sylvanwitch (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sylvanwitch) wrote2022-08-15 12:12 pm
sylvanwitch) wrote2022-08-15 12:12 pm
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Fitness Fellowship 2022: Weekly Check-in
Hello!
I hope you've had a good week, for whatever value you give the word "good," and that you're feeling well and as content as possible.
If you're so inclined to share, please do let us know how your week has been, fitness-wise and otherwise. We're here to listen and cheerlead, not judge.
Weight: 202. Up .8 from last week and surprising, given (see below).
Eating plan: I do well for part of the day and then the wheels come off some evenings. I will say I haven't been as rabid in my binges as I had been before I resumed these posts, but I still need to moderate and stop with the nighttime snacking. Most of it is comfort-eating. There has been a lot of obligatory work this week, and it's wearing me down.
Exercise: On this I have remained steadfast. I had two days when I didn't work out, but I had very active days in the yard/garden and/or packing up my mother's house ahead of its sale, so I still got a lot of activity in. I did three elliptical workouts this week too. Yay!
The week ahead: At least three elliptical workouts. Less nighttime snacking. Splurge day TODAY because it's our anniversary (Indian food and vegan cake for dinner!). Walking. Gardening. Biking. Hiking. I have a lot of computer work (prep for the new school year) this week, and I'm pledging to make sure I'm up every half-hour for at least 500-1000 steps, in addition to my daily 35-minute (or more) workout. I need to be better about not being stapled to my computer chair. My CBD oil should be here in the next few days, so I'm also hoping to get some uninterrupted sleep. I'll let you know how it goes.
As always, I am sending you good vibes for the week ahead. Stay groovy!
I hope you've had a good week, for whatever value you give the word "good," and that you're feeling well and as content as possible.
If you're so inclined to share, please do let us know how your week has been, fitness-wise and otherwise. We're here to listen and cheerlead, not judge.
Weight: 202. Up .8 from last week and surprising, given (see below).
Eating plan: I do well for part of the day and then the wheels come off some evenings. I will say I haven't been as rabid in my binges as I had been before I resumed these posts, but I still need to moderate and stop with the nighttime snacking. Most of it is comfort-eating. There has been a lot of obligatory work this week, and it's wearing me down.
Exercise: On this I have remained steadfast. I had two days when I didn't work out, but I had very active days in the yard/garden and/or packing up my mother's house ahead of its sale, so I still got a lot of activity in. I did three elliptical workouts this week too. Yay!
The week ahead: At least three elliptical workouts. Less nighttime snacking. Splurge day TODAY because it's our anniversary (Indian food and vegan cake for dinner!). Walking. Gardening. Biking. Hiking. I have a lot of computer work (prep for the new school year) this week, and I'm pledging to make sure I'm up every half-hour for at least 500-1000 steps, in addition to my daily 35-minute (or more) workout. I need to be better about not being stapled to my computer chair. My CBD oil should be here in the next few days, so I'm also hoping to get some uninterrupted sleep. I'll let you know how it goes.
As always, I am sending you good vibes for the week ahead. Stay groovy!
no subject
I've been doing pretty okay, all things considered. My sleep commitment has been the hardest. I struggle with sleep in the summer under the best of circumstances because of the longer days, but I've also been too tempted recently to stay up late reading or watching TV because I've been having to put in more hours at work. My goal for this week is to wrangle myself back to an appropriate bedtime one half-hour at a time.
Food-wise, not living in a hothouse has helped a lot and I've found myself with a better appetite this summer than the last few. I've been enjoying a lot of fresh fruit and vegetables, and making the most of actually being able to run an oven for short periods thanks to having a heat pump.
The big fitness success I'm celebrating is that I moved last month and either relocated or otherwise carted out everything I own besides my bed, mattress, table, and bookshelf. I was admittedly only moving four blocks, but that was still a whole lot of back and forth over the course of two weeks with books, bedding, food, clothes, kitchenware, and small furniture, and at the end of it the only thing sore was my feet. It may not be a marathon or anything, but it's exactly the level of fitness and ability I want to preserve, and it's something I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get back post-COVID.
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I like imagining you in your city with your fresh summer produce and your comfortable personal space. :-) *hugs*
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Good luck with unstapling yourself from the computer chair. It's a difficult place to free yourself from, for sure. I'm not sure where to even start with the work I need to do. It's causing me some low level anxiety. I keep staring at my computer, then wandering around the house for a while and thinking aloud, then just deciding I need to sit on the couch and read things that I need to read. Rereading The Road today was traumatising. I kept bursting into tears at the beautiful bits. I think that's equally valid prep as writing lesson plans are :D
I have some things that I need to do for better physical and mental health in the autumn but I'm not quite ready for them yet because I'm still in summer mode.
no subject
meh
I'm late to the party again. This whole year has just involved way too much "one last treat, I'll start eating right again tomorrow". I'm currently trying to focus on eating more vegetables while resisting the sugary snacks. It's a constant struggle though. The sugar, it calls to me.
