Weight Loss and Exercise #8

I'm doing some Australian exercises at my desk. Thanks for the reminder!

I went to personal training and told the trainer about my symptoms. He adjusted the exercises so that I was always sitting or reclining, and never changing position during one exercise. Everything went very well and my symptoms didn't flare up. Afterwards I did low speed, low intensity rowing and that is when a weird spell of lightheadedness and even a feeling of extra warmth in the head surfaced. I stopped rowing after 20 minutes because of those odd and unpleasant sensations. Still, more than 1 hour activity time today. I hope these symptoms do not recur during cardio, and if they do, I will definitely seek medical advice.

Take care Blueberry and Tart Cherry

I like the new name Australian exercises! I’m now thinking of the 80s song ‘Down Under’. Was it Men At Work. Lol.

Well I slept pretty good and woke up feeling better so I got out to see how I went fully prepared to shorten my run if necessary. I did have a toilet break at my half way loop past my house and also put the washer on as I’d forgotten (there’ll be portaloos on the run but I really must remember to do my laundry beforehand on race day!). Anyhow I took it slow and and all in all 12 miles or just over so very happy with that. I could have pushed it further but I didn’t feel like I wanted to so I didn’t.

Blueberry I can also get a bit obsessed with targets re exercise, it’s why I no longer run with my Garmin watch tracking me because I got too obsessed over my stats even though I knew it was silly. I think it’s good you recognise this trait and question yourself. At the end of the day it’s about our health, physical and mental - we’re winning every time we’re active, no matter what we’re doing.

I woke up quite tired from pushing myself to jog yesterday when I'd had that choking spell with all the coughing & wheezing the other night. I did a very gentle pilates video, and that felt so good on my body, especially the stretching section at the end of the video. I probably will do pilates tomorrow morning too, both because I think I still will need to recover from Monday night and because I have an early pdoc appt. in the morning. There is another gentle pilates video in the series I plan to do.

@Discombobulated - Wow! That is a fantastic run! I don't know how you do it! I am the same way with my Fitbit, so I only wear it when I remember to put it on in the evening just to track my sleep. @Tart Cherry Jam - I'm glad your personal trainer modified your exercises for you and hope cardio goes well. Do you think the lightheadness means maybe your blood sugar has gotten on the low side from your exercise, and maybe you need a snack there like a protein bar, banana, something along those lines?

I did 750 reps with my ab roller. Then I was in the heat for a bit and I think I burned some good calories. Breakfast was a protein shake, 3 light vanilla yogurts and some rice crackers. I had a couple mini cucumbers for lunch. Not sure on the rest of the day. I have one salad left. I have a box of pasta salad too. Idk.

That is the weird thing - I drank an 14 oz bottle of chocolate protein shake right before I became lightheaded.

I am fine today and will go to Orangetheory for an all-treadmill workout tonight, and will similarly drink a protein shake before the workout. We will see how it goes.

I’ve been naughty. I’ve been eating some of my son’s chocolate caramel koala bears at night. After being sugar free for so long. Once here or there does no harm but I must stop lol. They’re not my chocolates!

I just am like I need to get into shape. So I did 20 regular weights, 20 squats with my kettleball, 20 cruches on my bosu ball, and 20 reverse crunches.

Not sure all that was a good idea with my stomach. But I've had it

Crazy Hitch,

For me it is very important to sometimes eat dessert, because this way I do not feel derived and most of the time my diet is excellent. You can, well, go Crazy is you continuously stay in the state of deprivation.

I've decided once I'm at goal weight (in hopefully 4 weeks time) I'll have a cheat day once a week! Can't wait!

Oh chocolate caramel koala bears sound very tempting Hitch! I’m with Tart Cherry, it’s important to have small treats now and then, as long as the bulk is nutritious and healthy I think.

