Fitness Fellowship 2026: Check-in 10
Mar. 9th, 2026 04:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sylvanwitchWe've just had the time change, putting the clocks ahead an hour, and I'm doing better than I usually am with time changes, largely because I took a melatonin and made myself go to sleep on time. I woke up with some anxiety this morning, just a vague and general sense of unease, and I'm pretty sure it was caused by how dark it was thanks to the time change. I'm fine now.
All of this is to say that it's difficult enough for us to adhere to our routines without arbitrary policies adding further stressors.
Anyway, how has your week gone? Please do share your ups (yay!) and downs (boo!), if you're so inclined.
Weight: 194, up 1.4 from last week. *sighs* I had hoped it wouldn't be quite so high, but that's actually a significant drop from Sunday morning's weight. See below, re: food choices.
Exercise: I did yoga 4/4, strength-training 3/3, and walked every day. We got in two longish walks on Saturday, and I took a two-mile brisk walk yesterday.
Eating plan: Last week was stressful at work, and I was tired pretty much constantly, which led to more processed meal choices than I'd have liked, but the real deal-breaker was Saturday, when we had a rather large breakfast, a very late lunch out, and then for (an also late) dinner had vegan pizza and a big salad and Girl Scouts Thin Mints. (I ordered them from a colleague's daughter in a moment of supreme weakness when the distant March delivery date seemed impossibly far and I could delude myself into believing I wasn't going to hoover them down.) To be fair to me, I only had HALF a sleeve (that's eight smallish cookies), when in the past I'd absolutely horse down an entire sleeve in one sitting, but with all the other eating we'd done and even with all the walking we'd gotten in, well...serious gain.
Meditation: Yes!
Hydration: Yes!
Sleep: I've done the best I can on a week in which we had a full moon.
The week ahead: I sauteed a big pan of mushrooms, onions, peppers, roasted corn, and chiles yesterday and had some of that mixture with a big salad last night. Tonight, I'm planning brown rice and beans and veg. I'm bringing veg and hummus and fruit for lunches and generally trying to return to the more whole-foods-heavy habits I've been letting slip over the past few weeks of SAD-related struggle.
We'll all get through this together, friends. That's the thought I'm leaving you with this week.
All of this is to say that it's difficult enough for us to adhere to our routines without arbitrary policies adding further stressors.
Anyway, how has your week gone? Please do share your ups (yay!) and downs (boo!), if you're so inclined.
Weight: 194, up 1.4 from last week. *sighs* I had hoped it wouldn't be quite so high, but that's actually a significant drop from Sunday morning's weight. See below, re: food choices.
Exercise: I did yoga 4/4, strength-training 3/3, and walked every day. We got in two longish walks on Saturday, and I took a two-mile brisk walk yesterday.
Eating plan: Last week was stressful at work, and I was tired pretty much constantly, which led to more processed meal choices than I'd have liked, but the real deal-breaker was Saturday, when we had a rather large breakfast, a very late lunch out, and then for (an also late) dinner had vegan pizza and a big salad and Girl Scouts Thin Mints. (I ordered them from a colleague's daughter in a moment of supreme weakness when the distant March delivery date seemed impossibly far and I could delude myself into believing I wasn't going to hoover them down.) To be fair to me, I only had HALF a sleeve (that's eight smallish cookies), when in the past I'd absolutely horse down an entire sleeve in one sitting, but with all the other eating we'd done and even with all the walking we'd gotten in, well...serious gain.
Meditation: Yes!
Hydration: Yes!
Sleep: I've done the best I can on a week in which we had a full moon.
The week ahead: I sauteed a big pan of mushrooms, onions, peppers, roasted corn, and chiles yesterday and had some of that mixture with a big salad last night. Tonight, I'm planning brown rice and beans and veg. I'm bringing veg and hummus and fruit for lunches and generally trying to return to the more whole-foods-heavy habits I've been letting slip over the past few weeks of SAD-related struggle.
We'll all get through this together, friends. That's the thought I'm leaving you with this week.
(no subject)
Date: Monday, 9 March 2026 10:56 pm (UTC)What do you do for strength training? All my exercise is cardio.
I exercised six times last week: 5x on my exercise machine (roughly alternating between the "hill climb" setting and the "weight loss" setting, depending on how much time I had available), and 1x walk.
What I'm currently grappling with is supper. I used to have protein (tinned fish) for breakfast, and high-fibre, non-sugary cereal for supper. For the last year or so, I've switched to cereal for breakfast and either no supper or random non-sugary thing. I feel like I sleep better if I eat some protein or carbs before bed (otherwise I wake up hungry in the early hours), but it's also kind of an unnecessary meal given how much I eat generally. Idk whether to try to cut back daytime eating to compensate for regularly having supper, so I can sleep better, or to try to persuade my body to adjust to not eating before bed, and just weather the transition phase.
