving, trusting demeanor.  She has calmed down quite a bit, but still is glued to my hip and follows me wherever I go.  Regardless, she has been a constant companion over the last four years, during good times and bad.

Story:
I have a dog.  Her name is Olive.  She is five years old.  She is the best.  Really. The. Best.  Olive and I used to run three miles a day before work, three to four times a week.  On days I went to kickboxing or spin class she would still get at least a mile long walk before dinner.  She adapted well to going on runs with me and really seemed to love it. 

I am currently in training to start working out.  I went on my first serious walk in a long time the other day.  I walked for 17:32 seconds at a pace that can be defined as "Level 7: I can still talk, but I don't really want to. I'm sweating like a pig."  It was exhausting.  Anyhow, because it proved more challenging than I expected I thought I'd give myself two weeks of "warm-up" walks to get me ready to do the awesome walking workout Beth and Go Training gave me to establish a base-line level of fitness.
Well today I decided to push myself to do a full 20 minutes of power walking at a pace that can be described as "Level 6: I can still talk, but am slightly breathless." I was really pleased/surprised/relieved to see a big difference in today's walk compared to the one on Wednesday.  I felt more comfortable in developing my stride, it felt good to move, and I didn't feel like I was overdoing it. 

But about two-thirds of the way through the walk Olive started to fade. At first I thought she just had to pee a lot but then she was panting and really slowed down.  After we hit 20 minutes I slowed down dramatically to allow her to catch her breath.  In that final stretch, walking home, I watched her.  Her movement was slow, she was panting really hard, she looked like she was struggling to keep going.  I felt awful.  Awful.  Here was my closest companion, who had stuck with me through a lot of crap (and some minor neglect when things were really falling apart with the marriage) and I had allowed her to get this out of shape.  She was a sausage and moving was hard for her.  

Wait a minute, I'm a sausage and moving is hard to me too!  After my ex and I separated, both Olive and I needed some basic TLC.  She got a good scrubbing at the dog groomer and lots of affection and chew treats and I got help from my parents and friends with pulling me out of kind of a dark place.  But it was just now, watching her trudge toward home that I realized, how badly I had treated myself, and in the process, hurt her.

Working on our fitness is a responsibility we have to ourselves (and our pets) in order to allow us to be whole people.  It is as fundamental as breathing and eating.  When I let my fitness go things started to go down hill.  That's not to say everything would have been okay if I just worked out. But I might not have found myself in such a dark place at the end.  At the same time, sometimes we get to such a bad place that we aren't able to care for ourselves in all the ways we need to, like getting out and moving.  That should be a sign to us that things aren't right.

Olive and I have a long road to get to the healthy place that we want to be at but we will get there. We will cheer each other on along the way and try to be proud of the strides we are making rather than focusing on the things we used to be able to do. And we will get stronger every time we go.

“A dog reflects the family life. Whoever saw a frisky dog in a gloomy family, or a sad dog in a happy one? Snarling people have snarling dogs, dangerous people have dangerous ones.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes

And healthy, whole people have healthy, whole dogs.

Epilogue:
Since I wrote this blog post, Olive and I have continued to go on walks together.  But she would still end up super out of breath and would be panting heavily when we'd get home.  I was concerned that I was pushing her too hard so I decided to only take her with me on our walks for the just first 15 minutes and then drop her off and continue on.  Since she was still exhausted after those 15 minutes I thought maybe it was the heat getting to her. So on super hot, humid days I stopped taking her with me altogether.  But then it cooled down and she still had trouble. 

I was a little concerned so I asked a friend who is a avid athlete and veterinary technician what she thought.  She suggested I make a vet appointment to have it checked out.  She said that at Olive's age it shouldn't be a heart issue but should still be looked at.

Well on Monday I finally called to make her a vet appointment and got her in for Wednesday. Then I made a TERRIBLE mistake that I would imagine my friends with kids know all to well:  I looked up her symptoms on Google.  After skimming a few pages I was terrified that she had heart disease, cancer, a deadly fungus in her lungs, and on, and on, and on.  I called the vet back and got an emergency appointment for Monday afternoon.

