One of my least favorite things in the Army since I became a hypothyroid is having to do my height/weight.  It is a requirement to meet the standards as part of our job as Soldiers.  I miss the days when I was skinny and met my weight.  Now I do not, and so I have to get "taped".  Using a measuring tape, the person measures my neck, waist and hips three times and using a fancy program that computes my body composition, I am told whether I meet the standards or not.  And believe me, you do not NOT want to meet the standards. 

One of the biggest privileges in my life is being a member of the U.S. Armed Forces.  I don't consider this job an entitlement, but rather an honor and a privilege.  And when I get to combine that with my passion for running, it is a really good day all around.  As you know, right now I am recovering from foot surgery and cannot run until the end of November but that does not stop me from cheering fellow runners-- whether online or from a distance-- as they reach their goals. 

My boyfriend is not a fitness guy and he is not interested in running anymore.  Luckily his constitution can handle that.  So, this is how a conversation with my boyfriend would go: 

Me:  Hon, do you want to go the gym with me tomorrow morning?

Him: What time?

Me: 6:00 in the morning.

Him: Ummmm.... you go ahead. I'll be here supporting you from the distance.

My position is that it all depends.  Like in my case: he is not into fitness and he is a meat and potatoes kind of guy.  His favorite quote is "I leave that running stuff to you people".  Ha!  I love the "you people" :-)  And I have no problem with it because while he is not into it, he does support my efforts and he is my most ardent cheerleader.  But I've also seen the type that completely disregards the other partner, and thrives in being the saboteur of their fitness goals and nutrition.  You know the type that flaunts a whole pizza in front of you while you are drinking your green smoothie.

photos google

I have tried to encourage the boyfriend and once he explained why he would not, I supported his decision.  I know this goes against everything some of you may think, but we are blessed that fitness is not the only thing we got going.  Yes, fitness would provide an opportunity to bond more but I do not think it is totally necessary.  Now, if the "fitness thing" is something that is non-negotiable for either of you-- competitive athletes come to mind-- and you both knew it before coming to a relationship, you may have to reevaluate.  But that is for some therapist to deal with. not me.  In the end I do not believe the phrase that "the couple that trains together, stays together".  

I rarely speak about my personal life on this blog but one very important part of that life is my boyfriend D.  He has been one of my best friends for 15 years so imagine my surprise when last year we decided to start dating.  Funny thing is that we both agree that had it not been for the Army (he is an Army officer too) we would have gotten married many moons ago.  I can go on and on about how amazing he is but that is for another post.  I can tell you, he is one of the things I am most thankful for in my life.  We do talk about everything including the fact that we will get married.  That is just the kind of people we are :)  But here is the kicker.  D is also a farmer and very successful, I might add.  His farm is in Minnesota, so guess where I will be living when we get married?  You guessed it.  

Before I started dating D, I really never thought of MN (sorry peeps).  All I knew is that is was freezing cold.  And it it!  It is also a beautiful state full of some of the friendliest people I have ever encountered, to include D's family-- a beautiful and wonderful mix of Norwegians that always leave me feeling so overwhelmed with love.  So imagine how weird it is for them when this Puerto Rican girl who lived the last 20 years of her life in the South, complains that it is too cold when it is only a "measly" 45F.  I know it is actually pretty funny.  As I've been told that is NOT cold.  Yet believe me when I say that my body does not agree with them especially because I get cold all the time.

However, I have a card under my sleeve.  When this weather rolls around this year I'll be ready as I've been stocking up on what I consider my three essentials of fall/winter weather: thick cable knit sweaters, uber chunky scarves (hello! the only good thing about the cold weather) and thick socks.   

