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Weight Training Update

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I wanted to give an update on the strength training and the T25. 🙂 I have temporarily shelved the T25, but have plans to return to it once I get stronger. I found that although it didn’t bother my hip, it was starting to bother my knees….which I found strange. Again, I think it’s the strength issue. I think my joints need more muscular support from all the “helper muscles” to keep my joints stable when going through the T25 routines. Also the extra weight I am trying to lose is a factor in any joint pain from the lower back and hip on down. So for now it’s shelved but I will pick it back up again.

I did start lifting at work like I had planned. Kirmayer Fitness Center at KU Medical Center has an awesome weight area, two areas in fact. I headed for the machine area and I loved all of them. I had to overcome my inherent shyness because I picked the busiest day of the summer (when they were holding a student resources fair in Kirmayer) to begin my weight training and both areas were very busy. But I didn’t let it deter me and I felt good about making the effort.

Then my sister found a personal trainer here in town that used to work at Haskell as their certified trainer for their athletic department. She visited with him and discovered he was running an intro special on individual training sessions. He does Olympic-style weight lifting, something I didn’t have a clue about but was interested in. So Sharon set us up with an appointment last week and I’m heading into my 3rd session with Travis.

I was able to visit with him before we started our first session and I told him my health history and my goals. He did an excellent job of explaining how Olympic-style weight lifting will benefit me and my hip OA. He is very personable and very encouraging. You can tell immediately how knowledgeable he is about his work. From what he shared with me, Olympic-style weight lifting is all about learning how to do the “Clean and Jerk”, and I am fortunate that he is acquainted with a power lifter who has gone through total hip replacement surgery and still returned to lifting heavy

My sister and I are doing 2 individual training sessions per week with Travis. It’s fun working out with my sister again, so I am very grateful to her for finding this and encouraging me to try it. Right now we are all about learning technique and proper form. I really like how I can feel the different muscles in my back firing as well as the muscles that I know need to be strengthened around my hips and legs. We are learning at a good pace where I can tell later that day (or the next day) that I’ve put in some work, but I can still move around. My favorite thing about this is that it’s brand new to me….so it’s really interesting. I’m learning something new and it’s helped immensely at getting me motivated to lift again.

Travis has just created a website for those in my area that may be interested. Here is the link:
http://www.travisbarrett.com/

He also has a Facebook page, Barrett Sport Performance LLC.

I’ll update this later as I progress through this individual training program. I have another session today and I’m looking forward to it. 🙂

Strength Training Motivation….finally.

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I’ve been having a great summer so far. Dancing when we can, and doing alot of sewing. Different factors determine how my arthritis feels from day to day….my diet, the weather, if my hip is out, etc. I’ve noticed that my recovery time from dancing at powwows is longer than it used to be. I’m very sore until Wednesday following a powwow. It makes it difficult to work-out on a regular basis between powwows because some days I am so sore that I can’t bring myself to go to the gym and it hurts to walk. I just try to be patient, try to manage the inflammation with my diet and rest, but it is taking a toll on my conditioning.

I danced at Prairie Island Wacipi 2 weekends ago. A family “adopted” me, took me as a daughter in that community, so it’s always felt like my 2nd home. My adopted dad has been gone for 10 years now, and this year dancing in his home community was the best experience I’ve had in years.

That wonderful spirit I felt in the arena, and outside of the arena….getting to visit with friends I had only known through FaceBook, seeing old friends I haven’t seen in years, and having so much fun dancing and spending time with my family and extended family….was such a good experience that it’s hard to put into words.

What I can describe is how it has motivated me since then. Yes, it still took several days after we returned home from PI to stop being sore. Took several days to feel rested. But I found a renewed interest in strength building after PI. I used to lift weights regularly, it always enhanced my running and dancing and other training. But ever since I had my 2nd baby, I have had ZERO desire to get back into the weight room. And my 2nd baby is 8 years old now. Something about dancing at PI this year made me want to get stronger….not like dance for 10 songs strong (which I can’t do right now anyway), but to really concentrate on increasing my muscle mass. I think I’ve realized that my path back to running and to continuing to dance will not rely on cardio conditioning alone. I need to focus on getting stronger. If I have strong muscles, those will support my joints more effectively. Did I mention before how darn heavy my new beadwork and shawls are?? Yes…strong muscles will help me support my heavy outfit too. Lol.

