Thanks, Rosemary!

I'm feeling super exhausted after my workout with Rosemary! Our sessions ended up being great...deffinitely not just a substitute trainer...Rosemary's great!

K, now that I've sufficiently talked her up ;), I'll share with y'all how our wonderful workout went. Today Rosemary had me show up to the studio in my widget. She started the session by setting up an obstacle course for me. I first, weaved through three obstacles, then wheeled a figure eight around a couple more, and finished with pushing my way down a straight-away.

I wheeled through the obstacle course twice, but in between, we did three sets of ten of bicep curls with the 4lb weights. After the second time through the course, I did three sets of ten of those elbow raises with the 4lb weights.

Then, we did those arm pull-back thingies. Another first for me in the manual wheelchair. When we first tried to do the pull-backs, we had forgotten to put the brakes on my wheelchair. So, when I pulled-back  on the resistance band, I actually unexpectedly pulled my wheelchair forward! lol...oops. But once Rosenary and I realized our mistake and put on the wheelchair brakes, I successfully pulled-back against the resistance without flaw. We also did a round of the push-forwards.

As we came to the second half an hour of our session, Rosemary wanted to workout my legs. So, she sat down on the ground (because I was in the widget...it doesn't lean back.) and held my right foot in her lap. I did leg presses, but instead of pushing out, I pressed down...like I would do if I were to stand up, I did this exercise a few tines on each leg. Then, I did that toe pointing exercise. The one I did yesterday. I am certain I'll have sore calves tonight! Rosemary had me do some more leg presses on the right leg simce that is my weaker of my two legs. Although I may feel exhausted from all the work, I am grateful for the extra workout for my right leg!

Next, I did arm cicles, stretched my arms and legs, and talked with Rosemary about massages. I told Rosemary about me getting a massage like once every 6 months...spending big bucks on a massage every week isn't too high on my priority list! Well, Rosemary seems to think I would benefit from regular massages on my muscles. She has a masuse-friend the she's gonna try and get to see me much more regularly. So, we'll see!

You Gotta Try...

Alrighty...so, Nicole's been out of the state since last Friday! Since she's outta town, she made sure I'd still have my workouts on Wednesday and Friday of this week with another trainer, Rosemary! Gotta love Nicole's dedication to getting me in-shape to tackle my walking goal!

So, today I showed up to the studio kinda nervous because Nicole wouldn't be there. She is familiar with how my body works and is totally comfortable with what I'm capable vs not capable of doing. I have developed this insecurity of having people work with me that are not familiar with how my body reacts in different situations. I hate having hospital nurses, for example, approach the situation in all their connfidance, attempt to move me, and then my body responds in a less-than-ideal manner  and their cocky attitude turns into distress and something uncomfortable is bound to happen. About 6 years ago in Denver, I had gotten a shower by a caregiver, was being wheeled back into my room, and the caregiver was just too confident in her actions and the wheelchair tipped backwards. I hated the helplessness I felt in that moment. It was so scary to unexpectedly tip over and not be able to protect yourself from hitting the ground! I have a number of stories of instances that have shook my nerves and made it harder for me to just trust that my body is safe with any and everyone.

But, as time passes and I slowly, but surely get better, I find myself trusting more people and feel more and more able to "protect" myself. Now, I just want to clarify that not one of these "uncomfortable situations" was ever done on purpose, and I know that. Every person that offers to help me should get gold stars in heaven for that! It's just a "trust issue" that I have to deal with!

So, going into this workout was a little nerve-racking, but I was happily surprised with how comfortable Rosemary was with me! Good pick, Nicole! We started out the workout with the 4lb weights. I did a few sets of bicep curls, and a few sets of these elbow raises...bent arm at the elbow, brought elbow up to shoulder level, and released arm back down.

Then we did some pull-ups with the pole...those are getting a lil too easy for me! I'm deffinitely getting buff! Rosemary also brought out the resistance band, which she wrapped around the pole to provide a stable base for the band while I did some pull-backs and push-forwards with the band's handles.

 After we dicussed my leg-exercises that I have done with Nicole, Rosemary had me do some leg presses with her. Unlike Nicole, Rosemary sat down on a block that was against the wall. I leaned my chair back a lil bit, and tried to push my individual legs into her hands. I also did leg raises, bending and straghtening my legs individually. One special thing Rosemary did, was placed her hand on my quad muscle that I wanted to engage. Having her hand there really help me in directing my efforts to that specific muscle. It really helped me to know which muscle I should be focusing my energy on. We did countless leg-raises...enough to feel the burn!

Then, Rosemary got me to  try something new to me! She wanted to hold one foot at a time up and have me point and flex my foot to work the muscles in my calf, and even work my "helper muscles." I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to bend my ankles forwards and backwards, but my comfort-level working with Rosemary was high and we gave it a try. To my surprise, I was actually able to do it! Rosemary and my ankles proved me wrong! My mind may have reservations, but my body can't succeed if I never try. That's a motto I'm trying to keep reminding myself of!

We did a few sets of those...enough to make me calves sore tonight!