Weird thing for me at the moment is my sweet tooth is off, last week we stayed in a hotel room which left two mini chocolate bars in the fridge. I didn’t fancy them then but brought them home and they’re still in the fridge. I’ve also got dark chocolate almonds from my birthday in April which are now out of date. Unheard of for me. Maybe it’s the warmer weather. Maybe it’s my cold virus. Who knows.

30 min recovery run this morning, listened to a ‘happy mix’ Spotify gave me and just had fun.

Last night we got our instructions for half marathon day - it’s getting real.

Kinda fell off exercise for awhile as I was dealing with med adjustments and trying to adjust to the changes. I just didn’t want to overwhelm myself.

Now I plan on getting back to it. Taking a 30 min walk today outside. And plan on taking a walk outside tomorrow as well and start getting on the treadmill again.

I was about 4 pounds less today. I did a lot yesterday. Today I did the same as yesterday except only 200 reps with my ab roller. I'll do more later.

I had some Ritz mini peanut butter crackers and a protein shake after my workout

@Crazy Hitch - I agree with @Discombobulated as long as most of what you eat is healthy, a treat once in awhile is fine because sometimes we do have to enjoy the good things life has to offer. You know, @Discombobulated, I haven't wanted sweets for awhile either. We have chocolate and I've only had one or 2 small pieces in the last month (around my period). I don't even miss it. @Blue_Bird - Med adjustments are difficult and I know especially so for you. It's good to ease back into an exercise routine.

I had an early pdoc appt. this morning and so I did pilates, a gentle video though the arm segment at the end is quite challenging, gentle yet hard in the manner of light/medium weight bearing exercise. My body still needed to recover from overdoing it a couple days ago.

Remembered to inject my ozempic this morning. I’ve gone from 1.25ml to 1ml because of finances - half the price it’s crazy. Just hoping it leaves me as full. Currently not losing any weight again but I’m not going to stress. So close to goal weight.

I had a breast MRI yesterday, for the first time in my life, as before I had only gotten mammograms starting in 2009 (that early because my mother died of breast cancer metastasis). So the imaging center called me this morning about scheduling diagnostic imaging as there was an abnormality in my left breast and the doctor wants to look more closely. The word abnormality scared me. Then an automated message arrived to reassure me that fewer than 10% of women who are called back after a screening imaging procedure receive the diagnosis of breast cancer. I asked AI to act as a specialist in medical informatics and statistics and explain what seemed like different messages to me. It did. The reassuring message talked about an area of interest and the human I talked to said abnormality, but they mean the same thing. They mean something does not look quite as expected and merits a further investigation. Most of the time, that investigation proves that that something is benign. The screening procedures are high sensitivity, aimed at reducing false negatives, and as a result produce a fair number of false positives. The diagnostic procedure that follows is high specificity, aimed as filing out diseases and not producing false positives. I am scheduled for that high specificity diagnostic imaging procedure on Sept 3 and I will know the results while at the imaging center. They also invited me to call daily to see if there are any cancellations for an earlier date. And I have made an appointment to see my internist next week. She is not the doctor who ordered imaging, but she can do another breast exam on the left side. Her office is quite far, but to me it is worth a drive

Nothing changes in terms of eating and exercise, though, and I am going to the gym now for another of those fun simulated rides. I realize that less than 10% is a small number, but even if I am part of that 10%< I should continue exercising. I have already looked up information about the studies that showed that women with breast cancer who exercised lived longer and experienced fewer breast cancer recurrences.

I could not act my act together and didn't go to the gym, but I did go for a walk. About an hour of activity today and over 6k steps. Two sets of Australian exercises, but suddenly they become harder for me.

I received the MRI report and recommendations and now I know that at the next imaging appointment it won't be a repeat MRI but a mammogram with specific focus on that area in my left breast which is suspicious and a breast ultrasound. I also learned that the right breast and the lymph nodes on both left and right sides are unremarkable. So even if that area in the left breast which is suspicious turns out to be malignant, there has not been a spread of malignancy yet This is reassuring. I tried making an appointment with the doctor who ordered the MRI in the first place, but she don't have availability soon. So I will take the MRI report to my internist next week ask her to palpate that specific area (left breast, upper inner quadrant, medium depth).

