Moving slow & shaky this morning and I can't seem to shake off the morning crankies. I hope the food bank is gentle with me today. Feeling fragile. #POTS
1/9/24 Edited to add:
I will never forget this toot. This was the beginning of me getting my life back from POTS. I had finally had enough of it & made the changes necessary to get on a path to better health.
I promised myself that I'd do 20 minutes of exercise today. The last fucking thing I feel like doing is 20 minutes of anything resembling exercise. I swear I can feel the #POTS flare up getting worse as my day goes on. (Someone tell me to stop bitching & get the yoga mat out.)
I did my 17 minutes of beginner #pilates (leg circles suck) and I felt good so I did 30 minutes of gentle #stretching right after. This is a new #yoga instructor for me. I'll try it again without doing pilates first. I'm nauseous now & headachey & I think I just did too much. (Sounds like it's time for a bowl. Hopefully the munchies will kick in just as dinner starts.)
Today's #yoga was with Kassandra. A couple years ago I decided I *really* wanted to "get good" at yoga (this is where you say- wth, Heidi. That's not the point of yoga... I know.) Anyways, I have bad wrists from knitting & I've had multiple ab surgeries, not to mention the exercise intolerance from #POTS but I dove in & it didn't last. 🤣 Kassandra was my preferred teacher. Today's session was gentle. I'm stiff from yesterday & sitting all day at work.
More gentle pilates. There's something vaguely embarrassing about needing to follow exercises meant for seniors when you're not even 50, but it felt good to do so I'm adding this to the line up. There's a few more videos with this instructor that look interesting. I would really like to add strength training to my workouts. I'd really like to get even a quarter of my strength back.
Ha. I'd consider this my first "real" #pilates class. It was hard but it felt good. I wasn't wearing compression (and I should have #POTS) so now my brain is feeling buzzy. I think I'll recover with my legs up on the wall before showering and getting to the office. I may need to shower sitting down.
Did Jessica Valant's beginner #pilates again. It's so good, just wish it was longer. I'm noticing some strength & it feels good. I managed to finish all of the leg circles during the 1st round. Never was able to do all of them at once. The second round of them- forget it. I'm still not even close. It's a different angle & I just don't have the strength yet. I'll keep working at it.
Also attempted abdominal exercises but stopped halfway through.
This morning I did a new to me 35 minute #pilates session with #MoveWithNicole. To be perfectly honest, I Did Not Want to do it. I'd been up since 4am, the natural supplements I've been taking are making me nauseous & Husband was in & out of the room. I was able to do all the moves though & I am feeling stronger on the mat. By the time I was done I was stiff and cranky but proud of myself.
#kickingTheShitOutOfPOTS
42 minutes of for-real #pilates. I only swore once. I would like to get in at least 150 strokes on the rower also today. Just waiting for Husband and Younger Kidlet to leave for #hockey. Tonight is the first practice of our last year of youth sports. I'll miss my hockey family, I will not miss youth sports.
And yes, it's another new pilates teacher. You were warned. #Gemini. #kickingTheShitOutOfPOTS
250 #rowing strokes! Yay!! Did you know that there's beginner rowing classes on YouTube? Is there anything you can't learn on YT?
I went down to level 2 for warm ups and the actual row, then dropped to 2 for cool down. Feeling nauseous, headachy & shaky but it will pass.
I'm mostly happy with the machine. It's a smooth enough pull, it's just loud as hell. And, since I'm trying to work out at 7am on most days, a loud machine will wake up the whole house. #kickingTheShitOutOfPOTS
I will kick the shit out of this illness. I'm done fucking around. I'm done with the medical bills, the doctors visits, compression socks. Done. I'm angry now & I'm coming for you, #POTS.
I'm going to now attempt to go upstairs and shower, hopefully not laying down. 🤣🤣
After doing some research, I'm pretty sure the rower is broken. It should be much, much quieter. I'm honestly heartbroken.
So, do I keep using it until it really breaks or attempt to fix it on my own (which isn't really an option because I don't have the energy or the strength to fix this thing). Husband is going to be so mad when I tell him. He didn't really want this thing in the house to begin with. 🤬 I just want to get healthy. It shouldn't be this hard. #kickingTheShitOutOfPOTS
Yesterday, I rested. I'm proud of myself for not only letting my body rest, but for also getting back to it with no excuses. I woke this morning with no hip pain so I did my #row for 365 strokes at level 3 for all but the last 2 minutes where I rowed as hard as I could at level 5. I'm going to feed the Younger Kidlet dinner, then find #pilates.
#KickingTheShitOutOfPOTS #POTS #dysautonomia #ExerciseIntolerance
500 strokes, completely by mistake. Happily rowing in one YouTube class, hit pause to answer a question from the Younger Kidlet & when I unpaused I switched me to another class. 🤷♀️ With a much higher stroke rate. My legs are jello. #stretching up next. 💪I'm too sore for #pilates tonight. (Sad panda.)
