Cat's Exercise Diary

I will gladly take all of your snow! I love snow!

My iPod was dead this morning when I went to the gym, and it would happen to be the day that I would run into the biggest slime ball in existence. Not a stranger slime ball, guy I know from work who has a habit of sleeping with subordinates. Then of course I saw him again in the grocery store this evening. That's way more douche bag than I can handle for one day.

I'm laughing mentioning this, but recall a problem I had with a few ladies at a gym I used to be a member with. The ladies farted. The gym was a large place, split in half. One side was a more basic gym with typical popular aerobic machines. The other side was where the lifters hanged out, some of them professional from what I was told. A few of the men and women would travel to different body building contests.

Sometimes while in the lifters section I'd find myself waiting on a machine to open up. A few times while waiting on one of the body building females to finish with a machine, she would let the farts fly. I figured the lady was either:

1) Had an IBD condition much as myself
2) Was marking her territory
3) Was drinking protein drinks to excess in the morning, with the combination of heavy lifting placing stress onto the abdominal area leading to gassing the area.

Rather gross.

Played tennis last night for 90 minutes. Hit wonderfully! I've been hitting very well over the last month. And I'm so tired. Kind of odd but the more well I become with the gut, I'm responding well to diet changes, the more tired I become. I'm not sure what is happening but suspect it might have something to do with heat. I've noticed some mention that with their IBD they sweat often for no known reason. Since being healthier with the gut I no longer have those mysterious sweats myself. Instead I feel cooler. Figure possibly my inflammation is going down, resulting in the body needing to spend more precious energy on keeping body temperature up. Who knows. Hopfully this run down feeling should pass soon. At least my tennis hitting has been wonderful. My long time hitting partner must wonder what is going on!

Alli, oh no, that sounds awful! And having to see him twice in one day, double yuck. I've had that issue with my ipod classic dying on me in the middle of a workout, but so far so good (knock on wood) with my ipod shuffle. The battery life on that thing is great, I forgot to charge it for a couple weeks but it was still at 50% battery life when I finally got around to it.

Beach, eek! I can usually hold in my farts in the gym, it's the belching that is my problem. I have severe GERD on top of the IBD, and the IBD is well-controlled but the GERD isn't. I take a 300 mg Zantac and a handful (about 8 or so) Tums just before hitting the gym. The only other thing in my stomach before/during a workout is water. But even so, usually about halfway through my workout, my stomach will start bubbling and I'll start burping. I try not to be obvious about it, but yeah, sometimes I can get gross. I'm working on that. I got accustomed to just working out in the little gym, where I'm almost always alone, so I picked up some gross habits like belching and also wiping my nose on my sleeve. Now that I often am at a bigger gym where there are other people around, I have to try not to do that stuff. So, I kind of feel for the farting lady. I'm sure there must be people out there who think of me as the belching lady. (At least I'm not the vomiting lady - yet - I have managed to keep my reflux from coming out my mouth in the gym, so far anyway. It has gotten really close a few times though!)

Update 3-4-13. Alli, I would seriously give you all this snow if I could. It hasn't even started snowing yet, it's supposed to start sometime between 6 PM and midnight, but my hip started aching around 10 AM and has only gotten worse as the day has gone on. Not fun! I'm still planning on hitting the bike, although I'm not optimistic about making it a full hour tonight. I'm still going to try, but if it hurts too much then I will concede defeat. They're saying 6 to 10 inches of snow for my area, and areas just west of here could get over a foot of snow. The worse the snowstorm, the worse my hip feels, so with the way I feel, I'm betting we'll be more in the 10 inch range than the 6 inch. Anyway, I'm still going to hit the bike regardless, and will do what I can.

Oh, I finally went grocery shopping too (we were almost out of food, ha ha) so we have actual food in the house again. I was able to eat a healthy snack and that feels good (oatmeal and a mango - one of the few fruits I can still eat without problem). I know I need to eat healthier so I'm trying. I'm still so limited, certain foods still kill me even in remission, but I'm going to try harder because I know it's not good to eat ramen noodles and a slim fast for dinner. Our juicer is broken (it still kind of works but it won't last long, we had to glue and tape it back together) so I haven't been juicing lately either, I feel really unhealthy diet-wise. I have a little extra money in the account this month though so I'm researching juicers and will hopefully buy a new one soon. I can't wait to get back to juicing! It's like drinking a big glass of health, and it's always easy on my tummy.

Cat - I remember in the past your mention about having bad GERD. It reminded me of Dr. Eades. He often has written about his battles with the uncomfortable condition. I don't know if this will be of help, but he recently had a writing about a digestive book on dealing with GERD. Sadly, the book was available for free a month ago! There might still be a promotion going on though. The sight might be worth a peek.

"Free book on heartburn"

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/low-carb-library/free-book-on-heartburn/#more-5059

Another GERD article of his on dealing with the condition, that might be of help.

"Protexid and Protexid ND and adventures in DR"

http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/supplements/protexid-and-protexid-nd-and-adventures-in-dr/

Thanks Beach, I'll check out those links. I used to think my GERD was so severe because of a hiatal hernia. And I do have one - but my GI says it's a small and "sliding" hernia, so it shouldn't be causing symptoms on this scale. So, the GERD is still somewhat a mystery. It's tolerable most of the time, and I'd rather not have surgery on the hiatal hernia at this point, so I usually just deal with it.

Update 3/5/13. I did the bike for an hour again last night! And it seemed easier, although my knee still gave me some pain. It's still hurting a bit today too when I walk. I see my GP on Monday so I'll mention it to him then. The hip feels pretty good today - it was aching quite a bit yesterday before the snowstorm hit, but now that it's snowing buckets, the hip feels okay. It didn't give me any trouble on the bike either.

I was hoping to hit the big gym tonight, but I'd rather not drive any more than I have to in this crazy weather. So I'm going to hit the little gym this afternoon instead. I don't like changing my plans, but any workout is better than no workout. Tomorrow I'll do the bike again and will hopefully be able to do another hour-long ride.

Another update for today: I hit the little gym and felt good. It's been snowing heavily all day (I think we got about a foot of snow!) but the hip has been feeling pretty good. After my workout, my knee felt much better too. I got home from work... and the hubby hadn't shoveled yet! A foot of snow in our driveway plus a mountain at the end of the driveway where the plow had pushed it up, so I couldn't even park my car. So, we got to shovel (fortunately our neighbor with a snowblower came over to help with the end of the driveway). Still, I got two workouts in today. I feel good though, I don't feel like I overdid things.