I learned two things at that appointment:
1. Olive has put on 12 pounds since we came up to Michigan and is extremely overweight.
2. Olive has laryngeal paralysis (LP)

I've linked to the Wikipedia page for laryngeal paralysis which is a little technical.  I found a curtain analogy on another site that explains it really well.  Think of it is as if you have two curtains side-by-side in front of your larynx.  The curtains open to allow you to take a breath and close so you don't inhale your food.  The problem for Olive is that her curtains don't open and close.  They just hang there.  This can make it harder to breath and since dogs pant to cool down, it can mean that it's easier for her to overheat or get too excited and not catch her breath.

Nobody has a clear picture of what causes LP, but it is exacerbated by obesity (check) and hot, humid weather (check).  Typically you see LP in older dogs so I think her weight really drew out the symptoms at a young age.  Eventually, Olive is likely to need surgery to permanently tie back one of the curtains which will allow her to breath better.  Fortunately, the vet caught it early so I can keep an eye on her and recognize symptoms quickly if it gets worse.  In the mean time, Olive's food has been cut back to appropriate levels, she only gets half a cookie in the morning with breakfast, and she only gets one chew in the evening instead of two.  What's hardest for me is that Olive cannot go with me on walks until she loses weight AND it cools down. 

So the reason I'm telling you all of this is not to educate you on LP.  If you have a big dog, you should be mindful of it, but that's not the point of this post.  The point of this post is to demonstrate some of the things that happen to your body when you don't take care of it.  As I said above, Olive is really a reflection of me.  We both have food issues and we eat too much - we also both like to eat garbage although she literally eats garbage and I am drawn to foods that are unhealthy and lacking nutrients...okay so still garbage.  Neither of us have exercised in the last few years.  The difference is that the toll the weight is taking on Olive's health is showing up much more overtly than it is for me.  I would be setting myself up for health problems if I wasn't doing something to improve my fitness too.  I just haven't seen the results of my bad choices as soon.

Hopefully, if I can help Olive with portion control, keep her out of the garbage and away from the cat food, she will lose weight and be able to start walking with me again in the fall.  But I need to stay away from my trigger foods too (I'm looking at you ice cream) so that I will lose weight and start feeling better in the fall as well. So ultimately, the point of this post is that it's one thing to talk in abstractions about the importance of health and fitness but another thing entirely when you see the outcomes of poor diet and lack of exercise right in front of you.

Get your Pumpah Pumping! Heart Rate and Effort Throw Down Talk

Fun Fact Number Blitz Time!  Sorry about the delay in posting, I just was Capitan Zoney last week, and kept trying to include too much in this post...Yes, this long written word pile has already been heavily edited!

I am going to cover...

• How much exercise you should be aiming for
• Establishing heart rate zones, using heart rate monitor or taking your pulse
• How to use the Borg Perceived Rate of Exertion chart to get in the right zone

Cathy had posed an excellent question to me about heart rate...where should she be at? Let's reflect a bit on what she is doing and then answer that after some wordy paragraphs!

Cathy has a solid month of walking under her belt.  Her workouts include long and short interval walks, endurance walks, and  recovery walks.  During her intervals, she is working in moderate to vigorous intensity ranges (more effort on the shorter intervals).  Interval training is a really great way to improve fitness but not every session is an interval session.  On her easy walks, moving her body is the goal, if her heart rate is in the low to moderate range that is fine (for now!).  On her long walks, I'd like to see her cruise up into a moderate intensity in the middle of the workout for maybe 10-20 minutes, then wind down.   Balancing out effort sessions with relative recovery workouts and effort sessions helps prevent burn out and injuries.  Cathy does not have any underlying issues that would make it important for her to stay in a low or moderate range, but that is were screening yourself comes in.  If you are looking to kick off fitness, check out this post to see if you need to see a doc prior to getting out there, or maybe you need to start with low intensity first and see how your body responds.

Note:  Exercise has been shown to help just about every illness, and is appropriate and helpful for people with all kinds of known disease.  It can help reverse disease, and increase quality of life.  If you do have chronic disease, this is for you too!  You may just need some checking out prior to getting started, check out this post for more info!  YOU CAN IMPROVE YOUR LIFE!

