Questions About Starting Workouts Again

[Greenling]

Hi NoodleUnit and Wheeleezdryver,

Sounds like you both have had really good weeks. I'm so happy for you both. It's like turning a corner, isn't it?

I had an okay week. I never got my running off the ground (hello, Week 3 again!), but my weights went well. My legs felt heavy when running a bit (and I was having trouble with muscle stiffness and tightness), but it's my breathing more than anything. So I did shorter intervals, but at least I'm still running.

Had an appt. with my Dr. Friday afternoon with mostly good results: She lowered my thyroid meds again (so I'm absorbing much better than before). This should help with the heat intolerance and breathing problems (as well as the muscle tightness). I'm also beginning Vitamin D supplements now (since I can't go outside much due to the heat intolerance). All of this points to healing as I never would have been "overdosed" (let alone, waaaaaay overdosed) before at this level of medication. We've now lowered my dose 4 times in four months!! So, I'm telling myself to just be patient, wait another week for things to even out a bit, and then try bumping the running up. In the meantime, I'm going to repeat Week 3 again.

In other good news, it's cooling off here!! Highs this week forecasted for the high 80s, low 90s. So that will be a relief. Plus we got rain. So, it's nice to no longer be baking everyday.

Hope you both have good weekends!! And best of luck if you're starting Week 5 next week.

Greenling

[NoodleUnit]

Hi again.

Got to say greenling, I can't imagine how I would cope with doing weights on top of this right now. My good runs are always the ones when I've had a two day break and I don't do any other training although I have considered it.

I did day 3 today ( one day rest ) and it was horrible. My legs and lungs were on fire by the end. Now part of that, I'll admit, is because I had a couple glasses of wine last night, but still a far cry from the endorphin rush I had on Thursday. I was only marginally slower than the previous run and there was double the climbing to be done, but I really found it very hard. So kudos to you for doing both things right now.

I'm going to wait and see how I feel on Monday morning before I decide if I'm going to go to week 5 or repeat week 4.

It's really good news that you're healing so well though. It must be like a weight off your shoulders.

[Greenling]

Hi NoodleUnit,

Thanks, it is a relief to know I'm healing (even if the side effects kind of drive me crazy). I think the weights would normally be a lot harder for someone to pick back up, but I've lifted for about 15 years. So even though I stopped doing them as often when I was super sick, I never stopped completely. Right now, they're easier for me than cardio.

I totally agree with you on the rest for cardio. I can't do it back-to-back and my best days are after two days rest also. It's a funny thing, this "coming back to exercise post-diagnosis". I never know quite what to blame on recovery and what to blame on getting older or being out of shape.

Good luck on Monday with your run. I'll be plugging away too.

Greenling

[wheeleezdryver]

i ended up having a not so good week. (I hate pre- PMS, PMS, and all that jazz)

Tuesday all I could do was 10 mins each on the bike & elliptical and arm weights.

Wed & Thurs I wasn't feeling up to doing anything.

Friday I repeated Tuesday's workout.

and i've taken yesterday & today off.

will see how I'm feeling tomorrow.

greenling, that is awesome that you're healing (that's a nice feeling, isn't it?!), and yor thyroid meds are being absorbed so much better, so your dosage keeps getting lowered!

How long have you been on thyroid meds, and how long have you been gluten- free?

I was diagnosed hypothyroid in Srping 2004, had symptoms for a year before (but couldn't afford a dr...), and have been on meds ever since. I would have to say, looking back, that my thryoid mess was probably one of the first issues that were probably caused by gluten (but, of course, I didn't know it back then!). Over they years, other things started creeping up (some of which have already started getting better since i went gluten free). Then about a year ago, i figured out the gluten issues. Haven't had to lower my thyroid dosage yet... would be nice if it happens, but I'm okay if it doesn't (especially since there's so many years of damage).

[NoodleUnit]

I'll be repeating week 4 as well I think. I tweaked my back yesterday ( I basically sneezed as I twisted to get out of bed ), so now I'm waiting for my back to stop twitching

Think I'll just aim for 2 runs this week assuming my back is better by tomorrow.

[Greenling]

Hi NoodleUnit and Wheeleezdryver,

I hope you're both feeling better. It is definitely a good idea to rest rather than overdo. Otherwise, those bumps in the road to getting healthy can get bigger. Maybe extra stretching would be helpful?

