I was going to wait an entire week before writing about this, but the difference has been so pronounced that I'm not going to wait until Sunday.
My 'over-training" self-diagnosis seems to be spot-on. I went back through my journal and compared the back issue entries with my workout journals, and although I only went back to Aug. 2020, it looks like I've been over-training since then, at least, likely longer. Many of my serious back issue nights correlate to the heavier/longer workouts too. So what I surmise has been happening is that my body was so over-stressed and threatened by the heavy workouts (along with the other stressors that have been keeping me from recovering well), it essentially shut down systems like digestions & sleep, in order to try to repair the damage I've been doing to my body/nervous system. Basically, I was never getting into 'rest & digest" mode.
So, this week I'd made adjustments to my routine (as I mentioned in a past entry), and even though I lifted 4 days in a row, rather than feeling beat up, I've felt fresh after each workout. I even felt so good at work yesterday, that I felt like starting to run again! I won't obviously (not yet), but feeling that much better, along with actually seeing improvements in my physical build, I think means that I'm on the right track. My digestion hasn't been an issue in the least, either, which is another good sign! Oh, and I've dropped 2-3 pounds, even though I'm eating more than I have been.
I feel a bit stupid about it, looking back. I was purposefully, albeit unknowingly/unintentionally causing great harm to myself by trying to do something "healthy"/good for me. I was also making my depression worse, based on how much better I feel mentally this week as well. I'm beginning to wonder whether the wheat issue I think I have is less about wheat & moreso related to the long-term systemic inflammation I was causing? I'm going to give this new routine another few weeks, and if I keep feeling better, I may just try having a beer again sometime next month. I don't want to start "drinking" again, but it would be really nice to be able to not have to avoid alcohol completely. It might also help with my feeling isolated, as being able to go out (combined with the improvement of my mood) may actually lead to meeting new people?
It's something to consider, anyway.
11:37 a.m. - 2022-08-13
Recent entries:
Tooth emergency, and change of plans - 2022-09-04
Positive discovery, and road trip. - 2022-09-01
Couldn't have explained it better - 2022-08-31
New Pointless Crush - 2022-08-31
Long-ish update. - 2022-08-27
My profile
Archives
Notes
Email
Random
others:
simeons-twin
silver4
warpednormal
elusive-you
linguafranca
comebacktome
jimbostaxi
loveherwell
dangerspouse
catsoul
annanotbob2
life-my-way
fairybones
misfitstray
swordfern
kelsi
bantenhut
ahopeinhell
stepfordtart
alethia