So tonight I headed for the stadium steps. When I was recovering from my 2 C-sections (not by choice) and I wasn’t cleared to run, I walked. Walking quickly became boring and I couldn’t seem to get my heart-rate up. So I started walking stadium stairs. That was the fastest way to safely increase my cardio and muscle mass. And it helped immensely with my dancing. Today I picked up my kids and nephew from bible school and we headed for the track. I did 1.5 stadiums and sets of girl push-ups (yes, GIRL push-ups…gotta start somewhere) in between stadium sides. I thought about doing another half a stadium, but I’m trying to train smart and not over-do it when I haven’t walked steps in forever. My kids did a run/walk program I downloaded on my phone around the track while I was on the stairs.

Tomorrow I’m going to get on the elliptical only long enough to warm up and then I’m hitting the weights at the fitness center at my work. Free weights, some machines and some planks. I’ll announce when tickets to the “GUN SHOW” are ready to go on sale….hahahaha.

My search for wellness continues….it’s a constant learning process as I figure out how to best deal with osteo-arthritis. But I feel like I’m still moving forward and that’s what matters most to me. It matters that I keep trying. It matters that I don’t give in to OA. It matters that I still have a goal of running one of these days. I refuse to give up on my own health.

#GoDownSwinging

Motivation….that elusive “thing”

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I have osteoarthritis in both hips. I am only 46 years old and I am looking at total hip replacement surgery sometime down the line. It’s hard for me to run because of the ensuing joint pain and I’m losing range of motion in my right hip. It’s painful to tie my shoes or tape up my moccasins when I dance. I can’t dance the way I used to even 2 years ago….I have to modify several of my steps or just not do them.

I am getting a good lesson in dealing with a chronic condition….like diabetes or lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. It’s hard. It’s hard to get motivated to find what works to manage the pain. It’s hard and very emotional when I look at what may be down the line for me…it’s hard when I think about losing the things that have been such a big part of me for so long. Like running and shawl dancing. I have a lot of ups and downs and it’s hard to tell anyone about it because I don’t want to drag anyone down, and I don’t feel very many understand. I just recently went through a very difficult and emotional time, one of several that I’ve experienced in the last 20 months.

But this week I have felt awesome. Really really good. I feel like I have found and gotten a good grip on that thing that health educators talk about all the time…”motivation”.  Defined as “the general desire or willingness of someone to do something.” In order to make positive change, we must be motivated to do so. I remember working a social work job and one of the social work specialists said, “They don’t train us in this job how to motivate people to change.” Which is true. While psychologists or public health workers can be trained in motivational interviewing (a technique used to evaluate the level of a person’s willingness to change and help push them forward), most people in the helping professions are at a loss as to how to motivate people.

There are 2 types of motivation: “Intrinsic” and “Extrinsic”. Extrinsic motivation is where your motivation comes from an external source….like getting good grades because your parents offer to pay you for every A on your report card, or buying you something if you make the Dean’s List. There are endless examples of extrinsic motivation….but this type of motivation is short-lived. It may last until the reward has been earned and then it’s gone. It may disappear before the reward is earned if the reward seems too far away or unattainable. Point is, It doesn’t last long. Intrinsic motivation, is the internal desire to change….it can be based on some type of perceived reward or fear that hits close to home. My best example of that is when a grandparent makes long-term changes to their health regimen in order to be able to see their grandchildren grow up. Or a person decides to lose weight or exercise more, not because they want to improve their appearance alone, but because they want to FEEL better both physically and emotionally.

My motivation has had some severe ups and downs since my diagnosis. I believe I’ve had a string of short-term motivated times because my motivation has been extrinsic…I’ve been motivated to do my PT exercises until I felt it wasn’t really helping the pain or help me get back to running. I’ve been motivated to just keep doing what I’ve been doing, kind of like rebelling against my OA, only to be struck down by debilitating joint pain. I’ve been motivated to try all different kinds of supplements until I overdid my activity and felt miserable because of the pain.