Ooh, and I got my new TV! Got a little 19 inch flat-screen for the back bedroom where the stationary bike is kept. It's kind of hilarious, I knew it was energy efficient when I got it, but the paperwork that came with the TV says that it will cost me approximately $4 per year to power. I think my old big heavy console TV cost me about $4 in electricity every time I turned it on! I'm excited to ride the bike tomorrow and watch my new TV. (Another funny side note - the package with the TV arrived and the box was huge, but hubby didn't open it until I got home and he had no idea what it was. Sometimes I order jewelry online, and hubby said he thought it was a package full of jewelry! Um, no, ha ha.)

hi Cat,

Eleven miles on your bike is not too shabby! Speaking of bike rides such as "Ride the drive" just thought I'd ask if you have "Critical Mass" rides in Madison, and if so, well, I personally recommend against them. Critical Mass is supposed to raise bike awaress, but instead, they refuse to obtain the required permits, and take up every single lane of traffic, to intentionally block traffic, preferably during rush hour, on Friday evenings. They do this to force people to notice them and raise cycling awareness, which it does, but not in a positive manner. There's been violence and arrests, because basically, their rides are illegal.

Here in Chicago they usually ride on the last friday of every month, and have tried to get our cycling clubs to join them, but they generate way too much hostility against cyclists, and the bike messengers in downtown Chicago are usually the ones who bear the brunt.

Critical Mass bike rides are actually world-wide. I know they've had rides in Madison, but I personally don't agree with their methods, and stay as far away from them and their rides as possible. There are much better (ie., legally organized) bike rides to participate in instead.

Ya noy, no, I haven't heard of Critical Mass, if we have it here I am not aware of it. Ride the Drive is organized by the city and is legal and all that, the police re-route traffic away from downtown (it's usually done on a Sunday I think, so not too much traffic to re-route). They have bands and activities and stuff along the way so it's a fun time.

And sheesh, isn't Chicago traffic bad enough already without people purposely making that much worse? My hubby lived in Chicago years ago when we were long-distance dating, and I drove through that nightmare traffic every other weekend or so for 4 long years. It was awful! (It didn't help that I had a stick shift at the time either - driving in traffic with that car was like, clutch, first gear, clutch, brake, clutch, first gear, clutch, brake. Clutch, first gear, whoa second gear, it feels like I'm driving fast! Nevermind, clutch, brake.)

Update for today 3/6/13: Nothing much new to report. I had to shovel my driveway again this morning and I'll be riding the bike this evening, so it's another day of getting multiple forms of exercise. Which is fine with me, I have the energy to do it. I have been looking at juicers online and I think I've found the one I want to get, so hopefully I'll be ordering it tonight. I'm excited to watch my new TV and also excited to get a new juicer! I'm usually pretty poor so getting new stuff is a real treat.

Update for 3/7/13: I did another hour on the exercise bike yesterday evening. It gets a little easier every time. My knee gave me a little bit of pain, but the pain gets a little less each time too, so I'm not sure if that knee is just weak or what. I'm hoping to get to the point where my knee doesn't hurt at all when I'm riding. My new TV is cool but the sound isn't so great, so now I'm hoping the hubby can hook up some better speakers. I think my real bike has a flat tire so I've also asked the hubby to look into that and hopefully repair it because I don't know how to fix a bike flat tire. I'd like to get my bike into tip-top shape by the time springtime hits so I can start riding outside! I'm so looking forward to it! My city just announced that Ride the Drive will be held on June 2nd, so I will be there for sure! That big hill won't beat me again, I'm going to ride up the whole thing without getting off to walk!

Well, that was a joke. About an hour before I went to the gym, I started feeling nauseous. I could feel myself refluxing too so I took some Zantac and a few Tums. That didn't do much. I went to the gym anyway - I gave myself the "You're tough, you've been through this before, you can do this" pep talk. I managed to do 5 of the 8 weight machines before I had to stop, and I could do all my stretches but mostly I walked on the treadmill. I didn't get in a very good workout, in other words. Took a Zofran after I left the gym and started feeling better, so I tried eating some food. Found myself just scarfing down a sandwich! What is up with this, I go from nauseous to hungry with no stops in between. Last night's dinner didn't agree with me which is where I think the nausea came from, but it's just so weird how my stomach decides it's nauseous one minute and hungry the next. And I hate when nausea affects my gym performance. It's like, that's the one hour a day I get to just de-stress and feel really good, and I hate when that it taken away from me. Urgh. Anyway. I'm going to take it easy this evening and hopefully will be fully back to my old fit & fighting self tomorrow. Tomorrow's plan is an hour on the bike, and I'm hoping to do 12 miles in that hour. I did about 11.75 miles yesterday so I need to do just a little bit more! Fingers crossed for no nausea tomorrow!

No fun Cat! Hope you feel better soon. Maybe with the down time, it will give you a chance to fiddle with the new exercise TV. That's been a key with me, getting through a workout, having music to listen to or TVs to watch while exercising.

I had an off ill day the other day myself. During the worst of the snow storm the gut really acted up. It ended any idea of working out for a couple days actually. It is never enjoyable being ill, but I was kind of excited about it. I've been doing decently well with diet, then added a new food the other day, cinnamon, for a trial and next thing I know I'm nauseated, giving the bathroom a workout. Think I found a trigger food! Got back into the swing of things today. I had a nice hour long walk. Tomorrow is leg workout day. And then it is onto working on taxes. That's liable to make me nauseous again.

Ew, we have to do our taxes soon too. And I hate the "bathroom workout", I'd rather jog on my arthritic hip for an hour! Although back in the days when I was ill and flaring all the time, I recall thinking that I should have some awesome washboard abs with all the going and straining and heaving and so on that I was doing at the time. It never happened though! I'm still trying to get those awesome abs, ha ha.

I'm sorry to hear you had an "off" day too. That snow storm was pretty bad - we got about a foot of snow here! I had to shovel multiple times, which is always iffy with my GERD. All that bending over forward to shovel is dangerous, sometimes the acid comes pouring up my throat when I bend over forward. Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're feeling better already, that's very good news. Glad you got in a good walk and I'm hoping things go smoothly with your workout tomorrow.

Oh, and the new TV has been fully fiddled with. It's got the Roku box hooked up as well as the Gamecube and Dreamcast and Genesis (I'm kind of an old school gamer). It has a built-in DVD player so I just watched a music DVD yesterday while I was riding the bike. We don't have cable but I can get Netflix and Hulu over the Roku box, so I'm pretty well set for entertainment now. Not sure what to do with my old TV though - it's a huge old console TV that weighs like 70 lbs! The hubby wants to just put it in the basement, but I'm afraid he'll drop it or hurt himself carrying the gigantic thing down the stairs! Maybe I can use it in my exercises and lift it. TV bench presses!

Update for today 3/8/13. I feel SO much better today and I think I figured out the cause of my nausea (too much folic acid!). No nausea today, the sun is shining and it's close to 40 degrees outside, my mood is fantastic and I'm looking forward to hitting the bike this evening. It's supposed to rain this weekend so I'm curious to see whether my hip acts up or not. Usually it starts aching hours before the weather hits, but it's supposed to start around midnight tonight and so far the hip is quiet, so hopefully it stays that way.

Cat..I live near you!!! I also have started working out and notice my gerd is really bad when I do..I started Zumba. Its so much fun. Its an hour class and you dont realize that its been an hour until its over. So glad you started this thread because I have gained weight in the last year and its depressing...all around my stomach!! I blame the Humira tho!!!

I live in Huntley just off the 90 expressway!!!

