Despite not being able to lift heavy weights or do all the different types of bodyweight exercises that I once loved, I can definitely stretch! This stretching work out is exactly what my tight sore muscles need.
If you have been around Looking Joli Good for any amount of time, you know that I love to workout! When I hurt myself last year, once I finally admitted to myself that I could no longer work out, I didn’t know what to do with myself.
It’s been a really long year of healing and very slow progress. Since I have finally made some major progress in the healing department, and I have begun to work out.
I’ve been dying to get back into a regular workout routine. While I am still not healed enough to jump back into my previous level of exercising, I’ve started to do some simple workouts. I’ve also learned to listen to my body and take it super slowly. There is no rush and no point in reinjuring myself or undoing any progress.
I have restarted back at square one… although that’s not even true, it is actually more like square -100. I decided there is no place better to pick up than exactly where I started 11 years ago… working out with Leslie Sansone.
She is so encouraging and always so happy. She does extremely simple exercises that are easy to follow along with. Despite her exercises being low impact and easy to follow, I still have to simplify and modify the movements. It is all part of listening to the cues that my body is giving me.
If you decide to join me on my road to recovering my physique, you can start with this happy one-mile walk. Don’t forget to keep good form, warm-up before, and stretch out after the exercises! Listen to your body and do what is within your ability. Work up to a higher level of activity as you feel you can and as you get stronger.
It was a freezing cold 9 degree January morning last year when I found myself on the ground in the parking lot. It all happened so fast I didn’t realize that I had slipped on ice and fell until I was on the ground. My first thought was that I hoped that no one had seen me fall, my second was I was afraid I had broken my new pyrex dish in my lunchbox. Don’t worry, the pyrex was safe…my arm on the other hand…not so much!
What I thought was going to be a simple sprained wrist has turned out to be a year-long road of recovering with no definite end in sight.
The healing and recovery process has been very humbling. I’ve been forced to learn so much and grown so much through all of this! I’ve learned to take things one day at a time, one task at a time. There have been lots of tears along the way. I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in over a year. I’ve learned the extremely hard lesson of asking for help. Let me tell you, it is unbelievably hard to go from being a “strong” person to having to ask for help for everything from putting on a bra, to taking off a shirt or opening a tube of toothpaste. My husband and children have been such a support and help throughout this whole thing.
Sadly for me, due to my arm injury, I have been unable to exercise. Previously, exercising was my life, my identity. I literally didn’t know what to do with myself once I couldn’t exercise! Also due to my extreme decrease in activity and my enormous increase in cookie consumption, I have steadily gained weight over this last year. I think in total I have gained about 20+ lbs… but I’m not exactly sure because I have not been weighing myself.
Lucky for me I get to wear this beautiful brace when I sleep at night
If you had told me last year that I would have gained 20 lbs due to my injury, I would have been devastated. Devastated!!! Gaining weight was my biggest fear. The thought of even 5 extra pounds was terrifying, never mind 20! I strived daily to be healthy, fit, and trim. I spent hours working out and weighing my food… Fast forward a year, my temporary disability has given me a new perspective, as well as new priorities.
There are so many things I have gained this year besides weight. I have grown in ways that can never be measured on a scale.
1) I have gained a new priority for listening to my body.
Pain is not the problem, pain is the warning sign to stop and make a change. I tried for months to work out, regardless of my injury, only be to be met with increased pain, regression of progress, and sleepless nights. I learned the hard way that I physically cannot grow my muscles right now. It is not my time to get stronger, I am in a season of rest, healing, and recovery. For everything there is a season, and right now for me, this is a season of forced rest. I’m working on growing roots instead of blooming flowers. I have curves now where muscle used to be and I don’t mind it.
2) I have gained a new respect for being the patient in the healthcare worker/patient relationship.
I love being a nurse, I HATE being a patient. Having to place your trust in the care of others is not an easy thing to do. Part of my treatment has been to go to Occupational and Physical therapy. I have never felt more humbled than when I was given a 1 lb weight and had to admit that I could not lift it. Trusting the people that were assigned to give me care was a hard thing for me to do at first. I was constantly leaving my appointments and googling what they had told me. As time went on and I grew to know them, trust got easier, but being in the vulnerable position of being the patient is still hard for me. This experience will definitely make me a better nurse due to the fact that I have now walked a mile in shoes as a “chronically ill” person.
This is the amazing view from my orthopedic surgeon’s office. I could get used to looking at that every day!
3) I have gained a voice of advocacy for myself.
I’ve never struggled to stick up for people I feel are being mistreated. I am an amazing advocate for the patients that I care for. Unfortunately, sometimes I forget to stick up for myself… After I fell, due to perceived pressure from my manager, I worked my entire shift that day. The next week I then worked three more full shifts with numb fingers, an immobile wrist, and huge bruises on my elbow, hip, and thigh. Not being an advocate for myself immediately after the incident as well as continuing to work, not only put me at risk of further injury but also was unsafe for my patients. As I sat in the doctor’s office, a full week later, I promised myself that from that day on I was going to be an advocate for myself. Since then have learned to speak up for myself when I don’t agree with the decision being made for me. Personal advocacy is not being selfish, it is a right that is necessary!
The face of a person who has finally admitted to herself that she is indeed not getting better and in fact getting much worse.
4) I have gained a love for my current body exactly the way it is.
