It's Been Forever!

So...we kind of got off the biking bandwagon after the accident.



BUT 3 weeks after The Accident, I did start my daily workouts again.



I wasn't able to find Cize when I finished Insanity Max 30, however, I did have the 21 Day Fix Extreme, so gave it a go.



As it was only 21 days, I decided not to note every single workout - it kind of takes away from it all.

Autumn Calabrese kind of annoyed me at first, but she grew on me eventually.  She sounds like she's from Minnesota with a Canadian Accent.



And she's a tough cookie.  She brought back the weights, and maintained the squats, lunges, and goddam tricep dips.

I didn't realize how much I missed the weights (Shaun T doesn't generally use weights - only in the Gamma Round of T25).



I didn't do the diet part, as I'm not that hard core.  I'm okay with a long term maintenance plan vs a short term plan.  That's just me though - some people just do the diet part.  I don't need more tupperware, and we generally watch what we eat, with some cheating (wings and beer anyone??).



I didn't really like the app, as the days I didn't workout (there was a wedding in the middle, so I had to remember which day I was on, as the app just assumed you didn't skip a day):

The bridal party

I think my arm looks dented - you can kind of see it in the top left - yeah!

And someone actually commented on how muscular my back looks - sweet!  All my hard work the last 10 months is finally paying off.  Being not-20-years-old, it's a lot more difficult to get rid of those unsightly bulges and bumps.  Husband still says I'm hot no matter what, but it also matters what I think.



I want all the muscles!



And working out also gives me more energy, makes me happy, and fills in that time I used to spend bird toy making for Crystal's Bird Toys.



CBT feels like a lifetime ago since I closed down the store.



Anyhow, back to Apps - I like Apps for my workouts, so I can check it off there.  I'm horrible with paper. Even if it's posted on my fridge.



Like now.



I tried Cize for 2 days, and just missed the weights, squats, and lunges - it's mainly cardio and co-ordination, and a whack load of fun....but I need more than that to meet my targets and not get bored.  Doing the same workout every day for a week is one way for me to just stop doing it.  It's boring and repetitive.



So, I found a schedule that incorporates the 21 Day Fix Extreme WITH Cize.  It's perfect!  3 days of weights, lunges, and squats, 1 Yoga day, and 3 Cize Days a week.



I think I might do this with Body Beast (a program I haven't attempted as I don't want stupid huge muscles, and NEED my cardio to get best results) - a bit of T25 or P90X3 and Body Beast together?


 Yes please!



Cize is basically 30-40 minutes learning a 45 second dance.  My favourite move so far is the row-boat move - it took me about 4 days of Cize to figure it out, but now it's fun.  Again, I trip over my own feet and am not that co-ordinated, so this is a great challenge for me to attempt and succeed at.

I start the new dance (week 3) today, so I'm stalling for time.  New moves in Cize scare me a bit.


 This is good - to challenge yourself to do things you ordinarily wouldn't do.




I also only had one pair of workout shorts that wicked sweat away - my other two were old pant cut offs, and not working for me at all.  I'm a fitness clothing snob. I admit it.  I like my Lululemon. It does exactly what I want, and I shop in the We Made To Much section, so the pricing is actually much better that normal priced fitness clothing, at a quality I have become accustomed to.



So I saw some shorts on sale that might work better than the last pair I got (I need to shrink a tad bit more for those ones to fit - fitness goals!).



They are Amazeballs!

A workout is not complete without a Ridgeback aka Lumpy Fynn

The only problem with shopping in the discount section...you have to wait. And wait. And wait if you want a not-size 2 or 4.  I'm an 8 in tops (which are getting flowy) and 10 in bottoms right now - the 8s don't like my hips, which seem to be holding on for dear life.



A bit of a long winded analysis of the last few months, but I'm still journeying along :)



There are no excuses acceptable (beyond having no limbs) to not putting yourself, your mental & physical health, and overall well being - first.  Do it for your family and do it for yourself.



Keep fit, smile, and remember - if you have 30 minutes a day to watch tv, you have 30 minutes a day to workout in your living room.

The Accident - Bye Bye Useful Pick Up Truck!

So, on June 13th, we were on our way home from MEC (aka Westboro) with some new biking gear. We were JUST going to pop into the house to change my shirt as Husband slobbered ice cream over it - The Merry Dairy ice cream to be exact - so we could satisfy our desire for a nice steak dinner.

See - ice cream on my face that drooled onto my shirt right before the accident

Yeah - that didn't quite pan out the way we anticipated.  Two rights and a left away from our house, we were stopped at a red light.  Light turned Green and there were 3 or 4 cars ahead of us, thus, Husband's foot was still on the brake.  I looked at the rearview mirror, and saw this big pick up truck coming towards us, and thought nothing of it.

