Still Standing

Poor little guy…he’s just barely hanging on!!

Barely hanging on….that’s a pretty good description of how I feel.  It’s my first real week back in the gym after almost a  month of living like a “normal” person…whatever that is.  It took me about four days be be able to walk normally after the full body workout I did last Wednesday.  Luckily, I regained the full use of my limbs just in time to do a squat workout on Monday.  It was fairly rough.  A lot of what goes into my workouts in mental.  I have almost as much trouble getting my mental game back into shape as I do the physical end of things.  As a result, I used some lighter weights on a few lifts just so I could get through it.  Two days later, I’m a bit stiff but nowhere near as sore as I was last week. I seriously think I redefined toilet sore.  It morphed into ‘have to scoot down the stairs on your butt sore’.  Ugh.

Yesterday, I had a bench workout.  Bench days are always so much easier than leg days, for me anyway.  It was a tough set though – 5×5 at 110 pounds followed by a few super sets.  I am happy to report that I have finally made some progress on my shoulder issues!  First, I have followed my goal to foam roll after every workout (all 2 of them so far).  Second, I have realized that if I am diligent about keeping my elbows tucked while i bench….I don’t have any shoulder pain.  If only I would have realized this six months ago!!  For the first time in a long time, I did 25 bench reps pain free and then went on to do dips and dumbbell bench…also pain free.  (Yeah, I know…I’m jinxing myself).  Maybe I’ll get in a full training cycle for bench this go round?  Wouldn’t that be nice??

Finally, the last thing that has been weighing heavy on my mind, aside from missing the gym….my weight.  I have felt like a hippo the last few weeks, like I’ve been gaining a pound a day.  It started with a few treats after my meet just because I could, but it didn’t stop there.  I left for vacation a few days later and ate some of the most delicious food on the planet.  Have you ever been to a Brazilian Steakhouse?  OMFG.  They bring you slabs of meat on a skewer!!!  One after another until you’ve eaten so much you have to be wheeled out of the place on a dolley.  So amazing!  And of course there was chips and salsa, nachos, rice and beans, oh….and a few cocktails.  It was unbelievable.  I told myself the whole time that I would be better when I got home.  Of course, I was only home for one day.  Then we packed up and left for Michigan to visit my family.  If you live away from your family, you probably know that stuffed feeling that you get whenever you stop in for a visit.  Inevitably, they all want to fatten you up.  They make every single one of your favorite dishes and make sure to have all your favorite junk food on hand.  It is so sweet of them, and I fully intend to do it to my children some day.  However, it’s not so good for a weight maintenance plan.

Visiting home does have it’s benefits though.  Aside from spending some great quality time with everyone, you also get a chance to compare your normal to everyone elses.  I’ve mentioned before that we’re pretty good about having only good, whole foods in our house.  We don’t have much in the boxed food department or junk food in general.  We keep a few treats on hand- supplies for a gooey batch of chocolate chip cookies, a bag of popcorn for the air popper, and maybe some tortilla chips and salsa.  Otherwise it’s all meat and veggies.  My mom, on the other hand, has pantries brimming with food- rice, noodles, canned goods, crackers, chips, candy.  And then there’s the ice cream.  We had sundaes every single night that we were home.  EVERY NIGHT, and there was always an array of toppings to choose from- berries, caramel sauce, hot fudge, or Hershey’s chocolate syrup.  One night, as I was eating my french vanilla ice cream drenched in a fabulous combo of caramel sauce and Hershey’s syrup, I glanced at the label on the “calcium enriched” Hershey’s chocolate goodness.  I noticed in bold lettering that it said “Refrigerate after opening”.  Hmmm….I had seen my mom pull the Hershey’s out of the room temperature pantry three nights in a row now.  After I pointed this out to her, she asked the obvious question….”well, where do you keep yours?”  The fiance and I gave each other a quick smile…..”we don’t have any mom.”  It was clear that the thought of a household without a continuous stock of Hershey’s syrup had never occured to her.  It’s a staple on her grocery list- milk, eggs, TP, Hersheys.  So there you have it….we’re doing pretty darn good.  Even if I did eat pizza and ice cream several nights a week for the last month.

And now it’s time to survey the damage. 

After spending weeks in a fantasmic downward spiral of cookies, pop, and ice cream, I’ve finally come to the surface for a peek at reality.  And after all was said and done, I did the unthinkable this morning.  I set foot on the scale. I didn’t want to, but my fiance could not stand another second of my constant worrying.  If we were on a boat and there was a plank, I’m fairly certain he would have pushed me off of it.  Alas, I’m only up a few pounds…maybe 4 at most. I’m estimating because I have not stepped on the official gym scale yet, but either way the news is not nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be.  So……Pizza for dinner tonight!!!!!  Not really, I am working my way back to a steady diet of lean protein and complex carbs….oh god….please kill me now.

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