These were my essentials while I lived in Germany and once I moved to NC, I really did not need them.  Because seriously, who needs all this in the South?  Luckily I still have them and ready to roll.  I am so thankful for my mom who told me to hold on to those pieces because I may need them sometime. Here in Kansas where I now live, temperatures are dipping fast and it is pretty chilly in the mornings and evenings.  Still, I'll take it over the teeth shattering cold I experienced last February in Minnesota!  Holy mother!  That was brutal.  Again, I was not prepared.  But I've got new for Jack Frost as he preps to bring it on and I prep to spend the majority of the holidays in Minnesota:  I have a super thick parka and all the accouterments to deal with this weather... Minnesota style!  So BRING. IT. ON!

One of the areas I address in this blog is that of hypothyroidism and how it has affected my life.  I honestly try not to let this thyroid disease affect my life but sometimes it is pretty hard not to because you cannot completely control your body.  One of the great things about the internet is that it has allowed me to connect with various hypothyroid groups and it is amazing how many people have issues with their doctors and getting them to correctly diagnose thyroid diseases.  So, I have decided to make Tuesdays, Hypothyroid Tuesday-- a day when I will specifically address hypothyroid issues and have guest bloggers who can also provide information as we navigate.

Unless you have thyroid disease you cannot understand a statement like "this damn butterfly is messing my life!".  Most often than not, said butterfly is referring to the thyroid gland, which is shaped like a butterfly.  Before I developed thyroid issues, I had NO idea what the heck the thyroid was not even where in the body it was.   Just in case you do not know, this is where the thyroid is:

photo via Google

The thyroid gland is one of the largest endocrine glands and plays an important role in regulating the body's metabolism and calcium balance. The T4 and T3 hormones stimulate every tissue in the body to produce proteins and increase the amount of oxygen used by cells. The harder the cells work, the harder the organs work. The calcitonin hormone works together with the parathyroid hormone to regulate calcium levels in the body.  So you can tell right off the bat that this is not an easy disease to diagnose.  With the importance of this gland in the body's function, you would be surprised (unless you are a thyroid patient) how many doctors disregard this disease. 

The first time I addressed any thyroid related topics was when I came back from my last deployment in 2008.  I was in the best shape of my life and I was feeling happy because my running/ weight training program was working.  I was rocking it!  I came home a few days before Thanksgiving that year and it was pretty chilly-- around 49 degrees.  But I was having major hot flashes, and had my A/C on.  Oh did I mention that I was surviving on 3 hours of sleep a day?-- Lancome was making a killing with me on makeup concealer purchases.  A few weeks later I went for a run and what should have been an easy run turned out into the scariest experience of my life when I suddenly started having heart palpitations and felt like I was having a heart attack.  I sat by a curb, and a sweet couple called an ambulance.  At the hospital everything was checked...EXCEPT my thyroid.  Fast forward three months later: I was at a Civil War Battlefield and was just so tired walking around, I was out of breath (never mind I was in the best shape ever!).  By the time I got home I was ready to just go sleep but my mom noticed something: my neck was swollen.  Like really swollen enough to freak me out.  So I went to the ER.  There I saw three people during the processing all which asked me if I had thyroid problems and I was clueless about what they were talking about.  But imagine my surprise when the doctor treated me for allergies.... mmm... ok.  When two days later that neck was not smaller I finally went to my family practice doctor who confirmed I had hyperthyroidism.  The road from hyperthyroid thanks to Grave's Disease to hypothyroid because my thyroid gland was removed has been long and just like being on a rollercoaster.  And it sucks so bad it is not even funny. The next photo is one of the best I have seen depicting the differences between hypo and hyper thyroidism; like a cheat sheet you can use!

photo via Google

That little butterfly can really wreak havoc in your life if not monitored, and it is scary that millions of people are misdiagnosed every year.  I was truly blessed to find an endocrinologist who did not think I was having "girl problems" when I busted out crying in his office for no reason (yes, mood swings are one of the symptoms of Grave's Disease).  Unfortunately the boyfriend at the time did not...but that's another story.   Look here is the bottom like: once that butterfly goes nuts its like letting her in charge of this rollercoaster.  It is that crazy and that serious.  So make sure that if you have any symptoms, you address them with your doctor.  For more general information about hypothyroidism and the complete story of my crazy journey with thyroid disease, check out my THYROID DISEASE page. 

