Day 1. Again. How many Day 1’s does one person get?

Day 1. Again. How many Day 1’s does one person get?

As many as a person needs. (I have 10 results that come up when I search for the key phrase “day 1” in my blog…)

I had another Day 1 today.  This time, I was sized up (literally–I gained 10 lbs since my back injury, and had gained 15 lbs due to a situational depression prior to that.. eep!) and figured out.  I met with Jody from the fitness center and asked her to be my trainer.  I talked to her about my back injury and what I’ve been through…

• Wipe out at Warrior Dash
• Spontaneous back injury – I linked that entry because I remember writing my weight in the snow.
• Physical Therapy
• Chiropractic Care

I let her know that we (Jeff and I) are at a point where we’re willing to try anything really.  The cool thing is that in addition to being a personal trainer, she actually has experience with physical therapy and rehabilitation.  She was really nice about figuring out whether I care more about form or function at this point.  I had let her know about a friend’s wedding coming up in October and how the dresses she admires are more like sausage casings at this point.  More important, though, is my functional ability to move and be myself.  I can wear an A-line dress if it comes down to it.

With functionality in mind, my day 1 is going to start on Friday with some resistance band exercises to figure out where my muscle imbalances are.  We’re going to go through a rehabilitation program for my back/core, I’m going to keep up with chiropractic care, and we’ll see how it goes.  Jody said that we’ll be able to transition from the therapy to actual fitness workouts once my strength is rebuilt.

After about 3 weeks, she wants to see a food journal.  Guess the photo tracker is making a resurgence 😉

Day 1 Weigh In:

InBody230 – Weight: 240, Lean Body Mass 118, (body fat 122), BMI 50. (ugh!)
(Previously)  Weight: 220, Lean Body Mass 117, (body fat 103), BMI 43.

Live-Blogging while reading a blog: Gretchen Powell’s “Body Love vs. The Desire to be Thin”

As many of you might know, Gretchen Powell is one of my favorite bloggers. She’s down to earth, approachable, totally non-judgmental, and a great writer as well (true story: her first book was published last year and her next one is upcoming).  She writes about a variety of subjects, much like this blog, but she’s getting back to the basics about weight loss, gain, loss, and what she wants to gain.  I thought I’d try something different this time around and rather than leaving my commentary in a bubble where only a select few can see it, I wanted to “live blog” my reaction to her blog.  With the author’s permission, I present to you a reaction story to “Body Love vs. The Desire to be Thin.”

Third Visit – and Dysthymia

The exact cause of dysthymia is unknown. It tends to run in families. Dysthymia occurs more often in women than in men and affects up to 5% of the general population.

The main symptom of dysthymia is a low, dark, or sad mood on most days for at least 2 years. In children and adolescents, the mood can be irritable instead of depressed and may last for at least 1 year.

In addition, two or more of the following symptoms will be present almost all of the time that the person has dysthymia:

• Feelings of hopelessness
• Too little or too much sleep
• Low energy or fatigue
• Low self-esteem
• Poor appetite or overeating
• Poor concentration

People with dysthymia will often take a negative or discouraging view of themselves, their future, other people, and life events. Problems often seem more difficult to solve. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001916/)

I had the third visit with the counselor the other day and after telling her of the stresses, trouble concentrating at work, et al, she asked me to consider dysthymia.  I think that’s why I haven’t updated.  It’s overwhelming to consider that there might actually be something physical causing my trouble sleeping, trouble focusing, poor self-esteem, and over-eating.

I guess the light that I’m trying to consider is that if there’s a cause, there can be a cure.  But that’s something I’m still looking into.  In the mean time, I’ve re-joined sparkpeople and posted a blog about my “ah-ha” moment over there.  Since I just re-joined that site, I’m not really diving into the “Hey! I have issues..” thing, but I told of looking through our engagement pictures and completely ruining the experience for myself by being so self-critical.  So, first things first – the 3 W goals for the week – Water, Wake, Walk.  64 oz of water, 1 get-up-and-go song/day, and go for 1 walk/day.

The last time I got to good it was through sleep, nutrition, and exercise.  Maybe it can work again ❤