Three days in a row with no gym was making me downright grumpy. When exercise is also your main stress management tool, not exercising gets stressful. So yesterday (Saturday) I decided I had to go to the gym regardless of my back. I planned to stop doing any exercise that irritated my back. I walked on the treadmill for a few minutes and my back was hurting a bit but it was tolerable. Then I did the upright bike for 25 minutes on Level 5. This didn't seem to hurt my back at all. I started on my strength training routine, legs/shoulders/core. I thought maybe the reverse hack squats would hurt my back but they didn't. What did hurt my back was the "butt blaster" machine. I can't say I was disappointed to skip this one, I hate it anyway. I might have to stop doing it altogether. Maybe I'm ready to go back to lunges.
The main thing I got out of going to the gym was a mood boost. I felt so much better leaving than I did when I arrived. Three days in a row and I start to worry I'll never get back to the gym, will gain a bunch of weight and end up on the couch and depressed. One gym visit and I'm back to feeling optimistic about the future.
The Special K for dinner experiment is interesting. One thing I'm finding is that I enjoy eating my biggest meal of the day at lunchtime. I also think it's helping to break my evening snack habit. Though last night I was feeling hungry a couple hours after having the cereal. I convinced myself that my afternoon snack wasn't big enough (a banana) and ate a string cheese to compensate. I also ended up eating part of a dinner roll. Hopefully by the end of this week-long experiment I will have stopped snacking altogether after dinner.
Ok, it's off to my day. I'm taking Marek to a birthday party today. It's a pool party so another bathing suit. Hopefully that will keep my eating in check during the party :) My back is still bothering me but I'm pretty sure I'll go to the gym later anyway. Just stick with the plan to stop doing anything that hurts. Hopefully running won't hurt!
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Nice work on finding exercises that don't aggravate your back - I'd be careful with the running...but might as well see how it feels! Have a great week :)
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