Cat's Exercise Diary

Update 11/23/15: I had a good workout at home on Friday. I got home just as the snow was starting to fall. Did mostly weights and some good stretching. Felt very well the whole time.

Saturday, I ended up not going to the football game. That's a relief. We got a fair bit of snow and the roads were bad enough that nobody in my group ended up going. And then I had a friend who got stranded - not even due to the snow, just coincidentally the starter on his car went out and he was stuck at my house for a good chunk of the day on Saturday. Hubby had to go in to work but I didn't have any plans since the football outing was cancelled, so it was nice to hang out at home with a friend for awhile. Didn't do any exercise on Saturday, it was a rest day.

Sunday, the roads were cleared off so I headed out to the big gym. It's been awhile since I was there! I had a nice long workout. I did get fairly burpy when I was about 2/3rds done with my workout. When the burps come on, it's my reflux warning me to hurry up and finish. And these burps were slightly acidic so I was afraid of bringing on a bad reflux attack. Still, I managed to finish my workout without skipping anything except the plank - it's never wise for me to do abdominal exercises when I've already got the burps. All in all, it was a pretty good workout. I recovered from the burps with no reflux attack so it was a success.

I'm fairly sore today! I must have pushed myself harder than I thought in the big gym yesterday. Today's another rest day because of the soreness. Planning to go to the little gym tomorrow for weights. Wednesday, probably a cardio day (stationary bike) in the little gym. Thursday is thanksgiving so that'll be a rest day. Hubby and I are cooking this year so that's going to be interesting. Friday, I'll hit the big gym again for weights. I have off of work on both Thurs & Fri, so it'll be a nice long 4-day weekend. Sat I have a family get-together so no working out then, but I'll hit the big gym again on Sunday. That's the tentative plan for now.

11/24/15: Bleurgh. My guts decided yesterday evening that they were not happy. I got hit with a lot of d - one of those episodes where you just basically hang on while your guts violently try to completely empty themselves. I've heard it referred to as "barfing out your butt" which sounds about right. I slept okay, but today I'm quite nauseous and having a bit more d (not much since I did get mostly emptied yesterday and haven't eaten anything since). I'm crampy and a bit chilled and nauseous and just feel quite unwell. I don't know why, really, since I didn't eat anything unsafe and I've been taking all my meds & supplements, I haven't even skipped a day of psyllium, and I've just generally been doing everything right and feeling good. Really not sure why my guts decided to go a bit crazy out of nowhere like this. Don't think I'm flaring since I didn't have any of my flare symptoms - no joint pains, no night sweats, no getting up in the night to go, etc. Just a really bad guts day I guess!

So, at any rate, a workout is not happening today. Will have to see how I'm doing tomorrow and play it by ear. Gym isn't happening on Thursday obviously because of the holiday, so if I end up resting today and tomorrow too, then the goal is to get back into the gym on Friday. For now, I'm resting and staying hydrated, and if I feel like eating later today (currently have ZERO appetite), then I will have something low-residue and very safe.

11/25/15: Doing better today but things are still somewhat iffy, so I'm skipping the gym again today. The chills and nausea are gone. I can tell I'm a bit crampy but other than that I can't really tell what my guts are currently doing, since I took like 4 Zofrans yesterday which has constipated me somewhat. I do have a bit of an appetite back. All in all, I'm not great but I'm not bad either. I'll survive the holiday tomorrow although I won't be eating a ton of food.

The goal is to do a workout on Friday. I'm actually slightly concerned - it might be super crowded at the gym. A lot of people have off of work on Friday (myself included), and I'm guessing a lot of those people will want to go and work off some of the calories that they consumed on Thursday. So, I'm tentatively thinking that I might just work out at home with my barbell & dumbbells. I hate it when the gym is crowded - like, usually I skip going to the gym and just work out at home the first few weeks of January to let the New Year resolution people try and fail and quit and go away. So I'm thinking I'll also skip going to the gym and just work out at home the day after thanksgiving.

Update 11/30/15: I didn't do much over the long holiday weekend. Didn't do anything on thanksgiving - hubby and I hosted, so we cooked and then hung out with my parents and brother for awhile. Friday, there was so much to do around the house (tons of dishes to wash) so I didn't end up doing any exercise. I felt wiped out from thanksgiving, I'm a big introvert and I felt like I just needed a day at home by myself to do nothing. So I did some dishes and laundry but otherwise I stayed in, watched Netflix, and played the Sims. Saturday, I went to my aunt's house for a bonus thanksgiving meal with my mom's side of the family. That was fun - we played bingo. But again, no exercise happened that day either.

Sunday I finally did something. My dog needed a walk, so I took her to the dog park. That was not super fun, the park was very muddy and it was fairly cold out (low/mid 30s F with a brisk wind). Still, I'm glad my dog was able to get a walk, so it's good that I went. I also did a lot of grocery shopping and other errands for most of the afternoon, so I walked around quite a lot.

So yeah, I had a pretty lazy long weekend. I got lazy in other areas besides fitness, too. I forgot to take my psyllium all 4 days. That's not good. So now I'm getting back into the swing of things. My guts are doing okay and I'm going to head to the little gym today for a weights workout. Tomorrow, I'm thinking of doing cardio on the stationary bike. Wed & Fri, weights again. Thurs will probably be a rest day. That's my tentative plan. I'm also going to make sure I take my psyllium every day! And I'm going to eat healthy meals, I bought a bunch of good food at the grocery store and I have some good meals planned out.

Update 12/1/15: I did weights yesterday and felt good. I did have one episode of d last night just before bed, but it wasn't too bad and only one episode. I am presuming it was maybe due to me upping my fiber intake - I had both psyllium and oatmeal yesterday - after the long weekend of not really having much fiber at all.

Today still planning to hit the little gym (in just a few minutes, actually, just about to start taking my ranitidine and tums to prep my stomach for a workout). Cardio today - planning for 30 mins on the stationary bike. I feel pretty well. Guts might be a tad bit crampy but again I'm hoping that's just me still re-adjusting to the fiber (I've also had psyllium and oatmeal today). Overall though I feel fine, certainly can't complain, and I have a good amount of energy. So cardio it is!

On the diet front - I haven't had a huge appetite lately, not sure why that is. I have a theory that, when my iron was super low, my appetite was bigger because my body was trying to get some energy from food. My energy was so low when my iron was low so maybe there's something to that, I don't know. Now that I have an adequate amount of iron in my system and (so far) haven't bled out my ass lately, my energy levels are very good. So maybe my body is realizing that it no longer needs as much food? At any rate, I've lost 2 lbs without really trying, which is a bit odd especially considering that we just had thanksgiving (although I did not stuff myself on turkey day, I ate a reasonable amount of food). I'm going to keep an eye on it and make sure that this is me losing weight in a healthy way and that it's not a sign of an impending flare or anything like that. Hopefully it is something along the lines of my theory - I'm just doing so well energy-wise and iron-wise that I don't need as many calories now.

Update 12/2/15: I did 30 mins on the bike yesterday. It was honestly a bit tough! But that is mainly because I felt a bad headache coming on about halfway through. I'm not sure if it was due to mild dehydration or the music being too loud in the gym - I drank some water and turned the volume down on the TV, and then I felt better. It was slightly rough, though. I'm always worried when I get headaches, because I'm prone to migrianes, so whenever I feel head pain I get worried that a migraine is going to ruin my day. Fortunately that was not the case yesterday.

I'm heading to the little gym shortly to do some weights. My head feels okay today but I'll make sure to drink plenty of water and will keep the TV volume low just to be safe! Guts are so-so. I had one episode of d last night and another this morning. At least my guts are predictable? I usually have 1 bowel movement in the morning and 1-2 at night before bed. They vary anywhere from normal to diarrhea. But even if it is d, it usually still only happens at those times. It's when I start having d at other times of day as well, that's when I tend to form new hemorrhoids and bleed out my butt. So I'm just keeping an eye on things for now. If I start to have more d than just at my usual times, then I'll take some medication to slow things down. I don't really like doing that, but sometimes it's necessary. And at this point, constipating myself with meds is a better option than having another bleeding episode. Bleeding means I lose iron and I don't want to have to go through more infusions.

Tomorrow is a rest day. Friday weights in the little gym. Saturday, I'll probably walk the dog. It's supposed to be unseasonably warm on Saturday, like 50 F and sunny, so I might even go on a bike ride if it's really that warm out! Like, maybe I could ride my bike downtown (downtown is something like 2 or 3 miles from my house) and do a bit of xmas shopping - that sounds like a really cool idea. Sunday, I'll do weights in the big gym and possibly dog walking again.

Update 12/3/15: My guts got pretty angry with me last night, I had a bad episode of d which was quite watery. I ended up taking a Zofran to calm my stomach and slow down my guts, and I also did a steroid suppository last night to try to prevent a new bleeding hemmie from forming (my hemmies tend to form whenever I have bad d, either a lot of d or just one really bad episode). I don't like to take steroids if it's not necessary, but I also know that I can't risk having another bleeding hemmie and start losing iron all over again. So, taking a steroid supp seems to be the lesser of two evils in a not-great situation. That fortunately seems to have worked, my guts are calmer and slower (one formed bowel movement this morning but nothing further, no more d) and my rectum seems to have come away from the incident without forming a new hemmie. All good things.

Tomorrow I'm still planning to hit the gym. My guts are feeling okay right now, so as long as things don't deteriorate again then I should be fine to work out. My next rest day is tentatively going to be Monday - I'm hoping for gym tomorrow, bike ride Saturday, gym Sunday. It's so far been working out really well to do weights, cardio, weights, rest, repeat. That seems for me like a really good ratio of exercise to rest, and of weights to cardio. Basically, that way I'm doing weights every other day no matter what. And on the non weights days, I do alternating cardio or rest. It's been working well for me so far, I'm not not overdoing anything and I'm still getting in a lot of good workouts. And I don't have to think too hard about what I'm going to be doing on any given day. Easy, fun, and totally do-able as long as my guts and joints and stomach all agree. (That's always the tricky part, isn't it?)

Another quick update for today: Duh, I forgot that I'm supposed to have lunch with my grandparents on Sunday. No big deal though, I can work out from home (or go to the big gym) that evening. In my head I had been envisioning a lunchtime workout at the big gym but that's changed slightly now due to my lunch date. So it'll be a late afternoon/early evening workout on Sunday instead now.

Update 12/4/15: Well, I'm a bit torn as to what to do today. I do seem to have a new internal hemmie that formed the other day. I passed a bit of blood this morning and it sure feels like a hemmie. Fortunately I didn't pass a lot of blood, and I've taken some steps to hopefully ensure that I don't pass any more. I'm putting myself back on steroid suppositories for a few days. My guts are a bit unsettled but not terrible.

So, still I want to work out today, but I'm not sure if that's the wisest decision. I think I can do a workout as long as I avoid anything to do with my abdominal muscles - ab work always seems to make things worse. But I should still, in theory at least, be able to work out my arms and legs. I haven't decided for sure yet. I guess it depends on how I'm feeling as the day goes on. I'm somewhat iffy right now but I think I'm okay enough to work out. Maybe I'm just being foolish. I am sort of vacillating between wanting to work out and knowing that rest is probably better today. Hmm.

Edited to add: I've thought about it more, and it is indeed wisest to skip the gym and rest today. It's just frustrating and I hate to miss a workout, but I know I have to let things heal and not push it. So I will rest even though I hate that, and it seems extra wrong to skip a workout when I have enough energy an am otherwise fine. But that's life with a chronic illness, I need to not bleed out my ass more than I need a gym session. Will re-assess tomorrow and see how I am. Bleh.

Update 12/7/15: I did skip the gym on Friday. I had a good day on Saturday so I took advantage of it. Had good energy and was not passing any blood for a bit, so I worked out at home. Did some sets with my barbell and dumbbells. Still had good energy afterwards and the weather wasn't too bad (about 45 degrees and sunny, although windy so a bit of a cold briskness to the air). So I walked the dog as well. I might have overdone it? It didn't feel like I overdid things, but that evening I passed a bit more blood. I rested on Sunday and re-started steroid suppositories, but I still passed more blood on Sunday evening. Not happy at all about the blood.

So, I'm going to do the steroid suppositories for a few days at least to get properly healed up and stop bleeding. I'm a bit frustrated. I have good energy today, but the guts are slightly grumbly and I know it's the wiser thing to skip working out today. Just going to play it by ear for a bit - healing and no more bleeding are the priorities, getting back to the gym has to be secondary for a bit. So, tentatively hoping to work out at some point this week but need to heal first.

Update 12/10/15: I didn't update in a few days because there was nothing new to report. I bled out my ass every day, once per day (in the evenings) up until yesterday. Apparently the steroid suppositories finally fully kicked in, and I didn't bleed at all yesterday. I'm feeling better and I think I'm okay to do a workout today - I had been skipping the gym all this week in an attempt to heal up. Today, though, I think I can work out as long as I don't push myself too much.

I've come to the realization recently that I need to be more proactive about certain things. I know that I bleed out my ass pretty regularly due to recurrent hemorrhoids, and I know that the bleeding causes me to lose iron and I will eventually develop another deficiency if this continues. So I need to take steps to both prevent hemorrhoids, and to keep my iron levels up. To prevent hemmies, my hubby built me a homemade version of the "squatty potty." It's like a little stool that goes around the base of the toilet and allows me to sit on the toilet in more of a squatting position than a sitting position. This supposedly allows the bowels to empty better and also supposedly helps prevent hemorrhoids. I'm giving it a try, it's only been 2 days so far so I can't say yet whether or not it's working. I will say, the squatting position isn't super comfortable on my hips or knees, so in a way that's good - it's been preventing me from lingering on the toilet too long, which probably puts too much pressure on the areas where my hemmies tend to form. Less toilet time is a good thing.

To keep my iron up, I'm going to get an "iron fish" to use in cooking (it's a fish-shaped piece of iron that you put in your cooking pot or you can even just boil water with it and drink the water - the idea is that a bit of iron comes out of the fish and goes into your food/water, so you get a bit of iron with each thing you cook and over time it helps keep your iron levels up). And, I'm going to have a spoonful of molasses every day because it's very high in iron. I've been doing that all week so far. I absolutely hate molasses, it's got a disgusting taste (I imagine it's what raisin soup would taste like if there were such a thing), but I'm actually getting used to having a spoonful of it in the evenings. At first I was just making myself have a spoonful for every day that I bled, but now I think I can keep it up and just have a spoonful every day regardless of whether I'm bleeding or not.

