I have never been good about getting proper rest, but lately I have been really, really bad.  I have had a lot of work to do, so I have been taking 2 hour  naps instead of going to sleep at night like normal people.  I notice that I am starting to get a cold and I feel fatigued.  I know it is because my body isn’t getting the rest it needs.  I just wonder how important sleep truly is for our body to function properly.  How much does it hurt us and are the effects long term.  Can you make up sleep and everything be okay?

I always tell myself I will sleep on the weekend or I will make up the sleep I miss tonight by sleeping extra tomorrow.  I have found though that tomorrow never comes.  I noticed that the older people get the more difficult it becomes to sleep, but for different reasons.  When we are younger we do not sleep because we make the choice to do other things.  As we age we make the time for sleep, but then our body does not want to shut down.  Maybe we just require less rest than when we are younger because we are less active…I don’t know.

I do know that I am going to make it a goal to get at least 5 hours every night.  That may sound like it isn’t enough, but compared to what I have been getting, it is a ton.  I would like to say I will aim for 8 hours a night, but that just isn’t realistic.   I can say that even though I have been tired from the lack of sleep it doesn’t seem to affect my workouts.  I am working out at the same level as on the nights I get more rest.

Life is passing by and I just realized I have not written in a lifetime.  I have been super busy with work and family.  I have also been making time to work out 6 days a week.  I can finally workout in the gym again and it feels great.  It has been about 2 weeks since I started lifting weights again and I feel like a new person.  Boy did I miss it!!  My headaches are very minimal and I can now exercise without the worry of 2 days in bed with a migraine.  I am still not working out nearly as hard as I did before the accident, but just being back in the gym is a HUGE blessing.

Muscularity wise….I am not even close to as strong as I was before. I mean it is a night and day difference, but I know if I keep it up I will get back there soon.  I had to cut back on the running because it bothers my head.  I am doing light running 3 times a week right now and then weights 3 days a week.  I take one day a week off completely.

Diet wise…I am eating clean, but my meals are not regimented like they were before.  I am pushing myself to get back into my old habits, so I can really boost my progress.  My goal for this year is to tone up as much as possible.   Eventually I will push to build muscle, but I don’t want to risk having to leave the gym again because I push too hard, too fast.

One of my biggest goals is to get on here and write every single day because when I write I make better progress.  I know this…but like anything else it has to be made a habit.

E-mail comment I received:

“hi
i am 26 yrs old and i have been following the same routine u have mentioned above but somehow it is not working so well for me.i am going for 80 mins walk daily plus following the above food routine,,,please helpdont know what more to do.”

Have you talked to a doctor to find out if you have a medical reason for not losing weight?  I have found that walking is not enough to lose weight.   I suggest changing up your exercise assuming you are a healthy person and you are able to do high intensity training.   I have also found that I have change around my caloric intake to trick my body once it gets too accustomed to the the same routine.

“Hi I first heard about this website from your videos on YouTube. What an inspiring lady you are! I have been thinking about blogging my journey as well. I have 100 lbs to lose to be healthy and I am not going to wait any longer to do it. I am sick of “living” this way. I want to put my emphasis on health not being skinny.
Congrats,
Mandy”

Mandy,

Thank you for the comments.  I have to tell you blogging has been so helpful to me in my journey and I strongly urge you to do the same.  If you need help getting started, just let me know.  I will be happy to help you get set up.  Blogging gives you accountability and a venue to measure you success.  I can look back on here and see where I started to see if I have made progress.  This helps when I get discouraged.  The encouragement from others is definitely a motivator and having to post results is a huge kick in the pants to keep me going.  I know 100 pounds sounds like a lot of weight, but attack it in small increments and it will go quicker than you ever imagined.

Deciding to make the journey is the first step. Congratulations!!

Now that my headaches seem to be under control a bit, I have decided to set a new goal for myself.  I am going to train for a half marathon.  They have one coming up in June locally, so I figure why not.  It will give me something to work towards and I can ease back into running again.  I tested myself yesterday to see if I could even run 3 miles anymore and I did it just fine and without a headache last night.  I wasn’t very fast, but I did finish without feeling too winded.   So here is my schedule I will start next week.  Today I am going to walk a mile, run 2 miles and then walk 1 mile.  I am really testing my head to be sure I am not going to get a headache.  I have never done more than 8 miles, so I doubt I will be able to get up there in this 12 week schedule, but even if I have to modify it a bit I am going to give it a try.

I haven’t been writing again!  I get busy and put it off.  No excuse I know.  I have been doing better with headaches and exercising a bit more.  Trying to balance the two is rough.  I really need to take some new photos.  I realized I haven’t taken pictures since before my accident.  Time just flies by.

My goal this weekend is to tackle the rest of my Christmas shopping.  I also want to get a good leg workout in tomorrow.  Legs are hard for me because I have a tendency to stop breathing while I work legs.  I am going to use lighter weight in an effort to prevent it, but we shall see.  I really do not need a headache this weekend though.

