One of Those Weeks (A Confession)

It has come to my attention that I am no longer, to quote my mother, a “Spring Chicken”.

See, I don’t have any children of my own yet, and in my mind, that makes me younger than anyone that does. Don’t ask me why that is. But the truth is, I’m not 20 or even 25 anymore. I’m an entire decade older than that, and closer to 40 than I am 30. And to be honest, up until the past couple weeks I haven’t felt old.

But, as I type this, I sit here with ice on my back and when I get up, I will feel like a 93 year old woman. Okay. Maybe not THAT old!

Apparently, I’ve got to start taking better care of myself. Or in my mind, I’ve got to become my mother -addicted, with a religious fervor, to a routine of homeopathic medications (because she has suffered from RA since she was 28). Granted the woman looks and acts young (she’s almost 60) and never complains of pain anywhere. So, clearly she’s got me beat there.

I’m not sure what’s happened, exactly. I’ve had no wrecks to speak of in the recent past, and while it’s not been uncommon for my lower back to ache in the past, we cured that this past December with a new Tempurpedic Mattress. And although my hips and glutes are always tight from riding, and my right hip tends to slide out periodically from the beating, um fun, I gave it, er um, had, as a “kid” tying goats, I’ve never NOT been able to stretch it out with Yoga, or running, or workouts to make myself feel better. This time it’s different.

I’ve started seeing the chiropractor again and my right side, between my pelvis, lower lumbar and S1 hurts and is inflammed (despite the NSAIDs). I cannot seem to get it to loosen up. So I’m going to keep icing, taking some Tylenol and Advil and keep walking and doing a lower back specific Yoga Routine to see if that helps. Today will be the first time I actually get to do the Lower Back Yoga Routine. As far as my workouts go, I’ve been limited on what I can and can’t do because my back has been bothering me, which leads me to…

Have you ever had one of those weeks when it doesn’t matter how early you get up in the morning, you cannot seem to fit everything that you need to fit into your day, into your day? You have all these plans and then something comes up? I planned to workout every day this week, as well as ride my horses, and well, that didn’t happen. Monday I got in a good workout, Tuesday I had to go to town to run errands, and between that and the calving that’s darn near in full swing, getting ready for my gallery opening, and the rest of my chores, I fell into bed with only yoga that day. Wednesday, we had a calf born in the early hours (when it was about 15 degrees and cloudy) and he acted kinda sickly, so I spent the morning tagging calves and taking care of that little guy, drove an hour and fifteen mintues to the chiropractor, picked up some of my canvases for the gallery opening, and ordered custom frames and mats for several pieces, then drove home to check the cows (instead of staying in town for Wine Wednesday with my SIL – ranching is a full-time job people). Checking cows is at least a 2x/day deal right now. When the heifers start in April, you may want to prepare yourself for middle of the night blog posts from me, as there will multiple times per day and night checks, including 2am! Yesterday, just as I was getting ready to do some yoga, I got a text asking if I or Burt (Zach’s first cousin who works here) could take the tractor out to the hay field. That did away with my plans to work out first thing, so I figured I’d just spend the day at the barn, which I did (I handled 5 horses). About 6pm last night I realized that I had yet go check cows. So, I ended my session with my mare, hustled to the pickup, got part-way down the driveway, and realized I better put gas in it or I’d be walking 3 miles or more home, then made it to the pasture. Whew! There were three new little calves! I got to the house about 7:30, started supper, wrapped my canvases, cleaned and ran around the house like a crazy woman until about 11:00 and then I decided I’d put some ice on my back in a couple different places. Then it was time to shower and go to bed. I get to to go to town again today to run an errand for Zach, and just as I was ready to hit publish, Burt called and asked if I’d go through the cows this morning to tag calves. See how the best laid plans of cowgirls go on the ranch? My yoga will have to wait. Again. I swear, next week I’m going to start getting up at 5am. Maybe then I’ll be able to fit everything in.

As an aside, in case anyone is wondering, I’ve been single all week. The cowboy, along with his brothers are in Vegas. He’s working. They’re doing Vegas-y type things.

I weighed in at 139.4 today, and that’s after hardly any working out last week because of my back, and my failed week this week. I am feeling better (other than my back) however, and I can see that I’m toning up, despite my only 2-4 times/ week workouts. I’m still eating clean for the most part, with an occasional cheat every now and then but less “cheat days” and more a cheat bite than anything else!

My mother is getting me an “everything but the kitchen sink” list of vitamins and such I can take, and I suppose since I think vitamins make my horses feel better, I should apply that same logic to myself. Wish me luck. I’m pretty good at taking care of my horses, but not so good at taking care of me.

How’s your weight-loss journey going?

Happy Trails!