I LOVE Boxing!

I hit the YMCA Healthy Living Center to workout with Gwyn today.  Did I mention she rocks?  :)

She had me beating the heavy bag again, it's always a great release.  Tons of sweat, thumping, anger and heavy breathing rolled into something constructive.  She keeps telling her son he would like it - she's right.  Imagine teenage aggression channeled!

That's why the Des Moines Police Department has had great success with their boxing club.  It takes kids off the streets and away from senseless violence and gives them a way to put their fists to real use.  It's really too bad that budget cuts have caused them to have to cut the program.  Some great company like Everlast or Coca-Cola (Gatorade) should sponsor the program and ask for naming rights. (Just sayin'.)

As for me, my arms end up like jell-o and my heart races, I never have to wonder if I have 'worked' - oh, I have worked!  The only real problem for me is my kicking.  I am getting into that part because my knee is handling more output, but my hips are another story.  Gwyn had me try side kicks today - um, no.

My hip flexors are so tight I thought I was going to rip something.  I tried the right leg too, thinking the left was the only problem because of my knee - um, no.  It didn't put me in as much pain as the left, but it still got really cranky.  The left side is still sore.  So, when I go to PT with Kristi next week, I will have to talk to her about that.

And about my left shoulder.  LOL.  It's always my left, if anyone can explain that, please do.  My left shoulder has some kind of connector on the top that just feels like a knife is going through it depending on what I am doing.  Push-ups are okay, unless I have down arm raises first.  Today it was keeping my arms up for jabs that started the pain.  Yes, half the time I feel like a broken toy.  :0

But that said, I won't let these measly pains stop me, there is much work to be done and I am up to the task.

Yours in Health,
Kate

There is little more satisfying than yard work

I have avoided yard work since my knee flared up.  It seemed a poor choice considering I was in pain and could only make it worse.  So, I started physical therapy with Kristi and the gang at the YMCA Healthy Living Center with a couple of goals - do stairs without pain, making workouts less painful, be able to do yard work without fear of injury and run.  I can say I think we have accomplished one through three.

My knee hurts a little this morning, but compared to a couple of months ago I am sitting pretty.  You see I didn't just pull weeds yesterday...  I mowed - we have a corner lot that is raised, so the upper part of the lawn slopes down - that's a lot of strain on the knee.  I weed whacked.  I walked the yard spraying weed killer.  I wanted to do more, but it was getting late.

In fact, I could work in the yard until dark every night.  It is one of the few chores that has instant results.  If I get a chance tonight there are a couple of quick things I have planned as well.  Though it may rain, we will see.

My other event for tonight is Intuitive Eating at the Mercy Weight Loss and Nutrition Center.  We didn't meet last week because of the holiday, so it will be good to get back into the groove.  Well, I better roll.  Have a good day!

Yours in Health,
Kate

Finally Friday

I don't know about you, but even though this was a 'short week' due to the holiday, it has felt awfully long.  I have to work both Saturday and Sunday but I am going to try to keep it under four hours each day and hopefully that will boost my attitude.

I am finishing the web articles today for Outstanding Women.  I have decided to do shorter ones for the web and more details for !ntuition Magazine.  That means I can more details about the women and that's a very good thing because it's hard to summarize amazing women in just 300 words.  :) 

My need to write 90%of my day means I will not be working out today.  But I will be making up for it tomorrow.  As soon as I am done with work I am going to hit the YMCA Healthy Living Center and spend quality time beating the bag and doing cardio.  Trainer Gwyn and I agreed it is time to step up cardio.  It's one of the reasons the scale isn't moving much.  I am putting on muscle and losing inches, but the fat isn't shedding at the rate we might hope, so it's time to work harder.

That is actually right on track with my knee.  Therapist Kristi and I agreed to take my PT down to every other week unless something happens and I end up in pain.  It means more exercises at home and increasing what I do with Gwyn, but I am excited, because it also means that running will be a real possibility once I get enough weight off.  (I can't go pounding on my knee at this weight.)

Tonight I am doing a remote broadcast at the Blank Park Zoo, it is their first Family Fun Night of the year.  Hopefully the weather will cooperate.  Right now though I better hit the shower - I stayed home this morning to write.  Yea for writing in my nightgown!

