Getting moving...

As I continue on my 100 days toward health, and as I get stronger and my back pain gets more and more manageable one of the things I'm excited to add back into my regular routine is moving. Not moving house, just moving my body. When my accident happened, I was a mover and a shaker. Well, not much shaking, but moving yes. I was training for a 10K (that was scheduled for two weeks after my accident), so I had been walking 6 miles a day and I was also doing other things during the day. Obviously, that all came to an abrupt halt on September 10! I think one of the hardest things for me to accept during my recovery is that my body, at least up to this point, has NOT been in a position to move like it did. As a result, I've gained back all of the weight and lost all of the tone muscle that I worked hard to earn over the previous six month. And believe me, it's much easier to gain weight and lose muscle than it is to lose weight and gain muscle...much, much easier! In the past, when I've gained weight, I'll just start training for a half marathon, do P90X or something and get it done. Guess what, not this time! My back, hips and ankles now say "No way!" So what's a girl to do? Especially when my chiropractor and acupuncturist (yep, done that!) and spinal doctor all agree that sitting still is making me worse. Ok, let me get this straight, moving makes my back hurt, and not moving makes my back hurt. Hmmm...what do I do? I guess, just get up and move. 

So, here's what I've been doing and what I'll keep doing. 

1. Walking. Old faithful. Not even close to six miles at this point, but I'm going farther and farther each day. I'm up to about 2 miles. My goal for this week. Is at least 20 minutes, 5 times this week. Jackson and Joy keep me honest on this one. They get SO excited when I even look at my tennis shoes or even open the drawer where I keep my socks. So, because I feel sorry for them, I'll strap the shoes on and just get walking out the door. 

2. Riding the recumbent bike. We bought one of these after the accident and Jeffrey's ankle surgery. It's currently part of our living room decor. My plan is to ride it 2 miles at least, 5 times a week. 

3. THIS....

This is so.much.fun!! I loved doing this dance workout before my accident. Josiah and I actually did one together last week and I so loved it! It was so much fun to get back into the groove (literally!) of this workout, that doesn't feel like a workout. 

4. Holy Yoga. 

Stretching is something that seems to really be helping my back and hips. And really, that's what this workout is. It's not Eastern religious practice. (One of my boys recently said something like "Yeah, didn't you always teach us mom that if it's Eastern it's evil?!" Sweet boy, was that after I gave you the homeopathic remedy or after I got home from acupuncture? Come on! Obviously, we had a conversations of what I REALLY said!) But the thing I love about this set of videos is that it is very intentional about focusing on worship and relating the stretches to Biblical spiritual truths. And it helps! So, my goal is to do this video 3-5 times this week.

5. And finally (can't get my picture to load) T 25!! This is probably one of my all time favorite video exercise routines. I love that it's 25 minutes long! I love that it's pretty fun (but not like 'Cize!) and mostly I love that it works! Both times I've worked through the program, my massage therapist notices. Any workout that has your massage therapist saying "I can tell you've been working out!" is a program worth doing! (And it's not because I'm so sore, if that's what you were thinking.)

So, I'm starting over. I did one this week. It was such a delight! I know that may sound bizarre, but to be able to do something that I wasn't sure if I would be able to do again any time soon is such a relief. Of course, I had to modify. But I'll take it. My goal is to get through T25 week one over the next two weeks.

Anybody else wanting to move a little more? I'm learning, slowly but surely, that even doing little bits over a long time is worthwhile. Slow and steady wins the race!