A personal update on all things health, fitness, travel, and life in general!
Time for a major life update, friends!!
Since coming home from Spain, my life has been a whirlwind. I’ve been busy moving into my new apartment (which I LOVE btw!!!), getting back into the swing of work, trying to solve all my health issues (more on that below), and not get defeated over the fact that things seem to NEVER go my way.
Let’s get into it…
Chicago Marathon
I ALWAYS jinx myself by announcing things to the world before I’ve determined if they will/can actually happen.
Exhibit A: my training for the Chicago Marathon.
When I got back from my trip on the Camino, I was feeling great physically! Save for a few lingering blisters, my tibias and foot felt great. No bone pain…or really any aches or pains at all. I took that as a sign it would probably be okay to start a beginner marathon training for the Chicago Marathon, which I was accepted into earlier this year.
**Reminder…I haven’t been able to run (consistently for about 2 years now)**
Base building was going to be VERY conservative, but I had confidence that I’d be able to do it sans injury since I had just done 20+ mile walking days for 3 weeks.
Well after a week of training (my FIRST week) and less than 20 miles IN TOTAL, my left tibia got the telltale feeling of fracture pain again. I’ve come to know this feeling so well now that I immediately knew it was fractured again or right on the verge of it. Definitely not shins splints or normal training soreness, unfortunately. So when I felt that, I immediately scrapped any plans of running for the time being.
I’m not ruling out the marathon per say, but I am not doing ANY running until someone can tell me what’s going on with my bones! I am SO frustrated to say the least.
Speaking of doctors…I had another follow-up with my endocrinologist this week. Details on that next.
Doctors Appointment
When I last filled you in on my appointment with my endocrinologist, I mentioned that I was being worked up for Cushing’s Disease. This was because of all of my symptoms and different tests showing EXTREMELY high cortisol levels in my body. Due to that, I cannot stop gaining weight no matter how “clean” I eat or how much I work out (example: I was walking 45-50k steps a day in Spain and GAINED weight). My face (and body in general!) is swollen and I’m retaining water everywhere.
I have severe fatigue, lethargy, and muscle weakness. My heart rate is high at rest and DANGEROUSLY high during exercise (we’re talking peak HR for almost an entire workout). And I experience hot flashes/extreme sweating all day long.
Not the best combination of symptoms for someone who loves being out and around people. But I am dealing with them for now….like I’ve been doing for nearly two years.
One good thing that’s come from now having ANY control over my weight is that I’ve been more balanced and don’t stress as much about “getting off track”. Even when I eat PERFECTLY and am in a substantial deficit, I CAN’T lose weight or fat. So why be so strict? Until I get the ACTUAL problem figured out and addressed (extremely high cortisol levels), going out for drinks with friends, eating out at restaurants more often, or having spontaneous fro-yo dates are things that I shouldn’t be worry about. I can eat super clean and not have results or I can enjoy things in moderation and not kill myself trying to be strict and STILL not results. So for now I’ll take the latter.
I want to note it’s SUPER hard to share these personal details with you. But I am doing it because my hope is at least ONE person out there, who is struggling with a hidden illness or something that has yet to be diagnosed, reads this, feels less alone, and doesn’t give up on finding real answers to your problems. It can be really difficult to deal with a medical system that wants a quick fix or a simple diagnosis.
Over the past two years I’ve been told that everything I’m experiencing (even pain from BONE BREAKS!!!) is psychosomatic, accused of being on drugs, and told that I am “perfectly healthy”. Talk about a slap in the face. It has been INCREDIBLY frustrated but I still have hope that I am getting closer to truly knowing what’s wrong. I am 24. Love being active. Love having energy and living life to the fullest. But all of that has been made near impossible with all the issues I’m having. I am SO ready to start feeling and looking like ME again.
F45 8 Week Challenge
As you know, I took part in my local F45 studio’s first 8 Week Challenge! I was super motivated to have a specific plan to be following and goals to reach. However, as I mentioned above, I quickly realized that I wasn’t making any progress despite following the meal plan to a T and doing the intense workouts. Then I went away to Spain for 3 weeks (again expecting to see some progress) and came back without anything to show for it.
So while I did participate fully in the 8 week challenge, I won’t be sharing “results” because honestly…I don’t have any. And that’s not to say the challenge is faulty or doesn’t work! The studio lost close to 300lbs in total from all the members that participated. But because of my current health issues, expecting to have some awesome quantitative results to share with you is just unrealistic for me.
I DO feel stronger and relatively more fit than when I started…so that’s a total plus!! And I love working out at F45 and the community there so much that I am still keeping my membership going AND plan on signing up for the next challenge that begins in July. Hopefully by them, I am will be in a place health wise where I can see some actual physical results!
Travel
I got back from Spain mid-June and was supposed to leave for a backpacking trip through Yosemite only 2 weeks later. But I decided to push off my trip until the beginning of August to give myself sometime to recover after the physical demands of the Camino. BUT I am still for sure going and actually changed my trip to a 3 summits plan instead. Love getting HIGH!!
Also, have Hawaii on the agenda for September and already have an amazing hiking adventure planned during that trip as well!
Overall that’s about all I have going on right now. Trying to enjoy summer as much as I can, hangout with friends, and plan out some other big things I have in the works.
Thanks for sticking with me and continuing to be interested in what’s going on with me! A lot of you told me on Instagram that you like more personal posts from me, so I’ll keep updating you all as long as you’re interested in hearing from me. Back to regularly scheduled programming in my next post!
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7 responses to “Life, Fitness, and Health Update: Summer 2019”
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Great post Kaila and thanks for sharing your struggles. Good luck getting to the bottom of your health issues.
Thank you Karen!! <3
I’m sorry to hear about the mysterious health issues you are facing, and hope you find some answers soon!
Thank you so much!
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Thanks for the update, Kaila, and wise choice not to sign up for the marathon until you know if you have a fracture. I’ve done 5 full marathons and they are hard enough, without adding an injuring to the mix. Thanks so much for sharing at the Weekend Blog Hop at My Flagstaff Home. –Jennifer
Definitely!! Thanks Jennifer! 🙂