Have a good day!

Yours in Health,
Kate

Trying to keep up with Myself

My day started at 3 a.m., I had to run the broadcast for Ken & Colleen's Kids, our Children's Miracle Network Radiothon on STAR 102.5.  It's a great cause, the program helps make the kids more comfortable while they often fight rare or life-threatening diseases at the University of Iowa Hospitals.  If you would like to give, call 1-800-456-2772.  All money raised stays in Iowa.  So, I ran the board, then off to do two interviews for LITE 104.1's Outstanding Women You Should Know. 

Then to PT with Kristi at the YMCA Healthy Living Center.  We agreed that I have made great progress.  In fact, after my hard weekend last week, I did very well with pain, it was a huge step forward!  So, we are cutting back to once a week.  They will happily tape my knee between visits if I need it.  But otherwise I am going to continue my exercises on my own and my workouts with Gwyn and hope to keep moving forward.  Yea!

After PT I went back to work to finish up a couple of hours and then headed off to my third interview of the day for Outstanding Women. (These are last year's awesome women.)  The point behind OW is to acknowledge the women who are the fabric of our community, the ones who work behind the scenes and are unsung.  It's a real honor to meet these women and get them to open up about their stories.  They are always flabbergasted that anyone thinks of them this way and don't' believe they are really out of the ordinary.  But they really are a wonderful part of our community. 

The website will be updated a week from Monday with our 2010 Women and then they will make an appearance in a special section in the next !ntuition Magazine.  BTW - This a is a great way to directly market to women, call our director of publishing Kari Elbert if you are interested in putting an ad in the issue.

Well, I better go, another way too early morning tomorrow.

Yours in Health,
Kate

Pushing the Knee

I met with Kristi at the YMCA Healthy Living Center for physical therapy today.  She took me upstairs to try my knee on the bike.  I was surprised it was relatively pain free.  Then we tried some other exercises.  One of the ones that really pushed my luck was standing on one leg on a balance disc.  My hips are so twisted that to have the least amount of pain in my knee, I had to stand sort of sideways. 

Kristi believes my hips are a big part of the problem.  The way they align, when I lay down my feet go out to the side instead of staying straight up and down, like normal people.  She did a lot of stretches and realigning to work on that.  One area that stretched as well was my left calf, which has also become a problem.  She said that is because it's trying to make up for the weakness in my knee.  It's a busy place in my left leg. LOL.

After I was done with PT it was on to the pool for a workout.  You wouldn't believe the amount of effort it takes to move weights through water or do crunches in the water.  It's pretty cool and by the time I am done I know I have worked out. 

Yours in Health,
Kate

Yo, Time to Wrap!

Wow.  That was lame.  What I am actually referring to is I met with Physical Therapist Kristi today at the YMCA and we took a hard look at my knee. 

The past week or so some pain has returned and on Tuesday during PT with Kara it got caught or hyper-extended or something and really hurt.  Kristi was concerned maybe there is something more going on, beyond the scope of PT. 

But we talked it through today and are working under the idea that it's probably natural with the amount of scar tissue I have under the skin and around the knee.  Add that to the fact that my quad is still quite wimpy and the two are most likely the real problem. 

At the end of our session Kristi wrapped my knee with some tape.  The goal is to keep the knee cap in the correct position so the inner part of my quad has no choice but to train to take over its job again.  I have had my knee wrapped before and it hurt.  But Kristi did it right and unless I am going upstairs, I am nearly pain free - pretty awesome.

Again, it was a case of Kristi explaining the benefits to me and working with me to make things right.  It's so refreshing to be treated like a partner in my recovery and I have to be honest, it motivates me greatly.  I do my exercises like a good girl and everything. :)

Yours in Health,
Kate

Oops.

Well, just found out technology and I aren't as friendly as we should be.  I have been busy this weekend, so I was 'mobile posting' - e-mailing my posts to the site.  Well, I didn't read the fine print, it doesn't publish until I retrieve a code and enter it, then it goes live.  So, it looks like I haven't posted since Thursday.  Lesson learned.  I will be going to find the codes that were e-mailed back to me so I can make them live.

