A Long Recovery

I don't know how I let the entire month of June pass without a post, but here I am..  Thank you to everyone who checked in on me in the last month...  Sorry I wasn't here for you...
Once again...  Still going, still fighting and still trying to win this battle!
Remember that tire that I loved flipping so much?  I discovered it has a rather nasty side...  Or at least my sciatic nerve discovered it...  2 months later, I am still working on recovery...  Last week I did start working back towards a normal routine, but my hip is still very weak and some of my stretches still hit a painful spot.  My cardio has been reduced with strict instructions to keep my heart rate below 130, which if you remember my race, know how difficult that has been.
I am doing a traditional 4 day split with each day focused on specific areas of my body.  I am, so, not used to this at all.  My training, from the first dumbbell I picked up, has been focusing on compound movements.  Each day I have 4 exercises, 15 reps of each, 4 - 6 sets.  So far, the only day I have been able to hit 6 sets is legs and that is because that is where all my power is!!!  Yesterday was a chest day.  I was lucky to hit 10 reps, 4 sets!!!  And today...  Ouch!
That seems to be my favorite word lately...  Ouch!  From my inner thighs, glutes, entire ab area, to pecs...  Ouch!
But I am one of those strange people that refuses to give up and actually loves the pain.  Although is it really pain?  Or is it progress in your body?  Muscle being torn down and rebuilt, bigger, stronger?
I will take a full week of muscle soreness and longer over the 2 month plus recovery from the injury sustained from the tire.  Believe me when I tell you there is a difference and it is a difference each of us need to identify and learn when to quit and when to keep going.
Even when I could barely walk, I was still at the gym, still working on recovery for my hip and strengthening my upper body!  I changed my plan, but refused to quit.  And today, I am back working my hip, albeit at a much lower weight...
With muscle soreness, I can work through it, or stretch it out and still work without fear of injury.
Another battle that we each have to face is how easy it can be for us to slip back into old ways.  I had a very fun Fourth of July weekend including 2 Airbrush Gypsy shows, a girls day out, a Despicable Me 2 drive in theater party, and going to see fireworks at the lake.  A great weekend free of most any worries and stress!  But I didn't have a lot of time to do housekeeping chores, like laundry...  So when I got to the gym yesterday, I discovered I didn't have any socks in my car.  I started shooting myself because I remember pulling a pair of socks out of my gym bag that morning and putting them in the dirty clothes.  Why, oh why, did I have to pick yesterday morning to be the day to clean out my bag...  Man I am so stupid....  Oh well...  I guess I'll just go home and do laundry so I can come back tomorrow...  NO!  You are going to go to the store and buy socks for the 4th time this year and come back to the gym for your workout!!!!!
It is so easy to come up with an excuse not to walk through the door...  AND I was parked in front of the gym!!!  Less than 100' from the door and I was ready to just go home...
Remember, no matter the battle, that the war is key...  We can do this!  We will do this!  And together...  we can do anything we want!  Just keep going, keep fighting, and keep trying!!!

Re-Evaluating Goals

A friend posted on my wall several weeks ago asking what the goal is I am working toward.  What is it that keeps me motivated as I pursue my weight loss journey? 

I couldn't answer the question. 

I mean, I want to get healthy and the clothes I had at the beginning of this journey were getting too small.  I was looking at needing to buy size 20 pants and had already started buying XXL shirts.  To me, this was disgusting.    Things needed to change and fast!  All of this started me down the road leading me to this question posted on my wall. 

In the last several weeks, this question keeps floating around in my mind.  Being healthy is not enough of a goal.  I mean, what is healthy?  A healthy weight?  A healthy BMI?  A healthy BF%?  There are so many variables, which one do I choose, when do I decide that 'healthy' is here?  Obviously weight, BMI & BF% are all great ways to measure one's health, but I needed something more, something concrete, a sense of accomplishment, not just looking at a number.

As my fitness level has increase in the last few months, I have started jogging during my usual walking route and I have 3 goals: 
short term - being able to jog down the 'big hill'
middle - being able to keep going around the pond and finish my route
end goal - being able to jog and even run the entire route

During my stretching routines before and after workouts, I enjoy seeing the new flexibility that I have gained.  When I first started, I could barely get my hands past my knees, now I can almost put my hands flat on the ground when bending over.  A new goal for me is to be able to do a full split.  This is something I was never able to do growing up, but I want to be able to do as an adult.

My final goal has to do with the fact I have always wanted to learn ballroom dance since there was  a swing dance class offered while I was in HS.  My body has never been strong enough to endure any type of dancing and yet I still would love to learn ballroom. 

This is my end goal. 

I want to be able to learn ballroom dancing!