Curse of the T-Rex Arms

Third exercise regret in 8 days culminating last Sunday. My co-worker diagnosed me with T-Rex Arms. The last two, I tried new exercise videos on youtube that didn’t seem that bad while doing them. They caught up with me later. My own fault on the last one. Suffice it to say, when you’ve done arm exercises without weights for so long and you decide to spice it up by using a little 1.5 pound weight, you shouldn’t start out with 60 reps just to show how long you can do it before getting tired. 30 probably would have been plenty. Maybe 20 each of several different arm exercises I’ve been doing. A little here and there, and it still adds up, right?

It’s surprising how much you use those arm and shoulder muscles throughout the day when you don’t realize it. Mainly hurt on one side, but that was enough. Took all week to be able to move freely again. Thus my aversion to soreness and going to quickly. It doesn’t pay off if you do so much that it hurts to move the rest of the week. Granted, I did find some fun seated Tai Chi things.

When Doctors Seem Clueless

I dislike how easy is to see only the negative reasons to lose weight. Maybe that’s more motivating? Still, it would be nice to have more positive motivation, more positivity in one’s life on the whole. Probably not realistic. What I see is that no doctor or health care provider will ever take you seriously or even want to treat you when you’re overweight. In the last few weeks I’ve been given the diagnosis of edema, baker’s cyst, water retention, and “nothing’s wrong with you, your body is shaped weird” for pain in my leg and swelling in my leg and knee. One doctor wanted an MRI without even looking at it. Hmm. In other words, any remedy such as rest, ice, or massage might help or make it worse. Resting and staying off it could help it heal, or make it worse, since I’ve been staying off my foot for months now, with the plantar fasciitis issue. We were finally building back up over 3000 steps in a day. Even doing that in small chunks hurt my foot, let alone all at once. So first we had a nice serving of guilt that this is all my fault because I haven’t been active enough. And bottom line, it appears I have to figure things out for myself because urgent care places only want to make sure you’re not dying, and regular doctors don’t have openings for 2-4 months to see you in the first place. They ruled out blood clot, which is nice, but otherwise, I’m on my own. Sure, I could get an MRI, but places are asking for payment up front these days, and depending on the time used, those can run a few thousand dollars. In addition, I have an MRI coming up for my cancer watch thing, so I kind of cringe having two of them, when I certainly wonder if it’s needed for my knee, when, as mentioned, the doctor wouldn’t even look at it. Telehealth is wonderful to get a quick appointment, but I’m not sure all situations are best treated that way. Of course, I’m not the expert. I’m only at their mercy, and I can tell you most of them hate treating overweight patients, because we bring all this on ourselves, even if we’re eating to that we no longer like food and still can’t lose much weight. Three months and I still haven’t gotten to the 10% mini milestone that is supposed to be worth noting.

The Great Fitness Tracker Debate

Ah, the fitness tracker conundrum. To get one, or be completely intrinsically motivated by the pure joy of activity. Yeah, right. I tend to not get the expensive stuff, but I definitely see how it can be motivating to track and improve, especially when perception can be subjective and change with time. Trackers can be more quantitative, and occasionally even qualitative. Why do I hem and haw? If I’m going to buy something that in my book is “expensive” (more than $10 for a crappy pedometer) I want it to be somewhat of an investment. I know nothing lasts forever, but I’d like it to no be a waste of money. Years ago, after a ridiculous amount of consideration, I purchased a Fitbit as such an investment. Loved using is and seeing all the activity I got in during the time I would normally not wear a pedometer (wrist vs. attaching to other wardrobe items). It gave silly little rewards for accomplishments, one could challenge friends who had Fitbits, and I enjoyed it until it died a year later. Barely outside the warrantee, I was disappointed and not about to buy another one if they only last a year. They did send me a replacement, which didn't work at all. Sure, it might not last 10 years, but come on. I don’t have that much money to throw away for $100+ every year. Lately I wondered if I could benefit from a less expensive tracker, so I went googling. I found a discontinued, but new Fitbit (vs. used) at a reasonable price, which opened the door of comparison of all the others. Sure, this model is $40 more, but is it worth that $40? Then the next model up is only $30 more above that . . .

See, the other problem was reviews for all the cheaper ones really suck. Sure, you shouldn’t expect the world out of a $50 tracker, but when 20% of the reviews are 1 star, and the total average is 3 star, it seems like what’s the point? Maybe it is better to pay $80 for a 4+ star if I get the warrantee. Yes, warrantees are stupid and one should not need to get them, but if it’s going to guarantee I can use it for 2-3 years instead of one, I’ll buy the dang thing. Average cost per year would still be less if it means I can use it that long. Again, the Fitbit was great while it lasted.

No, I don't want a smartwatch or the bulkier versions.

Mantra

Think I stumbled upon a new personal mantra. Its not exactly encouraging, but oh well. “This is the plan, this is what we’re doing, this is not optional.” Yeah. Like how you of bed every morning, and go to work because you simply have to. Even if you hate or your job, or you don’t like it or feel like it saps every ounce of energy you can muster. You have to pay bills so it’s simply not a question. So I thought, ok, maybe if I keep doing this healthier eating and exercise, whether I feel like it or not . . . maybe that’s the secret to keep going. You don’t have to like it. You just have to do it.