Fitness Fellowship 2023: Week 33 Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

Hey, there, friends!

I hope your week has been passable to good and not the other direction on the spectrum. As usual, if you're up for it, please share your trials and triumphs with us as you make your fitness journey. We're here to listen and not judge.



Weight: I'm up a little (again), largely because I am eating my feelings while I await medical tests and then their results. *sighs*

My sleep has also sucked because I've been anxious, which causes anxiety dreams (so much suckage), and also because T. has been participating in a film contest, so he's been away until late or altogether. I don't sleep as well when he's not home.

I have done a bit of breathing, and I am definitely hydrating, and, of course, there has been exercise. In fact, I've been using S3 of The Witcher as motivation to get on the recumbent bike again, and that's been good. Truly, if I am at all healthy, it has to be in good part because I exercise literally every day. Sometimes, I have to drag myself out for a walk or onto the bike, but I always do it anyway, and I never regret it afterward.

For the week ahead: Medical tests tomorrow. Anniversary Tuesday--we're celebrating Wednesday. Potential work-related meeting Thurs/Fri? Walk with a friend Thurs. This is too much stuff all at once; I'm not ready to be a functional adult again. Plus, I have lots of school prep work to complete. UGH! I will absolutely walk every day and hydrate. I will try to get decent sleep. I will do my best to stick to Intermittent Fasting. We'll see. We'll see.






May the week ahead bring you good things.

Comments

[luzula]

Best of luck for the medical tests!!

The past week:
- 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).

I managed the running and working out, also I was out and picked lots of bilberries. The sleeping, less so. That first night I was back home, I got to bed late and just let myself sleep until I woke, which was 11.15 am. Ooops. I may have needed to sleep, but then I couldn't fall asleep until 3 am the next night. : ( I've been trying to normalize my sleeping from that, but I should have set an alarm that first day.

This week: out doing forest surveys again, so I'll be out in the forest all day Monday-Friday, and camping out, too. Enough of a goal, I think...

[sylvanwitch]

Forest surveys, camping, etc., are DEFINITELY enough of a fitness goal for the week! Enjoy that!

Also, your sleep adjustment is totally relatable. I am about to experience it myself as I try to transition my body back into a teacher's sleep schedule rather than my night-owl summer self. *sighs* I hope you are able to get some sleep on the survey trip and that you have a very enjoyable time (and discover cool stuff)!

[batdina]

May your health bs be clear of all noxious results. I'm glad you're continuing to exercise. Some things stay good that way, at least in my world.

My life is a roller coaster right now. My weight is finally dropping after months of trying to get back on track after the prednisone ride. Still getting hassled about weight by breast doctors but fuck'em. And That's pretty much all she wrote where my body is concerned. My soul on the other hand, is another story. More on that later.

🤍

[oldtoadwoman]

I've been holding steady for the past two weeks, which is ... better than gaining, but frustrating because there have been just enough bad decisions that I know I would have lost weight if I'd just stuck with my goals and not given in.

[cornerofmadness]

Haven't done much but have noticed some weight loss so that's good. On the other hand being here at the parents/at my brother's I'm realizing it might not be feasible for me to live in anything but a ranch/apartment because of that knee injury and that's been a struggle to accept

[luzula]

I did forget my silicone earplugs, which I really require to sleep, especially in a tent! But whew, I will pass a pharmacy which has them today, before we go out into the forest...

[oschun]

Good luck with the medical tests. And my commiserations on having to do prep work - so much UGH. I'm leaving that for next week. I might be lying to myself but I don't feel like I have a lot to do.

I'm going to start getting back into a more normal routine this week:
* start exercise routine (pilates, callanetics, a proper hike)
* no more holiday drinking
* fast for 2 days and make 2 new healthy vegan recipes (adding to the recipe repertoire)

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you very much, hon. Like you, I find I need exercise to keep on an even keel, particularly in the mental and emotional health departments.

I am very glad you're having luck with the weight loss and am sorry about the doctors; I do wish they'd just get off the whole weight thing.

As for your soul, I am sending peace and serenity your way. *hugs*

Re: 🤍

[sylvanwitch]

I hear you *so* much on this. I try not to do that kind of retrograde math myself, but it's hard not to when I see my lack of progress. I think after today's nerve-wracking tests, I might be able to be a little better about my eating choices, but we'll see. I hope you find your way forward with the eating stuff. *hugs*

[sylvanwitch]

YAY for the weight loss but boooooooo! for the realization about needing a single-floor dwelling. I know your preference is for tall, spooky Victorians and houses of that sort, with character. I remember being reluctant to move into our current home because I didn't particularly like the layout of a split-level, but then I thought about mobility issues as we age and figured it was a good compromise between the single-story home my parents moved into for their dotage and the two-story old house with steep stairs that we moved from. Still, I do understand the sort of ground-shifting sensation of realizing a long-held dream isn't feasible anymore. I'm sorry.

[sylvanwitch]

I have yet another new person in my 11th grade teaching cohort. (In fact, it is just the two of us this year--shrinking enrollment.) And every year, my students seems less capable of the basics, so I have to keep backing the curriculum up a step or two. Together, this means more prep work than usual, as I'm combining units and eliminating texts to try to spend more time on the essentials (and also to give the new guy a fighting chance of getting it all done--he has no real teaching experience of this sort, and it's going to be a steep climb for him).

YAY for normal routines! As much as I semi-dread the return to school, I *do* appreciate the built-in routine of it; it makes it easier to eat at the same time every day, for example.

I also LOVE that you've got a specific goal of expanding your cooking repertoire! That's awesome! Go, you! :-)

[cornerofmadness]

Mom and Dad's place and my brother's are split levels and I'm finding that worse really because I'm up and down a lot of more than I would if I had a bedroom up and really would only need to climb those stairs twice a day maybe three times. My brother's place is worse because you have to climb stairs to get into the house and then climb up from there.

[sylvanwitch]

That makes total sense, now that you describe the situation.

We do have a ground-level entrance around the back, which leads to what was the garage but which we converted into our big TV/exercise/living room (because I converted the actual living room and dining room into a library). There's a small bathroom (no shower) there. Up one flight is the kitchen and library (formerly known as the LR/DR), and then up another short flight is the main bath and three bedrooms (only one of which is actually a bedroom). I'm *hoping* we don't get to the point where we cannot at least manage the shorter flight between kitchen/library level and bathroom/bedroom/workroom level, but that's a wait and see kind of deal. I was hoping if it did come to that we could install a chairlift? Or I could maybe scoot on my butt? I don't know, of course.

Also, we inherited this house, which somewhat removed choice from the matter. I'd hate to have to move to a single level home because I love my gardens and my house, but I can imagine circumstances in which that might be necessary.

Man, bodies were a mistake. ;-)

[cornerofmadness]

luckily mom's place does have ground level entry. There's a house now for sale in my area with a chair lift and I'm thinking hmmm....