So anyway, that's the plan to be proactive and to try to prevent future hemmies and iron deficiency from happening. Back to fitness, I'm just going to play it by ear. See how I do today in the gym and go from there. I have nothing planned beyond today.

Edit: Aaaaaand nope. Now the gym is not happening. The good news is, I am not back to bleeding. The bad news is, I seem to be coming down with a cold now. Ridiculous! I am super glad that I'm not bleeding, honestly a cold keeping me out of the gym is much preferred to blood loss/iron deficiency keeping me out of the gym, so in a way this isn't so bad. I can't be too upset. Hopefully a few days of rest and soup will have me back in the gym.

Cat-a-Tonic said:

To keep my iron up, I'm going to get an "iron fish" to use in cooking (it's a fish-shaped piece of iron that you put in your cooking pot or you can even just boil water with it and drink the water - the idea is that a bit of iron comes out of the fish and goes into your food/water, so you get a bit of iron with each thing you cook and over time it helps keep your iron levels up). And, I'm going to have a spoonful of molasses every day because it's very high in iron.

Click to expand...

The "old school" cast iron frying pans work well too.

Yeah, we have some cast iron pans. They're never convenient to use, though, and we've just gotten lazy about using them. I think the iron fish might be more convenient (less heavy, easier to clean, etc). Particularly when my iron is low, I'm fatigued and weak - lifting and cleaning a super heavy cast iron pan is the last thing I want to do in that condition. But the fish is small and should be far less of a hassle. That's my hope anyway.

Update 12/11/15: I definitely have a cold, and it's a head cold. I felt pretty loopy last night. I had wanted to make myself some orange juice in order to get some vitamin C, so I started peeling an orange. As I was halfway through with peeling, I was like, "Why am I peeling an orange? Am I going to eat this?" Then I remembered that I was going to make juice. Duh. And then I couldn't figure out how to put my juicer together so I had to wait for hubby to get home from work so that he could do it (apparently I almost had it, things just weren't fitting together quite right). I went to bed early and zonked out, and I feel slightly less loopy today. I'm still not great though, and I coughed a bunch this morning. Sinuses and throat aren't great either.

So, it's definitely rest for me today. Tomorrow, if I'm feeling halfway decent, I'm going to walk the dog - the weather is supposed to be lovely (mid 50s F and sunny - they're talking record high temperatures for December this weekend for my area). It's supposed to be equally warm but rainy all day Sunday, so Saturday is the day to walk the dog. Because I'm a crazy person, I've come up with I think 3 more crocheting projects that I need to finish soon because they're going to be xmas gifts. So this is good in a way, crocheting keeps me resting on the couch. I have a feeling I'll be spending most of the weekend on the couch working on those projects, which is okay. Besides walking the dog and running a couple errands and doing a few chores around the house, I plan to sit on the couch and crochet. Hah, even when I'm resting I'm over-ambitious.

The hope now is to be feeling better by Monday. I think the weekend is going to be devoted to kicking this cold. I have lunch appointments on Tues & Thurs next week, so if I could swing it, working out Mon-Wed-Fri would be perfect. I'm not sure how I'll be feeling on Monday though so that's a very tentative plan right now, but I do like to have a goal to work towards. So that's the goal right now, to hopefully be back in the gym on Monday.

I am still trying to shake my cough.

Lots of good molasses recipes on this site (they are a local company that processes molasses - they bring it in by boat load) - http://www.crosbys.com/molasses-and-soy-glazed-salmon/

I think my cold is finally mostly over! I've been sort of sniffly today, but then again I'm often sniffly due to allergies anyway, so at this point it may just be allergies rather than a lingering cold. I no longer feel loopy and am not coughing and my throat feels fine, so aside from the sniffliness I'm okay cold-wise.

My guts have been slightly riled up - I stupidly had some nachos on Sunday night and that didn't sit so well, so yesterday was a bit rough. I had a few extra bathroom trips, and I think that caused me an external hemorrhoid. Those are easy, though. Those I can treat with creams and those don't bleed nearly as much as the internal hemmies do (there was just the teensiest bit of blood on the TP from the external hemmie), so that wasn't a big deal at all and already seems to be well on the way to healing. My guts are improved today although not wonderful, but not horrible either.

So, if things continue to improve then I plan to hit the gym tomorrow - finally! I did walk the dog on Saturday, but I haven't done anything else fitness-wise in a bit. I'm looking forward to getting back to the gym - between the rectal bleeding and the cold, it's been well over a week since I last worked out (maybe closer to 2 weeks at this point? I've lost track of time). The holidays are proving to be pretty stressful already, so any stress-relief I can get will be wonderful, and a workout is always the best stress reliever for me. So, that's the plan. I haven't planned anything further than tomorrow at this point, just going to see how I'm feeling tomorrow and how things go.

Update 12/16/15: My guts feel pretty good today. Sinuses are still a bit sniffly but what else is new. I'm slightly headachey because the weather is rainy & overcast - I tend to get headaches due to weather shifts, I think it's because of the barometric pressure or something along those lines. But it's not bad at all and I'm feeling pretty much fine otherwise.

So, I'm definitely still planning to hit the gym in a few hours. I have decent energy today and I think I can do a pretty good workout. If today goes well then tomorrow might be a cardio day, we'll see.

Another update for today: Just got back from the gym a little while ago, and I feel SO GOOD! I had a good workout, felt good the whole way through with only 2 minor issues. The first issue was that the burps started up relatively early on in my workout. I tend to get the burps as an early warning sign that my reflux is going to start going crazy in short order. Fortunately though it just stayed as burps, it didn't get any worse and fortunately didn't turn into a reflux attack. It was just a bit disconcerting to get the burps that early in my workout! I was a bit cautious because of that, but it ended up being fine.

The other issue I had was, I fell off the treadmill. So a typical workout for me consists of warm-up, weights interspersed with bodyweight exercises (lunges, squats, etc), then stretching and finally cool-down. I usually walk on the treadmill for 5-10 minutes for my cool-down. So I was walking on the treadmill at the end of my workout, but trying to get a few more stretches in at the same time because I'm a multi-tasker. I'm naturally very clumsy though and I should not multi-task on the treadmill! I was stretching my arms and shoulders but I guess I wasn't looking at where my feet were and I stumbled. I sort of caught myself but I smashed my left pinkie finger in the process. That seems to be the only injury I got from falling off the treadmill, so it's not too bad. I'm right-handed so I don't use my left pinkie for a whole lot, and I don't think it's broken or anything. It's just sort of bruised and angry, and the nail is messed up. It's kind of painful but not too bad. Like, I'll definitely survive. But yeah, that's my gym injury, ha ha.

Update 12/18/15: I woke up yesterday morning with a nasty migraine which lasted all day. So, I didn't do any cardio. The migraine is still hanging around today, although it's much less painful and the nausea is gone. I feel exhausted though, I don't sleep well when my head hurts and I really have only slept well one night this week. So I'm feeling like rest is still going to be more beneficial to me today than a workout. Don't want to make the migraine angry all over again since it is still hanging around, and I just feel like I want to take about 10 naps.

Tomorrow I have a family xmas gathering to attend - the first of several that are happening within the next week. I'm hoping that I can get home from that reasonably early and, depending on how I'm feeling, I might do a workout tomorrow evening from home. I will just have to play it by ear. Sunday, I was supposed to see a friend but I cancelled my plans with her. I feel like I need at least one weekend day to just be by myself and recharge and not do anything. Well, I will be doing things, because I need to buy food to cook for xmas dinner and I need to wrap a lot of presents, but mostly I just need to not be around people. I'm a massive introvert and it just sounded exhausting to me to have to have social engagements on both Saturday and Sunday. So, Sunday will be my day of being by myself (hubby works so it'll just be me and my pets at home which is perfect for me). I'll rest as much as I can, I do have to wrap and buy food but I can still get in a good chunk of "me time". And, if I don't work out Saturday, I might work out from home on Sunday. It all depends on how I'm feeling.

This is interesting to read, I have been diagnosed with Crohn's for 2 years now. As a Keen cyclist I like to get out at least twice a week for a ride, but some weeks I don't get out because I'm so tired from work and life in general. I don't think my job is the most taxing or stressful, so I'm presuming my fatigue is from the Crohn's.

Do you guys find some days you can't gym because you are too tired? I always feel guilty for not riding, and when I do ride regularly I do feel better, but I'm not sure if thats because of the riding or i'm riding more because I feel better! ha

Do you guys have any advice on what foods to eat to give you a energy boost for the gym, or to eat throughout the week to keep your energy levels up genrally?

thanks

Hi Georgeforaday, the biggest thing that has helped my energy levels has been addressing my deficiencies. Specifically, my iron dropped really low (thanks to recurrent rectal bleeding) and I was definitely too exhausted to exercise when it was at its lowest. I had some iron infusions done to correct the iron deficiency, and I am feeling a lot more energetic now. If you haven't had bloodwork done recently, I'd encourage you to get your vitamin levels checked and see if there might be any deficiencies that are causing your episodes of low energy. If you're low in things like iron, vit B12 or vit D, that could all cause you to experience a noticeable drop in energy.

Fitness update 12/21/15: I rested on Friday and had a family get-together on Saturday, so no exercise either of those days. Sunday I ended up getting more of a workout than I had bargained for, and not really in a good way. I did a weights session at home, then the plan was to take the dog out on a quick walk and I was planning to stretch after that. Well, halfway through our walk, my dog somehow injured her leg. I think it's sprained, it seems extremely similar to the time a few years ago when she sprained the same leg. I'm not sure how she did it, she seems to have just stepped wrong or something. I carried her partway home (she's quite heavy at 43 lbs so that was exhausting by itself), then we were offered a ride home by a nice lady at the dog park and I accepted, so I didn't have to carry her the entire way. Still, by the time we got home, my arms felt absolutely dead from the combo of weight lifting and dog carrying. Instead of stretching, I just rested because I was exhausted.

It turns out it was a mistake not to stretch. My hips really benefit from a good stretch, and it's raining today - the combination of those two things means that my hips are quite achey today. Arms just feel tired but hips feel painful. So, I think I'm going to do a nice long stretching/yoga session this afternoon in the little gym. I have a half hour "hips and hamstrings" gentle yoga video queued up which I will try. I normally am not a yoga fan as I'm very un-flexible, but I know that my hips need some TLC today so I'll give them some overdue attention.

If I'm feeling okay tomorrow then I'll do weights again (no dog walking nor dog carrying involved this time! In fact I'm presuming my dog won't be going for walks for a little while, not until she's healed). Wednesday either cardio or rest, depending on how I'm feeling. Thursday is xmas eve so I don't have to work, and I think the big gym might actually be open. So I might go to the big gym, or if they're closed I'll lift weights at home. Friday is xmas so I won't be doing any exercise then! Saturday I have another family get-together for xmas so once again I don't think I'll be exercising then. Likely will be back at the big gym on Sunday for weights. That's the tentative plan for now.

Another quick update for today: So I did my 30 mins of yoga in the gym today. I've said it before, and I'll probably say it again - I just do not enjoy yoga. It's never quite what I think it will be. I always think it'll be some amazing stretches that make me feel really limber and good, but it's never actually that. It's always more like, I'm super un-flexible so I get into what I think the position is supposed to be but I never can do it right so I am both uncomfortable and doing it wrong. And then I just have to sit there being wrong and uncomfortable for an uncomfortable amount of time. Oh, and I'm supposed to think about breathing. That's about it in a nutshell. I don't get much out of yoga. And I don't enjoy it.

I do really enjoy other forms of exercise. Weight lifting to me is like, I'm lifting heavy things and feeling really strong and awesome like I can do anything! Muscles, yeah! And bicycling is like, I'm going on an adventure and I'm going really fast and I'm seeing interesting scenery and breathing fresh air and feeling great! But yoga is more like, I'm uncomfortable and unflexible and I am not strong nor awesome nor having an adventure, and I just want this to be over with. And I can't even think about fun or awesome things because I'm supposed to be thinking about breathing. Basically, I don't have fun with yoga and I do have fun with weights and with my bike. So yeah, this just reinforces to me that I need to stick with the types of fitness that I find to be fun, because fitness *should* be fun. I shouldn't feel uncomfortable or like I hate it, but I do kind of hate yoga. So I'm going to stick with weights and bike as my main forms of exercise because I do enjoy those a lot. I fail at yoga, but it's okay.

Update 12/22/15: I have the start of what feels like another migraine. The weather is rainy and foggy and I think the weather is triggering these. It seems to start in my sinuses, so I took some sinus meds a little while ago in the hopes of stopping this before it gets bad. I also took a Zofran because I could feel the nausea starting up already, fun.

It's still early in the day, so I'm just going to do what I can to try to flush my sinuses and get rid of the headache/migraine. I'm going to drink lots of water, etc. If I'm doing okay-ish by early afternoon then I'll still hit the gym as planned. I only know of two headache triggers that are gym-related - if I have a tight headband on, or if the music is too loud. So I'll do barrettes in my hair instead of a headband, and I'll keep the music at a low volume. Hopefully that way I can indeed do a workout without making things worse. For now though just playing it by ear. If I can't manage a workout today then I'll try for tomorrow instead.

Another quick update for today: Nope, head is throbbing and I didn't make it to the gym today. Going to try for tomorrow. This super weird warm rainy winter that we're having seems to be playing havoc with my head, stupid barometric pressure. Today it was upper 30s and misty/foggy - tomorrow it's supposed to be 50 degrees F and rain all day so I'm sure my head will just explode then.

Update 12/28/15: I was so busy Thurs-Fri-Sat that I didn't end up working out any of those days. Thurs I had to clean my house and prepare everything, Friday I hosted my parents and brother at my house for xmas, and Saturday we went to my in-laws' house for xmas with hubby's family. So those were a crazy few days. Sunday, I finally had a quiet day to myself! So on Sunday I finally worked out. I just did a weights and stretching session from home. That went fine. I had a tiny bit of reflux near the end, but nothing bad and nothing out of the ordinary for me. I'm a bit sore today but that's probably because I didn't work out for a few days.

