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Monday, July 25, 2011

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, It's to the Gym I Go!

It's been awhile since I blogged, and it is time for an update. I have been following my food plan pretty well, in spite of eating out this evening and on Saturday (twice). We took my folks down to Minneapolis to see "HMS Pinafore" at the Guthrie Theater. My daughter has worked there for two years, and this was the first time my parents have been there. My daughter and her boyfriend, my son and daughter-in-law, and we had lunch at a Thai restaurant near the theater. I ordered the cashew chicken. I ate about half of it (and half of the rice) and gave the rest to my husband. I hadn't had time for breakfast before we left, so I was proud of myself for stopping halfway, when I could have eaten the whole darned thing.

The play was marvelous! My dad has been so worried about his brother, my uncle, who is still in the hospital since his heart attacks and surgery. It was nice to get Dad out of town and see him smile and enjoy the day. My youngest brother joined us for dinner at Old Spaghetti Factory. I ordered whole wheat pasta, and a selection with very little sauce. I ate my salad, with very little of one of their low calorie dressing choices. I did splurge and eat one scoop of ice cream for dessert, but I remained within my target range for the day!

I went to the gym twice last week! I exercised 45 minutes in the gym and 45 minutes in the pool on Thursday and I felt really good! Today, my permission from the doctor arrived, so my gym membership is official. I exercised 50 minutes in the gym, and 50 minutes in the pool. I did two sets of all the exercises the PT gave me, plus a mile on the stationery bike, and 15 minutes on the recumbent leg/arm extender machine. I added upper body and torso exercises like ab crunches, arm press, and curls. In the pool, I did all my leg exercises and a lot of walking in the water. I was cautioned about trying to kick my leg while swimming, but discovered that if I do a side stroke, I can let the bad leg just float on the surface without kicking. So I would walk the shallow end, then swim from the midway point of the pool to the deep end. Swim back to mid-pool, and walk the rest of the way. I felt really good! Those elusive endorphins kicked in, and it is almost three hours later, and I still feel great! YAY! The plan is to do this routine three times per week until my knee surgery on Aug. 25.

I'm hoping that I will get my leg strength up so that after my surgery, recovery will be a bit easier. I know that the surgery will move me back to square one on the way my knee feels, and it will take a few weeks to get back to what I'm able ti do now. If I could drop a few more pounds, it would also help with the crutches, walker, etc. that will be back for a return visit.

Monday is my scale day, and I was down three more pounds for a total of 24 since the beginning of June. I am pleased with my progress, in spite of having the banged-up knee!

1 comment:

Doreen said...

Love the new look!