Yesterday I had a great experience. I went to see an accountant to get some help with my brother’s estate. Because of things like interest, rrsp’s, etc it was getting (in my view) really complicated. I sat down with this gentleman and after about 7 minutes we were done. I had a very clear idea of how I finalize everything and am absolutely prepared to move forward. And, he did this as a free consultation for me even though I was fully prepared to pay.
Yesterday I started back at the fitness center with a fitness class. It was the 5:30am bootcamp class and was the perfect way for me to get back at it. Now the game plan was afterwards to get in a 1 hour walk as I start to build myself back up. It should have been an easy task since on Mondays I lead my seniors group on a walk. However, the weather was cold and rainy and those seniors had not intention on walking. They were quite up front about the fact that the only thing they intended to do was have some coffee. That sort of put a wrench in the works but I did manage to get in a good 1/2 hour walk coming home from the accountant.
Today I was determined to meet my workout goals. I went to my early class and got through it though it was a lot of leg work (tons of squats). Normally later in the morning I would walk to my caregivers’ support group but I checked the weather and it showed we would be getting some serious rain later in the morning. And so, right after the fitness class I headed off on a 5km walk. I got about 1/2 way through the walk and realized that my legs were definitely starting to complain. To put it in perspective, for the last couple weeks the most walking that I did was was 45 minutes and there was absolutely no fitness classes. I know it was only for 2 weeks but I am definitely can feel it today.
Bottom line is I was successful in upping the ante when it comes to my workouts. I should note that I think I am finally getting rid of this cold that has now dogged me for nearly 4 weeks. My hearing is close to being fully back and I have no other symptoms. And so, I am going to give it my all until I am back to where I was when the rhinovirus knocked me on my butt. I just need to stay focused and determined and I will get there.
So the past 2 days have thrown me completely off kilter. Yesterday I had to drive downtown to meet a client. Unfortunately the normal route I would take was closed due to a multi-vehicle accident so I took and alternate route. Apparently so did everyone else because what should have taken me under an hour took me 1 1/2 hours. Coming home it was even worse, huge accident on the bridge so 2 1/2 hours to get home. Then today while I was on the dreaded treadmill the power went out (note to self, no using the treadmill during a massive wind storm because when the power goes out the treadmill slams to a stop). We then went 8 hours without electricity so basically nothing I planned on got done today. Hoping to get fully caught up tomorrow.
For 2 weeks my sleep scores have sucked. They occasionally inched into the ‘fair’ zone but normally were sitting at ‘poor’. I get this is because I have been sick and in particular have been extremely congestion meaning I barely sleep. Fortunately this week my sinuses (note not my ears) have cleared up and since I have been skipping early morning fitness classes all of a sudden my sleep score has gone into the ‘good’ range. That makes me so happy because I know it is helping my body to heal.
They say there are 10 reasons why a good night’s sleep is important. Here is what I found on healthline
- May help or maintain weight loss (I like this one)
- Can improve concentration and productivity (ok, right now I still suffer brain fog so this one isn’t really working)
- Can maximize athletic performance (I’ll find out Monday when I am back at the fitness center)
- May strengthen your heart (have I mentioned my resting heart rate has dropped to 75?)
- Affect sugar metabolism and type 2 diabetes risk (as in more sleep lowers the risk)
- Poor sleep is linked to depression
- Supports a healthy immune system
- Poor sleep is linked to increased inflammation
- Affects emotions and social interactions (you know, makes you cranky if you don’t have enough sleep)
- It can be dangerous (such as inability to focus on tasks, decreases reflexes and reaction times)
I have to admit up until 10 or so years ago I always slept well even when traveling to Europe. Then one day I hit a wall and just stopped sleeping. Really, I was lucky to sleep 3 solid hours a night. This ultimately lead to me doing things like closing my eyes when stopped at red lights. My family doctor tried putting me on sleeping pills but they didn’t help much and quite frankly the dreams I had while taking them scared the crap out of me.
Still, even now I often struggle to get a good nights sleep. Even when I am at the condo which is where I tend to be most relaxed I often can only get a ‘fair’ sleep score. However, I think right now my body has recognized I need to be in full recovery mode and I am getting in far more deep and REM sleep than I normally do. I like to think it is working because the cold is slowly lifting.
So test yourself, see how much sleep you actually get when you are on a vacation and not tied to alarms and schedules. That might indicate to you how much sleep your body actually needs rather than how much you allow it to have.
