Fitness Fellowship 2024: Week 10 Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

It's been a rollercoaster week, weather-wise, and now with daylight savings time, my circadian rhythms are all confused, but I'm muddling along. It also happens to be end of a marking period, which means I am buried under a ton of grading. *sighs*

Still, spring starts officially in not too long, and the temps are supposed to moderate a little later this week, and it *is* nice to get home in daylight, if I were getting home right after work any day this week. *sighs harder*

But enough of my wittering. How are you, friends? Has your week been a good one? Have you had struggles and/or temptations? Please do share the ups and downs with us here. No judgement! :-)



*sighs* I did not lose any weight this week, or rather, I did, and then the weekend scotched it. That's more and more a habit of mine, and I really do need to break away from it. That said, I really wasn't particularly "bad" on Sunday, so maybe this is all time-change related? Let's blame it on Daylight Savings, yeah? ;-)

Exercise was good this week. I climbed the escarpment and then various hills on Saturday, and yesterday, I used the elliptical, maximum 8/10 elevation, so I did my "climbing" two days. I exercised every day. I hydrated regularly. My sleep was pretty good, although I think there was one evening I just didn't want to put my book down, so that threw me off a bit. I did meditate/breathe/pray at our faculty retreat on Friday, which was, in total, a lovely experience.

In the non-scale-number-related column, I continue to have greater stamina when doing my daily stairs at work.

I heard a report on NPR on the way home about a recently released study that shows that women who do strength training two to three times a week can reduce their risk of cardiac events by up to 30% and, for a change, this health benefit works better for women than for men.

I have light hand weights in my TV room, where I sometimes walk in front of the TV, and once in a while, I'll pick those up and do some reps. Since my hands and wrist have healed, I've been meaning to get back to my more regular lifting habits, and hearing the report has inspired me, so tonight I did some reps with light weights (3 pounds to start--it's been a while) while marching in place to get the last of my day's quota of steps in. I plan to do this at least twice a week from here on out, but also, a couple of years ago, T. got me a dip stand that I'd asked for for Xmas, but my wrist injury wouldn't allow me to use it then. It's still in the box it came in. I'm going to put that together and try to add dips to my regimen at least once a week to start. I'll tell you how it goes!



Have a wonderful week ahead, my friends!

Comments

[luzula]

Yay for feeling inspired to do weight lifting! And good luck with all the grading...there's an exam today, so I'll get grading too, soon.

Last week's goals:
- do PT on two days,
Only one, alas.
- go running on two days,
Yes.
- work out on one day (would be more, but I'm going away on the weekend),
Yes.
- keep to my sleep schedule,
Yes.
- continue to be mindful of what I eat,
Yes.

So I did pretty well. The weekend thing was both rewarding and tiring.

- do PT on two days,
- go running on two days,
- work out on three days,
- go hiking on one day (just 7 km),
- keep to my sleep schedule,
- continue to be mindful of what I eat,
- plan to call/meet up with some friend I haven't seen in a while (I'm counting the social stuff as I do think it contributes to mental well-being...)

[sylvanwitch]

I like that you include the social stuff! That definitely contributes to health and wellness! :-)

Enjoy your trip and good luck with your goals for the week. I hope it's excellent for you!

[oschun]

You know you have my sympathy with being buried under a load of marking. I'm also trying to climb out from under the avalanche of mock exam grading on top of me. It totally messed up my routine today. I ended up missing lunch and then worked late as well, which meant I ended up missing pilates. Sigh. I have to prioritise the pilates class every Tues. This is something I know.

Prioritising exercise is something I'm rubbish at. I still haven't made it to the gym to do a weights session either, even though that's why I signed up for a full gym membership in the first bloody place. More sighing. Like you say, strength training is super important for women. I've been reading similar stuff.

Something is stopping me from overcoming this barrier in my mind to going into the actual gym, even though my pilates class is in the same building. Every week I plan to do it and fail to do it. I just keep avoiding it.

I recently watched a Zoe podcast vid they did with James Clear who wrote Atomic Habits - if you haven't heard about it, the key idea is about making tiny 'atomic' decisions that can build into good habits. In the podcast he was talking about this guy who wanted to get into the habit of doing regular exercise so started by just driving to the gym every day and doing 5mins on one machine and then going home. It's an interesting concept because the act of getting in the car and driving to the gym is half the battle.

Right, that's it. I have one goal this week. Go to the gym on Thurs to do some weight training, even if it's for five damn minutes. And now I feel responsible to that commitment because I wrote it down.

[sylvanwitch]

My husband talks about Clear's book all the time! I'll have to let him know about the podcast. I am sending you all kinds of energy to get over the blockage. I have had the same experience with other new habits I'm trying to develop, and I can definitely empathize. I'm glad having said it here gives you a sense of accountability. If you'd like, please do check back in on Thursday after the gym to say you've done it. :-)

[oschun]

I did it! I only stayed for about 30 minutes and was mostly just reminding myself of how the machines work, but it's a start. I did have to ask one of the personal trainers how to work a machine and felt a little foolish - but didn't let it hold me back.

Good luck with overcoming your own barriers with developing new habits. You can do it!

[sylvanwitch]

Excellent! Go, you! Seriously, that took SO much energy, and you did it! YAY!

And thank you so much for the encouragement, my friend! I am SO tired, and I definitely need the reminder. :-)

hi

[oldtoadwoman]

I've been doing a lousy job of checking in and staying accountable. I'm exercising very half-heartedly and have had far too many food lapses. So I've been up-down-up-down and mostly staying the same. So at least not worse?

Re: hi

[sylvanwitch]

Sometimes, "at least not worse" is the best we can hope for. However, if accountability will help, please do plan to check in here each week. I saw your locked post, too, and empathize with the two steps forward, one back nature of your journey because mine is the same. I've been happy to have lost a few pounds and kept it off, but progress is stalled, and that can be very difficult for maintaining momentum.

Anyway, if there is any help I can offer, please do let me know.

Re: hi

[oldtoadwoman]

I need to focus on short-term goals. Long-term goals give me too many opportunities to tell myself that just one milkshake won't hurt, etc. So, tomorrow's goal is to go for a walk that does not involve rewarding myself with junk food afterward.

Re: hi

[sylvanwitch]

That is an excellent short-term goal and seems very doable! I hope you enjoy your walk!

Re: hi

[oldtoadwoman]

I have also just (as of two days ago) downloaded the "Hybrid Calisthenics" app and have been doing the beginner exercises (in addition to doing the weight machines in the basement 3 days a week). I don't think my form is really correct on anything yet, but I'm trying.

Re: hi

[sylvanwitch]

Hey, form comes with practice, and what matters is that you're doing it! Go, you! I hope it gives you the variety you need to stick with it.