Today, the weather is horrendous. It's just started snowing heavily and blowing snow, and possibly freezing rain/sleet/ice. Yuck! We're going to get anywhere from 2 to 12 inches of snow depending on how the storm tracks, and up to a quarter inch of ice. I'm at work but hoping that the weather is bad enough to warrant closing early. But, if we don't close early, then I'm definitely not leaving the building on my lunch break. So, if we close early then it's probably a rest day. If we stay open then I'll do a cardio session (stationary bike) and some stretching in the little gym in the basement during my lunch break.

Either way, tomorrow I'll do weights, probably in the little gym. If I don't do cardio today, then I'll likely do cardio on Wednesday. Thursday I'm off work for the holiday, and I don't want to venture out, so I'll do a weights session at home. Friday, probably a rest day. That's the tentative plan so far. Right now I'm just waiting to see how bad this winter storm gets...

Update 12/19/15: Bit of a stressful time lately. We had a nasty snow & ice storm yesterday and you could literally see the roads getting bad, but at work they decided we should stay open. They finally did let us close at 4 PM, but by then the roads were super bad. I had to drive like 15 mph the whole way home and even then I was fishtailing a bit, it was not good. This morning, the city had done some plowing (but a rather crappy job of it) so work decided to open as usual. So it was another not great drive, and some of our people got stuck in their driveways or on residential streets that hadn't been plowed. It's just a weird week. There's hardly anybody at work anyway because it's a holiday week, and the people who made the decision to keep the office open weren't actually here anyway... ugh. That stuff drives me nuts, I'd rather be safe than have scary drives to and from work like that. But I'm basically out of vacation days (our vacation & sick days are pooled together and mine have been used up as sick days for the most part this year), so I had to come in to work, I didn't have a choice. So yeah, just some stress due to the weather and crappy road conditions and dumb decisions to keep the office open.

Fortunately, exercise is my stress-relief, so I'm definitely hitting the gym today. Heading to the little gym in the basement on my lunch break for some weights. I did hit the little gym yesterday, as sort of a maintenance/recovery day. I did 15 mins on the stationary bike and didn't push myself too much at all. My legs were already sore from doing weights the previous day, so I just wanted to loosen them up a bit. So I did the bike for a bit and then I did a bunch of stretching and about 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill. That felt pretty good, I think I'll do more days like that where I'm being active but not pushing myself.

Today, however, I do plan to push myself. I like to push myself on weights days. Tomorrow will probably be a rest day. I am off of work Thurs & Fri which is good. Thurs is New Year's Eve and I hate leaving the house on days like that, so I'll stay in and do weights from home and then have a nice dinner and spend a relaxing evening at home with hubby. I don't drink much but I'll have a small bit of champagne, hopefully that won't rile up my guts. Friday, I might walk the dog - possibly with my snowshoes. Now that we actually have some snow on the ground, I can start doing some winter outdoor fitness activities like snowshoeing. I'm hoping some of the outdoor ice skating rinks open soon, too.

Another quick update for today: I went to the gym and I did push myself. I ended up quite burpy and a bit refluxy and with a hint of heartburn even (I don't usually get heartburn). Once my workout was done, the reflux symptoms themselves went away, but now I'm super bloated. I do get bloated with my reflux sometimes so this is not abnormal. The bloat usually goes away overnight, so hopefully by tomorrow morning I'll be back to normal (well, my version of normal!).

At any rate, probably a good thing that tomorrow's a rest day. That will give my reflux a day to be calm and quiet. Then on Thursday I might rile it back up again.

Update 12/30/15: Today's a rest day. I feel mostly okay - reflux is quiet, bloat has gone down. I'm a bit tired and somewhat headachey, but nothing bad.

I recently realized that my workouts are going to have to take place mainly in the little gym or at home for the next few weeks. I absolutely hate going to the big gym during New Year's resolution season. For most of January, the big gym is absolutely packed with people, I can't stand it. And a lot of the newbies have unfortunate and annoying habits, like hogging equipment, or not wiping down equipment, or just plain not knowing how to use and even breaking the gym equipment. Fortunately most of the resolutioners are gone by February. But in the meantime, to save myself a lot of aggravation, I'll be working out away from the masses.

I don't mean to dissuade anyone who is reading this and thinking of starting a fitness journey in January. Exercise is wonderful, but please make sure that you have some idea of what you're doing so that you don't injure yourself, and please be courteous of others in the gym. And don't give up! Yes, exercise is hard work - that's why another name for it is "working out". It wouldn't have the word "work" in there if it was easy. But the benefits of it are wonderful, so don't quit and don't get discouraged if you don't see results right away. For me, it's been much more about how I feel inside rather than how I look or what the scale shows. Anyway, I'm rambling. Just, don't be an annoying resolutioner who quits right away like most do - be someone who is making a positive change and sticking with it.

Update 1/4/16: I had a decent long holiday weekend overall. I had off of work on Thurs & Fri. I had the start of a headache on Wednesday, and by Thursday it was quite bad. So I didn't do much of anything - stayed in my pajamas all day and stayed on the couch. Fortunately, by Friday the headache was mostly gone. Hubby had to work Fri - Sun, so I had a lot of time to myself which was nice (massive introvert alert, ha ha). I did a weights & bodyweight workout at home on Friday. Saturday, it was sunny although cold outside, so I bundled up and took the dog on a nice long walk. Sunday, another weights workout at home.

Today's a rest day. Tomorrow, I'm hoping to hit the little gym for weights on my lunch break. I'm a bit iffy about that because I can see that there are a handful of New Year's resolutioners at work, so the little gym might actually have people in it (usually it's just me and I can crank my music and nobody's using the machine I want, nobody's trying to make conversation with me, etc). I think, though, that it'll be okay. My one co-worker mentioned that she wants to walk 10 minutes or so every day (she just had knee surgery so she can't walk more than that right now) and I saw another co-worker bring in workout clothes, but he seems to be going outside to walk rather than to the gym. So hopefully I'll still have the little gym all to myself!

Wednesday, I'm thinking that will be a cardio day in the little gym (stationary bike). Thursday I have a dentist appointment during my lunch hour so I can't hit the little gym that day. I am planning to do a weights workout at home after work on Thurs. Friday, probably another rest day. I see my GP on Friday and I have many questions for him, mainly in regards to my upcoming trip to Japan (I think I need him to write a letter that I can show customs, saying that it's okay that I'm travelling with medicines and that I need these medicines and please don't confiscate them).

Speaking of Japan, I don't know if I've mentioned this previously, but I will be going on bike rides through the sakura (cherry blossoms)! So excited for that. I'm going with my mother in late March/early April, which is peak cherry blossom season for the Tokyo & Kyoto areas, which is where we'll mainly be. My mom has been booking hotel rooms for us, and she's said that multiple places that we'll be staying at include free bicycle rental during our stay. Um, fun! I love going on bike rides anyway, I love seeing beautiful scenery on my bicycle, I obviously want to see the sakura anyway, and it sounds absolutely amazing to have the opportunity to ride bikes amongst the sakura. I cannot wait! I'm going to be in Japan for 3 weeks and I likely won't be doing any weights workouts while I'm there, but I will be walking all over the place (including walking in a 5K) and now I'll be riding a bicycle as well. Going to get my fitness in while I'm on the vacation of a lifetime. It's going to be amazing, I just can't wait.

Update 1/6/15: I had a rough day yesterday. I apparently formed a new bleeding hemmie, and I found out they don't make my favorite hemmie cream anymore! (Why, Tucks, why??) I was all sorts of emotions and some pain and just meh. I bled a LOT into the toilet last night before bed which was particularly upsetting. And then, once again, I had a really hard time sleeping. So long story short, I didn't work out yesterday. Was not exactly feeling up for it.

Today, despite the continued lack of sleep, I am feeling significantly better. Less pain in the anal/rectal region (I put myself back on the steroid suppositories, again). And mentally I'm feeling a lot less emotional. Yesterday I was angry and sad and just didn't want to do this anymore. Today I'm much more ready to face the day and feeling far less despondent. I think I can do a workout today. The steroids are giving me a bit of extra energy, and I know I always gain weight on the steroids anyway, so a workout seems like a good idea. I won't do any abdominal work as that seems unwise, but I'll do my normal weights & bodyweight routine minus planks.

Oh, I'm getting a massage today as well. My massage therapist is also a friend and he makes house calls which is lovely. He's giving me a free massage as my xmas gift - score! I'm looking forward to that.

Fitness-wise, just going to play it by ear. My body often feels quite sore after a massage, like I've been gently beat up. So I'm presuming that tomorrow is probably a rest day to recover from the massage. Friday I see my GP and then I might exercise at home after work. Will just have to see how I'm feeling.

Update 1/7/15: Still bleeding bright red blood, but there was less of it last night/this morning than there was on Tuesday, so hopefully this trend continues and it stops soon. Sometimes the steroid supps take a little while to kick in.

I had a good workout yesterday - I felt really good. And it seems that working out didn't make the bleeding any worse, so that's encouraging. The massage went well, too. I don't feel super sore today - sometimes I'm SO sore after a massage, but today I feel okay. Some slight soreness but I'm not stiff or feeling beat-up or anything like that.

I think I will use the stationary bike at home this evening. Even if I just do 20 or 30 mins, I think that will be do-able. I want to keep exercising every day that I'm feeling okay, even if I have symptoms like rectal bleeding. My workout yesterday didn't worsen the bleeding, so a fairly quick cardio session hopefully won't either. I just kinda feel helpless when I do nothing, so doing something fitness-wise gives me some sense of control over the situation. Plus, exercising not only feels great, it also allows me to (temporarily) feel healthy and normal, so it's a big mental boost as well. I get depressed when I'm bleeding out my ass, and exercise really helps alleviate the depression. It's good in so many ways.

So yeah, cardio tonight but I won't overdo it. Will play things by ear but am hoping to do weights at home tomorrow evening.

Update 1/8/15: My anus hurts. I have been bleeding less and less - this morning there was only a tiny smear of blood on the TP and that's it - but the hemmie started hurting as of this morning. Not sure why, but I can feel it. It's right inside the anal sphincter which is where I've had many hemmies in the past. At any rate, I see my GP today, so hopefully he can help.

I did ride the stationary bike last night, but I only did 20 minutes and it is a recumbent bike, so it's got a chair-like seat and not a bicycle seat, so I don't think that's why the hemmie is causing pain today. I don't know. Even with the pain, I still want to lift weights tonight. Maybe if I just ignore the hemmie it'll go away. I know that's not reasonable, but I just want to work out so I'm going to work out and that's that.

Tomorrow, I might walk the dog. It's been raining for 2 days - yes, raining in Wisconsin in winter, it's weirdly warm enough here that it's raining rather than snowing. Normally we never get rain here this time of year! But anyway, tomorrow it's still supposed to be reasonably warm (temps in the 30s) but the rain is supposed to stop early in the morning. So, I think I will walk the dog once the rain has stopped. We won't go to the muddy park, we'll stay on the paved path instead. That should be okay. Sunday, I have a family lunch gathering to attend, so I think I'll work out on Sunday evening at home.

Update 1/12/16: Rough times. I lifted weights on Saturday instead of Friday. Did not walk the dog. I just didn't have tons of energy and I have even less now. On Sunday evening, my guts went nuts. Watery urgent d with lots of blood. I had the worst bloody bowel movement I've ever had, and I passed blood about 7 or 8 times that evening/early Monday morning. I didn't sleep at all that night and had a fair bit of abdominal pain. I stayed home from work on Monday and just rested.

So obviously it's rest days for a little while until I recover. I'm doing somewhat better today - no more blood, no more d, but I'm very weak and a bit dizzy. I lost a fair bit of blood so I know I need to allow my body to replenish that before I even think of exercising. I saw my GP on Friday (before these bad bleeding incidents) and my iron was at 54 and my ferritin was at 180 (!!!) so that's a vast improvement over my previous readings (iron was at 30 and ferritin was at 4 in October, back before I had the iron infusions). So, I see my GI in early February and I'm thinking of asking him to repeat the labs. I'd be interested to see how a bad day of repeated heavy rectal bleeding affects my levels.

In the meantime, it's rest until I feel strong enough to work out again. Hopefully it doesn't take too long.

Update 1/19/16: Haven't been to the gym since my last update. Fortunately, the bleeding gradually slowed and then stopped. I'm still having some slight anal/rectal pain, so I think there's still a hemmie there that's mostly healed. I haven't bled for something like 3 or 4 days now. I'm not feeling stellar by any means, but I'm mostly okay.

I'm thinking today I'll head to the little gym on my lunch break, but I'm going to take it very easy. Mainly stretching out my joints. The weather here has been seriously cold the past few days - as low as -30 wind chills - which has made my joints quite achey. Particularly hips, knees, and lower back. So I'm going to do some gentle work on those joints and a lot of stretching. Am not going to push myself, I know that's unwise right now. I'm hoping that this helps me ease back into working out. If today goes okay, I might go for a more full workout tomorrow - weights and bodyweight exercises. But that's very tentative, just going to see how today goes first. I'm slightly dizzy, and with the lingering pain "back there", I obviously don't want to make things worse or start bleeding again. But I do want to work on my achey joints, so that's the plan.

Another quick update for today: Nope, my guts are giving me the "rest" signal, they don't want me to go to the gym. I think I should listen. I still will do some gentle stretches tonight, but won't do anything other than that. Gotta listen to my body, and it still needs to heal.

Update 1/21/16: I still haven't been to the gym - still dealing with ongoing symptoms although they're slowly getting better I think. At any rate, I'm sick of waiting, so I'm going ice skating today. The weather looks ideal (upper 20s F and no wind), and I will just do what I can. Hoping to skate for about 30 mins. This will be my first time on the ice this winter, so I will probably be shaky, and I'm just going to focus on trying to be somewhat comfortable and confident on the ice. Not going to overdo things, just going to try to get past the "baby deer legs" stage. I love skating and I'm looking forward to this.

