Amy's weight loss diary

Hey Amy, sounds like you are off to a great beginning here! You seem very self-aware and engaged in the process. That is wonderful and motivating to see.

Okay - random question, but I have never had quinoa. Can you compare its taste to anything else? I've been really curious but am not sure how I will feel about it. For some reason I picture its taste to be really odd in my head haha but it is also very popular. Any thoughts are appreciated :)
 
Thanks :) I was here a couple of years ago and seriously fell off the bandwagon (my mental health went to hell), but I've got a lot of knowledge I gained when I went through this in 2011 and that all still applies, if I'm applying it differently this time around.

Quinoa is... interesting. It's kind of crunchier than I expected it was going to be (maybe I'm not cooking it for long enough- I follow the instructions so I guess I am?). It's an unusual taste- I suppose the closest comparison I can come to is that it kind of tastes like alfalfa sprouts, but milder. It's way more filling than most other carb options (rice, pasta, etc) because it's got more protein in it, and it's low GI which is part of my current plan. I usually have it with a mix of vegetables and some sort of protein (egg, tuna, another meat) for lunch. I'm not sure what you would have it with as a thing that seems "natural" (like pasta goes with Italian food or rice goes with Chinese kind of natural). I just eat it because it's good for me and will keep me away from the fridge dance.
 
Amy knee pain and injury is more common in ladies than men but the most common cause is tight muscles mainly Hamstrings and Quadriceps but also the ITB. The most common cause of injury is weak hamstrings compared to strong Quadriceps.

You need to be dedicating plenty of time to stretching all the muscles in the legs to begin with, start slowly and just do a little bit each day but only after the muscles are already warm, stretching cold muscles will often lead to injury.

Proprioception exercises relate to balance and will help strengthen the connective tissue around your joints (Hips, Knees and Ankles). The exercises start out easy but with progression should help with any instability you have in the knees. Proprioception exercises are most often used by physio's to rehab joints after injury.

Sample Progression

One leg stand - 3 minutes each leg each day, try to stay as stable as possible
One leg stand with eyes closed
One leg stand on stability foam
One leg stand on stability foam with eyes closed
One leg stand touch the ground to your left, right, front and back with one hand, repeat with other hand then repeat with other leg.

there are a lot of other options but the above progression is an easy to explain progression but don't move to a harder exercise until you can do the previous one in a stable controlled manner.

After exercise be sure to ice the knee for 20 minutes to reduce any inflammation your exercise has caused.
 
Thanks, Trusylver, that's fantastic. I'll definitely do that. I'd love to not have to struggle with my knees so much.

Do you think it would be worthwhile seeing a physiotherapist? This has plagued me forever and if there's a way I can sort it out (other than just "putting up with the pain until my knees can take the impact", which is what I've been doing), it'd make a huge difference to my quality of life. Or is this something I can do on my own?
 
YES a physio would be a great idea if you can afford it and much better than what I can help with over the internet and much more qualified :)

over the internet it is very hard to work out what the problem is but a physio will be able to manipulate the knee etc to work out what exactly is causing the problem and give specific exercise to correct it.

I also forgot to mention, pain in the knee can also be referred pain from a hip problem.
 
Thanks very much, again, I'll do that (and in the meantime make sure I stretch more than I have been).

Log for the day. Activity- 45 minute walking aerobics video, with some jumping/ jogging put in it as my knees could handle.

Food- Bowl of muesli with skim milk. 3 cups of coffee with skim milk.
Small tin of flavoured tuna, 3/4 cup quinoa, and sauteed vegetables (onion, two carrots, two zucchini, and a tomato- I took half and put half in a container for tomorrow. I fried without oil in a non-stick pan). A cup of tea with skim milk.
Smoked salmon and snow peas in a cheesy sauce, with pasta, for dinner. I took a small portion because I don't think it's too good for me.
A peach and half a dozen grapes.
Three litres of water through the day.
 
