Fitness Fellowship 2023: Week 20 Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

When my professional life is particularly stressful and/or busy, I try to visualize myself on the other side of the gauntlet and imagine what that will feel like. I ask myself questions like: What will you do with your time? How will you feel walking down the hall or in your classroom? How will you relate to other people? What will the quality of your sleep be like?

Mental exercises like this can help ease some of my anxiety from having too many socio-professional obligations in too short a span of time.

I'm pleased to report that I'm on the other side of the gauntlet (since Thursday evening, in fact) and am almost through the perseverating over conversations I had stage (I hate this stage; it's miserable). Other than anxiety dreams (the most recent one about spiders, no thank you), I think I'm recovering.

How about you, friends? How do you get yourself through stressful/busy/difficult periods in which you cannot avoid participating? (I consider this different than those stresses we choose, like, for me, going on vacation. With travel anxiety, any trip is fraught, but because I also *want* to have travel adventures, I can mostly manage the stress.) Do you find your fitness levels affected (negatively or positively) by stressful times? (Some of you may be the sort who exercise MORE when things are difficult, for example.)

Please feel in no way obligated to answer any of these ponderings. :-) I'm just curious how other people roll.

Please DO comment with your progress (or lack thereof) fitness-wise or otherwise, though, if you're so inclined.



Since I began at my current place of employment, I've always considered this past week "Hell Week" because it is one socio-professional obligation--often involving students' parents--after another. Because I have social anxiety (fairly mild, but it does kick up now and again), any week like this past one can be difficult. I will have trouble falling asleep, for example, my brain going over and over (and over and over) conversations I had with parents and graduates. It's exhausting, and sleep disruption triggers more anxiety, so it can be an ugly feedback loop.

This past week wasn't *so* bad--not as bad as I'd feared it might be--and I also made pretty good choices, food-wise. What I definitely did was make sure I got a LOT of exercise each day, which I think helped keep me on an even keel. The anxiety wasn't great, but it wasn't debilitating, and that's honestly a win for me.

I lost 1.8 pounds this past week (most of which I've gained back by splurging this weekend, but I am not worried about it). I also got in over 91000 steps and achieved several fitness badges for the week. I meditated once (yay!) and paid attention to my hydration. (Thanks oschun for the cordial recommendation: It's made water-drinking much more enjoyable.) I did the best I could with sleep, making sure to go to bed on time and sometimes taking melatonin to help me get much-needed rest when my brain just would NOT shut off.

The week ahead promises to be far less stressful (I hope). Yesterday, we went grocery shopping, and I bought lots of fresh fruits and veggies for the week. Today, I prepared blueberry compote to have for dessert over a little vanilla frozen oatmilk, and I also made vegan potato salad. I picked up a healthy chopped salad kit (some of the kits are surprisingly UNhealthy, particularly with regards to fat and sodium) to make for lunches, and I have apple slices and blueberries to take as well. Later, I'm going to make a big pot of Caribbean rice and beans (from a mix, but a healthy one) for the week, and I've been thinking about making air fryer banana slices as well. Good stuff!


I hope the week ahead is good one for you, friends.

Comments

[sylvanwitch]

I feel like the older I get the more new things arise that cause me anxiety. That said, I didn’t know what travel anxiety was when I started experiencing it in my early twenties, but once I figured out what panic attacks were and what was causing them (in that instance), it helped me figure out coping mechanisms. For me, one thing that helps is just accepting that I am going to be anxious for a while at the start of a trip and then mitigating the symptoms ( e.g. insomnia, tummy issues), so I can get on track as soon as possible. It sucks, for sure, though. If there’s anything I can do to help, let me know.

[cornerofmadness]

Same here literally I could have written what you just did. My biggest problem is sometimes it causes paralysis and I sit and do nothing and then make an actual problem. Did not help today to be told just deal with it