Re: meh
I have been struggling mightily with comfort eating temptations and totally relate to what you say here.
I've had a good couple of days and am TRYING to stay good for the holiday weekend, but there are just so many temptations and so many rationalizations! Lol!
Anyway, I am thinking of you and hoping you're hanging in there and being strong! *hugs*
Re: meh
::hugs::
Comfort eating is the hardest. I know I will just feel worse an hour later, but in the moment eating the junk food will make me (temporarily) happier.
Having a vegan store in the neighborhood helps. So when I go to the vegan store I can just get fruit and vegetables without being tempted to buy junk. (The only even moderately interesting snack-type items are super expensive and not that tempting.) So I'm kind of inadvertently vegetarian lately (flexitarian?) though I'm still popping into the regular grocery store occasionally for cheese because I have determined I cannot live without cheese. Cheese is life.
Re: meh
Anyway, yay for the local vegan store! We have one, too, but it doesn't carry fresh produce for two reasons: First, produce is something you can get at regular grocery stores, and they don't have the shelf space for it; and two, they have a specialized customer base that may not be large enough to allow them to put up fresh produce without a lot of food waste. (This is true of my vegan store but may not be true of yours.)
It's fantastic that you are utilizing yours and that that's helping you with controlling temptations. The upside to all this exhaustion and stress is that I've been too tired to comfort eat in the evenings. LoL! ;-)
Re: meh
I hope they stay in business. (It's always been really quiet with only one or two other customers when I've been in there.) But it's the ground floor of a multi-story apartment building (with another multi-story apartment building kitty-corner across the street), so I'm hoping that's enough people to keep them afloat. I suspect the fresh produce is specifically to draw in locals who aren't looking for the specialized vegan food.
And I hear you on the energy level. I do not have the energy or patience or motivation to deal with much of anything these days. When I was younger, I think I could channel anxiety into "energy" but I've hit a point where even that doesn't work any more.
no subject
For the last week(s), I can count successes as well as stagnation, but at least no real regression.
We've had a horribly long heat spell - after two already really hot weeks in May, we had two full months of around 30°C/86°F, with about 14 days above 35°C/95°F in total, and an average of 27°C/81°F indoors
which was totally draining in itself (as, you know, Europe and no A/C or ceiling fans), added by the drudgery of daily watering my vegetables by schlepping cans. In parts that wasn't too bad an exercise, but on the other hand it's been too hot for any other exercise except shorter-than-usual walks late at night when it's cooled down. I slept badly due to the heat and only managed about 2/3rds of my usual activity, which showed, but thankfully only in stalling my weight loss for the time being, and also stalling the improvement of the blood sugar levels. Since I feared weight gain and worse levels I'm grateful for both. I also had my usual 12-day-every-other-month gestagen phase of my hormon replacement therapy, and this time it affected me badly, emotionally and mentally as well as physically, and curbing my energy levels even further. Still only stalling in every regard, so I'm grateful. I've eaten a bit worse than before, as in, a bit more carbs on occasion, but despite the heat preventing the usual vegetable abundance from my garden there was enough deliciousness to help me out - I can't count how many kilos of cucumbers I've eaten in the last months! LOL The cucumbers were also more or less the only vegetable really prolific this year, also not really bothered by the heat.
In August I did get back into swimming, though, which is awesome (no matter that my poor skin doesn't really agree), not only for my mental health but also for my exercise regimen and fitness level.
Swimming is difficult enough for me due to my sun allergy and skin issues; I can't really go during the day in full summer, and the local outdoor pool's opening hours don't really work for me in that regard. But we went to small lakes on Sundays where it's possible to also swim late in the evening when the sun is low enough for me to be able to, and since about two weeks it's possible to also go to the local pool early or late.
Looking back to since when I started my changes in fitness, diet, and weightloss at the beginning of last year, I've really come a long way: I've lost 13 kilos without real effort through my change in diet and improved sleeping hours, and am able to keep it withouht having to pay attenion. As a result of the weight loss not only my blood sugar levels have improved but also a couple of other blood levels which hadn't been over the limit but raised, and are back to normal, and my blood pressure is also much better. I'm obvioulsy much fitter and also more toned (which is a good thing, as the weight loss is unsurprisingly also resulting in visibly loose skin and baggy?/ sloppy? fat tissue on my thighs and belly), and except for the gestagen phases and heat spells, I've got much more energy and power. Changing my diet to very low carb and mostly sugar-free while sticking to wholefood and clean eating has made the significant difference to me, after trying for so many years - the only thing I need to limit is the carbs, and sugar in particular, while everything else I can eat as much of as I like. By now I'm also no longer really missing the carbs, some occasional munchies for old favourites notwithstanding.
I'm confident that the next weeks will bring me increased exercise again as well as better sleeping time, simply as it's cool enough again for that. There seems to be a pattern for me, too; I've observed over the last three years that the hot summer and deep winter periods seem to be phases where all I can do is maintenance of what I've reached, while spring and autumn are phases where improvement and weight loss happens. I can live with that!
no subject