Quick update- did the same video but paused it after the warmup section and stretched my quads and hamstrings (sissy squat from exrx and sitting with my legs straight in front of me and trying to touch my toes). My knees felt better even though I made it more intense (I used tinned tomato as "hand weights" and increased the amount of jogging/ jumping I was doing- I really worked hard today), but oddly, my hips hurt. It's not as bad as my knee pain normally is but I don't know whether I should get that checked out.

I was told I was in really good shape today as compared to where I have been recently, which made me feel good, although not without the comment I should be sucking my stomach in. I never remember to do that.

The electronic scale here appears to be broken, which is annoying. The manual one still works, but it's reading me as a kilogram heavier than the electronic one was, which makes me sad. I know my weight hasn't changed, but seeing "73" rather than "71.9" doesn't help my mood.
 
Oh, and I iced my knees afterwards as you suggested, Tru, and they stung like crazy. Like I'd expect to feel if I had injured something. That bothers me.
 
Also, I've adjusted my ticker to reflect the weight I am according to the manual scale here, and I'm going to work on that basis. My end weight goal isn't a hard limit, it's a "around about where I'd like to be" number. We'll see how I go as I get closer to it.
 
Amy, did you put the ice directly on the skin or did you cover it with a cloth ? if it was not covered it should have been otherwise the ice should have just felt cold, numbing the area, and not have caused pain. Some people have an allergic reaction to ice but it is very uncommon, also a lot of pain when ice is applied is an indicator of a potentially more serious injury. eg. fractured bones will hurt badly if ice is applied to the area. Reacting to the ice means going to see that physio is more important and they may want scans of the knee.
 
I compromised- I didn't put a specific cloth on the ice pack, but was wearing full length yoga pants, and I thought that would be enough. (I find the cloths I usually use to be too insulating) Usually I find even ice pack against the skin to be numbing, and this was painful. (Not extremely painful, but more than just "sore"- stinging is the closest word I can come to it) I also felt knee pain for longer than I anticipated given the overall lack of knee pain during the workout- it's gone now, but my knees were throbbing for a couple of hours, at least. Actually, now that I think about it, they're still kind of throbbing now, but painlessly. I'm definitely bothered by this, and I'm going to get it checked out when I can (will take some organising, hard to explain).

Should I go back to low-very low impact exercise in the meantime? I don't think I've done anything particularly novel in the last little while, so if this is an injury or strain it's probably very long standing (years).
 
I would stick to low impact until it is checked, remember you should be able to get a medicare rebate if you can get your GP to refer you to the physio.
 
Thanks for that. I think I'll go back to walking a few kilometres a day until I've got it checked out- everything else seems to aggravate my knees at least a little. (My knees are a bit tender and my hips are sore even now- over twelve hours after I've exercised. I don't feel like I overdid it today, but I must have done?)

Food for today:
Bowl of muesli with skim milk, three cups of coffee with skim milk
1/2 cup quinoa, small tin of flavoured tuna (95g- tomato and onion flavour), and half of the mix I cooked up yesterday (onion, carrot, zucchini, mushroom). Cup of black tea with skim milk
Apple
Serve (large-ish) of homemade lasagne, garden salad. About half a dozen grapes.
Two cups of peppermint tea and about 2.5 litres of water.
 
Food for Saturday:

Bowl of muesli, skim milk, three cups of coffee with skim milk.
A banana (small-medium sized).
Chicken cheese and salad sandwich with a small amount of sweet chilli mayo. Cup of tea with skim milk.
An apple.
Lemon chicken with lots of vegetables and white rice for dinner.
A nectarine.
About a litre and a half of water over the course of the day.

It's Sunday morning and I'm down half a kilogram this week.
 
My knees are still quite sore. They were throbbing as I was trying to get to sleep last night. They feel better this morning, but I'm quite worried now.
 
I just thought that I would call by your diary to cheer you on.

I hope that your hips and knees are ok and that you are doing fine.

I will echo's Tru's comment - 0.5KG is amazing... I would swap for that any day... If you ever doubt it - think what 0.5Kg of lard or butter looks like...
 
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