gwennefarrell

Yesterday we took my dog to see my brother, they have both been missing each other terribly. When we got to the hospital we realized there was an anti-Vaxxer/anti vaccine mandate rally going on (note, while that was how it was branded there were a lot of conspiracy signs there as well). I absolutely acknowledge the right to protest but what they did was horrible. Not only did they offend frontline healthcare workers but they also took up all the parking spots that are supposed to be for those attending the hospital, if you wanted me to support for your ‘freedom’ it is long gone.

So, not sure where I am actually going with this blog other than for the 1st tine since this pandemic began, I am spending time with Tom. To be clear, I mean several days with just the 2 of us (oh, and our dog who barely knows Tom). Given the fact that we have seen each other only 13 days since March 2020, spending 6 days together is pretty exciting.

Despite our wanting to spend time together, I am still running. This morning was 8km and I plan on 5km tomorrow. We also spent today cleaning both inside and outside the trailer. Moreover, while out walking the dog Tom got to witness me out on my run, he told me that while I say I am slow, he thinks I am running a nice, comfortable pace.

I’m going to sum it up with this, hubby and I are finally together but that can’t distract from what I need to do each day. Having said that, he looked at me today and said, wow, your calf muscles are amazing!

Once again the weather sucked today. I had 2 choices, do my interval training outside and get soaked or run on the dreaded treadmill. I opted for the latter and decided I just have to get used to long runs using that machine. I was doing pretty good up to the 8th interval (though had to open the garage door to let some cool air in) when my Fitbit went a little wonky and marked the training as finished. I so wanted to complete today’s training so checked the time on my watch and decided to just run the equivalent of those last 2 intervals, 24 minutes. Got through it and I admit I felt pretty good.

I have always thought that as I got fit and developed muscles that my metabolism would improve. That would explain how I can eat a bit more now but still maintain my current weight. However, metabolism slows down as you lose weight. Hold it, what? According to the Mayo Clinic your basal metabolic rate is higher the heavier you are. I thought this must be some kind of mistake but every credible website I visited said the same thing. Apparently it is a myth that skinny people have a higher metabolic rate, the calories your body burns is impacted by a lot of things including hereditary factors, hormonal levels, age and(wait for it) your physical activity.

Now here’s some interesting information that I found, 50-70% of the calories you burn each day come from just operating your body. That means using your heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, etc. The more overweight you are the higher that percentage will be as your body has to work harder. That made sense to me as my chiropractor talked to me about how my heart didn’t have to work as hard to pump my blood and feed things like all those fat cells.

So what is the point of working so hard to lose all this weight and build these muscles? Well, we know from all my test results that I am far healthier. Those muscles I have worked so hard at developing now are far more efficient at processing the food I put in my body particularly the healthy carbs. Most importantly my muscles now help the cells in my body be less insulin resistant.

Ok, all this work didn’t do the changes in my metabolism that I thought. It actually did much better things so I think I’ll just keep at it.

Today I did my 2nd 12 km run and once again it didn’t kill me. This time I admit I prepped myself a bit better. Instead of worrying about not being able to do it I spent some time yesterday reminding myself I did this last week so I could do it again and it would probably be easier. Well, it wasn’t easier and once again km’s 9 and 10 were the toughest but I pushed through them. I have to say it is really uplifting when you realize hey, I just ran 12 friggin’ km’s.

About a year ago as I was really starting to ramp up my fitness I thought I should add some strength training. I started with my upper body using 2 lb weights (now 5 lb weights are getting a bit easy so I may up those). I had no intention of developing bulky muscles, just ones that looked toned and I have accomplished that. I do an upper body workout at least 5 days a week and I will say compared to doing a 12 km run it is a piece of cake.

As part of that workout routine I also do some lower body strength training. This started with doing bridge exercises and wow did they help build my glutes and my quads. But then my physio upped the ante and had me add squats (particularly to build up my right quad), more challenging bridges and exercises to improve my hip muscles. Now my legs are strong as tree trunks and those muscles in my quads and hamstrings look amazing.

But I think the most important are the exercises I have done to strengthen my core. I have learned that your abs are not all you need for core strength rather it is all the muscles that support your spine including the back and pelvic muscles. Bridge exercises, if done correctly, work out all of your core muscles with the added bonus of strengthening your quads and glutes. I was told by both my chiropractor and physio to stay away from ab crunches as they really compress your spine. Instead I do a set of very challenging lifts which need strong abs. Planking can also give you a great ab workout but I hate doing them so my physio taught me a great modified plank which does the same thing. I will note my abs are now more toned than they have ever been.

