What are your health / fitness goals? Accountability

Since September 1st or so I’ve only missed about 10 classes in Jiu Jitsu, out of 130 or so possible. Not bad for an old fart. (Mid-life crisis perhaps) There’s something about it that just clicked with me. (I did do Judo for about 4 years but this is way more fun) This morning I rolled with my SIL who’s tough as $hi+. I tried using some OMS on him but dang! (Old Man Strength) Lol.

 

@Meat Wow! Your dedication and willingness to show up day after day is admirable especially since you have such early mornings! Not a lot of people have that level of discipline and resilience! Your hard work is definitely going to pay off! Keep it up!

 

Is my "massive to-do-list" real? Or am I just procrastinating? I have a total body + abs workout to do today.

Yesterday was a rest day and it was perfect timing because I woke up with a stiff neck. Thankfully, a little restorative yoga before bed last night seemed to do the trick. It has honestly been awhile since I've had an actual yoga practice. I've been practicing inversions and certain exercises to measure my progress, but with the strength training I'm doing, I think it's time to add in more dynamic stretching.

I just got back from my morning walk and as soon as I post this, I'll do my workout. House cleaning and other excuses can wait

What are you up to on this fine Friday? Hope you will all have a wonderful weekend!
On another note, my "new" cheap phone somehow got a tiny crack right across the camera lens so it's giving me some cool special effects. Lol. Also, I need to add a ton of soil to the palm trees. I think that the person who planted over 100 palm trees did it when the trees were tiny. Now they're skyscrapers

 

Happy Sunday! I made it through 5 / 65 workouts this week and I feel really good. Adding more veggies, seeds, and more sleep is really helping. We got a pull-up bar from a moving sale on Friday and I've been trying to pull myself up. I've NEVER been able to do an unassisted pull-up in my life and I admire people who can.

Right now, I can sort of do negatives by using a little hop to help me reach the top, then lowering myself slowly. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

 

Aloha Everyone! I'm still here. I've been doing a lot of home improvement projects like torching weeds, clearing out retainer walls, landscaping, and interior and exterior painting. I've been grasping my tools very tightly from the hoe (LOL), torch, paintbrushes, and dumbbells and I think my carpal tunnel symptoms are starting to come back a little. This has inspired me to do more hand, wrist, and arm stretches.

The workouts are still happening. Yesterday was an upper body workout and today will be cardio and core. Yesterday, I decided that I would restart a 7 week handstand program that I attempted in January. I made it to the 5th session and then fell off.

I felt really good about my level of activity yesterday. I did an hour session for handstands, about 2 hours of yardwork midday, 38 minutes of weights, then ended my day with 50 minutes of yoga.

How are you moving?

 

@Alanaana congrats on keeping going, sometimes the hardest part is just getting started!

I'm still walking/running every morning. It's getting better with the nice weather in the mornings lately (mid 60'sF). I have about 4 days to go to meet my goal of 30 days of 10k steps per day. I tried this once before but stopped after 2 weeks when I was just too exhausted to move. I pushed through that this time, feeling better every day. I do find that I'm ready for bed earlier in the evening, and I listen to my body and go to bed. I find if I try to stay up until my 'normal' bed time, I am really tired the next day.

 

@kckndrgn thank you! It feels good to show up even on the days when I really don't feel like it. There were so many times in the past when I got discouraged and stopped showing up so this feels like major progress.

It's so exciting that you're just a few days away from your 30 day step goal! That's a major accomplishment and I think it's a good sign that you're sleepy by the end of the day! My sleep is improving even without sleep aid so I'm thrilled about that because I usually struggle with insomnia.

Let's keep this up!

 

Aloha! Yesterday was a a quick 30 minute leg workout and I felt very strong. We got a pull up bar and I started attempting to pull myself up. I have never been able to do it before, but I discovered that if I hop to the top, I can sort of do negatives so I'll keep practicing.

My 1st ever attempt:


I decided to rest from handstands yesterday, but will hopefully pick it up again today. I finally cleared out he retaining wall by the house. It has bothered me ever since I bought the property because it was full of invasive plants. I thought I would need to use the chainsaw, but the loppers I scored at a garage sale did the trick!

Before by Alanaana posted May 11, 2023 at 9:38

After! by Alanaana posted May 11, 2023 at 9:40

So much room for activities and now it will be much easier to paint this house!

 

Is it worth it? Yup. Lol.

 

@Meat ouch! But also way to go. This looks like a badge of honor to me. What's the story?

 

Ugh! I wished my mom a happy Mother's Day and she tried to make demands, was disrespectful, and basically verbally attacked me because I tried to enforce healthy boundaries that I set and she's not used to me standing up for myself. I was always the rock and the person that my family blamed and I took it for most of my life... The sad truth is that my life is more peaceful when I love them from a distance. These interactions reminded me why I have to love her from a distance. It hurts because I feel like it's a waste of time that could be spent making happy memories, but I have to do this for self preservation. The crushing part is that I thought we made progress with our relationship, but it may not happen because she's nearly 70. I hate drama and even though it wasn't a face to face interaction, it kind of threw me into depression. I felt sick and drained today and it bothered me that a person could have such an effect on me.