Update 1/22/16: I went ice skating yesterday! It was tougher than I thought it would be. It was colder than I thought it would be. And it was my first skate of the season, so I was quite shaky and unsteady at first. My shins and ankles were really burning for the first 10 minutes or so. But once I got through that initial discomfort, then I slowly became a bit more relaxed and confident on the ice. I did about 40-45 mins of skating, and by the end I was feeling very good and could actually skate a bit fast without worrying about falling. That felt great!

I had been nervous because I was having some prickly abdominal pains, plus anal/rectal pain from the hemorrhoids, prior to skating. I was afraid I was going to make those pains worse, but fortunately I actually felt a lot better after skating. Abdo pains seem mostly gone now and anal/rectal region feels a bit better too. Very encouraging! The only real issue was that my knees were aching fairly badly after I finished skating. I think it was because of the cold and the fact that I was only wearing leggings (they were fleece-lined, but apparently not warm enough for my bad joints). Once I got warmed up again, the knees ached less, and when I got home yesterday evening I took a hot bath which got rid of the remainder of the knee aches.

I'm feeling reasonably okay today. I am encouraged by the mostly positive result of skating yesterday, so I'm going to hit the gym today. I won't push myself too much, but I will lift weights. Hopefully this continues to help me feel better and better. Tomorrow, the weather looks very nice (30 F and sunny and low wind), so I'm planning to go ice skating again. I'll take a hot bath right afterwards so that I can get immediately rid of any joint pains that occur. I'm thinking I'll go to a larger ice rink this time, which sounds intimidating, but I'm not going to improve unless I push myself a little bit out of my comfort zone, right? So that's the plan. I'll skate anywhere from 30 - 60 minutes, depending on how I'm feeling. If I skate longer than an hour, my body tends to get too cold and my muscles get too tired and then I'm at risk of falling/injuring myself. So yeah, that'll be nice. I'm excited to finally be doing some active things again after having a rough few weeks!

Update 1/25/16: Forget what I said in my last update. On Friday, about an hour before I was going to go to the gym, my stomach started throwing some wicked pains at me. I'm not sure what was up with that, but I felt unwell enough that I skipped the gym that day. Saturday, rather than ice skate, I just walked the dog and that was it. Sunday I was feeling lazy so I rested. So yeah, all I did all weekend long basically was walk the dog and that's it. Not great.

Today I'm feeling okay-ish again. As long as my stomach continues to be calm, I'll hit the gym today. Not planning anything beyond today just yet. It's been awhile since I've had a proper workout so I'm just going to take things one day at a time and see how today goes.

Another quick update for today: Well, I hit the gym. It was not super easy. My stomach was pretty unhappy the whole time, with a fair bit of pains around the belly button area. I didn't push myself too much, in fact I skipped a couple of things that I'd normally do, and I avoided any type of abdominal exercise (no planks for me). I'm still feeling not super great stomach-wise. Not sure what's up with that. I'm thinking that tomorrow should be a rest day though, I don't want to make myself any worse. I will re-assess on Wednesday and go from there. Bleh.

Update 1/27/15: Yesterday was a rest day. Today I woke up with a throbbing, pounding sinus migraine so it seems like it's another rest day today. It's okay though because I was afraid my vertigo was coming back, but it turned out that my body was just building up to a migraine. Phew! I can deal with a migraine, vertigo not so much. Vertigo debilitates me but migraines are just annoying. So I'm really glad it's just a migraine!

The weather is looking nice for the next few days. I don't have any fitness plans, just going to see how the migraine plays out (they usually last me anywhere from 2-5 days). I'll do some fitness and hopefully get outside for some ice skating as soon as I'm feeling up to it.

Update 1/28/16: I just realized I wrote the date as 2015 instead of 16 yesterday. Whoops! That's Cat's brain on a migraine for you.

Fortunately the migraine is much improved today. I'd say I'm feeling about 75% better. There's still a little bit of lingering head pain and sinus pressure, but nothing like what it was yesterday. So, I'm planning to hit the gym today! I feel like I can do a workout today and I'm excited for it. Not planning any future workouts just yet, going to see how I do today and go from there. I am hoping to go ice skating sometime soon, but the weather might actually be too warm! It's supposed to get up to 40 degrees F this weekend! That's warm enough to melt the ice or at least make everything really sloppy. Sooo, my skates might have to wait until it cools down a bit which is a weird thing to say in late January!

Another quick update for today: I did go to the gym. It felt very good! I almost didn't go. About an hour beforehand, my migraine got a bit worse and my stomach started acting up. I wasn't sure if I should skip the gym or not. I decided, screw it, I'm going anyway! So I went, and fortunately that was a good decision. My head feels a lot better now. My stomach, well, it's about the same. But overall I felt good and energetic and strong in the gym, and my mood was greatly lifted. I really needed that.

Tomorrow, the weather looks decent and I'm thinking I'll be bringing my ice skates to work with me. If my body and the weather both cooperate, then I'll go ice skating on my lunch break. That's the tentative plan! I'm looking forward to it!

Update 1/29/16: What a week! I'm so glad it's almost over. Lots of work stress, plus the migraine that I got on Wednesday (I can still feel a little remnant of it but it's mostly gone now), and then this morning I gushed blood out my nose like crazy. It was very odd. I got to work, sat down at my desk, blew my nose... and, just, out of nowhere, blood went everywhere. It spewed across my desk and onto my leggings (thank goodness I was wearing black!). It looked like a crime scene. I went through about 30 tissues trying to staunch the bleeding - kleenex after kleenex kept getting saturated with blood. It was crazy! The worst nosebleed I've ever had, and I have no idea why it happened. Granted, I have had a lot of sinus issues, and the migraine messed up my sinuses more than usual, so I've been blowing my nose more than usual, and the winter air is very dry. But that doesn't seem like enough of a reason for my nose to gush blood for like 10 minutes. It was super weird and a bit scary. Fortunately I finally got the bleeding stopped, and it hasn't come back so far (I've been super careful about my nose all day!). Ridiculous, though. If I'm not bleeding out my ass then I'm apparently going to be bleeding out some other hole! Ugh.

So, in spite of my nose, I went ice skating today anyway and that went fine. I went to a local outdoor rink - there's one near my workplace that I can easily get to on my lunch break. I skated for about 40 minutes. Last time I skated, I just felt stronger and stronger, like I could keep skating forever. This time was much more typical for me: a lot of ankle and shin soreness and just general shakiness for the first 10ish minutes, then I gradually got stronger and at one point felt really good and fast for about 5 minutes, then the muscle fatigue and the cold set in and I went back to shaky and weak and in danger of falling. That's normal for me so it wasn't annoying. My muscles can only take so much of being out in the cold before they decide they're done. That unfortunately often coincides with about 5-10 minutes after I'm fully warmed up and comfortable on the ice and skating well. I get very limited time to skate well and feel good on the ice. I'm hoping, though, that the more I skate, the more comfortable I'll get and the better quality skate time I'll have. I can only improve from here, right?

I don't think I'll get back on the ice in the near future, unfortunately. It's supposed to be warm this weekend (up to 40 degrees F with some rain) so that'll thaw the ice rinks to the point that they'll likely close for awhile. And then on Tuesday, we're supposed to get a blizzard with possibly up to a foot of snow, lovely. Can't skate on top of 12 inches of snow so then I'll have to wait for the snow to be cleared off of the local ice rinks and I'm sure they'll have to re-do the surface of the ice as well, so at this point it's looking like no skating for me for the next week. Although I may do some snowshoeing after the blizzard! So we'll see. I am thinking I'll likely just be indoors in the gym for my fitness endeavors for the next week or so. I'm fine with being indoors to lift weights, that never bothers me, but on cardio days, I get cabin fever really easily when I'm stuck on the stationary bike. Pedaling to nowhere with no fresh air and no change in scenery is absolute dullsville. I know I need cardio, but just ugh. That's why I'm thinking of snowshoeing because then at least I'll be outdoors!

Update 2/1/16: Had a bit of a rough weekend. My parents came down on Saturday and there's always a lot of eating when they're around. We went to a chocolate shop, then out to lunch, and later we went to a winery for a tasting. I had I think a bit too much wine and food, my stomach wasn't super happy with me and I had an episode of rectal bleeding that evening. Sunday, I woke up feeling all wrong in my head. It felt like my migraine was coming back, probably a result of the wine and/or chocolate. So I didn't do anything active either weekend day because I overdid the eating and drinking on Saturday. I needed Sunday to be a rest/recovery day.

Today I'm feeling better-ish. Not great but not as bad as I was yesterday. Stomach is a bit iffy but my head feels mostly okay and I can tell I have a decent amount of energy. So, I'm going to hit the gym for weights on my lunch break today. Hopefully my stomach will be okay with that.

Tomorrow, we're supposed to get a snowstorm with likely 5-8 inches of snow in total. I'm not sure exactly what I'll be doing - if work closes early/opens late/closes for the full day, then I'll help hubby shovel at some point. If work is open as normal then I'm obviously not going to go out on my lunch break, so in that case I'll make it a cardio/stretching day. Likely will do about 20-30 mins on the stationary bike and then do some good stretching afterwards. So, it all depends on what the storm does and what my workplace decides to do, but either way I'll be doing something active.

Another quick update for today: I almost didn't go to the gym. My migraine started to sneak back in and my guts got a little more unsettled. But I was determined to go, so I went in spite of my head and stomach. I'm so glad I did, I feel a lot better now. My head feels fine and my guts are calmer. And I just have that "Ahhhh!" feeling that you get right after a workout, like I feel refreshed and just good. It's a hard feeling to describe. Anyway, long story short, I almost didn't go but I'm very glad I did. Sometimes I need to remind myself that the gym is my happy place and that that is true even on not so great days. The gym can make a "meh" day into a better day.

Update 2/2/16: I hit the stationary bike for a short cardio session today. It was more difficult than I thought - my guts and head were okay, but my hemorrhoids were not so happy. I definitely had some anal/rectal discomfort, but I seem to be okay now. I only did 20 mins on the bike because I didn't want to aggravate the hemmies too much.

Tomorrow, the plan is to hit the gym again for weights. I'm tentatively thinking of going ice skating on Thursday, if the local outdoor rink is open. It's currently raining (!!) so the ice conditions may not be good, as everything is currently melty and slushy. We'll see. Hoping for another weights session on Friday. Haven't gotten as far as the weekend yet, trying not to get too far ahead of myself.

Update 2/3/16: I hit the little gym for weights today. That went mostly fine. I had some abdominal discomfort during my warm-up, specifically in my LRQ (which is where my main "pain spot" has always been). It was disconcerting, I haven't had LRQ pain in a little while (I suspect I'm in remission, my main issue lately has been hemorrhoids but I don't seem to have active inflammation/symptoms related to the IBD). Fortunately, as soon as I got warmed up, the LRQ pain went away and stayed away. I've been feeling slightly backed up today - have had some rectal pressure like I have to go but then nothing comes out, so I'm slightly constipated I guess - so I am presuming the LRQ discomfort was just related to that.

Other than the brief LRQ discomfort, my workout went fine. I'm thinking that I won't go ice skating tomorrow - it looks like the outdoor rinks will still be closed due to poor conditions, and I am feeling like I'm in need of a rest day anyway. My quads felt tired and a bit sore today during my workout, so I know it's best to let them rest. Still planning to hit the gym on Friday again for weights - and, now that it's no longer January, the New Year resolutioners should be pretty much cleared out and I could actually go to the big gym again! I'm thinking I'll bring hubby with me (he never goes to the gym voluntarily, I always have to drag him along with me) and we'll make an evening of it. We'll have a nice workout and then pick up dinner afterwards. The big gym is usually quite empty on Friday evenings so that should be nice.

Update 2/5/16: Yesterday was a rest day, as planned. I had good energy but I knew that my muscles needed to heal - I probably could have done a workout, but I knew the wise thing to do was rest.

Today I'm headed to the big gym with hubby in the evening. We haven't been there in awhile so that'll be nice. I'm going to have a nice, long, thorough weights session and then have a nice dinner afterwards. It's been a super stressful week at work and a nice workout sounds like just the thing I need to end the week.

Hi Cat! Is "the big gym" the Princeton Club? When I lived in Madison(back in 2005) I went there and loved that gym, it's huge

Eridon2002 said:

Hi Cat! Is "the big gym" the Princeton Club? When I lived in Madison(back in 2005) I went there and loved that gym, it's huge

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No, although I belonged there for a year about 10 years ago (probably right around the same time as you, actually!). Yeah, that place is intimidatingly huge (the west side one was anyway, I never went to the east side - I'm a west/south sider). I belong to Planet Fitness now, mainly because of the price (it was something like $75 per month for the hubby and I to belong to the Princeton Club, and it's only $10 per person per month to belong to PF). I refer to it as the big gym mainly because I don't want to constantly name-drop the place as that's weird, plus there's a little gym in the basement of my workplace, so in comparison PF is quite large. So yeah, those are my two main gyms these days - a little free gym at work, and PF. I also have a home gym in my guest bedroom, but I prefer working out in a gym environment as I can focus better (too many distractions at home).

Princeton Club was pricey. So funny, I went to the west side one as well. Small world

Update 2/8/16: I had an active weekend. Went to the big gym with hubby on Friday evening. It was more crowded there than I expected - usually it's dead quiet as soon as the weekend hits, but there were a fair number of people there this time. It wasn't too bad though, because I was able to use every piece of equipment I wanted, in the order I wanted to, without having to wait for anything to open up. Can't ask for much more than that! That workout felt really good. I felt strong and I really pushed myself and did a lot. I even did a plank at the end and my guts/GERD didn't punish me for it.

Saturday, we walked the dog. It was kind of cold out but it was nice to get outside for a little while. We walked by a local creek and saw some ducks (my dog loves ducks, she will just sit and watch them but will not chase nor bark). It was nice to get out even though it was cold and overcast.

Sunday, hubby and I went back to the big gym for another weights workout. This time, I was still a bit sore from pushing myself so hard on Friday! So it was definitely a tougher workout. Once again, the gym was busier than I had hoped, and this time around I did have to change up the order of what I did because a few times some of the machines were taken when I wanted to use them. There was one guy in particular who was really hogging the assisted chin-up bar, and there's only one of those so it's super annoying when someone is doing a bunch of sets on it. I did get to eventually use it though so it was fine in the end.