The bottom line is my strength workouts have made all of my muscles strong and toned. Not only do they look good but I have not had back or neck issues in over a year. That in itself makes the hard work worth it after suffering with chronic spinal issues for over a decade.

So, add some strength exercises to your routine, you will be so glad you did.

This morning I was supposed to do an 8 km run but it was pouring rain. I decided to hit the treadmill as I really didn’t want to get soaked. However, I’m not not comfortable doing a long run on my very old treadmill so opted for a brisk 8 km walk. Tomorrow is supposed to be drier so I’ll get my 8 km run done then.

Saturday after doing a 12 km run I felt I needed a reward. I went to the Levi’s store for some new jeans (I now enjoy wearing jeans). I picked out a pair of straight legs in my size and after looking around I opted for a 2nd pair that were ‘skinny’ jeans. Tried them both on and other than being too long (as most pants are on me) I was happy. Then it hit me, for the 1st time when buying new clothes I had no doubt such a small size would fit me, I have just accepted that is what I wear. It’s funny, at a size 18 it was easy to accept that was who I am. Coming to grips that I am such a small size now has been a while in coming.

Off I went to the tailor to get those jeans and another 4 pair of slacks hemmed along with 5 dresses that needed to be cut down. I really like all of these dresses but they are a size 10 and I just can’t pull that off anymore. I spent an hour with the tailor and was so excited to see how those dresses are going to look once they are taken in. I am now proud of my new figure and have gotten a bit vain in being excited to show it off.

I’ve said since I started these posts that I have not just been getting physically healthy but mentally healthy as well. I am just thrilled to realize how far my confidence has come over the last few months and I plan on it staying at this level.

Today is my little brother’s birthday. Tomorrow marks 15 weeks that he has been in the hospital and during that time he has fought several infections, fractured his shoulder, had a femoral bypass surgery, had surgery on his foot all of which culminated in him having a lower leg amputation. You would think with all of this it would be hard to celebrate his birthday but nope, we have a lot to celebrate and doing so is far healthier mentally than dwelling on what has happened over the past several months.

So let’s start with the big picture, lil’ bro’ is still with us. They warned us when he under going the bypass surgery that he may not survive but he did. His shoulder has healed and his latest infection is clearing up. His stump is apparently shaped really well and today they will remove 1/2 his staples. Even more exciting is today he started using the parallel bars (side story, I asked how that went and he said at first it was really weird because he kept trying to step on his missing foot). These are all awesome reasons to celebrate.

My sister and I had hoped he would be at the local hospital by now and had planned on kidnapping him for a few hours to go out and see friends. When we realized that wasn’t going to happen we planned his birthday party at Abbotsford Regional Hospital. That included a big lunch (I will probably work hard for the rest of the week to get rid of those carbs and calories), his beloved cheesecake, a beer, cards and gifts from friends, numerous phone calls and a large bouquet of balloons (the one with dogs barking to the tune of Happy Birthday was my personal favourite). The family (including the pets) spoiled him with lots of gifts so all in all this was a fun celebration.

But doing this was really important for all of us. Yes, the past 15 weeks has been difficult for all of us, especially Drew. Having said that, looking at a fair sized list of positives instead of looking back at the negatives made this celebration mentally lifting. There is more to come as he continues along this difficult journey and I for one will keep looking for those things to celebrate.

Don’t let going through a tough time be your excuse not to celebrate the good things in life.

Let’s recap my goals to lay out this new milestone. Last year it was to walk 10,000 steps each day, that has long since been surpassed. I then wanted to lose a total of 82 lbs but somehow it ended up being 102 lbs. Finally, when I turned 55 I set a goal of being able to run 10 km by the summer and I hit that goal 3 weeks ago. Being the over achiever that I am even that goal has been stepped up.

As I have mentioned I do what my coach says without questions, whatever she says goes. She had her own goal to get me to a 10 km injury free and her strategy obviously has worked because here I am having done 3 10 km runs without an injury.

Each week I message my coach with how training for the week went. She then provides me with what I am to do for the next week. Last Sunday I sent the weekly message letting her know I had done a 5 km, 8 km and 10 km run along with a day of interval training. She responded that I was doing fabulous and that this week I was to do a 5 km and an 8 km but for the long run today I was to do a 12 km. Wait, what?? No, my goal was a 10 km run and I am doing that, there is no way I can add 2 more km’s.