Have everything crossed for you Tart Cherry, it sounds like they’re being extremely thorough which I hope is reassuring.

My sister is going through treatment currently, my mum is a 20 year plus survivor, hoping if something does come from all this you will do well, but hopefully nothing will come from it.

I did my normal weights and squats and sit up todays. But I'm getting lazy with the ab roller. Mainly because my knee still hurts. I did 150 though

I've had a protein bar, an ice cream sandwhich, and some almond thin crackers. I had a can of iced tea too

Thank you! I do know that if it is something malignant, I have excellent chances for treatment because it would be a malignancy caught early.

I was reflecting on how different the prospect of cancer treatment feels from the daily grind of managing chronic diseases - migraines, bipolar, sleep apnea, obesity. These diseases do not involve this concept of having some sort of enemy that invades a body and needs to be fought. Especially with migraines, given how long I have had them, since early childhood, and they seem an integral part of me

I did SO well today, cut my run short at just about 4 mi, walking the last bit home i because I was hot and tired. You could cut the humidity with a knife, it was awful. I definitely came it before I pushed myself too hard. Once I got inside and checked online, I realized the temperature was 82F and feels like temperature was 90F, and it wasn't even 7 AM yet, the sun barely risen and it overcast too, which even for here is HOT so early in the morning that shortly after sunrise! The humidity was 86% too, just a bad combination for jogging to be sure. Oh, and I had gone almost an entire mile, 1 mi/hr faster than normal for me, and I walked at least 0.2 mi of that last bit home, maybe I just wanted to get home fast and out of the heat!

@Tart Cherry Jam - I've never had an MRI instead of the yearly mammogram, but this year, after my annual mammogram, I too had to have a diagnostic mammogram & ultrasound for one of my breasts. The diagnostic mammogram showed dense breast tissue and had an abnormality on it and the US afterward showed it was likely a variation on the normal breast tissue due to dense breast tissue (though the annual mammogram said I didn't have dense breast tissue?). At any rate, I have to follow up with a mammogram at 6 mo. instead of 1 yr but no biopsy or anything else needed right now. Hopefully the same is true for you. I had an abnormal mammogram a long, long time back, and the same thing happened then too except I think it was a cyst that time round. I don't have a family history of breast cancer though.

I hope that is what it is. And my MRI was not in place of the annual mammogram - the cadence for women with family history is annual mammograms plus MRI annually six months after the mammogram. Except with scheduling and everything mine was later - the last mammogram was in December 2024 and the MRI just now. This sequence ensures careful monitoring and early detection. I will definitely report back what the findings are.

I am glad I made an appointment with my podiatrist - I have been diagnosed with a tiny stress fracture in my right foot and for the next 4 weeks before the next X-ray and seeing him again I am to wear special shoes with stiff insoles, not walk until absolutely necessary, do swimming and stationary bike for cardio, and avoid strength training on my feet (he said sitting is OK and I didn't ask him but presume that lying down is OK, too). Orangetheory has a class that focuses on upper body strength only, so I will sign up for that and modify standing exercises by doing them while sitting. Also, my gym is an arm bike, a cardio machine where you move the arms while sitting. It is recommended when nursing a low extremity injury, so I can make use of it.

I was wrong thinking that my pain was a flare-up of that old stress fracture. The podiatrist explained that a stress fracture either is or isn't. It is an injury, not a chronic condition.

Back when my old stress fracture healed, I gradually stopped doing calf stretches. That, he says, was a mistake. I need to do them all the time. So I have more homework now.

60 mins of indoor cycling: 30 mins on one of the upright stationary bikes called Keiser and 30 minutes on the recumbent one.

Did Australian exercises three times today!