Fitness Fellowship 2026: Check-in Three

[sylvanwitch]

Greetings from the snowy north! We're in the middle of a winter storm that keeps oscillating north and south of the city. We're north, and sometimes we get snow from north of us and south of us, since we're located between two lakes. We had whiteout conditions at times this morning, got a big dumping of snow overnight last night, and the wind chills are down in the negative numbers. Yesterday and today were definitely indoor workout days, and I don't see that changing over the next couple of days more, but we'll see.

Some of us were discussing in the comments of last week's post where we go to walk when the weather is inclement. Do you have a favorite indoor space? Mine is the closest mall, which is about .8 miles per loop. It can be boring--we're quite familiar with it by now--but at least we can people-watch.

Feel free to ignore the question, but please do update us about how the past week has been for you in terms of fitness (or any other area of your life you'd like to share with us).



Weight: 194, down 1.6 from last week and officially the lowest weight I've registered since I began trying to lose weight on 1 September 2025. I have lost 18.6 pounds as of today. Onward!

Exercise: I did yoga four times out of four pledged, strength-training three times out of three pledged, and got steps and/or elliptical work in every day.

Eating plan: I'm finding that I don't feel like I'm "on a diet," for whatever value of that phrase you give it. I don't feel deprived or resentful, I do eat things I like, and I don't feel hungry very often. I know a lot of that has to do with my focus on plants-based, whole-foods eating, but some of it feels like an age-related sea change? I don't know how to explain it, but this time, out of all the dozens of times I've dieted in my 55 years of life, just feels different--sustainable, maybe? Anyway, I don't feel like I'm forcing anything. It just feels *good* most of the time. And the fact that I *am* seeing success when my default in difficult times is emotional eating...well, that's huge!

Hydration: Yes!

Meditation: Yes! (Two times of two times pledged)

Sleep: Mostly good? I've had a three-day weekend, and I had a snow day last week, and I'm expecting one for tomorrow, as well, and that all means my sleep pattern is somewhat disrupted. I did have one night when I couldn't shut my brain down for the longest time, but it didn't quite trip me over into anxiety loops, for which I am immensely grateful. I've been purposefully avoiding using melatonin because I don't want to develop a habit, but assuming we go back to school at all this week, I'll probably need it for the night before that return.

The week ahead: More of the same.



Here's hoping the week ahead is a good one for all of us, weather notwithstanding.

Comments

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Greetings from the snowy north! We're in the middle of a winter storm that keeps oscillating north and south of the city. <<

Yikes.

Here it was supposed to be single digits today, but has been in the twenties or teens. So it wasn't cold enough to defrost the deep freezer (we store the bags of food outdoors in the car). We have built a fire, so I've been trotting back and forth feeding that most of the day.

Saturday our regular craft show turned into a small farm show, which was great fun. We're tempted by a two-wheel tractor with numerous attachments, like a snowblower or bushwhacker. But the booth was unmanned. :/ We're not sure if the smaller ones have an electric start option, which is an issue because they're a lot easier to handle, but no good if we can't get them started with a pull-cord. *sigh*

>>Some of us were discussing in the comments of last week's post where we go to walk when the weather is inclement. Do you have a favorite indoor space?<<

The closest mall to us seems okay with walkers. Some aren't. Some have a sign or stripes showing routes of different lengths. They often have a food court and seats for resting. It's worth checking if you have any in reach. One mall I know includes a fitness center, which is becoming more common.

Big-box stores such as Sam's Club and Costco are large and rarely crowded outside of holiday season. Costco has an excellent eatery with a few healthy options -- we scored an excellent chicken sandwich last time. Big-box stores often have free food samples to try, which you can aim to hit or miss as you wish once you learn their schedule.

Here in the Midwest, we have lots of farm stores. These are also big and spacious, rarely crowded except for the peak in spring planting and fall harvest.

Some of our local thrift stores are quite large, and if you walk the whole area, it adds up.