(I'm kind of annoyed by all this. I thought cutting out bakery treats would be enough to get me on a downward weight trajectory (given how many bakery treats I used to eat ;-p), and then my knees would automatically come right. But I've been pretty restrained for several months now (a few hot cross buns notwithstanding) and I'm pretty much plateaued. Boo!)
*hugs*
(no subject)
Date: Tuesday, 10 March 2026 09:47 pm (UTC)I lift 5-pound weights most of the time and do about a ten-exercise, ten-minute regimen. I try to make sure I'm working the biceps, triceps, and deltoids. Sometimes, I'll use video workouts through FitOn, and sometimes I'll use lighter weights for more kinetic workouts, like lifting while doing cardio moves (sort of like gym bros meet old-school aerobics). Once in a very great while, I'll use 8-pound weights, and then those are slower and fewer reps but, again, for about 10 minutes (sometimes shorter sessions, sometimes longer). I'm very much a does-what-she-feels-like kind of lifter, but my general weekly goal is 30 minutes or more.
And boy, do I understand your frustration with plateaus. It absolutely feels unjust that you gave up your favorite things and haven't seen a change. I wish I knew why that was. What I can offer is that I sometimes eat popcorn in the evening if I'm still feeling peckish because I *will* wake up hungry in the middle of the night. Popcorn seems to fill me up--it's got fiber and it tastes good, and I don't need to eat a lot of it to feel full. Plus, it's relatively healthy. Also, for me, in general, if I have some good fat (i.e. nut butter, olive oil, avocado, nuts, etc.) and fiber during the day (whole grains and veggies, mostly), that usually helps me to feel satisfied longer and later.
All of that said, the metabolism is so individual that what works for one person may not work for another.
I'm sorry this is a struggle for you, and I hope you're able to find a way to get past the plateau. I'm so impressed with your workout regimen, and you absolutely should be feeling better for all the hard work you're doing!
Thoughts
Date: Tuesday, 10 March 2026 12:26 am (UTC)I love mushrooms. My favorite loose-meat recipe is equal amounts diced mushrooms, diced onions, and ground beef. Both the flavor and the texture are enormously better than pure meat, plus it's more nutritious.
Today: I set up my gold curly willow cuttings, plus cuttings that I took from a couple other trees. I cracked open some peach pits to cold-stratify in the fridge -- surprisingly easier than I expected. I made an attempt with an ax at cutting down a sapling. I came nowhere near felling it but did make more progress than my earlier attempt with a pruning saw. I transplanted some snowdrops.
Sunday: I potted up more fruit tree sprouts outdoors, and a tray of various squash seeds indoors.
Saturday: A good deal of walking as we went to the Half Moon spring open house and a farm show at the mall, plus errands.
Friday: I walked around the yard taking pictures; see the House Yard and the Savanna. So much is blooming now!
I also transplanted snowdrops, did some brush trimming, and attempted use a pruning saw on a sapling with very minimal results.
Thursday: Rain.
Wednesday: Rain. I potted up some fruit tree seedlings indoors, through.
Tuesday: Rain.
Looking ahead: Wednesday will be errands and shopping. Friday is a Home and Garden Show; Saturday is a Middlefork Market flea market. Lots of walking ahead.
Re: Thoughts
Date: Tuesday, 10 March 2026 09:49 pm (UTC)You have been getting so much done around the place! That's awesome! We're underwater here in most of the backyard, and we still have snow melting off the front garden. And we're getting snow again later in the week, alas. But the robins and red-winged blackbirds are back, and it's lovely to hear them all singing in the mornings.
Anyway, enjoy all those good walking-related activities! I love a good flea market, in particular!
Re: Thoughts
Date: Wednesday, 11 March 2026 05:39 am (UTC)That is so awesome.
(in butter, back in those days, RIP my youthful metabolism--and obviously, I wasn't yet vegan, lol!)
Red palm oil is plant-based, vivid orange, and a strong flavor enhancer. A spoon of that in a skillet, dump in some mushrooms, and sprinkle with garam masala. <3
>> You have been getting so much done around the place! <<
:D I am pleased with progress. Today was 79F :/ so I took my indoor fruit sprouts out to get some sun and air, then brought them back in the evening. Mostly just brush trimming because it was so windy. My first daffodil is blooming!
>>We're underwater here in most of the backyard, and we still have snow melting off the front garden. And we're getting snow again later in the week, alas.<<
Ugh. It's supposed to storm tomorrow, then get colder.
>> But the robins and red-winged blackbirds are back, and it's lovely to hear them all singing in the mornings.<<
I have a bunch of red-winged blackbirds huddled in my yard. I haven't seen robins yet though.
>>Anyway, enjoy all those good walking-related activities! I love a good flea market, in particular!<<
Last time, Middlefork Market filled the whole mall.