Fitness Fellowship: Week Six

[sylvanwitch]

Hello, Friends:

I hope the past week has treated you well and that you're feeling fit and healthy. Please share with us how your week went and what your plans are for the week ahead.

At six weeks in, have you adjusted your overall goals any? Have you found any unexpected challenges and/or excitingly easy 'cheats'?

Remember, anyone is welcome to jump in at any time. We love the company (and the encouragement).



This has been the worst cold and flu season in the 19 years I've been teaching at the high school, and I seem to have become the lucky winner of a second cold virus in a month. *sighs* I came down with it on Friday, but I'd been dragging since Wednesday or so. I just can't seem to get the energy together to rise above it or break out of it or whatever. It doesn't help that I had anxiety Saturday night and then just couldn't fall asleep last night, so while the cold symptoms themselves are tolerable, the exhaustion is a total drag.

I should just be grateful I don't have the intestinal thing that's been going around. Believe me when I say that I am disinfecting desks and door handles like a fiend.

Anyway, I was feeling pretty proud of myself for exercising Mon. and Wed. of last week, and then the wheels fell off that effort. The eating hasn't been A-plus, either, but mostly because I've been too tired to fix super-healthy meals. I'm not eating a lot of junk or sweets, etc. Mostly, I'm just not eating enough greens and fresh produce. I'm working my way back to that, though.

The sleep has been erratic (see above), but I did actually attempt meditation last night, with some success. I never reached the place I was hoping to visit (a sacred place, one of two, where I used to go quite a lot), but I did experience some significant relaxation and that floating, not-quite-lucid-dreaming stage that's so nice. Good to know I haven't completely lost the vibe.

Anyway, I'm not back to exercising yet because of the cold and the exhaustion, but I do hope to get a walk or two in this week as the temps rise into the forties (Fahrenheit). And I am definitely focusing on getting more fruits and veggies into me again, now that the worst of the cold symptoms are over (I hope).

I have a one-week break coming, starting at the end of school this Friday, and I can hardly wait.



Peace,
SW

Comments

[miss_morland]

Sorry to hear about the cold. D: One of the most annoying things about those are indeed the way they mess with scheduled exercise...

I'm jumping in because I've made it my goal to try out daily meditation, starting tomorrow (Tuesday) morning - wish me luck!

[sylvanwitch]

Yay for meditation! I hope it went well for you. Please feel free to share any time. I'd love to hear about it. :-)

[miss_morland]

I managed 10 minutes this morning without dying from boredom, lol. :-P Will try to do it 10 minutes a day for the next 10 days and then 15, and then 20 (as suggested in the beginner's programme I found)... I'm sure it's very beneficial, as long as I actually do it - that floating stage sounds so nice. *g*

[auroracloud]

I've missed a few check-ins, sorry about that! Due to the slump in energy I've had in the recent weeks, I just didn't get around to writing a comment. Or maybe I didn't want to remind myself of failing my goals - for one thing, I've definitely gone back to using sweet treats to deal with mood problems (not that they solve any actual problems, but they give an instant, physical sense of comfort and something to enjoy at the moment). I'm trying to get better about that - I'll see about going without sweet treats from now until the Equinox, unless someone else offers them or there's dessert included in a lunch I buy anyway, or something like that. Basically, not going to buy or make any myself. I need to break the habit.

On the exercise side, as you know I had problems with pain in my thigh, and that put a damper on exercise for a while. But I'm back to doing my two ballet classes a week, and that feels great. I'm also trying to bring back two strength training sessions per week (I managed one per week on the previous weeks). The physiotherapist gave me some exercises to strengthen the tendons and muscles that need it; those partly overlap with the strength training I've already been doing, partly they're different exercises. So I'm adding the goal of doing the PT exercises 3-4 times a week.

Sleep is currently not working out without a bit of medication (a small amount of antidepressant with a sedative side-effect; fortunately I've been able to keep it to a small amount, but I'd still like to go without because it also has the side effect of weight increase, which I could do without). I'm currently sticking it taking it and trying to get the exercise routine back on and the mood problems on the mend, because when those are better, the sleep should be, too.

I should probably come up with some kind of goal to help with the mood problems, but I don't know what, yet. I recently met my doctor and we agreed to increase my medication, so I'll see how that works combined with regular exercise and hopefully getting enough sleep most of the time.

Wow, that got long. That's what I get for not checking in for a few weeks! I'm sorry you've been unwell, with the flu viruses and the anxiety and erratic sleep. I hope you feel better soon!

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you for your kind words of encouragement; I am doing alright. I cannot wait for the break to begin after the end of classes on Friday, however. Sleep, blessed sleep (because even if I have anxiety, I can simply get up, read, and then sleep in the next day, whereas during a regular work week, I obviously have to get up at a certain time daily).

Please never apologize for a longer comment. I like reading about your life, even though I am, of course, sorry that you're still being troubled with sleep and mood issues. I can also relate to using sweets for a temporary elevation of mood; I am the same way, and like you, I know I have to break out of the habit. Lately, I've been doing alright, but there are days when I just want a treat and don't seem to be able to summon the willpower to avoid it. ;-)

I'm glad that your thigh muscles are healing, and I hope the increased strength exercises do what they're intended to do because, as you say, exercise helps with other aspects of our health.

I know it's cyclical--if I eat better and exercise more, I'll have less anxiety and get more sleep--but sometimes I have difficulty with the starting. If I'm already worn out and feeling down, finding motivation to exercise and eat better is so much harder.

Anyway, I hope that things start to come together for you and that you feel better soon. Thank you for sharing, and please feel free to do so any time (or not). :-)