Proud

I haven't updated y'all with a weight-loss / weight-gain post since February 4th, which was a whopping three weeks ago. So, here's the result of that time period:

Honestly, it's what I expected, as I mentioned in my last post: with traveling, having 8,000 snow/cold days, coming down with The Plague, and just getting off track in general, the scale was bound to move in the less-desired direction.

So, you may be wondering why in the world I titled my post Proud. Well, friends, let me tell you:

1. I have had two super-hard workouts already this week. Both yesterday and today, Pilates was tough, and I pushed myself.

At my main location (Woodbury), we're working on an advanced-to-me move, Snake:

This video is 100% not me.

I am very strong, and I am pretty decent at most Pilates moves. I am not, however, good at anything that involves holding myself up with my arms/wrists/hands, especially when it involves a moving surface.

I'm not entirely sure why. Part of it, I think, is that my elbows hyper-extend quite a bit, and I'm worried about them doing so when I'm trying to hold myself up; also, this hyperextension can make my wrists pretty sore when I put weight on them. Part of it is that I am not confident in the strength of my arms versus the power of my legs.

Whatever the reason, these types of movements terrify me.

But yesterday, I attempted a very-adapted version of the exercise pictured above, and I was able to get up -- albeit for a short time -- on my wrists. And that made me proud.

2. I stuck to my nutritional plan both yesterday and today. Yesterday, it was fairly easy, but today, I chaperoned a field trip, and our wonderful cafeteria workers packed me a sack lunch. While I ate the apple sauce, I opted out of the turkey sandwich, chips, and animal crackers and instead ate the lunch I packed. (I did, however, eat the animal crackers -- and tracked them -- on my way-too-long commute home.)

And speaking of that long commute home, I really didn't want to cook and instead wanted Jesus and I just to head to a restaurant instead. But, we made a good choice: we got home, cooked some fast (and delicious) chicken, and noshed on a salad instead.

3. The aforementioned field trip was so much fun. We took our Student Leadership Team to Base Camp for team-building and leadership-strengthening activities.

We started the morning with a goofy ice breaker; most of the students participated, but some were definitely "too cool."

That quickly changed, though, when we did the first "challenge." The whole group had to "island hop" across a "lake full of lava," and they only had two thin boards to use for assistance. It started off as a very individualistic activity, but students quickly realized they had to work together -- and did a really great job of it.

We did another activity where they were all thisclose to each other, which on any other day would likely have not worked; my students really like their space, often wanting to sit all alone rather than with even one more person at the table. But they all participated, and they all did great.

After a quick lunch, we were going to do a high ropes course but instead opted to rock climb. I was originally a bit salty about this, as rock climbing is hard, and I have never been super successful at it. I really wanted to participate -- and be a kid with, well, the kids, but I was uncertain that I could, simply because I am not good at rock climbing.

Well, guess what?

That's me! And I'm, like, a little more than halfway up the wall!

It was really, really hard, and I was really, really not confident, but I did it!

I asked a student to take photos while I was climbing, and I'm not going to lie: while I wanted photo documentation of my attempt, I was dreading what the pictures would look like. I mean, it's hard to look amazing (suck it in, pop it out, get the good angles, find the light, etc.) while in weird climbing formation.

But you know what? I'm not super disappointed in these photos! In fact, I think I look pretty darn strong! And, I'm really, really proud of myself.


So even though the scale has gone up over the last three weeks, I am overall very pleased with how I'm doing: I feel strong, I feel (more) confident, I am stepping outside of my comfort zone and taking risks, and I am looking better -- even in those unplanned, unposed photos. :)

Oh, and even with this recent gain, I'm still down 9.8 pounds overall.

And as I continue to stick to my nutritional plan, I know I'll keep going down.

Adios!

Fitness Successes

I've documented quite a few times about my ankle injury completely sidetracking my fitness journey, derailing my exercise regime, and putting me in a pretty darn crappy spot in general.

Surgery was not a sure fix for the ankle injury, but it was pretty much a last resort option. And while it feels better, it is definitely far from perfect and acts up occasionally. Unfortunately, I am still largely unable to do pre-injury activities, namely running.

So while I have talked a lot about that, what I haven't talked about extensively ye is the success I have found since that bump in the road.

Pilates

Club Pilates

I absolutely love Pilates -- for a number of reasons. First, it is a no-impact practice that I can do without aggravating my ankle.  In fact, it is therapeutic for my injury. When I had my final post-surgery appointment a year ago, my surgeon suggested additional physical therapy. I told him that I did Pilates several times a week and described the footwork routines, and he essentially said that was better, more beneficial than physical therapy.