I finally have good news to report. Today I completed Week 4, Day 1 with a medium amount of difficulty. I'm so happy (as I was kind of going backwards there for a while)! I think a number of factors helped here: it was much cooler (70 degrees this morning), the lower dose of meds, and two days rest. So I'm cautiously optimistic that I'll be able to make progress again. I'll try Week 4 stuff Wednesday again and see how it goes. I already know I'll be repeating Week 4 next week as I have to make up some ground.

Wheeleezdryver, in answer to your question....

greenling, that is awesome that you're healing (that's a nice feeling, isn't it?!), and yor thyroid meds are being absorbed so much better, so your dosage keeps getting lowered!

How long have you been on thyroid meds, and how long have you been gluten- free?

I was diagnosed hypothyroid in Srping 2004, had symptoms for a year before (but couldn't afford a dr...), and have been on meds ever since. I would have to say, looking back, that my thryoid mess was probably one of the first issues that were probably caused by gluten (but, of course, I didn't know it back then!). Over they years, other things started creeping up (some of which have already started getting better since i went gluten free). Then about a year ago, i figured out the gluten issues. Haven't had to lower my thyroid dosage yet... would be nice if it happens, but I'm okay if it doesn't (especially since there's so many years of damage).

...I was diagnosed with Graves' Disease (hyperactivity) in 2000, but I was never a 'textbook case'. My thyroid was removed in 2008, but in order to keep symptoms under control (namely an inflammatory response from the uncontrolled Celiac), I had to take "mega-doses" of Synthroid (225 mcg!). One of the first things the doctors told me when I was diagnosed with Celiac is that my dose would go down as I started to absorb better. And it really has. In four months (I went Gluten-free mid-April, was diagnosed Celiac mid-May), my dose has decreased from 225 to 137. So I'm very happy about it as it's my own personal barometer of healing (and I feel like I'm not so up-down-up-down now). But your dose might not change as much or at all (since I assume you're not on a hefty dose now). However, if they're not regularly monitoring it, you might have your TSH checked every so often.

[wheeleezdryver]

I was feeling a bit better today, but not up to doing intervals, so I did 1 mile on the elliptical (about 18 mins) and 1/2 mile on the bike (about 15 mins). timewise, probably spent about the same amount of time as I did on last Monday's C25k workout. I also did arm weights again today.

NoodleUnit-- stuff like that is no fun! Hope it gets feeling better soon!

Wheeleezdryver, in answer to your question....

...I was diagnosed with Graves' Disease (hyperactivity) in 2000, but I was never a 'textbook case'. My thyroid was removed in 2008, but in order to keep symptoms under control (namely an inflammatory response from the uncontrolled Celiac), I had to take "mega-doses" of Synthroid (225 mcg!). One of the first things the doctors told me when I was diagnosed with Celiac is that my dose would go down as I started to absorb better. And it really has. In four months (I went Gluten-free mid-April, was diagnosed Celiac mid-May), my dose has decreased from 225 to 137. So I'm very happy about it as it's my own personal barometer of healing (and I feel like I'm not so up-down-up-down now). But your dose might not change as much or at all (since I assume you're not on a hefty dose now). However, if they're not regularly monitoring it, you might have your TSH checked every so often.

wowzers, Greenling, you've had some crazy stuff to deal with there! i can see why your dosage would be going down so fast!!

Ever since I found the right dosage years ago, I've pretty much been on 125 or 150 Levothyroxine (I was originally on Synthroid, but switched to Levo b/c it is cheaper) ever since... 150 is where I am now (so, you're actually on a little lower dose than me!!!).... i think that's been my dosage the whole time I've been gluten-free (1 year), but it may have been 125 this time last year, I can't remember. My Dr usually checks my thyroid levels about every six months (more often if there's been a recent dosage change), but, looking at my prescription bottle, it may be another 9 months until they retest (I get the 3 month refills, and it says on the bottle '3 refills before 6/12-- maybe they didn't realize I was getting a 3 month dosage (similar has happened before). I will most likely be seeing her in the next month or two, for my anti- depressants, so if I feel I need to, I can have them test my thyroid levels then. We'll see what happens, no matter what.

