Fitness Fellowship 2025: Check-in 43

[sylvanwitch]

Hello, Friends, and welcome back to another week of checking in on one another and offering cheers and commiseration where appropriate and/or necessary.

I hope everyone has had a good week!



Weight: 202.4, which is exactly 10 pounds lighter than on 1 September. Though I've reached my initial goal, I'm just going to keep going as I've been and see what happens. I'd love to break 200 and maybe lose a few more after that. We'll see.

Exercise: Yes: 4/4 yoga, 3/3 strength-training, with longer/more vigorous sessions for the latter, in particular, and some new instructors/material for the former. Walking every day. I had both a pneumonia vaccination and a tetanus shot on Thursday night, and boy, it did a number on me for most of the weekend. Still, we managed to fit in a three-mile hike at a new nature preserve, and it was really cool, so I'm glad I did it, though I went to bed at 8:00 on Saturday night and didn't get up until 7:00 the next morning! (Sunday, I was still a little fatigued but much better.)

Eating plan: I'm just tooling along eating mostly whole foods and some processed but healthier options. I'm definitely having less trouble with portion control and snacking, and I'm not struggling with hunger or urges. It's honestly a little unsettling, like a switch flipped in my Fat Girl(TM) brain, and suddenly I don't have urges? I mean, yes, I get hungry and have an appetite, so I don't think there's a worrying medical explanation for it. Maybe it's the One Good Thing to come out of menopause for me? I was hoping for clear skin, but I'll take this instead!

Meditation: Yes, at least twice, maybe three times (?)

Hydration: Yes!

Sleep: Mostly very good; I've been tired at night, and I'm finding the encroaching seasonal darkness makes me want to hibernate under the warm covers.

The week ahead: More of the same, minus the vaccine-related side effects, I hope.


May the week be a good one for you all!

Comments

[cornerofmadness]

well I didn't die in yoga so we're taking that as a win (pretty sure my students were taking bets)

[sylvanwitch]

Yay for not dying in yoga! I was glad to read that the chair was available to you in the new space. I hope that continues to be true.

[cornerofmadness]

It will be. We're meeting in our grand dining hall so there's that. I wish I was getting more out of it

[oschun]

Well done on the weight loss! I'm so glad you're not struggling with hunger pangs and eating urges. Maybe it's also because you're mainly eating wholefoods? Processed foods impact the brain and hormonal system in all sorts of weird ways.

I'm on half-term break this week. I've spent the last two days catching up with marking and grading at home, so I'm relieved that we're going away for a couple of nights. I need to clear my mind. In celebration of our one year wedding anniversary, we're going to the north coast and are hoping to do some autumnal walking.

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you so much, hon. I'm trying not to get ahead of myself, expecting to have the same progress all the time. I know these things can wax and wane. But I do like your idea that it might be the preponderance of wholefoods in my diet. I know I'm just not as hungry if I start the day with oatmeal or a sprouted grain bread with nut butter, for example. Those tend to stick to the ribs.

YAY for breaks and for autumn walks on the north shore--that sounds marvelous, and you SO deserve to just get away from the grading and all the rest and have some peaceful time in nature. Happy anniversary, my friend, and have a fantastic time! :-)

Done!

[ysabetwordsmith]

We had a friend visiting this past week, so we've been running around like crazy doing things. :D Soooo much walking!

Before that, we went to a flea market that turned out to be huge -- it filled the mall. <3

Yesterday I finished planting the current batch of fall bulbs.

Hopefully this weekend I'll have time to trim weeds off the daffodil and tulip beds so I can put down compost there. I have several bags that I can spread.

Re: Done!

[sylvanwitch]

Congratulations on all the walking and on planting bulbs, too! I did NOT get to any garden stuff this weekend, and I'm going to regret it when the weather turns cold and miserable. But I *did* get in a lot of walking both days!

Good luck with getting to your trimming, etc., and for any other garden endeavors you're undertaking this week.

Re: Done!

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Congratulations on all the walking and on planting bulbs, too!<<

It's a favorite fall activity.

>> I did NOT get to any garden stuff this weekend, and I'm going to regret it when the weather turns cold and miserable. But I *did* get in a lot of walking both days!<<

Walking is good. Maybe you can get to the garden later. I'm behind on mine due to chaotic and obnoxious weather. It was freaking 90s or upper 80s most of September. >_<

>>Good luck with getting to your trimming, etc., and for any other garden endeavors you're undertaking this week.<<

Yesterday I cleared the daffodil bed and spread two bags of composted manure there. Today I cleared the tulip bed (which is much bigger) and spread three bags on there. It's not quite finished, but one more bag should do it.

I'm basically into the fall cleanup phase, getting things ready for winter. We were supposed to have tree guys out to do a bunch of work, but their chipper broke. I really need that car-sized pile of shredded tree bits so I can spread it around the base of trees and over some of the flowerbeds. I ran out a couple years ago and buying by the bag is expensive which limits use, which allows weeds to grow, which makes more work... *sigh* But mulching is a job I can do on non-inclement days in winter.