Cat-a-Tonic said:

Ew, we have to do our taxes soon too. And I hate the "bathroom workout", I'd rather jog on my arthritic hip for an hour! Although back in the days when I was ill and flaring all the time, I recall thinking that I should have some awesome washboard abs with all the going and straining and heaving and so on that I was doing at the time. It never happened though! I'm still trying to get those awesome abs, ha ha.

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I don't know about anyone else- but I had the nicest flattest stomach ever before I got ill with this thing (Admittedly that puts me at 16). But still - I used to complain about that way there was a tiny little curvature in it! My mum said where are your intestines supposed to go?!

Then I got ill and I got so skinny, every bone stuck out, and my stomach was rounded. It has never been flat again. I always just assumed it was inflammation. But it is like it now even though I have no pain, no bloatedness and I'm going to toilet once a day :banana: (Thought I would just put him in there for that last comment!).

So I'm putting the stomach thing down to this illness. I don't know what it is though, scare tissue? I don't know.

Hi Mary, small world isn't it! I was on Entocort and I also gained weight all around my midsection. It's not pretty! It's sloooooowly going away with exercise, although I love chocolate and ice cream and all that stuff so I'm sure it would go away more quickly if my diet was better too. Baby steps, right? My sister-in-law does Zumba and she loves it, it helped her lose a bunch of weight too. I've never tried it but maybe I'll accompany my sis-in-law to a class sometime. Thanks for the suggestion!

LMV, I can SO relate! I didn't become ill with IBD until just before I turned 30, and I had a really cute flat tummy up until then too. I don't know if I'll ever get that cute little flat tummy back again! My stomach is relatively flat in the mornings (like a flat tummy with a layer of Entocort flab over it, ha ha), but then with every little thing I eat or drink (even water), I bloat out more and more. By evening, I have something of a fat round tummy, it grosses me out. I'm in remission and am back to the same weight I was before I became ill, but my body is definitely a lot different. I don't think it's because I'm eating a particular food that bloats me, because even water will do it. It's just the way my body works now I guess!

Oh its sad isn't it! I wish I didn't complain about that tummy!
I'm the same as well actually that it is flatter in the morning.

My tummy isn't flat either, some days I am so bloated that I look pregnant. I think all the bloating over the past few years has destroyed my abs. All of my running friends have nice abs

I'm sure I have really nice abs, you know, underneath all the flab and the bloat. It's nearly 2 years that I've been working out regularly and my arms & legs and even my booty are looking so much nicer and toned, but I've pretty much given up on having nice looking abs at this point. I still do the abdominals machines and the plank position just in case, in the hopes that I might someday wake up and have a nice looking tummy again, but I've mostly conceded defeat.

Update 3/9/13: I did it! 12.35 miles in one hour on a hill program on the exercise bike yesterday! I really had to push myself hard to do 12 miles, but it felt great when I was done. At one point I was pushing myself so hard that breathing started becoming difficult, so I had to dial back the intensity a little bit and then I could breathe okay again. I knew I had to go at least 12 mph average and that was not easy to do at times. Proud of myself! Yeah!

Going to lift weights at the big gym this evening. Ordered my new juicer last night too! I'm making more of an effort to eat as healthy as I can. There are several fruits I can still eat, mango and berries (except for strawberries - but I can do blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc). I had blueberries or mango every day last week. I'm going to load up on veggies too when my new juicer arrives, I can't wait to start juicing regularly again.

well done

WoohoO! Never be afraid to breath hard. Makes you faster and stronger.

Alli, I was afraid of passing out! I didn't want to fall off the bike, especially since my husband wasn't home at the time and my pets wouldn't be of much help if I hurt myself. I usually breathe hard when I work out, but that was past the limit of my brain being able to get enough oxygen I think.

My coach use to tell me to never be afraid to throw up during a work-out. I have passed out after workouts, but it wasn't from not being able to get enough oxygen, it was from low blood sugar.

Admittedly I'm kind of afraid to puke during a workout. Just because I hate to barf and I think that would derail my workout entirely! It would be awful, I can't stand vomit or vomiting, I would definitely not be in a working out mood after that happened. Yuck!

Update 3/10/13: I hit the gym last night with hubby and did great. Got pretty refluxy towards the end and belched quite a lot, super classy I know. Fortunately not many people are at the gym on a Saturday night so I think I only grossed out one person who was nearby. It's raining and foggy today and my hip feels a little bit iffy but not nearly as bad as it gets when it snows. I'm planning on doing an hour on the bike today, I made myself a new music playlist and am excited to listen to it while on the bike. It's amazing how little things like that can motivate me! I want to listen to it now but I'm telling myself I can't until I exercise, which obviously makes me want to exercise.

Update 3/11/13: I saw my GP this morning. Mainly for a routine yearly physical, but also to ask him if he could re-check my arthritis, as I feel like it's getting worse and maybe spreading to the other hip/lower back. He feels that getting a fresh set of eyes on my case would be a good idea and I haven't seen a rheumatologist yet, so he's referring me there. The referral should take up to 2 weeks and then he said it might take 2 or 3 months before I can actually get in to see a rheumy, so I'm going to be waiting awhile. Still, I'm happy to be referred to a rheumy, I feel like that's a good step forward. Maybe they can actually diagnose what type of arthritis I have! Wouldn't that be nice if I could actually get one of my illnesses a proper name instead of just calling them "probably IBD" and "some type of arthritis". I'm glad in a way that at least my GERD has a name for sure!

So anyway. I did the bike yesterday and didn't push myself quite as hard, so I did about 11.75 miles again instead of going over 12. Tonight I'm going to the big gym for weights, although I'm not really looking forward to it because that gym is always so crowded on Monday evenings. It rained all weekend and my hip felt fine, but today we're supposed to get just a few snow flurries, and now I can feel the hip acting up just a little bit. My stomach is back to normal though, no nausea whatsoever, so I'm feeling pretty good overall.

Cat-a-Tonic said:

Update 3/11/13: I saw my GP this morning. Mainly for a routine yearly physical, but also to ask him if he could re-check my arthritis, as I feel like it's getting worse and maybe spreading to the other hip/lower back. He feels that getting a fresh set of eyes on my case would be a good idea and I haven't seen a rheumatologist yet, so he's referring me there. The referral should take up to 2 weeks and then he said it might take 2 or 3 months before I can actually get in to see a rheumy, so I'm going to be waiting awhile. Still, I'm happy to be referred to a rheumy, I feel like that's a good step forward. Maybe they can actually diagnose what type of arthritis I have! Wouldn't that be nice if I could actually get one of my illnesses a proper name instead of just calling them "probably IBD" and "some type of arthritis". I'm glad in a way that at least my GERD has a name for sure!

So anyway. I did the bike yesterday and didn't push myself quite as hard, so I did about 11.75 miles again instead of going over 12. Tonight I'm going to the big gym for weights, although I'm not really looking forward to it because that gym is always so crowded on Monday evenings. It rained all weekend and my hip felt fine, but today we're supposed to get just a few snow flurries, and now I can feel the hip acting up just a little bit. My stomach is back to normal though, no nausea whatsoever, so I'm feeling pretty good overall.