This season it has been tough.  I'm not even going to lie.  There is a saying "you never know what you got until it is taken away" and that is how I feel about running.  In many ways I took running for granted and now that I am not able to do it, I realize how much of my life revolved around it. No, I did not do a lot of races. No, I did not run for PRs. I ran for me, for my sanity and as an outlet to everything that life seems to throw my way. I know deep down that this surgery was the culmination of a year of pain but it is also the beginning of a new running journey once I am healed. But in the mean time, what do I do?  I set a new goal to keep me focus.  I love this motivational poster because it truly summarizes something that is at the core of what we do as fitness enthusiasts: setting goals and reaching them.  Because all the training we do becomes more meaningful when fueled by a goal. 

Reaching a goal sometimes requires looking deep within ourselves and finding a strength that we do not feel we have.  Sometimes it makes us face a situation head on or a part of us that we prefer not to look at. But in the end, we have to make a decision: you either face it or run away from it.  And in my experience facing it is the best way to go.  It is easier to move through life without those internal obstacles holding us back.

And wow!  Sorry for the deep load, I woke up very reflective today about my life and what is next.  So many great things in my life-- aside from the running, and many possibilities in the future that can change my life for the better.  It is both scary and exciting... so stay tuned!

And since we are talking about motivation.  What motivates you when you just do not feel like working out?  In my case is music.  I can have a very unmotivated day and i can immediately think of songs to listen to prior to a workout that will get me going.  At times I can also get obsessed with a playlist for my workouts and will listen to it over and over... and over.  Here what's on my fall playlist:

Monday Morning Gossip

Mingle Monday

I was at Christy's blog reading over one of her posts when she mentioned the controversy that this photo below has sparked online so much that it went viral.  People's reaction to this photo can be described in two words (and I am sorry for the cursing): ape shit.

Holy schnaizy! 

Now, as a single girl with no children who also deals with hypothyroidism (which can significantly derail any fitness goals you may have), this makes me scratch my head.   Here we go again: instead of uplifting each other as strong women, we are name calling and denigrating these women by the healthy choices they make... or the ones we do not make. Because let's face it: the reaction to these images stems mostly from the fact that they remind those of us who make excuses to turn it around on them and make us feel better about the unhealthy choices we make.  

So my two cents.  

1. Aside from the initial shock factor of seeing someone this pregnant lifting weight plates or having a killer body only eight months after having a baby, I can almost guarantee that these two women were very fit before they were pregnant, so this is normal physical activity to them.  And if their doctors gave them the ok, I do not see why not continue with their fitness regime.  Some women with risky pregnancies or complications after a pregnancy may of course not be able to workout like these women do but is it a reason to verbally attack the ones that can?

2. I have friends who were fit before a pregnancy and after their bundles of joy arrived, they bounced back to their pre-pregnancy weight and shape beautifully!  This does not make them bad mothers or fake.  Here is the funny thing: when a celebrity bounces back from a pregnancy looking fabulous or when she is shown working out during her pregnancy, most of the world hails them as good responsible mothers, but God forbid a normal day-to-day mom does it.  Then the claws of jealousy come out.  That's right peeps: this is just plain jealousy.  They are no celebrities; they are normal people like you and me, and their images remind us that we too can probably do this but choose not to.  

3.  In my opinion the reason these pictures stung (especially the first one with the "what's your excuse?" tagline) is because let's face it: it probably resonated with someone who is making excuses.  Let me clarify this; there are people who have medical conditions who prevent them from working out, some people are really busy, etc. but there are also people who just do not want to workout or eat healthy.  They just do not. I have some of these in my family, some which criticize me when I eat healthy or my "rabbit food" as they call it.  The same ones who nag me when I wake up early to go to the gym.  And these are the haters, the ones that make excuses.  These are the ones who got stung the most with these photos.  These two moms were probably trying to inspire and motivate other moms, and show them it can be done with good time managements and discipline.  Instead they got a backlash because some of the haters, instead of facing their personal responsibility, found it easier to turn it on them in an attempt to make them feel bad and in the process make themselves feel good. 