Another reason that I love Pilates is because, similar to yoga, it is such a mind-body connection for me. It is truly my therapy, a way to both center and ground myself. Each position, each exercise requires so much focus on so many different things: breathing, muscle movements, tiny tweaks in positioning, stabilizing, etc. It's nearly impossible to let my mind wander on anything other than what I am physically doing at the moment.

Third, I have found such a community in my Pilates studio -- Club Pilates Woodbury.

This is not my studio, but it looks almost identical.

I started at the studio in Maple Grove because that was the closest to where I used to live and the closest to where I work. But then I moved to St. Paul, and shortly thereafter, the studio in Woodbury opened; I immediately jumped at the opportunity to switch clubs, and I am so, so grateful that I did. First, the instructors are incredible. I workout mainly with Georgene, who is incredible: she is supportive, encouraging, and super challenging, always pushing me to try new things (and assuring me I can succeed in those new things).

For instance:

I was the only person in class the other day, and Georgene was super excited about me trying a new exercise: a (modified) walkover on the Cadillac reformer.

Here's a video:

I was so, so proud of myself. While I feel like I did something very similar on the monkey bars nearly every day of my elementary school career, I haven't tried anything remotely close to this in recent memory. Also, while I am pretty darn adventurous (and fearless) with exercises that involve my legs, I am less confident in my arms' ability to hold me up; so, this was quite the feat.

And while I'm at it in showing off, here's a video of me doing one of my favorite exercises, teaser:

This is a move that is supposedly incredibly challenging, but I have always excelled at it; truthfully, I don't find it difficult at all, which makes me wonder if I'm doing it incorrectly. :) This is also an exercise that I am continuously trying to perfect. Like everyone else, I started off doing modified versions, including bringing my legs to a table top position (bent at the hips, shins parallel to the mat). Now, however, I have graduated to straightening my legs as much as possible; I clearly have work to do, though, in making them even straighter, which is my next goal.

In addition to the incredible instructors at my Pilates studio, I love the other members. I have made amazing friends, people whom I miss when I don't see them for a while. Those relationships make working out even more fun.

This is precisely why, even though a studio opened in a much more convenient location (in the middle of my commute rather than 20 minutes in the opposite direction), I cannot bring myself to switch clubs.

Personal Training

A few years ago -- in the midst of my "fitness prime" -- I went to a personal training session with Laurie. She had been working out with Tyler for quite a while and could not speak highly enough about him, so I took advantage of a free introductory session and loved it -- despite nearly vomiting on the drive home.

Fast forward a couple of years: I was going to Pilates several days a week, but I knew I needed to add something to my fitness regime if I wanted to see similar results to what I had seen pre-surgery. I found a "CrossFit Lite" place via Facebook and signed up for that -- and attended three times, until I was sexually harassed by the head coach.

Laurie -- again-- convinced me to go to Tyler.

And this time, it stuck. I have been hanging out with him for an hour each week for a few months, and it has been awesome.

Titanium Performance

The full-body workout lasts approximately 40 minutes, and it's so challenging that there have been times where it has been nearly impossible to hold my cell phone to my ear afterward: my muscles are utter jello.

Essentially, Tyler (and the other trainer, Morgan) focus on High Intensity Training, lifting to Momentary Muscle Failure. And they are super knowledgeable in everything health- and fitness-related, which puts me at ease. They work especially well with injuries, which is something I clearly need as well.

I also love how encouraging Tyler and Morgan are -- and how much they validate me. (I thrive on external motivation, and #validateme is a real thing.) They tell me how strong I am all the time, and sometimes they have way more faith in me than I do in myself. For instance, last week I leg-pressed six hundred and forty pounds: yes, 640 pounds -- with my legs -- several, several times.

This video shows a great preview of their space, and the 0:32 mark shows exactly what I'm talking about with the leg press. (Here's a video, too, of Morgan demonstrating.) It is much more challenging than what I was doing at LA Fitness -- and approximately 300 pounds more than what I was doing there as well.

Slowly but surely, I'm on my way back to being my strongest, fittest self:

Emmy, circa 2016

Or, perhaps even stronger, even fitter.

Either way, I'm super stoked and really, really proud of myself.

An Active Weekend

This weekend was absolutely wonderful. First, I got some major quality time with my boo, and second, I spent so much time being active.