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I went 7 years without a diagnosis and for 6 months up to my diagnosis, my doctor skirted around actually naming it and the he was forced too because he wanted to put me in Remicade.

I hate crowded gyms, especially crowded with smelly army boys.. Eww

Alli, it's been about 3.5 years so far that I've gone without a diagnosis. I'm being treated as though I have IBD (I've been on pred & Entocort and am currently on Asacol) so at least I'm being taken seriously and treated for what I've likely got. So it's mostly just irritating at this point that I have no diagnosis - it's not the living hell that it was the first year that I was undiagnosed and on no meds whatsoever.

Just got back from the gym - it was crowded but surprisingly not terrible. I didn't have to wait for any machines to open up, no creepers, the hubby was with me and he was in a good mood, etc. Nobody emitting any foul odors either as far as I could tell anyway! My reflux even behaved itself which is kind of unusual. All in all a good workout! Tomorrow, the bike again.

Update for 3/12/13: So, yesterday I said that my reflux was behaving itself? The opposite of that is true today. I hardly ever get heartburn with my GERD, but sometimes I get this weird left lung/ribcage area pain. I didn't know what it was the first few times it happened, but on a whim I once took some Tums when I was having that pain, and it went away. So it's apparently some sort of referred heartburn/reflux pain? I woke up with that pain this morning. Tums took the edge off but it's still been niggling just a bit ever since. Sometimes if I take a deep breath, the pain gets much sharper. And if I lie on my left side, it sometimes gets unbearable. It's only ever on the left, which is weird. I don't know if I'm maybe aspirating reflux into my left lung or something? Not sure why it happens but it seems to be GERD-related anyway.

So, that's been going on all day. I'm still going to hit the bike tonight though, I can't let something like this stand in my way. It's uncomfortable but not too bad right now so I should be fine on the bike. I'm used to refluxing when I work out anyway so it's not like this is anything new.

Update 3/13/13: I did an hour on the bike again yesterday. I didn't quite make it to 12 miles again, but I felt great! It gets a little easier every time, and yesterday I really wasn't huffing and puffing and struggling quite as much as I usually do. Also, no knee pain for the first time ever! The knee pain first started when I first did an hour on the bike, but it's been gradually getting a little less painful each time I've ridden since then, and yesterday finally there was no pain at all.

Then, though, I was doing laundry and was going up and down the basement stairs, and I did feel a little knee pain then. Nothing bad at all though and only when I was on the stairs. My legs feel really strong, too. When I touch my thighs they don't feel so flabby & jiggly anymore - they feel strong and muscular! There's still some flab and jiggle, but it's being replaced with muscle and that feels amazing. If my abs could just follow suit, I'd be so happy!

Going to lift weights in a bit. Hopefully the big gym isn't too busy tonight. The GERD has been quiet today and the arthritis has been mostly quiet so it should be a pretty good workout if my body continues behaving itself.

Update 3/14/13: I had a good workout yesterday although the reflux did kick in, which is not unusual, so I spent the latter half of my workout belching. My legs feel tired today, I think I've been doing too much. I was going to ride the bike for an hour tonight, but I think I'm going to go a little easy on myself and do 30 mins on the bike and 30 mins of yoga instead. Tomorrow is weights again - I really like lifting on Friday nights because usually the gym is pretty empty. Hubby's work schedule is changing again so he may actually be able to come to the gym with me tomorrow (usually he works Fri evenings).

It's snowing AGAIN and my hip is aching a little bit. So, so, so sick of this weather!

Cold here again today, it was so warm earlier this week, mother nature is mixing it up.

It's been much colder than average here for March. Last year it was the opposite - I remember last year, it was really warm (like 70+ degrees!) on St. Patrick's day, and my whole family wore t-shirts to the parade. This year it sounds like it will be a high temp of 32 (or zero for those who use celsius!) on St. Pats. We always go to the St. Pats parade but we will be cold this year! That's pretty much how it's been, it was so warm in early spring last year but this year is much colder and snowier on average. My hip does not like that.

Ours has been cold as well! But it was a bit warmer today. I went for a short walk to the shops and it was nice.

Update 3/15/13: My legs were too tired to do much of anything yesterday, so I just did yoga instead of the bike. That felt pretty good although my legs are still a bit tired today. The hip is acting up too because we're getting, guess what, more snow! They're saying only 2 inches of snow today but freezing rain & sleet in addition to that, yuck. Hopefully the roads are not too bad this evening because I plan on going to the gym for weights. The hubby's work schedule did get changed so he gets to go to the gym with me tonight, yay. I'm really tired though, this has been a long week and I had such a hard time adjusting to Daylight Savings time so my energy is pretty sapped. I'm so ready for this week to be over!

That's wonderful Cat that you are really sticking with the workouts! Congrats! Sounds like you will be ready for outdoor activities once the warmer weather moves into the area. Hopfully that will be soon. As always here in the midwest, the cold snowy weather lasts to long.

I'm just checking in quick, taking a bit of time off from working out myself! I have to rest the tired bones from time to time. Spring/summer tennis hitting is coming soon. Good fun, enjoy chasing after little green fuzzy balls, but it stresses the body pretty good. My legs will be rubbery by the end of the outdoor season.

Thanks Beach! I'm making a big effort to do some form of exercise every day if I can. My body is responding well for the most part, and I'm enjoying it. It's not always easy, sometimes at the end of a long day I would rather just crawl into bed than hit the gym, but I make myself do it anyway - and I'm always glad I did, too. I never regret a workout.

One side effect of this is that I'm fitting into clothes better and that's becoming dangerous, ha ha! Back when I was so ill and flaring all the time, the weight dropped right off of me, and I was skinny to begin with. To cheer myself up, sometimes I'd buy really cute tiny clothes - they fit back then (they don't anymore!) and I felt like the weight loss was the one benefit I was getting out of being so sick, so I used it to feel better about myself. Then came the steroids and I gained all my weight back and then some. No more size XS clothes for me! I can still fit into a size small depending on the brand, I'm more like a small/medium now. But now, I'm back to the same weight I was when I was healthy, and apart from my flabby tummy, my body is looking nice & fit so I fit into cute clothes nicely (although not size XS). So I've been shopping and that's dangerous, because I'm finding a lot of things look cute on me! It's payday today so I went to the ATM on my lunch break and took out my budgeted amount of weekend fun money... and then immediately blew it all on clothes! Oops, ha ha. I justified the purchase by getting one workout top in addition to a few other things. "Oh, I'm just buying clothes for the gym, really, it's a sensible purchase, really..."

Haha, its nice to spend money on your self like that sometimes though
I haven't splashed out on myself in so long having no job and no money coming in
Me and my sister went into the shop sweaty betty today which has really nice sports clothes. Its quite expensive but it was nice to look at
We both want to buy sports bras but have no money!

