Derby Days: Even my thoughts hurt

Ugh, the next day after a work out doing things you never do with your body is ALWAYS the worst! I  am in so much pain that I want to just die, because rigor mortis sets in and that means my body freezes and I don't have to move.

Yesterday's assistant teacher actually said "you want to lean your body to the point that you are just suspended in the air".  I don't know about you but I can't fly, nor float for that matter, so to be told to bend sideways to the point that pieces of me are "suspended in the air" is not just difficult but seriously painful.  Of course he showed us what he was talking about and he did indeed look like he was floating in the air but sweet lord is my body NOT ready for that.  Suffice it to say I fell so hard I'm pretty sure I had to pick up my butt cheek when I stood back up.

This is just one of the reason's everything hurts.  Of course the other reason is that I'm terribly out of shape.  I have been gaining ridiculous amounts of weight, not working out even a bit and yet asking my body to hold itself up.  I need to get it together because otherwise things are not going to go well. (sigh)

Oh yeah and tomorrow I'm going to start my derby specific workout routine.  First thing I had to do was a test to see how strong my core was.  I had to do a one leg/one arm up plank.  I was able to hold that for ohhhhh.... I'd say 0:00 seconds.  Yup, I couldn't even get my arm and leg off the floor.   I'm going to blame that on the muscle soreness I'm already feeling and not on the ridiculousness that is my body! I recorded a video, if it wasn't so tragic it would be funny. I really hope that I'll watch it someday and think of it as funny. (sigh...again)

I'm still holding on; still working to make it through.  I don't want to quit so I need to make sure I do the things off skate that will help me get there.

I also think I need a place to practice being on my skates... I'll see if I tackle this next week.

Derby Days: what is this pain?

My first day of derby basic training began with me arriving 10 mins late because I had to go to Brooklyn and like any true Manhattanite I don't bother with the outer boroughs until forced.  I had my brand new gear, my fresh load of fear, and the frantic thoughts of "what was I thinking?" running through my mind. Luckily being late did two things for me: 1. It gave just enough adrenaline that as I rushed to get there my body was two steps ahead of my brain and thus 2. It left me with little chance to talk myself into just turning around and going home. I ran out and jumped right into the floor exercises.

Ok first off, there needs be a "gear" class.  Something that teaches the inept people like me how to put all this crap on. I am happy to say that Vicious Van Gogo was there to at least help me with my helmet. She was very sweet to help and explain things.  I was the last person on the track because it just took me so long. And, I don't think I quite figured out my elbow pads. I need a YouTube "how to" video, STAT!  Secondly, my back hurts.  I think I was born without a core. Is that possible? If it is then I'm it! Finally, I am totally intimidated by awesome chicks on skates.  I am not above admitting that I am downright feeling teeny tiny in the ego area when it comes to this stuff.  I need to up my inner sense of "badassness". If that's not a word, I'm gonna make it one! I'm starting a badassness meter. My meter is currently at 0. 

Day 1 I am happy to say I actually stayed on my skates for the entire time we were on them (I haven't really skated  since I was about 11 or so). Day 2 I fell but only after I was clipped by someone else's skate, so I feel this does not seem too bad for maintaining my balance. By the time the 2 hours of day 1 was over I could already feel things starting to ache, by the next morning my whole body was on fire.  

It has now been two practices. I have come to the realization that I need to start working out during the week. Waiting until practice is not good.  Of course I haven't actually done any working out, it's just that I REALIZE I need to workout.  I am not yet feeling motivated to get the hell up off my butt.  Right now I am dealing with my depression, which among other things makes me feel a bit defeated before I even begin (see badassness meter reference above). It also makes me hungry. I am eating all kinds of nonsense and despite the fact that I am aware of this, I am doing it anyway. Eating makes me feel in control even when it signifies the exact opposite. Sometimes perception is stronger than fact.  I have finished an entire pack of Oreos on my own (in about two days). I'm pretty sure my cousins haven't had any, so it was all me (if this continues my BAN meter is going to dip into the negative digits). 

On that note my fatassness meter is at about a 7. This is No Bueno.  My cousin suggested I could call myself Bronx Zu as a derby name, here's hoping it's because I will eventually skate like a badass animal, both graceful and deadly, rather than eat like a fatass one, both copiously and slothful. (No offense to sloths, who are in my opinion quite lean. Additionally, no animals where intentionally harmed or insulted in the creation of the previous metaphor). 

I am not going to be successful at derby if I don't get it together and since I have spent all this money on gear and classes I want to be successful. I am going to try a derby geared workout program. I'm hoping to get it together now that I'm going into week three! I need to go home and clean out my cupboards again. I have to get rid of all my "non-clean" food.  I need to start tracking my points and getting my head in the literal and figurative game. I need to get off my butt! 

Here's to new beginnings.

Time is a fickle thing

It has been a year since I last posted and that year has been quite a ride.  I have lost and gained, triumphed and quit, I have gone off weight watchers (though still paid every month), did one exercise program after another and came out slightly better and worse in the end.  I lost as many as 95 lbs and have seen changes in myself I would not have imagined. But things have not remained on the upswing.  I never set a weight goal, not surprisingly I never reached one.  And, although it aught to seem obvious I am not entirely sure (convinced) that they are connected to one another.  I am in a dark place and I'm. It sure that I know all the causes of it (my therapist and I are working on it).  But, here is what I do know:

1. My struggle still continues

2. I am not happy with my progress recently

3. My depression has reared its ugly head and thus the source of #2

4. I am backsliding with my weight, again see #2

5. I want something to change so badly it makes my eyes burn with the tears I am not shedding out of desperation and fear of a full breakdown 

6. I have joined a roller derby training group (I know this is completely out of left field). 

7. I am hoping that this connection to something different then what I am used to, something new and challenging in entirely different ways, and something that is outside my comfort zone because it requires physical exertion, also provides the boost towards positivity of body and mind that I need. 