These days I feel very motivated. And I believe the positive vibe I have going is because I’m finally sorting out everything I have tried before, which includes changes in diet, supplements, hot yoga, biking, reaching out to friends and family, and changing my way of thinking of my dance career. A few weeks ago I was looking at the near-end of my shawl dance career….I thought that I could last another year or two at the most and then I would be done. And when that sunk in, I grieved….like I was losing a life-friend. Thankfully my friends, my companion, and my family pulled me out of that pit of despair. I have a sense of hope now….which feels brand new to me. And I have a deep-seated confidence, which is also new, that I will achieve my wellness goals that I have altered in a positive and realistic way. Both of those feelings, the hope and the confidence, have boosted my motivation.

My motivation comes now from knowing that I can manage my OA pain. It’s not hopeless. A good quality of life is not out of my reach.  I’ve had several weeks of pain-free joints and I’m confident that what I’m doing is working and that I can continue. I KNOW what works now. Limiting carbohydrates in my diet, taking some supplements that are working, including Xyngular’s Global Blend, alfalfa, Omega-3, a B-complex, and drinking my turmeric tea. Drinking alot of water. Eating alot of nutrient rich vegetables. Avoiding commercially raised feed-lot red meat and switching to grass-fed beef. I love the elliptical machine…it feels like I’m running without the joint pain. Stretching, I am learning to love and get better at. And getting my rest. My motivation increases each day that I wake and can walk with little to no pain. And my shawl dancing….we’ll see how that goes. But I’m hopeful. I’m focused and grateful for what my body can do….instead of obsessing about what it can’t do. I’m looking at all I have to gain with maintaining these positive changes, instead of thinking about what I am losing. When I make food choices in a restaurant I think about what will help me the most, and that means selecting salmon and spinach and broccoli and giving away my bread and NOT ordering dessert. I don’t think about HAVING to give up a French Dip sandwich or a slice of lemon meringue pie, I think about all the good things the salmon and the Omega-3 and all those green veggies will do for my body and my joints. So my motivation comes from a place of positive thinking, encouragement, helping and healing my body. Because I want to feel better. I love how I feel when I do these things. The changes make my bad days not so bad and make the good days that much better. I’m making myself better, which will make me better for all those around me.

I really want to publicly thank my husband Joe B…who has had to put up with my mood swings but he never gives in to my negative thinking. And I want to thank my sister Sharon who is my biggest cheerleader and always finding new things for me to try. My sister Sandy, who with my sister Sharon, always keeps it real with me, and my BFF, my Maske, Erica….my example of perseverance through tough times. My brother Elwood because he has no idea of how special he is to me. Special acknowledgement and thanks to Mike LaFrombois and Kevin Tacan….the male version of “maske” for me. They both have such positive outlooks even with all they deal with, and lend me their good vibes all the time. They are excellent listeners, and Kevin recommended the alfalfa supplements. These people help hold me up even if they don’t realize it, and I’m eternally grateful. Wopida tanka to each of you, and to the others I didn’t mention (you know who you are) who have helped me in any way.

Trying a New Exercise Regimen: Focus T25

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I love to run. L.O.V.E. it. But with my hip arthritis its been a challenge to run consistently. I’ve been trying several different activities, seeking an alternative to running that’s easier on my joints but gives me as much satisfaction as running has in the past. Also trying to find an exercise regimen that will get me in shape for powwow season. Although I enjoy biking, it hasn’t really clicked with me yet, and walking for too long bothers my hip. I can’t always get to the stadium to walk the stairs either. I miss being able to just run out my door and around the neighborhood when I find myself with a spare 20-45 minutes. P90X is very time-intensive. I love to swim but getting to the pool is proving daunting as well. And even though I L.O.V.E. Bikram yoga, I can’t afford to go as often as I would like. I tend to have some “All or None” tendencies, so finding a healthy balance is also a challenge.