2 seconds later, all I heard was a crash, and I started screaming for some unknown reason for 1-2 minutes.  Husband was scared, as he had no idea why I was screaming or if I was hurt.

The pick up truck, on a nice sunny day, with no sun in his direction, somehow missed the brake lights on our BRIGHT RED pickup truck, and hit us (0KMH) going about 50-60KMH.

The result? Husband was really confused and sore, my right leg was bruised and swollen, the back of my head hurt like a &#$*%, and I had no idea what had just happened.

I was mixing up my words WAY more than normal, and delayed in my responses to people asking me questions.

I couldn't remember which was my Left or Right (even doing the old make-my-fingers-into-an-L-to-figure-out-which-is-left childhood trick).

An Ambulance arrived quite quickly, as did the hot police officer.  I remember that.

I was the only one injured enough for the ambulance to take in.  They asked me questions, did some tests, and told me I had to go to the hospital.  As we were so close to home, and Husband would have to pay for parking anyhow, I declined, as Ambulances charge $45 for a ride these days, and I could walk (painfully) - I wanted to avoid my leg from stiffening up.

They need Uber ambulances I think.

I signed my Waiver, and saw the aftermath.

Rear windows smashed out

Rear bumper. Poor bumper.

The car in front of us saw the driver not stopping, and had enough time to pull up, thus they only had a minor scratch on their Audi.  They stood with us, and were quite irked at the Truck driver.  None of us really talked to him.  I never did find out if he was looking down, texting, or just zoned out at the time of the accident.  The Audi couple suspect he was texting, as he was looking down as he approached us. Only the police and insurance know (and the guy) for sure.

We gave our statements (well, Husband more than me, as he was driving and coherent), and Husband and I walked away.  The truck was undriveable.

Little did we know at the time, the whole front end was shot (we were able to change gears without the clutch - not good in a Standard vehicle), it was buckled at the front, passenger side was buckled out all the way (like at a 45 degree angle in the middle), the truck bed pushed into the back of where we were sitting (hence smashed glass, and injuries)....and the repair shop stopped counting repairs without even taking into consideration the internal damages.  Little Truck was a write off :(

This isn't what was supposed to happen - Truck is paid off this month (July), and we were supposed to use its payments towards replacing the 2003 Mazda Protege (my car) which has about 285,000KM on it.  Great car...just that was the one that required replacement!  When it dies, we'll figure out what to do - will we just stay with the new vehicle, or replace the car too?  Maybe if I get a super grand raise at work or something (ha ha) that could compensate for a second car payment (ha ha).

Sad to say goodbye to trucky at the repair shop. Notice the glass shards in back of bed.

Back to my injuries.  We spent 3 hours in the emergency room from beginning to leaving the hospital.  It was not too bad - we even ran into one of Husband's old friends who had moved back to Ottawa.  Small world!

The Doctor was actually one of the best doctors I've seen in years, besides my Naturopathic MD.  She was funny, asked questions, and had great bedside manner.  It made a frustrating and scary experience better.

I was diagnosed with a Mild Concussion and told to basically sit in the dark and rest for the next 7-10 days.

I could watch my tv series on Netflix for short periods of time during the day (in the dark living room), stayed off my phone and computer for the most part, and finally had a coherent conversation with Husband 5 days after the accident happened.  My brain literally hurt.  If I exerted myself, it pounded to let me know, "slow down".  The best way to describe it is a numb throbbing.

I couldn't multi-task until the following Thursday (so almost 2 weeks after the accident) - I'm all about the multi tasking, so this was weird to NOT do it.

I didn't bike until 2 weeks after the accident (a lowly 30km), and we turned around when I started feeling weird.  I didn't work out with Shaun T for the first time until this past Wednesday, as I couldn't - I got way too confused and my head throbbed.

I credit the fact that I only had minor pain in my shoulders, back, and neck from the impact to actually being fit.  I literally have been strengthening my shoulders, neck, and back with working out almost daily since the end of October 2014.  I am SO surprised my injuries weren't worse than they were.  Who knew being fit could also help you recover from or have reduced injuries from an accident?

I'm pretty much back to normal now, but it shows you - every choice you make, place you go...it can change your plans in a flash.  Take each moment and live it.  Don't live with regrets and "I'll change it later" attitude.  You have to choose what you do today - because life's nails in the road come without notice.

Do you really want to look back and not be happy with your entire life?

I think not.

I am thankful we only lost a vehicle, 3 weeks of my "normal" life, and some financial insecurity.  A week after our accident, a friend's sister was in a car accident where she was airlifted to the hospital, was in ICU, and has months of recovery ahead of her.  I also lost a human Ridgeback acquaintance of mine during this time - not much older than we are.  That's terrifying.

Live in the (logical) now.