How I Overcame Lazy This Week: One Word: Funslides!

Okay, a coupla quick updates:  my neck still hurts like a mutha (I'm writing this on a bad day) but the great thing is that I'm actually having "better" days - whereas I wasn't before.  So it does seem to be changing slooooowwwwly for the better.  It gives me hope.  Yeehaw.

Next update:  Alas, I am not a Fila "real woman" representative.  I guess they thought there'd just be way too much airbrushing necessary!  I'm totally fine with it.  Totally.  Uh huh.  In fact, it seemed rather bothersome, actually.  I mean, probably after hearing about the $1000 prize money, I'd likely have relatives coming out of the woodwork to start asking me for money.  I'd have to arrange childcare and find a nursery subsitute before the disruptive trip to New York.  See - a million things I'd have to organize before I left.  And now I don't have to worry about over-fatiguing my facial and abdominal muscles from fake-smiling and sucking in my gut for hours on end during the photo shoot.  Whew.  The pressure if off!  And, anyway, where would I put all the free clothes I'd get?  I do NOT have a walk-in closet. 

I did actually win a free workout tank top just for submitting a video!  So, "winner, winner chicken dinner", after all!  I think I have just enough drawer space for that.

Well, it was potentially a great week for me to be lazy:  I discovered my neck's still not ready to let me run.  I tried to sneak in running a few hills during our family jaunt to the park yesterday and I'm pretty sure that's why I'm having a bad pain day today.  So, instead of crawling under the covers in defeat (which actually doesn't offer any escape anyway since I'm just as uncofortable horizontally as I am vertically) I'm sticking with low-impact cardio for now and while that's not pain-free, it's my only option and it doesn't seem to aggravate nearly as much as my cherished running does.

So, Ha! Laziness, I spit in your general direction.



They ain't called FUNslides for nothin'!

 
Here's my plan of action:  I can't currently get my running mileage in on foot so I'm going to do it by biking - out on the road and on our stationary bike.  I'm also increasing my intimacy with one of my favorite fitness gadgets of all time:  my Funslides!!!  Some of you already know of my affinity for these profoundly simple, yet astonishingly effective, devices.  You can't even call them devices:  they're just simple, plastic sliding thingies.  And, truthfully, sturdy paper plates are an even cheaper and quite effective subsitute. 



These work great on carpet or tile.
Just throw 'em out when they're beat up and go to your
pantry for a new pair!



I'm attaching a video to demonstrate some of the lower-body moves I'm doing lately with them.  They're great because you glide through your exercises yet you can still be intense and explosive without the impact.  Plus they add an extra element of difficulty because you've constantly got friction you're working against.  So it's a killer cardio AND toning AND calorie-blasting workout all in one!  Miracle workers, those Funslides.  Sure you kinda have to get over the I-feel-like-the-most-awkward-doofus-in-the-world factor but no one sees you in your own living room! And this is just a fraction of the cool moves you can pull with these bad boys.  I will be demonstrating more as my injury status allows. 

Often, I will just dedicate an entire workout to staying on these and just repeat the sequence of exercises several times.  Sometimes I'll combine them with the bike or treadmill for some variety and to ramp up the intensity.  For example, I'll do several minutes on the bike, then hop off to do a sliding circuit and get back on the bike to repeat that sequence several times.

DO try this at home!  You'll quickly see why I chose this song accompaniment.

How I Overcame Lazy This Week - I Counted My Blessings



Gloomy ol' Eeyore



Chronic pain is an optimist’s worst enemy.  I know I am a blessed person.  I know that I do not have the worst situation in the world at all.  But, boy, when you’re a person who has mostly experienced a pain-free and healthy existence, a bout with chronic pain can really fog up those rose-colored glasses, if ya know what I mean.

 

My serious neck pain has been going on for about a month.  Now, that doesn’t sound like a lot of time, but when there’s no escape it feels like an eternity.  It’s there with me 24/7, whether I’m moving or still, awake or asleep (Sleep? Ha!), drug-free or medicated… it’s always there.  It feels like a white-hot poker is inserted deep into my neck emanating a constant, searing, painful heat with a sharp knife close by that stabs at me sending frequent and shocking zings of pain.  All this is accompanied by an almost constant tingling down my arm, chest and back.  I have not been sleeping well; my workouts – especially running – have been torture lately; I’m often grumpy with my family and I’m finding it really hard to see the bright side of things.

There, have I made anyone feel bad for me yet?  Probably not because most likely you’re all saying, “Oh yeah, big whoop.  Try dealing with ______!”  (Filling in your own equally - if not more - torturous scenario.)

I’ve dealt with pain and injuries before but they’ve always been the kind that I’ve known will get better with time.  This pain, so far, hasn’t shown signs of improving.  And that’s a bummer.  It has been such a drain on my energy and my emotional health as well because I just feel like there’s a little black cloud hovering over me constantly.  I want my sunshine back!



Although it’s been tough to be my chipper, optimistic self, my current perspective has made me acutely more aware of my blessings.  I mean, although currently there’s no end in sight, I’m pretty confident that this will not become a life-long or life-threatening condition.  Many people out there ARE in fact dealing with such grave permanency in their afflictions.  Although some of my activities and movements have been affected, I’m (so far!) not having to deal with braces, casts, wheelchairs, prosthetics or any other things with which so many others are encumbered.  I have a loving, supportive family that is helping me stay positive and focused on the other enriching aspects of my life so it’s not always about the pain-PAIN-PAIN as it can so easily become in such circumstances.  And I have a really good heating pad.



Me and my current BFF



I am so lucky and so blessed.  Yes, unfortunately my workout frequency has reduced but I celebrate the ones I do get in.  And my marathon training runs have had to be put on hold as I modify to lower impact activities.  I’m an emotional eater, so it’s been tough to fight the urge to comfort binge, but I’ve been somewhat successful in compromising with myself (Okay, you can have 5 Cadbury mini eggs AFTER you munch on an apple).  I haven’t been perfect, but, again, I’m celebrating my small successes.  I’m trying to take control in some of the situations that I actually CAN control which is important to me when I’ve been rendered so powerless in this one major issue right now.

I’m a whiner, so I’m always going to complain about my problems, but I feel it’s a total cop-out if we allow them to overwhelm anything positive we can still squeeze out of life.  Count your blessings… because they’re there, and they’re plentiful.