So….at a powwow in Ann Arbor, MI recently, I noticed that I am struggling to carry my old school flat-fringe shawl and my new beloved floral beadwork through 2 contest songs. The shawl and beadwork are both surprisingly heavy, and I need to get stronger just to wear them for contests. At the powwow I also noticed how in shape one of my shawl dance sisters appeared to be. So I complimented her on her conditioning at the end of the powwow. She immediately recommended Sean T’s Focus T25. She said she tried Insanity the year prior but as a busy mom and studio owner, she didn’t have the time to do an hour per day, and she said she felt tired all the time. She liked T25, said it didn’t bother the knee that she has trouble with, and said I would notice a difference after 1 week.  She had been doing the workouts for 10 days and said she felt alot better dancing during contest. So I came home and promtly ordered the workout series. Lol.

I am going to blog about my T25 experience because I think I need to share my struggles with wellness, with the challenges I have been presented with in terms of physical limitations, time, children, work, and finances. A few of my friends believe that I’ve never had a weight problem and that’s it’s “easy” for me to maintain my weight. It’s work, like everything else in life is. I’m concerned about maintaining lean muscle mass as I get older (I just turned 46 a few weeks ago) especially with not being able to train like I did 10-12 years ago. And if I can bring my weight lower it will ease some of the stress on my joints and make my arthritis easier to manage without getting cortisone shots. I have alot of reasons for wanting to do this, all of them for me and wanting to feel better and be able to continue to do the things I love to do….and modeling the behavior I want my children to emulate.

Focus T25 is a 10-week program. 5 workouts per week, the first 5 weeks is the “Alpha” series, the 2nd 5 weeks is the “Beta” series. And it’s just 25 intense minutes per day. That’s the draw for me. I received a nutrition guide and it looks as though I will need 1600 calories per day. The 5-Day Fast Track has a more limited calorie amount to get fast results in the first 5 days. All whole foods, except that they push BeachBody’s “Shakeology”. I am not going to buy into the Shakeology, I feel I can come up with plenty of good things to eat without the powdered meal supplement. Plus it’s too expensive….but I really just want to do this with my own whole foods. I had to take a “Before” picture and am promised a free t-shirt if I follow the program and submit my “Before” and “After” photos.

I just finished Day 2 of Focus T25. Yesterday was Core Cardio and today was Speed 1.0. Both workouts were very intense…but I was able to do almost all the exercises right along with Sean T and company. I had to modify 1 exercise yesterday and 1 exercise today because I couldn’t do them with my hip…but they have a lady that shows the modifications throughout the entire workout. Speed 1.0 actually had some moves similar to fancy shawl dancing…lol. That similarity is what helped me power through the tough parts of the workouts though.

The first workout, although intense, left me feeling energized. I was very sore yesterday, but not sore enough to avoid today’s workout. I experienced the same feeling of having energy. I still have that energy….I just feel good today. And I was so happy to discover that the exercises do NOT bother my hip!!

I’m looking forward to the next 3 days of my Week 1. I’m also hoping that blogging about it will help keep me accountable and help keep me consistent. I have no excuses, it’s only 25 minutes per day!! I did it the past 2 mornings before my kids got up for school, tomorrow I have the day off and can relax a little and do it after my kids go to school. I’m optimistic and excited about this.

So stay tuned for progress reports…..lol.

Need your daily fruits and veggies? Make smoothies!!

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We are doing our Nutrition unit in my diabetes class and we discussed the number of fruit and vegetable servings that people need each day (5-7). A smoothie can be a really good meal/snack and a very efficient way to get your fruits and veggies in. I prefer making a smoothie to “juicing” because when you juice fruits and veggies it just extracts the liquid and the fructose, leaving you with a simple carbohydrate (read “sugar”). The pulp is left in the bottom tray of the juice machine and discarded, but that’s the important part….the pulp contains the fiber of the fruits and veggies. Whole fruits and veggies have a high water content, fructose, nutrients, and FIBER which is important to heart health, colon health, and keeping your digestive system running like a well-oiled machine. Your body has to work harder to break down whole fruits and veggies due to the fiber so it slows down the blood sugar spike that can occur when you drink fruit juice alone. Smoothies are the way to go. Although the blender breaks down some of the food for you, smoothies are still a healthier alternative to any kind of juice.