I am about a third of the way through my nutrition class.  It is interesting and boring at the same time.  Some of the stuff just gets old after a while.  Same crap they feed you about the damn food pyramid blah blah, but some of it is neat.  I will talk more about it tomorrow when I am not so tired.  About to crash.  Night!

Okay…there wasn’t any Thanksgiving Drama, which is unusual in my family LOL.   Had a great Thanksgiving.  My only mistake was going to the movies.  It was my first time in a movie theater since my accident.  First issue is there are too many sounds at once, so I have no clue what people are saying.  Missed a lot of the movie.  Second, it gave me an intense migraine.   We went to see “Old Dogs,”  which the critics gave ZERO stars to, but everyone in the theater absolutely loved.  It was a really funny and cute movie.  I would definitely recommend it.  I had to keep asking my son what was happening because there were things I missed, but I still enjoyed it myself.  We have a tradition of going to the movies on Thanksgiving Day.  I love it.  The trick is to go to the earlier shows or it is mobbed though.  Most people go in the evening and it is just too crazy for me.

Normally we have a bunch of company, I cook a ton of food, have a huge mess, blah blah.  This year we went to someone else’s home, so that eliminated all the work.  It was nice.  Most of all, no family fights or drama, which my family is famous for.

As for eating I grabbed a spoonful of sweet potatoes, a slice of turkey, some green beans, a spoonful of stuffing because I love it so much and then a little ham and that was it.  It was just enough to satisfy my stomach.   It was nice not having any desserts or leftovers in the house last night either.   Nothing to pick at later.   My kind of Thanksgiving.  I hope everyone enjoyed theirs.

I haven’t looked into alternative medicine for my headaches, but I know I should.  It may be the only way I am going to get real relief.  So far, the traditional methods have failed me.  I certainly do not wanted to spend my life as a medicated drone.  I am also frustrated with my hearing issues and the top hearing specialists tell me there isn’t anything they can do for me.

On a lighter note, my calves actually hurt today from cardio.  I haven’t had sore calves in a long time because I have not been able to workout enough to produce any soreness in my body.  I am quite pleased and hoping the pain will intensify as the day goes on.  Yes, I am a sicko.  I miss sore, tight muscles so much!

I went to my doctor at 7:15 pm last night.  Yes, that’s right I had a night time doctor’s appointment.  My neurologist is so busy he takes appointments 6 days a week and during the week days they end at around 9 pm.   Is that not crazy?  Usually I will wait 3-5 hours to see him.  What I found out last night is if you have a night appointment you do not wait.  I took the very latest appointment they had available and I ended waiting less than 30 minutes.

Since my accident I have dealt with horrible headaches and each medicine they give me for them has some horrible side effects.  Either the pills knock me completely out for the entire day and night or it makes my stomach so sick I can’t do anything or they don’t take my pain away at all.  The last prescription he gave me would knock me out for at least 8 hours, so every time I would get a headache bad enough for meds I would be down for the day.   Not exactly the way you want to live since I get headaches every couple of days.

So last night he switched my meds yet again and this one he tells me will not knock me out, but it will leave me edgy and anxious.  Just what I need, right?  So then he wanted to give me another medication to keep me from getting edgy and anxious.   Does anyone else see a problem here?  I don’t not want to be a walking pharmacy and I don’t want to be a basket case that is on meds for the rest of her life.  I just want to live a headache-free life.

We have become a society dependent on drugs and I really don’t want to contribute to that.  My neurologist did say an alternative to the pills which may help me would be Botox.  Yes, Botox…go figure again.   They inject it all over your head and the problem with it is makes your eyelids droop over your eyes.  Isn’t that great?   Another problem is this crap is actually Botulinum poison.  Hello?  Why would we inject ourselves with something that gives people food poisoning.  I have had food poisoning a couple times in my life and I have to say it was not a happy experience I would be eager to repeat!

What is interesting is if you talk to a doctor about getting Botox for vanity reasons he/she will tell you one of the possible side effects is headaches!  So, then how the heck does this improve headaches if it causes headaches.  The practice of medicine is like Russian Roulette if you ask me.

It is going on two years since I was certified as a personal trainer at the Cooper Institute.  In order for me to keep my certification I have to take a couple classes, so I signed up for my first one yesterday.  I am taking a nutrition course.   I hope I learn something new. I love to learn, but somehow need to squeeze the time in to keep up.  I want to finish my courses and get my re-certification training completed before the summer comes.

I bought a new elliptical the other night so I can do more cardio at home.  My doctor told me to lay off the running until my headaches go away.  It has been 8 months since my accident, you would think I would be all better by now.  I did go see a specialist the other day for my hearing and after he looked at the 23 fractures in my head he said it is a miracle I am alive without severe brain damage. That doesn’t make me feel better about all my problems though.  I want to be 100% already.  I know I need to be patient and thankful to God I am alive.

Anyway, I will let you know if I learn anything good in my nutrition class.  I start tonight.