Fitness Fellowship 2023: Week One Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

We've made it one week into the new year, and I hope that that week has been a decent one for you.

Please let us know how your week went, fitness-wise and/or otherwise. What was one thing this week that made you happy about your fitness journey? Were there any things you struggled with? Please share if you're feeling able to.



I didn't gain or lose any weight this week, though I had seen a slightly downward trend on the scale mid-week. I'm not sure why that is because I really did focus on eating clean and even made it a point not to binge for my "splurge meal" last night. Each day, my tracked calories came in under what I'd earned through exercise, but perhaps it was the quality of the exercise that was the culprit. I did NOT exercise for at least thirty minutes on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I did *some* exercise--ten or fifteen minutes--but my ankle was bothering me and I was sleep deprived, and all of that made it difficult for me. Those sound like excuses, but I'm doing my best.

Perhaps the lack of weight loss was also because my sleep was fractured, not because I went to bed late--I kept my bedtime goal pretty well this week--but because I either couldn't fall asleep or I couldn't stay asleep. I have both CBD oil and melatonin gummies, so it may be I have to try those again. We'll see. Anyway, lack of regular sleep might have contributed.

I did get enough water, so go me!

I didn't meditate even once, but I *did* take a walk and focus on my breathing and on the sounds of nature around me, so that's a start. I do like a good walking meditation (or a labyrinth--one of my garden goals is to build one one of these seasons). I don't know why I have such a block about this; it used to be a pretty regular practice for me, and I *know* the many positives I gain from it. Urgh. I'll try again this week to do it at least once.

So, I'm going to call the week a net gain if only for the change in my eating habits. Maybe this week will be better. The only way to find out is to go into it with every intention of finding out! :-)


I'm sending you all the fitness vibes I can spare, my friends!

Comments

[ljm]

Thank you for starting Fitness Fellowship! I began tracking my fitness (and other life things) in a journal this week. We'll see if it lasts. My goal for this year is to exercise every day even if it's only a little bit. In fact, I came up with the exercise equivalent of an "alibi sentence" to make it less overwhelming and so far, it's working.

Jan 1: I did my "alibi exercise"- 30 push ups against the sink while I rinsed my mouth with mouthwash.
Jan 2: Walked with a set of 10 lb dumbbells. (My usual walk is around 30 minutes.)
Jan 3: Sink push ups.
Jan 4: Sink push ups.
Jan 5: Walked (don't think I took the weights this time.)
Jan 6: 2 sets of 30 sink push ups
Jan 7: Walked with dumbbells, and did sink push ups.

Today I didn't walk, but will probably get in my sink push ups. I also received some ankle weights in the mail, and I'll probably try those out this coming week! My biggest challenge right now is the weather. I get very tired and unmotivated in the winter. Hopefully, exercising more regularly will help with that. I also have an ongoing issue of not getting enough protein (as I don't eat meat and rarely consume dairy.) However, I found a pea protein I'm going to try, so I'm excited about that!

Good luck with your routine, and good job getting some exercise every day! Consistency is always better than perfection.

[sylvanwitch]

I *love* the idea of alibi exercise--that's fantastic! And GO YOU for getting all of that exercise in this week. That's awesome! YAY!

I hear you on the protein front, being vegan myself. I am currently struggling to make sure I get enough legumes and beans. There are only so many ways I am comfortable fitting beans into a meal! LoL!

Thank you for the kind words. Here's to both of us having a good week! :-)

[cornerofmadness]

I've done diddly between helping the parentals and sickness

[sylvanwitch]

Ugh! I'm sorry you're sick, and I hope you feel better soon.

[cornerofmadness]

thanks

[delphi]

Congrats on what sounds like a successful start to me. Getting exercise, getting enough water, and taking the first steps on your meditation goal are all wins in a difficult week, and there's only room to grow from here.

I more or less met my portion of my long-term goals this week. I got to bed early enough to leave the possibility of nine hours of rest all week, although I stayed up later than I should have on Saturday night with the justification that I could sleep in (even though I knew it was a concert night when I'd be waking up every few hours). I met both my exercise goals six days out of seven, with my head aching too bad on one day to feel like going for a walk or getting on the exercise bike. This was my first time putting in a full week back in the office since the start of the pandemic, and I ended up with headaches both metaphorical and literal.

Restricting potential allergens seems to be a success so far. The symptoms I was having have eased, although I'm giving it another week to hopefully let my system heal a little more before throwing a trigger at it. This will be the second and last week of full-on no dairy, eggs, seafood, nuts, wheat, or soy. Based on my food logging last week, I'm paying special attention this week to make sure I keep my protein and iron intake up.

[sylvanwitch]

I had meant to comment earlier about your sleep situation, specifically the night club? That sounds...not ideal. And I am SO sorry it's a fact of life for you right now. But GO YOU for getting so much exercise, especially in the face of being back in person for the full week. That's A Lot, as they say, and it sounds like you've handled it like a pro. :-)

I'm also glad to hear that the allergen experiment is working, and I hope you're able to single out what is specifically causing you the sensitivity.

Good luck in the week to come, my friend! :-)

[delphi]

The good luck is appreciated! And yeah, the night club definitely is not ideal. I did some scouting around the problem ahead of time but failed to realize it was going to be quite as bad as it is. But having a second set of walls between me and the tooth-rattling EDM bass makes all the difference, and I'm lucky enough to have my own little laundry room. It's just a matter of amassing enough bedding to make camping out on the floor in there a little more comfortable.

[oschun]

S meditates too and finds it really useful to calm his mind before he goes to bed. Good luck with that this week.

