1. A study just released showed that frequent chocolate consumption is linked to lower BMI.

Excerpt: Study participants consumed chocolate a mean 2.0 (SD, 2.5) times per week and exercised 3.6 (SD, 3.0) times per week. Frequency of chocolate consumption was associated with greater intake of calories and satfats and higher CES-D scores (P < .001 for each of these 3 associations); these all related positively to BMI. Chocolate consumption frequency was not associated with greater activity (P = .41), but it was associated with lower BMI (unadjusted P = .01). This association remained with and without adjustment for age and sex, as well as for calories, satfats, and depression.

Good News, right!

fav #1

fav #2

I’ll stop there. I’m actually not a chocoholic.  For dessert, I prefer Coffee ice cream and pies, etc.

     2.  I know there is a weight loss plateau. 

Is there a healing plateau?

If so, I think I hit it.  I went from non-weight bearing to walking with boot to walking with crutches to limping without anything (in weeks) and then lately my ankle range of motion feels the same!

I am doing my stretches everyday, riding the exercise bike, walking on the treadmill (faster & faster), doing the elliptical (longer & longer) but the ankle is still stiff and painful and I limp…

Enough whining! Give me a piece of chocolate!!

Happy Running! Are you a chocoholic?

I gave him two...

Yesterday I went for my 10 week check-up. Things started poorly and I started to get fearful about the results of my visit.

• I left work early to go to my orthopedic and they had no record of my appointment anywhere in the computer.  Luckily, I had my appt card so they agreed to squeeze me in.
• Finally the nurse came to get me in the waiting room and said in a nasty tone, “Where are your crutches?” I said that I didn’t need them. Then she asked, “Where is your boot?” I said that I wasn’t wearing it any more.  She looked at my folder and said nothing.
• When the doctor came in,  he said “Are we here to talk about your 12 week removal of the screws?”  I replied in a shocked tone, “I don’t think so…but you tell me.”
• Then he said, you need to go get x-rays.  And the nurse escorted me to the x-ray area where I got x-rays.
• The nurse then came back and said “Why don’t you hobble back to the examination room and wait for the doctor.” Let’s just say I was trying to impress them with my best non-limping walk… (Did she have to say “hobble?”)

Thank God, things improved after that.

• The doctor looked at my x-rays and realized that he didn’t put in the long cross screws like he usually does and I don’t need them taken out at 12 weeks – PHEW!
• He said that everything looks great – the bones, ligaments, tendons, cartilage spaces, etc, etc.
• We talked about how I was doing & what I was doing… he said the swelling was normal and it will be swollen for a year.  He recommended wearing support stockings, elevation, icing and NOT OVER DOING!
• He said the range of motion will come back and that he was impressed on how well I was doing…much better than he expected at this point…better than most with this injury!  YAY!
• He cautioned me not to rush things (Patience is not my strong suit.) and stay out of the sun (SPF 80-100) and massage the incisions to help the scarring and nerve endings rebuild.
• He wrote a script for 4 more weeks of PT cuz I said it helped.
• He asked what the PT guy thought… I said that he was encouraged with the degree of side to side range of motion (which he thought would not come back this quickly) but that I couldn’t run for 6 months.
• Here’s the good part.  The doctor said, “You won’t have to wait that long… Start cranking up that treadmill…but don’t run outside for a while yet.”

Next visit is in 6 weeks.  If those x-rays are good, he’ll release me until 9 months out when he’ll decide if all the hardware needs to come out.

I’m trying not to get too excited but I swear my ankle has more movement today… (probably in my head)

Happy Running!