Despite an incident with the Bodie dog last night involving him taking off suddenly in pursuit of a critter in the hay field and trying to take me with him which twisted my back and had me limping back to the house while dragging a 70 pound dog, I'm feeling much better today. Like everything else, healing is a process and I'm sure there will be setbacks, great days and bad days along the way. I'm feeling super positive and energetic though and very blessed. My injured back is such a minor thing compared to the pain and illness so many people deal with chronically. A friend's grandson was born with a condition that affects his joints, tendons and muscles. He's already had so many surgeries in his young life and just had a very extensive surgery yesterday with another to follow soon. He is such a brave little boy and so bright and happy. He doesn't let any of it get him down. So, if he can deal with that, I can certainly deal with this tiny little setback in my life with positivity. My problem will resolve itself if I can just remember not to do anything to aggravate it. That's harder than you might think. We do so many tasks in our day without even thinking about them. And, I'm at an age where too many thing are on automatic repeat and my brain is not engaged. lol

I had my last call with my sweet Ms Velma yesterday. I've come to love that lady so much and I told her so and thanked her for all the encouragement and advice she's given me. I will miss her but she is so proud that I've been "graduated" from the health coach program that my insurance provides. She told me that I've made her look good and that the others in her workplace have started calling her the Weight Loss Guru thanks so my success. She said, "I tell them that you are the one who did all of the hard work and I'm so proud of you and how far you've come." I told her that I truly don't think I could have done it without her support. She's like Josh, neither wants to take the credit for how amazingly good they are at their jobs. Both say they are simply cheerleaders for our effort but it is far more than that with both of them and I realize how blessed I am to have found them both. It has been hard work but I didn't accomplish this transformation (still not there yet but moving in the right direction, lol) on my own....it has truly taken a village and I'm grateful to them all.

I have realized a few things over the past few weeks and some of those epiphanies are the reason Velma felt so good about letting me go and letting me stand on my own. One thing is, I haven't done this on my own; I've been blessed with a lot of support. The second thing is, in thinking it might all be snatched away because of the possible surgery and two months of down time, I finally realized just how far I've come in the last three and a half months that I've been working with Josh. I'm stronger, I'm more agile, I'm more energetic and my clothes fit much better. And besides being grateful to Josh, I also realized how much hard work I've put in and I'm proud of myself for the dedication to this commitment of getting healthier and fitter. I still only see the fat I've yet to lose when I look in the mirror but I realized a third thing, I am 63 years old. That's hard for to admit to myself. I have no trouble telling other people how old I am because most of the time they tell me I don't look it and that makes me feel good. lol But it is hard to wrap your head around those numbers. All of us may age on the outside but we still feel like the same people on the inside. Realizing that I am 63 is not a bad thing because I don't have such unrealistic expectations. That means that I hopefully won't push myself so hard because I expect to be capable of the same effort now as I could have done thirty or forty years ago. It also means that I won't judge the body I see in the mirror as harshly and I won't have unattainable expectations for it either. I'm most likely never going to have that flat stomach and six pack definition I once had but I will be the best I can be at what ever age I am. And in time, I will come to accept the wrinkles and looser skin....maybe not today but someday.

If my few readers (it's okay to laugh at that), have wondered where I disappeared to, it is a technical glitch. I have been unable to post photos from my phone. And, since almost any story is better with illustrations, I haven't been updating the blog when I post to my Year of Living Purposefully Facebook page.

So, what have you missed?

First, I hurt my back two weeks ago doing burpees (http://www.usabestadvisor.com/how-to-do-a-burpee-10-steps/. ) It wasn't Josh's fault. He called me on the over extension on my jump back as soon as I did it. He said, "Don't over extend like that and keep your back straight or you'll hurt yourself." To which I replied, "I already have."

