26 years old and I've never felt better

Today is the day after my 26th birthday. It also happens to be 10 years after terrorists hijacked four planes and changed world events. Although some may be mourning today and the deaths of so many innocents, I want to celebrate life. I'm lucky to be here, and happy with how the last ten years have shaped me.

When I first started this blog, I wanted to document my recovery from my surgery. I did a poor job at that. I quickly became disinterested, coupled with an unstatisying relationship, home and life. I was having some fun, but I was pretty unfulfilled. My physical therapy went very well, but I finished with still some limited flexion in my left knee. Made it hard to do normal activities like crouching, squatting, even walking normally. Towards the end of PT I was doing more independent work and my trainer threw some random crossfit exercises in. I heard about crossfit from some friends at work. I even went to watch some games that a local gym put on. I was so intimidated by the work these women were doing that I only stayed for 10 minutes, dismayed that I would never be able to perform the way they did. I was jealous that their life was clearly better than mine and that they had worming joints whereas I had a quad the was smaller than the other and a knee that wouldn't bend all the way. The rest of last summer was a mixed bag of emotions, with a long distance boyfriend starting a new relationship before ending the one with me, interviewing for a job to save said relationship and realizing I was doing so many things for the wrong reasons, and just a general lack of energy. I had some fun, partying a bit and going on a few dates, but I wasn't really happy. And then I met Jon.

I'll include a longer version of our story later, but we met in Celtic crossing after I went to the fair with some of my friends. I had a bumblebee painted on my face. And this intrigued him enough to talk to me. We've been together ever since. He introduced me to his friend Doug, who owned the same gym that organized the local crossfit games. It is called Faction strength and conditioning, and three days after my 25th birthday I went to one day of their beginner fundamentals program, and became a member soon after. Since then I have learned to push myself past brinks if mental and physical boundaries, learned a ton about my body and nutrition, and I have found a fulfilling life. It includes an incredible man - he is the best thing that has happened to me.

So yesterday I turned 26. Last weekend I competed in those same games I spectated at a year ago. I did 30 days of no grains with Jon. I lost 4% body fat this summer. I still struggle with range of motion in my knee, but it has gotten better. And I moved in with Jon, we got a puppy and have essentially started a small family. So to explain what the next blog will be, Jon and I want to document our successes and struggles in our relationship, careers, education, nutrition, fitness, finance and life. I'll link the new blog to this one, and we will use it together. Hopefully it does as much for anyone else as it could do for us.

8 weeks post-op

So I'm at 8 weeks post-op. I managed to get to 115 degrees of flexion today, which is an increase of 10 from last week. My workouts have been getting increasingly harder, with my PT testing my flexibility, strength, balance, stability, everything. When I'm finished, I feel like I've run 6 miles. I'm sweaty, exhausted, and feel like collapsing. But it's the best part of my day.

I've been in therapy for 5 weeks now. I love having someone tell me what exercises to do, watching my form, and pushing me to work harder. I think once I'm done with therapy I might get a personal trainer twice a week to help me get back into real shape. I don't think my leg will be back to normal right away after therapy, and I enjoy working out with someone.

Hopefully only a few more weeks. Or months.

6 Weeks!

I finally got to lose the crutches. I had my 6 weeks post-op checkup with my doctor yesterday. He said that I am exactly where I should be. I have a little more than 90 degrees of flexion, although most of my muscle strength is non-existent. I can finally drop the crutches, and my brace is allowed to bend to 70 degrees (it has hinges on the side). This allows me to practice walking without my knee giving out and me falling on my face.

Therapy is going really well too. My toughest workout is seemingly the easiest. I have to flex my quad, which pushes the back of my knee into the ground. My therapist puts a blood pressure cuff slightly pumped up below my knee. I then push down and flex, and hold for 10 seconds at about 60 pounds, and I do that 20-30 times. The idea is to get my heel off the ground while doing that. ITS SO FREAKING HARD. And it's my goal.

Anyways, I'm getting better.

"Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it's better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring."