Libraries can be large enough, especially a city or university library with accessible stacks. You may need a member card to reach some areas, or not, it varies. If you are quiet about walking around, people will think you are just taking a stretch break. It's a place where you should make long loops, not pace in one area, but many libraries are large enough to make it feasible. Also, most of the big ones have stairs if you're into that, which is not an option at very many malls or stores.

Museums near here are small ones, but in cities some are huge. If this is an option for you, consider an annual membership, which is often much cheaper than a day pass, and the free days are usually packed with people.

Some strip malls have big stores. While it's not all-indoors like a real mall, you can walk through one store, then duck into the next. Outlet malls are particularly good for this approach. Back when ours was functional, shopping the whole thing probably meant hiking for several miles.

Ideally, try to find multiple places where you can walk. For us, we're often doing it because the power is out or the heat / air conditioning is broken so we need to spend hours out of the house. Rotating options reduces boredom.

>>I'm finding that I don't feel like I'm "on a diet," for whatever value of that phrase you give it. I don't feel deprived or resentful, I do eat things I like, and I don't feel hungry very often. <<

Then it stands a good chance of success, as more of a foodway than a diet. The leading cause of dropping a diet is feeling hungry too much, followed by dissatisfaction with the foods or flavors. The most successful are the foodway diets, like the Mediterranean diet -- although I note that the African food pyramid is the only one I've seen with a base layer of dark leafy greens.

Today's cooking is an African recipe, but it's a stew -- Crockpot Xawaash Chicken Stew done with xawaash seasoning, chicken thighs, tomato paste, onion, potatoes, and butter beans. We have a large carton of cherry tomatoes so I want to throw in some of those. It comes out more curry texture.

Re: Thoughts

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you for all the excellent indoor walking suggestions. We do the local outlet mall and our local Sam's Club to get in steps when we can't be outdoors. It also helps that I have an elliptical and a recumbent bike indoors. I'd rather be outside, but if the weather's like it is today, indoors it is! ;-)

This year, we invested in a zoo membership, so we can walk there for "free" (we've already visited enough that it's paid for our membership, if you know what I mean) whenever the weather and time permits, and at least some animals are out in the snowy weather. Plus, the zoo clears its sidewalks and keeps them free of ice, as well, so that makes for an especially attractive outdoor option when we're not under a windchill and travel advisory, like we are at the moment.

Your recipe sounds fantastic (sans the chicken for me)! I've never heard of xawaash seasoning, but I'll look it up.

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Thank you for all the excellent indoor walking suggestions.<<

I'm happy I could help.

>>It also helps that I have an elliptical and a recumbent bike indoors. I'd rather be outside, but if the weather's like it is today, indoors it is!<<

Some folks put on nature videos for indoor exercise. It's better than staring at a wall.

>>This year, we invested in a zoo membership, so we can walk there for "free" <<

Awesome. :D

One of our best zoo days was in Chicago with a light snow. Most of the animals were hiding inside. The wolves were curled up asleep under a layer of snow. The Bengal tigers were playing in the snow. They loved it. The other cold-habitat critters were out too. \o/

>>Your recipe sounds fantastic (sans the chicken for me)! <<

As a general rule, almost all African recipes with meat have at least one meatless version, just because so many people there cannot afford meat. Often it's replaced with beans, pumpkin chunks, or African yam chunks, but you could try other options. This is a perfect recipe if you like hooking people into vegetarian or vegan food, because it is intensely aromatic and flavorful, but not spicy-hot. If you want it spicy, though, just drop in a Scotch bonnet pepper, a leading choice in African cuisine.

>>I've never heard of xawaash seasoning, but I'll look it up.<<

Here is the recipe for the spice mix. It's from In Bibi's Kitchen, an excellent African cookbook. It makes a mass quantity of the spice mix, but my recipe uses 3 tablespoons at a time to make ... maybe 5-6 servings.

[cornerofmadness]

Not really, at least not here. In my memory I had this amazing gym when I lived in Madison WI. It's nearly 30 years ago but I still think about the gym. More often than maybe I should.