So sleep, it’s a good thing,
I met with a locum doctor yesterday. He thinks I might have a small perforation in one eardrum. Moreover, it is obvious my inner ears are ‘angry’ as he put it (though the right one is the worst) which is likely caused by the viral infection. He decided as a precaution that a quick round of antibiotics would be a good idea so I started those this morning. I also expressed concerns about my heartrate and resting heartrate. I explained that Tuesday night I hit an all time high with my RHR with it at 83. He kindly explained that 83 is still in the normal range and that it is to be expected when you have a viral infection that your heartrate becomes accelerated. His advise was if it is still accelerated when I am healthy again is when we worry about it.
I have realistically decided that fitness classes are not going to happen the rest of the week so I have canceled all my classes. I am optimistic that I can get back at it next week but let’s be honest, I have not been able to work hard for 2 weeks so there is no way I am just going to start doing 3-4 hours of working out come Monday. Instead I have decided to map out a plan to get me back up to my pre illness state without risking any injuries.
Now I have tried as much as possible over the last 2 weeks to get in some walking most days. This morning, for example, I got in a 45 minute brisk walk which felt pretty good. But of course that is far from hours of brisk walking. I’ve decided to break things down over a 3 week period keeping in mind those pesky holidays are going to mess things up a bit. So, below is how things are going to look.
Week 1 – December 15th – 21st – While I have lots to do around the house for Christmas as well as some family events planned I am comfortable with the idea of a 1 hour fitness class and 1 hour walk each day. This should be easily doable but still provide a bit of a challenge. I am confident I will be successful in meeting this goal.
Week 2 – December 22nd – December 28th – Ok, this is where I have to figure things out a bit. I know there is unlikely to be anything done on December 25th because you know, Christmas. Also, I am traveling to Mexico on December 28th so that day is out (though with walking through the airports I will still likely get in 10k steps). The days I know will work are December 23rd and December 27th so both those days will be 1 hour fitness and 2 hours of walking. Classes aren’t done at 5:30am on the 24th and 26th which becomes problematic (especially the 24th because that is our annual open house). So, my plan on the 24th is up at 4:00am to get in a 2 hour walk before getting the house ready for the party. The 26th I’ll likely sleep in a bit but still target a 2 hour walk. I should note these will be full on walks with doing the hills up from the beach.
Week 3 – December 29th – January 6th – Again this week presents some challenges but I am determined to make it work. The 29th is our shopping day and a Sunday so I will be good with 1 hour walk at the condo. The 30th and 31st will be 1 hour fitness class and 2 hours of walking. I figure on January 1st if I can at least get in a 1 hour walk I will be doing well. The rest of the week has to be back to 1 hour fitness class with at least 2 hours walking. I’m adding an another goal for the rest of the trip, that I get my husband to do an additional 1/2 hour walk with me each day which I hope he agrees to.
So why bother detailing all of this here? Quite frankly it helps me to hold myself accountable to my goals. It means I have publicly stated what I plan to do and I know if I don’t follow through I will feel like crap.
So here’s to building back up in the best and safest way possible.
My apologies for missing posting on Saturday. It was quite the busy day for us. It was actually the 6 month anniversary of my brother’s passing so we went out for lunch to recognize it. We then had a meeting for our the riding of the political party we support. By time all of that was over I was done for the day.
I have been living with this cold for 2 1/2 weeks. It has gone from being reasonably mild to now getting to the point of debilitating. I knew a week and a half ago things were going south when I woke up feeling like I was swallowing razor blades. That moved on to horrible congestion that came with sinus headaches. Then by the end of last week my ears were so congested I could barely hear. I checked in with a pharmacist on the weekend and he strongly encouraged me to see a doctor because as he said, this is not normal.
So here are the things indicating something isn’t quite right. If I don’t take 2 extra strength ibuprofen at bedtime then guaranteed I’ll be waking up with a massive sinus headache. Again, the congestion in my ears has not dissipated at all since it first started. The length of a cold should be 10 to 14 days and yet here I am 17 days in and I still have a low grade fever. My heart rate is way out of range often at 100+ BPM even when I am just sitting on the couch and my resting heart rate has gone from 68 to 82. Yep, these are all concerning.
And so this morning I broke down and called the medical clinic. Unfortunately my doctor is off this week but they offered me a phone appointment with a locum today (umm, not sure how they would be able to do things like check my ears, etc so I declined). I was able to book an in person appointment 1st thing tomorrow and I jumped on it.