The weather was absolutely beautiful, which after the winter we had (including a mid-April blizzard), was much appreciated. It was so warm and sunny that it was impossible to not be outside.

On Saturday, I woke up around 8:00 and decided to hit the gym while Jesus was still asleep.

Today was bench day. I started off with a warm-up: 10 reps at 45 pounds followed by 10 reps at 55 pounds. I then started building up: two sets of 5 reps at 65 pounds, two sets of 5 reps at 75 pounds, and three sets of 3 reps at 80 pounds. Pre-injury (and in my lifting heyday), 85 pounds was the maximum amount of weight I could lift without a spot. So, I am pretty darn proud of myself that I was able to lift what I did today. (Had I had a spot, I could've done more weight and more reps, but I wanted to be somewhat conservative.)

Muscle memory must be real. These pecs remembered what to do.

After that workout, I moved on to close-grip bench. While the movement is similar, the grip is way closer (duh) to the middle of the bar, which means that the triceps are really worked; therefore, the amount able to be lifted is much less. But, I lifted pretty much what I did before my lengthy break: five sets of 10 reps at 55 pounds.

Today, my muscles are feeling like they did something yesterday.

After my trek to LA Fitness, I headed down to Harriet Island Regional Park, a beautiful area that borders the Mississippi River about two minutes from our house. It's also my new favorite place to run/walk.

I love the Wabasha Bridge, and the blossoming trees were so beautiful.

Everything is finally green!

In my pre-injury days, I loved running; half marathons were my favorite. Unfortunately, I have not been able to get back into it too much yet. I want to change that, however, so I decided to try Couch to 5K. (While I can run/walk on my own for 30 minutes -- shoot, I used to run for a couple hours at a time -- I thought it might be helpful to have the verbal cues of when to run and when to walk.)

So yesterday, I did the second day of the first week of C25K, and it went super well. I ended up going about two miles.

Shortly after I got home (and inhaled a turkey sandwich), Jesus wanted to head out for some more outdoor fun. We prepped our bikes and hit the trails -- again, down by the river.

I can't even say it without thinking of this sketch.

It was great; we rode across the bluff overlooking the river, and then we headed down a crazy-huge hill by our house. (I was riding the brakes nearly the entire time -- and also dreading the climb back up.) Then we paused a few times in the park to check out the water, the scenery, etc. We even rode down to Raspberry Island, a spot of land smack-dab in the middle of the Mississippi.

Don't worry: my helmet was buckled when we were actually riding.

Then we decided to ride further and headed into Lilydale. When we were a couple miles into that jaunt, I noticed a sound coming from my tire. I thought that maybe something was just stuck in it, so I stopped, bent down, and attempted to remove whatever it was.

Well, nothing was stuck.

Instead, my tire was leaking air.

Ugh.

We stopped, pulled out the extra tube, patches, and bike tools -- and attempted to change this darn tire. Thankfully, cyclists are the nicest people on the planet, and every single person offered to help. After far-too-long, we had the tire replaced (and our kind helper was well on his way), and we were pumping it up.

Unsuccessfully.

We could not get the tire to hold air.

And then it started to rain.

Finally, we basically said screw this, and I started walking my bike home (and likely ruining my clips on the two-mile journey) while Jesus rode up ahead (taking a "short cut" that involved three massive massive hills) to get the car.

Then, my phone died.

So, I was by myself. In the woods. While it was raining. With no phone.

Have I mentioned that I've been obsessed with Criminal Minds and My Favorite Murder? Yeah. Not a good combination.

Eventually, at the bottom of the afore-mentioned hugest hill ever, Jesus (in the car) and I met.

I tried filling up the tire with my foot pump today, and I still couldn't get it to hold air. We took it to the bike shop, and while the tech initially thought I was just super dumb since the shop pump was working, realized that once he put so much air in, it all leaked right back out. Something was wrong with the valve stem, and they are replacing the tube as we speak.

While we didn't get to attempt a longer ride today, I instead went to Pilates and did a kick-butt class this morning. It was a class with one of my favorite instructors, and dang, she made me sweat profusely. All she has to do is verbally cue (or even physically adjust) minor tweaks in my form, and I want to die -- in the best way possible. It was a great stretch, and I know I'm going to be feeling it even more tomorrow.

Getting back in the saddle (quite literally, in fact) has done such wonders for me -- physically, yes, but even more so, emotionally. I am in a much better place than I was even two weeks ago, and I am so thankful for that.

Yay, endorphins!

Peace,