So come on ladies, let's cheer each other up when we see good role models for fitness and healthy living.  And as one supporter commented: 

 "I think that we should all be more concerned about a mom who eats McDonalds everyday of her pregnancy, and doesn't exercise one bit.  This woman is not just concerned about herself, she is concerned about her child future and the example she sets for her other children..."

I want to close this post with remark from Maria (first photo) about the backlash she received because she nailed this sucker right on the head: 

“I’m sorry you took an image and resonated with it in such a negative way. I won’t go into details that I struggled with my genetics, had an eating disorder, work full time owning two businesses, have no nanny, am not naturally skinny and do not work as a personal trainer. What I WILL say is this. What you interpret is not MY fault. It’s yours. The first step in owning your life, your body and your destiny is to OWN the thoughts that come out of your own head. I didn’t create them. You created them. So if you want to continue ‘hating’ this image, get used to hating many other things for the rest of your life.”

- ONE - I am finally back at work and so thankful for it!  I realized during my convalescent leave that I would never make a good stay-at-home wife.  I like going to work and interacting with people.  But it was good to spend those 14 days recovering and bonding with my pups.

- TWO - The stitches in my foot are out and yesterday was my last day wearing the sexy post op-boot.  Foot feels good but still a bit tender now that I am walking in normal shoes.  So I am still limping a little bit but not too much.  I have been able to continue to go to the gym and workout which is great because that really is my outlet.

The doctor did say: "Read my lips, you are not allowed to run until the end of November".  I told him "why are you telling me this?" and laughed.  He knows that my crazy self would have probably tried because I have no pain in the foot. 

- THREE - Don't you hate when you look forward to a tv series and it is just a let down?  Such was the case with the CW's Reign.  It was a little too much Gossip Girl meets Game of Throne but without as much violence.  And there were a few scenes that were...wow! a bit too much to be showing on TV if you ask me.  I ended up just switching to something else.

- FOUR - I'm in pumpkin heaven!  The little town where I now live seems to be lacking on pumpkin flavor anything, including creamer.  Luckily I found a Target about 35 minutes from where I live and I went a little pumpkin crazy!

What were some favorite things this week?

Joining Five on Friday.  Friday Favorites.  Fitness Friday.

I like trying new things and workouts.  Right now my thing is the kettlebell mostly because I can get a good workout at home and not have to hop around at the gym.  I tried the KB when I was doing Crossfit and really liked it.  It is a good tool to have at home for working out especially abs.  While it may be awkward handling it at first, I find it to be the perfect way to add weight and resistance when doing abs because of the handle. 

 

Awkwardness aside, the KB offers the best of both worlds: the training benefits of a dumbbell plus more stability because of the wide handle.  But my favorite thing about KBs is how versatile they are.  I read that they are ideal "for explosive exercises that work major muscles, burn body fat, and build power, but they also add a new dimension to classic moves like chest presses and flys."  That's versatility at its best!   

 

Abs is a very big problem area for me (which is why you will never see me showing my abs) mostly because as a hypothyroid, this is the area where we tend to gain the most weight.  But it is super hard to tone the area.  Still... I'm not giving up. 

 

 

 

This workout today is a simple beginner workout that focuses in three alternating exercises with 3 rounds each.  This is my go to when I need to ease back into abs workouts or when I have limited time.  These are my threes:

 

WEIGHTED SIT-UPS (3 x 15)

** The secret here is holding the kettlebell with both hands against your chest and extending your arms out as you come up.

 

WEIGHTED SIT-UP W/ARM LIFT (SINGLE ARM) (3 x15)

** The difference from the first exercise is that the KB motion is conducted by using a single arm that goes forward and up, as you do the sit-up.

RUSSIAN TWISTS (3 x 1 minute)

** I am a huge fan of the Russian twists.  It really works your entire core but be careful with the rotation from side to side.  A jerky movement can hurt your lower back. 

