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I am Still Recovering from Injury

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This was me one year ago. 

I have never really broken anything before.  Growing up I had the usual scrapes and bruises, but nothing that required a trip to the Emergency Room.

I went to the ER more with my own kids than my folks did with me.  We, Doug and I, used to watch the calendar each year as it came time for our son’s birthday and think “this was going to be that year without a visit to the Emergency Room, but one year we actually had to rock, paper, scissors for who stayed at home with a house full of preteen boys and who went to the ER with his latest injury, on the day of his party.  It was mostly stitches, too many concussions, some dislocations, we had two trips with one of our girls right from school.  To this day, she holds it over him.  He had more injuries, hers were with an ambulance. But their recovery from their injuries was so quick, kids.

Maybe part of me felt a little left out.  

No, not really.  Actually definitely not.  But, sometimes things just happen.

We had gone to the gym like normal, on the day IT happened, we had trained in our Olympic Weightlifting again like normal.  We had moved on to a few accessory pieces.  These are usually things that help strengthen specific muscles. In our routine, they are typically done at the end of the workout. I was on a piece of equipment that was meant for me to do some back exercises.  I had done two or three sets and was just setting myself to do the last set and that is when I had my “senior moment” as I call it.  I fell off of the equipment.

It happened in slow motion both in my mind and as Doug watched me go.  I kind of somersaulted forward, falling about three feet toward the floor.  But my barbell was right in front of me so I landed on it and as a result, my hand tried to break my fall but only succeeded in breaking.

The barbell squirted out from underneath me and made some noise as it hit other weights so the whole gym full of young 20-30 ish ‘kids’ turned to see me in the middle of the floor.  All I wanted to do was play dead and maybe they wouldn’t see me. I was so embarrassed.  The funny thing at the time was that my leg hurt more than my hand.  I had landed right on the barbell, I thought I may have broken my leg, my hand wasn’t even a concern.

Everyone helped me up like a little old lady.  I was now just trying to keep my composure.  The shock of what had happened was just setting in and I started to feel some pain.  Funny how long that part took to set in.  As I sat trying to figure out what actually hurt, I realized that my leg hurt, but my hand didn’t feel right.  It was actually starting to swell.

We left, grabbed an ice pack and I finally conceded that I needed to have it looked at.

One of the reasons I had hesitated was that this was Friday the 13.  It was also a full moon.  It just seemed a recipe for a really long night in the ER.

We must have beat the rush that night because it was surprisingly quiet while we were there.  When the doc was showing us the Xrays and I saw this big obvious break I was actually relieved.  That may seem weird but it validated the pain that I was now in.  Hooray, I wasn’t one of those people who are overly dramatic about a little bruise.  Then reality set in.  

I broke my hand.  

  • Ok, maybe being a little dramatic would be ok now. 
  • Maybe a little bruised, and a good story would be just fine. 
  • Maybe I could deal with just the embarrassment of what happened.  
  • But, nope, now we had to see a hand surgeon and find out what was the next step.

As it turned out, surgery was the next step.  I waited a week and had my first surgery in a very long time. And then began the hardest part, a very long road to recovery.  I was back in the gym the next week.  I went to support Doug, I really had no idea about what the next steps would be.

The surgery went as well as could be expected.  That was the easy part.  The recovery was more inconvenient than anything.  I was still going to the gym three times a week.  My workouts were completely altered, but I still managed to get a great workout in.  The hand was in a soft kind of protection, so no hard cast.  That meant I could not get it wet.  That part was a pain. I kept it elevated when I could, to help keep the swelling down.  Doing simple things were no longer simple, but at the end of 9 weeks, the cast came off and the hard part really began.

Now I had the chore to try to use this useless hand.  I had no idea how useless it would be.  My wrist was so week and didn’t move and most of my hand was swollen still.  It would take weeks and so many follow up appointments to get some use back in my hand.

And now, it's been a whole year and I am still recovering from this injury

It still doesn’t work right.  My wrist is mostly back to normal.  The bone in my hand healed perfectly buy my pinky still won’t cooperate.  It won’t bend so I have trouble gripping things.  Typing is a pain in the blog, when I use my pinky, it hits the ‘all caps’ button so I am now typing like a chicken, hunt and peck.  It still aches from time to time.  I have learned to work around it.  I may have to concede once again and go back to the doctor to see if this will be permanent or will it ever be normal again.

