In a funk lately

[pegkerr]

Mom and Dad called me this morning. "You haven't posted in your journal for several days. We were a little worried sort of wondering."

I'm starting to realize how much of a really bad thing it is for me to stop the karate, even temporarily. My weight is at a three year high, and I just hate the way I feel. I'm taking some steps to try to address my general fitness level. Perhaps that will help. I think I'm going to walk the bridge in the afternoons as well as the mornings, and I'll try to add some weightlifting, too. I'm also trying to psych myself up to try doing the 100-pushups challenge again. I need to do something, both because I need to stay in better shape, and because it'll be just too hard to go back to karate after six weeks if I totally let myself go to seed. I'm also going to get the tires filled up on my bike and try some short rides, perhaps in the evenings. I'm wary of committing at this point to commuting to work, but I want to see how the knee tolerates shorter rides. I might also bite the bullet and go to the gym downstairs and use the elliptical. I HATE the elliptical (sooooo boring) but geez, I have to do something.

Mental state: hmm. Not ideal. Causes: the stuff Elinor's thinking about, the mental strain of the ongoing lack of progress on the job front, and lack of exercise. I've noticed I'm having difficulty concentrating on reading anything I haven't read before, which is one of the signs I've learned to notice, that indicates a Peg who needs to address some mental health issues. I should work on cleaning up my office and the rest of the house. Clearing the decks physically often makes my mental state more healthy.

Rob's work with the census is going okay, although they aren't giving him full-time hours as we expected. I think he managed about twenty, twenty-five hours or so last week. Hope this week will offer more. Nothing new on the job-hunting front. Please continue to alert me if you see any possible opportunities for him. I'm trying not to rip my hair out, and I'm trying not to bitch about it, but after all this has been going on since last July. I rather desperately need a new car (it pours inside on my seat whenever it rains outside) and I just need him to get a full-time permanent job. For goodness sakes.

What I did yesterday to make the world a better place: Attended the congregational meeting at my church yesterday where we voted to authorize a new hot-water heater system. Upgrading from our old steam system will be much more green/efficient, cutting our energy costs. Attended Mexicon Mission trip reunion, where we brainstormed suggestions for next year's mission.

Edited to add: Apparently, the President has just proclaimed it to be National Physical Fitness and Sports Month.

Comments

[carbonel]

My gym (Bally's) is giving away one-week free passes. It's not a long-term solution, but if you'd like me to pick one up for you, it'd give you a place to do low-impact exercise.

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Oh, as I said, we have a gym in the building at my workplace, so I do have access to workout equipment. But thank you!

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

Is a lower-impact exercise, like swimming, possible for you?

[mayhap]

I'm terribly stupid about my own body and trying to work out what kinds of physical activity work for me myself, so I've got no advice, just sympathy that your karate got taken away from you like that and all my best thoughts for the healing of your knee.

[cesario.livejournal.com]

I've noticed I'm having difficulty concentrating on reading anything I haven't read before, which is one of the signs I've learned to notice, that indicates a Peg who needs to address some mental health issues.

You know, if I were as clever as you and hadn't just sort of prevented myself thinking too deeply about, that would have been a huge clue something was wrong with me back when--you know, everything was wrong. The ability to read real novels returned with my stability in other areas. I eventually figured that it was because I couldn't bear to get sucked into a world where there were no promise of safety.

Anyway, yay for being self-aware? :-D

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

Have you ever done yoga, Peg? Select the asanas to be easy on your knee while still working the rest of your body--you might have to go with seated rather than standing poses--and it might help get you through till your knee heals. Yoga also helps balance the moods and mind, I've found, which would at least reinforce whatever else you choose to do in that area.

Not "advice," just throwing out an idea for your consumption. ;-)

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

I have done yoga, and I asked the doctor about it, but he advised against it, given the knee problems. He said that he thought it would stress it too much. But then, that was before the MRI, when we were operating on the guess that the problem was a torn meniscus, which the MRI ruled out. Hmm.

[bohemianspirit.livejournal.com]

Obviously poses that put any weight or stress on the knee are out (no Proud Warriors!), but how about seated forward bends, with straight or spread legs? Or lying down poses that involve, say, arching the back (I'm not an expert, so I can't think of names) without bending the knees--things like that? You could probably go through the Yoga Journal web site's guide to asanas and cobble together a gentle routine that wouldn't hurt the knee. You probably know yoga better than your doctor, so take the doctor's guidelines and combine with knowledge of yoga and just use common sense: if it seems iffy, don't go there.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

Next week Sunday, yes Mothers Day (does that have an apotrophe? Seems to work either way.), I'll be going to the Friends School plant sale and scooping up as many half-price prairie grasses as I can. I'll be planting them later that day and extra hands would be a boon. Want to come over and get yourself right with Mother Nature? (It always seems to help my mood, with the sunshine and exertion and what-not.)