Oh yeah LMV, some of those cute little shops that sell workout clothes are SO expensive! I've found a few sports bras (new with the tags still on them) at thrift shops and yard sales, so keep your eye out at those kinds of places. I literally once got a brand new Victoria's Secret sports bra in my size for free - it in a "free" box at a garage sale - score! I can't afford that stuff brand new either, I went to the thrift shop for today's clothes shopping. There are a bunch of thrift shops in my city, some are high-end and stuff is still ridiculously overpriced - I skip those shops altogether. There's one thrift shop near here that carries nice stuff but isn't too expensive, and that's the one I was at today. And then there are the icky thrift shops where stuff is really cheap but usually not nice, but sometimes you get lucky and find something nice, so I check those out on ocassion too. So anyway, yeah, I spent a chunk of money but didn't break the bank or anything, and I got some nice stuff. The workout top I got fits really nice, it's a dark blue short-sleeve top made out of that fancy workout fabric that I don't remember the name of. Ha ha. I also got a jacket, a sweater, and a hooded top and they're all really cute. I may or may not have a jacket addiction. I cannot resist a cute jacket and this one is really cute! Just because I bought a jacket last week doesn't mean I didn't need this one too...

Today was one of those pull the covers over, stay in bed days for me! Don't know, just kind of a funky, run down day, bla. We all get those from time to time I suppose. I should be back with it, into the exercise groove this weekend! I'm in the yo-yo weight gain loss, cloth buying club too! It can be addictive. And good fun. Few benefits of having an IBD? Possibly. Hope the new cloths are a hit! I think blue is the "in" color this summer. I've seen it highlighted everywhere, it seems.

I have to admit to having a workout clothes addiction.. The expensive kind. I made the mistake of buying a pair of Lululemon shorts a few years ago when I got promoted (couldn't afford it before that) it kind of spiralled. Oops! I own more workout clothes than regular clothes, but of course I wear a uniform to work so I don't really need "real" clothes.

As mentioned in another thread, had a nice workout this morning! Glad I did it. With out weights did around 150 squats, 60 calf raises, and many lunges. By lunges my mind was to tired and worn out for counting accuracy.

Helped warm me up, and get me going! Now off to the hardware store for some home repair goods, and a stop off at the tailors. I picked up a pair of blue colored pants. I suspect the pants were intended for nordic tall giants. They need hemming.

I just started reading this from the beginning THANK you I've been driving myself crazy with fear of the gym, thinking a weak Crohnie couldn't possibly be successful in implementing a strength building routine although (this is the "least weak" I've felt in a long time.) This was the push and confirmation I needed. Very inspiring Cat :cheers::cheers:

Chay, you can do it! I was weak when I started out, but I've been working out regularly for awhile now (close to 2 years!) and I just get stronger and stronger. I still have bad days, and I'm sure things are still more challenging for me than for a healthy person, but that just makes me want to get fit even more. It makes me work harder and want to overcome the challenges my illnesses put in front of me.

My update for 3/17/13: I had a really good weekend! I walked the dog yesterday, which was quite challenging because it had rained on Friday and then froze, so the dog park was a field of ice again. I made it through without falling though so I consider that a success! Then I rode the stationary bike yesterday for an hour, but I think my craigslist bike is dying. The display isn't working properly, but it's still usable. For something that cost me a whole $25, I've certainly gotten a lot of use out of it. I'm a bit of a tinkerer so I'm going to play around with it and see if I can fix it. Anyway. Today I saw my parents for St. Patrick's day and then hit the gym afterwards for weights. My hamstrings feel a bit sore now but otherwise I feel good.

Oh, and we got our new juicer on Friday! Hubby and I went to the grocery store and bought a whole bunch of produce to juice. I had some juice that was primarily carrots, then I poo'ed orange for 2 days. Hmmm. We made green juice today (mostly kale & spinach) so I'm wondering if I'll poo green now. I haven't juiced in awhile so I'm hoping the orange poo is just because my body wasn't used to juice. I'm hoping to have juice as often as I can because I know I don't get enough nutrients from natural sources. Even if I continue to poo the color of my juice, surely I'm still getting some nutrients and not pooing them all out... right?

I did my first at home body weight work out this morning and while it took me a half hour longer than I anticipated I didn't quit and it felt good. All of you ladies are inspiring and I also struggle with the slim frame and round tummy look. My goal is to gain muscle and flexibility with out loosing weight and I intend to do this with weights, cardio and yoga.

If it's not too much trouble, can you please post your set/weight routine Cat-A-Tonic? Or anyone else that has similar goals as the ones I stated. I would appreciate it! Looking forward to starting the gym when I get paid this month for now youtube is my fitness instructor! :ybiggrin:

Chay

Honestly, I just do whatever weight machines are in the gym. I go to 2 different gyms. In the little gym that's in my workplace, there are 8 machines - 2 for legs (quads & hamstrings), 1 abdominals machine (sometimes I have to skip that one), and the other 5 are arms/shoulders/back. Biceps, triceps, forward press, upward press, and a rowing one (that one is mostly for the back). The big gym I go to has all those plus others - there's machines for lower back, inner thighs, hips, calves, several different abdominals machines, etc. I do everything I can although I usually limit myself to one abdominals machine, because I reflux too much and get too close to vomiting if I do more than one per workout. I do the heaviest weight I can comfortably do, and try to do 12 to 15 reps per machine. I lift weights every other day, with cardio or sometimes yoga on the days I'm not lifting. I have lost a little weight since I started exercising, but not much and I needed to lose it - I'm now back to my "healthy" weight and am maintaining that.

Cat-a-Tonic said:

Oh, and we got our new juicer on Friday! Hubby and I went to the grocery store and bought a whole bunch of produce to juice. I had some juice that was primarily carrots, then I poo'ed orange for 2 days. Hmmm. We made green juice today (mostly kale & spinach) so I'm wondering if I'll poo green now. I haven't juiced in awhile so I'm hoping the orange poo is just because my body wasn't used to juice. I'm hoping to have juice as often as I can because I know I don't get enough nutrients from natural sources. Even if I continue to poo the color of my juice, surely I'm still getting some nutrients and not pooing them all out... right?

Click to expand...

Made me chuckle seeing this - it might be more of a guy thing, but have to admit, if telling friends the day after St. Patricks Day that the poo is green and it is due to the large amount of green vegetables eaten and drunk the day before - you're likely to see a few eye rolls. :lol2: (Of course it makes good sense on this sight!)

Glad the workouts continue to go well, and the juicer arrived, and already getting a workout too. I might have to buy a juicer myself some day in the future. I've enjoyed V8 juice in the past. Figure it could be similar to that.

I was going to ask about weights as well. I realised I definitely haven't improved or concentrated on them as much as I have with the cardio.
I don't really like some of the machines, or know how to use them so I only use two, then do some free weights.
How do you know when to weight up?

LMV, on the weight machines I use, there are instructions printed right on the machines as to how to use them - hopefully the machines at your gym also have instructions printed on them. You can also ask someone who works in the gym about how to use the machines if you're still unsure.

As for when to add weight, my understanding is that ideally, your muscles should be pushed to the point that you just can't do any more when you get to 12-15 or so reps. If you can do that number of reps easily and feel like you could do more, it's time to add more weight - and if you can't get to even 10 reps, take a little weight off. That's what I've been doing, and it's working quite well for me. When I get to the point where I can do more reps, I add 5 lbs and that makes it challenging again. So it doesn't take much.