The funny thing about all of this is I have barely been working out for the last 10 days and I am ok with it. If I am feeling up to it I will do a short walk (didn’t happen today) but I am not going to fitness classes. I think I’m ok with it because I know my body is not going to be able to tolerate it and going to the fitness centre would mean I would likely infect everyone else.
So I’ll go to the doctor’s appointment tomorrow and commit to following all of their instructions because I really need to get over this. Oh, and if you happen to come down with this nasty cold, please don’t wait as long as I have if your symptoms get funky.
Ok, I still seem to have the plague. Tomorrow marks 2 weeks since this whole thing started and I am getting quite tired of it. I admit I am getting a bit better. For example, this morning I didn’t have to pry apart my eyelids when I woke up. But, I am still not going to the gym and likely won’t before next Monday. However, I got a bit of a walk in yesterday and intend to do so again today.
I’ve mentioned before that my family recognizes that this season is going to be a bit difficult for us as it is the first Christmas without my brother. We made a conscious decision that we would plan a bunch of fun things to do together throughout December and last night started it off, we took a ride on a local Christmas train. By train I mean a small open air train. It was hokey but a lot of fun. They had the park decorated with lights, the inside of the train station was made up as a gingerbread house and we were photo bombed by Mr. Grinch. It was not expensive and we had fun.
We have more planned in the coming weeks. Tonight we are going to a Christmas ‘luau’ which is a volunteer appreciation event for one of my organizations. Next week we have a Christmas ‘Jingle Mingle’ which brings together caregivers and their families for an evening of fun. After that we still have an adventure to a local farm that does an amazing drive through Christmas light display, a trip to a Christmas Village and an evening of driving around the area looking at Christmas lights in neighbourhoods around us.
So it will be a fun December and that is what we wanted. Of course it will all be more fun if I can just get rid of this cold!
Last year when we put up our Christmas tree our young Ragdoll cat was still a kitten. In fact he wasn’t even quite 9 months old. Yet somehow all the bright, shiny, flashy things did not interest him. Ok, he would stare at the tree but that is about it. Jump forward to this year and oh how things have changed. We are constantly chasing him away from the tree! Fortunately whenever we are going after the cat our Corgi goes into her natural herding mode and gets him away from the tree. It is going to be a long few weeks until after Christmas and we can take the tree down.
My alarm went off at the normal 4am time today and yesterday I had been excited about this morning’s class. It was to be ‘Wreck The Halls’, you know doing exercises meant to build you up for the Christmas season and having to deal with things like tossing presents, pushing the overloaded Costco cart, etc. I knew as soon as I woke up that I was in trouble (I actually realized in during the night but had hoped things would improved). First, my eyes were so caked with gunk from them weeping all night that I literally had to pry them open. Then I noticed my right ear was so congested it hurt inside but was numb outside when I tried to massage it. Finally, I had the worst sinus headache. I got up, had a glass of ice water to chase the 2 extra strength ibuprofen that I had swallowed and headed back to bed.
I am normally not the type of person who ‘sleeps in’ but I didn’t get up again for almost another 3 hours. At that point I decided it was full on couch day. By that I mean there would be no fitness class (note I did cancel the class when I got up at 4am so the instructor wasn’t waiting for me). It also means no walking or other workouts, no caregivers’ support group, just hanging out on the couch doing nothing other than writing this blog for the entire day. I have a very busy social schedule about to happen starting tomorrow and I have been really looking forward to it. As a matter of fact, I think while typing this that I have decided I should just cancel tomorrow’s fitness class now and not worry about it. I know I have a little walking to do as it is my volunteer shift with the senior’s dog but that is all I really need to do.
Right, back to the couch.
Sorry I didn’t post on Thursday, with the holiday season approaching we are just doing so much to get ready. I previously mentioned how we decided to start the season early so that we find happiness instead of thinking who is missing. Our house is probably 75% decorated, the Christmas lights are on outside every night and Christmas music is played all day. Yesterday I went out with my husband to the local Elks Lodge and I was in full Christmas attire including leggings, ugly Christmas sweater and reindeer earrings. Yes, it is already a merry season for my family.
Last week I caught my husbands cold. I wrote that blog about what I do to deal with having a cold. It was all working well and I made sure to take my multi-vitamins and zinc supplement every day. My symptoms (other than last Monday) have been pretty mild. Tues-Thurs I managed to keep up to my full workout routine. My husband was jealous because I had very little congestion and certainly not the hacking cough that he has.