This is probably the biggest thing I have gained. Do I miss my strong legs, muscular arms, defined shoulders, and a flat stomach? You betcha, absolutely! But even more so, I love that I have learned to love myself just the way I am right now. I don’t need to look like I did a year ago because I am not the same person I was back then. For the first time in my adult life, I feel content with my body. I am thankful for this vessel that carries around my soul every day. This body has been through a lot with me over the decades, and until now, I have never appreciated her.
5) Throughout all of this, I have gained a soul that is peaceful, a happy heart, and a content mind. No more constantly pushing myself to be a “better” version of who I was yesterday. No comparison, no competition. No more deprivation of delicious things. No more constant movement to burn just a few more calories. Just contentment, happiness and peace.
Injuring my arm and gaining weight may have had a negative impact on my physical health, but the positive effects on my mental health have been 100% worth the pain and sleepless nights.
No one cares about the 20 lbs that I have gained.
No one has even noticed.
I’m hoping to eventually make a full recovery, but for now, I still have to take it easy. Progress at times has been extremely slow, but progress is still progress. It’s hard to watch muscles shrink and strength decrease, but I’m not meant to be blooming right now, I’m meant to be growing deeper roots. Roots for future blooms… blooms that might look completely different than the flowers I used to grow.
Today I want to share with you what I believe to be the purpose of our lives here on earth. I believe that God gave us life so that we can love and glorify Him.
Many people believe that eternal life in Heaven is something that we earn through good works, or something we inherit because our parents are religious, or possibly we can attain it through good intentions. While all these things sound good, the Bible tells us that eternal life is not something we can earn or buy, but instead, it is a gift.
God’s gift is eternal life with Him.
The thing about this gift is that before you can get it, you first have to realize that you need this it. Romans 3:23 tells us that “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
All of us have sinned by breaking God’s rules. Some of the rules are broken by things that we have been doing, and some of the rules have been broken by things that we haven’t been doing. We have all sinned in one way or another.
Romans 6:23 tells us that the price for those broken rules is death. That death isn’t just talking about our physical body dying, but about our spiritual body as well.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
When our physical body dies, our spiritual body will go to one of two places, either an eternity in Heaven or an eternal death apart from God in Hell.
God doesn’t want to be separated from us! Romans 5:8 says “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”
The price of our sin is death, but Jesus Christ already paid the price for our sins when he died on the cross.
Jesus came to earth as God in the flesh. He lived a perfect life and voluntarily took our place on the cross, all because He loves us! He took your place, He took my place, He paid your price with His life. He loves you!
The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:9 that “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”
Any time you get a gift you have to accept it in order to own it. It is no different with the gift of eternal life, you have to turn to Christ and place our full trust in Him alone.
Romans 10:13 tells us that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
If you have never trusted in Jesus Christ to be your personal savior, you can do it right now! It is as simple as believing in your heart that Christ is the only way to have eternal life in Heaven and saying a prayer that is something like this…
“Dear Lord God,
Thank you for the sacrifice you made in sending your only perfect son to die on the cross for my sins! It should have been me sentenced to that horrible death, but you Lord, gave Jesus to save me from the punishment that I deserve. Thank you for this free gift of salvation! Amen!”
You will never regret that decision! I know how much this decision has changed my life! If you have just trusted Christ and received the gift of eternal life, I would love for you to tell me!
Healthy and happy is way better than skinny and sad.
There’s always that little voice inside that can trick us into thinking that losing 5 more pounds will make us happier.
Don’t listen to the lies that society tells us. Skinny does not equal happy…and skinny does not always equal healthy. On the same note, if being skinny causes you to be mentally unhealthy that is just as bad.
I love working out in the privacy of my own home! I hope that these weekly workouts help encourage you along your healthier lifestyle journey!
“This 12-minute workout uses a dumbbell to do standing ab exercises, all while getting your heart rate up for bonus cardio. Tighten and tone your tummy with this no crunch, no plank workout. Great for those who have back pain or problems doing ab workouts on the mat. Options for all levels!”
Remember to keep proper form, warm up before, and stretch after you exercise! No excuses, just do it!
Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!
You may not realize it, but flexibility is just as important for you as strength and cardio! Sometimes I am so sore from a previous intense workout that I need to focus for a few days on flexibility and stretching. This is a quick 15-minute flexibility workout by one of my favorites Kelly from Fitness Blender!
Remember to keep proper form and warm up before and stretch after you exercise!
Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!
We’re into the third month of the new year…how’s that resolution to workout going? Are you still eating healthier? I hope that these weekly workouts help encourage you along your healthier lifestyle journey!
“This 30-minute workout uses just a set of dumbbells to strengthen and sculpt your muscles, while also burning fat and calories with cardio. Use combo moves with weights for a time efficient total body workout. Options for all fitness levels.”
Remember to keep proper form, warm up before, and stretch after you exercise!
Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!
If you have been reading Looking Joli Good for any amount of time you know that I always enjoy workouts from Fitness Blender!
While cardio and strength training are both amazing parts of fitness, stretching is also an integral part of overall health. One of the things that I need to work on the most is muscle relaxation. This Fitness Blender routine is great for stretching and relaxation!
It gets skipped more often than not, but stretching is so important after you exercise!
Are you enjoying these “No Gym? No Problem!” posts? If so, you can check out the rest by clicking HERE!
No Gym? No Problem! Week 7 Relaxing Total Body Stretching Workout for Stress Relief and Better Sleep
I love working out in the privacy of my own home! I hope that these weekly workouts help encourage you along your healthier lifestyle journey!
If you have been reading Looking Joli Good for any amount of time you know that I always enjoy workouts from Fitness Blender!
Looking Joli Good 