[sylvanwitch]

My undergrad university's athletics building has a suspended, sprung track, and I always enjoyed that when I couldn't get outdoors. If I paid my alumni membership, I could use it for free, but it's a drive from where we live now, and I'm unmotivated. Lol! That's the closest I ever came to a gym membership--I played handball there, as well, if I recall. Ah, youth!

[cornerofmadness]

I do regret that Uni of Central Florida, where I trained after losing my surgical abilities got a fantastic new gym just as I was graduating. I'm sorry to miss that

[oschun]

Congratulations on the weight loss. That's fantastic. And I'm glad it's feeling easier and more sustainable.

I went to pilates last week but didn't manage to do any weight training. Everything else is ticking along :)

[sylvanwitch]

Thank you! Me, too. :-)

YAY for pilates! That's fantastic! I hope that things have smoothed out at work and that you're finding time for cooking good meals and enjoying eating them as well.

Big *hugs* to you!

[delphi]

Oh wow, I was wondering if you guys were getting all that weather I was hearing about!

Congratulations on the exercise despite the inclement weather, and I'm so glad the way you're currently eating is feeling good for you. <3

Living in the Pacific Northwest and not driving, my weather options for walking most of the year are either "Enh, it's fine if I wear something waterproof" or "Oh god, the rain is horizontal and the wind is hurling garbage cans at me - I'm not making it to any secondary location," with a week once every couple of years of "It snowed and no one knows they're supposed to clear their sidewalks, I'm staying inside until it melts." But I definitely have routes for rainy days that keep me out of the mud and under a certain amount of awnings.

My week:

Meals - 6/7 (stocked up on some breakfasts for the freezer to hopefully avoid another 'no breakfast so then no lunch' day)
Water - 7/7
Stretching - 7/7
Walking - 7/7
Fibre - 7/7
Sleep - 3/7 (but never more than an hour late to bed, which isn't too bad)

I am also noting to myself, so I remember, that having a high-fibre smoothie at breakfast really does cut down on cravings massively by keeping me full and keeping my blood sugar steady.

[sylvanwitch]

So, we've been getting lake effect for days, on and off, and now not only are we getting more of that, but we're expecting the big, bad storm that everyone else is supposed to be getting, at least this side of the Mississippi. We're in exam week, and we've already had one snow day, and the whole schedule has been thrown into disarray. This morning, I drove through an actual snow squall. Thankfully, I was going only 20mph when two deer gamboling in the road materialized out of the snow. They looked at me like they couldn't figure out what I was doing in their field. I was like, uh, guys, I hate to tell you, but...

Anyway, you have been doing SO WELL! YAY! I love that you've found a breakfast option that keeps you satisfied. My fallback lately is sprouted multigrain toast with peanut butter. I've noticed the last two mornings when I haven't felt like PB, I've gotten hungry a lot earlier in my day. I suspect my body is missing the fat and protein in the PB, so I'm going to have to force myself to get past whatever minor mental barrier I've erected against my usual morning meal. This is to say that I appreciate how a fiber-rich smoothie can keep you full much longer than something less fiber-iffic. ;-)

I like the way you've accounted for those 3/7 sleep nights, too. I have been struggling to get to bed on time, but it's been because I've been doing crosswords to settle myself in for sleep, and I always want to get just "one more clue." But, like you, it's rarely very MUCH past my usual sleep time, so it's definitely better than being up all hours.

I hope the week we're in is treating you gently, friend. :-)

[delphi]

Oh man, I'm so sorry about the weather. (Although I laughed out loud at "uh, guys, I hate to tell you, but...")

Peanut butter toast is definitely a classic in this house too. Sometimes with banana or apple sliced on top of it. I'm just bad at making sure I always have bread - I should pick up a loaf for the freezer.

And re: sleep, I figure that's one of those categories where better is still good even if it's not perfect. Staying up until 11:30's different from staying up until 1:00! That 'one more clue' or 'one more chapter' is a tough one to conquer, but reading or puzzling in bed is one of those cozy things that makes life worth living.

Crossing my fingers you can stay warm, comfortable, and safe throughout the big bad storm. <3