Placed on the DL

Back in August, when I was on another one of my, I AM GOING TO GET SKINNY IN A WEEK rampages, I decided to do six Zumba classes in 5 days.  It had been the first time I was working out since I started working with my nutritionist in July.  I was hitting it hard.  One morning I woke up with a really bad pain in my lower back.  It is hard to describe, but if I leaned to one side, there was relief.  As the day progressed, it got worse and worse.  My mom called her Chiropractor, and he was able to see me right away.  According to him, it was my SI joint and my L7.  To me, this meant nothing.  Maestro Fresh Wes knows alllll about a SI joint, otherwise known as a sacroiliac.  The Doctor adjusted me, used laser treatment, and a TENS machine.  It didn’t help AT ALL.

I really did feel like I was letting my Backbone Slide.

The pain was excruciating.  The next day I got up and it was even worse.  I could hardly walk.  My mom came to take care of the kids, and bring me back to the Chiropractor.  I spent the next 4 days, between Chiro visits, icing my back and using a TENS machine and walking and stretching as much as I could.  I eventually opted for a strong pain-killer and muscle relaxer.  Between being baked from the medication and being in agony, I was quite the sight to see (and I am sure very pleasant to live with).  Finally after 2 weeks, the pain was completely gone.

As I have mentioned in the past, I have been giving this competition all I’ve got.  Twenty five classes in 28 days, plus Zumba and a few walks.  I realized a couple of weeks ago, that taking a day off was absolutely necessary.  Not only necessary for my physical well-being but my mental state.  I was becoming very tired.  So, for the last 2 weeks I have taken Sundays off.  This week-end, I planned to really rebel and take two whole days off.  My son is playing for the championship in football, and hubby and I are going away to celebrate 11 years of marriage.

Yesterday I woke up with a similar feeling in my back.  I am not going to lie…I FREAKED out.  I was less worried about the pain coming back, but more about not being able to compete in the Fit Life Challenge.  The last four weeks have changed my life.  I can’t stop now!!  I immediately went to the chiropractor, then to an Adrenaline class.  I went back to the Chiro in the afternoon.  I was literally up all night, worrying about how I will deal with this.  Worrying, likely for nothing.  I woke up this morning, and had a bit of quiet time to think.  I am not going to let ANYTHING get in the way of me winning this competition.

The Chiropractor told me I need to take it easy.  I more or less told him to pound salt.  I went to class tonight, briefly.  My back hurts, people.  It’s not brutal pain yet, but there’s something wrong.  Danielle, my trainer, knew right away that something was wrong, we chatted, and she sent me home.  She instructed me to stretch for at least a 1/2 hour.  As I was driving home, in tears, bummed out that I was breaking my streak, I realized…I don’t stretch nearly enough…and. I am not giving myself a break.  I am being incredibly hard on myself.

From past experience, I know that when I am hard on myself, I let it all crumble to shit.  I convince myself that changes aren’t happening fast enough for me and I blow it.  Don’t get me wrong, I am in a better place than I have ever been with health and fitness goals and routines.  The problem is, I need to listen to my body and shut off my mind sometimes.  I need to realize, that while this competition is only 2 months long, these changes are going to be permanent.  If I get down on myself because my body is telling me I NEED to rest, I am doing both my body and brain a disservice.  No more.  I need to look at how far I have come in such a short period of time.  Look at all the amazing people who have come into my life because of this Challenge, and how my relationships with the ones who have always been an important part of my like are flourishing.  I need to do this.  I am worth it.