teaberryblue | Tea Gets Fit, Week 4

So, I continued to exercise regularly last week– did my nice little ten minutes at lunch, and then some walking after work a few days. I did a lot of walking last week just looking for a new apartment (more on that later).

Fortunately, I found a great new apartment that I love! And it is much cheaper than where I am living now. Unfortunately, there will be no more walking home for lunch, and that means I need to rethink my exercise schedule.

I also started doing ten minutes of stretching right before bed, which seems to be helping with the restlessness I described last week.

Some routines are still very hard, but other ones I feel like they are much easier than they were when I started. The stretching is something that I enjoy and is so easy! My flexibility is pretty good– If I sit with one leg stretched out, I can old onto my big toe with the fingers of the opposite hand. That’s better than it was when I started.

Still no really visible signs of toning, as far as I can see, but the fact that the routines are seeming easier is a plus for me. I’m also getting higher scores in a lot of the Wii Fit games.

I’ve lost about 2 lbs since I started my exercise. The Wii Fit, ever the overbearing wannabe trainer, thinks I need to lose six pounds. I disagree and will be happy if I maintain my pants/dress size so I don’t have to buy new ones.

Of course, my weight frequently fluctuates up a pound or so in the course of a day. The Wii Fit thinks this is a reason to scold me and tries to tell me I need to think about my calorie intake. I am starting to think maybe I should skip the body test portion and just play the games.

Finally, this week’s pictures:

Also, my good friend whirled has also started recording her fitness activity! You can read hers here! Go, Whirled!

Mirrored from Antagonia.net.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah, I'm the one more focused on fitness than the docs are. They are more worried about me recovering, and not passing out - hence the extensive bed-rest that I've been on forever now :( The diseases will never go away, but they hope we'll find a way to manage things so I'm not in agony or wasting away. I guess only time will tell...

I like the idea of doing some stretches and really easy poses, as long as I don't have to bend my head down or put too much weight on my hands (the former will cause fainting spells, and the latter, my arthritic hands can't handle). But basic stretching seems reasonable, and even that I can do in bed. As for lifting weight - I can comfortably lift 4-5 pounds, though because of my surgery, am not supposed to lift for another 2-3 weeks. But if I used 1-pound weights, and did easy, light repetitions, it might makes a difference. Sit-ups are a no (dizziness and how my spine is after a botched spinal tap) so I don't know what to do to tone my stomach - and that annoys me, since most moves to tone the stomach involve sit-ups or actions I can't perform :(

I see my doc in 2 weeks, so I can check and see if these are safe activities, but in the meantime, I think I could probably lift very light things repetitively, and stretch comfortably, so perhaps I could start there.

Thanks so much for the suggestions. You are wise indeed ;) And thanks for the support. It's been a rough few years, but I really hope that something may change, even if my diseases are chronic...

And it's my goal to publish at least one novel before I die. I promise I'll let you know when it's ready to go, or if someone picks it up for publication. I'm glad you'd want to read it :)

I don't know what the state of your spine is, but maybe you'll be able to do reverse sit-ups? You basically lie on the ground, then bend your knees and bring them in towards your chest. So instead of potentially straining your neck and back, you'll be focusing more on your abdominals to pull in the weight of your legs towards your chest.

If you don't think you have the time/energy to devote towards a novel at the moment, I think it would be worth exploring short story or novella competitions that lead to publication. I definitely believe you've got what it takes to get published, and even if it's not a novel, it's still a byline. :)

(sorry Tea for taking over your fitweek!)

Yeah, Tea, sorry for fitweek stealing. I didn't mean to do that! But I do appreciate all this advice!

After I recover from surgery, I probably could lie on the ground and bend my knees toward my chest. My surgical wounds are in the pelvic area (they removed cysts from my ovaries as well as scar tissue from endometriosis, so, my wounds would REALLY ache doing any sort of bending right now...) but in a few weeks, I could probably do that. Then I wouldn't put pressure on my spine or neck, which is good.

I have two novels that are completely written, but need editing. One is very close to completion with that editing - if I focus, I could have queries out by August - and the other I plan to work on editing between August-November (because in November, I do National Novel Writing Month, so, no editing happens then:) But I do have some short works - and ideas for short works - that I could submit/write, so I can at least feel like I'm doing something from this bed until the novel is finished (or rejected numerous times, haha...) I used to work for a newspaper, so I was used to seeing my name in print, and not being able to work anymore and see that... it's tough. I miss journalism, even if it wasn't my true passion. But it at least allowed me to write and edit.