Update 3/19/13. I was just not feeling it yesterday! I made myself do the bike anyway but it was a struggle. I felt wiped out, and I only did about 45 mins instead of an hour. I sometimes have issues with Mondays, I never sleep well Sunday nights and I slept particularly poorly this week, so I was exhausted yesterday. I got a much better night's sleep last night so I'm doing the weights today and am optimistic that today will be a much better workout than yesterday.

I never sleep well on Sunday night's either. I have problems sleeping in general, but Sundays are definitely the worse.

Well done cat! Its great you did that even when you weren't feeling it!

Alli, glad to hear I'm not alone. What is up with Sunday nights? Is it just that I'm all thrown off from the weekend and have a hard time getting back to my work week sleep schedule? I *do* love to sleep in on the weekends so maybe that's it.

LMV, thank you. It was tough, I did what I could.

Update 3/20/13. I hit the little gym yesterday for weights and that went great. After having an "off" day on Monday where I just didn't want to work out, I got right back into it yesterday and wanted to work out and felt great doing it. Tonight I'm planning on hitting the bike again - hopefully it will go much better than Monday! I find that even though I do basically the same cardio (exercise bike) over and over again, I can keep things fresh as long as I have good music to listen to. So I've got a new music playlist on youtube and I also put some new songs on my ipod. There's also a show I want to watch on my Roku box so I am spoiled for entertainment lately! Not sure which option I'm going to take on my bike ride tonight.

I still have to try to fix my bike's display too - I remembered that we don't have a power cord for it, so the display has been running off of battery power, and it's the display that has been acting funny lately. I'm hoping that just replacing the batteries will fix the issue. How nice would that be! If that doesn't do it then I might have to take some things apart and see if I can see anything out of whack. I don't know much about electronics, but tinkering really isn't very difficult. I took apart our VCR when I was a kid because it wasn't working right - I found a gear that wasn't hitting its mark, so I put it back into position and then it worked fine. And more recently I had a roomba that wasn't working right - took it apart, and found the gear box was clogged with dog hair. I suspect that if there's an issue with my bike apart from the batteries, then it's probably beyond my scope of repair, but I'll try anyway. Hopefully it just needs batteries!

Another quick update for tonight: I did an hour on the bike and felt great! Also, fixed my bike, it did just need new batteries. I feel SO much better than I did on Monday. It's amazing what a decent night's sleep will do.

Excellent! Good job!

Update 3/21/13. I'm having a bit of a bad tummy day but nothing major, and I'm still definitely going to hit the gym for weights in a few hours. Bad tummy day somewhat due to stress and somewhat due to food. Work got pizza delivered in today, and I just could not resist a few slices. Fortunately I had lactaid enzyme pills and Zofran on hand and I needed both. Stressed because we're finally doing our taxes today. And when I say we, I mean my hubby is doing most of the work, and I'm thankful for that. But it's still stressful. So yeah, pizza + taxes = Cat is feeling a little bit urpy.

But yeah, still hitting the gym tonight in spite of not feeling 100% today. I am looking forward to it, there's no stress relief in the world like getting a good workout. If only going to the gym could combat a pizza binge...

Update 3/22/13: I hit the gym as planned yesterday and felt pretty well. My diet totally fell off the wagon yesterday though! Pizza at lunch, cookie for my snack, and then a sandwich with greasy cheese on it for dinner - shameful. I've been eating much healthier today - had some oatmeal this morning and hard boiled eggs as a snack. Going to hit the bike tonight, weights again tomorrow. Maybe someday springtime will actually come to Wisconsin and I will be able to ride my bike outside, but for now I'm still riding the stationary bike in my guest bedroom. Sigh!

We don't have spring yet either! Just heard on the news we are having the coldest march for 50 years. 10-11C below average! Not fun!

LMV, that's how it is here too, we have nothing even resembling spring here. The ground is still covered with snow and there are no flowers, nothing is green. My dad said the flowers are starting to come up in his yard (in another city), but in my yard there is only snow. Our temps are way below normal too for this time of year. I read that someone is actually suing a groundhog, because on Groundhog's Day the groundhog predicted an early spring. You know winter is getting ridiculous when you sue an animal for lying!
http://www.metro.us/newyork/news/na...hil-seeks-death-penalty-for-being-dirty-liar/

Yep, so I think I'm addicted to buying workout clothes. Went to Target a little while ago and they had a couple of cute sports bras in my size on the clearance rack for like $6 each. They fit pretty well so I bought both.

We luckily don't have any snow, and have some flowers. The blossoms have started to come out but it doesn't feel right!
They do keep predicting snow though and I think they have some up north!

Cat, there are worse addictions. I like the sport bras at Target. The last one I got was purple and lime green I do buy expensive sport bras once a year though, I get a reimbursement up to $160 each year from work.

We have a 30% chance of snow here over the weekend (downgraded from 80% chance so hopefully it won't snow!). We've had so much snow here this winter, it's just been ridiculous. We usually get a fair amount of snow but not like we've had this winter.

Alli, I didn't see any purple/lime green ones. I got a hot pink one and a black one with zebra/tiger stripes. How cool that you get reimbursed for stuff like this! I could get soooo much stuff with $160 - I'm quite thrifty and only really buy clothes from thrift/consignment shops or off of clearance racks, or even at garage sales.

I wanted the zebra stripes last time I was there, but there were no XS left :-(
Our bra reimbursement is up to 160, but it's a maximum of 4, so I think of it as an excuse to shop at Lulelemon. Tax payers dollars hard at work. I'm sure with all the budget cutbacks lately though that the sports bra entitlement will disappear soon.

Ah, I see. In that case then I'd get spendy too. And for what it's worth, I'd feel better about my tax dollars going to workout gear than to political pork projects or war or whatever.

Another quick update for tonight: I hit the bike and felt good for the first 30 mins. Then my stupid knee started hurting and I started running out of steam. I wanted to quit but kept going, and pushed through it. My knee stopped hurting and I felt more energetic the last 10 minutes or so. Glad I kept up with it, I made it through for the full hour! Hitting the gym for weights tomorrow, then going to head to the grocery store for more fruit & veggies to juice.

Ahh, I spoke too soon! I've woken up to snow this morning! I have to get to Dorset for my friends's (twins) bday! I'll be ok as long as the trains are running!

No snow here in Brighton thankfully, though apparently it's started back home in London. Still on the waiting list for the gym, but in the meantime i've been playing around with my house mates dumbells.

I can remember when moving from the warm sunny south to here in the chilly mid-west of the US. It didn't take me long to grow a dislike for the cold windy weather. That year I bought a calendar and began X'ing the days till the first day of spring. And on that day, it snowed. :yrolleyes:

Official warnings are out saying 5 to 8 inches of snow expected here today. It has the possibility of being the worst snow storm of the year.

Yikes, everybody's getting snow! They're saying snow for us tomorrow but today should be okay. So I'm going to walk the dog today but maybe not tomorrow.