I thought I would take the day off from working out, but I managed to do my 11th workout and it was a boot camp style workout. Just 55 more to go in this program! Sometimes a midnight workout IS the answer!

I feel like overall, I'm pretty strong and I'm growing as a person, but I want to be more resilient. It's necessary for survival.

I hope you are all doing well. I'm keeping you in my thoughts and prayers.

 

I am sorry to hear of your trials over Mother's Day. I can understand some of what you are dealing with. With me it was my father. Still dealing with issues from that relationship, even after his death.

 

@Alanaana sorry to hear about the problems with the family, but I can relate with my family (probably why I moved from MN to TN LOL).
One more day to reach my 30 day step goal of 10k per day. Still have about 800 steps for today, but I'll get that done before lunch! I did manage a 10k run in on Saturday, followed by a 10k walk on Sunday.

Last Friday I had an annual checkup with my endocrinologist. During the visit I asked if I could get a CGM so I can better track my metabolic health, I wasn't sure what to expect. After the triage by the nurse when the Dr came, to my surprise she put a trial box of the cgm on the table and said she would write a 6 month script for it. Cool, started using it Friday afternoon and it's been interesting to see how my blood sugar changes throughout the day.
With the change in my diet, exercising and weight loss it really has changed how much I can alcohol I can drink. With the CGM I think I also found out why I crave food when drinking. My blood sugar drops like a rock when I consume alcohol. Friday night we were watching a movie and I had my drink, next thing I know my phone is beeping at me. BS dropped below 70. I felt fine (well, at least buzzed a bit), but I was starting to get the munchies just before the alarm.
It's been interesting to check my BS every 30 min after eating for 2 hours. I'm going to be checking my levels after I eat different foods to see how they effect my BS.

 

@Jaybird thank you for your kind words and for understanding. It is challenging to navigate through family relationships and they can really affect us so deeply. I'm sorry that you have dealt with issues with your father. I really hope that you will continue the path of healing and find peace. Thanks again. I was a little worried that I was oversharing here, but I felt so much better after acknowledging it and I think that processing these kinds of emotions are important for survival.

 

@kckndrgn CONGRATULATIONS! I'm cheering for you right now because I have a feeling that you have reached your 30 day step goal! I admire your dedication and determination to live a healthy life and I know that all of these steps you are taking are paying off. I'm blown away by your step stats too! Thank you for sharing them. Look at that Distance and ALL those steps!

I'm so glad that your medical team is so supportive and gave you access to a CGM this sounds like such useful information to have throughout the day. I'm very fascinated by the way that different foods and drinks affect our BS. It makes sense because I definitely have more cravings when I have alcohol. Speaking of which, I had a carefully measured shot of vodka over the weekend while we were watching the show Barry (it's kind of sad that it's gone a little downhill, but still funny). I used to get serious munchies, but this weekend they weren't as bad, but I could tell that I wanted a little more. Thank you so much for sharing.

Also, thanks for understanding the family things. You moved far from home! TN looks beautiful and has my favorite rest stop. LOL When we sold our first house, we drove from my hometown in WA to Jacksonville, FL and then North until we got to Portland, ME. I didn't see a lot of TN, but at that rest stop, I think it was by a river and it was the first time I had ever seen lightening bugs and it was so enchanting. I'll never forget it. I wanted to explore the area more, but we had many more miles to go. After that we found a really good steakhouse. It was a good night and a super long road trip with 2 cats

 

I feel so much better today! Thank you for listening and being so encouraging! Today was a cardio / core workout. I appreciate the fact that most of these workouts are 30 - 45 minutes long. Even on days when I'm feeling unmotivated, I can usually talk myself into it. Last night was very difficult, but I felt so much better after the workout (just knowing that I did it even though I really didn't want to) and today it felt like a win.

I hope you'll continue to share your challenges and wins. This is your place to brag and vent and no win is too small. Getting out of bed counts. Getting sleep counts. Thank you for helping me stay accountable!

 

This week I stopped measuring, weighing, and tracking every single bit of food and I started losing weight again. Isn't it funny how that works?
I feel so much better too. My legs are sore from yesterday's leg workout and today was a rest day. I hula hooped, stretched, and mowed the lawn, then practiced bellydancing this evening. I've had a few emotionally draining days, but my immediate life is good and I physically feel wonderful. I'm so thankful for these breakthroughs! Hope you are all doing well!

 

My bedroom door frame seems compromised so I moved the pull up bar to the front door and it seems to be holding.

I can't do it from a dead hang yet, but I feel like my negatives are getting a little stronger!

 

I walked for over a mile this morning while I drank my coffee. It's 80 degrees and even though I mowed the day before yesterday, it's time to mow again. Yesterday I did a nice total body workout with light weights. It looks like today is going to be a 30 minute cardio and arms day.
We got invited to my neighbor's "Beer Olympics Going away party." It was nice to get invited, but I rarely (never) ever go to parties because I'm still stuck on worrying about getting sick. I went to her divorce party 2 years ago when we were all vaccinated. Has that happened to any of you? It's almost built into me to continue to socially distance because I have friends who are still wrestling with long Covid and it sounds pretty awful. I feel bad about being anti-social, but I also really value my health.

 

I haven’t heard of anyone getting covid in a long time!