I have four “go-to” smoothie recipes. My kids like some of them, Joe B likes all of them, except for the new one I came up with this morning because he hasn’t tried it yet. One of them I got online and the others are variations of recipes I’ve seen on-line. Easy to make and I love the fact that I can get a couple of servings of fruit and vegetables consumed in one shot.

Green Monster Smoothie (courtesy of “Fit Mama” and motivational speaker Erin Brown): 1 Cup of milk (I use unsweetened almond milk for myself, 1% organic milk for the Swirlies), 1 banana, 2 Cups of Spinach. Optional: I will add half a scoop of organic whey vanilla flavored protein powder to give it smoother, more creamy texture. Feel free to add a little bit of maple syrup or stevia if it’s not sweet enough (although the bananas add plenty of sweetness). Make sure the put the spinach on the bottom of the blender and the rest of the ingredients on top so it doesn’t fly up and stick to the lid. And add some ice, it will feel like a milkshake. Shelby’s favorite smoothie to date. Makes 1 large serving or 2 Swirlie sized servings. http://www.fitmamatraining.com

Green Kale/Cucumber/Apple/Pineapple Smoothie (2 Servings): 2 Cups Kale (or spinach), 1 cup peeled diced cucumber (i use seedless cucumbers), 1 diced apple (leave the peel on, use any apple of choice), 1 C diced pineapple, 1 C water, 1 C ice, 1-2 packets of Stevia. Optional: 2 tsp. Omega-3-oil supplement. Put the leafy greens at the bottom of the blender and layer the rest of the ingredients. Blend until smooth. Joe B’s favorite smoothie. Even some of my students have tried this and like it, bright green color and all. 🙂 I didn’t see a recipe for this, I just used what I thought sounded good.

Peanut Butter Protein Smoothie (serves 1):  1 C unsweetened Almond Milk, 2 Tbs natural peanut butter, 1 scoop organic chocolate whey protein powder (make sure there are no more than 2 g of carbs per serving), handful of ice. I take this smoothie on the road with us to powwows and this is mine and Joe B’s breakfast in the morning. I bring my Magic Bullet and my protein powder. I usually find the milk and PB when I get there, or I bring it in a cooler. Good power protein breakfast and this also makes a good workout recovery drink.

Cherry Almond Smoothie (serves 1): Just tried this out this morning. Modified a recipe I saw on Pinterest. 1 C frozen cherries, 1 handful of spinach, 1/2 C unsweetened almond milk, 1/2 C greek yogurt (I use regular, full-fat greek yogurt), I threw in some sliced almonds and a little dab of maple syrup. It was delicious! The recipe I saw on Sweet Peas and Saffron’s website (www.sweatpeasandsaffron) called for almond extract instead of the sliced almonds (I didn’t have any extract) and omitted the spinach. I added so I could get the leafy greens. And it called for 1/2 tsp of honey but I just added a very small drizzle of maple syrup, I knew the cherries would make it very sweet.

I’m sure I’ll add more blog entries like this when I try different smoothie combinations. Drinking fruit and veggie smoothies consistently does wonders for your energy, your mood, your skin, etc. You will be surprised how your body responds to really nutritious foods on the regular.

Eating is complicated….

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I teach a class called “Diabetes and the Native Americans”. I took over teaching this class seven years ago and it has morphed from a wellness/exercise class to a culturally-tailored, science-based course on how type 2 diabetes impacts Native populations. We discuss risk factors, symptoms, diagnostic tests, complications, in addition to the history of Native health and all the legislation that has impacted our population’s health. During the unit where we discuss prevention and management, we discuss eating. Just a whole lecture or two devoted to just how and why we eat.

I first read this book in August of 2008. I was overweight, having gained weight from breaking my foot the previous summer, and had difficulty motivating myself to track calories and keep up with my food journal. I don’t remember what made me buy this book (“Mindless Eating” by Brian Wansink, PhD), but I read it on the way back from a powwow in Michigan. It was eye-opening. And my first insight into the complicated maze of the psychology of eating.

There is so much fascinating information in this book: food labs to research exclusively what will make us eat more, “health halos”, why we seek comfort foods, how labeling and marketing campaigns convince us to buy more/eat more, and what was most interesting to me….the different “cues” to let us know when to stop eating. I didn’t realize that we are socialized to know when to stop eating.