In the mean time, here is today:

Knee is sore because, I think, I made the mistake of wearing old shoes yesterday to go buy new shoes.  Not irony, but silly.  So, Physical Therapist Kristi at the YMCA Healthy Living Center worked with me and when the water therapy pushed the knee she changed up what I was doing.  That's so nice to not have someone just tell me to 'push on'.

Then I went for a workout with Personal Trainer Gwyn.  She had been updated on my knee, so she switched up from what would have been a lower body day to an upper body day.  If she weren't in the same building with Kristi, that would never have been communicated.  So, even in my continued fog, I was able to get in a nice workout.

Well, I better go figure out how to fix what I didn't know was broken.  Maybe I should read my own blog once in a while. ;)

Yours in Health,
Kate

Rain, Rain, Go Away - And don't come back for at least two weeks

I have been in a bit of a funk this week. (I hate being a girl - though only for one week now and then. ;)  )  Not sleeping well, my knee hurting and a feeling of loneliness combined with the rain and I am just a bit of a mess.

That being said, I believe I am muddling through relatively well.  With the exception of yesterday, I have been able to muster a smile and a can-do attitude, as usual. 

But the rain, as it pounds away on the skylights at the office tonight, is wearing on me.  Every drop, every melted snowflake draws the flooding closer.    In fact, we are due to get some form of rain every day until at least Sunday.  Our rivers are already swollen and set to rise above flood stage in key locations over the weekend.  We are already under flood warnings for low lying areas of the Raccoon and Des Moines Rivers and a flash flood watch for all others. But if the rain doesn't abate, it could get much worse.

I bought supplies today in case a few key employees have to spend a few nights here keeping the public aware of flooding concerns.  I have been through this before, luckily this time though I have my partner-in-crime, Jay, to take some of the burden. 

Still, my mind is not far from Bill Stowe and all of the area public works people who are tasked with keeping us safe.  I imagine it feels pretty lonely for them as well, standing and staring at dikes and looking for water measurements and wondering what's next.  This thing could go either way.

Here's hoping the sun will shine come Sunday and stay that way dawn to dusk for the proceeding couple of weeks.  It will dry out the land of Iowa and my attitude.

Yours in health,
Kate

Fight for Air Climb 2010

I coordinated media for the Fight for Air Climb (AKA 801 Grand Power Climb) on Sunday.  Two years ago I was able to do the climb.  I trained, I put my heart into it and I made it all 41 floors straight up the building in just under 10 minutes - my goal.

This year I was not only on the sideline due to my weight gain and knee injury - I put my back out before I even left work. LOL.  It was incredibly painful, but really funny in its own way.  The universe was trying to drive home a point - get it together.  I had to go to the doctor yesterday anyway, so I am now on muscle relaxers.  Sadly not the "say funny things" kind, just the loosen things up so I don't want to cry kind.

But I digress... (a really long way)

I actually wanted to talk about the inspiration I took from the people who DID do the Climb.  People came from all walks of life - triathletes, kids, lung disease sufferers, fire fighters and law enforcement and my fabulous sister-in-law Annette.  All of them climbing to raise money for the American Lung Association.  In all, over 1,000 climbers raised $113,000, though the end total will be closer to $170,000.

Just being near so many in shape and determined people was awesome.  It has me determined to be ready to do it again next year.

Yours in health,
Kate

I've Been Playing a Game of Chicken

I am a chicken and I was waiting to see which would blink first - me or the street day for Intuition Magazine - funny how time doesn't move.  The magazine is on the street today and I am already getting feedback.  All positive, but most stunned.  No one can quite believe how honest I was or how far I have fallen.  I have spent a month mentally preparing and I still don't think it was enough.  But I will survive and thrive by being completely honest.

Now that the magazine is out there (I will have a list of locations for you later in the week), it's time to be honest every day.  Or at least as often as I can find 15-20 minutes to share my journey.

The last month has been spent on vacation at Disney World the most magical and calorie-laden place on earth; dealing with multiple snow storms (that's a real time suck in radio) and facing down a new injury to my knee.  It has all added up to not a micron of weight lost or a workout done.