Today I'm slightly sore but not bad. Still, I think today should be a rest day just to make sure I don't injure myself. Tomorrow, I have an all-day meeting at work but hubby expressed interest in going to the gym after work, so hopefully that will work out. I'm mainly concerned about when I eat vs when I work out - ideally, with my GERD, I have a substantial snack/small meal (usually oatmeal) about 2 hours before going to the gym. That seems to be the best system for me. But since it's a work meeting, lunch is at a set time, and it's looking like it'll be about 4 hours between when I eat and when I can go home and head to the gym. So I'm not quite sure about that. I am thinking that I will pack myself some food and sneak out of the meeting in the early afternoon and scarf down my snack a couple hours before the end of the meeting. That might work out best. I don't want to go too long between eating and working out, because then my energy levels are bad - 4 hours between eating and exercising is just too long. But I can't eat and then go work out right away or my GERD will go nuts - 2 hours seems to be the golden time, I'm not starving and my energy is good and my GERD is also happy with that. I have to time things just right. So hopefully I can manage to eat at the right time tomorrow so that I can hit the gym right after the meeting. I'm going to make every effort to do so. And if my boss sees that I've packed a bag of food, I will just remind her that, with my various fun digestive issues (IBD and GERD), that I feel safer packing my own food especially when I don't know what is going to be on the menu for lunch.

So yeah, long story short, today is a rest day, tomorrow big gym for weights. Wednesday, maybe cardio - I'm thinking stationary bike in the little gym. Thursday will likely be weights again. Hubby's currently furloughed from his job for at least the next week, so I'm dragging him to the gym with me every chance I get (and he's actually appearing to enjoy that), so likely we'll go to the big gym after work on Thurs. Friday, probably another rest day. I'm betting Saturday will be another weights day. Haven't planned things out further than that yet.

Update 2/10/16: I did hit the gym yesterday. Almost talked myself out of it. I had to go to a work meeting all morning and part of the afternoon, I was helping run the meeting so I had to get there quite early to help set up. I was running around like crazy all morning, I got over 3,000 steps on my fitbit before the meeting even started! I was sure I'd exhaust myself from everything that had to be done for the meeting, plus I wasn't sure about the food situation. I had neglected to pack myself some safe food so I was at the mercy of what was served and when it was served. Fortunately, there was a lot of safe food in the lunch - rice, pasta salad, bread, baked chicken. Oh, and chocolate cake. So I sort of stuffed myself with food, most of it carbs.

The meeting ended an hour earlier than anticipated, which meant I got out of there at a quite reasonable time. I was actually still a bit full from lunch when I got home! But I had decent energy and was feeling okay. Hubby still wanted to go to the gym, so we waited for an extra half hour or so for my lunch to further digest, then we headed to the gym. That went great! I felt really strong and energetic. You know those days in the gym where the weights don't feel quite so heavy and there's extra pep in your step? Like you just feel strong and good and pumped. That was my workout yesterday, it was wonderful. I felt really strong the whole way through.

Today's just a light cardio day in the little gym on my lunch break. I pushed myself yesterday so I'm going to relax a bit today and just do an easy light cardio session. I'm thinking I'll do about 15-20 mins on the stationary bike, then some good stretching. Tomorrow hubby and I are headed back to the big gym for weights again. Friday will probably be a rest day, and Saturday I think I'm going to the big gym by myself (hubby is having some friends over that day to play some dumb game, they always play stuff like dungeons & dragons which is so not my style, so I avoid hubby and his friends and do my own thing). Hubby says that he still wants to go to the gym every other day though, so it's possible he'll work out a schedule with his friends so that he can either go to the gym early or late in the day. At any rate, I'm definitely hitting the gym on Saturday, with or without him.

Update 2/11/16: I hit the little gym yesterday and just did 15 mins on the stationary bike. I've been feeling for a couple days like I might be developing yet another hemorrhoid (ugh) so I didn't push it as I was already having some anorectal discomfort. Fortunately that went fine, if I do have a new hemmie it hasn't bled (yet) so I didn't overdo things on the bike yesterday.

Today I'm kind of exhausted - haven't slept well all week. I seem to fall asleep okay but can't seem to stay asleep. I wake up a lot during the night with weird dreams in between, I can't seem to just get a good chunk of rest. Last night I woke up at 1 something in the morning, then I fell asleep and had a dream that I was paying bills. Apparently even in my dreams my financial situation is grim, hah. Then I woke up at 4 something and when I fell back asleep, I dreamed that I was making salt pork with a pioneer woman (???). I don't even eat pork and in this day and age we have refrigerators so I don't know why my dream felt like I needed to dream about salt pork. So odd. Can't I just have a nice dream where things are happy? Must I always be doing chores in my dreams?

At any rate, even though I'm kind of exhausted, I feel like I can still do a workout. I have had some rectal pressure but no pain today, so maybe the hemmie is healing? I'm still on the steroid suppositories (probably a big reason why I can't sleep well these days) so the steroids should be healing whatever's going on in there. I haven't bled and no pain, so I can do a workout with some rectal pressure and some tiredness. I won't push myself too much, but I will do what I can. Heading to the big gym with hubby in a couple hours.

Tomorrow's a rest day and thank goodness, I just hope I can get some sleep. And not dream about bills or pork! Other people have cool dreams where they're flying or whatever, I have boring or just plain stupid dreams.

Update 2/15/16: I did do a workout in the big gym on Thursday. It was super crazy crowded in the gym that evening for some reason. So I had to shuffle up the order of my workout, I just jumped on whatever machine was open. I did get to do everything that I wanted to do, and I felt quite good. Friday, it was originally going to be a rest day but it was so cold out that I didn't want to leave the building on my lunch break. So, I just walked on the treadmill for my entire lunch hour. That went fine.

Saturday I went to the big gym around noon for a workout. Fortunately it wasn't very crowded that day. I was able to do everything that I wanted in the order that I wanted with only one exception (some ladies were hogging the assisted chin up bar but I eventually got to use it once they were finally done). I felt quite good. I also took myself off of the steroid suppositories on Saturday - hoping that my anorectal region is healed enough that I can be off of the steroids for awhile. And if things go downhill again, I'll go back on the steroids. My GI encouraged me to try to get off of them for awhile at least, though, so that's what I'm doing. I see a colorectal surgeon next week so hopefully she will have some better ideas about how to heal and not get any further bleeding hemmies.

Sunday, it snowed all day so we ended up shoveling once it was finally done snowing. It was light and fluffy snow so it wasn't very difficult to shovel. I had a headache all day but the activity of shoveling seemed to help. Other than shoveling, I really didn't do anything active, it was essentially a rest day. I mostly did stuff around the house and some crafts (sewing and crocheting).

Today my head still hurts a bit but not too bad. I can definitely do a workout today, so I'm heading down to the little gym on my lunch break for weights. Hubby is also keeping up with doing a weights workout every other day - he worked out at home on Saturday and is also working out at home today (for some reason, he refuses to go to the actual gym without me, but he's okay with working out at home by himself - he's weird sometimes). So we'll both do our separate workouts today. Tomorrow I'm thinking cardio - if the weather holds up, I'm hoping to go ice skating. It's looking to be a bit warm, though (in the mid 30s F) so the outdoor ice rink might melt a bit, I'm not sure how good the ice conditions will be. I'm going to just keep an eye on things (my city is good about posting online updates as to which outdoor rinks are open or closed and what the ice conditions are like). If I can't skate, I'll probably just do a stationary bike session. I'm also thinking I'll head to the big gym for weight with hubby on Weds and Fri evenings, and probably a rest day on Thurs. That's the plan for now.

Update 2/16/16: After two whole days of being off of the steroid suppositories, I'm right back on them. Ugh. Had a bad episode of d last night and I felt that old familiar pressure and pain in my rectum, plus some upper abdominal pain (which I seem to get when I have a hemorrhoid? No idea why). No bleeding yet but it was definitely headed in that direction. I emailed my GI to let him know I'm back on the steroids. Wish I could just get these stupid rectal issues cleared up, this has been going on for over a year now. Ugh.

So I'm not great today, but I'm determined to go ice skating anyway. My local rink is open, the weather looks okay, and I'm going to go skate on my lunch break. My rectum feels a bit better this morning than it did last night, so I'm encouraged.

Still planning to do weights tomorrow. However, hubby works (he's been on furlough for a couple weeks but he's finally going back tomorrow - he also is looking for a better job) so I'm going to hit the little gym on my lunch break and he's going to work out at home before he works (he doesn't go in until noon). I'm not sure what his work schedule will be the rest of the week - he's going to talk to his boss tomorrow and find out - so I'm not sure when we'll next get to go to the big gym together. We're still both doing our workouts though which is the important thing.

Another quick update for today: I went ice skating and that went really well. It was actually snowing quite a bit the whole time I was out, so when I got to the ice rink there was a thin layer of snow on the ice. That made me nervous, because I couldn't really see where the defects or bumps were in the ice (since it's an outdoor rink, there tends to be a lot more defects than an indoor rink with a zamboni would have). Fortunately though, the ice under the snow was nice and smooth, I only came across one little dip that made me lose my balance for a second, but I didn't fall. I felt really strong and good the whole time, I'm definitely getting more confidence on the ice. I even thought about trying some front crossovers today - I didn't, as I want to play it really safe (don't want to injure myself before I go to Japan in 5 weeks!) but I felt like I could have done it.

I forgot to mention this earlier but I'm getting a massage tonight. That will be nice. Hopefully it helps my intermittent pain - I've had some tightness and pain behind my left shoulder blade these past couple of weeks. It's not always there, but sometimes it definitely makes itself known. It feels like, there must be a tendon or ligament that runs alongside or behind the shoulderblade? It feels like that is really tight and that's what's causing the pain. So we'll see, hopefully the massage helps.

Update 2/17/18: I had a good massage last night. My massage therapist is also a family friend, so he makes house calls and charges a reduced rate which is awesome. Sometimes, though, the day after a massage, I feel very sore and tender like I've been beat up. Fortunately I feel fine today, no beat up feeling. And my shoulderblade feels fine too.

I hit the little gym on my lunch break today and that went fine. My left knee (the bad one) was giving me some pain last night after ice skating, I was even awoken once in the night with knee pain. But fortunately the knee feels fine today. And, I'm back on the steroid suppositories for at least a couple of months. I'm going to Japan for most of the month of April, and I expressed to my GI that I want to feel as well as possible during my trip. So I emailed him yesterday letting him know that I had a difficult time coming off of the steroid suppositories, and he said that I can stay on the suppositories until after I get back from my trip - then we'll re-assess. So that's great, that's the outcome I was hoping for. I feel much more confident now that I'll be well and relatively pain and symptom-free (and hemorrhoid-free!) through my trip. I kind of have a love-hate relationship with steroids (who doesn't?) because they make me gain weight and disrupt my sleep and all that, but honestly they've helped me so much and the pros definitely do outweigh the cons. Yay steroids!

Update 2/19/16: Wow, did I put the year as 18 on my last update? I am losing my mind. Just kidding, my mind was already lost years ago.

Yesterday was a rest day. I had been halfway thinking about going ice skating again, but the weather has warmed up significantly (temps in the 40s/50s F) so my city has closed all the outdoor ice rinks "until further notice" and I'm guessing they won't reopen. The weather already feels like spring, it sure doesn't seem like we'll get more weather that's cold enough to sustain outdoor ice rinks. So my skating season is abruptly over, it seems.

Today I'm heading to the big gym with hubby after work for a weights session. Tomorrow, I'm thinking I'll take my dog on a walk - supposed to be more spring-like weather tomorrow. The dog park will surely be very muddy (what little snow we had is all melting now and everything is just one giant puddle outside). So we'll stick to walking on the bike path instead. I'm shifting my thoughts away from ice skating and towards bicycling, on that note. This probably won't happen, but I'm toying with the idea of riding my bike to the gym on Sunday for a bike-weights-bike session. It's very windy today and supposed to be windy tomorrow as well, but Sunday it looks like the wind will have died down a fair bit. So it's possible that I'll do a bike & gym session on Sunday, but the weather will have to be really nice for that to happen. Temps in the 40s still sounds a bit cold for a bike ride, but maybe if the sun was out... I don't know. At any rate, I'll definitely go to the gym on Sunday, just not sure if I'll be getting there by car or by bicycle.

On the health front, since being back on the steroid suppositories, I've had hardly any rectal pain. I've had a bit of loose stools but apparently that wasn't enough to trigger another hemmie. So, I'm doing okay for the most part. I'm a bit tired sometimes as the steroids are affecting my sleep somewhat, but that's fine, the side effects are well worth the healing that's going on and I'm happy to not bleed out my ass for awhile. I definitely can't complain - I'm functional and feeling like a human and doing okay. Taking my liquid iron supplement every day, I worked my way up to the full recommended dose of one tablespoon and that's going great, no stomach upset at all. So yeah, I'm doing okay! Life isn't quite such a struggle at the moment and sometimes that's all you can ask for.

Update 2/22/16: Well, I had a good weekend - up until Sunday evening. I hit the gym Friday night, had a great workout. Saturday I took the dog on a nice long walk. It was a bit too chilly and windy out to do a bike ride on the weekend, but hopefully it won't be too much longer now until I can get my bike out for a ride. Sunday, it was back to the gym for weights. I started off feeling a bit sluggish, but I eventually pepped up and hit my stride and had a good workout overall.

Sunday evening, my dad called me, and long story short, my grandpa might be dying (he might stop doing his dialysis treatments, in which case he'll die shortly). So that really stressed me out and upset me. Fortunately I have a very good coping tool, which is exercise. Today was going to be a rest day, but I'm going for a walk now instead. It's still a bit chilly outside, but I can walk on the treadmill for my entire lunch hour, so I'm going to do that. I need to do something active to try to take my mind off of this. So I'm just going to walk, walk, walk today. Tomorrow is weights, not sure which gym or whether hubby is coming. Wednesday I have a luncheon at work so I can't exercise during my lunch break, and it will probably be a rest day. By Wednesday I should have a much better idea of what's going on with my grandpa and what he's decided to do, so I'll at least know more and will be able to work on my emotions from there. If my grandpa does elect to stop dialysis, then there's a good chance I won't be at work that day anyway because I'll be going to say goodbye to my grandpa, so that may be a moot point. At any rate, I'm planning to do as much exercise as I can to deal with this stress and horribleness but I'm not setting firm plans beyond the next day or two because I don't know what's going to happen.