Needless to say there was a phone call to my coach who was very encouraging and reminded me I am already basically doing this with my interval training. So this morning I set off at 6am (I had a slightly bigger breakfast to help my energy level). It was a good day for a run with the temperature perfect. I hit the 8 km mark and thought there is no way I’ve got another 4 km in me. I struggled to the 10 km mark and realized there were no more inclines or hills left and I only had about 9 blocks to go and for the first time I thought I just might be able to do this. I started counting down the blocks in my head and when I got to the last 1 I kept chanting you got this! Yes I Gwenne Farrell, the formerly short fat chick, just ran for 12 km’s!

Today I offer a huge shout out to Coach Kelly for always believing that I can do it even when I am convinced I can’t. There is not a challenge you have given me that I haven’t met. I think I am now finally going to start referring to myself as a runner.

I have a number of strength exercises that I do each day. I start with some weights for my upper body then do some squats followed by floor work on my yoga mat. Now my young corgi loves it when I get down on that mat because she thinks that means it is time to give me lots of kisses. I have taken to locking her in a bedroom when I am on the floor so that I can get my routine done. However, yesterday she decided that when I do my squats it must be play time. So, as I go down into a squat she jumps on me. As I straighten up she jumps off me. To her this is a great game and I noticed today when the same thing was happening that she looked like she was smiling. I’ve decided I’m just going to let her keep doing this if it makes her happy.

Several years ago my brother had one of his big toes amputated. At the time I was devastated for him so I just couldn’t look at his foot because seeing that spot where the toe used to be upset me so much. I always made him keep that foot covered when he was around me. Well, now it is looking at the stump where his lower leg used to be. When I saw him the day after the amputation I geared myself up to be strong because if he could handle this so could I. But I admit, that first time seeing his stump just about brought me to my knees. I swore to myself I would never let him see me upset about this and I force myself to look at the stump every time I see him and ask questions about it. I have also done a ton of research into what happens next next in terms of making it fit into his prosthetic.

Monday we had a meet and greet with my brother’s prosthetist and now it was time to learn all about that stump. The prosthetist showed me how the stump was a perfect shape and what they will be doing to manipulate it to fit well in a prosthetic. Trust me this was very detailed information. She asked my brother how much he weighed before the amputation and when he answered she advised he now weighed 5 lbs less because that is the weight of a lower limb. The more she talked the more comfortable my brother and I got and so we started asking questions. One response that floored me is that the cost of the prosthetic (covered under our provincial health plan) is $10,000. I was stunned and the prosthetist explained that the foot component alone cost $5,000.

When I left after that meeting I realized that even when I had first walked into the hospital room seeing the stump didn’t bother me. Yes, it is sad to see but it didn’t freak me out. I thought about it on my long drive home from the hospital and I know a big part of the reason is the fact that I am mentally so much stronger now. Sure, I had to dig down deep those first few visits with my brother but when I was out running I could strengthen my resolve that I had to be ok with my brother’s new look. I don’t think even a year ago I could have gotten to this place of acceptance so quickly but I am here now.

Remember, mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness.

I had a great day on Sunday. We arranged to get together with a group of ladies from a service organization that my sister and I belong to. What a hoot! Not only was it fabulous to see them all after so long but when we got together it was like we hadn’t been apart for a year and a half. We enjoyed a few beverages and had lots of laughs. It was the best way to spend an afternoon.

I was up early this morning to get my interval training done. I’m still doing 10 intervals of 12 minutes running and 1 minute walking. I checked my weather app and thought I can get away with wearing a talk top as it wasn’t terribly cool. The app also said it was cloudy but as it was still dark out I couldn’t really check the clouds. There was no mention of rain for the next 2 hours so off I went. After my warm up I started running and within 5 minutes it had started raining. It was a light rain so I thought this won’t be too bad. I was wrong. The longer I ran the heavier it rained. I got to interval number 8 and decided enough of this, I’ll hit the 10 km mark and quit. By that point I was soaked and cold and it was torture.

I don’t feel bad about skipping that last interval. Running is not supposed to make you physically uncomfortable. I know if I force myself to run when I am really not enjoying it then it becomes an excuse to give up and I refuse to do that. I know I did everything right by checking the weather and dressing appropriately (based on the info I had). Really, if I had known it was going to rain I would have worn an entirely different outfit. Did skipping that last interval impact my training, of course not. I still got in a good workout and that is the important thing.

So, if something makes your walks/runs miserable, give yourself a break.