I'm going to start posting about my Derby experience on this blog. Every Derby entrance will be entitled Derby Days. I'm hoping this will help me find threads between all the things connected to my life and weight loss so I can start to work on those parts of myself. I'm still going to make weight watchers work for me and I still have high hopes for finally reaching a sense of peace within myself. 

I am a work in progress, as we all are, now I just need to actually get back to work. 

Success is best measured in small doses

This sunday was AWESOME! I had a huge and unbelievable loss.  5.8 lbs.  It was especially cool because I was expecting a gain.  So this week I started on an upswing.  I haven't been good all week but I have been tracking absolutely everything! I feel proud of myself for that.  Recently i find that i have been running away from the tracking.  As if not tracking would somehow mean I wouldn't feel bad about eating it.  Since it wasn't permanently down on paper but I think that this is the best way to do it.

This week its been an entirely different issue.  I have the bad habit of weighing myself almost everyday just to check how much my weight is fluctuating, its strange but this week I have been gaining wait steadily everyday the scale goes up.  I am of course driving myself crazy with this but I cannot help it.  It seems that the more I concentrate on tracking and following the plan the more I begin to obsess on what the scale says.  Of course this week I'm supposed to be getting my period and that can affect my weight too as I retain water.  Jeez the issues of being a female trying to lose weight.  I think I just need to keep tracking and keep working out and let the chips fall where they may, although I just know if they don't fall where I want them to I'm going to be really upset.  Which will likely derail me and that's the worse because I'm really closer to goal then I would have ever believed and now is when it is getting the hardest!! But, positive thoughts and attitude! I can do this, and 5 lbs up is better than 15 or 50, which I am very capable of. So here's to my lost 5.8 and to my tracking EVERYTHING and to staying on plan no matter what my home scale says:)

Walking on the wild side

So today I woke up feeling so much better than last night.  Last night was hard, I had a world of emotional baggage that came out and that I still have to deal with.  It made me retreat into myself, but it was a sort of a final moment after a week of being off plan and eating terribly! This weeks topic was again emotional eating and of course I did a lot of that.  Today I am back on plan, tracking, and got in my workout.  I think that this is what I have to remember that I need to do no matter how far I go.  Getting back on plan and getting back to what I know is best for me is the most important thing.  That's one thing I can see throughout this blog and my journey, that I am not likely to walk away from this.  That I keep coming back to it no matter how far I go from it, and that the great thing is that the plan is always there, waiting to help me track and get back on track.  So for today, its all about finding the positive in negative, being the best me that it is in me to be, and just trying for what I know I need:)  I feel empowered, I'm a beast, I'm taking name and conquering stuff, lol.

Will Winter one-derlands never cease?

I thought I was done with this blog but the universe keeps brining me back to it. I've been thinking about it and then it just keeps coming up in conversations, or my cousin entwined it or it just pops into my head, so I figured why not just give in. 

So September of 2013 was the beginning of ups and downs. I lost the weight I gained over the summer (so hurray) but plateauing and going up and down is becoming the name of the game. Still positive feelings are there. Buried deep down. Struggling to get out. Choking for air, but there nonetheless.  I think. I'm happy to say that I've reached Onederland and I've been here for well over a month and even when I go up my body brings me back down and that makes me sooo happy.  However I'm not as excited as I thought I would be. I think it's because I'm becoming inconsistent and I know who is to blame. Because, let's face it, it's always easier to blame someone else, so my blame heads to Mother Nature!! This winter has been BRUTAL!! What the hell!! Snow, -0 degree weather, and dark days followed by grey afternoons and even darker nights have lead me on a merry chase when it comes to getting on track and continuing to lose.  I can't get it together, I'm tired, my feelings are low and plummeting ever more and I'm questioning EVERYTHING! Seasonal depression is real and it's kicking my butt. 

That makes it hard to stay on plan. I want things that are warm and heavy. I don't want cold salads or an abundance of vegetables. I want carbs and meat. Nothing else will do, or at least that's what my stomach says. So I'm at meeting, down 3.8 from two weeks ago and really wanting to get back in the swing of things. Now if only the weather would cooperate. 

Where does the time go?

I know a lot of my time went into not following the plan.  Summer came and although I had all kinds of good intentions my good intentions went nowhere. I gained weight over the summer rather than losing it and I felt my weight loss was becoming a burden rather than a good thing.  But, all things change as they must and for the past three weeks I have been riding high.  I'm trying to come back into my positive attitude, I've been working out every morning and I have been tracking, tracking, tracking!! When you are on plan, tracking is the thing that you are constantly reminded of, because the truth is the more you track the more aware you are of what you eat and the less likely you are to over do it.  Tracking is really just a way to not only count your points but to journal your food and I sound like the commercial but it genuinely works.  So, my plans for now...keep tracking, keep positive and be creative:) I know I can do it, I've done it before.