Fitness Fellowship 2024: Week 31 Check-in

[sylvanwitch]

Greetings, fellow travellers! (Spell-check says I'm wrong about those two Ls, but I prefer the British spelling in this case, so nyah!)

How has the past week treated you in terms of your fitness goals (or in any other terms, for that matter)? Please share the ups and downs of the week that was with us!



Weight: This morning, my weight was WAY up, and while I had expected to be up a bit, I did NOT expect that jump. I think it's because I'm teaching this week, so I'm getting up earlier than my usual summer hours, and that's probably throwing off my body rhythms, etc.? Who knows? I do know I haven't done anything to warrant a big gain, so I'm not panicking about it yet.

Exercise: Yoga every day. Cardio w/ light weights twice. Walking or using the elliptical every day. It's been very humid and hot here, so I've been doing most of my walking indoors on the elliptical. It would be nice to have walking weather soon. *sighs* In any case, I've managed at least one hour of exercise daily.

Eating plan: I'm still snacking on sunflower seeds at night, but otherwise, I've managed to stop eating an entire pint of vegan ice cream in one sitting; I'm using a measuring cup and everything to keep myself honest. I've had more good days than bad, calorie-wise, which is another reason I feel the sudden uptick in my weight is an anomaly related to the change in my sleep schedule.

Sleep: I actually made it a point to go to bed on time for getting up for work this morning, taking a half-dose of melatonin to guarantee it, and I did sleep. Yay! I'm going to continue to be good about getting my butt in bed by midnight for a 7:00am rise.

Meditation: See yoga, above.

Hydration: Yes! I've been brewing my big batches of iced herbal tea. I'm currently drinking lemon ginger. And, of course, I'm still drinking ginger root tisane (also iced). I've also been regularly having a prebiotic and/or probiotic soda (low sugar) and, of course, drinking lots of plain old water as well.

The week ahead: More of the same.


I'm sending you good vibes from under the roar of an impending summer storm!

Comments

[luzula]

Replying at once so the post won't linger among the tabs this time! Aww, sorry about having to get up earlier than your body wants, and best of luck getting used to it.

I got off to a good start exercising yesterday, after getting rid of that sore throat. I'll be at the family summer place this week, with my parents and my sister and her two kids. My exercising today has been swimming in the lake. I'm going to try to do workouts with my sister, and also I'll do some physical work with chopping wood and the like.

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you for the good wishes! I appreciate the positive energy. :-)

YAY for getting rid of your sore throat and getting back to exercising. I hope you enjoy swimming, chopping wood, and working out with your family. That sounds like an excellent combination of break and work, so to speak. :-)

[oschun]

Yay for British spelling :)

It's interesting how connected a person's sleeping patterns are to weight gain. I listened to a Zoe podcast about it the other day. A lack of sleep impacts your insulin levels and your body's ability to process carbs in particular.

Using a measuring cup to avoid overeating is so sensible!

We're flying out to Switzerland on Thurs for a few days so I'll be doing a lot of walking. I think I've finally found a good pair of trainers (sneakers) that I can wear with my inserts. It's taken a lot of research and trawling through online reviews. The issue is that shoes which brand themselves as orthotic are often so ugly. Anyway, I found a pair that are both comfortable and cute.

I'm planning on reading bits of Frankenstein in situ in Geneva!! :D It's such a pity you can't go into the Villa Diodati because it's privately owned. It's where Byron, the Shelleys and Polidori came up with the idea for the ghost story challenge. I might just photograph myself at the gates.

[sylvanwitch]

Switzerland! That sounds AMAZING! Also, I am SUPER envious about going to Villa Diodati. I, too, am a tourist of the literary/historical geek variety, so I especially appreciate your energy here. I hope you have an absolutely fabulous time and that your stylish new shoes help your feet feel better while you're trekking about! *hugs*

💙💙💙

[oldtoadwoman]

Sympathies on the weight gain. I expect the combination of stress and lack of sleep are indeed the culprits. At least, the current theories on weight suggest that hormones play a much larger part than what we were taught when we were young.

I went to the gym today for the first time in ages! I didn't do very many repetitions because my stamina is pathetic, but I went and I worked out on four different machines. I need to wear headphones next time and see if music can motivate me to do more.

Re: 💙💙💙

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you for the thoughtful response. I appreciate the context because my weight is still higher than I can explain, but of course, I'm also still getting up earlier. I suppose it takes a while for the body to regulate. Here's hoping in September, when I'm back to my daily teaching schedule, my weight evens out eventually. For now, after this week is done, I still have three weeks of summer.

YAY for going to the gym--that's awesome! Go, you! Seriously, I know what it takes to re-establish a habit, so it's HUGE that you found the motivation to go. I hope that motivation carries you along!

Re: 💙💙💙

[oldtoadwoman]

It's so frustrating that there isn't an immediate cause and effect. I think my behavior would be much better if the universe instantly rewarded me for doing the right thing and punished me immediately for the bad decisions. But with weight, there is always this weird disconnect where I can do everything right and gain weight and then eat pure junk and lose weight the next morning. On average, of course, what I eat affects my weight, but because I don't always instantly see that reflected on the scales, it's so easy to convince myself that it doesn't matter.