Fitness Fellowship 2022: Weekly Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

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!

Comments

[ysilme]

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!

[sylvanwitch]

I am so happy for you that you've had such success AND been able to maintain even with the very significant challenge of exceptional heat. Despite the latter, the rest of what you say here is SO good! It's also excellent that you've recognized the pattern and are able to maintain during those seasons when losing is impossible. That saves you the immense frustration that I find often drains me of motivation. All around, it sounds like you're doing SO well for yourself, and I'm just so pleased for you, my friend! *HUGS*