Another quick update for today: I did 45 minutes of walking on the treadmill and I feel a lot better now. Another good update is that, for the time being anyway, my grandpa is staying on dialysis. I don't know what tomorrow or next week or a month from now will bring, so that stress hasn't gone away, but it also can at least temporarily relinquish it's spot at the forefront of my mind for right now.

So yeah, doing better now than I was earlier, at any rate. Let the fitness plans commence! Tomorrow weights, Wednesday rest day, Thursday weights, Friday not sure yet. The local ice rinks *might* reopen at the weekend, so it's possible but unlikely that I'll be able to hit the ice for a skating session on Friday afternoon. If I can't skate, I'll probably just do the stationary bike for a cardio session that day.

Update 2/23/16: I'm tired today, feeling a bit wiped out. I'm still planning to do a weights workout, in the little gym on my lunch break. It's feeling like it's going to be a "fake it till you make it" kind of a day - I'm just going to push through my workout even though I'm feeling tired and not really excited about working out today. Sometimes you have to do that.

Tomorrow is a much-needed rest day. I'm looking forward to that. I'm having lunch with my department at work tomorrow and I'm already looking at menus to decide ahead of time what I want to order. I'm thinking salmon - I've been on a salmon kick lately (had salmon for dinner last night and am having the leftovers for lunch today!). I've been doing well with eating good-quality protein lately. I've been doing a lot of lamb, some venison, a fair bit of fish, and even occasionally some rabbit. Lots of eggs, too - I could eat eggs and salmon every day and not get bored of it.

Anyway, I read an article recently that suggested that meals should be given a lot of planning and forethought. And I thought, I plan out my workouts days in advance, but I don't really plan my eating in advance, and I know my diet needs work. So I'm starting to focus on that a bit more. So today's food plan is as follows - breakfast was rice pudding and a protein smoothie. Snack is oatmeal with chia seeds and cashew milk, with raspberries. Lunch is leftover salmon and avocado with couscous. Dinner will be venison. Tomorrow breakfast and snack will be the same as today, lunch will be salmon, dinner will likely be chicken (hubby works till 7 PM on Wednesdays, so we do a crock pot dinner those days and it's almost always chicken).

Update 2/25/16: Oh man. Today has been slightly brutal. Hopefully it's all worthwhile, though. I had an appointment with a colorectal surgeon today. Long story short, I've had ongoing issues with bleeding internal hemorrhoids for a year now and the bleeding has been bad at times, caused me to become anemic and to require iron infusions, etc. So, after consulting with the surgeon and going over my options, we decided to band my hemmies right there in the exam room. That was unpleasant to say the least. There is a LOT of rectal pressure and discomfort now.

The worst part is, she said I cannot lift weights for 2 weeks! She wants to make sure everything heals up first before I'm allowed back in the gym. I can do some gentle exercise like walking, but nothing involving weights and nothing intense. So, for now I have to focus on healing. The bands cut off the blood flow and the hemmies will fall off, there will be scabs where they were, the scabs will heal, and then I can go back to lifting weights. But for now, I have to take things really easy. I hate missing workouts, but I hope that this is all worthwhile and that this is the thing that gets me properly healed and not bleeding out my ass anymore.

So, there won't be a lot of fitness updates from me for a couple weeks. But hopefully this is all for the best and will have me feeling better than ever once all is said and done.

I don't really have any updates, but it feels weird to let this thread go quiet even if I'm the only one in here. I haven't done any exercise at all. It's starting to drive me crazy, I just want to sneak into the gym, but I know I should let myself heal.

On that note, it's been a week since the hemorrhoids were banded. I was told it takes about a week for them to die and fall off, so now I'm impatiently waiting for that to happen. I haven't noticed any hemorrhoids in the toilet (I was told I might not see them though, they might be mixed in with my stool) and it still feels like I have hemorrhoids (I've had some rectal pressure ever since they were banded), so I think they're still frustratingly hanging on. I just want them to go so that I can heal up inside and then get back to the gym.

I'd like to do a little bit of mild exercise. I think I'm going to walk my dog both weekend days if the weather allows (it may snow or rain). I also want to do some stretches because I can feel my arthritic hips starting to get angry with me. So that's the tentative plan. If everything goes okay and the stupid hemmies fall off soon, then I can be back in the gym next week Friday. I keep staring at that date on the calendar, trying to will it to hurry up and get here...

I walked my dog yesterday! It was warm-ish (upper 40s/low 50s F) but very windy so we didn't have as long of a walk as I'd have liked. Still, we walked which isn't nothing.

I'm going swimming tomorrow evening, too. I hardly ever get to swim (my gym doesn't have a pool). But I'm going out of town for a meeting, so work is putting me up in a hotel. Whenever I'm at a hotel, I try to get some swimming in. I don't ever get my head wet anymore, since it seemed like getting some water into my ear that I couldn't get out was what triggered my horrible bout of labyrinthitis (inner ear inflammation which causes horrendous vertigo) a couple years ago. I don't ever want to go through that again if I can avoid it, so I'm really careful with my ears now. But I can still swim, and I'm looking forward to it.

Update 3/14/16: It's been about 2.5 weeks now since the hemorrhoid banding. I was told it's okay to go back to the gym after 2 weeks, but I waited a bit longer to play it safe. And honestly, I think I'm still healing (had a teeny bit of rectal bleeding & slight discomfort yesterday) but I'm also sick of waiting. I'm going to work out at home tonight, I won't overdo things at all but I want to at least try a few exercises and see how I feel. If I continue to bleed and/or have discomfort then I'll stop and rest for a little while longer, but I have to at least try. I'm just going to do a few things with my weights & equipment at home and see how it goes. Wish me luck!

Ugh, that didn't go well. I worked out last night. Didn't push myself at all and didn't do any abdominal exercises. But afterwards, it felt like I had done a ton of ab work, and my guts are quite unhappy today. I think it's a combination of the workout and the fact that I'm super exhausted due to the daylight savings time change. That always throws me off, I hate DST! So I'm exhausted and my guts are unhappy, bleh.

No bleeding though so there's some good news with the bad. I've had a few episodes of d last night and this morning, but no blood. So yeah, maybe it's just the DST thing that's upsetting my guts (they always get unhappy when I don't get enough sleep).

So I think this is a little preview of things to come. In 2 weeks, I get on a plane and fly 13 hours to Japan. Talk about my sleep schedule being interrupted! I have a feeling my guts are going to be extremely upset about that. I'm definitely looking forward to the trip, just not so much the flight and the jet lag and the 14 hour time difference. Fortunately we don't have anything planned for the first couple of days, so I'm going to be recovering then.

Update 3/16/16: I hit the gym again today. This time it fortunately went much better! I think my timing was just really bad last time - my guts were unhappy with the lack of sleep from daylight savings time (they always get upset when my sleep pattern pattern is disturbed or if I get too little sleep). So I really should have waited for my guts to recover from that first before going back to the gym after a hiatus. Just bad timing and me being impatient to get back to the gym.

Today I hit the little gym for weights on my lunch break. I was fairly cautious, didn't do any abdominal exercises and didn't push myself too much. I feel good now, and my guts seem fine too. That's very encouraging. Since today went well, I'm hoping to go to the big gym after work with hubby on Friday.

Update 3/18/16: Ugh. I was hoping to go to the gym today but I don't think it's happening. I've had pain and pressure right inside the anal sphincter all day and it sure feels like a new hemorrhoid has formed. This is incredibly frustrating and depressing. I just had 3 hemmies in my rectum banded only 3 weeks ago, I was hoping to be hemmie-free for a little longer than this. Nope, my stupid broken body didn't get that memo. The new hemmie hasn't bled yet but it's definitely letting me know it's there.

I don't want to go back on steroid suppositories but I also don't know what else to do. For now I'm going to wait and see. If the hemmie starts bleeding then I'll probably have to go back on the suppositories. Ugh, the timing of this couldn't be worse. I'm going to Japan in less than 2 weeks. I was really, really hoping to have my health situation be okay but now I'm having to deal with new hemmies already and there's a 13 hour flight in my near future. Ugh.

So yeah, I'm having a pity party for myself today instead of going to the gym. Just going to try to heal this stupid thing and am really upset with my dumb body for being such a jerk, again. Don't want to make things worse so working out is on the backburner for now. Bleh.

I don't have much to update - the hemmie did start bleeding, and now seems to be healing although there is still some pain (it seems to have stopped bleeding, thank goodness). I'm heading to Japan soon for a long vacation, so I won't be on the forum for about a month. Hopefully once I get back, then I'll be back in the gym properly!

Update 4/25/16: I spent March 31 thru April 20 in Japan and have settled back into my home life now, with some mostly good updates.

We walked around in Japan a LOT. I had my fitbit with me and we probably averaged 8 to 10 miles per day. I ate a lot of good food but still lost about 5 lbs total on the trip, presumably from walking so much. The first couple days of the trip were rough, my body was stressed from the jet lag and time change so I was bleeding and nauseated and just not feeling well at all. But after the first couple days, I adjusted, and then I felt quite well for the rest of the trip. Firm, formed stools and very little in the way of gut issues. My body clearly likes Japanese food very much and I'm trying to incorporate more Japanese food into my diet now that I'm back home. More fish and rice and so on.

Coming home was also rough, I started bleeding again and I had a ton of gut cramps. It took me a bit longer to adjust coming home, but I think I'm okay now. The cramps and bleeding have stopped and I'm able to eat reasonably normally again although my appetite isn't huge.

Walking so much in Japan, I felt so well, and I'm trying to walk more now that I'm home. I took my dog on long walks both weekend days and that went quite well. I also took a long-ish (about 8 miles) bike ride yesterday and that also went well. It didn't aggravate my gut/rectal issues at all so that's very good.

I'm planning to hit the gym today for weights. Tomorrow I'd like to take another long walk, likely on my lunch hour. Wednesday will be weights again. I haven't planned much beyond that. I'm sort of easing back into a regular fitness routine now that I'm home and recovered from my trip, so not planning too far in advance just yet.

Update 4/26/16: I hit the gym yesterday for weights on my lunch break, then took the dog on a nice long walk in the evening after work. That went well and I feel pretty good today. I think my guts are still regulating themselves somewhat now that I'm home from my trip. I had cramps and d for the first few days after getting home, then yesterday I didn't poo at all. Today I had a couple large but formed & solid poos. So I think my digestive system is still somewhat getting used to being home and having American food again and getting over the jet lag and all that. No more bleeding though which is good.

Today is mostly a rest day. I'm going to walk around as much as possible but that's it. It's cold and misty/rainy outside, but I'd like to take a walk if the weather allows. If I can't walk outside, then I need to do a few errands anyway, so I'll walk around in stores as much as I can.

Update 4/27/16: I hit the little gym for weights. I was hoping to go to the big gym in the evening with hubby, but he's been working so much lately that he wants to relax at home rather than go to the gym. So, little gym on my lunch break it was. It went mostly fine. I'm on the first heavy flow day of my period, and I'm crampy and bloated and having some d, so I'm not feeling the best. But I was able to get through a workout without issue, so that's a definite win.

Tomorrow I am thinking will be a rest day. With how I'm feeling today, I'm thinking that resting is a better idea than trying to push myself. I'll still try to walk as much as I can, but won't do a formal workout.

Friday will be weights again. I'm not sure yet if I'm going to do weights in the little gym, at home, or in the big gym. It gets monotonous to just go to the little gym constantly, but the little gym is the most convenient during the work week since it's right in the same building. So I don't know. If I am feeling very ambitious then I'll go to the big gym after work on Friday, and if I'm feeling bored with the little gym but not overly ambitious then I'll just work out using my barbell and dumbbells at home after work that day.

Update 5/2/16: I didn't do a ton this weekend. I did hit the little gym on Friday for weights. Saturday was a lazy day, it was rainy and cold and I mostly just stayed indoors on the couch. Sunday was nicer outside so I did some yard work. I attempted to get out crappy old lawnmower to work but it just wouldn't (it was a manual reel push mower and the reel was jammed up and rusted to the point that it didn't want to spin without a lot of effort). So I did some other yard work and then bought a new, better lawnmower. I also took the dog on a nice long walk with our friends from the dog park - I socialize with the humans and my dog runs around with her dog friends, so we all get exercise and socialization, it's nice.

Today is a walk and weights day. It looks to be a really nice day (low 60s F and sunny) so I'm going to go out on my lunch hour and take a walk through the park. Then, after work, I'm going to do weights at home with my barbell & dumbbells. Tomorrow looks to be similarly nice weather, so I'm planning on another walk or maybe even 2 walks! I'll walk on my lunch break and maybe take a walk after work with my dog as well. I'm definitely making walking more of a priority ever since I walked so much in Japan and felt great the whole time.

The rest of the week has a vague plan - weights Wed, Fri, and Sun. Walking as much as I can and hopefully a bike ride in there as well - the weather looks like it'll be great both Sat & Sun, so I'm thinking either a bike-gym-bike session on Sunday, or a more leisurely bike ride on Saturday, or maybe I'll go crazy and do both. I'm feeling pretty well, my rectal bleeding stopped (although my anus was itching like crazy yesterday so I think I've still got an active hemorrhoid) and my stools have been pretty much perfect the past few days. So it's possible I'll be well enough to do 2 bike rides 2 days in a row.

Update 5/5/16: I slightly overdid things on Monday, I think. I took a long walk on my lunch hour, then lifted weights at home in the evening. I did more than I usually do in a day, and as a result I was pretty sore the next couple of days. I had been thinking of walking the dog on Tuesday, but the soreness combined with the weather (it had been sunny for awhile but then turned cloudy and cooler) meant that I stayed on the couch instead.

Yesterday I was still somewhat sore, but did weights in the little gym on my lunch hour anyway. That went fine, the soreness is gone today and I feel fine.

