Tough Times

photo: wikimedia

So, no sooner did I proclaim "Crabby's Back!" than it seems I am not back after all. Or at least I'm not back blogging in the usual way.

I guess you call it a '"family emergency." One of those terrible situations that you hope never happens to anyone you love. It's complicated and wrenching and not likely to resolve itself soon. I hopped on a plane to the west coast when I heard, and am staying at my childhood home. I didn't buy a return ticket because I have no idea how long I will be here.

As some of you may have already discovered, there are few things in life as heartbreaking as seeing a loved one suffering through a crisis.  I haven't been through anything like this before, and I just hope I can rise to the many challenges my family is facing. I kinda suck at the whole grace-under-pressure thing, as well as the gettting-difficult-stuff-handled thing, but then I've never in my life been so motivated to be a grown up and do whatever needs to be done.

So... does this mean there will be no more Cranky Fitness for the foreseeable future?

Crabby's Back!

By Crabby McSlacker

So some of you clever readers may be fearing that the title of this post has a double meaning.

Is it called "Crabby's Back" because Crabby is finally back from an Awesome European Adventure and ready to start torturing you all with trip photos?

Or is this going to be another post about "Crabby's back," which was the cause of much cursing, whining and bitter resentment last week when she went into spasms so brutal she couldn't even get herself coffee?

Well, fear not, readers!  My back has gotten SO MUCH BETTER over the last few days that I will have to bore you with the details of that minor miracle in a future post.  Not that I'm 100% yet, but definitely doing better.  Thanks for all the kind wishes in the comments, I think they helped!

Nope, instead, let the torture begin with...

Some Highlights from the Swanky Viking Grand River Cruise + My Solo Stay in A Cheap-Ass Budapest Apartment!

Where the Heck is Crabby?

photo: wikipedia

This was supposed to be a cheerful, picture-filled, back-from-vacation post.  You know, craploads of castles and palaces and cobble-stoned streets, and the usual questionable food choices and tortured metaphors about health and fitness.

Unfortunately, while the trip was a blast, along the way my back took a turn for the worse. And then, once I got back, decided that one turn wasn't enough and took dizzying series of further turns for the far, far worse.  I tried to get up to make coffee this morning and had to abort, and ended up crawling back to bed, moaning in a most melodramatic and unbecoming way.

I have no idea what the fuck is going on and why it's not getting better.  I've been trying so hard to be careful!

A bulging or herniated disc seems pretty likely, but it has gone from there being certain moves I can't make comfortably, to there being no way to move at all without powerful drugs, some of which we happen to have in the form of expired prescriptions not originally written on my behalf. Tsk tsk, I know, that's illegal!

But take my advice: you know how they tell you always to be a good citizen and throw out your old prescriptions if you don't finish them? DON'T!!! Someday you may be really, really glad you didn't.

Anyway, I have a doctors appointment tomorrow where I hope to secure some fresh shiny perfectly legitimate drugs.  And hopefully get to a point where I can start physical therapy again.

Of course there's no reason on earth why I can't suffer and blog at the same time, right? Especially since the very theme of the blog is complaining about health-related matters. But I'm a wimp and just don't seem to have it in me.  Side effects of the drugs seem to include nausea, 3-hour long naps, and writers block.

However, when you least expect it, I'll be back!  Thank you all so much for your patience!

London: Visitor's Guide to Healthy Food & Fitness

photo: karmetic peace at deviant art

Guest Post by Helen Foster

So this is the last of the great guest posts for a while--I'm heading home from Budapest tomorrow. And I'm looking forward to boring the snot out of you all with tales and pictures, many of which deal with the very same theme: trying to find healthy food and exercise options while traveling.

London was not on my itinerary this trip, alas, but it is an amazing and wonderful city and a popular travel destination. It's a hell of a lot more likely you're going there someday than Budapest, right?  So Helen's got you covered with some great tips!  And there are many more over at her informative and hilarious website, Health-e-Helen, because she's British and lives and breathes this health and fitness stuff.

If her name sounds familiar, it's because I wrote about her awesome (and cheap) fitness ebook Gymspiration a while back, in a post about a one-question personality test which I stole from her. Plus she's on the blogroll, and I'm hoping some of you remember to click over sometimes when her posts come up.

Anyway, I've been having a grand old time, and I will eventually have lots to share about that when I get back to blogging. Whether that's a promise or a threat is an open question.

So please welcome Helen!--Crabby

When I found out Crabby was needing guest posts I was jumping up and down waving my hand in the air faster than you can say ‘yay, I get to write for my blog idol’. Of course then the doubt set in – what can I write about? What do I know more about than Crabby? What have I done? Can I feign amnesia?........then Crabby gave me the answer herself.

I’m British and on my blog health-e-helen I’d written about a delivery service in London offering low-carb, broccoli bread pizza and Crabby was coveting a slice. The word visit was mentioned. Aha, I thought – if Crabby wants to come to London and eat low-carb pizza so might Crabby’s readers! And they might want to do other healthy stuff too while they’re here. And that I know about. See no longer is London a wasteland for the fit and healthy. Yes, we all still drink like fishes and have slightly wonky teeth but we’re catching up when it comes to the healthy stuff. So , here we have it, The Health-e Guide To Healthy London.

Death Ride Grandma Rides Again!

Guest post by Death Ride Grandma

Those of you who are Cranky Fitness regulars already know and admire the awesome "Death Ride Grandma." She has blogged before about getting a late start on her health and fitness journey, and about her desire to conquer the Death Ride, a fearsome athletic feat that Crabby couldn't contemplate taking on no matter HOW many cups of coffee she consumed in order to fuel her fantasies.

So, the Death Ride has again come and gone, and it seemed like a good time for a check in!  How did it go, and are there any lessons to be learned?

Please welcome Death Ride Grandma!--Crabby


Wouldn’t it be great?

Well, this has already appeared in a comment. I have even mentioned one of my ways of trying to keep some perspective on frustrating moments. You know, wouldn’t it be wonderful if that was the worst thing that happened in the world today? Yeah. It would.

But I have to admit. I am pretty annoyed. Okay, I am angry, sad, second-guessing myself, all sorts of stuff I try so hard to avoid by having a good attitude. Right.

Last year Crabby very kindly allowed me to vent here about my almost-complete attempt at the Death Ride. You know, that one I swore I would never do. I’d planned and trained and done everything I could think of, only I didn’t think of just how many calories I would need to finish, so I bonked just eight miles short of the fifth and final summit. Oh, well. Frustrating, sure, but I’d tried, and really, I’d enjoyed a lot of the ride. It is a beautiful setting, and in spite of its name, it is a very friendly crowd. Only a few of the riders are those crazy idiots who yell at you for occupying the lane they want – even if, technically, the law suggests that it is your lane.

Then a friend asked if I would train with her for 2014. Honestly, that was not such a tough decision. I don’t like to acknowledge this, but something in me really wanted, uh, wants, to finish that ride!