Fitness Fellowship 2023: Welcome & Goals Post

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you to everyone who responded to my earlier request for expressions of interest in a weekly fitness check-in. I cannot overstate my gratitude and my pleasure that you'll be joining me on this journey. It means a great deal to me that you're willing to give this a try.

How this works:

Each week, usually on the same day (so, this year, Sundays), I will make a check-in post encouraging you to discuss how you've done on your personal fitness goals for the previous week. You may comment on the post with your updates, if any, or choose not to join in that week. Please come and go as you see fit; there is no judgment here, and I promise I won't DM you with a nudge unless you tell me that's something you'd like me to do.

I will respond to your comments, and I encourage you to respond to each other's as well.

This is intended to be a friendly space to provide a measure of accountability to help you reach your personal goals. Please do let us know if you are seeking advice or if you need a firmer sort of pressure. Otherwise, what you'll get from me is positive cheerleading and/or commiseration.

Goal-Setting:

Please know that you may choose whatever definition(s) and variet(y/ies) of fitness you'd like to achieve. You might want to gain strength, develop a meditation habit, get more sleep, drink more water, spend less time on your devices, etc. (and in combination). You may choose short-term and/or long-term goals. You may change your goals at any time.

I do encourage you to consider mini-goal rewards and a more significant reward for achieving longer-term goals, but that is entirely up to you. I just work better by the carrot than by the stick. :-)

What to do now:

Please comment below with your personally developed fitness goals. A week from today, I'll post a check-in to let you know how I've done and to see how you're doing.

Thank you for joining me on this journey!



Some background, in brief: I'm a 52-year-old yo-yo dieter since childhood. I lose weight, I struggle to maintain the loss, I regain a portion of it back. Lather, rinse, repeat.

I'm also an emotional eater with an unhealthy relationship with food. I eat when I'm depressed, stressed, or sad, and I use food as a reward to lift my mood. Food was used as both reward and punishment in my house growing up, and while we were never food insecure, my mother's rules about eating made me a fast eater, which I have tried, with varying success, to change.

I was a vegetarian for eighteen years before going whole-foods, plants-based (vegan) in 2016. I am a vegan for health purposes, not because of animal rights, so I will sometimes cheat a little with a vegetarian dessert or with milk chocolate. I am NOT a proselytizer. I don't like it when people preach to me about how I'm not getting a balanced diet (I am), so I won't preach to you about eating animal products. I promise, I am not evangelical about food, even if you can't spell evangelical without v-e-g-a-n. ;-)

Most recently, I lost almost 70 pounds in 2020 through a combination of calorie counting, "clean" eating (e.g. limited processed foods, lots of fruits and veggies and whole grains), and exercise.

I am pleased to report that though I've gained back the majority of those 70 pounds, I have maintained a regular (almost daily) exercise habit, and I'm pretty proud of that.

Also, I am currently struggling with an ongoing injury in both my left ankle (posterior tibial tendonitis) and my left wrist (a more recent repetitive-motion tendonitis), which limit my ability to do certain types of exercise.

For that reason, I am expecting delivery of a new recumbent stationary bicycle on Friday, to replace the ancient one I've had for 15 years; this way, I can stagger my walking and elliptical workouts, which cause stress to my ankle, with biking workouts, which are much more ankle-friendly.

My Fitness Goals for 2023:

1. Long-term: Get at least 7 hours of sleep a night. I just feel better when I'm getting enough sleep, but during the work week, I sometimes feel resentful of bedtime because I haven't had enough time for myself in the evening after work. This leads to a cascade effect of insufficient and lower quality sleep, and that's no good for weight loss or general fitness.

2. Long-term: Continue my daily exercise habit of at least 30 minutes of focused exercise every day. I'm hoping to break myself of unhealthy fixations on my fitness watch stats (i.e. having to get 10000 steps a day when I've had a long work day and also done at least a half-hour of focused exercise) and find better personal rewards than the digital badges I get through Garmin, iFit, and MyFitnessPal, the pursuit of which sometimes makes me unhappy and resentful. I'll continue using those apps, of course, but again, I need to develop a healthier attitude around competing with myself for goals.

3. Long-term: Drink more water. I'm good about this in the warmer months, but in the colder ones (like now, in my part of the world), I'm kind of a slacker. I really do feel better when I have enough fluid each day.

