Fitness Fellowship 2023: Week 32 Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

Howdy, friends!

How has your week been, fitness-wise and otherwise? I hope it's been a good one for you, for however you value the word "good."

Please do share your ups and downs here and any plans you have for the week ahead.



My weight is up a little since last week, but I attribute that to the fact that I have had to temporarily suspend the intermittent fasting. I've been diagnosed with a UTI and am on an antibiotic that needs to be taken with food every eight hours. "With food," in this case, can mean a handful of crackers or something, not a whole meal, thankfully, but even so, it's thrown me off. Thankfully, I haven't had the most common side effects of this antibiotic (nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea), and hopefully, it does the trick.

Unfortunately, this UTI was discovered while in pursuit of the cause of a different health thing, for which I'm going in for tests on Friday. Fingers crossed they don't show anything out of the ordinary or, if they do, it's something benign and remediable. *sighs*

Given my white-coat syndrome, I think it's pretty amazing that I haven't done any comfort eating, and I'm proud of myself for that. I have tried to stay hydrated as much as possible, especially as that's helpful with a UTI, and I've been exercising every day. Sleep has been disrupted both because of frequent urination (UTI + drinking more = more waking up in the middle of the night) and because I have to stay up later to accommodate the final day's dose of antibiotic. A couple of nights this past week (during which I was getting up in the AM because I was teaching a workshop), I fell asleep waiting for my meds time. Lol! Thankfully, I woke up in time to take it and haul my sad butt to bed.

Anyway, I am doing the best I can and am pretty proud of myself for not comfort-eating and for staying active. I've also done quite a bit of mindful breathing (mostly "boxing the breath," if you're familiar with that one), partly to help ease my anxiety about doctor's appointments and tests and partly because it helps me center in any case.

My plan for the week ahead is to return to intermittent fasting on Thursday--last dose is in the AM, and then I can go back to my regularly scheduled eating window. YAY! Continue hydrating, return to a better sleep schedule, keep up the mindful breathing, and, of course, exercise.



I'm sending you all the energy you need to use for whatever you'd most enjoy.

Comments

[batdina]

My exercise regimen is back to its proper place, and length. Man was that a hard thing! As a result, my clothes once again fit, or should I say fit better? At any rate, I still wish my body were a more cooperative place, at least it's not making me want to hurt myself any longer. So there's that.

I also have the eye surgery scheduled, in late October, after the holidays are over, after the partner chick is home from her work travels. I'm not looking forward to it, in fact, I'm terrified of it, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing again. (The surgeon described my eyes by saying that what he saw made it look like my pupils were in jail, behind my eyelashes. EDS strikes again?)

I'm very very glad you're managing the antibiotics decently, though of course I wish you weren't on them at all. And I hope whatever they're testing you for turns out to be easily resolvable.

[cornerofmadness]

A week of trying to do water aerobics showed me how far I've fallen strength/endurance wise. I did adjust but there was at least one I couldn't do really anything that required my foot on the bottom of the pool. I'm trying to decide where I go from here.

[sylvanwitch]

I'm sorry that you're struggling with your strength and endurance, and I hope you're able to find an exercise/regimen that helps you regain (or maintain) existing muscle strength, etc., and that won't tax your injuries and conditions.

[cornerofmadness]

thanks me too and it needs to be something enjoyable that I won't be tempted to shunt aside

[sylvanwitch]

I'm so glad you're over the hardest part of getting back into the routine and that it's working for you! That's wonderful news, truly.

I don't blame you at all for being terrified of the eye surgery; I would be in your place too. I think it's normal for everyone, but I suspect it's especially terrifying to those of us for whom reading, research, and writing are elemental to our natures. I already pray for your health, my dear, but I will add a boost for the next few months. :-)

I didn't want to get all TMI (well, MORE TMI, I suppose ;-) in my post, but I don't mind sharing that I had some post-menopausal bleeding, so my OB/GYN (a new-to-me doctor, since I haven't been to any doctor at all in decade or so) has ordered a pelvic ultrasound to determine if I have an unusual thickening of the endometrium. If I do, the next step is a biopsy and/or D&C. There are many non-cancerous reasons for post-menopausal bleeding, but naturally, I am concerned and am anxious to see what the ultrasound reveals. Since I also haven't had a routine mammogram in more than a decade, I'm having that done at the same appointment, but the doctor didn't think there was any reason for that other than good preventative practice.

