Monday April 2, 2012

Lots of catching up to do...


I have maintained my p90x workouts since my last post.  Dave and I are seeing huge strength gains and big changes in our bodies.  He is looking awesome and is down to 196 pounds.  He's been 196 pounds before, but he's never looked like this before.  I got down as low as 122 before we left for Mexico.  My arms are ripped and I feel really good about the way I look.  I gained 5lbs in Mexico and have had a rough time getting back on track since coming home, due to going out or eating with my in-laws.  I am also injured everywhere - dealing with tendinitis everywhere... left ankle and achilles, right ACL & MCL, and right elbow.  My shoulders are also beginning to hurt.  Its my fault - I always push too hard and now I'm hurting because of it... pretty bad, too.  So I sat down last week and formulated a plan for the next month.


I'm gradually going to increase my calories/day.  I had been eating around 1200 (net) and then was beginning to bump it up just before Mexico and lost 4 pounds pretty quickly.  I haven't been super great or disciplined since we came back so I'm going to do this gradually.  I think I need to eat between 1200-1700 cal/day (net, meaning that number + my exercise cal) but I don't want to go crazy and increase 500/day right away.  Also, I need to take a pretty significant break from p90x (although that scares me because I'm seeing such great results) and give my body a break.  I definitely think I'm overtrained right now.  We only have 1 more week of it so I'm going to finish that out and then back off.  So here is my plan:

April 1-8
 * Finish last week of p90x
 * 1400 cal/day (eat)
April 8-15
 * Yoga 3x/week + pushups 
 * Run 3x/week
 * 1500 cal/day (eat)
April 16-22
 * Yoga 3x/week + pushups
 * Run 3x/week
 * 1600 cal/day (eat)
April 23-29
 * Yoga 3x/week + pushups
 * Run 3x/week
 * 1700 cal/day (eat)


Yesterday I weighed 127 I think.  
I will reevaluate after the month is done and see how my elbow/shoulders & knees feel.




Also, on just a general health front:  Tomorrow I am having an echocardiogram to ensure that my heart is functioning properly.  I talked to my doctor about my high heart rate and when he listened carefully he heard a murmur.  I had an EKG done immediately and other than a resting heart rate in the 50's (awesome), there was no concern (and no concern about that because he knows I run).  So he just wants to check it out and make sure the murmur is nothing to worry about... and he wants me to be reassured that my high heart rate is okay, although he agrees with my decision to back my pace down so I can run at a sustainable heart rate.


On Thursday I will be having a consultation with a hand surgeon to discuss whether or not I should have carpal tunnel surgery on my right hand.  I had an EMG done a couple of weeks ago (excruciating) and the results showed a mild case of CTS in my right hand.  I'm thinking that we may go the route of surgery just to deal with the issue before it gets worse and truthfully, after 7-10 years of it, I'm just sick of dealing with it and working around it all the time.  So we'll see.  I'm not excited about it, but recognize that I should try to take care of it before my nerve gets permanently damaged.  However, I have not spoken to the surgeon yet so maybe he will prefer to go the route of occupational therapy instead.