At first the pain wasn't that much different in intensity than my usual hip pain on my right side...more on that later....but, a few days later, I was reaching for something on a high shelf and over extended again. I felt the injury instantly. That was on Saturday night; I barely got out of bed on Sunday or Monday. Sitting and standing made the pain much worse. I did force myself to go workout with Josh on Tuesday. I told him about the pain and he put me through a warm up that really seemed to help but when we got into our workout, we had kettle bell swings as one of the movements in the set. It hurt and I should have let Josh know right away but I soldiered through and I felt better after the workout for a while. That is that post workout high, even if you're exhausted, you feel great when your blood is pumping. I came home, grabbed a water and a post workout protein snack and sat down on the bed to watch the afternoon news. I thought I wouldn't be there over 20 minutes but I never got back up, at least not that day.

Kettle Bell Swings

I wasn't just hurting in my lower back now. There is a spot in my groin area that has bothered me for at least nine months. At first, I was concerned that it had something to do with the surgery I had to remove my cancerous uterus two years ago. I saw my oncologist in February and asked him about it. When I described it, he said he thought it was orthopedic and related to my spine or back. I went to my primary with it and she just tested me for a urinary tract infection and let it go once that came back clear. A few weeks after that, I had a colonoscopy which turned out great so it wasn't a GI problem. It wasn't a terrible pain and I chose to ignore it after that. Then I hurt my back and after my workout with Josh, Tuesday of last week, it really started hurting. It was a pain that was throbbing and deep and almost burning and it was very localized. My friend thought it might be appendicitis and my husband, Steve, wanted to take me to the ER. I refused but by the next night, I did want him to call our old doctor, Jan Hahn, who is practicing again after taking a break to teach for awhile. I trust this man more than any doctor I know and I knew he'd get to the bottom of the problem...and he did.

He saw me the very next day. He listened intently while I described my problem and he took notes and asked questions. Then he x-rayed my hip where he pointed out some arthritis in the hip joint. He had me move in various directions and ways and then he examined me physically. His conclusion, the main problem is my sacroilliac joint. I seriously thought that was a made up word. To me, it sounded like something Bugs Bunny would say, "Sufferin' Succotash! It's her Sacroilliac!" But it is a real thing and injury or problems with it are more common in women than me. It's the place your hip joins your spine and it isn't fused because we'd walk stiffly like a robot if it were. It has actually bothered me my entire life to some degree but I always thought it was my hip joint. I was so wrong.

The good news is, it is very treatable with over the counter anti-inflammatories and the right exercises...and not doing any exercise that will exacerbate the problem...like kettle bell swings and burpees. Josh is on top of that so no worries there. I trust him just like I trust Dr Hahn. We actually have already had a lengthy discussion about what we will do and not do until this is better and we went through a very satisfying workout that left me feeling better than I have in two weeks...or maybe longer. He's also recommended that I make bird-dogs and every day activity. But I'm getting ahead of myself because there were three stressful, worry filled (and ice cream and french fries and my first beers in five years which got me quickly drunk since I've lost all tolerance but made me feel much better) days over the weekend because Dr Hahn thought the pain in my groin might be a hernia and would require surgery. The surgery terrified me because of the two months post that I wouldn't be allowed to workout or lift anything over five pounds. I've worked so hard to get myself in shape for these last four months with Josh and I saw that all going out the window. I thought, I'll be starting from scratch two months from now.

So, I made an appointment with the surgeon Dr. Hahn recommended and went to see him Tuesday morning anticipating a quickly scheduled surgery and all that down time. I was not a happy camper despite the two Negra Modelos I had with dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant the night before...which did make me feel happy and pain free for a few blissful hours, lol. The doctor talked to me and examined me and he gave me some good and hopeful news. He's not a 100% certain that I have a hernia since I have no bulge. He thinks that my pain may actually be from my back injury and he would rather wait and see if the groin pain goes away with the back pain. He said, if the pain intensifies or other signs appear, I should come back immediately but if and until that happens, he will not cut on me without being certain he has a reason, too....and for that, I'm very grateful.

I met with Josh yesterday afternoon and like I said above, I was certain he'd know what to do and he did. That kid is just the best! Here are the
stretches and exercises he has me doing to help my sacroiliac (Sufferin' Sucotash!)

Bird Dogs

Child's Pose

Planks