Each exercise follows the F.I.T.T. principle, frequenc, intensity, type and time.  Today's blog really zeros in on intensity.

HOW MUCH SHOULD I SHOOT FOR!

These are American College of Sports Medicine recommendations for general population, which are pretty similar from organization to organization (American Heart Association, Center for Disease Control, Mayo Clinic) as they are all evidenced based.

• 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic cardiovascular activity (minimum), 75 minutes of vigorous intensity, or a mix of the two types of intensity will reduce your risk of the Gnarlies, also known as chronic diseases, that will steal the beauty of life.  Heart disease and diabetes, cancer of the colon and breast, all these yucky diseases are within our control to influence!
• 30 minutes of walking 5 days a week will check this box to get started! Or maybe you start with ten minutes and work up from there.
• 150-250 minutes is associated with modest weight loss (diet being the other key component!). At least this amount of activity is recommended to prevent weight gain.
• > 250 minutes of moderate intensity cardiovascular exercise a week has been shown through research to be the amount of exercise required during maintenance after weight loss.
• Your workout does not have to be continuous.  Ten minutes three times a day can accumulate and count as a workout.

We have been focusing on cardiovascular exercise (any rhythmic movement counts, swimming, biking, etc) , and I wanted to point out that other components are important in a well rounded program. Remember, Cathy's program is specific to her and all the things going on in her life. We discussed starting with walking but you could get right into weight lifting, a tai chi class and kick off in another way!  Other things to consider and components that we will be folding into Cathy's life are:

• Weight lifting 2-3 times a week
• Balance or neuromuscular training 2-3 times a week
• Flexibility training 2-3 times a week

One last side bar, the other major exercise component is just not sitting too much!  Being sedentary has been shown by research to be another health threat even if you are doing exercise.  Taking lots of get up and about breaks if life or work has you sitting frequently will lengthen your life!

HOW DO I KNOW WHAT INTENSITY I AM CRUISING AT?

How will you know if you are putting out light, moderate or high intensity?  Low intensity is 50-63% of your max heart rate, moderate intensity is 64-76 percent of your maximum heart rate and high or vigorous intensity is 77-93 percent of your maximum heart rate.  This info is referenced from the American College of Sports Medicine.  A lot of consumer sights will point you to moderate intensity as your target to keep things more concise.

If you are just getting started, low intensity is a great starting point.  You will improve and push on to a new level when your ready.

To know your numbers, start with an estimate of your maximum heart rate.

220 - Your Age = Your Maximum Heart Rate

(NOTE: there are other ways to calculate this if you find you are consistently below or above your zone. Check out this link to alternative evidenced based equations if you find your having a hard time hitting your rate or your way over your heart rate zone. Another nugget to consider, unless you have had a stress test, this is truly an estimate of your maximum heart rate.)

SO I am 36, making my estimated maximum heart rate 184.  This is an approximately how much my cardiovascular system could tolerate.

220 - 36 = 184.  OK, simple math victory!  184 is my Maximum Heart Rate.

Let's start with low intensity.  Just getting started? Maybe this is where you begin, your training your cardiovascular system and this is a great zone to explore first if movement is brand new to you!

Low Intensity Aerobic Exercise =  50-63% of your Maximum Heart Rate

Low intensity = .50 X 184 = 92
                       = .63 X 184 = 115

Moderate intensity is breaking a sweat but you can still carry on a conversation.  Another way to define that is 64-76 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Moderate intensity aerobic exercise =  64-76% of Max Heart Rate.

Moderate intensity  = .64 X 184 = 118
                               = .76 X 184 = 140

For me, that's 118 to 140 beats per minute.  Considering resting heart rates can be anywhere from 60-100 beats per minute, that is a DOABLE shift to scoot into the moderate intensity town!

High intensity or vigorous aerobic exercise = 77-93% of Max Heart Rate

High or vigorous intensity = .77 (77%) X (Max Heart Rate) 184 =  141
                                          = .93 (93%) X ( Max Heart Rate) 184 = 171

I think the highest I have ever gotten with my heart monitor is 171-175.  And I was crankin'!