4. Long-term: Lose 30 pounds by 1 July. We're going on a dream vacation in mid-July, with lots of hiking and other outdoor stuff planned, so I need to be in shape for it. The weight loss will also help me with my sleep difficulties, my peri-menopause symptoms, my anxiety, and, I hope, my ankle injury. But also, I really do feel better when I weigh less. STARTING WEIGHT: 213.6 pounds.

5. Short-term: Meditate at least once a week (with the intention of developing a more robust and frequent practice).

Comments

[delphi]

Thank you for running this again! I'm so sorry that the ankle and wrist are both giving you trouble, but I'm really glad you've got strategies going to keep up the exercise in a more accommodating way this year. Sticking with a regular exercise habit last year despite everything going on is something to be incredibly proud of. You're amazing. :)

I...have some goals that are contingent on losing weight, but I also know that I'm in too sensitive a place about it to make that an official area of concentration this year. If I lose some weight as a byproduct of other efforts, I'll be very happy about it, but for now I'm going to take pounds/BMI out of the equation and focus on other things.

Year-Long Goals:

1) Get to bed early enough to leave the possibility of nine hours of lying down with my eyes closed. I moved to a much noisier building this year, and once or twice a week the bass from the concert venue next door goes until the small hours and necessitates bedding down elsewhere in the apartment. This makes sticking to a conservative bedtime the rest of the week even more important to avoid being saddled with a sleep debt that definitely affects my eating patterns and willingness to exercise.

2) Stretch and do some simple bodyweight exercises every morning. No big explanation here. It just feels good and makes a difference. :D

3) Go for a walk or hop on the exercise bike every day. No time expectation on it for now; I'm just aiming to ingrain the habit, and I know that starting is a bigger hurdle for me than continuing on once I'm out the door or pedalling.

4) Adjust my diet to be kinder to my digestion and immune system. I strongly suspect that having had COVID is to blame for going from a cast iron stomach with a little lactose intolerance to All Food and Skin Sensitivities All The Time, but whatever the cause, I think I need to do some detective work. To that end, I'm starting the year with an elimination diet to get a sense of whether it's just dairy that's doing it or if my body's found something new to be angry at.

This Week's Goal:

1) A week of no dairy, eggs, seafood, nuts, wheat, or soy + logging what I eat and how I'm feeling.

[cornerofmadness]

goal one - keep working the knee

goal two - maybe step up the effort I put into the knee

goal three - keep up healthy eating habits and get more of them

goal four - try another weight loss program I'm not putting a pound goal on this because with my health issues it might just cause more stress than help.

[ashelterofpages]

I'm excited to see how this works for me. Really hoping that having others to cheer on (and get cheered on) will help motivate me to keep up with things a bit better.

Goals:
Drink more water
-Start keeping water in easy reach
--For every cup of coffee/softdrink, have 12oz of water.
---Build up to Only Water days at least once a week.
----End goal: Only Water days at least 4 days a week.

Increase Movement
-Find small moments where I can move (while waiting for coffee to brew, water to boil, or the microwave to be done)
--Take ten minutes at least 3 times a week for dedicated movement.
---Start taking evening walks (either as part of the above mini-goal or on it's own time)
----Get to the point where walking at least 5k becomes the norm vs a rarity.

Food:
-Eat three meals a day (size of meal does not matter but two out of three should have fruit or vegetables)
--Find more breakfast and easy snack/autopilot food
---Start incorporating more varieties of protein besides meat.
----Learn how to make more food that will hit the above goals and/or lean toward a diabetic friendly meal plan.

I also might be adding to this list after a time but we'll see. Also, it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who has problems with how fast they eat due to how they grew up.

[oschun]

I'm sorry to hear about those ongoing injuries and can imagine how frustrating it must be for you when you've managed to embed regular exercise into your lifestyle. I hope the stationary bike proves useful.

A long term goal S and I both share is to follow a plant-based whole food diet. He hasn't eaten meat for about three or four years now - mostly for humane reasons. For me, it's about the environment. We're both much better vegan cooks than we used to be and regularly try out new recipes and ingredients. So that's my continuing long-term goal/lifestyle change for this year.

You know what my big issues and downfalls are. They remain the same. I want to drink less wine (#1 downfall), walk more, and do more stretching exercise to help with my rheumatoid arthritis. Those are the three biggies. I also want to read more literature at night rather than binge watching TV shows or reading fanfic. I am by nature an addict and need to be transported out of my own mind. I'm bored by reality :D Walking and doing stretching-based exercise are healthier ways of taming that beast inside me, though. I turn 50 at the end of this year and I would like to gift myself the ability to be sober during the week.

