Good News in a Sad Time

Hi,

I have some great news progress-wise, but I also want to acknowledge what happened in Boston. I feel extremely saddened and angry about the fact that such great athletes and their supporters, who should have felt so proud and happy, were instead subject to a terror attack. I also will admit to feeling frightened, because I am an American too and I feel under attack. But, I know that the best way to fight back is to support those I know in Boston and continue my business as usual. Holding my head high. I am glad I have Derek here with me, although he responds to events like this in a very different way than me and doesn't like to talk about them. We had a bit of a scuffle about that yesterday, but after about half an hour of thinking I realized that he did care, he just processes it in a different way. And he undoubtedly cares about me and loves me, and is kind to everyone - that's what's importnat.

Okay... back to my news. Yesterday, I had a three month checkin with my doctor. He is very impressed with my weight loss and strengthening, saying I am a rare patient to take that step. He says my strategy of healing through food, water, vitamins, sleep, and exercise is obviously working, and that I am seeing results similar to those who use drugs. That is great to hear! i really am healing my entire body.

Also: I had my first personal training session this morning with a trainer named Josh. I chose him because he has always been helpful when I needed to know how to do an exercise, even before I had money to pay him to help. He seemed genuinely interested in motivating me and always congratulated me when, after a period, he saw me and I had lost more weight. Also, he has irritable bowel syndrom too, so he understands the difference between healthy exercise soreness and true abdominal distress. He has also recently lost seventy pounds, so he knows about the journey I am going through. Somehow that seems like a bonus... he was not born inherently strong and fit, he earned it just like us!

Anyways, that half hour of exercise may have been the toughest in my life! There were weighted jumping jacks, burpees, tire lifts, tricep tips, weighted squts... and more, one right after the other. My entire body was worked out without once using a machine (I can do those on my own time). He says and I believe that I will be very sore today and tomorrow! I did my very best and was more successful in some exercises than others. I was surprised to find that the arm exercises were the easiest for me, since I have been exercising those muscles regularly. Arms used to be my weakness! The core exercises were the hardest for me.

Oh! I did use one machine at the end. It was the weighted pull up machine. You step onto a bar and pull yourself up, and there is a weight inside the machine which seems to help. I used the interior handles, which are supposed to be a little easier. I was able to do two pullups on the easiest setting, which surprised both me and my trainer. He says that even with the help the machine gives, many of his clients cannot do any pull ups at all at first. I admit that i was sort of terrified of stepping onto the machine because I thought i would fall. I'm sort of afraid of heights, even a foot and a half off the ground. It's an entirely mental thing, but my entire body was shaking. That is definitely something I plan to work on regularly, because he says the machine is ideal to measure my progress.

On the way home from the gym, I felt extremely alert and attuned to my surroundings. I didn't listen to music, but rather listened to the bird chirps and hums of the neighborhood. It is early spring and there was some rain yesterday so everything truly is bright and clear, but it seemed especially so after my exercise. It was definitely a sort of high, feeling peaceful but also extra in tune with the nature around me. I dig it!

Elizabeth