But then yesterday hit. I woke up thinking that I must have been swallowing razors in my sleep, that’s how sore my throat was. Still, I got up, took some ibuprofen and went to the gym. While it was Circuit Friday (one of the more challenging classes) I got through it but when I finished I was pretty drained. I decided it might mot be in my best interest to do my usual 10 km walk so I did some work around the house instead. As the day progressed I got really congested, more so than I had all week. I don’t get how I could go from recovering to feeling even worse.
I started to realize part of the problem is I am not giving my body actual recovery time. I think I need time to let this cold runs its course without me constantly pushing it to the limit. I decided that instead of going for the 10 km walk at 5:00am this morning I would sleep in and give myself the rest I apparently need. Sounded like a good plan until about 2:30am today when I woke up with a throat even worse than yesterday. So up I got and took ibuprofen again. I really didn’t get back to sleep so finally got up at 5:00am. Of course I had an 8:00am class that I did go to and while I struggled at the end I did feel a bit better for having don it.
At this point I realize I need to throw in the towel and just acknowledge the cold has won. And so tomorrow I am not setting the alarm. The most workout I plan to do is a gentle walk up town. Monday I will decide what I plan to do based on how I feel when I get up but if need be I will only do my 1 hour walk with the seniors and I might hang back with the slower walkers. I am hoping a few days of letting myself recover and I can be back at it.
I know I said I am throwing in the towel but really I am not. I am just coming to terms that no matter how fit I am, I am not invincible.
It was really cold this morning so I figured I needed to add some extras to my walking outfit. I had been cleaning out the console in my vehicle the other day and found a pair of large gloves. I decided to wear those today and use some hand warmer packs. That worked really well as the gloves fit quite loosely and that meant the warmers worked so well that I actually had to take them off a couple times. I also added a gaiter which for those who don’t know is really just a neck scarf. I guess I made the right decision because I stayed nice and warm.
Last week my husband came down with a cold. While he tried his best to keep it from me including sleeping downstairs in the family room, by Saturday I knew I was about to get hit with it. My colds always start in my throat and by time I got to Sunday I had a baritone voice. However, I didn’t feel too bad. I went to the gym as normal yesterday but afterwards instead of going for my 10 km walk I came home and crawled straight in to bed. I then spent the rest of the day doing absolutely nothing which seems to have worked because I feel much better today.
I have my personal go to list of products to use when I have a cold. I am a firm believer in using decongestants especially at night. I simply can’t sleep if I’m all clogged up. I also like to use cough medicine and there is one brand in particular that has a no-sugar added version which works for me. I always ‘read the label’ when buying OTC products and I have to say one of the cough medicines I was looking at for my husband had pretty scary warnings about significant damage to the liver which could result in liver failure or even death. Yeah, I left that one on the shelf.
About 40 years ago my Mom was working in the postal outlet at a pharmacy. I dropped in to talk to her one day and mentioned I was coming down with a cold. Her boss, the pharmacist and owner, immediately brought me over some zinc supplements and told me to take them until the cold was gone and in future do the same whenever I felt a cold coming on. I was skeptical but I admit the cold wasn’t that bad and only lasted a few days. Ever since then zinc is my absolute go to product. There have been numerous studies done on zinc’s ability to block the rhinovirus (cold) from getting in to human cells. Some studies did not find any results but others found that taking zinc reduces the virus’ life span (less time sick) and the symptoms. That is what I have experienced over the years but there is also a few things to watch for. I never take zinc on an empty stomach (I only made that mistake once) and because supplements are much higher than the RDA, I stop taking them as soon as I feel I am out of the woods with the cold.
There is one other thing I am doing, staying away from people. Yes, I went to the gym again today but I am back to the keeping 2 meters away from everyone (and at our gym each of us disinfects our weights at the end of the session). Today I should be cofacilitating my caregivers’ support group but everyone who attends are seniors so I don’t want to risk infecting any of them. I’ll see how I am doing tomorrow and decide then if I will join my weekly coffee group.
I think the bottom line is that when dealing with a cold just do what works best to help you get through it. Yes, go for those comfort foods you might not normally indulge in (for me it was a grilled cheese sandwich with tomato soup for dinner last night). Get lots of rest, drink plenty of fluids and keep away from other. Here’s hoping that once this cold is over I don’t get another one for a while.
I have always lived by the rule that Christmas decorations do not go up before December 1st. Nor is there any Christmas music played in the house or in my vehicle. But this year my sister and I decided screw that, the season is going to be hard for us this year so we are going to make it super happy. And so tomorrow the tree is going up and the outside lights will be turned on and our Christmas season will officially have started. And, every week in December we will be doing something fun with several events already booked. I also have committed to myself that rather than be sad I am only going to think of happy memories with my lil’ bro’.
