Fitness Fellowship 2023: Week 5 Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

Greetings, friends!

How has this past week been for you? Of course, I'm speaking of your fitness goals, but I'm here for anything you'd like to share. Thank you for being here for me and for each other. :-)



I gained a pound this week, which is no surprise to me. I gave in to comfort eating a few times this week, usually with just a single treat (though in one case that meant an entire pint of Ben & Jerry's non-dairy Cherry Garcia). My meals otherwise were mostly healthy, whole foods, veggie-packed, and good for me.

The stress has been a lot. It's one thing after another, and I'm not getting much time in between to catch my breath. I'm doing my best, but sometimes I slip. In this case, I didn't so much fall off the wagon as throw myself from it with the intention of seeking quasi-oblivion in snack foods. Ah, well.

I have been pretty good about exercising, though not always for 30 minutes every day. There were some evening obligations this past week--again--so that makes it more challenging to find the will to get on the bike. Also, my ankle has been particularly painful for the past two weeks. I think this is because I need new inserts for my walking shoes, but the inserts are expensive, and one of my many current stressors if financial.

Capitalism sucks.

But I *did* get some exercise every day, and yesterday and today I got long walks in despite the pain. Today, it wasn't even so bad because I wore my hiking boots, which give me extra support, and I walked in a nearby state park for some much-needed fresh air and nature.

I did not meditate this week. I wasn't always good about hydrating, either. I did mostly make my bedtime, but I had difficulty falling asleep.

The week ahead shouldn't have any big surprises (*knocks wood*), I hope, and I am taking a deep breath and resetting my resolve.



I hope the week ahead treats you gently.

Comments

[luzula]

Aww, I'm sorry about the stress. : ( Looks like you're still achieving a lot, considering!

My goals:
- Go to bed and turn out the light at 11 pm every day.
Er, one day I backslided and did go to bed at 11, but then read fic until 11.50. /o\ And another day, time ran away and I went to bed at 11.30. But otherwise mostly fine.

- Keep to my food goals.
I did bake delicious chocolate chip cookies and had one yesterday and one the day before that, but that is okay, since my food goals are to only eat sweets if they are really worthy sweets (and not to excess, but I don't tend to do that). These cookies are worthy.

- Go out in the woods every day except Monday and perhaps Sunday (depending on a possible activity).
Did go out on Sunday, but not on Friday when I was tired after work.

- Go running three times.
Only twice, but that is not my fault. We had snow on Friday, and what with the snow hiding the ground and also being trampled into ice, I'm not running until it goes away. I don't want to break any bones, it's hard enough to walk without falling... But Saturday was really lovely, the snow was new and powdery and the sky was blue! I had a two-hour walk in the woods that day.

- Do a workout every day except Monday, Wednesday and perhaps Sunday.
Yes, I did it four times (on Sunday but not on Friday).

- Try out a new workout once (let's see if I do it this time...).
Yes, I finally did this last night! I tried this one and will try out more from the same channel. I definitely got more sweaty than my regular workout, but that's because this one had more cardio and my ordinary one is more focused on strength.

Goals for this week:
- Go to bed and turn out the light at 11 pm every day.
- Keep to my food goals.
- Go out in the woods every day, even if just a short walk.
- Go running if the snow and ice melts.
- Do a workout every day except two (giving myself some slack since new and longer workouts might mean I want some recovery time, and also I think one of my feet wants a rest today).
- At least two of my workouts should be other than my ordinary one, preferably longer ones than 10 minutes.

[ljm]

It seems I missed the posts for the last couple weeks- sorry about that!

I'm glad you got in some exercise every day! Fortunately, I have managed to do that as well. The "something is better than nothing" mindset really works for me.

Good luck with your goals!

[sylvanwitch]

Excellent work, particularly for trying the new workout! That's awesome! You are doing such a good job with developing and achieving your goals. :-)

[sylvanwitch]

No worries at all! Thank you for the kind words!

Yes, I'm sort of a recovering perfectionist/completionist, so I appreciate the reminder that doing what I can rather than doing EVERYthing possible is a totally legit approach to life that also works for other people.

I hope we both continue to do what we can with what we have where we are in our lives. :-)

[kaiz]

Well done with the steady workouts! Sorry to hear the ankle isn't 100% yet. Re. inserts, do you have to get prescription ones or will mass-produced inserts work? The orthopedic surgeon I went to several years back recommended Powerstep inserts instead of custom orthotics and, gotta say, they work very well for the low price point.

Anyway, I got in 5 workout days last week and 4 the week before when I was beset with scheduling challenges. So, a solid two week stretch. Unfortunately, I also had 5 migraines in there, too, with another starting up tonight. Bah. I'll be getting my quarterly injections this week, though, so here's hoping I can tamp them down again, soon.

Here's hoping the stress eases up for you and you can get in some more long walks in nature this week!

♥

[oldtoadwoman]

Oh, man, I feel you on the Ben & Jerry's. Sometimes all my plans go out the window and I just need a pint of Ben & Jerry's.

