Another Anatomy Lesson?

I have learned quite a bit of anatomy over the last 18 months.  Some I am learning from reading through my texts in preparation for my personal training certification.  That is the stuff I enjoy learning.

However, other stuff (like this lesson in particular) is coming from various injuries.  Yes, another injury for me.  Sigh.

Last March I learned all about the tendons in the dorsal aspect of the foot.  I damaged the achilles, the peroneals, and the plantar fascia in one fell swoop.  Earlier this year I learned about the rotator cuff in my left shoulder and all about patellofemoral arthritis syndrome (which later resulted in a diagnosis of osteoarthritis).  Now I am learning about the tibialis posterior.

I woke up yesterday morning to find that my foot/ankle was really sore to just the slightest touch.  It was fine when I went to bed Sunday night, I should mention.  I could barely put my shoes on (in fact, I ended up wearing different shoes because my normal shoes hurt too bad).  I went to Urgent Care and found that the whole inside of my foot (and all the way down into the arch) was severly swollen.  Ugh.

They just did x-rays and informed me it was not broken.  I pretty much knew I probably did not break my foot in my sleep, though.  Seriously.  So, I paid a visit to my physical therapist.  Guess what, exactly where my pain and swelling is runs a tendon.  The tibialis posterior.

The two of us were talking and I happened to mention running on the treadmill Saturday.  The more we were talking about it, the more certain she became that that is how I aggravated the tendon.  See, I am not sure I have mentioned it here before, but I am *deathly* afraid of the treadmill.  I. HATE. IT.  So, Saturday when I was on the treadmill…running…I was panicky.  Actually, at one point I almost had to stop running simply because I was crying so hard I could not breathe.  I know.  Crazy.  How Denise deals with me, I will never know.

So, my PT says it was not so much the act of running itself that aggravated the tendon.  It was more so that I was running so tense and (most likely) awkwardly.  As nervous as I was, there is a good chance my gait was off.  Running like that could easily make a tendon (or two) angry and inflammed.  That is precisely what happened.

That means lots of ice, elevation, and rest for this foot.  No running of any kind until it has calmed down, and probably no running on the treadmill for a *very long* time.

On another note, though, I just *have* to share this with you all:

198.6

Yup, all of that “extra” weight is already gone.  This is my lowest weight to date, too.  So, maybe it was water…or something else.  Considering that means I have dropped 5.8 pounds in 3 days, I am willing to bet it was not truly fat.  Thank goodness for small miracles.

Oh, one more thing…while you are here, you should enter the giveaway I posted on Sunday.

How is your week starting out?  Are you feeling optimistic about the week?

-Erica

Weigh Day (week fifty-four)

This week…sigh…this week has been rough.  I am finding, though, that inspiration/motivation lies everywhere…and sometimes in the least expected places.  I will even be passing along some inspiration/motivation for all of you, so read it through, pretty please.

After yesterday’s melt down over being 5+ pounds over my lowest weigh in, Denise and I sat down to create a new plan.  That starts tomorrow, and I cannot wait.  This morning gave me a little relief (if I am being honest) because the scale reflected a loss.  A pretty substantial loss (for one day), too.  I am still up for the week, but not over 5 pounds – like I feared.

201.2

That is one pound up from last week, and two pounds up from my lowest weigh in.  I would be lying if I said I was okay with that.  I am not anywhere *near* okay with weight gain.  I know it could be muscle.  I know it could be water.  I know it could be a million things *other* than fat.  It still bothers me…terribly.  It keeps me up at night (and, yes, I am aware that lack of sleep can also be a contributing factor here).

Hopefully with my new plan in action, I will shed that 2 pounds (again) by the end of this week.  That would help me feel better…and sleep better…going forward.

As for inspiration/motivation…

I joined Grumpy’s challenge (as I mentioned yesterday), and I hope some of you will take it on as well.  I was also approached by SlimKicker.  Honestly, I had never heard of them, but I was excited to check them out.  They take weight loss and add some fun twists to it (because we all know, it is not always fun).  They offer weight loss/diet challenges (some created by other users, and some sponsored by SlimKicker) to keep your life interesting.

Signing up with them is free.  You enter some initial (general) information, and they provide you with some recommended nutrition goals. They based the recommendations on what I currently weigh, what I want to weigh, how active I am, etc.

These were my recommendations:

Once you have joined, you can log food, exercise, find groups to join (for extra support), and join challenges to earn points.  You can even create your own challenges!  Additionally, they have other helpful tools to use, such as their Calorie Calculator.

Here is a screen shot of my main page:

The navigation is pretty straight forward, and it has a clean layout to keep everything organized.  I think I would enjoy tracking with SlimKicker more than LoseIt! (which I rarely ever use, honestly).  I know you can earn badges and such with them, but challenging other people…that I can dig!  There is nothing quite like competition to keep you motivated, right?

Right now SlimKicker is on the hunt for new, fun, creative ideas for sponsored challenges.  They want your help.  So, if you have a fun or creative idea for a weight loss or diet challenge, please feel free to post it in the comments below.  Each comment will be entered into a drawing to win this:

SlimKicker will choose the winner one week from today.  Exciting, right?!  So, get those wheels turning and share some of your best ideas for weight loss or diet challenges!

-Erica