Over the past few months I have really worked on building my confidence during fitness classes. When I first started at my fitness centre in June 2023 there were so many things I wasn’t willing to try. I had some pretty good rationale though. Couldn’t do things that caused me to bend my cranky knee very much. I couldn’t lift heavier weights over my head because of my stenosis. I couldn’t stand on platforms etc because I fell through a ceiling more than 30 years ago and it destroyed my knee and so was terrified of even trying. But, that is now all gone.
I think it started when many months ago we were supposed to do pull ups. To do these the instructor sets up several large rubber bands elevated between 2 posts. You then climb on a bench and step on the bands and pull yourself up until your face is level to the top bar. The first time this was explained to me I was like, hell no I am not doing that. But then the next time pull ups were part of a class, I thought ok, try it once in the 4 rounds. I did it! Then the next time it was one of the exercises I told the negative thoughts in my head to piss off and all 4 rounds I did pull ups (note, the instructors were great about giving me a different exercise when I didn’t want to do the pull ups). Now I’m like, hell yeah I got this.
But lately I have been going even further. I realized that there is absolutely no reason why I can’t push my knee to see how far my knee will bend especially when I am not in pain. Having said that, there are a couple things I learned a while ago that I can’t do 1) bench step ups (it just simply does not bend enough to do that) and 2) split squats (those cause serious pain). Otherwise it is game on and I will try everything and push myself as long as it doesn’t caused real pain.
I should note kneeling is also out because the cranky knee is so full of arthritis and scar tissue that it causes a lot of debilitating pain. But, there is a positive side to this, I can’t do push ups and planks the easier way by doing them from my knees, rather I have to do the full on exercise. I confess at first I would do these from the bench but I gave that up a long time ago and now I do the full version.
The same can be said for using light weights for exercises involving lifting them over my head. I realized that unless I am having a stenosis flare up there is no reason for me not to at least try. Yes, I sometimes start with a heavier weight and then have to go to lighter ones but that is just because my muscles are seriously fatigued, not because I don’t think I can do it. Even doing squats I have bumped up how much weight I am holding and surprise, surprise, it hasn’t killed me.
Today I realized this has all been about my own confidence. I have always been able to do these things I just was afraid I would fail. So while doing reverse lunges today (the original exercise was get ups which is going down on one knee then the other then getting up one knee at a time which there is no way for me to do without being in extreme agony) I asked the instructor if my back knee was close to the floor. She said that wasn’t the point of the exercise to which I replied that it is to me. So she watched me and I was thrilled to learn I am very close to being able to hit the floor with both knees. Damn I have come a long way!
At the end of a brutal class today I made a new commitment to myself, I am a little more than 13 months away from the 30th anniversary of my 30th birthday (think about what I am really saying) and I intend to be in the best shape that I have ever been. By that I mean in even better shape than I am in today. Oh, and I am confident that I can meet that goal.
Every morning when I leave for my walk right now my husband laughs at me. Apparently it is because usually absolutely nothing I am wearing matches. For example, yesterday I was wearing a bright orange reflective toque, bright yellow reflective jacket, green camouflage sweatpants and navy blue runners with bright pink laces. Now I admit that is not exactly colour coordinated but it certainly should make me visible.
The last several weeks I have really been trying to improve my form. I mean, I am pretty good about things like watching my core, keeping my knees from going past my toes when doing squats, holding the barbells equally, etc. But I realized there are some extra things I could do that might give me just a little bit more. And so I started doing things like turning my feet out just slightly when doing squats, holding dumbbells in positions that allow me to use heavier weights, making sure to drop straight down when doing lounges and repositioning my pullups to better do scap pulls.
Today I realized this has really been paying off. I watched myself doing squats and I am dipping down much further (squats are always limited by the fact that my cranky knee only bends so far). I also know that doing my lounges my back knee is getting closer to the ground. Normally when doing weights where I have to lift above my head I go with 10 lbs but now I am sometimes fully comfortable with 15 lbs. These are all major improvements to what I am capable of doing and all of it is just from adjusting slightly. Truly I never thought I would willingly be trying to do scap pulls.
You know you are improving when the instructor comes over and removes one of the bands that you are standing while doing pullups because it was too easy for you and you gratefully let her do it. Yes, there are major impacts from improving my form.
gwennefarrell 