I was thinking of doing dry January but it's too big and unsustainable an idea for me right now so my goal for this week right now is not to drink till Sat night. I've been drinking wine most nights for months now so it's going to be tough and Fri night in particular is going to be a challenge. Small steps!

[synkkaenkeli]

So in 2019 i lost about 70 pounds...and between mid 2020 to now have gained almost all of it back, and the mindset of how strict i was is totally broken, as well as I am exhausted at the idea of logging everything I eat. So I am going to come at this differently. I have a bad habit of bored eating and eating my feelings, and that's really something I need to keep working on recognizing and not shrugging and going with it.

All of my goals are long-term or as I call assistance goals.

1- Keep up with 20 minutes of cardio. I know I won't do it daily but if I do it most of the days in a week I'll be happy.

2- Adjust diet based on weight gain (not loss). If I start packing more weight on I need to adjust/cut back on sugar/carbs etc. Losing is a bonus for the moment.

3 - Try and eat balanced food...I'm not going to beat myself up for sweets but I want to make sure I am incorporating healthy foods in to balance it out.

4 - If I want to eat because I am bored FIND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO! I have tons of books and video games to keep my hands busy as well as a coloring book I just got. But my hands on something besides food unless I am HUNGRY.

[synkkaenkeli]

Also I have a stationary bike due to arthritis in my knees. My ortho said I am NOT to be walking on pavement as my regular form of exercise nor am I to do anything that's the same motion as climbing stairs. He said to get a stationary bike for cardio and increase tension to strengthen my knee. I really love it. Especially since it means to don't have to go outside in 100 degree Mississippi summers LOL

[sylvanwitch]

I really like all of your goals here, and I especially appreciate that you're being flexible in terms of what "achievement" looks like because so often we sabotage ourselves from the beginning by instituting too-strict rules that are ultimately unkind to ourselves.

I also wish you great good luck in figuring out what to eliminate from your diet. I am so sorry you're experiencing these long COVID symptoms, though, and I wish you weren't. I hope you're able to find those items early on in the experimenting, so you can adjust your meals and move on. *hugs*

[sylvanwitch]

Excellent goals--doable, practical, and not unkind to yourself! I look forward to hearing about how it's going for you. :-)

[sylvanwitch]

These are so great and so specific--I like the methodical way you've defined each goal. I look forward to hearing how you're doing!

Also, I, too, am grateful to learn that it's not just me, re: fast eating. Every article I read says the same thing about slowing down, but it's *such* an ingrained habit, and it doesn't matter that the reasons for eating quickly haven't been relevant for literally decades; what we learn when we're little can be so difficult to undo. *sighs*

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you for the kindness, hon. Yeah, it's been frustrating and upsetting; I like using my elliptical, but I've been having to cut my workout times in half because within a few minutes my ankle is screaming. Hopefully, weight loss and using the recumbent bike will help make it better. I healed this injury once, so I know I can do it again.

Your goals are so relatable, hon. I have some serious issues around compulsive behavior, too, and I can relate to the energy and focus it takes to kick a habit that has its hooks in you. I think your plan for helping to derail the cravings is a good one. Please do let me know what I can do to help. *hugs*

[sylvanwitch]

These are all totally realistic, practical goals that allow for flexibility and, most importantly, being kind to yourself. I am looking forward to hearing how you're doing. I'm especially glad that you're focused on doing what you KNOW you'll be able to do. Please do let me know how I can help.

[sylvanwitch]

Even if my Schwinn recumbent is old and creaky, I like it, too, for much the same reason you mention, except my weather is snow, not heat! Lol! I'm so excited about the new bike; it's much fancier than the old one, making adjustment much easier, and it's going to be more comfortable as well, which will encourage me to spend more time on it.

Look at we two cyclists! :-)

[synkkaenkeli]

Thank you. People always roll their eyes at me when I said “yeah I’m not gonna do that” but why set myself up for failure?

[delphi]

I deeply admire people who can set a more quantifiable goal and work toward it. Doesn't even matter if they reach it - it's something to be really proud of just to (safely) try. I think my problem is that my brain refuses to connect the cause and effect of effort and result when it comes to physical things. Dropping the cognitive load of tracking and measuring and remembering just always feels more rewarding to me than meeting a diet/exercise goal or seeing a positive result. It's maybe not an ideal approach, but since I've seen a definite improvement in my relationship to food and exercise the last few years (including making food choices I stand by during a very emotionally difficult year), I'm keeping on with the strategy of setting up a space for desired behaviours to happen and paying attention to what makes healthier habits as easy as possible. :)

And the good wishes are very much appreciated! I'm counting myself lucky if these are the worst of the long COVID symptoms, but it would be really good to find as relatively painless a fix as identifying a trigger and avoiding it.

