A Cold and the Chiropractor 01/10/2015

I’ve been sick for the past couple of days, although I felt it coming on all week. Whenever my husband gets sick, I get sick. It happens every time, even though I’m healthy and I believe my immune system is strong. I just can’t avoid the germs that are in the house.

So I haven’t been exercising much. A little walking is about it. I actually stopped running the day after I went to the chiropractor for my first adjustment. She looked at the MRI report for my knees from a couple years ago and told me that I’m just going to cause further damage if I keep running. She did say that I should at least do it less often, like do other forms of exercise too. So I’m still going to run races, because those are only a few times a year. I’ll work on becoming a yoga master the rest of the time 🙂

This is actually my first time ever seeing a chiropractor. My massage therapist recommended it, because of my complaints of hip pain. She recommended a wonderful chiropractor who uses an activator (a handheld device) to adjust the alignment of the body, which appears to be more accurate than a hands-on approach, because the activator is able to more easily target the exact area of the body skeleton that needs to be adjusted.

I’ve had two adjustments so far. I was really sore and had a little pain following the first adjustment, and it was suggested to me to only walk and do light stretching while I’m sore. Because the weather is really cold, I haven’t been walking much. I can’t tell yet if I have any pain from the second adjustment, which was just yesterday. I’ll have to wait and see, because it’s early in the morning and my body hasn’t woken up yet. Pain and discomfort is normal, I was told, because the muscles and tendons are adjusting to the changes in the body skeleton. Once they adjust, the pain will be gone. Which, it does seem to go away after a couple of days, but I’m getting adjusted twice a week right now, so I’m in pain almost all the time.

Seeing the chiropractor is a process that involves a series of adjustments in order to correct the alignment of the body, and then probably future adjustments to continue to keep my body aligned, as our bodies can get out of alignment from daily living. An example of this, I believe, is crossing the legs. I believe repeatedly doing this can change the skeleton. So I’m trying to keep my body in positions that are natural for it, like sitting with both feet on the floor and my legs straight. That’s just one example.

I actually had some x-rays done that the chiropractor recommended – for my neck, lower-back, and pelvis. It turns out that my neck is crooked in a way that was likely caused by whiplash, probably when I was hit by a car. I didn’t know I had whiplash then, because I became unconscious just before I was hit, which explains my neck pain and possibly why I get so many knots in my shoulder muscles. Also, my spine is not straight, my pelvis and hips are not even, my femurs and tibias don’t line up correctly, etc. So I’m in need of a lot of adjustments to correct my alignment.

I’m looking forward to getting aligned. It is a part of my health journey.

Have a great weekend!

11/29/14 Weigh-In 12/10/2014

Hello, everyone! I hope you’re having a good week so far. I meant to write this post sooner, but I’ve been busy with work and weekend responsibilities. I’ve had a lot of posts I’ve wanted to write, so I’m catching up with them slowly 🙂

November 29th’s weigh-in is very special to me, which is why I want to write about it even though it happened 1.5 weeks ago. I lost 1.4 pounds, 2.5 inches, and 0.4% body fat. I had gained weight at my weigh-in last month, so I am very happy to be losing weight again and getting back down to my lowest weight – only 1.4 pounds to go! 🙂

During the last month, I ate less and amped up my workouts. I skipped meals when I didn’t feel like eating (which is okay for me because I’m doing intermittent fasting and I know the benefits of fasting), began going to a boot camp class twice a week, and running (I even ran a race!). All of that activity and less food helped me to lose weight, inches, and body fat 🙂

To recap, I’m still doing a modified version of the Paleo Diet (Paleo minus fruit/berries, nuts/seeds, and starchy vegetables, due to my doctor’s advice and my personal preference), and intermittent fasting, like I just mentioned. I’ve been fasting for longer periods (18-20 hours, instead of 16), and working out five days a week, consistently, doing the workouts I’ve already mentioned, plus a yoga class once a week. I really do like the balance of my workouts 🙂

I’ve actually been feeling a little sick this last week, so I’ve cut back on my workouts until I recover. And from running every day, due to some December fitness challenges I’m doing (highly recommended for those in need of motivation), I hurt my hip a little, so I’ve been resting it. Now it’s better, so I will resume running soon!

Lately I’ve felt like I haven’t been eating often enough, and that, plus not relaxing enough, is why I think I got this cold. My body is trying to tell me something! Plus, I was eating really large meals when I did eat, eating past fullness.

So I’ve decided to go back to three smaller meals a day so that I won’t be overeating at my meals, and my body will have nutrients more often. I think I can improve my health in this way when it comes to weight loss, because I’ll be listening to my body more and that will allow me to eat just what my body needs.

Yes, I’m still trying to lose weight, and fitness is going to be a big part of it. I’d like to lose 10 pounds, but more importantly, get fitter (cardiovascular and strength-wise) to lose body fat. Losing body fat will be more important to me than losing weight.

I also intend on relaxing more, meditating, and continuing to do my yoga. I’ve already cut back on my workload so that I will be less stressed 🙂

How has your health journey been going? What have you been doing for your health lately?