Well, I'm finally taking a minute to write where my mind is with regards to fitness right now. To sum it up...
Short Story:
After taking the longest break in exercise that I have since I started losing weight I have felt "fat". Not only because of the loss of muscle tone, but I seriously think because when I exercise I want to eat better and I feel so much better about myself. It has been very vexing (even though I knew I would have to wait to get into serious exercise after my surgery), but my hope is slowly being restored that all is not lost and I can regain the fitness I had acquired last summer. :)
Long Story:
After running the half marathon last September, then a 10k a couple of weeks later I took a slight fall and stopped running for about a month.
That month was December, which was also Christmas and I was very careful about how much I exercised so as to not further injure my foot. Being busy with the holidays and my twins' 16th birthday on New Year's Eve I let my exercise routines slide a bit.
At the beginning of January I found out I could have my abdominoplasty surgery three weeks from the day I called and then I really didn't care about working out so much because I knew I'd be taking an extended break from exercise while I recuperated.
My husband encouraged me to push myself as much as possible up to my surgery date to help with healing, but I admit to feeling like, "Why get all sore and such just to stop exercising for at least 4-6 weeks?!"
*sigh*
Add that all up and it has now been a bout four months since I've had good strong exercise more than maybe 2 days, minimum, a week. This has lead to a loss of muscle tone like I have not experienced since I began losing weight almost five years ago.
Since I carry a lot of my weight in my hips, butt and thighs I'm noticing the "spread" in areas I was very toned last summer and it has vexed me so much.
I knew this surgery was going to cause me to have to take a break from exercise, but looking back I do regret I didn't work harder at staying fit prior to it. And for a while I was very upset with myself.
However (comma) (deep cleansing breath)....
When I have expressed my concerns to my husband he says he's not worried, because he knows after my appointment at the end of April I will be able to get back to my regular interval weight classes and more running and things will tone up again.
Oh, such faith he has in me. :) Glory!
I've also made the conscious decision to get back into running by beginning a training plan for a 10K race in May. One of my daughters is going to do it with me, so I was looking for a novice plan for her to use to train. I found one and decided I'd use it for myself since it's been so long since I've run.
We're about two weeks in and while the runs are pretty short so far, I am noticing that I'm so much slower than I was last fall. Again, this threatens to steal my joy, but I keep reminding myself that I'm getting back into fitness.
At the end of April I have an appointment with my plastic surgeon and he said he's pretty sure I'll be able to begin core exercises again after that. I sure hope so, because then I can begin really building up my strength again.
In the meantime, I am making it my plan to just be proud of myself for getting back into exercise at all. I am also trying to remind myself of some lessons I've learned over the past few months...
- When one stops regular intense exercise, one will lose muscle tone to some extent.
- It is up to me to decide if cutting back on certain exercise is worth the results...just like I had to decide if doing the exercise is worth it...It goes both ways.
- I still make mistakes and can't change what happened in the past, but I can move forward to make things better.
- When I exercise I feel better both physically AND emotionally, so making the time to fit it in is ALWAYS GOING TO BE WORTH IT.
There are going to be forced breaks in the schedule and it's okay. I just have to get back up and keep going and that's exactly what I'm going to do.
I hate forced breaks. When my back flares, I have to take those breaks and there was a good month in January where I could not do much. I have been feeling pretty chubby lately, even with getting back into lifting, so I need to get back on some eating track that is different than now.
ReplyDeleteYou do have a good base of fitness and muscle memory, so it won't be as hard to get back to where you were as it was to get there in the first place.
sucks you had to take a break but remember its for your health and now you can start to train again you'll hopefully feel better soon. I just wondered which 10k plan you are using?
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