I did well on the food front, eating clean and vegan all week, and tried out a couple of new recipes. Everything else went to hell though. I did an hour's hike last weekend but didn't manage to fit in any other form of purposeful exercise. The weather, meetings after school and a parent's evening on Thurs night ruined my good intentions. I was also feeling a bit low at the start of the week so any idea of not drinking wine just went out the window. It's always a bit of a shock to the system to go back to school after the Christmas break and I felt like I needed to adjust to it without being overly austere with myself.

[sylvanwitch]

Hey, I hope you aren’t beating yourself up about the wine because you are absolutely right that it was a tough week (I’ve had similar and know how it feels going into a week with so many extra work obligations) and not a good one on which to add something to make you feel miserable(r). I think it’s great that you made sure to eat healthy meals; that is huge!

I hope this week is a better one for you, hon, big, big *hugs*

I’m going to try S’ method of meditating before bed to see if that helps with the sleep but also because I will already be predisposed to close my eyes and relax! 😁. Thank you!

[synkkaenkeli]

So I did lose two pounds last week and I think I managed to do my bike ride most of the week. The real problem right now is that my tailbone is really sore again like it was when I first took this job and started sitting more. Which obviously makes me not wanna get on a bike seat. I had a pillow and replaced it with a proper cushion. And after two weeks that wasn’t any better. I’ve added another cushion, and even after a full day and a half off (I don’t get two full consecutive days off) my tailbone is so sore all I wanna do right now is lay down.

[sylvanwitch]

Ugh, I’m so sorry to hear about your tailbone situation and can relate—my butt and feet fall asleep if I am on the recumbent bike too long, which makes it more difficult for me to motivate myself into it. I hope your tailbone pain heals swiftly and that it doesn’t hinder your exercise for too long.

Also, GO YOU for the weight loss! That’s fantastic! 👏

[synkkaenkeli]

Thank you!!

[kaiz]

I did NOT exercise for at least thirty minutes on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. I did *some* exercise--ten or fifteen minutes--but my ankle was bothering me and I was sleep deprived, and all of that made it difficult for me. Those sound like excuses, but I'm doing my best.

Hey, it's the Tour de France, not a sprint or a marathon. Many days, multiple stages, just because your performance is off on Day 3 doesn't mean you won't catch up and do a personal best on Day 6! :)

For my part, I surprised myself by hitting a (very arcane) fitness milestone.

Due to chronic health problems, I follow the Maffetone heartrate method in my workouts. Kind of like making BBQ, you keep it low and slow to build a base, keeping fast/hard workouts to a minimum.

Earlier this week, I hit a milestone during my 10k steady state workout: I completed 10k in less than an hour with 99% in heartrate zone 2 and 1% in zone 1, with a max of only 128bpm. This is pretty huge for me and indicates that my base cardio fitness level has really improved. This gives me the confidence to push harder in future workouts without risking a relapse. So, yay for weird milestones! LOL

[sylvanwitch]

Congratulations on hitting a new milestone! That is SO exciting! I remember you talking about this method before, and it is so heartening to hear that you have kept at it and made such progress!

It’s a good example for me to follow because, as you note, it’s a long-term process, not a sudden change.

Yay! 🎉🎉🎉

[kaiz]

Thanks! I try not to compare my progress to other folks who post on the rowing sub because...since I'm so...small, there is no way in hell I will ever come close to the performance of a 24 yr old 6'5" 230lb dude. But. With enough consistent data, I can at least see fitness improvement nonetheless. And, gotta say, the heartrate method is really helpful when deciding how hard to push during a workout. It's also super clear how much effect poor sleep has on my heartrate.

Anyway, slow and steady gives results...eventually! :)

[luzula]

Sorry for the late check-in, my router has been broken and I've only had sporadic internet. But I have a new one now!

Pasting in my goals...
- 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.
This is honestly the one I struggle with most! Evening me and morning me just have different interests. I often stayed up 15-30 minutes too late, and slept in more than I planned to. There was one night I slept badly--my brain just wouldn't turn off.

- 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.
Yes, my eating was fine.

- Go out in the woods every day except Friday, when I have a thing the whole day.
Yep, did that. One day I did a 2,5 hour walk with a friend.

- Go running three times (the running is out in the woods and counts for the previous goal).
Nope, only twice, but I claim force majeure. They're resurfacing the running trail so it's quite uneven, and it snowed on top of that, so I couldn't run for two days. I don't want to sprain my ankle by stepping wrong...

- Do my short workout every day except Monday and Friday.
Yep, did that. I can tell that I've been slacking off, since I got some muscle ache from the running and workouts. But a good ache.

Goals for this week:
- Do my best to transition to going to bed at 11.00 (to prepare for the start of my teaching next week).
- Keep to my food goals.
- Go out in the woods every day except Tuesday (had too many errands and chores after work today...).
- Go running three times.
- Do my workout every day except Tuesday.

ETA: And congrats on the progress in food habits! \o/

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you!

And congrats to you on so much success this past week with your fitness plans! You really stuck to them! :-) I hope the week so far has been a good one for you, particularly for returning to your sleep habits. I can definitely relate to having to change my sleep habits for teaching!

♥

[oldtoadwoman]

Late checking in. I'm off to a slow start because I had a couple of friends visit and, per usual, I used socializing as an excuse to eat too much. I'm very skilled at making excuses. Weight wise has been up and down and ending exactly where I started, so ... could be worse.

Re: ♥

[sylvanwitch]

No worries on the late-i-tude. I'm here! :-) And I appreciate what you're saying--I often find it the greatest struggle when I have an occasion because it feels like I deserve to mark the occasion with whatever I'd like to eat, but then I can use that permission as an excuse to overindulge beyond one meal or treat or whatever.

Re: ♥

[oldtoadwoman]

I also keep catching myself use other people as my excuse yet I end up eating more than everyone else did.