Sciatica Pain

Do you suffer from sciatic pain? I do and it is a pain in the butt. (Yep, pun intended.) Since I became pregnant with my first child, the pain has been consistent. It is almost always worse around "that" time of the month. Since I started going to the chiropractor there has been a huge decrease in the severity of the pain. This month is the exception to that new rule. I was adjusted yesterday and am still in intense pain today. I struggled to make my way through a class at the gym tonight and was able to make modifications, but was not at all pleased with my workout. Massage therapy has helped in the past, but work is super busy tomorrow and hubby has to work early. I don't see a massage in my future... :(

On Tuesday I finished Stage 2 of New Rules of Lifting. I am feeling really strong. Today at work I was lifting some boxes off of a high shelf. I put these boxes up in October and was amazed at how heavy they felt in October and how light they felt today!

I continue to notice increased defention in my arms, thighs, and abs. The thin lines in my abs are starting to become defined lines. Don't read too much in to this- I am not "ripped" nor am I sporting a "6-pack", but my body is changing and it's exciting! When I do ab work I can actually feel my abs working. I use to take classes and the instructor would say something like, "You should feel the muscle contract while doing (insert random ab exercise)". I thought that they were crazy. I felt nothing. I now understand what they were talking about! I should be starting Stage 3 tomorrow night, but if I can't get this pain under control, then it will have to wait until the weekend.

My eating has been less than stellar lately. The cool part is how horrible I feel when I don't eat right. My body is craving healthy foods. I need to give it what it wants. Life seems to be going so quick these days. I am looking forward to the weekend and getting some time to slow down. How about you? Do you have big plans for the weekend?

~Kari

Just checking in....

Excuse the randomness...I have a cold. :)

This has been a good week. Nothing spectacular, but a good week.

On Monday, I did my first New Rules of Lifting for Women (NROLFW) workout and felt fantastic! I've been hesitant to return to lifting and have to sacrifice my normal cardio routine. In NROLFW they suggest a 60 second rest between lifting sets. I decided to use that 60 seconds to do some interval training (running in place, jumping jacks, mountain climbers, etc). After I finished the lifting (approximately 30 minutes), I decided to spend a bit of quality time on the elliptical. My big woo-hoo from lifting with interval training was that I actually still burned over 500 calories during my workout. Tuesday was a normal cardio workout day that included running, elliptical, and stairs. On Wednesday, I was suppose to do day 2 of NROLFW. I came down with a cold on Wednesday. The gym was calling my name, so I ended up doing the workout and joining Kelly for Shred after lifting. I am soooooorrrrre today. It a good kind of sore. I'm getting really excited about the changes that I am anticipating with my appearance as I continue to lift weights.

My eating has been going really well this week, but the scale isn't moving. I'm continuing to use My Fitness Pal and have been staying under my calorie limit. I'm thinking about breaking up with my scale again. It's starting to hurt my feelings.

I went in to see the chiropractor again today. I LOVE my chiropractor. When I first started going, I was having to go every other week and was still uncomfortable most of the time. I am delighted to report that even though it's been a month between visits, that I was feeling OK going into the appointment. At this point, I am hoping to continue to go once a month to maintain my spinal health.

Rest day today for exercise and my hubby took the kids to the gym. I am enjoying some sick time on the couch. Speaking of hubby- I totally have to brag on him. Last week, while on vacation, he worked out with me a few times. He worked so hard and kept up with me the whole time. I love when we can work out together!

Drink your water, take your vitamins, wash your hands, and get plenty of sleep! It's a sick, sick world out there.

~Kari

Dem Bones

I feel amazing and a lot of it has to do with my amazing new chiropractor. Here's a song for your listening enjoyment....