Yet, today I sit here typing one week cookie free.  I have added vegetables and fruit back into my diet.  I am paying attention to fiber and water again.  I have set-up my workout area at home.  I am ready again.

Tonight will be my first modified workout ever.  I have done my therapy exercises, walked some and lifted a few hands weights since my surgery, but now I am again injured. 

Trying to keep up with my family's swift walking at Disney at done something to my knee again - yes, same knee - and it makes me sick.  By day three of our trip I was riding one of those motorized scooters, it was humiliating.  In my head I heard people saying, "Here is this morbidly obese woman riding a scooter, must be too lazy to walk."  In reality, yes a few people started, but nobody verbalized their thoughts.

Anyway, I think this injury is a stretched ACL.  My knee is moving side to side and something catches.  I have yet to go to the doctor, I keep thinking rest will make a difference and it does to some extent.  That's why I will be doing a modified workout regime.

I will be doing hand weights while sitting down and work my core on my back.  I will give it another couple of weeks and if my knee isn't better, so I can walk or stationary bike, I will go to a doc.

Well, that's a lot to share in one post, hope I didn't overwhelm you. :)

Yours in health,
Kate

801 Grand Power Climb

Thank you to everyone who helped make the Power Climb a great success. 828 climbers came out today and have so far raised over $130,000 for the American Lung Association of Iowa.

That includes Annette who didn't feel well and still finished in a respectable time. As you know I had to skip the climb this year because of this stupid knee of mine.

It was so fun to see the behind the scenes parts, last year I was too busy climbing. Man were there a lot of gorgeous firefighters there. Even if I wasnLt committed to the cause, that would motivate me to be there.

I'll be there next year, climbing and organizing.

Yours in health, Kate

Another Weekend at Work

I am very tired. Yesterday was a 12 hour day at work. Now, I am back at work. In fact, I got here at 5:30 a.m. and will be here until noon. I have a lot to do in that time. I am very glad to be employed, especially with recent layoffs here, but I am still getting kind of burned out.

It doesn't help that I woke up with another sore throat and achy. I just did two rounds of antibiotics, all the crud should be gone.

I really can't afford to be sick. I can't afford to have my knee throb like it is again this morning. I just got back into the swing of working out and eating right.

When I am stressed I want to eat. Luckily this week I have been too busy to really overeat. But when I am this tired, I get lazy. Hopefully I will be able to work my way through the brambles and stay on track.

As for the knee, I plan to ice it here in a little while. Then later this afternoon I will put on my knee brace and workout anyway.

I was feeling great earlier this week, I had energy again. I felt like the old me, bouncy and able to face off with any challenge. This morning I just feel ick. Maybe I just need coffee. :)

Yours in health, Kate

Finally, the end of the day

This will be very short. I have worked 12 hours, I am going home.

Did not get a workout in because of work and the fact that my knee is throbbing. In fact, the knee is bad enough I might not have gone to the gym, even if there had magically been time.

That being said, after working from 5:30a to Noon tomorrow and going to a lunch for my step-grandmother's birthday - I am going to the gym - period.

Now, I am going home to my turkey burger.

Yours in health, Kate

Happy Made-Up Holiday

O.k., now that we have my cynicism out of the way.

I was going to blog yesterday, but as is typical in winter for me - snow screwed everything up. I was too busy keeping up with the national weather service and traffic to blog or workout.

I had it a heck of a lot better than my brother Gordon though, he got hit in the front of his truck and in the back by guys who couldn't drive in the snow. The one who hit him from behind was from Texas, so that's no shocker. However, the creep hit him and ran - low-life. I may look into weather the DOT may have tape of the incident to find the guy.

Back into the gym today though. Just like every other time I have missed workouts and returned to the gym, I was once again reminded of how good I feel after. The difference this time is, that until Tuesday, it had been months. Not anymore.

My knee brace is doing o.k. It shifts more than I would like. Plus sometimes I wonder if it's causing more pain than it relieves. It pinches and it doesn't allow a full stride. So my Achilles has flames again and the front of my ankle was cranky the other day. All of that said, it won't stop me from doing what I need to for me.