[NoodleUnit]

Hi again you two

The back is better, just about.

I actually managed to do week 5 day 1 yesterday but it was sooo hard. I'm very much playing it by ear just now. I may just repeat day 1 once more again this week ( possibly friday ) and leave it at that until next week. Looking at day 2 and day 3 it's a serious week. I'm on holiday for two weeks from Monday so I'll have the time to rest and recuperate. I get up at 6am for my work every morning, yet am apparently physically incapable of going to bed before 12 at night so end up only getting 6 hrs a night, which is really affecting recovery.

I also seem to be suffering from a little bit of persistent right-side neuropathy and quite painful arthritic pain and clicking in my right hand. The neuropathy is causing my right leg to fatigue and tighten towards the end of my half mile intervals while the left has no issues. I'm also a bit paranoid that it may have been related to my back issues, as that was on my right side too. This is deeply frustrating as I'm predominantly right sided. I can't figure it out though, as I've eliminated the common bad foods now, and I'm not getting the telltale abdominal pain ( this is good news at least ) that usually signals to me that I'm eating something harmful to me. Maybe I'm now down to the base symptoms of the damage done to my system and I have to just wait and hope...

I'll maybe do a separate post about it in the fitness forum. Long story short though, I need to strengthen my right side considerably so that I can cope with simple things like running and weights. I'm using a PowerBall to help with my grip now.

[Greenling]

Hi,

Hope you're both enjoying your workouts and your weekend.

Wheeleez, hope you're feeling better as "that time" ends. Sounds like you're still getting in some good exercise. Are you staying with Week 4 or moving on to Week 5?

NoodleUnit, I looked at Week 5 and just about swallowed my tongue--that's a big step up! I'm sorry to hear that your right side is causing you problems. I don't know if you've done much strength-training in the past, but I'd recommend exercises that target one side at a time (free weights are good), but still allow you to support/stabilize the working muscles. When I was recovering from knee surgery (right side), I used to do the machines more and I used my left side to do most of the work (I'm left-handed). I ended up being rather unbalanced strength-wise. When I worked more with free weights and forced each side to lift its share, it was very eye opening.

As for me, I did Week 4 twice and then my gym closed Thursday-Sunday to move to their new location, so no workouts for me. I'll try Week 4 again this week and see how it goes. Still feeling well, but work is about to get very crazy for me (I teach university and supervise instructors). Classes start in a week, with meetings this week. So my responses may be a bit sporadic for a while until I find a routine that works. Wish me luck as I'll need to be very organized with carrying food!

Greenling

[wheeleezdryver]

well, i've tried to post twice now, but keep loosing the post.... maybe the 3rd time will be the charm! I'll keep this short

wasn't feeling super most of this week (due to different issues, this time) so only wroked out 4 days. and only did c25k one day-- and it was on the bike.

when I'm feeling up to doing it again (maybe this week, maybe not-- it's a day to day thing for me, so I'll have to see), i will definately do week 4 again.

Greenling- I'm a southpaw, too!

TTYL!

[NoodleUnit]

I've only done it once this week as well. I actually came down with a cold on Friday ( wondering if that was why I found day 1 so hard earlier in the week ). That's the first real cold I've had in months which is a great thing as I was catching one every week before my op. Looking after my 5 year old today but will probably go back to week 4 tomorrow and build up for a decent attempt at week 5 next week.

Greenling - I have a decent set of free weights at home so I may get them out and have an exploratory workout later this week.

Hope we all have a good week.

[Greenling]

Hi to both of you,

Hope you're doing well. Where are you in your c25k adventure? NoodleUnit, has your cold gone away?

I didn't get to work out at all last week. Work started for me again with orientation for our teaching assistants (whom I supervise). It was a shock to my body to go from working at home (mostly sitting and reading/writing) to 10-hour days at my office. I think I found out I'm not as recovered as I thought. I didn't feel bad, I just was tired at the end of every day and ready to sleep.

So, I'm determined to get back to the gym tomorrow. Am going to take it a bit easy since the first week of classes is always brutal. Don't know if I'll repeat Week 4 or have to go backwards a bit (I'm worried about 10 days off!). But I've decided not to stress about it--I'll do the best I can and see how work and exercise combine.

