I’ve been living with various amounts of daily pain since last May. The fact that this may be a lifelong ailment is something that took me far too long to come to terms with. I remain hopeful that I will eventually be pain free. I am definitely on the right track since February when I won my case VS. AIG and started receiving consistent and proper medical treatment. It's amazing what doctors can do when you ACTUALLY GET TO FUCKING SEE THEM. At least twice a week I see some sort of doctor – be it chiropractors, acupuncturists, pain management docs, or back surgeons. It has made a world of difference, and I am rapidly on my way to becoming healthy, which is my #1 and essentially only priority right now. The shooting pain down my back only comes rarely now, and the dull ache and tightness is (very) slowly fading. When I work out or lift weights the next day I get flare-ups and the pain increases, but it seems temporary and these are becoming more bearable.
THE PLAN
My plan has been for April and May to focus on primarily weight loss, with a secondary focus on strengthening the core. These are the most two important aspects and elements for having a healthy back, and recovering from the serious injury I sustained. April I have mostly been walking daily for an hour, and sometimes doing HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) on a stationary bike. I follow this up with various core/abs/back/Physical Therapy lifts and stretches designed to target my core and make it stronger and more stable. I have also interlaced light weight-lifting sessions only about twice a week. The main point of these is to get my muscles and joints acclimated to lifting weights again. My back is still not healthy enough to handle most of the lifts or bear heavy weight. Once may hits, I plan on ramping up my Hot yoga sessions. I’m going to attempt to go to it every other day. Hot yoga has been amazing for me; I feel great after, get a great workout in, and also strengthen my back.
Once June 1 hits, I plan on ending my Ketogenic diet, and moving to an Intermittent fasting diet. I will make a post about that when I have done more reading and research on the topic, much like I did about the Ketogenic diet back when I started this thing. Additionally in June, I plan to ramp up my training/cardio. The more weight you lose, the harder it is to lose. I imagine that once I hit around 210lbs, the weight will be very difficult to drop. I will also want to really start hitting my core and build more muscle in that area. It is for this reason I have decided to start the 60-day Insanity program. It is basically like P90x, but more focused on cardio and core workouts. Where P90x is a full body workout more focused on building muscle everywhere, Insanity is a ridiculous cardio workout which also has the benefits of strengthening the core. This will take me to August 1st. Once that time arrives, I hope my training and vigilance will render me healthy enough to start my true passion (with respect to fitness) which is weight training. I will probably never ever come close to lifting the weight I was before all this crap happened, but it is something I can work towards (Carefully!). The strength and the weight I lifted was never really a primary goal, it just came as a result of doing something I genuinely loved – PUMPING IRON!
THE PROGRESS
As of today, I am 219lbs. In the throes of my depression and pain, I got up to 235lbs before I stopped stepping on the scale. So, I’ve lost at least 16lbs in 23 days. I’ve been very vigilant with staying to my Ketogenic diet (which is fucking difficult, I miss a nice cold beer at the end of the day), and doing at least an hour of cardio every day. My goal is 200lbs by August 1st, and it is looking very doable.
I find that my mental health is directly tied to my physical health. That being said, I had a HUGE victory this past weekend. I went hiking for the first time since September of 2011. I hurt myself last year literally days after my summer break from grad school started, and I am just now healthy enough to once again start hiking. I hiked Mt. Monadnock on Sunday, which is one of the easiest hikes (for a mountain) around. Today my legs are still jelly, my back is still sore, but it isn’t the soreness that comes from having three herniated disks (beyond what I normally feel), it’s sore for using it for the first time in a long while. I’m ok with that. It was an enormous mental victory for me, and this made it even more sweet:
EXCELSIOR!