I have been amazing at the difference in how good I feel after just a few adjustments. This past week I had my atlas adjusted. Don't know what that is? I didn't until this week. It the bone that your skull sits on and it controls the alignment of your spine (including your brain stem). Mine was way out of whack, so much so that my left leg was 1/2 and inch shorter than my right! After a neck adjustment, my legs were now the same length. I don't know how it works, but it does.  The adjustment was uncomfortable, but I had instant relief. I have been tight between my shoulders and shoulder blades for years and I woke up this morning (my adjustment was yesterday) and my muscles were actually pain free. I also need to add that I have had 0 sciatica pain since starting to see a chiropractor. Like I said, I don't know how it works, but it seems to be working. Here's a good Youtube video about how the atlas works:

Have a safe and healthy weekend!
~Kari

Chiropractor Visit #2

I am addicted to my chiropractor after only 2 visits. :) He's fantastic. He moves my bones in a way that feels amazing with the quick flick of his pen. I went to yoga on Friday night and could actually feel a difference in my poses with my new corrected alignment. On this second visit he went over my x-rays from the other day. My x-rays show that my L5 vertebrae (near my tailbone) is indeed compressed. In this pictures it's the bottom of the blue near the yellow.

This compressed vertebrae explains my pain during sitting on hard surfaces (like bleachers) and doing sit-ups. I asked him about doing sit-ups and he suggested doing them on a ball to alleviate the pressure.

In addition to my compressed vertebrae, I also have an uneven pelvis. The left side of my pelvis is 10 degrees higher than the right. THIS explains my hip pain and (at least to me) what it's harder to balance and stretch on my left side. The rest of my spine is out of alignment because it's leaning towards the left 30 degrees to compensate for the 10 degrees that my pelvis is off. Still with me?  Basically my spine is overcompensating for my pelvis.

Oh, and I can't forget my coccyx. It's all out of whack too. See, I am a chiropractors dream. As always- there is an amazing part....

My NeuroSpinal function score was 84. A perfect score is 100. Dr. Mike says that he see "very few" patients that ever score in the 90's, even after therapy, and that 84 is really good. 356 pound Kari never would have gotten a NeuroSpinal function score of 84. It basically means that my spine is in good healthy. Additionally, the disks between the vertebrae were in "excellent" condition. Whew! What a relief. I was worried that putting additional weight on my body for so long would have resulted in doing permanent damage on the back that could never be undone.

A small huge problem is that if I went as much as he wanted me to it would be hundreds of dollars a month for the first few months- even after my insurance. I am just starting to pay for Bug's eye surgery and am still paying on my surgery. There is no way I can take on another medical expense at this time. My hope is that I can go every other week (instead of 3X a week like he wants) and still reap the benefits of adjustment. I am also going to ask for exercises that I can do at home to keep aligned between appointments.

Whew! Sorry this was so long. Tomorrow I will be back on the picket line (yep, still on strike) and then going to a Big and Rich concert at the fair. Can't wait to get my hands on an Earthquake burger.

~Kari

So much to say, so little time

I've had great intentions of blogging over the past week, but haven't been able to find that time. Recently I have found myself being very busy playing Citiville on Facebook. Have you played this game? It's pretty fun! :)

First off- I know that I owe you a 4 month post-op post. I hope to get to it tomorrow. I promise it's coming.

Second- I ran my second 5k this past Saturday. Last year I ran the same race and it took me 43ish minutes. On Saturday I ran the 5k in 34:43. Yep, that's an improvement of nearly 9 minutes and 30 fewer pounds to lug over the finish line. I felt so strong during my run. It was fantastic! I had 3 other friends run with me. They were such an encouragement.

Third- I've been experience horrible lower back and hip pain. It comes and goes, but this time it doesn't seem to want to leave. I decided to see a chiropractor today. Chiropractors scare me a little bit. Have you ever gone? I went in today to have an initial eval. They did a bunch of tests, including x-rays, and then I was adjusted. I don't know what he did, but I do feel better than I did when I went in. The doctor (are they doctors???) wants me to come back on Thur. to go over my results in detail, but he did say that I have a compressed vertebra and some other stuff. I don't fully understand that, but he said he's explain more later. I'm thinking that this might be what make my butt hurt when doing sit-ups.

Fourth- Our district voted tonight to go on strike. :( It's been a really stressful start to the school year. I'm sitting here tonight trying to figure out what healthy foods one can eat on the picket line.

Whew, like I said there is a lot going on. Thanks for sticking with me- even when I don't get to post as much as I'd like to.

~Kari