Observations on exercise, or: Why I feel so damn old

I've noticed a few things since resuming my exercise goals. When you have chronic health issues, you sometimes have different experiences when working out. (*I am not a doctor, even after staying at a Holiday Inn. These are my experiences.)

So far I've noticed that my muscles are firmer, more toned. I think it's safe to say that doing circuit training with the 3 lbs weights isn't enough and I need to move up to 5 lbs. (I'm Xena!) I am also able to push myself to walk farther. My moods are a lot better because of the natural serotonin boost and because I'm getting out of the house more. These are all the positives I've noticed.

The negative side effects for me so far: I have a hard time sleeping. Seems counter-intuitive, right? Most people workout during the day and feel relaxed and tired at night. Working out seems to exacerbate my insomnia. It doesn't matter if I work out in the morning or in the afternoon. Also, my muscles ache; not in the post-workout way, but in the fibromyalgia-flare way. I think this is a contributor to my insomnia. And crunches aggravate the scar tissue in my abdomen. Lastly, my weight goes up when I workout.

Weight today 166.5. This is down a bit from yesterday and it still could be cyclical.

One of my experiences with fibromyalgia is constant insomnia. As some of you know, fibro makes your nerves oversensitive and you feel pain at a higher intensity than normal people. Insomnia is a symptom of all the fucked up nerves. From what I can tell, working out has stimulated my nerves enough to fight off the Ambien each night. I'm hoping this is temporary but I think I'll go see my neurologist anyways. Also, the fibro flares up when I workout and at night the stiffness really sets in. I am faithfully taking calcium and magnesium to help with this but that only seems to be enough when I'm sedentary. I'm going to try a hot bath and stretching before bed to see if that helps.

I believe the weight gain is my muscles retaining water. Maybe the water retention is adding to the aches? I have no idea. My jeans are tighter so it's not as if I'm losing fat and gaining muscle. This has to be water weight.

In an irrational state, I felt like giving this all up and going back to being a couch zombie. I know in the long run that all this shit will be worth it. I want to be able to fill the humidifier without straining under the weight. I want to be able to safely help my old dog into the car so she doesn't hurt herself. It would also be nice to increase my stamina so I can attend events for a longer period of time before pain and exhaustion set in. In short, I'm not giving up like I have so many times in the past.

To try to prevent strain on my body, I'm mostly walking and doing a few of the circuit training dvds 2-3 times a week.

Apologies if this all seems rather boring and repetitive. I'm hoping that by chronicling this information, I will be able to recognize improvements/mistakes down the road. Thanks to those who have read this far. And double thanks to anyone who cares to share their experiences. Tschus.

PS

Simpson Couch-Zombies