Fitness Fellowship 2023: Week Three Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

Is it just me, or has this month at least eight weeks long so far? Ugh. I am not a fan of months that overstay their welcome.

How has the past week been for you? Have you had fitness success this week? Any struggles? Whatever state you're in, please share with us your ups and downs. We're here to listen and not judge.



I lost 1.4 pounds this week, and that's making me feel better about my fitness efforts. I'm still eating mostly clean, still exercising regularly, still being conscientious about my bedtime, still drinking plenty of water, and, triumph of triumphs, I actually attempted to meditate twice this week, both times in bed as I was struggling to shut down my brain. I mostly did some breathing exercises and tried to clear my mind. It's a start!

There has been a lot of stressful stuff converging on me lately, but I am doing my best to avoid eating my feelings instead of finding a less destructive method of dealing with it all.

In short, things are okay, and that's not bad for the state of my life lately!


One more week(ish) left in this accursedly endless month. May it be a good week for you, friends!

Comments

[cornerofmadness]

it has definitely been a year long, this month. Finally made it back to the gym. that's my accomplishment for the week

[sylvanwitch]

That is an excellent accomplishment, especially given how soul-sucking this month has been. Go, you!

[cornerofmadness]

thanks

[kaiz]

Congratulations! And yep, this month has been exhausting for me, too; 10lbs of shit in a 5lb bag.

[cornerofmadness]

thanks and I hear you there

[kaiz]

Well done on the weightloss! :) Like you, I felt that this month has been ridiculously long and needlessly stressful.

On the workout front, I did 5 out of 7 days this time but the workouts weren't as long as I'd hoped due to timing/scheduling. :(

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you! AND go, you! for getting those workouts in, though I'm sorry they couldn't be as long as you'd wanted/hoped/needed. I hope this week gives you more time and much less of the stressful stuff! (Honestly, crossing my fingers for ALL of us on the stress front. *sighs*)

[cornerofmadness]

way to go finding time to work out even if it wasn't as long as you'd have liked

[falkner]

January so far has, somehow, been both neverending and passing by in a flash. It feels like I have not accomplished anything yet...

Fitness wise, according to the Samsung Health app on my phone, I have walked since the start of the year approximately 160k steps. But I've also been eating a lot, and since moving countries I have never had a chance to check my weight... apparently having a scale at home is not as common here? And not having weighted myself in a full year makes me anxious about doing it now ^_^;;

[sylvanwitch]

Ugh, why is January even like this? Lol!

I completely understand the scale aversion, and I don't blame you! I certainly don't recommend it if it's not a thing you're comfortable with. In fact, I think there are a lot of good, legitimate studies out there suggesting reasons people *shouldn't* do regular weigh-ins. For me, it's an unfortunate holdover from my puberty/adolescence, and I get anxiety around not doing it. If I could train myself to stop, I would. Alas, that's not the relationship I have with it.

This is to say, if you don't feel comfortable getting into a weigh-in habit, please don't feel ANY pressure from me/us, for sure. You do what feels right for you.

[cornerofmadness]

Moving like that is a lot to deal with.

[oschun]

Congratulations on the in-bed meditation. Sounds like you need it.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about the month of January!

I had a so-so week. I'm being half good and half bad - which I guess is better than being all bad.

Today I finally managed to leave work early and did 30 minutes of hill walking outside in the crisp and frosty air. Finally. Yay for small wins.

[sylvanwitch]

YAY for hill walking! YAY for outdoors! :-)

Dr. Greger, who's the guru behind the eating program I like, says that the question to ask is not "Is this bad?" but "Is this better than a choice I'd have made before I was practicing mindfulness?" (I'm paraphrasing. Also, forgive me if I've said this before.) I've always liked that approach, so I'm going to say that, as YOU noted yourself, your choices this past week were BETTER THAN they'd have been if you weren't paying attention.

I hope the week ahead is kind to you, my friend. You deserve it. *hugs*

[luzula]

Congratulations on doing well with your goals! \o/ Er, sorry for the detail in which I recount my goals, but it helps me feel more accountable...

- Go to bed AND TURN OUT THE LIGHT at 11 pm.
Progress! \o/ Turns out that if I log the time I turn out the light every day (I write it down in my calendar), I feel more accountable. I did not turn out the light later than 11.15 on any day, and often did it 11.00. Yesssss.

- Keep to my food goals.
Food was fine!

- Go out in the woods every day except Monday and possibly Tuesday (depending on a possible activity).
I did go out on Tuesday, but not on Friday, when I went home to my parents after work, and ate a delicious dinner my mom had cooked, and then it just didn't happen.

- Go running three times.
Yep, did that.

- Do a workout every day except Monday.
I also did not do it on Friday (see above) and Saturday. But on Saturday I did a 10 km hike with my mom, and felt that was enough exercise for the day. So I did my short workout four times this week.

- Try out a new workout once.
Nope! I did some idle searching for a new workout to try, but no more than that.

Goals for next week:
- Go to bed and turn out the light at 11 pm.
- Keep to my food goals.
- Go out in the woods every day except Wednesday.
- Go running three times.
- Do a workout every day except Wednesday.
- Try out a new workout once.

[sylvanwitch]

Please, no apologies on the specific goal-identifying! I think it's marvelous, and if it helps you keep to a plan, then I'm all for it anyway! :-)

YAY you for meeting so many of your goals. That's awesome and amazing! I hope the week to come is just as if not better than the week you've just had!

[luzula]

Thanks--and thank YOU for making the posts and cheerleading! : )

[ashelterofpages]

I have so, so not been holding up well. This entire month so far has been completely chaotic and volatile that I'm just waiting for it to be done so I can try and get some recovery time.

[sylvanwitch]

Ugh, I feel this SO much. Please be as kind to and gentle with yourself as you can and hang in there. Here's hoping February (which is, factually, not as long as January, though I don't trust the calendar on what it FEELS like) is better, yeah? And that things grow less volatile for you. I'm sending that energy your way!

Progress

[oldtoadwoman]

I'm going to try to post an end-of-month wrap-up each month. I'm somehow down 2kg overall, despite spiking up after too many splurges earlier in the month. Let's hope it's a trend and not a fluke.

Re: Progress

[sylvanwitch]

Congrats on the downward movement! I hope it's a sign of momentum for you. I look forward to reading your monthly update, too. I know for me the weekly check-in is helpful for making me stay on task, and I hope the monthly wrap-up does the same for you.