I've been holding steady this week. My only splurge was getting Chinese food when my roommate offered to buy me dinner since she wanted to order delivery. (I'm incapable of turning down free food and then once I had the food, I couldn't limit myself to reasonable portions.) No exercise to speak of though. I'm still too much of a wimp to go walking when it's cold out.

My anxiety levels have been super high this week and I have no external reason why, just randomly feeling panicky and not sleeping well. So I'm kind of counting it as a win that I haven't done worse these last few days.

[oschun]

Sorry to hear about the ankle and continuing stress. Pain and stress are not a good combo at all. I really hope you're able to breathe this week.

My stress levels are so high I think I've hit some kind of stress nirvana where I'm no longer stressed. I told you about my friend in the dept having a heart attack and then our head of dept going off on maternity leave - well, on Thurs three other English teachers in the dept went off sick for two days with covid. And then yesterday we were given our one-day notice of a school inspection. We're one day down out of a two day inspection. I had to step in and do the curriculum review this morning with the inspector because we have no head of dept. I am weirdly zen about all of this. And on the plus side I've lost two kilos - probably because I'm running on pure adrenaline.

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you so much! I do, in fact, use Powersteps, so it is really good to hear that they were recommended to you by an orthopedist! Thank you for the info. :-) This month we had a really big tax bill to pay, so I'm just being super-conservative money-wise until I get paid again. But absolutely, they are affordable when I'm not pinching every single penny. I appreciate the recommendation.

I am so sorry about the migraines; that sucks, and I hope the treatment helps to ease them off. I'm impressed as hell that you worked out so often and regularly given the pain. I hope that the week ahead brings no more headaches and many good days for getting in some exercise. :-)

Thank you again for your kind words!

Re: ♥

[sylvanwitch]

Ugh, anxiety is The WORST, and I'm so sorry you're struggling with it. I hope it eases off soon for you. You are to be given ALL the applause for NOT comfort eating while anxious, and honestly, it's totally understandable to want to eat All The Chinese Food when it's free and available. I have to admit that's a weak spot of mine too, so I can relate.

Seriously, not getting enough sleep, being anxious, etc., it's *so* draining, and I think you should give yourself kudos for what you did well this past week.

I hope the week ahead is a better one for you.

[sylvanwitch]

Ugh, the pain is just so draining. I'm really trying to heal up, but just... UGH!

Hon, I am glad that you've hit some sort of super-stress zen plateau, and I mean that, but I also hope it's not slowly eating a hole through your duodenum or something. Bodies are sneaky that way. Maybe it's a matter of just not having control over so much that you've been able to let go? I mean, you're NOT the dept. head, so the fact that you've stepped up at all should absolve you of any deficits the inspection team finds (?). Anyway, I'd hope they'd take into account the state of your dept. specifically because that's just a LOT of weight being redistributed on the fly.

I hope things get better soon, hon, I really do. Sending you ALL the good vibes I can spare. *hugs*

[kaiz]

Ugh, taxes. You have my sympathies and commiserations. :(

[oschun]

Thanks, dearest, for the good vibes. They're appreciated.

I don't deal well with constant low level stress but I seem to have a useful default switch when shit really hits the fan that makes me go into zen mode. It's something I inherited from my mother, who is my model for stoical pragmatism. I'm actually feeling really proud of myself because I totally stepped up to the plate yesterday and the dept inspection report that came out today about our English curriculum was so good. It's not all my work but I articulated it and fielded every pokey question the inspector aimed at me. I actually surprised myself.

[sylvanwitch]

That is *awesome* and YOU are awesome, hon, and I hope you take a moment or two (when you have the time--haha!) to let yourself celebrate and feel proud of yourself. Maybe this means you'll be a fantastic administrator? (Or, if you're like me, you'd rather eat paint than be an administrator.)

Sometime, I'd love to pick your brains about curriculum, too. We're hoping to do a major overhaul of all four grades and just throw out every old paradigm and start fresh, and I'd love to hear about even a bit of what you teach to a particular group, understanding that our systems are different.

But, of course, NOT RIGHT NOW! Lol! When (if) you have time later on. *hugs*

[oschun]

Maybe this means you'll be a fantastic administrator? (Or, if you're like me, you'd rather eat paint than be an administrator.)

Lol, I know what you mean. I do find data analysis and sitting in meetings with senior leadership a bore. I am actually a second-tier administrator in the dept as we teach across seven year groups to 1400 students so have a head of dept and two seconds in the dept. I'm in charge of key stage 4, which is the end of high school exam group. I've been encouraged in the head of dept direction for years but stubbornly resist it because who needs more data analysis and meetings. I'm all about the curriculum and subject content, although our paradigms are obviously constrained by the exam system and national curriculum. I would love to talk curriculum with you anytime you like!

We got a 'good' judgement as a school in the inspection by the way. Such a relief because the school serves a very mixed community with a lot of social deprivation and it can feel pretty wild sometimes.