Afterwards, Rosemary went out to her car to get me a tennis ball...purple. To match my purple leggings and purple cheetah print sports bra! She had me grip it in one hand and squeeze the ball  with my fingers. This was an exercise for my forearm muscles. The exercise may sound easy, but it's one of those super painful ones for muscle ya didn't even know you had! I did multiple sets, switching the tennis ball from right to left hand and back again.

Next, we did my favorite; arm circles. Then, I stretched out my arm muscles and Rosemary stretched out my calves.

Despite the fact that Nicole was absent, I had a really good workout...I'm actually super sore!

Nutritional Consultation

So, today Nicole and I had a nutritional consultation...very exciting! We discussed my food intake, digestion issues, my medications, and all that good stuff. I learned a lot of interesting stuff and was shocked that just because Bob Harper is promoting it, Quaker Oatmeal Squares cereal is not as healthy as it seems! I told Nicole my typical shopping list, and she revamped my diet! We also talked about how changing my diet may be hard at first, but after all the stuff my body has been through, making smart nutritional choices to help "make me better," should be a worth-while change. So, here's what Nicole came up with for me:

Shopping List

Instead of this:                                                                      Buy this:

• cereal (any kind)                                               PLAIN oatmeal
• dairy milk                                                         PLAIN coconut milk (unsweetened)
• cheddar cheese                                                 Ricotta cheese (2%), Mozarella (fresh, full fat)
• refried                                                           beans black beans (seasoned one), pinto beans (full)
• Rice-A-Roni                                                 wild rice, brown rice- cook w/ chicken boullion &                                                                    1Tbsp real butter
• Hamburger Helper                                        lean ground turkey- saute w/ garlic, saly 'n pepper,                                                                        red bell peppers
• chocolate covered raisins                              strawberries if needed
• Nature Valley Granola Bars                         TRIO Bars @ Costco
• JIFFY Peanut butter & Jelly                         cashew butter & unsweetened jam
• buttermilk bread                                           Spealt Bread or 100% whole wheat sandwich thins
• frozen dinners                                               natural/organic high protien frozen meals  

Supplements--- 3X/DAY each Garlic capsule, Acidophillis, More water, Hot tea (Ginger, green)

Monday Fun-day!

Mondays always seem like crap-days to me, and I'm pretty sure that's a universal feeling! So, starting my day out with a personal training session just sounded like work to me. But it actually turned out to be just what I needed! I dunno, Nicole just puts me in a good mood! She said she was in a crummy mood too, before I got there...so, that must mean we're good for eachother! ;)

Since Nicole and I have changed our workout schedual to Monday, Wednesday, Friday, we are gonna make Mondays Widget Day. So, today I showed up to the studio in my widget. I started out with a number of laps across the studio floor. First, I did laps going forward. Then I switched it to reverse, and did a bunch of laps backwards. My core is seriously gaining strength in that I no longer fall forwards while I'm pulling the widget-rods backwards. I'm now able to remain upright, with my back staying put on the backrest. It feels so good to not feel like a floppy fish sitting in the wheelchair!

Nicole then set up an obstacle course for. There were 5 blocks that I had to weave through, then switch my wheelchair to reverse and back-up around a 6th block, then switch my chair back to going forward and wheel around a 7th block, and then hit the straight-away to the finish line! I did the course a couple times. I think the obstacle course was more about testing/working-on my ability to change directions and keeping my wheelchair from hitting the blocks...there were a couple close calls!

After I went through the obstacle course a couple times, I wheeled over to Nicole, put on the brakes, grabbed a quick water break, and gripped the pole Nicole held above my head. I did a quick set of "pull-ups," and switched to do a set of "push-ups." Then, Nicole brought over a couple resistance bands...the kind that look like strips cut off a roll, Man oh man, we did some arm workouts with the band that set my muscles on fire! The good news was that Nicole had brought two resistance bands, which meant there was one for her to do the exercises too! We gripped our bands with two hands, held them straight out in front of our chests, and pulled the resistance band out, in opposite directions. We alsopulled the band out with one arm, while the other arm stayed still, straight out in front of us. We did this with each arm. And we did this exercise where we held the bands above our heads and pulled in opposite directions.

Then, Nicole dropped her resistance band and grabbed mine...this exercise would only need one. She held the band a few feet out in front of me, had me grab the end of the band, and I did bicep curls...each arm individually.


We went back to the previous muscle burners with our individual resistance bands. Nicole wanted to make sure I had one last chance to feel the burn before I hit the road. Overall, a supr fun workout and a pleasant start to my week! Oh! And Thursday I will get my back brace, which I'm hoping will staighten me out and make walking easier for me!

Arms, Legs, Abs...

Thursday was Hell-day for my poor muscles! I worked 'em hard today! Nicole had me strengthening my arms, legs, and abs! With all of these arm exercises, I'm gonna have to get a liscene for these guns! My poor biceps are achey...but Nicole says that's good! I may not be a heffer, but my muscles have been out of shape! It's truly been AWESOME to get to know Nicole and have her kick my butt!

