Compliments, Pain Meds, and What is Healthy???

Happy Sunday!

Weekend recap. I woke up Saturday morning at about 5 AM with my back absolutely screaming. I would like to make a statement. I am physically tough. I'm not bragging, I swear, but I make it a point to be tough. I have a relatively high pain tolerance. So for me to even mention my back pain is really saying something. I had every intentions of going to yoga. Not happening with what I had going on. I finally conceded and took some pain meds with my anti-inflammatories. Here is something else you should know. I HATE taking pills of any kind. I don't like taking Advil. I don't take vitamins. I don't really go to the doctor because I have been blessed with good health thus far, so no need for meds. I don't get headaches. I avoid cold medicine. I HATE taking pills. So, for me to break down and take some meds was a big deal. I curled up on the couch with my wiener dog and bided my time until the meds kicked in. By 11am, some magic happened. Things had subsided to a dull ache in my back which was hardly noticeable for me. Whatever nerve pain cycle I had going on was broken. Thank goodness. I decided later in the afternoon that some stretching would be good so I did an at home yoga video and I felt good enough after to make up my Friday work outs. Smart idea? I don't know. But what I do know is I am afraid to not exercise. If I really think back as to why I started to gain weight again, it began with a back-isode that I parlayed into a break in training and things snowballed from there. So, here I am, determined to not take a break. It may end up being a mistake or I may tough my way through this and be better for it. Only time will tell. I am still thinking I might go see a chiropractor. But that is pretty close to a doctor and, well, you get the idea. Anyways, Saturday night I could feel a little tension, but noting to write home about. I got up this am and did the pain meds one more time and then tootled off to hot yoga. It felt really, really good. I could really feel my back stretching, my vertebrae relaxing and compressing, my muscles letting out tension. I am very happy I went this morning. I am going to try to fit hot yoga in my schedule again tomorrow. I'm certain that as long as I'm not in the fetal position, the yoga has to be good for my spine. So, even though I had to do something I hate to do, in the end, I think I did myself a favor. 

One of my girly-friends came with Mom and I to yoga this morning and we dived into an interesting topic of conversation on the way home. I keep saying that my quest is to be healthy. Part of that is being at a healthy weight. But, and this is a big but, does being skinny automatically mean you are healthy??? The answer is a resounding HECK NO. I can think of plenty of people that are skinny and have health problems. I can think of plenty of people that are skinny and are garbage guts. I can think of plenty of people that are skinny that haven't raised their heart rate with any kind of physical activity in years. By any of those standards, I have skinny people beat any day of the week and twice on Sundays. Welcome to the great wide world of genetic differences. So, yes, a healthy weight is a part of it, but it is just one piece of the puzzle. We should celebrate those good (no GREAT) habits that we have. Don't just beat ourselves up for not being skinny. Be proud and beautiful at every weight. Easy to say, hard to do. But try. I'm gonna try. 

This kinda transitions in to my final topic. I cannot take a compliment gracefully to save my life. I don't really do anything gracefully. Certainly not dance, definitely not run, and most certainly not take a compliment with any iota of grace. I had someone who hadn't seen me in about a month tell me I was looking good and she was proud of how I going about losing the weight. I can barely muster a thank you response. Why? What gives? There is a good chance that I disagree about how I look and there is an even better chance that I don't think I deserve the praise. That's dumb. Weight loss, no weight loss, I am making a decent effort. If someone notices then it might just possibly mean I am getting results. Thank you low self-esteem for stealing my thunder. Not cool. Something else for me to work on.

Have a great Monday everyone. I am keeping my fingers crossed that me and my back wake up happy and ready to go in the morning. Mind and body strong, Grasshopper (forgive my occasional '80's reference).