My nephew moved in on Saturday (he's a student where I teach), so my house is no longer 100% Gluten-free. I'm still cooking all of my food, but there will be some foods that he prepares for himself with gluten in them. Hopefully, no CC will occur. It's nice to have him around though.

Have a good week!

Greenling

[GlutenGladi8or]

I'm determined to get back to the gym tomorrow. Am going to take it a bit easy since the first week of classes is always brutal.

Greenling

Wise idea of easing back into your work out schedule. Way too many people take time off (and that's natural due to crazy schedules and life's curve balls) and then go back to "where they left off". That's never a good idea.

Just listen to your body and start the basics from the start. This is also the most important point to spend pre-stretching before cardio or weights. You don't want a muscle strain putting you back on the bench.

Your determination is admired by all.

[NoodleUnit]

Hi Greenling,

Definitely agree with Gluten Glad180r. I've gone back to Week 4 just now too. I did one run last week, on Friday. I though I'd beaten the cold but really felt very fatigued which I think was basically me still fighting the cold. The run was allright but I'm missing the spring in my step just now.

If I still have trouble jumping to Week 5 next week I'm going to break it down into chunks and run each day of "week" 5 for a week each. So Day 1 will be my three runs next week or until I get on top of it. I'm still faster than last year but I do feel like I've hit the wall a bit.

Will probably do some light free weights this week too.

Hope this week goes well for everyone.

[wheeleezdryver]

I was only able to work out twice last week. Just basic workouts, not C25k. Been pretty tireed the last couple of weeks-- or, i should say, more tired than my normal...

hopefully I will be able to do more this week, esp since my husband started back to school today, which means he will be out of the house during the day at least a couple of days.

I agree with NoodleUnit & GlutenGladi8tor--- backing up a little bit is always a good idea when getting back to working out after having to take a little time off.

I will try re- starting week4, or maybe go back to Week3. i'll see where i'm at and go from there.

[GlutenGladi8or]

I agree with NoodleUnit & GlutenGladi8tor--- backing up a little bit is always a good idea when getting back to working out after having to take a little time off.

Also, don't be shy to budget some time AFTER your work outs to stretch. My good friend is a pilates instructor and she recommended this years ago. I have had zero issues since.

[NoodleUnit]

That's definitely something I have to improve on. Since all this happened I've had massive problems with lactic acid in my muscles for days after. I know I should stretch, but like you say, I need to budget the time.

I actually managed Week 5 Day 1 yesterday, again (I was feeling decent so thought I'd try it, if it didn't work then I'd revert to the previous week). This time a bit easier than previously and a little faster, although I did have to take a 10 second walk during my last half mile interval. To be fair though, the last mile of the run is all uphill, so I can still hold my head up imo.

[Greenling]

Hi all,

Thanks for the helpful suggestions and words of encouragement! I finally made it back to the gym today (first week of classes has been crazy!). Ran a 5-minute interval, and two 3-minutes at a good speed (better than before) and walked the rest. My running felt very relaxed, my breathing was good, and the heat intolerance was gone. But I didn't want to push my luck since it'd been two weeks off, so I walked the other 19 minutes. Did a reduced weight workout and had a good stretch. In a way, I think my body appreciated the time off as it was able to adjust to a stable dose of thyroid meds and going back to work, etc. So, I hope it continues. In the meantime, I've got to figure out a schedule that works.

Wheelez, hope you're feeling less tired and back to your normal self.

Gluten Gladi8tor, thanks for your input. Today, when I was stretching, I was the most flexible I've been in months, so consistency pays off.

NoodleUnit, congrats on running half-mile intervals and doing Week 5! Not to mention running uphill. I haven't been able to convince myself I want to do that yet.

[GlutenGladi8or]

Gluten Gladi8tor, thanks for your input. Today, when I was stretching, I was the most flexible I've been in months, so consistency pays off.

It sure does. And the more that you stretch, the more you will amaze yourself. Keep with your current stretching plan for the next few weeks. After that, go online and discover new ones.

In weight lifting, you always want to switch up your weights/machines/work-outs. The same goes for stretching muscles, try new and different stretches as well.

[Greenling]

Just thought I'd drop in and report. I miss reading everyone's updates.