Cathy and I just happen to be age mates!  SO her numbers are also mine! For Cathy's program, I want her to watch her heart rate monitor for these numbers especially during her intervals.  Her longer intervals, I'd like to see her right at the 130-150 range.  Since she is doing long intervals, maintaing that would be tough for several minutes.  With her shorter intervals, I'd like her to try to get up to the 150 or up range, she only needs to maintain this for a minute or so.

DO you need a heart rate monitor?  Even though they can be convenient, you can simply take your pulse!  Taking your pulse for 30 seconds then multiplying by two or for a straight 60 seconds  gives you a nice accurate form of feedback.  YES, you could do ten seconds and multiply by six but the longer interval you utilize to assess your pulse the more accurate the reading.  Your only risk there is the fitter you are the quicker your heart rate recovers while you are checking it.  Use your second and third fingers at your thumb side of your forearm is an easy way to access your pulse at the radial artery.

Radial Pulse

Carotid Pulse

Brachial Pulse

Your carotid artery on the side of your neck and your brachial artery nestled amongst the elbow pit can work too.  Do not use your thumb as it has it's own pulse and can mess you up.

I want to note something here.  Cathy does a 5 minute warm up to increase her heart rate so she is ready to get into the meat of the workout.  Remember, the acronym SENSE, Start Exercise Nice and Slow EVERY TIME!  Even with a warm up, it may take until the second or third interval to get the heart rate response she wants.  Every person is different!  This is a great way to get to know your body and monitor your responses.

HOW DO I CHECK MY INTENSITY WITH PERCEIVED RATE OF EXERTION?

Another way to pretty darn accurately assess intensity with some carry over to heart rate is the good ole' Borg Scale.  The scale I am using with Cathy is the modified version, she has a heart rate monitor and the modified scale is great too BUT it doesn't have this nice little correlation shown below.

Check it out below.

SO if you are working between a 9 and 11, it has been shown to be close to 90 to 110 beats per minute.   Adding a zero to how you feel is pretty close to your heart rate.   Is this system perfect, no.  We are all individuals!  But studies show a pretty good correlation.  This is a great way to increase your body awareness and create connection to how it feels to work at certain levels by how you feel.

I went for a 6 mile run yesterday sans heart rate monitor.  And I pushed along at what felt like a hard intensity, and mid run stopped and checked my heart rate, it was 148.  It took me a second to get my timer going so it might have been a little higher, and since I stopped to check my heart rate recovery might have already happened.  The Borgy worked out for me, anybody else use this system!?  Try it and give me a little feedback.

I like the descriptors in the chart, a "6", which is essentially resting heart rate, usually around 60 beats per minute for many folks, is just sitting in a chair, makes sense.  From our earlier calculations, moderate intensity for me and Cathy would be between a "9-10", fairly light (118 HR) and  a somewhat hard 13-14 (140 HR).  Our vigorous or high intensity range is 141-171 correlating to feeling hard to very hard (150-170 HR) .

Medication!  Some medications, beta blockers, digoxin, etc, inhibit heart rate response so check your meds and see if you are on any of these guys.  This chart is a good guide for those were heart rate will not be a reliable indicator of effort.

AS ALWAYS, if you are starting a program, check out this post.  Yes, I am a nervous nelly on the upfront for new exercisers.  BUT once cleared for take off, I like to deliver the business.  That post has information regarding getting started and you may need to check in with the doctor prior to getting awesome!

I am always cruising the Internets for inspiration and ideas, and ACE, the American College of Exercise website, is about to launch a 28 day challenge in August and they have a great getting started week by week program that is a walk and gentle body weight strength training.  Really user friendly!  No equipment required.

Try out the ACE challenge

And check out a great and progressive, no equipment required 12 week program,
http://www.acefitness.org/acefit/healthy-living/

Referenced Material

• CDC website: http://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/everyone/measuring/exertion.html, regarding Borg scale.

• ACSM Guidelines for Exercise Testing and Prescription, Eighth Edition, Walters Kluwer, Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins. Page 5.