Health and wellness check in week of 11/27

[fluffycookie]

Sorry - I am a day late.  Work has been nuts yesterday and today.  I have been trying to make some healthy swaps - egg beaters instead of whole eggs, turkey/chicken sausage. I have realized how bad I am about eating breakfast so I got some protein shakes and fairlife nutrition to stick in the fridge to grab in the morning if I don't feel like or have time to make something.  Other than that I have been doing some 10 minute yoga workouts from peloton and trying to go to bed earlier than normal.  Hoping to ramp my activity up next week.

[7costanza]

I bought a cheap rowing machine on Amazon and it should be here on Thursday. My H has a stationary bike I hate using, so I'm hoping the rowing machine will be enjoyable since it’s a full body workout. I really want to increase both my strength and endurance/stamina.

[fernweh]

I ordered a Teeter Fitform on Black Friday. The intent is to take it to our cottage. I have been doing well with workouts at home because I have classes I sign up for. When we are at the cottage there is no gym or anything for me to work out. I can’t run as it’s too high impact so I’m hoping this will help me get a workout in while there.

I downloaded the Lose It app with the intent of logging food. It occurred to me that I “feel” like I’m eating healthy but I’m not tracking anything. Hopefully this will help me be more aware of what is going in my mouth.

[calamity]

I am trying to walk more, or get some form of exercise or movement for 30 minutes daily.

I've also made a list of self care items that I think would overall help my health if I can get into a routine. One step at a time.

[emilyinchile]

I set a goal at the beginning of this month of working out 15 days. Despite having gotten sick and taking 5 days off in addition to having family visitors all month, I'm on track to do it. This required working out at 10:30 last night even though the night before I'd barely slept, and I'm really proud of my commitment. It's a long way from my pre-pandemic, pre-baby, pre-current job norm of 5-6 days a week, but once I finally realized that I wasn't that person in that stage of life anymore I was able to set new goals that I'm actually meeting!

Let's not discuss my alleged desire to recommit to healthy eating because I just finished a delicious, giant cookie. Again, see: family visitors, and today is FI's birthday, so getting serious about eating to feel good starts tomorrow

[cuadrado]

I've started spending some time (usually 30-40 min) walking on the treadmill while I'm working. It's been great for my ADHD and anxiety.

[1confused1]

I’m setting a goal to walk Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays after work and do some weight lifting at home.

I work most weekends and walk over 5 miles each day so I am hoping with the combination of this I will drop some weight. I was just put on an additional blood pressure medication so this is helping me with my motivation.

[wanderlustmom]

I get my blood drawn in February or March and I am hoping my dietary changes will get my cholesterol to a level I won't need medicine. I'm perimenopausal with a thyroid disorder and I learned both perimenopause and thyroid medicine can increase it. Also there is a strong family history of cholesterol.

I lowered it 20 points already and I need to lower it further. I was already really active so I didn't have to change that. I eat egg beaters with one egg a lot, order egg white omelets when we are out for breakfast, have replaced a lot of our home cooking meat with chicken or turkey, I have lowered my cheese consumption by a lot. Most days I enter in MFP so I can see my macros. I watch saturated fat and it's in so so many things. I still want to enjoy my food so I'm working with a dietitian on gentle nutrition changes. I've tried to eat more fish each week and lots of olive oil and nuts. I also make sure most grains are whole wheat. I feel better eating this way and now some of the processed things I used to love don't taste as good. I know a lot of it is reminding myself I don't need to take away anything--just accent healthier choices.

[sadlebred]

There goes that. I get to have heart surgery...again....sometime in early 2023.

[minzy]

sadlebred 😣 You cannot catch a break! I’m sorry to see this but hopefully it will help.

[gerberdaisy]

Hit 6 months at the gym this week. This morning was bench, and sets of 15, my arms are jello as I'm typing this lol.

My eating is crap though. Working at home has just killed my diet (for the last 3.5 years). I used to prep everything beforehand to bring to work, which made everything easier. Now the fridge and pantry as just always available and its awful.

You'd think in the last three years I would have figured this out, but I'm realizing there are lots of aspect of working at home that I'm just not good at.

[mrsukyankee]

I'm taking pressure off myself to eat in the most healthy way during this month. I know that it's going to be party filled, lots more alcohol than usual and fattier foods. And that's okay. I just need to remind myself to get back on track and to eat healthy when I can (like this morning's Greek yogurt with seeds and nuts). I'm trying to get in movement of some sort every day, though, again, being kind to myself when it doesn't happen.

gerberdaisy, I'm with you on the eating at home thing. I'm trying to plan better for staying at home now.

[campermom]

sadlebred ❤️

[wanderlustmom]

sadlebred, thinking of you!

