A Week of Ouch

Here's my Saturday Stats a day late:

Miles ridden this week: 3
Pounds lost: 0.4 lbs.
Starting weight: 344 lbs.
Current weight: 340.2 lbs.
Total weight loss since 6/29/13: 3.8 lbs.

This was a tough week, I gotta say.  I am used to my body fighting me a little when I start exercising again after a long hiatus but nothing like this.  Last Monday, my knee was so sore I had to take Advil to get to sleep.  Fortunately, my chiropractor adjusted it for me and it started to feel better.  I never realized you can adjust joints until I met her.  A couple of summers ago she fixed my foot when I wrenched it.  It makes me wonder how many people are limping around on sore joints when a trip to the chiropractor would set them right.

My knee was still so sore that I didn't ride until Thursday.  That ride wasn't too bad because I broke it up with an errand.  It was pouring rain but just enough to be refreshing.

Saturday, I finally achieved my goal of finding my bike shoes.  One had somehow gotten waaaay under the bed and the other was in the closet.  Go figure.  I even found my GPS and charged it up but then I forgot to take it with me.  Apparently, my bike shoes are a problem.  As soon as I started riding, my right foot got all cramped up and sore.  My knee really hurt too causing me to utter, out loud, while riding down Mass. Ave. "Oh, my legs!  Why you do me like this?!!"  Needless to say, that ride was a struggle.  I did make it, though I had to stop once more just to let the cramping ease.  

Today, I wore my sneakers again and things were much better.  My knee hurt at the beginning of the ride but after I stretched out, I had a space of time where it ACTUALLY DIDN'T HURT.  I hardly knew what to do with myself.  That passed fairly quickly and my knee went back to hurting but it gave me hope.

We'll see what this week has to bring.  I'd like to get back to wearing my bike shoes but not if they make my feet cramp.  When my weight is high, my feet get very swollen and I think that is the problem.  We'll see how long it lasts.  Meanwhile, I'm going to start using my GPS and see how far I'm actually riding instead of just guessing.

Saturday Stats

Miles ridden this week: 3
Pounds lost: 3.4 lbs.
Starting weight: 344 lbs.
Current weight: 340.6 lbs.
Total weight loss since 6/29/13: 3.4 lbs.

Today I am reinstating Saturday Stats.  I'm starting fresh since I don't want to dwell on how much weight I've gained in the last two and half years.  It is a good record of how I'm doing and something to look forward to.
Today's ride was very heartening.  My left leg, instead of being something I was just focusing on forcing to go around, actually started contributing to the effort.  I rode about twice as far as I had Tuesday and Thursday, which is to say a whole two miles.  But, hey, it was the first day I started to feel comfortable on the bike again and I'll take it.  
I did two things this morning that helped things along.  First, I put on bike clothes rather than civvies which always makes me more comfortable.  Second, I got right out of bed, put on said bike clothes and went for a ride before I had a chance to think about and before it had a chance to get super hot.  My goals for this week are to find and charge up my GPS so I can tell exactly how far I'm riding and to find and start wearing my old bike shoes.  Baby steps.

A Little Better Today Than Tuesday

I had planned to ride yesterday but then something occurred to me.  The most successful training schedule I've always used started out riding Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.  I wondered if not riding yesterday would give my knee a chance to tighten up again but I decided to risk it.  I really can't reasonably ride everyday in the shape I'm in.  I have a basement full of junk that needs to be cleared out and a yard that has been sadly neglected for years now.  I have to have some energy to do that.  I'm just not in a place where I can expect myself to do too much every day.
My knee feels better, though.  I can get my leg around without it hurting every pedal stroke.  It is still stiff but nothing like it was Tuesday.  I am hoping that I will be able to pedal normally by the end of next week.  As soon as I can pedal normally, Stef and I can start taking out the tandem!  The tandem is just too hard to manage when I'm fighting to make my leg go around but it makes me sad not to be able to go riding with her.  I just have to keep plugging away and I'll get there.  It is very frustrating but it took me a long time to get like this.  It is logical that it will take me a while to get back.

Back from the Edge

I feel like I have woken up from a years long dream only to find myself in the most appalling shape of my life and barely able to bike.
I have woken up in a way.  I was diagnosed with sleep apnea so I've been sleep deprived and oxygen starved for at least the past year.  I got a CPAP machine about a month ago and am finally getting real sleep again.  I also sold the yarn shop so that I can concentrate on my graduate degree and eventual career change to accounting.  For the first time in at least a year, I have some actual free time.
I went for my first ride on my own bike in, well, let's just not talk about it.  My left knee, which has been very stiff, gave me some trouble.  I really only went around the block with a stop for stretching.  It sucked and it hurt but resting my knee has not loosened it up so the new plan is to make it move whether it wants to or not.
I had to switch my pedals back to regular pedals on both my single bike and the tandem.  With my fitness they way it is, I can't handle clipping in and out of my road pedals.  It is kind of sad for me to realize that but you do what you have to do to get back on the bike.
So, tomorrow, I will get back on the bike and go around the block again and hope there is improvement.  It's all I can do.

Pants!

Usually when I post anything about pants, it is to complain about them but today I have good news.  I am currently wearing a pair of pants that I haven't been able to get into for about a year.   I have one other pair that I can just about get into as well.  This is good news because my other pants are starting to get really baggy.  I've lost 22 lbs so far and by about 30 lbs, my pants will be getting much too baggy to wear.  Unfortunately, I don't have many other pairs in smaller sizes.  I gained so much weight last year that in a fit of pique, I sent all my other smaller pants to Goodwill.  I guess it's time to start trolling Goodwill for pants again.  When I get to some weight that I plan to stay at for a while, I'll invest in some new clothes, but for now I just need clothes that look reasonable and will get me by.

I'm Back (Maybe)

I find myself with a bit of time to post today so I'm taking advantage of it.  No promises about future posts.  I've broken too many promises already.
So, what's new?  Well, after about a year of stress and eating just about anything that wasn't going to eat me first, I've gotten back on a weight loss program.  It is going to take a while, but I'm starting to undo the damage.  I joined Planet Fitness with Stef and Jonathan and I'm on this new diet that I'm doing through Dr. Rothfeld's office.  Both seem to be working!  I'm down from a lifetime high of 296 lbs to 277.5 lbs.  I had gotten down to 236 lbs right around when it all hit the fan in the fall of 2010 and I'm hoping to be back there for the MS Ride in May.
I've discovered a few things over the last year.  One is that there are times of stress in which I cannot tolerate being hungry.  I've been talking to the doctor about strategies for when these times hit that don't entail me falling off the wagon for months at a time.  I have found that the sedative effects that refined carbs have on me is something I've been using as a form of self-medication that requires some kind of replacement whether it is a prescription or a suppliment.  I hope that the stress of 2010-2011 was not something that will repeat itself in my life but you never know.  I'm going to work to line up some kind of strategy for dealing with big stress that doesn't involve gaining 60 lbs in a year.
Meanwhile, I'm slowly losing the wieght and regaining my fitness which is all good!

Aarrghh, tandem!

Well, the tandem is still in the shop.  Tandems are notorious fuss budgets but this is getting ridiculous.  We spent all that money on a new rear wheel and it's been nothing but trouble.  We had way less trouble with the factory built wheel that came with the bike and would probably still have it if we hadn't "ahem" worn halfway though the rim.  They want to rebuild the new wheel with all new spokes but the guy who does that has been out of town since last Friday.  That means that the weather's beautiful and we're not riding our bike.  Sad Face!