I know I'm going to need to really start focusing on cardio if I want to do this right, but I need this time to get there safely.
#KickingTheShitOutOfPOTS #disautonomia #POTS #ListenToYourBody
Back at it. Am I still sore? Yep, but it's reasonable. I did 20 minutes of #rowing for 300 strokes, a nice and slow row at level 3. Did 20 minutes of gentle #pilates (#JessicaValant on YT, see previous toots for video link) and about 15 of #yoga stretching. 25 zone minutes on the #Fitbit. That's enough for today. Are you getting some movement in? What's working for you?
Feeling much better. 525 stroke #row, level 3, 30 minutes with #DarkHorseRowing on YT. 35 zone minutes on #fitbit
Ok, that 525 is a LIE because the guy from DHR, made me do these arm drills that effing killed me but they don't count because my machine only registers the times that the seat passes a sensor which it doesn't unless the legs are engaged.
In all seriousness, today felt like a proper #workout. 💪I felt strong & engaged & it was LOVELY.
600 strokes in 30 minutes, 15 minutes level 3, 14 minutes on level 4. 1 very loud minute on level 1 for cool down. (My machine doesn't like level 1. It grinds.) #ROW
Also did 40 minutes of real #pilates. I noticed that I can move through poses easier. I'm not flailing around trying to catch my breath & balance. It's nice.
Great #workout. My body is buzzing!!
#KickingTheShitOutOfPOTS #POTS #IWouldLikeAMassage #AndANicerRower lol
579 stroke #row in 22 minutes. Moved up to level 4.
I Did. Not. want to row. I'm tired, my GI hurts, I'm prob migraining...excuses excuses. I sat on the rower & thought that I'd row lightly for 100 strokes & if I didn't feel into it I'd give myself some grace & stop. At about 40 strokes in I said fuck it & I picked a 20 minute intermediate interval row & went for it. Not going to lie, it was hard. I'm sweaty, my legs feel like jello & I'm super nauseous now. But I'm #KickingTheShitOutOfPOTS!
I rested yesterday. I stopped taking my iron supplements last week & it caught up to me. Zero energy.
Today I did 527 strokes in 27 minutes listening to #DarkHorseRowing on YT. And 20 minutes of stretching yoga. Funny, I was done around 3:00 & was exhausted but now it's almost 6pm & I'm sitting here thinking... I have energy.
#KickingTheShitOutOfPOTS #MaybeItShouldSayRowingTheShitOutOfPOTS #POTS
42 minutes of level 1 #pilates on YT this morning. Great practice. Feeling strong when I step on the mat. Every time I have a workout, regardless of the #exercise, I feel more & more hopeful that I can actually put my #POTS into remission this time. I'm anxious that I have to do a stress test next week with the new #cardiologist. And if I'm being honest, I know I have to start #StrengthTraining & that's when I historically fall off the wagon.
300 strokes #rowing in 15 minutes. That was something. My legs were on fire. Used another #DarkHorseRowing class. There's other teachers on YT but I'm used to Shane's instructions and he always looks like he's having so much freaking fun.
Also, my fitbit auto-recognized this as swimming?
20 minutes of #yoga. Real yoga, like downward dog & stuff. My head hurts. I need a hot bath but I'm afraid I won't be able to get out. Maybe I'll just sit in the shower.
525 strokes #rowing for 29 minutes. I got frustrated at #DarkHorseRowing's video (my fault, not his) so I shut it off & turned on Fleetwood Mac. Delightful row, challenging myself when my mind wandered into the lyrics to bring me back to my workout. My heart rate isn't as high as I need to be. I think I need to consider going off beta blockers, which is frightening. Two of my most common #POTS symptoms were heart pain & tachycardia. Uncomfortable.
Tuesdays are just exhausting for me (food bank) but I still got a petite #workout in this afternoon- a quick 252 stroke #row (listening to #Claud) and 20 minutes of pilates (Jessica Valant, YT).
I'm going to add in #WeightTraining tomorrow. I'm nervous. I think I'm going to start with resistance bands (Therabands). I really don't love any of the YouTube theraband videos. So that's an issue. A majority of them are so slow in pace & instructors sound like they're speaking to feeble people.
No weight training today. I'm tired. I spent 2 hours in the car and a total of 90 minutes in various Drs offices. It's a lot. I'm tired.
I #rowed 427 strokes though. Did I mention I'm tired?
555 #rowing strokes in 25 minutes. Intermediate class with #DarkHorseRowing. Probably worked harder than I should but it felt great. My rowing machine is being very loud & clicky again. I don't have the $$ for a new one, crappy or otherwise, so it better knock it the fuck off.
Heidi
Dewey Ritten 
Andrew Briscoe
Anna Miriamsdochter