I plan to workout in the morning before heading to my mom's. We still have the biggest loser contest going on and this may be the first week I lose instead of gain. That would bring into numbers my new found readiness to get healthy again.

Yours in fitness, Kate

Removing the Excuses

The excuses: My knee hurts. I am stressed and I eat. My gym is too far away.

My answers: I am going to wear a knee brace. Not everyone stuffs their face when they are stressed, suck it up. I am changing gyms.

I have really danced around that last one. I did not change gyms when my contract was up because I didn't want to lose trainer Traci. But my contract is up in March and I know this time that's not a good enough reason.

I can't really afford to train right now. And I really can't if I am paying for gas in my beat up '93 Buick that gets 15-17 mpg to get back and forth the 16 miles.

But most importantly, the travel time across time and my messed up schedule have teamed to make me complacent. When exercise feels like a burden more than a gift, I will not do it. This has felt like a yoke around my neck for too long.

This new gym is 8 blocks from my office. Even in the bitter cold, there is a trolley that will take me to the front door and a skywalk to walk back within a block and a half of my office.

I am not naming the gym yet, because I have not signed up. But I will say, after a brief conversation with the manager, I feel exhilarated and excited. Time is no longer an excuse, travel money is no longer an excuse. I can work this in to my schedule. Whether it's going in right before I go to work or running down over my lunch or sneaking in after office hours - I would be a two minute trolley ride or a 6 minute walk from my gym!

No excuses, that makes me happy.

Yours in transition, Kate

When Do I Want to Get Honest?

I split the butt out of my cheap panty hose today. The liar in me is happy to stress the 'cheap' part. The honest person, that I know is hiding in there somewhere, knows damn well why the poor spandex infused nylon gave up - stress. Funny, I think the panty hose and I have something in common.

I have given up to stress as well. For months I have been eating and letting mental anguish beat me rather than fighting back. It has been easier to lay back, let insanity wash over me and cram it into my soul with cookies and a glass of milk.

When they put me on the 'sedentary' track for my knee, I was determined that wasn't going to lead me further astray. Alas, bullshit that isn't followed up with bravado is as useless as, well hell, I can't think of any clean examples. Suffice it to say, it won't get you very far.

I haven't been to my ortho since the whole, "we won't touch your knee until we know if the shoulder is cancer" episode. I could go back, but I have a sneaking suspicion what he will prescribe and my butt has been set on long enough.

Between my lack of movement and my ever present attempts at assuaging pain and stress through food, I have become everything I swore I would never be again. Now it's time to put up or shut up.

So, starting Sunday morning, I am going to put on my knee brace and walk. It won't be far or long, but it will be movement. I am going to see how far I can push my knee before it pushes back.

I don't have time to be complacent anymore. It is making me lack self-respect and not like myself, I thought that was over. But the self-loathing is now more painful than the knee, so one of them has to give.

Yours in re-dedication, Kate

Old Junk and New Resolve

Yesterday it looked like Donutland and a candy store exploded on the break room table. I gave in to all of my worst urges and ate plenty of it. However, it was with full knowledge that tomorrow is H-Day - Health Day.

It's back to best practices - 1. Eat better. 2. Exercise. 3. Think positively.

The breakdown:

1. I will have Lori's support and with the whole family doing the Biggest Loser contest, I will have help there too. Plus, I have been pretty public with this contest at work - I am hoping people will call me on it if they see me grazing at that evil back table.

2. I am going to start back up slowly at home. Once I have committed and done it on my own for a couple of weeks, I am going back to the gym. I am also adding trainer Traci back into the mix. With my knee being the way it is, I am struggling with what to do. I know swimming is an option, but it is also a pain in the butt. I tried getting a cap to keep my hair dry, but it doesn't work. I will just have to suck it up at some point or just swim on weekends when I have more time to get cleaned up. Another big problem I face there is I have grown out of my swim suit, so that may wait.

If anyone has cardio ideas that don't involve using my knee or getting wet, let me know.