Thanks for believing that I have what it takes. I need to start collecting those words about my writing from people and pasting them into a Word doc so that, on my bad days, when I feel like I'm a hack, I can read over those words and know people believe in me :)

Don't worry about it! Ange knows a lot more than I do about this stuff so she's the right person to get advice from!

Oh gosh, I think I know what you've been through. I've had ovarian cysts twice removed (just like cousins!), so I've had a laparoscopy (keyhole) and a laparotomy (trapdoor?) before. And after hearing that you've had all that stuff done, I can understand why you wouldn't really want to be doing any bending! I'd recommend against it until you're cleared by your doctors, actually!

I don't know what kind of surgery you had, but after my laparoscopy I found that I recovered well in terms of feeling okay painwise, though I still felt bloated for a while after having the surgery. They said that it's normal to feel like that afterwards because during the surgery they pump the abdominal cavity with air so that it's easier to maneuver the camera and tools around (gross!) and it takes a while for everything to just settle back to normal.

As for laparotomies, I've been told that it's similar to having a Caesarean - basically the amount of abdominal muscle that they have to cut through has to just take time to knit back together and heal properly before it can go through anything strenuous again. I found that my belly just wasn't the same for months after surgery, no matter how much exercise I tried to do to lose a bit of weight and tone up - it really does take a while to recover core strength after it's been literally cut away!

Reverse sit-ups are great for protecting the spine/neck. I always do them when I don't feel that I have enough core strength to keep from straining my neck too much. Crunches and even traditional sit-ups sometimes start hurting my neck before I even feel anything in my abs.

Oh that's super that you do Nano! I'll have to think of a novel idea before agreeing to it this year. :) And I just realised I haven't friended you but I will after I post this comment! I think it's a great idea to collect your compliments and keep them somewhere you can see them. Stephen King was a little mad to start wallpapering a room with rejection letters, but I dig the notion of surrounding yourself with evidence that people do like what you write. :)

I saw you added me, so I added you back :) Be prepared for lots of me bitching about health, especially at 5 in the morning (I only sleep when it's light out).

Anyhow, wow - that sucks that you know what I've been through with those surgeries. It is NOT comfortable, that's for sure. I have pretty nasty endo and PCOS, so, they wanted to check me for cancer, remove the cyst, do a D&C, all of that. Sadly, we found out I can't have kids, but, at least we know for sure now :(

I still do feel a bit bloated (I have some incisions, but also a laproscopy - it's how they removed the cyst, but not the scar tissue from endometriosis...) and it's annoying. I see my stomach and think, "wait, I weigh less, why do I look so bloated?" Luckily, that TERRIBLE shoulder pain from the gas they pump you with during surgery went away within 3 days, but because of my other medical conditions, my recovery has been VERY slow. I'm on bed-rest until close to the end of July, and can barely walk. It's - isolating, to say the least.

I don't feel like I have ANY core strength right now, so it does sound like I'll have to wait a bit before doing abdominal toning, but at least I could work on my arms while sitting in bed. If I can lift light weights, it's better than nothing, and then, I'll try those reverse sit-ups when I feel more "healed."

Thanks for all the advice!

And I love doing NaNo! Do you normally do it? I hope so - it's so much fun :) I hope you have an idea and participate this year. If so, we'll have to add each other over on that site, too. But I probably will keep a little word doc of good things people have said about my writing (since that's all I kind of have left - I was a trained opera singer, but can no longer sing since I can't leave the house...) and remind myself I'm not a hack. I wrote my most recent novel in 3 weeks during NaNo, and that's the one I want to publish, so - it needs revision, but mostly just during the first 10 chapters. I hit the 50,000 mark during those chapters, so they seem rushed, but the rest of the book has a much better pace and sense of characterization, luckily. So I need to get cracking and work on editing for publication. Hopefully I won't have to wallpaper and entire ROOM full of rejection letters, but - when they inevitably roll in, maybe I'll tape them in the bathroom, where they belong, haha :)

I hope people do like what I write. Some have said so, so I need to keep it in mind, keep going, and remember that it's a great way to occupy myself regardless.

Thanks again :)

Tea Gets Fit, Week 4

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