And that's what did today! She started the session having me do arm warm-ups. First, I did small circle in the forward direction. Then, straight into twisting invisible doorknobs. Then, bending my arms at the elbows; in and out back to straight arms. Then, bringing my arms straight up from 90 degree angles. My arms were feeling the burn by now. Then, arms went back to little circles and invisible doorknobs. Then, with my elbows bent at 90 degrees, I raised my arms up, and returned them back to the 90 degrees. Keeping my elbows bent, I moved them forward, in front of my face. Then, I held my arms out to my sides and held them up there until the cows came home. At the end of the warm-up, my arms were on fire! Let me add that I probably skipped out on telling y'all the warm-up exactly,  but you get the jist.

From the arms, to the legs. I began with my wheelchair in its upright, sitting position. Today, Nicole had me working on raising both feet up at the same time. I brought my legs up to a straight leg position and let them drop back down, over, and over, and over again. Nicole had me keep going until it seemed impossible to do one more. The only problem with that was, my legs tired at different times. My left leg was raising up super easily. Whereas the right leg is still at a place where it raises slower and requires more of an effort. So, in order to provide more of a challenge for the left leg, Nicole used her hand to push my left foot down while I pushed up. I actually noticed that while my left leg was struggling against Nicole's hand, my right foot was rising quicker. Just another one of those things that make you wonder. We went on like this until my legs felt like cement bricks were tied to my ankles and raising them up was one of those task you just hold your breadth for and just pray you can pull through. And today was the first time my thighs burned in exhaustion!

Last but not least, my abs. Nicole had me lean my chair all the way back for sit-ups. She had me hold my arms in an X across my chest. This way I could bring my elbows up and throw them down when I was doing the sit-up. Although I can't crunch my body up yet, I can feel my abs working.The more I work on my sit-ups, the more I'll be able "sit," or pull my shoulders up off the backrest, I did a few sets of 20, then Nicole had me try lifting my bent left knee up while I was doing a sit-up. I tried each knee, trying so hard to match the picture of it in my head!

All I can say right now is I'm actually glad I've a wheelchair, because I'd probably need one tonight anyhow!

Leg Day

I'm starting to feel really good about my progress. My arms are super strong, my legs are rapidly gaining strength, and you can tell that my core muscles are engaging. Yesterday afternoon, I was able to sit unassisted for about 5 minutes straight! These past few days, my body has surprised me with its capabilities. Now, I could just be feeling all of this positivity because of the Flexeril. I mean, my doctor did say that there is an addictive happy feeling people can get from the medication. I sincerely hope that I'm not just feeling good cuz I'm drugged!

The good news is that my body has successfully gotten past the drowsiness effect. Nicole has me working just as hard as any other day. Today, I started out with some chest-presses. Nicole had hung a resistance band where the TRX usually hangs. I kept my wheelchair in the sitting position, and gripping the handles, I pulled back to my chest. I had to be sure that my core was engaging to help keep my upper body back.

After a good amount of the chest-presses, Nicole handed me the 4 lb weights. With my wheelchair remaining in the upright position, we moved the armrests back so that my sides were clear. Holding onto one of the weights, I lowered my arm down so that the weight was resting by the wheel, and I lifted the weight with a straight arm. Then I slowly brought my arm back down. Doing these was killer!

Nicole was enjoying making the workout tougher than usual, so she kept me sitting straight up. It's cool...I get a kick out of a challenge! Nicole had me kick each leg out individually, multiple times! She would stick her hand out for me to kick, which really helps me!

 My next challenge proved to be too easy for me. Nicole had me do another round of the resistance band chest-presses...or maybe I should call them chest-pulls. Anyhoo, I did a bunch of those, but Nicole saw that my arms have already gotten strong. So, she told me to lean back my wheelchair and we spent the rest of our time working-out my legs!

I probably did a bazillion raises/kicks so that my knee straightened. I first did my right leg, then switched to the left. The left leg has always been quicker and the motion feels easier for me. So today,  Nicole wanted the right leg to lift-up so much that any movement felt impossible. And that's exactly what we did. Right after the individual "kicks," I tried bringing my legs up together. Then I attempted to bend my knee up from the 90 degree sitting angle. And since my left leg is "further along" than my right, I raised my left leg, bent the knee from there, re-straightened my leg. and brought it down. Now, my left leg is far from perfect, but it can at least try! I went back to raising both legs simultaniously. This time, when my knees were straight, I focused on bringing the tips of my shoes together...kinda like they were leaning in for a smooch! My legs were getting pretty tired, so there were lifts when my toes didn't  get to kiss!

  Lastly, Nicole wanted me to point and flex my feet. She did the movement for me the first few times, then I tried it by myself. No surprise here, my left foot started to point and flex,,,nothing from the right. It's interesting, Nicole said my left ankle was much more tight than my right. Then Nicole had me try to wiggle my toes. My left foot seemed to wiggle the toes more, but Nicole said she could feel my right toes trying!

As I rolled out, Nicole told me that I best be ready for a "leg day" again tomorrow!