Saturday, May 4, 2013

This Whole Week, Exercise and Some Other Stuff

Again with the being busy!!  I have had a pretty stellar workout week, I just am having trouble finding the extra time to post about it!  Or, when I remember to do it, I'm not around the computer, lol!
Weigh-in on Monday sucked.  I'm up to 135.  I'm stress eating.  I need to get a handle on it.
I went running on Monday.  I did my 1.5 mile loop, without walking, in EIGHT-FIVE DEGREE weather.  Conclusions?  I am not going to be able to run in hot weather without water.  I went out the next day and bought myself a little 12 oz bottle to take with me on my runs.  All my other water bottles are metal, or way big, ie, too heavy for me to carry on a run. 
Tuesday I had swim class.  Since it's just me, Debi and I can shift our schedules around to suit our various events for that week.  I did 1 hour, and we kept super good track of the laps this time, so I know I did 22 laps.  There was a break in there so I could practice jumping in the deep end and stuff, so that first 1/2 hour I did 10 laps, and the second 1/2 hour I did 12 laps with no breaks.  My instructor wasn't there for the second half either (she can't be actually teaching me or anywhere near me after our 1/2 hour sessions or she could get fired), so there really weren't any breaks at all.  I know.  I'm awesome.
Wednesday I did another run, with John on his lunch break.  We went out to Shaw and did some trail running, and we got a little lost, so the way we figure it, we did at least 2 miles, and some walking.  Again, in EIGHT-FIVE DEGREE weather.  With my water bottle this time though.  It helped.  I was smart to buy it.
Thursday I did 1 hour of Zumba.  It flew by.  I've started getting back what I lost when I didn't do much for those two or three weeks.  :D
Yesterday, I did nothing.  I was tired. 
Today I did Jillian's 30 Day Shred.  I remember now why I haven't been doing it lately.  I HATE it.
So, the other stuff.  John's work is doing this health insurance thing where you come in and they take your blood to test for cholesterol and diabetes, and they take measurements and blood pressure and stuff.  They have four tiers and whatever your numbers are determine what tier you're in.  It's incentive to get healthier, and I think it's a great idea.  I am GEEKING OUT about my numbers!!  We haven't gotten the blood work back yet, of course, but all the measurements were awesome!  They are as follows:
Height and weight I'm going to skip because those aren't as important, and we've been keeping track of that on here anyway.
Hip: 38".  When I started losing weight my hips were 48". 
Waist: 32".  They started at 45".
Body Fat %: 28.  Right smack in the middle of normal.
BMI: 23.  Middle of normal again.
Blood Pressure: 114/68  My BP is usually low, so that number was not a surprise, although it is a little lower than normal even for me.  My tech was impressed.
AND NOW for the part I'm still geeking out about.  My pulse!!  Now, pulse doesn't mean that much to most people but for someone like me with heart problems, it says a LOT about how healthy your heart is.  When I was sick, my resting heart rate was 120.  I have gotten it down over the past several years until I got my best number at my visit to my cardiologist last January when it was 78.  Very normal, and my doc and I were both ecstatic.  And now?, you say?  What is it now?
FIFTY-EIGHT.  5!  8!  John's pulse, super healthy athletic John, was 52!!  I'm only 8 beats higher than JOHN?!  Whose heartbeat when I lay on his chest actually lifts my head up a little?  I, who when I was first diagnosed with R. Fever, was told I might need valve replacement right away.  Then they said maybe five years, and then maybe at 60 years old, and then maybe IF I stayed super healthy I might not have to have them replaced at all, and then to have a normal pulse and my doc not be able to hear my murmur at my last appointment and I thought that it just couldn't get any better than that, and NOW?!  Now it's 20 beats lower and I have the pulse of an ATHLETE?!! 
That is a miracle, ladies and gentlemen.  My doctors never thought I would be normal again, and now I've not only exceeded expectations, I've blown them out of the water.  God really is out there after all, and still doing miracles.  I feel hugely blessed and lucky that He decided I was worthy of one.  :)
The Almighty (with God) Liz

1 comment:

timpani76 said...

Aren't you glad you started this blog? You have a record of EXACTLY how far you have come and all the obstacles you had to overcome to get there. From- barely walking, bad heart, on antibiotics for years, to ATHLETE!!! I think you should go back and read some of your old blog posts and then have a good cry about how AWESOME you have become ;)