[devonpow]

I’m seeing a functional nutritionist to help with peri menopause symptoms (tiredness, migraines, weight gain around my middle etc). It’s a 6 month program so we are starting off slow. I already exercise every day and eat fairly well but she is having me focus on making sure I eat every 3-4 hours, that I eat 20-35 mg of protein and 20-30 mg of carbs at least 3 times a day. Lots of focus on balanced meals and snacks (carbs, protein, and fat each time I eat).

It’s interesting because so much of this advice goes against the diet culture I grew up with, but I’m trying lol. Thanksgiving was tough because we were traveling so I didn’t have as much control over things, but I’m in the swing of things this week.

[livinitup]

I am a volunteer at the local dog rescue, so I got a terrific walk in today. A beautiful chow who just loved walking, so I took an extra long time outside with him. And it was cold!

I am a good lunch packer and I was feeling generous so I made my H a salad when I made mine. My best healthy habit is to have healthy groceries in the house to make something colorful to eat.

[scm1011]

sadlebred , I'm so sorry. I know you were just getting back in the groove with your racing and riding and it must be really frustrating to face another setback.

[scm1011]

My new years fitness goal for many years has been to start a strength routine and I never follow through. I'm a runner and I love running so that's always what I default to. On Sept 1st I finally joined a gym with strength classes and have gone religiously for 1-2 classes a week since, never missing a week. I've found I really really like them and I'm proud of myself for sticking with it. I feel strong and fit and better in my clothes (and its positively affecting my running to boot!).

[litebright]

I have really been feeling good this week. I ran/walked a 5K turkey trot on Thanksgiving with family, which I haven't done in awhile. It's been hitting me that I'm probably in the best shape of my life, because even when I was thinner, I didn't exercise that much and I ate way worse (which I could get away with in my 20s!). Since I really started working on exercising more, my resting heart rate has dropped dramatically, and I'm also super close to hitting the (very reasonable) goal weight I set for myself.

Now that I'm in a good routine for the major things I wanted to address, I'm starting to think about some of the smaller things I'd like to be doing six months from now (have a regular bedtime that I stick to, spending less time on the internet, working on muscles/exercises to improve my posture). Those were not my first or even second priorities, so it feels significant to have the headspace to start thinking about focusing on them, because it means I've made a lot of progress.

I'm more or less content with where I am, I feel good about myself and I don't feel guilty about what I'm not doing or should be doing, and I don't feel like I'm obsessing or restricting myself in terms of food. I'm drinking very little alcohol and don't feel very good when I do--and also, my immune system is SO much better, like noticeably better, than when I was drinking regularly. So it's getting easier and easier to not drink because I feel crappy afterwards, especially if I have more than one drink or more than one day in a row.

I also started journaling this week, which I haven't done in years. I didn't realize how much I'd missed having a place to get my thoughts out.

[sadlebred]

Thanks everyone! I will know more later this weekend when I meet with my surgeon. Thankfully, he's amazing (same guy that did the original surgery). He's a pioneer with my type of surgery. I've already talked to my sports cardiologist. The good news is that I'm healthy and actually a lot fitter than I was in 2020 when I was under heavy exercise restrictions.

[sometimesrunner]

I’ve finally gotten into a consistent lifting groove where I’m lifting 4 days per week and I feel fantastic! It’s crazy how much stronger I’ve gotten over the past two months. My goal for tomorrow is to start walking again during the work day.

[Susie]

Today my eyelid was twitching which is a sure sign of stress.  I told H I needed a treadmill run when I got home, top priority, and I did it.  I know I will sleep better tonight as a result.  I am trying really hard to get better at paying attention to, and respecting the signs that I'm at/past capacity.

[mrsukyankee]

devonpow, are you also using HRT? I will say that it was the best thing I ever did. I know a lot of US docs are against it (which goes against recent studies).

Hugs, sadlebred.

[devonpow]

Nov 30, 2023 3:08:53 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

devonpow, are you also using HRT? I will say that it was the best thing I ever did. I know a lot of US docs are against it (which goes against recent studies).

Hugs, sadlebred.

not yet. I did hormone testing and we go over the results at our next session. I’m still on the pill, so need to talk to my gyn about it. I’m definitely not averse to the idea!

[mrsukyankee]

Nov 30, 2023 6:48:49 GMT -5 devonpow said:

Nov 30, 2023 3:08:53 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

devonpow , are you also using HRT? I will say that it was the best thing I ever did. I know a lot of US docs are against it (which goes against recent studies).

Hugs, sadlebred .

not yet. I did hormone testing and we go over the results at our next session. I’m still on the pill, so need to talk to my gyn about it. I’m definitely not averse to the idea!

The only thing to note is that you can't tell if you are in peri by testing. So if they say you aren't in peri due to hormone testing, push back.