Fitness Fellowship 2025: Check-in 39

[sylvanwitch]

We've made it another week, my friends, and I'm hoping it's been a good one for you.

Please feel free to share as much or as little of your fitness journey as you'd like. You know we're not the judging sort around these parts. :-)



Weight: 207.6, down another pound from last week. I've lost 4.8 pounds in September.

Exercise: I did yoga four of four times pledged, strength-training three of three times pledged, and walked every day. Sunday was another heavy yardwork day, too.

Eating plan: I've been good. Even when I have a meal that's not entirely healthy, I'm careful about how much I eat and when I eat it. Mostly, though, I'm rocking the veggies. I roasted broccoli, two kinds of potatoes, and butternut squash yesterday and then sauteed onions and bell peppers in one pan and mushrooms in another. I have lots of healthy choices for meals this week! :-)

Meditation: Yes! Twice or three times, I believe.

Hydration: Yes! So much water.

Sleep: This is one area I've been less-than-good about. I've been staying up a little later to read, and that's definitely having an affect on my energy levels. I *cannot* let this become a habit, or I'll be too tired to function properly.

The week head: Get to bed on time! Otherwise, keep on with what I've been doing.



May the week ahead be a good one, giving you what you most need to be happy and healthy!

Comments

[oschun]

Congratulations on the continued weight loss. What a great start to your journey.

I've been making a homemade bean and vegetable soup at the weekend and having that for lunch during the week. It takes the hassle out of lunch. I have a good thermos flask that keeps the soup piping hot until lunchtime so everything is quick and convenient. I'm happy to eat the same thing at lunchtime Mon-Fri because I use different beans and combinations of vegetables and herbs and spices. I don't eat bread with it and I feel like my sugar/energy levels are more stable. And my stomach feels happy :)

Exercise was bad last week because of late days and the relentlessness of the job. Two teachers who have been at my school for years have suddenly resigned. We are only 4 weeks into the new academic year! WTF is that about?! A young teacher in my dept is thinking of leaving the profession entirely, and she's only three years into teaching. She says she's exhausted all the time. Honestly, it's ridiculous. I remember when this job used to be fun.

[delphi]

Congratulations! That sounds like a great week, sleep aside, but good on you for noticing that bedtime creep and nipping it in the bud.

I had the week off, and while life stress over a few things was making things more difficult, the extra time was helpful for getting back on track. I hit my goals on everything except sleep, and I've likewise been enjoying the early autumn produce. I made some really good roasted cauliflower, and I'm rejoicing in new apples!

[sylvanwitch]

My apologies for the very delayed response. This week has been hellish, and I am super stoked that it's Saturday.

Your soup sounds delicious, and I love the idea of making and bringing your own. I have a plug-in hotpot that I use at school. I take the cold soup in it and then it's hot by lunchtime. But, I usually use an organic, all-natural brand of canned soup, which is both more expensive and fuller of sodium than what you make at home, I'm sure. I have tried my hand at soups a couple of times and seem to be unable to season them enough that they taste like anything other than mildly salted dishwater. *sighs* I envy your Soup Fu. :-)

I used the words "relentlessly exhausting" only yesterday to a fellow veteran teacher who noted that those were the perfect words for how he was feeling, too. It feels very much like we just get more and more piled on and less and less time in which to do it all. I'm not sure how we're expected to just carry on. For me, I have a very strict no-work-at-home rule, but this past week that's meant staying late every day to catch up on grading because my "prep" periods are consumed by all sorts of other responsibilities.

Sorry, I just made that all about me. I guess I intended to say that I absolutely relate and agree with how you're feeling. (I know some of our newest teachers spent more than one prep period crying in their department head's classroom last year, and at least one of those folks didn't come back this year.)

Big, big *HUGS* to you, and I do hope things get better for us both.

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you so much! And my apologies for the delayed response. It has been A Week. I am very relieved it's Saturday.

Congratulations in return for your week of getting back into good habits! Your food choices sound amazing, and I hope the autumn produce continues to make you happy (and full)! I picked up a half-peck of Honey Crisp apples at a fall festival last Saturday and have been enjoying them plain and in the baked oatmeal I made this morning. SO good!

I hope the return to work doesn't unsettle your routine too much. I am sending you all the good vibes I can spare, my friend!

[lenzes]

You're really killing it with all your goals! Congratulations! I am so happy for you that you found a routine that's working so well for you. And I totally get that it's tempting to read *just* a few more pages before going to sleep :)

Goal 1 – walking: I walked twice last week.

Goal 2 – push-ups: One less incline push-up than the week before. I don't know why, but my arms aren't happy with the push-ups. I'm taking it easy right now as a precaution.

[oschun]

I know exactly what you mean about soup. Salty dishwater is right. Or brown sludge when it's a bean soup.

What I've found is that it's worth slow cooking a base of finely diced veg (onions, celery, carrots, sweet peppers, garlic etc.) in olive oil for at least 30mins before adding stock and other things. Or roasting the vegetables first in olive oil and herbs and then blending them. For depth of flavour, things like miso paste, marmite, mushroom paste, vegan Worcestershire sauce etc add an umami character profile. It's about layering I think.

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you so much! I hope I can keep the momentum going!

And GO YOU for walking twice and for respecting your body when it's telling you to take it easier. I have had instances in the past when I ignored pain and/or fatigue in a muscle or tendon or whatnot, and it always turned out worse than it would have been if I hadn't.

I do hope your body feels better soonest and that the week to come is a good one for you! :-)

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you for the great tips for making more flavorful soup. I will definitely give it another go if it ever gets out of summer temperatures here. (We are having very unseasonable heat and my county is under a "burn ban" because it's been dry for so long too. Very bad. Very, very bad. *sighs*)