I had really hoped to shave 5 minutes off my 10 km run time today. However, it wasn’t long into the run that I realized this wasn’t going to happen for 2 reasons. Firstly even at 6am it was already humid so by time I was just a few minutes into the run I was already sticky. Secondly, the air quality. With all the forest fires in BC our skies, even near the ocean, are very smoke filled and hazy. I’m pretty sure that breathing in this air is the reason my legs were tired before I had even reached the halfway point.

As I have previously mentioned this COVID pandemic has been very hard on my husband and I. Tom works in the US but before March 2020 he was always home on weekends. When the borders closed he was still technically allowed to return home (as a Canadian citizen) but always would have to do 2 weeks of self isolation. We decided it simply didn’t make sense for him to come home before the Xmas holidays when he spent 2 weeks in a local hotel then came home for 10 days. When he left to go back to work at the beginning of January we had no idea when we would see each other again. But this week the borders opened and those fully vaccinated could cross and not be required to self isolate. So after 8 months and 10 days Tom and I had a date night last night at our favourite restaurant and it was fabulous.

Tom walked into the house yesterday and the first thing he said was oh my god you are skinny. He then handed me a bunch of clothes he had bought for me. The problem is some of the clothes he had bought were from the beginning of the year and were in a medium or size 10 which no longer fits me. After trying pretty much everything on and creating yet another donation pile, Tom asked if 2 of the dresses could be taken in because they looked good on me, they were just too big. I agreed I would take them to my tailor and see what could be done while secretly thinking hmm, I’ll get to brag about shrinking 4 sizes since the beginning of the year.

Today I tried to train Tom on the strengthening exercises I do regularly. We started with upper arm weights and I offered to let him use my 5 lb weights and I’d go down to the 3 lb ones. We did the first 4 exercises and after 2 sets his arms were tired. I laughed and said that I do 3 sets 5 times a week with those 5 lb weights. Yeah, he said, but have you seen how buff your arms are? I decided to skip several of the other exercises I normally do and move the the bridge lifts. I do these in the order of increasing difficulty so started off with a basic bridge. We then moved on to a marching bridge and I could see Tom was starting to struggle. We got to the final one, the dreaded one legged bridge lift and he barely survived. Apparently when Tom said he wanted me to train him I don’t think he fully comprehended exactly how hard I have worked to get this fit. Not his fault as he hasn’t been here to witness it.

The bottom line is not only has it been awesome having my husband home for a few days but it has been great for my ego. Tom constantly tells me how skinny I am, how great I look, how much younger I look and how proud he is of me. So, I have decided to succumb to a bit of vanity this weekend and soak up the ego boost.

I wanted to start this blog by giving a huge shout out to our support network. When word got around that my sister had been hospitalized so many people reached out and offered to give me some help. I can’t believe the number of offers I got for things from doing my shopping to just coming over to keep me company. Reminds me that there are some really nice people out there and I know a lot of them.

I’ve come to realize that my weight tends to fluctuate throughout the week. Normally it is the highest at the beginning of the week and lowest on Saturday. I weight myself at the same time each day, I don’t change my eating habits during the week and my exercise on Tuesdays is actually more than on Saturday. As an example, Tuesday I weighed in at 120.6 lbs and today it was 118.6 lbs. 2 lbs in only 2 days? Why does this happen?

I did some research on this a few weeks ago after I got on the scale and it appeared I had gained 4 lbs in 2 days. During that time I had done all my normal exercise and had eaten the same as always. Turns out, this is actually really normal. Apparently, throughout a single day your weight can fluctuate up to 5 lbs. I was a bit shocked as that seems like a lot of weight to me but I read that as long as you are in the 5 lb swing then there is nothing to worry about.

So what causes this? There is a variety of things that impact these minor weight fluctuations. It could be caused by a change in hormones (i.e. women having their menstrual cycle), what you ate (salty foods cause you to retain water as do high carb foods), bowel regularity, heat and humidity level just to name a few. When you start to think about it, it kind of makes sense that since your body has various levels of fluids and waste in it at any given time that your weight can’t always be consistent.

I also found a couple of good suggestions about monitoring your true weight. The first was to only use the scale 1 day a week and always on the same day. Now I have written about this before and there are several schools of thought on the best number of times to weigh yourself each week so if this one works for you go for it. The second is to weight yourself at the same time each and every day and then do an average to calculate your weight and see if that average stays consistent. Not for me, I weigh in 3 times a week but the averaging still seems to work, I am a consistent 120 lbs which is right where I want to be.

The bottom line, fluctuating weight within that 5 lb mark is perfectly normal. Don’t obsess about those lbs that are jumping up and down. Be consistent in what you eat and remember to keep moving.