Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Improvement Through Movement {Weekly Summary}

For the next few weeks, I will keep track of many, but not all, of the stats I used to record. My current definition of "workout" is any physical activity that gets me up and moving more than in a normal c-section recovery day. So something like a half hour of light housework that involves more lifting and bending than usual would count, as would short outings and errands that have me on my feet longer than usual. Once the pain is gone and I'm cleared for all exercise beyond walking, I will get much stricter about what counts as a workout. And at that time, I will also tweak these stats to reflect the types of exercise I'll be focusing on then.

Weight: 219
Weekly Change: -1
Overall Change: -1 from post-baby "starting weight" of 220
Pregnancy Weight Lost: 25 lbs.
Pregnancy Weight Still to Lose: 5 lbs.
Next goal weight: 214 (pre-pregnancy weight)
BMI: 31.9 (obese)
Jeans Size: N/A -- haven't attempted jeans yet, still wearing just stretchy, soft clothes
Total "Workouts": 5
Highest Daily Step Count: unknown, but I hope to start using my pedometer soon to help gauge my progress
C-Section Recovery Report: In general, this recovery is going better than all of my previous ones. I don't know if there is actually less pain, or if I've finally gotten tough enough to tolerate the usual amount with minimal medication. I'm taking my ibuprofen around the clock, but have not even used a third of my oxycodone pills because I don't need them as frequently as I did in my past recoveries. I can lift my almost-2-year-old son, and carry him a short distance, but not too far and not too many times in one day. I can go up and down stairs without too much pain, but slowly and not while carrying anything heavy. I can bend to reach things on the floor, but not too many times before it starts to hurt. Getting up out of chairs and out of bed is hardly painful at all, which is a big difference from my other recoveries!
Last Week's Goal(s): N/A, didn't set any concrete goals.
Next Event Goal: Hoping to enter the Arlington 9/11 Memorial 5K again this year, even if I have to walk a lot of it.
This Week's Goals: (1) Go for at least one walk outside. (2) Start going up and down the stairs at least once each day. (3) Get a new battery for my pedometer so I can start keeping track of my daily steps.

I'm okay with how things are going so far. One of my OB's used the phrase "improvement through movement" when describing how I should approach my recovery, and I think I'm living up to that. I'm trying to get up and around as much as possible without overdoing it. Unfortunately, at this stage of the recovery, there is nothing more exciting to report than that. Hopefully each week I'll be getting more active and thus will have more interesting topics for this blog. I also might try to find time to bring back some of the post themes I was using last year, if possible. I'm not making any promises though. It might take me a while to manage more than one post per week. :)

1 comment:

  1. Proud of your resolve. I know this is a tough time of year for you but you have a huge cheering section even all the way in Summerville SC!! I will look forward to keeping track of your progress and if you need an accountability partner - let me know! Godspeed!!

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