Today's just going to be a walking day - looks like nice weather, so I'll take a long walk through the park on my lunch hour again. Might walk the dog after work too depending on how I'm feeling. Tomorrow will be weights, I'm thinking at the big gym after work. Hubby is working late so it'll just be me, which is always slightly iffy. Going to the big gym by myself on a Friday night is like asking for creeps to follow me around (it's happened several times already in the past - I don't know why some guys feel that it's okay to follow around a woman they don't know, it's super creepy). However, I do have a natural form of creep repellant - with my GERD, I tend to belch a fair bit sometimes during workouts. So if I notice a guy staring or following me around the gym, I'll just let the belches fly, I won't hold them back or try to burp politely/silently. Let those belches out loud and proud! That usually does the trick!

Saturday, it looks like it might be rainy in the morning but nice the rest of the day. So I'm thinking that I'd love to take a nice bike ride on Saturday once the rain is done. Sunday, the weather looks to be nice all day, so I'm aiming to ride my bike to the gym - my favorite workout. Bike to the gym as my warm-up, lift weights at the gym, and bike home more slowly & leisurely as my cool-down. It's perfect and I'm looking forward to it.

Update 5/6/16: Well, my plans for today at least have been scrapped. I started having rectal bleeding again last night, and my stomach is pretty unsettled today, so I'm taking a rest day instead of going to the gym. Will re-assess tomorrow and see how I'm doing. Bleh! Stupid broken body.

Update 5/9/16: I rested Friday and Saturday. The bleeding stopped over the weekend and I gradually felt better. By Sunday I was doing fairly well and I did a lot that day. I took the dog on a long walk and then did a ton of yard work - pulled weeds, trimmed hedges, mowed the lawn. I definitely got my exercise in!

So I was thinking that today I might go to the gym for weights, but nope. The bleeding is fortunately still stopped, but I've come down with a cold. This cold's main feature is a nasty, persistent cough (my boss said her son has the exact same cold so it must be going around). I can't work out with a cough like this, so it's another rest day. Ho hum. Hopefully this cold will be over with soon because I'm starting to get bored with all these rest days.

Update 5/10/16: I feel about 80% better from my cold. There's still a bit of chest congestion lingering though, so today's another rest day as I know that I can't work out with chest congestion like this. Hopefully I'll be well enough to exercise tomorrow - I'll re-assess then.

I saw my GI yesterday, and in a nutshell, he can't do anything further for me for my recurrent bleeding hemorrhoid issues. I'm being referred to a new colorectal surgeon (supposedly the best one in the area) for a second opinion, and am just going to focus on taking care of myself while I await that appointment. I need to continue to sharpen my focus on my diet and I need to continue trying to walk as much as I possibly can, etc.

Aside from the bleeding hemmie issues and the lingering cold, things are pretty good right now. My hubby has a new job which is great. For the longest time he was working part-time only 1-2 days per week at a shop. He finally found a full-time temp job and has been working that for the past few months, but that job is ending at the end of this month. Well, fortunately he's already got a new permanent job lined up as a chef in a fancy new restaurant, so that will be great. We were so cash-strapped when he was barely working. Since he's had the temp job, we've had significantly more spending money and have been buying much better quality groceries. We stocked up our chest freezer with good things like lamb and salmon, and we've been buying a ton of produce each week too. I've had fruit basically every day and the only one that my body rejected was blackberries. I've also had small salads here and there without issue. So I'm going to continue to try to eat better and I'm really happy that we can afford to continue to eat better! And hopefully he can bring me home some food from his new job from time to time, too. I'm also going to make efforts to be a better cook myself. I've never been good at cooking and never really enjoyed it, but I do enjoy having high-quality ingredients so I'm going to try to channel that enjoyment into enjoyment of cooking with those nice ingredients.

Update 5/11/16: I still have a bit of a lingering cold. My guts aren't super great either, I've had at least 5 bowel movements today and I feel like I'm forming yet another new hemorrhoid. So I'm thinking that weight lifting is out today. But, I'm feeling antsy so I'm going to take a long walk. It's overcast and not super warm today, but the weather actually makes me a bit nostalgic for Japan, and I walked around a lot in Japan, so I may as well walk around today. It makes sense in my head anyway.

Update 5/12/16: Nope. I did take a walk yesterday, but it was so humid outside already that I got some gut cramps from it (my guts absolutely hate high heat and/or humidity). And then last night, my cold came back with a vengeance. I stayed home from work today, it's that bad. Very sore throat, very screwy sinuses, still coughing, my neck feels swollen, just total bleh. Sooo, no exercise for me for a couple more days at least, until I'm finally over this stupid cold for good.

Blerg, I still have a cold today. Still coughing, sniffling, snorky, sore throat, just bleh. I'm thinking it's going to be a weekend of resting. Stupid piece of garbage immune system.

Sorry for the lack of updates - my grandfather died on the morning of 5/14 so I was away from the forum for awhile. I did some exercise during that time. The first few days were focused solely on helping my grandmother (she's got dementia, plus they were high school sweethearts so she needed both emotional support and help with doing tasks and remembering things). So I sort of wore myself out quickly doing that, it's mentally exhausting dealing with a dementia patient. Tuesday was my last full day of helping her as my aunt came in on Wednesday and sort of took over grandma duty (which was a big relief for my dad and uncle and I as we 3 had been taking turns helping her up to that point).

On Wednesday, I decided that since I had a bit of time, I would work on caring for myself. I asked myself what I most needed to do, and my brain and body screamed at me that I desperately needed to go to the gym. So I did, and it felt great. Working out helps even out my usual emotions and gently chases away a lot of the depression, and going to the gym helped with the grief as well. I felt like I could breathe easier and like things weren't quite so grim. I did my favorite workout which is ride my bike to the gym, lift weights at the gym, and ride my bike home. It felt great. I did another bike-gym-bike session on Friday and that also felt great.

I didn't have time to work out over the weekend, as we had my grandpa's visitation on Saturday and his funeral on Sunday. I am planning to work out today. I'm thinking that I'm going to take a walk on my lunch break, and then lift weights at home in the evening. I'm still sort of shell-shocked so I am not planning workouts too far in advance. Just taking things a day at a time right now.

Update 5/24/16: The depression and the impact of my grandfather's death is affecting my energy levels pretty significantly (my iron and other vitamin levels are fine, and I'm in remission so it's nothing to do with IBD). Yesterday I ran out of steam after one lap of walking around the pond near my work, when usually I can do at least 2 laps. I also petered out pretty quickly when I tried to lift weights. I did all the weights I wanted to do, but I cut my stretching short because I was just done.

Today's a rest day because I'm feeling the same as yesterday, just tired and depressed. I'm trying to eat better and to get more sleep and to care for myself as best as I can. It's just a rough time and the grief is draining. I'm just going to listen to my body, take care of myself the best I can, and take things day by day. For today that means rest.

Update 5/25/16: I did manage to lift weights today. My emotions went slightly haywire earlier today and I had some misplaced anger, I felt so angry at a co-worker for a good chunk of the day over a minor comment she had made, but I recognized that my anger was the grief manifesting itself in a new way. And I knew that I could work on my emotions by doing a workout, so I hit the little gym on my lunch break. It felt great, I really needed that workout. I didn't feel as fatigued as I've been the past few days, I was definitely more energetic physically if not mentally (mentally I'm still sort of all over the board). And my workout did chase away the majority of the anger (I'm still slightly peeved but no longer boiling mad), so it was definitely worthwhile. Not that there's a workout that's not worthwhile, but you know what I mean. This workout was absolutely necessary today.

This evening we're supposed to have thunderstorms so I'll be holed up in my house with a good book and a mug of tea, watching the storm. Tomorrow though the weather is supposed to be nice, so I'm thinking I'll take a walk on my lunch hour. And if I have the energy, I'll either walk the dog or take a short bike ride tomorrow in the evening after work. I've felt a yearning lately to just ride my bike as much as I can and as fast as I can. I'm not sure if it's symbolic of me trying to get away from the grief or what. I have just really had a hankering for bike rides lately and not of the slow, leisurely sort. Like I just want to hop on my bike and escape for awhile. So I might do that tomorrow.

Friday I'm thinking I'll do weights again, presuming I'm feeling up to it. Saturday they're saying scattered thunderstorms, so depending on what the weather looks like that day I'll see what I'm feeling up to - I am already thinking bike ride, of course, but we'll see. Sunday is going to be a rest day because I'm heading out to visit my grandpa's grave, and am also going to my other grandfather's grave (my mom's father, who died long before I was born). I'm going to put flowers and flags on their graves since they were both veterans, which will be nice since Monday is Memorial Day. And I'll have lunch with my parents and maybe meet up with my grandma that day too. So that'll be a busy day as my grandfathers are both buried in different cities, each of which is about an hour away but in different directions, so I'll be in the car a lot.

Monday I'm off of work for the holiday, so probably I'll go lift weights then. I am pretty sure my gym is open, and if not, I'll just lift weights at home.

Update 5/26/16: I did take a walk on my lunch break. It is quite warm out though and I'm a little bit bloated & crampy (it's almost the start of my time of the month) so I didn't walk as far as I would have liked. I wanted to do 2 walking laps around a pond, but instead I did about 1 and 1/4th lap (I did a full lap, then walked a little ways to the area where the cute baby ducks and turtles are, watched them for a bit, then walked back).

It is still really warm out but I still want to hop on my bike when I get home shortly. I'm going to be wise and once again take it easy. Rather than get on my road bike and ride fast, I'm going to get on my cruiser bike and take a leisurely ride. That will be nice, I haven't ridden my cruiser bike yet this year so I'm looking forward to taking that bike out for a ride. I love my road bike, it's so sleek and fast, but I love my cruiser bike too. It's not as fast as my road bike but it's still a lot of fun to ride. It's more comfortable - the road bike, my stomach is sort of crunched over, but I sit much more upright and less crunched on my cruiser, and the seat is more comfortable too. Anyway, so yeah, I'm taking the cruiser out for a spin tonight and looking forward to that.

Update 5/31/16: Ugh, frustrated. I hit the gym on Friday, went there on my bike. I apparently overdid things between Thursday and Friday - with Thursday's ride on my cruiser bike and Friday's road bike trip to the gym, my quads felt super sore after all that. So I rested up both Saturday and Sunday, I felt like I needed an extra rest day after that amount of soreness. Yesterday, Monday, was a holiday, and I wanted to ride my bike to the gym that day as the soreness was finally gone.

So, I got myself ready. Made sure to eat 2 hours before I was to go to the gym, got my gym clothes laid out and made sure my bike had enough air in the tires and got all my stuff together. Started to get dressed to go to the gym, and my guts were like, nope! Out of nowhere, I got hit with some bad cramps and multiple trips to the bathroom with urgent watery d. I have no idea what set that off but it was not fun. And I ended up staying home with my heating pad on rather than go to the gym. Ugh.

Today I'm still not feeling great. I took enough zofran yesterday to slow down my digestive transit time, so there's no more d, but there is still some cramping and unsettledness. It's not a flare because I haven't had any chills, night sweats, joint pains, etc. I am thinking I must have eaten something that didn't agree with me although I'm not sure what (I ate pretty safe foods all weekend long). Either that or I caught a mild bug, not sure. At any rate, I guess I'll be resting until I'm recovered from whatever this is. I'm feeling frustrated and grumpy and just bleh. I hate that my guts can bring all my plans to a screeching halt. Although I guess the good news is that I wasn't on my bike when the urgency and d hit me. That's the silver lining.

Update 6/2/16: I'm still somewhat bleh but slowly improving. When I first had the watery urgent d, I immediately took a bunch of Zofran, as that tends to slow down my digestive system. It did stop the d, but I took a bit too much Zofran and ended up constipated. Didn't poop for about 2 days, but finally today things started moving again and I felt much relief as I was getting a bit uncomfortable! I'm still not 100%, I can tell things are still a bit unsettled and ever so slightly crampy in my lower abdomen, but I'm doing a lot better than I was a few days ago.

I haven't been to the gym yet. I'm still being a bit cautious. I have been feeling really down and unmotivated today, so I took myself shopping on my lunch break. Buying new workout clothes always makes me want to go work out, so I got a whole new workout outfit today. A neon green sports bra, neon green gym shorts, and a neon pink workout top. It's bright and happy (and will make me really visible when I'm riding my bike!) and I just love it and want to wear this outfit to the gym ASAP. So, I'm going to cautiously start working out again - I plan to walk the dog tonight, and if all goes well, tomorrow I might ride my bike to the gym after work. Hopefully my body has recovered from whatever it was that caused the d and urgency and will be okay with me doing some exercise.

Update 6/3/16: I took a walk yesterday with my dog and that was exhausting. I felt really wiped out afterwards. The good news is, I finally slept well last night. So, I'm taking things a bit more cautiously today. Not going to lift weights just yet. I had a bit of cramping earlier and I don't want to make my guts angry all over again. I did take a walk on my lunch break and that went okay, so I'm going to take another walk with my dog tonight. Will play things by ear in the next few days. Tomorrow my parents are coming down for the day, but I'm envisioning another walk or maybe a bike ride in the evening after my parents go home. I haven't thought ahead any further than that.

Update 6/6/16: Well, I did take a walk by myself on my lunch break, and also after work with the dog on Friday. Then, late Friday night, it felt like I was developing a UTI. Ugh, no fun. Saturday I called the on-call nurse and she was able to prescribe me some antibiotics for the UTI. Of course, the antibiotics wrecked my gut. I'm taking probiotics as well, but there's just no real mitigating how harsh antibiotics can be, even with probiotics. I'm also stressed, because my grandmother is being moved into a nursing home in a few days but she doesn't know it yet. It's going to be a rough week and I just wish it was over with already.

I was given my grandfather's old treadmill, which I got moved into my house yesterday. It's a great treadmill, gym-quality. It's a bit older but was barely used, as my grandfather had walking issues and ultimately ended up in a wheelchair for the last few years of his life. So it's in nearly-new condition and I really like it. I always enjoy getting new workout equipment, and I didn't have a treadmill until now, so this is a nice addition to my little home gym. Now I can take walks even on bad weather days. I was thinking ahead to winter, but honestly, they're saying it's going to be 95 degrees here on Saturday (!!!) so I might be getting some good use out of the treadmill during summer as well! I don't do so well in high heat & humidity, so to now be able to walk indoors without needing to leave my house to go to the gym, that's very nice. And it makes me happy that something of my grandfather's is going to be put to good use and not just thrown out. I took a quick half-mile walk on it this morning before work and it felt good, although my bad hip reminded me that it isn't such a fan of walking on treadmills. So I do need to be mindful of that and still walk outdoor as much as I can, and use the treadmill only when it's really needed.