[luzula]

Yearly goals:
Food: I'm mostly fine here; my cooking and food habits are okay. Ideally I would like to lose 2 kg. Goals:
1) If I'm full, don't eat more just because it's good.
2) Only eat sweet things if I really think that they are good (and in moderation, obviously, but I already do that).

Sleep: Also mostly fine, but I would like to go to bed about an hour earlier than I do. Goals:
1) Be in bed and turn out the light by 11.

Exercise: This is the one that needs work, because I definitely let it slip otherwise! I don't have any health problems that prevent me from exercising. Goals:
1) Go out in the woods every day, either for a walk or a run. Nature is good for me.
2) Go running a few times a week (ideally three). I'm not a fast runner nor is it something I do for pleasure, it's just the most tolerable and accessible kind of cardio exercise I've found.
3) I have a short muscle building workout that I should ideally do at home every day, but of course that doesn't happen. If I did it five times a week, that would be great.
4) I also have a short gentle stretching and exercise session that I do as a break from computer work, but I don't need a goal for that one. I do it anyway because it feels good.
5) I would like to explore other muscle building workouts. I've been using the one I have for years, and while it has good science behind it, it would be good to try something else as well. I am NOT going to the gym or to some kind of organized exercise sessions. I know from experience that if I have to go somewhere, it's just not going to happen.
6) And now for something that happens more seldom: hiking! I love hiking. Ideally, I would like to go hiking for a week this summer in the mountains. I've also been exploring local trails, and I'd like to go on at least four weekend hikes. In the summer, I'm also outside more for other reasons.
7) And another thing that happens more seldom: I have arborist equipment and can do tree climbing with ropes and harness and stuff, but I do it far too seldom. I would like to do that at least five times during this year. That is actually great for muscle building! But I have to make it happen...

Goals for this week:
- My bedtime has gotten too late over the holidays. This won't work for today, because it's already too late, ha ha. But I would like to be in bed by 11:30 the other nights, to get a gradual adjustment.
- There was a lot of good food and sweet things over the holidays. Now I'm going home from my parents, and I want to make a note of those two food goals.
- Go out in the woods every day except Friday, when I have a thing the whole day.
- Go running three times (the running is out in the woods and counts for the previous goal).
- Do my short workout every day except Monday and Friday.

Thanks for providing this venue, and good luck with your own goals! <3

[sylvanwitch]

I love how specific and focused your plans are and how realistic and thoughtful your goals are! Thank YOU for your good wishes and for participating. Good luck with this week! I look forward to hearing how it goes.

(Also, I am there with you on the nature goal; I can't logistically manage five days a week, but I can reasonably manage two or three, sunlight and workday depending, and I should definitely strive for it.)

[cornerofmadness]

thanks

[kaiz]

I hope that the new bike works out well for you! And thanks for running this group again this year. I know that I don't often contribute, but I am kind of silently working away in the background.

Here are my 2023 goals:
- Get more sleep (Like you, I'm striving for 7+hrs/night. I have a sleep disorder, though, which makes it difficult)
- Workout 75% of the days for each month (Schedule-wise and health-wise, I can't always make daily workouts happen. But I've managed 70% of the days in 2022; maybe I can up that to 75% in 2023?)
- Log longer rows (To-date, 12,000m has been my max. But I need to increase this to hit my next goal...)
- Complete a 1/2 marathon row (I'm pretty certain I could do this now, but haven't attempted it yet)
- Get back on skates again (It wasn't in the cards the past 2 years, but I think I can at least get back on inlines this year, if not back out on the ice)

[sylvanwitch]

Exactly right! (But I find so many folks are full of "good" advice--for THEM--and aren't that interested in listening to other experiences.)

[sylvanwitch]

You're so welcome! It is truly encouraging to hear that you're out there working away, and may that continue to be the case. :-)

I am sending you all kinds of good rowing half-marathon and skating vibes. It sounds like you've been steadily building strength and stamina, and I know how much you want to skate again. I am wishing that for you SO hard! :-)

[luzula]

Also, I am there with you on the nature goal
I am very lucky to live where I can just walk right out into the woods! I'm on the outskirts of a city.