Since I've finally gotten my gumption up, I've also made an eye appointment (my old eye doctor retired during COVID, and I haven't seen anyone since 2019) for tomorrow. The next thing will be finally calling the primary care doctor I've had listed on my insurance paperwork for an actual appointment. *sighs*

[sylvanwitch]

I hear you on the enjoyable part, for sure. I go through periods of *dreading* using my recumbent bike (in cold weather, icy conditions, etc., when walking outside is really out of the question), and that makes motivating myself to get on it SO challenging. I hope you find that exercise you like and will do without having to beat yourself into it.

[cornerofmadness]

I think that I'm going to start youtubing more qi gong and tai chi, it's not going to be much for cardio but I need my balance worked on too with my neuropathy

[luzula]

Ugh, I'm sorry about the UTI. : (

The past week was, as I predicted, taken up by family stuff. I did get unexpected amounts of dog walking though, because of avoiding some family tension--also the dog was causing some of that tension, so it was a double win.

This week I am home four days, so hopefully I can get some actual working out done. When I get home, I aim to:
- go running twice,
- work out four times,
- get back to more regular sleeping times (no email after nine, no screen after ten, turn out light at eleven).

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you. I didn't really have any symptoms that I noticed, so it wasn't so awful, just a little nerve-wracking to have the doctor say I had blood in my urine and had to have more tests for it. I'm glad it was a simple fix, compared to, say, a more serious condition. But yes, thank you. I do appreciate the kindness. :-)

And UGH! I am so sorry about the ongoing dog-BIL drama that was happening on your family vacation. I am sure there are things you enjoyed about the time, but I am also sure you're probably looking forward to those four days at home. I hope you have no trouble at all re-establishing your routines.

Week 32 (and a half?)

[oldtoadwoman]

I spent a week at a friend's place so I haven't weighed in all week and my friend was encouraging things I wouldn't normally eat (got take out twice, then she made homemade dessert, then there was ice cream, etc) so I was dreading getting on the scales this morning ... miraculously the scales didn't move AT ALL. While I didn't lose anything, and am rightly frustrated with myself for not being able to stick to a healthy eating plan in the face of temptation, I'm just so relieved that I didn't gain anything because I was convinced I'd step on the scales and find I'd gained 5 pounds or more.

This has ended up being a pretty stressful summer (I'll try to post more details on my personal journal later) and so my sleep schedule has been really messed up, which I know also messes with my ability to maintain a healthy eating plan. (Even aside from being extra prone to comfort eating, I've heard that stress hormones and lack of sleep mess with your metabolism.)

So I'm hanging in there and hoping I can pull myself together going forward.

Re: Week 32 (and a half?)

[sylvanwitch]

You absolutely deserve to feel good about NOT gaining weight while staying with a friend, particularly a friend who is so food-oriented. I'm happy for you that you didn't see the scale tip upward! That's *good* news! YAY!

I understand your frustration about not avoiding temptation because I understand it intimately. I know it's a cliche to say that 99% of weight loss is mental, but for me, it is so true. Of course, included in that is things like stress and disrupted sleep (which, boy, can I also empathize with). Naturally, if your body is pouring stress chemicals into your blood AND you're not getting enough sleep, your metabolism is going to be sluggish.

I hope the things causing your stress can be remedied, so you can get back on a more even keel.

Related to my attempted weight loss, I've recently had bloodwork done, and one of the results showed my thyroid is underperforming. My mother and her mother both have/had thyroid issues, so this does not surprise me. I have a consultation on the 24th with the ob/gyn who ordered the tests, and I'm hoping she'll have some suggestions for me. I'm not a medication-taking person (if I can avoid it), but I think for this I'll have to make an exception, since there's not much I can do against genetics. Anyway, I'm hoping that maybe weight loss won't be QUITE so hard if it does turn out I have an underperforming thyroid. Weird to be hopeful about that, but there it is. ;-)

Re: Week 32 (and a half?)

[oldtoadwoman]

Yeah, I totally get "hoping" for a problem because a named problem increases the chance of being able to address it.