Weight Loss Journey: week where I failed to do press-ups

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Week 7: Monday 22nd - Sunday 28th February 2021
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After an invigorating run on Sunday, where I pushed myself to my limits, and ran the furthest and fastest that I have done so far, Monday was a gentle recovery day. It was a gorgeous, sunny day, so I went out on a long lunchtime walk, with just some occasional 30 second bursts of gentle jogging here and there, concentrating mostly on trying to loosen my stiff calf and shin muscles.

It was also a very muddy day from all of the recent rain. I stopped to take plenty of photos of mud and ducks - here are a few photos from my route. My trainers definitely needed a good wash when I got home!

A muddy weight loss run around the Northern Meadows, Cardiff.

Press-ups

Tuesday is a morning PT session - and not an enjoyable one at that! It's all about so-called body-weight exercises - and as I still have a lot of excess body-weight at the moment - as well as a lack of strength in my core and upper body - this session feels like torture.

So far, I have been doing 'half press-ups' during my training sessions - resting on my knees, with my lower legs crossed over, just pressing up the top half of my body. Today my PT decides he's going to try to get me doing actual, proper, full press-ups.

That doesn't go well.

It generally involves me letting out long, loud "AAAAaaargh" noises, as I desperately tried to push myself up from the ground without breaking my back, followed by wails of, "I CAN'T do it!"

Followed by him saying, "Yes, you can! Now, lower yourself down, slowly..."

To which, I respond by immediately thudding back down, in a heap on the floor.

I think I manage three 'press-ups' - if you can call them that - before my PT releases me from my torture.

"I was pleased with those," he says.

Although, I can hear the doubt in his voice...

Burnout

On Wednesday morning I awake feeling terrible. Mildly Sneezy. Ulcers in my mouth. Lacking in energy and generally aching all over.

I'm completely burnt out.

Now that I think about it, perhaps I have been over-doing it a bit. I've been very determined to keep increasing my activity levels, doing at least some form of exercise every day, even if on some days it is just walking, mixed with bursts of gentle jogging. I've been relentlessly pushing on despite my persisting shin splints, despite my aching joints and despite my increasingly aching-all-over body.

I feel that my body is now screaming out at me to take a proper rest and I feel that I should probably start to take note of what my body is trying to tell me.

So today I do nothing.

I spend most of the day working from the sofa whilst wrapped in a warm, wool blanket. I have a hot epsom salt bath in the evening, followed by a super-early night. I'm in bed by 8.30pm and am asleep within minutes.

Fruity and refreshed

On Thursday I awake bright and early at 7.30am, feeling very much refreshed! Clearly my rest day has paid off. I'm bursting to get going with exercising again but realise I probably shouldn't push things too soon. A gradual increase in activity over the next few days seems like a more sensible plan, to give my body a chance to fully recover.

So the plan for the next few days is to go on daily walks, gradually re-introducing increasing amounts of light jogging back into the walks, as the days progress. I'll also be doing plenty of stretching throughout the day, particularly concentrating on my legs to try to get rid of these annoying shin splints.

A full body stretch and recovery workout

I also search on the YouTube for some gentle stretching workouts to do in the evenings. I come across a 'full body stretch and recovery' video, which sounds promising. It turns out to be a good pick - I'm not particularly good at trying to copy movements - but the movements in this video are well explained and are relatively easy for me to follow:

On Sunday morning I wake up to a text from my PT:

"Good morning Lisa, all set for a good session today!!!!!!! No need for the mat, let's have lots of energy 😉💪"

I actually do feel energetic today. I feel really good. The last few days of self-care seem to have paid off. The session is a run with body-weight and movement exercises in-between the bursts of running and I genuinely enjoyed it - somehow all of the exercises seem a little less gruelling when they're mixed in with something I do enjoy - running.