Work is going well, but very busy, and I'm tired by the end of every day. Because of my work schedule (very heavy on Monday, Wednesday, Friday), I've had to move my workouts to the other four days. So I run and lift weights on Tuesday and Thursday, run on Saturday, and lift weights on Sunday. No two days in a row for rest anymore. But I really wanted to get back to three days of weights/week (I need to be strong to help care for my mom and dad). So I may have to place running on the back burner for a bit.

In the meantime, I've been running 2.5 minutes intervals with 1.5 minutes walking. I'm finding I lost a bit of cardio stamina with my two weeks off + higher work demands. So I'm focusing on increasing the number of intervals before I work on building time. Today I did 5 (for a total of 20 minutes + warm-up/cool-down). Once I make my way to 2 miles worth (right now, I get about 1.4 miles), I'll start increasing the length of the runs.

One of the more frustrating aspects of recovery, I'm finding, is how up-and-down it is (I got glutened last week in a restaurant and it was my own careless fault!) and how slow it is. I told myself this morning on the treadmill, "You were very sick for 10 years (and who knows how many asymptomatic years before that), you can't expect to be at your peak in five months." So, I'm trying to be content with how good I feel in my daily life (how much happy energy I have now, and how many "good days"), and trying not to focus on my "snail-like progress" in my workouts. When I think in those terms, it's a lot easier to be patient with myself (and not want everything all at once). This week is 5 months Gluten-free for me!!

Hope you all are well! And that you feel like you're making the progress that you want to make.

[wheeleezdryver]

I haven't done too well.

The last time I was able to go workout was last Wednesday. That day, i did a week 3 workout. and arm weights-- was able to up the weights on most of the exercises!

But since then, I've either had to much other stuff going and/ or not been feeling well/ energetic, so haven't been able to go. Hopefully I will be able to workout again in the next couple of days (after PMS is gone...)

But i have gotten some exercise by cleaning, and doing a good bit of shopping. And helping m hubsnad.... especially helping him in/ out of our van.

anywho, talk to you all later!

[wheeleezdryver]

Was finally, able to go to the gym today, after not having gone for 1 1/2 weeks.

Had a good workout-- just did about 20 mins on the elliptical. and the arm machine weights- had to go back to the lopwer weights, but that didn't surprise me.

even though I stretched well beforehand, and didn't push myself, my legs are sore-- can definately tell I hadn't been able to work out for a little while! Will keep stretching m legs this evening.

How are you guys doing?

[GlutenGladi8or]

Now is the time to add some goals and give yourself a well "kneaded" reward. Set "X" amount of days in which you intend to exercise, if you hit that minimum amount of days schedule a 60 minute massage. If you exceed your goal make it a 90 minute massage.

If you "blow it out of the water" and absolutely exceed expectations.... add hot stones.

You deserve it if you worked for it.

[NoodleUnit]

Hi everyone

Been a hard fortnight or so, so I've not really been online. Both myself and my partner, rachel are getting made redundant from separate companies at the same time. Her's was/is a long process, mine happened very suddenly. I'm now on garden leave just a week after my first letter telling me I was at risk. It's not all bad, the job was making me more ill than the celiac disease was in some ways. Things are looking more hopeful for Rachel as she has a lot of interest from other employers, but I'm a graphic designer and graphic design jobs aren't falling from trees round here right now, so it's looking like I'll be a home-dad for a while, possibly set up on my own a few months down the road.

Anyway the stress from all of that meant that I got quite ill again, from being lax with my diet, and simply just the stress seemed to trigger my immune system into attack mode again. The arthritis in my right hand is certainly much worse than normal. I've just about managed one run a week, which seems to have been enough to maintain Week 5 day 1. I did that run again today (in a storm no less ) and while I felt spent by the end, it has helped enormously with morale.

I'm going again on Thursday, depending on how I feel, I'll either do Day 1 again or take the leap to 2.

Hope everything is good with you all.

[NoodleUnit]

Heh, I did some weights yesterday. BIG mistake, because I did squats. I managed to do Week 5 Day 2 today but man it was hard, I had nothing in my legs after yesterday. I'll be focussing on upper body until the end of the c25K

Another bit of good news too, Rachel landed a job. so we're all good.