For example….as in the book, I ask my class “When do you know that you have had enough food? When do you know when to stop eating?” I get all kinds of answers. “When I fall asleep”, or “When I have to unbutton the top button of my jeans”, or “When I have to change into stretchy pants”, or “When my plate is clean” or “When I’m full”. I got similar answers to what Dr. Wansink lists in his book. I catch myself telling my kids “just 2 more bites” which means I am socializing them to eat more as well (I have since made a concerted effort to not do that).

I read in his book that eating until you are full, and “eating until you are no longer hungry” are two entirely different things. He went on to describe how there can be a 25% caloric intake difference by stopping eating when you no longer experience hunger, as opposed to when you feel full. I like the examples he gave from France and Japan and how they are socialized to eat until they are no longer hungry. In the U.S., the love of Golden Corral restaurants (my husband’s favorite) and the proliferation of casino buffets, we tend to encourage eating until we pass the point of being full. Although I am well-acquainted with the concept of “eating until you are satisfied”, that phrase never truly clicked with me….but eating until I wasn’t hungry anymore did click (*lightbulb!!*)

So I had to see for myself. After getting back from Michigan and thinking about the concept of “eating until I wasn’t hungry”, I gave it a whirl. I had some leftover taco meat that I was going to fix a salad with for my lunch. I served myself the amount I normally eat, but I paid close attention to how I felt as I ate. I didn’t read or watch TV, or do anything that would take my mind off the eating task at-hand. I ate slowly, drank water, and when I reached the point where I didn’t feel hungry anymore I looked at my bowl. There was approximately 1/4 left of what I served myself. I then set about to see if those results would be replicated in my dinner and breakfast the following morning. I discovered I ate 25-30% LESS when I really attended to what I ate and stopped when I didn’t feel hungry anymore.

I ended up losing about 6 pounds within 2-3 weeks just by paying attention, or being mindful of what I ate and how I felt. I didn’t count calories, I didn’t buy any specific “diet friendly” foods (such as low-fat or fat free or low calorie). I I felt much more comfortable after eating because I wasn’t stuffed. As a result, I started serving myself less food so it wouldn’t go to waste, and learned to take more if I felt I really needed it. I figured if I didn’t stop eating when I was no longer hungry, the food was going to waste in one of two ways: it would either be left on my plate and go to “waste” and be tossed out, or it would go to “waist” and be stored as fat in the form of a muffin-top if I cleared my plate and didn’t burn up all the energy I took in. It was a true epiphany.

Native people have additional factors to deal with as well in regards to what we eat and how much we eat. On-going colonization (the methods used by dominate society/government to subjugate Indigenous peoples) is a huge factor in the status of our health. Under the colonization heading we can list historical trauma, food insecurity, socio-economic factors and all the mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, substance abuse, trauma from abuse. These factors can make it difficult to stop eating when we are no longer hungry. If you have experienced times where there wasn’t enough food, or have learned through hard life’s experiences that you need to eat as much as possible as fast as possible because you don’t know when your next meal will be, it will make it next to impossible to not clear your plate because you have been conditioned to not waste food. If you have attended residential boarding schools or were in the military, you have been conditioned to clean your plate. Depression and anxiety, or chronic stress, heavily influences our eating behaviors, as does substance abuse. And that’s not even taking into account the sugar/starch/carbohydrate-laden commodity foods many of us grew up on, and may find comfort in. We also have our cultural/social mores, many times which dictate having to serve ourselves a portion of each food offered at a feast or ceremony, or not turning down an offer of food so as to not offend a host/hostess in their own home. Although these factors influencing our eating are not insurmountable by any means, they are deeply entrenched and it will take concentrated effort and practice, and learning new coping mechanisms to overcome them to regain our health.

Like I tell my students, eating is complicated. There is so much more to healthy eating than just “don’t eat junk” (which is a blog post all on its own). Like one of my previous weight-loss participants said, “There’s more to it than just making poor choices.” We have many many influences on what we eat and how much we eat, but I truly believe they can be managed and we can improve our collective Indigenous health.