Chin Up, It's Only Been a Few Weeks

That about says it all. Thanks for the encouraging comments folks, they really do help. Yesterday (Sunday) my back was still feeling out of sorts when I had the brilliant idea to go swimming! I figured it'd be a good way to get some exercise that would be easy on my back. I arrived at the pool in the late afternoon. It's been a long time since I swam more than a lap or two so I went nice and slow because I wasn't sure what my swimming endurance would be like - I hardly felt like I was "exercising" at all. I swam 26 lengths (13 laps), about 1/3 of a mile, and then took a rest. Laying in the sun with a magazine was quite a treat. After resting awhile I was ready for more, I got back in the pool and swam 25 laps, a little less than 2/3 of a mile. Then I swam a "hard" lap, going all out just to see how it felt. It felt hard.

Back to my towel and magazine. I don't know how long the first swim was but the second was about 45 minutes. While I was swimming my back was fine but my shoulders hurt. I've had shoulder issues for years, even went to physical therapy in 2008 (my blog sure is a nice history of these things). I wonder if I still have the stretches and exercises they gave me? Anyway, my shoulders hurt some but not enough to make swimming too uncomfortable, at least at a slow pace. Anyway, I lounged around for a while longer and then went home.

My mood was still on the crappy side, even after all that. I stopped at the store to pick up some veggies to grill with dinner and also bought a pack of peanut M&Ms. They actually helped my mood I think. I know I'm not pre-menstrual, maybe I'm pre-menopausal? All I know is chocolate seemed to help. And I don't feel guilty about it. The comments I've been getting have been chock full of really good advice. Skipping the guilt is one of 'em. If I'm going to feel guilty about a food choice then what's the point? I need to choose, eat it and don't feel guilty or skip it. And I'm thinking about getting off the scale for a while. If I can find my darned body fat scale I might use that instead for a month or so and see how it goes.

On to today, Monday, and my back is feeling almost completely better. It still twinges when I do certain things, like bend over to pick something up from the floor, or get up after sitting for a while. I am planning to go to the gym though. I want to do a c25k run and will decide about strength training depending on how I feel. I'll try to do some abs/core work and definitely get some stretching in. I wonder if something I'm doing at the gym is causing my back problems? I think I'll lay off the ball maneuvers and just do my lifting either standing or in a chair - at least for a little while. The plank will also go on hold until the back pain is gone altogether. I really just want it gone.

Well, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my day. I'll let you know how the gym goes. Oh, I want to share an awesome pic from our amusement park trip on Saturday. This is little mister and a giant walrus!