I'm feeling better. The inactivity gets to me, but I'm trying to deal with it. That's one of the worst parts about this... the boredom. I'm just going to have to get creative and figure out what I can do by myself that involves my leg being propped up. I shouldn't have to rely on other people for my happiness because I should be able to take care of myself. I'm used to being independent, and I want to continue being that way. I just can't carry things... and stairs are an obstacle :)

Therapy went well on Tuesday. I was able to do all of my exercises, and managed to get to 80 degrees of flexion. Thursday did not go so well. I should be with one therapist, and I was with a tech. He's my friend and I like him, but I needed someone with way more experience. After a few exercises, I was in tears, which is NOT good. After my therapist came over an evaluated what was going on, he told me that I'm on my feet too much. So I have to rest more.

It's better that I'm not going out or being active right now for the health of my knee. I don't need to aggravate anything or risk tendonitis.

Again, I'm feeling better. It was a down point, hopefully now will be more of an up.

I'm not going to lie, I've been pretty bummed

When I would get sad or upset about anything going on, I would go for a run, workout or something. I'm pretty limited in what I can do now, so the depression builds and builds and has no where to go. And this weekend hasn't helped. It's musicfest, I can't enjoy it. And my friends get so drunk at night that they forget or don't care to call me. Makes me feel pretty shitty and alone.

On a positive note, I start physical therapy. I'm at 70 degrees of flexion, but I have no strength on my left leg. I can't lift my leg straight up without the immobilizer on. And there is no muscle to flex. In three weeks I will hopefully regain some muscle and get to 90 degrees of flexion.

I'll be at therapy twice a week... I'll have updates after that. I really miss being active. I've been reading facebook updates of those who ran at the Flying Pig. I'm jealous of you all, but my ultimate goal is to run the full Flying Pig one year from now. I'm going to work hard to get there... Just need to regain muscle function by then.

I hope this makes me more informed and not sound elitist

I'm reading Food, Inc, and it is fascinating. I recommend it, not just to scare you into eating healthy, but to become informed, or at least more conscious. Other books to consider are The Omnivore's Dilemma, The Organic Manifesto, and Fast Food Nation. I'm hoping that putting these theories into practice now might translate into healthier decision later in life for myself and my family.

Check out these websites:
www.eatwellguide.org - farms, stores, or restaurant near us
www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/map.htm - farmers markets
www.sustainabletable.org/shop/questions - questions to ask a farmer
www.foodandwaterwatch.org - labeling fact sheet

Lack of mobility adds to weight gain... boooo

So I'm trying to change how and what I eat. Since I'm immobile/have limited mobility, I have to be very careful with what I eat. I'm not naturally skinny and I don't have a fast metabolism... without cardio it slows to a crawl. I talked to my cubicle neighbor and mimic a challenge he's doing; the paleolithic challenge.

I guess the theory (or hypothesis) is that we (humans) have changed our diets faster than we have evolved. Therefore, the foods that we eat can make us sick, contribute to allergies and could possibly even cause some diseases. Not to mention, we are primarily one of the only animals that drinks and seeks out another animal's milk, and drinks milk past infancy. It's a quick a easy way to get calcium, and most don't like the alternative methods of getting that nutrient (spinach, beans, oranges, soy products).

I'm not patient enough, nor do I possess the will power to give up all yummy foods. But I'm going to try to significantly cut back on breads, pastas, cheese, milk, sugar/corn syrup products, and processed foods. I'll add cheat days from time to time, but hopefully that will help diminish the carb roll I've got going on below my belly button. Plus I'll track my meals on this blog (posted weekly) and try to determine weight loss (it's tough to weigh myself when i can't fully weight bear). Also, this may help my health and add energy.

Here are me plans to achieve my goal:
1. Switch to soy milk (for cereals, coffee and drinking)
2. Eat more servings of veggies, fruits, meat and fish
3. Cut out cheese (tear... I love cheese), milk, and other dairy products. Start out slow, cutting back gradually
4. Snack on dried fruits and veggies
5. Eat more organic meats and organic veggies... Farmers' market is back and I'm excited!
6. Pay attention to my portions
7. Eat small meals more often
8. Keep a food log
9. Cut back drinking to once a week

The knee does better every day. I went to the hot wing festival on Saturday and had a great time. I think I'm going to try to invent a crutch cup holder though... that was a pain. I had to have my friends hold my cup every time I moved. I was exhausted by the end of the day and went home and stayed home that night, it was still nice to get out.