I have no fitness plan this week. I'm just going to play it by ear and do what I can. Today is probably a rest day because I don't feel up to lifting weights. I might walk my dog this evening but they're saying 50% chance of thunderstorms tonight so that walk will be both weather-dependent and guts-dependent. If I'm feeling bad or if it's raining, I'll stay home and rest.

Update 6/13/16: I didn't do a lot last week. Did not lift weights, did not ride my bike. I mostly rested with a few walks here and there. My bladder was giving me issues most of the week although it's finally quieted down now. I'm taking a new bladder supplement called D-Mannose which supposedly works better than cranberry for keeping UTIs away. So far so good on the D-Mannose but I've only been taking it for a few days so still too early to tell for sure if it's helping.

The plan for this week is to get back to the gym. I'm not feeling great today, my guts aren't stellar and I'm quite tired. But, I'm going to go lift weights anyway. I won't push myself but I do want to get back to it. Life has been keeping me out of the gym lately, within the last month I've had a bad cold and then my grandpa died and then I got a UTI. I need to get past that stuff and work on my fitness properly again because I know regular workouts help me both mentally and physically. So that's the idea anyway, we'll see what I'm able to do this week fitness-wise. The tentative plan is, gym/weights today, walking tomorrow, gym Wednesday, doctor appointment on Thursday so that's likely a rest day, gym Friday, walking/bike ride Saturday, gym Sunday. Thursday might throw things off entirely - I'm seeing a new colorectal surgeon about my chronic/recurrent bleeding hemorrhoid issues. I don't really want surgery nor do I want more banding, but if he has a persuasive argument that banding the 2nd time works better (it didn't work the first time for me), then I might go that route. If I do have banding done then I know I'll have to stay out of the gym for a couple weeks while I heal up inside. I'm currently not leaning towards having more banding, though, I'm thinking this is going to be another dead end (my GI said he can't do anything further for my hemmie issues and I already saw one colorectal surgeon who was not super helpful, so this is basically my last-ditch effort to stop myself from bleeding out my ass and/or to get myself off of the steroid suppositories already as they are the only thing that helps even slightly). Soo, yeah. I have a plan but it may be derailed by the colorectal surgeon, we'll see.

Update 6/14/16: Nope. My guts started throwing some cramps at me and I had a few bathroom trips and it just seemed like a bad idea to go to the gym yesterday, so I didn't go after all. I didn't even walk the dog - when I got home from work, I gave my dog her dinner and let her out to potty. When she got back into the house, it was like she stepped wrong and suddenly she was limping. She's done that before a few times, it's either a strain or a sprain and it usually heals on its own within a few days. Still, this means several days of no dog walking either. Frustrated both with my own broken body and with my dog's (I know it's not her fault, but it's frustrating that this seems to happen periodically and always on the same leg, always her left front leg). Sooo. I don't really have a plan for today. If my guts are quiet then I'll see what I can do, and if not then I'll rest some more. I'm feeling pretty down lately and just bleh. Even if I'm not feeling too bad physically, mentally I'm exhausted and depressed and just not motivated to do anything. I know that a workout will help me feel better mentally so I do want to work out, but also a big part of me just wants to hibernate and eat chips and do nothing. Just feeling so bleh!

Update 6/15/16: I finally went to the gym, after something like 2 weeks away. Phew! It went well, fortunately. My guts have been iffy all week, with cramping and gas and the occasional pain. And my GERD has been more active lately too which can kill a workout in its tracks. Fortunately, my guts and GERD stayed quiet and allowed me to do a good workout. I feel quite well now.

We'll see what happens tomorrow as I see a new colorectal surgeon regarding my recurrent/chronic bleeding internal hemorrhoids. If I get more hemorrhoid banding done then I know I'll have to avoid weight lifting for another 2 weeks. I don't really want more banding though and I don't want surgery either so my guess is that this appointment is going to be a dead end. So I guess the silver lining is, even if the appointment is a waste of time, that means I can still go to the gym.

Update 6/16/16: I saw the new colorectal surgeon today. No banding done - I have one internal hemorrhoid right now, but it's not currently bleeding and it's in a bad spot for banding and apparently would hurt very much if he tried to band it. Also, he said that he's very hesitant to do anything like surgery or banding in people with IBD, since anything that causes scar tissue can lead to narrowing, plus us IBD'ers tend not to heal so quickly (that's definitely true for me). So no procedure was done and I can keep exercising.

He did take me off of the steroid suppositories for the time being. I'm supposed to call him right away if/when the bleeding comes back, particularly if it's bad. I'm hoping that the bleeding will stay away for awhile so that I can be off of the steroids for a bit and lose a bit of the steroid weight (I currently have about 10 lbs to lose so not too bad).

So, I'm just going to exercise as much as I can and eat as well as I can and drink a lot of water and make sure to have my psyllium every day and do everything I can to keep the hemmies & bleeding away. I'm not super optimistic, but we'll see what happens.

As for my fitness plans - it's a really nice day out today but I can't walk with my dog - she's sprained her leg again (she has an old injury on her front left leg that seems to get aggravated every so often), so she's been limping the past few days, and although her limp is definitely improving, she probably shouldn't go walkies for a bit. So, I might go on a bike ride tonight. My quads are a bit sore from yesterday's workout, so I won't ride too far, but I'd like to get out for a little bit on my road bike. Tomorrow I'm going to lift weights, but I haven't decided where. I could go to the little gym on my lunch break, I could work out at home with my dumbbells & barbell, or I could ride my bike to the big gym after work tomorrow. I guess it'll depend on the weather and how ambitious I'm feeling.

My weekend plans are up in the air because I had been hoping on Saturday to go visit my grandmother in her nursing home, but for some reason my dad told the staff at the nursing home that I could visit on Sunday instead. So I've asked him to tell them Saturday instead of Sunday. Hopefully Saturday is okay for me to visit, because Sunday I'd like to spend the day with hubby and go to the gym again. (Hubby just started a new job as a chef and he is working a lot of overtime, but so far he's had Sundays off, so that's our fun day together.)

Update 6/17/16: The hubby actually got home at a decent time yesterday (he's been working late most nights but he got home at 5 PM yesterday). So, since he was around, we decided to do something active together - he wasn't feeling like a bike ride, so we went and played tennis instead (there are some free public tennis courts about a block from our house). We are both super terrible at tennis, and sometimes playing tennis aggravates my joint pain (all that running around is hard on my bad hips and bad knee), or it makes my GERD really angry (all that bending over to pick up the ball can make me reflux like crazy). So as a result we don't play tennis very often. But we had fun anyway and definitely worked up a sweat! Prior to playing tennis, I had about 4,000 steps for the day on my fitbit. I racked up an additional 5,000+ steps just from playing tennis! And, my joints and my GERD were both quiet the whole time. I am still horrendously terrible at tennis (somehow it seems like my tennis skill deteriorates further the more I play, which makes no sense), but I had fun and got some good exercise.

Tonight the hubby is supposedly getting off of work at 5 PM again, so we're planning to ride bikes to the big gym after work. That's my favorite workout ever so I'm looking forward to it. And if hubby does end up having to stay late at work, then I'll still ride my bike to the gym by myself.

Once again I need to apologize for my absence in this thread. I have a good excuse, though. On 6/19 I was doing some yard work and I ended up cutting my finger badly on the moving blade of a hedge trimmer (seriously ouch). I had to go to the ER and get stitches. Since that injury, I haven't lifted weights - anything that put pressure on my stitches just meant awful pain, and even stretching hurt. I did take a few walks but that was it.

So I injured my finger on a Sunday. Then, on Thursday, I ended up having a 4-day long mini-flare which was caused by a supplement I had recently started taking (D-Mannose) which I stupidly didn't read the side effects for. It turns out that awful diarrhea, horrendous lower abdominal cramping, and vicious nausea are all side effects of that supplement, so I suffered for a few days. My appetite came back today but I'm eating low-res for a bit to be safe (I've had rice krispy treats and mac & cheese today, definitely not healthy but also not making things worse).

So yeah, I'm just hoping that this week is better than last. I'm still recovering from the mini flare AND my finger is still recovering - the stitches come out today. In the meantime, while I was dealing with finger pain and the mini-flare, I got myself some new exercise equipment. I got a 15 lb kettlebell (I already had a 10 lb kettlebell but it's just a bit too light, I needed something heavier) and I got a resistance band. I'm excited to use those and I'm getting a bit impatient to hurry up and heal & recover already. Am just going to play things by ear this week - will see what happens once my stitches come out, and will see how my body is feeling. I am a bit weak because I lost about 5 lbs thanks to the mini flare, so I'll be happy if I can do anything this week, even just take a walk. This is definitely a recovery week! But hey, that's better than whatever nonsense last week was.

Update 6/29/16: I was able to walk my dog last night and that went pretty well. My guts are basically back to normal, thankfully. I had a pretty normal bowel movement this morning, and just one instead of multiple bathroom trips. The cramps have gone and so has the nausea, this morning was the first time I've had an appetite in the morning for quite some time (lately it's just been nausea/no appetite in the mornings). So I'm doing really well guts-wise.

My finger isn't doing as great but it's slowly improving. It's still tender though and still somewhat swollen. So I'm still not sure if a weights workout or bicycle ride would be wise at this point (I don't know if I can work the brakes on my bike with my right hand what with my index finger being like this, and I don't know if I can grip weights properly either). I think I might just try a few exercises at home with weights or the resistance band and see how that goes. I definitely will keep up with walking, I can hold my dog's leash with my left hand and walking itself isn't a problem at all, so that's good at least. I can do *something*! I don't want to make my finger worse or make the wound open up/bleed again (my doctor said that I should be really careful not to bump my finger in a way that could cause it to open up/bleed). So, I'm just taking things easy and mostly walking for the time being. I might try some yoga as well as that hopefully shouldn't aggravate my finger too much (although I'm extremely unflexible and terrible at yoga). Just being a bit impatient while I'm waiting for my finger to heal, but at least my guts are doing okay now and I can do some things.

Update 6/30/16: I did walk my dog last night and that went fine. I don't think I'll be able to walk her tonight though because there are some thunderstorms moving through the area. Still, I can walk on my new (to me) treadmill, and I plan to do that for a bit if the storms keep me inside.

So my hubby got a full-time job and as a result I have a bit more spending money, so I've been buying my favorite thing, workout equipment. I just ordered a foam roller online, and I've been eyeballing a kayak that I want. We already have a two-person kayak, but with hubby working pretty much every weekend now (he's a chef so weekends are his busiest days), we can't take the kayak out. I need another person obviously since it's a 2-person kayak, plus my small car won't accommodate a kayak (too small inside and no rack on the roof). So I want my own single kayak to use by myself when hubby is working - and I found an inflatable kayak that looks really promising. Since it's inflatable, it fits into a duffel bag and will obviously therefore fit into my car, and it comes with a pump for inflating it quickly. I already have a paddle, and I just went out and got myself a new, better life jacket. I'm excited! I picked out my kayak, I just need to order it. I'm going to do that today.

My stupid finger still isn't healed, it heals a teeny tiny bit each day. It's slightly tender but mostly numb, which is disconcerting. It feels like I have a bandaid on it at all times even though I haven't had a bandaid on it for like 4 days now. I know there's still some feeling in there, because it can still feel pain. I whacked it against the faucet in the shower yesterday and ohhh, that hurt! Fortunately the wound didn't split open nor start bleeding again (my doctor said to be careful not to whack my finger into anything because that could happen). It really hurt though. So I know I still need to be really careful with my injured finger. So, I won't lift weights for awhile yet, not until it's healed more and I'm confident that I can grasp weights without exacerbating the injury.

Update: Kayak ordered! And I have amazon prime, so it's arriving on Saturday. Excited! I probably won't be able to use it this weekend - I'm going to help my parents clean their basement on Saturday, and I'm going to visit my grandmother on Sunday. And actually, Monday is a holiday, so hubby and I are both off of work, and we may just take out our 2-person kayak that day. I will definitely put my new kayak to good use soon though.

Update 7/5/16: We did take our big 2-person kayak out yesterday. That went fine for the most part. The part that didn't go fine was, my injured finger got pretty swollen even though I was trying not to use it at all. Paddling apparently put a lot of pressure on my finger and I had to ice it for about an hour afterwards.

I'm pretty sore today from kayaking. I had really felt it in my shoulders as we were paddling, but weirdly it's not my shoulders that are sore today - it's my quads. Whatever, my body is strange! At any rate, today is a rest day. My finger still is healing and somewhat swollen (it's been 2 weeks since I injured it) so I think, given what happened with the swelling after kayaking, I probably should still stay away from lifting weights for a bit longer. I am planning to go kayaking again (by myself in my new kayak) this coming weekend, so I'll see how that goes.

My guts are doing well, it's just my stupid finger at this point. I am impatient for it to heal up already. I did cut it pretty badly so I know I just have to be patient. I'll continue walking as much as I can.

Update 7/8/16: I've been walking as much as I can, but haven't done any further exercise. Yesterday evening I walked the dog, and afterwards for some reason my injured finger swelled up again. Hmph! I had to ice it again to get the swelling to go back down. It's always somewhat swollen, but it gets a bit painful when it becomes more swollen than usual.

If even walking made it swollen, that's discouraging. Still, I'm getting impatient. I think I'm going to try a brief weights session soon and just see how that goes. If it swells up again then I'll just ice it again. Hopefully the swelling isn't doing damage. It is healing, but verrrrrrry sloooooooowly. My immune system is garbage thanks to the IBD and also to the steroids that I was off and on for awhile (I was doing steroid suppositories off and on for over a year thanks to my recurrent bleeding internal hemorrhoid situation). So it's been almost 3 weeks and I feel like it still has a ways to go before it's healed. Ugh.

I have a friend at work who expressed interest in taking lunch hour walks with me - she's overweight and has some health issues and would like to start walking more. I told her sure, and it sounds like we're going for a walk this afternoon. Fortunately there's ice available at work, so if I need to ice my stupid finger again, I'll be able to.