But through all of this, my nail tech has done wonders and my nails still look amazing.

The joys of aging.

Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble.

Benjamin Franklin

I am a Certified Nutrition Coach!

I am a certified nutrition coach!

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You might say, that’s nice, so what?

That means I can help you learn to eat in a way that helps your body perform the way it was meant to.

Well, for me, that’s a big deal.  


First of all, I never thought that I would ever want to go back to school, even in an online school.  Once out of high school, I did go to college.  I did take some classes through work after that, but once I became a Mom, my whole world changed, and my focus was on my family.

That was a long time ago now.  My kids are all grown and I am now watching my grandkids grow.  So part of me actually thought that I would be too old to take on ‘new learning’.

That seems to be a theme for me, I lack self-esteem.  That, however, is another blog post.  

I had been working out in the gym consistently for a few years and had started writing and I felt that there was more that I needed to do.  I asked around, what was the next step that I should take?  Should I look into personal training or nutrition training?  I was drawn to nutrition training.

For the first time in over thirty years, I was eager to learn more.  It wasn’t until I really thought about taking some courses that I realized that I had been learning all sorts of new stuff in the last few years.  

  • Going to the gym was a new thing when I started and I really loved the gym experience.  
  • I had managed to raise three kids and learned all sorts of things for them.  
  • I had learned to cook and bake, clean, and garden.
  • Writing for you on this blog, boy that was a stretch.

I was ready to learn more about what we eat, how it makes our bodies work, and push my mind to the next level in learning.

Precision Nutrition came very highly recommended.  I did my research and jumped in, well maybe tiptoed in.

Admittedly the course took me longer than I wanted it to, but that was not because I couldn’t keep up, it was because of life kind-of intercepted my focus.  But once I got back on track, my mind loved the learning and I managed to soak up all they had to teach me.

What’s next?

With my new-found title, Nutrition Coach, I have the knowledge to create meal plans to help people clean up their eating habits.  If that means losing weight, I can help.  If that means having a more focused eating plan, fewer carbs, fewer animal products, higher energy, even gaining weight, I can help.  I can help you eat clean.  Eat less processed foods.  I can even help you to learn how to shop, groceries that is.

Most of us have grown up in a time where easy, quick, simple was the goal of our meals.  Moms had gone back to work and the world still put the responsibilities on their shoulders to work full time and feed the family too.  So meals were quick, lacking nutrition, and the meal’s goal was just to feed.  

Also, most of us really never learned what food does to us and for us.  We don’t know why we should eat … fill in the blank.  Most of us go to the doctor for advice and they are supposed to have all the answers.  I believe we should know what it takes to feed ourselves.  Now, more than ever I completely understand that.

I hope you will come along with me and focus on the ways that we can learn to eat cleaner, healthier, heal our bodies through food, and enjoy the journey of healthy eating.

Nutrition is so important. It can't be stressed enough.

Dwayne Johnson

I Was So Proud Until I Wasn’t

I have been getting back to working hard on lifting more weight in the gym.  I am certainly not the strongest in the gym.  I am really nowhere near the youngest in the gym.  I am pretty certain that I may be close to the oldest woman in our gym.  But I don’t care about those things.  I know that I can’t do anything about those things.  I can only control myself.  Or can I?

This last week was a really big week for me.  It wasn’t  ‘life-changing big’, but things have been just kind of flowing along and it was nice to have something good come along.

We have had a new routine in our gym.  Classes have shuffled. We have been doing a new system lately.  It seems to be something that my body is responding to.  More weightlifting and less cardio.

Monday was – find a challenging, but good, snatch lift.  That meant that it was time to pick up my courage and add some extra weight to my lift, but not at the cost of good form.  Unlike other gyms where I have gone, my form is very important to my trainers.  If I lift heavy, but my form is wrong, they will make me lower my weight until I can lift with good form.  On a side note, not all gyms operate this way, but it’s the right way to lift without hurting yourself.  So I lifted and WOW, it was a personal record, cool!  

I eventually went on to another exercise, bench press.  I was supposed to find a heavy set of 8.  Wouldn’t you know, it was also a personal record.  I was so excited. Two pr’s in one day.  On Wednesday, my next day at the gym, I was to do the same thing, find a challenging clean and jerk.  With a lot of persuasions and a lot of encouragement, I also did a personal record.  That was three in one week.  

I was so happy with myself.  I felt strong! 

