A sharp turn

 Just as I was feeling firmly "in the groove" of my exercise routine - a wrench has been thrown! 
A torn meniscus, yet again. And of course it happened a week before my camping trip. I still had a wonderful camping trip, but it was the most sedentary camping trip I've ever had. No hikes, minimal walking, and a lot less heavy lifting than usual. I've just been wearing my knee brace and taking prednisone to reduce the inflammation.  Pain-wise, its feeling better now, just still very unstable. 
I skipped an entire week of my strength training, and I've missed multiple rowing sessions. 

Oh well, it is what it is, is it not? 

This is not anything new for me to navigate, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. I was really feeling like I was making progress. I am aware that a few
days, or even weeks off from training will not erase all of my hard work - but my emotions beg to differ. I feel untethered and back to square one. 

Like I have to "start over" or something. But there is nothing to restart. This is just my life, daily life... in which some days I work out, some days I don't. Some days I hit my macros, some days I'm not perfect. I don't need to start anything from scratch, I just need to keep doing what I feel is best for me (and my dumb ass body) each day. 

To end on a happy note, camping was wonderful. I got no exercise, no sleep, and I ate some oatmeal cookie sandwiches. But, I had endless conversations with my best friend, played games, watched birds, and floated around a pristine mountain-top lake in a donut floaty. 

Paddleboarding and Progress

 Ok... so maybe my scale weight is still up and maybe I still don't see anything in the mirror... but I want to say that I am finally feeling a little bit of change. I had a lovely talk with my trainer, which helped. I also had a good talk with AI, who I asked to remind me of all the science behind how I could be seemingly stagnant. 

The other day, I also paddleboarded for the first time ever. And I was all alone! I was so scared, I'm scared of everything. Scared of falling in the water and not being able to get back on. Scared of falling in the water and touching a lake monster with my toes. Scared of getting fatigued, of doing something wrong, of getting stranded, of having to ask for help. 

Of course none of those things happened. I just... paddled my little heart out for almost 2 hours. Physically, I found it very easy (I only sat, mind you, I'm not very interested in standing up!).  I definitely got very nervous when spotting any other vessels on the lake, but I kept my distance. 

I even did my rowerg workout for 40 minutes when I got back home. 

It feels like a big step toward being an "Active Person" like I want to be! Active People totally paddleboard in the summertime! :-)