Beach, living in a climate that includes winter makes me REALLY appreciate summer. I imagine living down south is kinda like having summer all year long, and while that would be nice, absence of summer definitely makes the heart grow fonder for it.

Cat - when I first moved here to the mid-west so many people came up to me saying how lucky I must feel to live in Illinois where there are 4 seasons. It was ridiculous. Began to joke that I didn't realize how ruff I've had it living in Florida.

The mid-west does not have 4 seasons! There are two, winter and wham suddenly summer! Well, at least that is the case here in central Illinois. I was told yesterday Chicago has 4 seasons. (really?)

California, where some of the most beautiful weather in the nation can be found and where I lived as a child tends to have 4 seasons. I always liked it out west too with the rolling golden hills and low humidity. The largest hill we have around here is the highway overpass.

Yeah, Chicago has a discernable spring & fall, so does Wisconsin. Although there is the old joke, there are only 2 seasons in Wisconsin, winter and road construction.

Beach said:

Official warnings are out saying 5 to 8 inches of snow expected here today. It has the possibility of being the worst snow storm of the year.

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What?! It better not! I've think we've had more than our fair share of snow already this year.

I know! Rather frightening. Winter was nice and mild, relatively speaking, and now Spring starts off with this. I've been re-checking the winter storm warnings from time to time to see if the forecast is revised downward. That typically seems to happen here. I'm guessing the same case in Chicago. I see though the weather guys are sticking with their story, with the latest news showing the worst of the storm dumping right over where I'm at, beginning later this evening, early tomorrow!

Oh well, at least this time of year when it does snow it doesn't remain around long. Don't imagine there will be any spring time tornado sirens going off with a snow storm. The siren is close to my place, next to a Catholic school, giving one an extra jolt. I stocked up on essential supplies this morning. Gassed up the SUV, and should have enough chocolate and water to make it through the storm.

Kind of chuckling about this, the local hill begins a year long road construction in a few days.

"Work set for April 1 to replace Windsor Road bridge over I-57"

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/ro...-1-replace-windsor-road-bridge-over-i-57.html

5 to 8 inches is not so bad. We've had at least 2 storms already this winter where we got over a foot of snow. In the worst storm this year, we got 18 inches of heavy wet snow (that was so tough to shovel!).

Update for 3/23/13: I walked the dog this morning - that was interesting. It's been sunny and slightly above freezing, so the ice field in the dog park has been thawing somewhat. This meant that the dog park is now about half ice and half mud, fun. After a long walk with the dog, hubby and I hit the gym for weights. That felt quite good, although my legs were already kind of tired from walking the dog. Then we went grocery shopping and bought way too much stuff, a lot of produce to juice mostly. I'm going to rest for the remainder of the evening, did a lot today and am feeling like I deserve to be lazy for a bit. Tomorrow, I think I'm going to do 30 mins on the bike and 30 mins of yoga. The legs are tired and don't want to overdo it.

Spoken as a true northern! For here this will be a good amount of snow fall. It doesn't appear that it will last long thankfully as temps I see are to be above freezing days afterward.

Should not be a problem, but I'll need to give up the truck I've been driving later next week to a friend. My Florida car, that has been sitting in a garage, isn't made for slick weather. I imagine I'll be fine, but a bit concerned about it.

My car isn't made for winter either - I drive a Toyota Echo. She's cute and tiny and super reliable and gets great gas mileage, but she doesn't do very well in snow. Still, I haven't really had any issues, I've driven her every winter since I got her in 2004. You just have to go slow and give yourself plenty of time to brake, and don't drive if you don't have to in snowy/icy conditions.

My dog absolutely loves snow so that's the one bright side of winter. When we get fresh snow, she runs all around in it so fast, freaking out because she's so happy. She's a total spaz but it's her favorite thing. My dog spent the first 2 years of her life in California, then her former owners moved here but couldn't keep her, so I got her. I think she must have hated California. Her first blizzard here, oh she was so thrilled, she was like swimming through the snow. She's seriously the happiest dog ever when it snows.

I had a Dodge Neon until I experienced a New Brunswick winter from hell and decided that was enough of that, so now I have a Santa Fe We have two cars though, my husband's car is a small car, Elantra, so we drive that around town (when there's no snow). We will probably get rid of one car if the decision finally comes that I will be released from the CF, but I'm not sure which one we'll keep. Love my Santa Fe, but it's a gas pig in the city.

One of my dogs loves the snow to, her favourite thing, well everything is her favourite thing, the other one absolutely despises it.

I have a Ford Escape Hybrid two wheel drive. It gets great gas milage, but with its special friction resistant tires it has a tough time handling even slick rainy weather. I imagine I'll do well for a few days driving it in questionable weather. I'll need to be extra careful when out and about.

Update 3/24/13. Fortunately we didn't get much snow, just a dusting. We mostly stayed in and rested today. My legs were pretty tired but I managed 30 mins on a hill program on my bike - and since I only planned to do 30 mins from the get-go, I pushed myself harder than usual. My legs feel pretty good now but still tired too. I'm going to attempt to go to bed early tonight in the hopes that I can get a halfway decent night's rest on a Sunday night - wish me luck!

Luckily our snow wasn't too bad, was only really in my area so I was able to get away for the weekend.

Still snow on the ground here, although this time last week it was mostly gone. We got about 15 cm (6") last Tuesday / Wednesday.

Update 3/25/13: Hubby and I are hitting the gym this evening and we're trying something new. The gym is usually SO busy on Monday evenings, but it seems to get quieter and emptier as the evening goes on, so we're going to go a little bit later than usual and see if that makes it easier on us. I hate waiting for machines to open up and just don't like it in general when it's crowded. Hopefully a little change will make a big difference. I feel like I get a better workout when not many people are in the gym and I can just do my thing without others getting in my way. Wish me luck!

Update 3/26/13. Well, our plan from yesterday did not work. We went to the gym later than usual but it was still crazy busy. Going later meant we got home later and so I didn't end up eating dinner until about 8:30 PM. I had forgotten that my guts really don't like it when I eat too late in the evening, so as a result I'm having a bit of a bad tummy day today. Going to ride the bike tonight. Also, it's supposedly going to be 50 degrees by the weekend! I'm going to ask hubby to fill my bike tires with air, and hopefully I might be able to take my actual bike out for a spin on Saturday! Could it be, is it finally actually springtime? I hope so!

I hope you get some springtime!
Our weather forecast predicts it will still be cold over the easter weekend

Update 3/27/13: I did another hour on the bike last night, and pushed myself to do 12 miles again. That felt great. I'm planning on hitting the little gym today for weights. However, last night as I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep, I felt these sharp shooting pains in the back of my head. Managed to fall asleep anyway and slept well, but woke up with a bad headache. Not sure why that is. My sinuses are affected too - my sinuses always act up when I get a headache (I messed up my sinuses when I was a kid, I broke my nose at age 11 and it was never set properly and as a result I have sinus & nasal issues still). So I'm feeling congested and my head is kind of throbbing. It's not fun. But I'm still going to the gym, I'm determined not to let health stuff/pain stop me when at all possible. Wish me luck because I might need it!

