Fitness Fellowship 2025: Check-in 41 (One Day Late Edition)

[sylvanwitch]

It's proper autumn hereabouts (finally!), and I'm so pleased that the air is cooler and the sleeping cozier. I do wish it weren't growing dark so much earlier, but that's the trade-off, I suppose. I hope wherever you are, the weather is conducive to giving you energy and making you feel alive. I so love the fall.

How was the past week for you, in terms of your fitness journey or in any other aspect? I hope it's been a good one for you and that you feel good about yourself as well.



Weight: 206.4, down .4 from last week, which is amazing because I was away for the long weekend (more below).

Exercise: I walked every day and did yoga and strength-training four times each. I took my yoga mat and weights with me on the trip and used them. I walked around the hotel room to get in extra steps on Saturday, after we'd spent a lot of time driving around and whatnot but not much time walking. I got quite a lot of walking in on Sunday, in particular, both in a wetlands wildlife management area and around my BFF's neighborhood. Even yesterday, which we spent on the road, I lifted weights in the hotel room before packing them up to head out.

Eating plan: I'm not sure where the resolve has come from, but I'm not questioning it too hard for fear of driving it away. I don't feel like I'm depriving myself, but I'm definitely saying no to snacks, sweet treats, second helpings, etc. I mean, I do sometimes have a snack or a treat, but in general, my meal choices are just consistently healthy, and I'm not overdoing the portion sizes, either. Even at the absolutely amazing Mexican restaurant we went to on Sunday evening, I ate far more thoughtfully (and slowly) than normal and just focused on the experience of the meal. I had tortilla chips and guacamole dip and a truly delicious veggie and rice bowl, and I was *stuffed* at the end after eating significantly less than I might have even a few months ago.

I had a narrow sliver of my BFF's birthday cake, which we'd bought for her and which I didn't want to say no to, but it was fine because we went for a long nighttime stroll to look at Halloween decorations in and around her neighborhood.

I actually *lost* weight on this trip! That's...simply unheard of. And I absolutely think it's because I've finally internalized how eating healthfully (and less) makes me feel better--no indigestion, heartburn, sluggishness, discomfort. Maybe it won't last. Maybe I'll hit a rough patch, stress-wise, and revert to earlier comfort-eating behavior. But right now, I just feel really good. I'm holding onto that feeling as long as I can.

Hydration: I fell off a bit with this over the weekend because we often weren't near a restroom, so I was being more careful about ingesting liquids. Now that I'm back home, though, I'm making sure I get enough water daily.

Sleep: I got some pretty good sleep, given how I usually struggle with anxiety issues around sleeping away from home, though I did stay up later at night than I would during an ordinary week at home.

Meditation: Yes! I did a meditation one evening in the hotel room, and I think it definitely contributed to me having no anxiety that night and not needing to take a melatonin gummy either!



Please take care and be well, my friends! Treat yourselves gently. :-)

Comments

[cornerofmadness]

I'm starting yoga tomorrow. I finally managed to bring it to my university

[aien_hime]

Same here, weather is finally full-blown fall with falling leaves and crispy mornings! I love it too!

[sylvanwitch]

It makes such a difference in my mood when the heat finally breaks! YAY for autumn leaves and crispy mornings!

[sylvanwitch]

Oh, awesome! Enjoy it! As a Fat Girl (TM), I appreciate that yoga can be adapted for my fitness level and size. There are some moves I just can't manage at all, but I'm able to find different ways to pose that do work. I hope you find it as rewarding as I have!

[cornerofmadness]

that is the nice thing about yoga. This was my first time since the accident. It went...badly

[sylvanwitch]

Oh, no! Well, it does take a lot of working up to, for sure. I hope the next session is a better one for you!

[cornerofmadness]

What I learned is I can do floor or I can do standing. What I can't do is flow between them. Maybe when we're moving to where I can have a handhold, I can at least get up and down (I can not longer feel that injured leg so I'm dangerously unstable in the transition)

[sylvanwitch]

I hope they're able to adapt something for you. I know there's straight-up floor and chair yoga, so maybe you could use a chair? Anyway, it makes perfect sense that you don't want to jeopardize yourself or risk injury to do yoga the way they have it set up now.

[cornerofmadness]

the plan is for me to use the chair to steady myself to the floor but if I can't do that then yes, use the chair for the yoga

Done!

[ysabetwordsmith]

Assbusting amounts of effort:

* Repairing a wire mesh screen panel outdoors, which required a lot of awkward contortions. It's a slovenly job, but I think it'll hold. Done is better than perfect.

* I hauled out the hose to water plants again.

* We've had several errand days and today was an events day, with lots of walking.

I've done a smaller amount of work planting things because it was so dry. But today we got a good soaking rain, so I'm well set up for the big order of bulbs that arrived yesterday. That'll be my next project. The next week is supposed to be cooler, which should help with my yardwork plans.

Oh, and if anyone is into healthy baking, the blueberry muffin recipe on the back of the Quaker Oats oat flour is really good. I made those last night. Today a friend of ours was selling dehydrated lemon powder; we bought a bag and I'm going to make more muffins to test that as a new baking ingredient.

[lenzes]

It sounds like you had a wonderful trip :) I am so happy for your continued success with your eating plan! And all of your other goals, too – you're doing great!


My arms feel better by now, but I didn't do any walking or push-ups this week because another health issue came up. I hope I can get back into exercising soon, though.

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you so much!

I'm so sorry to hear that another health issue has cropped up, and I do hope you heal quickly and well from it and are back to your routine. Do be gentle with yourself. I'm sending you good healing vibes!

Re: Done!

[sylvanwitch]

It sounds like you've been both very active and very productive! Go, you!

And thanks for the recipe--I do love muffins, especially as the weather cools.

We are just now getting a deluge, and I'm excited that it might mean I can break ground to plant bulbs myself this coming week. Fingers crossed! (Sometimes the weather around here turns nasty overnight.)

Re: Done!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> It sounds like you've been both very active and very productive! Go, you! <<

Thanks. \o/ Today I planted 7 tulips and 5 daffodils; I'm hoping to make another round of daffodils before dark. And I'm making butternut squash soup, so the house smells very fragrant.

>>And thanks for the recipe--I do love muffins, especially as the weather cools.<<

Then watch for the bag of oat flour, it's well worth a try.

>> We are just now getting a deluge, and I'm excited that it might mean I can break ground to plant bulbs myself this coming week. Fingers crossed! <<

I hope so! Bulbs are so much fun -- probably my favorite exercise in patience.

>> (Sometimes the weather around here turns nasty overnight.) <<

LOL yes, Illinois can do 2-3 seasons in a day. Yesterday it was summer, today it is fall. It went from around 75F to 55F overnight.