I felt empowered!  My coach was proud of me.  I rarely let myself feel this proud of myself.  Then came reality crashing down on me.  My coach took a video of my two heavy lifts, the snatch, and clean and jerk.  

As soon as each video started, my mood ran out of the room.  All I could see was my faults.  I saw my fat tummy.  I saw my form was not perfect.  I thought “is that what my hair looked like?” My legs were jiggling, my butt was jiggling, where were those strong muscles that I thought I had?  That bar really isn’t that heavy!  Who did I think was to be proud? Proud of what?  I was crushed!

  • Why was it ok for me to feel this way?
  • What happened to how proud I felt?
  • Shame on me for being too proud!
  • What changed between what I did and what I saw?

I really believe we have all had these feelings at one time or another.  It doesn't make them right, as a matter of fact, these feelings are the things that keep so many people from achieving great things.  I really do have a great support system, but even with all this great system, self-doubt can and will creep in and try to sabotage a great thing.  The most challenging thing is what you do next.

As soon as I said some of these feelings out loud, I realized that these feelings need to go.  Easier said than done.  

If one of my friends had come to me with this issue, I would have jumped all over them with everything supportive that I could come up with.  If it had been one of my kids I would have died inside a little that I hadn’t supported my kids enough because these feelings were so wrong.  But this was me and apparently none of those supportive thoughts are applied to myself.

Once I told my husband how I was feeling he was so upset that I wasn’t allowing myself to celebrate.  Then I felt bad for him.

One of the common traits of a lifelong caregiver is that you naturally put everyone else’s needs, wants, desires ahead of your own.  Naturally, that is the trait of most stay at home moms, it is unfortunately really hard to transition out of and to learn to take care of yourself.

One of the biggest reasons that I go to the gym is because it is one of the very few things that I do for myself.  Probably the other thing is I get my nails done once a month, ooh baby.  Self-care is so important in whatever form it takes for you.

So clearly I have some self-confidence issues that I need to work on.  I need to realize that regardless of what my own criticism says, I really can do some great things.  I really need to do better at believing what others tell me over what self-doubt tells me.  If I expect to empower others, I need to allow my own thoughts to empower me, not hold me back.

So, here goes nothing;

  • At 53, I started a brand new very challenging new sport, Olympic weightlifting.
  • I am really proud of my lifting. 
  • I am very strong.
  • I am so happy with how much I have grown and learned.  
  • I am more powerful than I think.
  • and My nails are great 😉

Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.

Misty Copeland

10 Immune Boosting Foods

We should all be aware of what foods are actually good for us.  We are generally aware of the food that has no real value but we eat because its fun and tastes good. 

But are you aware of foods that can actually boost your immunity?

Surprisingly eating food to boost your immunity doesn’t have to be that hard.  As a matter of fact, this shortlist can be picked up at your local grocery store and can be part of your daily routine quite easily, in my opinion.

So here is a quick little list of immune-boosting foods; 

  1. Citrus fruits -These fruits are great because of their large dose of vitamin C.  Our bodies don’t produce or store it, so you need to get it daily.
  2. Red peppers -This is the biggest supplier of vitamin C in the veggie world.  They are also high in Vitamin A.
  3. Broccoli -Broccoli is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat.  It is high in antioxidants, Vit A, C, and E.
  4. Garlic -Garlic has been known for its health benefits for hundreds of years.  It has been known for fighting infections.
  5. Ginger -Ginger is great for sore throats, upset stomach, and fights inflammation
  6. Spinach -This is similar to broccoli, spinach is really high in Vit C, but on top of that, it is really high in antioxidants and beta carotene.
  7. Yogurt -This food is high in Vit D which is important in immune regulation in your body.  Just make sure you choose one that has live cultures like greek yogurt.
  8. Almonds -Not only are almonds full of healthy fats, but they are abundant in Vit E, which is another antioxidant.
  9. Sunflower seeds -These fun little seeds are full of Vit B-6, E, magnesium, and phosphorus.
  10. Turmeric -Not only is turmeric one of the best things to help fight inflammation, it also boosts the immune system.

You don’t need to consume these foods in mass quantities, but keep them in your diet is the best way to keep your immune system working at it’s best.

The do’s are drink lots of water, get enough fibre and carbs as well, as they are important. The don'ts are don't be too extreme with any diet; it can really end up harming your system and immunity.

Aditya Roy Kapur