Another quick update for today: I hit the gym in spite of the headache and I did really well. I went slightly slower than I normally go (I stopped to breathe and walk around a little bit in between machines, where normally I'd just hop from one weight machine to the next), but I was able to accomplish everything I wanted to. I feel much better now too! The headache is mostly gone and my sinuses feel much better too. I was hoping to rest up this evening, but it's my turn to cook dinner (hubby works late tonight) plus I have to do laundry, so no rest for the wicked I guess.

Update 3/28/13: The headache from yesterday is gone, but today my left knee is hurting for some unknown reason. It's the same knee that hurts sometimes when I ride the exercise bike and it's a similar pain. I'm planning on riding the exercise bike tonight but I'm a little worried that might just make the knee pain worse, so I'm not going to push myself too hard at first. I've ridden the bike with knee pain before so it's not like this is anything new, but usually the pain goes away when my workout is over, and it's never spontaneously started hurting like this before. Hmm, frustrating, but I think I can push through it.

Speaking of joint pain and frustration, my referral to rheumatology got messed up somehow, so now they have to re-submit the referral. I knew it was going to be a long wait to get an appointment, but just the referral alone is taking ages! It's been 3 weeks already and I still don't even have an appointment.

I can end this post on some good news though - it's finally springtime! The weather today is finally not so cold, it's sunny and gorgeous out and the snow is melting, and that's just done wonders for my mood. I'm hoping to go on a bike ride outside soon now that the weather is so nice. I asked hubby if he could take a look at my bicycle as one of the tires is pretty flat. Hopefully that's just from it not being used all winter, but it might need to be repaired. I was hoping to go for a ride on Saturday but there's a 60% chance of rain, so that'll be tire-dependent and weather-dependent I guess.

Update 3/30/13: I didn't have a chance to update yesterday, hubby and I were so busy all day. I took the day off of work and we drove down to Illinois (Northwest Chicago suburbs area) to do some shopping, then drove back home and hit the gym. The gym at like 8 PM on a Friday night is awesome, it was so empty in there! But we were exhausted by the time we got home from the gym at about 9:30. Long day! Today I walked the dog, am going to clean the house, and then will either hit the bike or do some yoga, depending on how tired I am.

Update 4/1/13. Work has been insane today! I'm feeling stressed. Going to ride the exercise bike tonight as far and as fast as I can to de-stress. We had like one nice spingtimey warm-ish day, but now it's back to cold (like 35 degrees) and really windy and feels like winter again (it snowed again yesterday!), so I haven't gotten my real bike outside yet. Hubby and I did the weights last night after visiting with my parents - visiting family is also a stressful situation, so I was glad to go to the gym afterwards and de-stress. I don't like holidays except for Halloween. Anyway, yeah, bike tonight. I got a new hula hoop the other day too as I've been meaning to do more hooping - it seems like a good abdominal exercise but is not rough on the tummy area.

Apparently in the UK this Easter has been the coldest on record! (this seems to be the thread where I update you on my weather!!)

No worries, LMV, update me on the weather all you want, it's interesting to me. That's terrible that it was the coldest Easter on record where you are! Our Easter was cold but not the coldest so I can't complain too much I guess. We did a bit of bird-watching outside yesterday as there's a great gray owl hanging out in a suburb of my city and that type of owl hardly ever comes around these parts, and it was really cool to see the owl, but it was super windy and so cold! We looked at the owl for all of 5 minutes, then went back to my house to warm up and to drink some hot chocolate! Brrr!

Thats cool about the owl
My house is right next to some woodland and sometimes when I'm in bed I can hear an owl and its so cozy to be cuddled up in bed listening to an owl.

That's cool! When was much younger and I lived with my parents in a different city, sometimes we'd have a screech owl come around at night, but that was hardly relaxing (they really do screech!). Now I live in a fairly large city and we don't get many owls, I haven't seen any near my house and I only knew about the great grey owl because people were posting online about where it had been spotted, so we knew right where to look. There was a crowd of maybe 30 people standing in the street next to a tree, so that was how we knew where the owl was specifically. The owl didn't seem bothered by the people at all though, and he looked right at my camera for one picture which was really cool. So it was worth it to brave the cold to see that.

Update 4/2/13: I rode the bike last night and that felt really good. I did an hour on the hill program, and I was sweating like crazy, but I felt like I could do even more. It was past 7 PM though and I have to eat dinner before 8 PM or else my guts get unhappy, so I didn't go further. When the weather finally gets nice, I am going to go for a nice long bike ride outside! I have a route in mind, not too far but fairly far, with some long rolling hills. I can't wait to try it - just have to wait a little longer for springtime I guess! The sun is shining today but the high is only in the 30s again. I think it's supposed to get up into the 50s by the weekend, but it's also supposed to rain. Boo.

Today I'm going to hit the little gym for weights on my lunch hour. I often work out after work, but since I'm going on my lunch, that means my evening is free. So, I'm planning on pampering myself a bit this evening. My gray hairs are making a re-appearance, so I have a box of hair dye at home calling my name. I also want to do my nails and just generally relax and listen to some nice music. Hubby works late tonight so it'll just be me, and I really want to do something nice for myself and relax too.

Your evening plans sound lush! I need to do my nails and do a face mask at some point

Just noticed this thread Cat-a-Tonic. I wish you the best of luck, but the title of the thread makes me laugh: "Cat's Exercise Diary" makes me think about the "exercise" that our two feline cats get and what their diary might look like....

Day 1 - Ate usual two meals. Only got about 18 hours of sleep, felt drowsy the rest of the day. Moved to sunny window in afternoon.

Day 2 - Caught up a little on sleep, almost 20 hours. Person 2 was moving a ribbon around and I chased it for about 2 minutes - I'm exhausted.

Jwfoise, that pretty much sounds like my cat's typical day too. My cat's would specifically go something like, "Took a nap, hissed at the dog, took a nap, ate something I found in the basement, took a nap, got hair all over everything, took a nap, drank water from the dog's bowl even though I have an expensive cat drinking fountain of my own, took a nap, barfed, took a nap."

Years ago I saw a "Cat watch". Instead of numbers (1, 2, 3...) around the dial it had "sleep, sleep, sleep, eat, sleep, sleep, sleep, play, sleep, eat, sleep, sleep"

Update 4/3/13: I'm not feeling great today. If you didn't see my other thread, long story short I've been eating cottage cheese regularly lately, but I think it's making me bleed. At any rate, there was a little blood in the toilet today and my stomach is fairly unsettled. I'm still hoping to hit the bike tonight. I may take it easier than usual though. I'm grumpy because it feels like every time I try to give my body something healthy, it freaks out and I get pain/d/nausea/bleeding/whatever. I am rocking it at exercise, why can't I do well at all with diet?? It's so frustrating. Juicing seems to be the one and only healthy thing I can have in my diet. But I need solid food too, I cannot subsist on juice alone. This just drives me nuts!

That sounds so frustrating! You will feel better about yourself after an hour on your bike, even if you do take it slower. What happens if you eat mostly plain solids with the juicing?