3. This is the one I struggled with, even when I was in full-on healthy mode. Once you have been obese, you always feel like the fat girl. When you stagnate in the weight loss process, you beat yourself up. If you falter and overeat or, in my case, binge - you mentally tailspin. When I got near my goal weight, that finally slowed. But as my weight has skyrocketed, the mean words have come streaming back in.

I need to return the phrases - "I can do this", "That's great", "Wow" and "Good for me" to my arsenal of self-talk. It's funny, in every other area of my life I brag of being stubborn. I can make people crazy at times as I attempt things because I can. I have recently taken to reassuring family and friends that even if I have cancer, "I am too stubborn to go anywhere" - as in, I have no intention of dying.

I should be just as stubborn in this effort. Because obesity is just as life threatening as cancer, it just takes longer to kill you.

So, here goes. I will do this. I will be stubborn. I will win. I am resolved.

Resolutely yours, Kate

Happy New Year

I worked until 1 this morning and then went straight home to bed. At 9:45 the phone rang, it was my mom. She was wishing me a Happy New Year and plotting for the Biggest Loser contest, which starts on Sunday.

That was a good way to wake up, not that I couldn't have slept for a while longer. But I was glad to know my folks are getting excited. If we can maintain that through the first 45 days of the contest, the exercise and eating right will be habits and the other four and a half months should be a breeze. So to speak.

Right now I am at my Dad's waiting for him to get home from the hospital. I would like to note that it's obvious I got his knees. Anyway, I am here delivering the ice cream he brought for Christmas, of which there was plenty left and to help wrangle dogs. The ice cream had to leave my world.

I don't know if you've ever had major surgery, but dogs go ape when you get home after a few days. Add in the pain you are in and well, it's too much fun.

I think I heard the car door, better run.

Happy New Year, Kate

New Yous Eve

This is the night we revel in the year past and plan for the year ahead. If we don't down too much champagne, sometimes we even recall those resolutions. Sometimes, if the planets align and the willpower steels, we will actually follow through.

The past:

2008 was a year of the highs and the middling lows. Nothing spectacular happened, nothing disastrous happened. It was just a year.

The highs included my family, the front end of the year with my health, my accomplishments with flood coverage and not having breast cancer.

The latter half of the year was a bit of a mess.

The dating life died, the weight came back on, work stressed me to the max, my knee injury ended my daily workouts and I am again facing the possibility of cancer.

The future:

2009 will be better. I will be better.

Even if the tumor in my humerus is cancer, I will beat it. I am stubborn and strong, stronger than cancer.

I'll take the weight off again. I will win the Biggest Loser contest in my family and spend the kitty on fabulous new clothes or a long overdue weekend away.

I will make work work for me.

I am going to be more me in 2009. That will probably mean dating will end. I'm only half kidding. I put men off. I don't know if it's simply a case of I have bigger balls than they do or what. But they don't even bother approaching me. Oh well, there loss. (Now I will work on meaning that.)

Find more ways to spend time with Caelen. He is my heart. He rocks. I love him.

Those aren't really resolutions, those are actualities. My resolutions are much more mundane and less life altering - write more paper notes, get out of the state (even for just two days), keep my car cleaner, clean the house once a week (I think there is a theme), wear more color.

So here's to you and whatever your New Yous Resolutions are - may you stand strong against the past and forge ahead to an amazing 2009.

Yours in transition, Kate

The Stubborn Doesn't Fall Far from the Tree

So, as I have noted (many times) my knee is screwed up. I waited too long and then finally went for assistance.

Now my mom screwed up her knee (ironically doing yoga) and she has yet to seek help. In fact it has been over six weeks and she is in real pain. So much pain that she has canceled Sunday dinner at her house - that is never done.

I have pushed, cajoled and harped on her about getting real help. She finally gave in and went to the chiropractor. However, she says it is catching, so I guarantee she needs to follow my lead and see an orthopedist. She hasn't because she doesn't want to face another surgery.

While I can definitely relate to that, I also know if this was me - she'd drag me to the doctor.

She's trying to pull rank, one of those 'do as I say, not as I do' moments. But she's forgotten something - I'm her daughter, she taught me to be stubborn. I will get my way, even if it takes time. ;)

Yours in transition, Kate