As I mentioned, do one set of each alternating the exercises before starting on your second set.  I recommend doing this twice per week to get your core used to more advanced workouts.  And if you get tired, take a rest between exercises.  The key is to get used to safely handling the KB plus ensuring you keep a good and efficient form.  Hope you enjoy the workout!

 

Do you use KBs as part of your workout?  Do you like or dislike them?

Linking with Workout Wednesday.

Hello everyone!  So, what is the hardest thing when you write a blog that is mostly about fitness?  when there is no fitness going on because of recovery, which is why I have not written much lately.  This past week and weekend were really good. 

 

No. 1: Fall Is Definitely Here!  Holy mollie!  The cooler fall temperatures have arrived and we are loving it!  I can't keep the pups indoor, they just want to stay outside and play!  It was great to open the windows and let the cooler breeze come in.

 

No. 2: Foot Update.  Went to my first post-op appointment on Thursday and it is healing nicely.  I was very surprised to see that the small incision was in between toes not on at the bottom because it felt painful in the bottom of my foot.  The swelling is minimal and there is a little bruising, which I think I made worse by walking a little bit at the apple fest I went to on Saturday.  This coming Thursday I have my second post-op and the stitches are coming out.  After that I have to wear the PT boot for two more weeks. 

 

No. 3. My Eggs Obsession.  Not sure why but for the past weeks I have been craving eggs like they are going out of style.  I have been eating them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Right now, I am obsessed with these two dishes:  Carrots & Apple Hash with Eggs and Breakfast Spinach & Avocado Sandwich.  They are simply yummy!

  

 

No. 4.  Retail Therapy.  It was like a voice of heaven when I heard the words "oh, didn't you know there is an Under Armour outlet about 20 minutes from here?"  Oh, yes!  I am an avid UA fan so since I was feeling a bit dejected this past week I went to check it out, and I had a lot of fun trying on clothes...and buying some :)

 

 

No. 5.  Apple Fest.  As I mentioned, this weekend was the Weston Apple Fest in Weston, MO.  While I had fun, especially after having my first caramel apple EVER, it was not what I expected.  When I think apple fest, I'm thinking APPLE EVERYTHING... apple bushels, apple cider (not store bought), apple pie, apple ice cream, fried apple...you name it!  It was really more like a street fair than anything.  But as I said, I had lots of fun!

AS I mentioned this was my first time trying caramel apple and I was in piggy mode.  I had two, then had a tummy ache and I kept thinking "what is wrong with you?  What are you 6? You know better than to eat all this sugar at once!"  Yeah, that's my internal monologue for you. Ha!

 

 

 

  

No. 6.  Back in the Gym.  One of the great news I received on Thursday from Dr. Davis is that I can go to the gym and workout except for cardio and God Bless him for that because I was going crazy!  I honestly do not think that I would be a good stay-at-home wife.  I need to be engaged in doing things.  But back to the gym.  Even though I can work out I did not want to over do it, so I focused on upper body and worked shoulders/arms on Friday, and back/chest on Saturday. 

 

 

I tell you what was hilarious: going to the gym with a boot and a wrapped foot.  Guys kept asking me if they could help me with the weights, but I had those bad boys.  However, you never realize how much you need your foot for stability while working your back until you have to do the barbell pulldown machine.  It was very hard trying to get in and out of that machine.  Luckily some of the guys working out there helped me hold that thing while I got in/out.  But it was awesome working out and blowing off some steam.

 

And that was it for my weekend!  How was yours?  Anything interesting?  Is the weather finally fall-like in your area?

 

Weekend Shenanigans

Monday Miscellany
Monday Morning Gossip
Mingle Monday
 

Can you believe that we are already in October?  Before you know it will be Thanksgiving and then Christmas.  But I hope this season do not go by too fast because I simply love fall.  So September {month if transition} is gone and with it some not so cool situations, which makes me look forward to October with lots of optimism.  Here is my list of what to look forward this month: