Fitness Fellowship 2024: Week 21

[sylvanwitch]

I won't wish my fellow USians a happy Memorial Day because, well, that would be weird. I hope you're enjoying your long weekend, anyway. For everyone not in the US, I hope the weekend has been a good one and that you're looking forward to something in the week to come.

Please share the past week's ups and downs with us and anything else you feel like throwing out here. :-)



Weight: I'm up 2.8 pounds from last week. *sighs* See below for likely reason(s).

Exercise: Daily, yes. Lifting, yes. Intervals, yes. Inclines, yes(?).

Eating plan: I've made some questionable dining choices this long weekend, but I don't regret them despite the gain noted above. I'll lose that weight again, and in the meantime, I've really enjoyed sharing meals with T., so fooey with the "diet" for a little while.

Meditation: I have done some boxing of the breath and mantras.

Sleep: I actually made it a point to get to bed earlier than usual this past work week because I was very tired. Unfortunately, my sleep was disrupted by disturbing and/or annoying stress dreams every night. I'm hoping that now that anxiety-making work obligations are past, I'll return to a better quality of sleep.

Hydration: YES! It was unseasonably hot for a bit there, and my classroom AC was on the fritz, so I drank a LOT more fluids than usual, and I've also been gardening as and when I can, which means lots of fluid intake as well. I even made "real" lemonade last night. Mmmmm.

For the week ahead, more of the same goals as always, perhaps minus some of the "cheating" I did this weekend.


As always, I'm sending you all the good vibes I can spare, my friends!

Comments

[oschun]

I think saying fooey to things is an entirely valid response sometimes. Personally, I drank a bottle of wine last night and haven't changed out of my pyjamas today. I'm deep-level tired after three weeks of literally non-stop work. Also, I ate pizza yesterday and masala munch chips the day before. I don't really eat chips - we call them crisps over here - but masala munch is something else. So spicy and addictive. S and I fight each other for the last one.

I'm okay with these slips because last week I ate 30 different plants, no meat, no unhealthy foods, and managed to fast until lunchtime Mon to Fri. Yessss. This is going to be a transformative thing for me I think. Fasting clean and only drinking coffee without milk in the morning makes a difference. The theory is that only drinking bitter things like black tea or coffee doesn't trigger a response in your gut like it's about to have to digest something and therefore makes the fasting process easier and keeps your insulin levels stable. I made sure to drink enough water and have a healthy lunch so felt strong and energetic all day. I'm buying lighter and fruitier ground coffees because they taste better without milk.

I'm also really enjoying eating dark chocolate after dinner. Chocolate has to contain at least 75% cocoa to count as a good polyphenol on Zoe. I really think you can re-train your taste buds to eat things that taste more bitter. Or more sour. How did I manage to get through the day without my daily shot of kombucha? So good. Our scoby, which was a tiny little thing when we first bought it, is a floating, fermenting beast that needs serious trimming each time we make a new brew. By 'we', I mean S. He's the kombucha man.

Good luck with the week ahead. I hope you get some good sleep and happier dreams.

[sylvanwitch]

Wow! That is such an impressive account for last week, re: plants, fasting, etc. I'm so, so glad you're finding success with this program and are enjoying the effects it's having in your life. That is so important, particularly when you are in such a stressful job. I'm also glad you are comfortable with "cheat" days/meals/whatever. I think it's important for us to have those "fooey" moments; not every single choice can be rigidly policed. For me, I'd develop resentment, and that way lies total failure to reach *any* goals.

I hope the week ahead is gentle on you, my friend, and that you have delicious meals and lots of time to decompress and exercise. :-)

[luzula]

Worked hard at moving the last few days, and am now DONE. In several senses of the word. I'm just going to focus on rest and recovery the rest of this week...and thank god I'm paying a company for the cleaning.

[sylvanwitch]

CONGRATULATIONS on finishing the moving! That is AWESOME! Woooo-hooooo! You deserve ALL the rest and recovery. Be good to yourself--you've definitely earned it!

[luzula]

Thanks! <3

[ysilme]

Go you for your achievements! *\O/*

I got a lot of additional exercise in through garden work; un-jungle-ing my remaining veggie beds was harder than I thought, additionally also as I was in the gestagen phase of my hormone replacement therapy. But definitely good for my exercise counts! ;op I still got a few late-evening walks in as I needed carbs for my dinner after the hard work, but sleep was better through this, too, and the scales are finally moving a bit again, after being on a unwavering plateau since January or so. *rolls eyes*
I also had an unexpected intolerance contamination on Wednesday and was rather unwell for nearly two days, and have to take it slowly still, so I didn't count anything for those days and will allow myself another day or two to fully recover before going back to my exercise goal.

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you SO much! I'm so sorry I didn't respond. I think I read it in notifications and then thought I'd answered. My apologies, my friend.

I'm so glad you're having better sleep and seeing some changes on the scale, but I'm sorry to hear about your illness, and I hope you're recovered by now. That sounds extremely unpleasant, and I wish you didn't have to suffer it. *hugs*

belated check-in

[oldtoadwoman]

My weight was actually down yesterday and so I am officially at my lowest weight of the year (but still up from where I was a few years ago). I'm hoping I have maintained that when I weigh in tomorrow, but I did give in today and get myself a sub sandwich from the grocery store for lunch because I was too tired to prepare something healthier.

Re: belated check-in

[sylvanwitch]

YAY! Congratulations on being down to your lowest weight this year! That's awesome! And you're going in the direction you've chosen for yourself, which is great. I hope the sub doesn't cause any trouble for you. We just ordered a boatload of Chinese food because I am grading handwritten exam essays tomorrow, and I did NOT want to think about cooking. Also, we spent the day deep-cleaning the oven and other things, and I'm too tired to cook tonight, as well. So, yeah, making bad choices and hoping they won't bite me in the ass. ;-) I definitely relate to your sub-buying!

Re: belated check-in

[oldtoadwoman]

Up a pound today, but hopefully that's just some normal fluctuation. (I only officially count my weekly average to try and account for inconsistencies.)