Friday, November 09, 2018

Tough decisions: making, altering and deleting

It is Friday again!  That means I have made it though another week.   It was an interesting week for me!   I actually made some changes and implemented some healthy living plans!  I actually worked on my weight loss efforts!   So let’s get right into my Friday recap!

Work
Like normal, my work week was exhausting!  The days are just long...and I’m using my brain pretty much every second of the day.  This week was maybe even a bit more tiring than normal as I continued training the reps from a different site AND because the discontinuation calls have started to hit us.  Discontinuation calls?   I work for a medication assistance program.  We run various programs to offer assistance for people that can’t afford their medication to gain access.   One of the medications (two actually....very similar uses) are still available on the market but the decision was made to end the assistance program for these medications at the end of the year.   This is a life sustaining medication...so to say that people (patients, doctors, nurses, social workers, anyone really) are upset is an understatement.   So that makes work.....interesting.  It’s also heartbreaking for those of us on the front line as we have to confirm and talk to these people.

Exercise
A while back I made the vow that I would have to sacrifice something to make time to exercise.  I knew I wasn’t sacrificing my time with Jason on any consistent basis...which meant my sleep...I would just have to wake up early and exercise before my shower. Shame on me, I never did it!    And then last weekend I got a friendly nudge to do it.  I decided to do it!  Nothing was going to stop me!  Every workday morning I was getting up early to get in a workout!  So I am proud to say that on Monday morning I woke up early and hopped on the bike trainer!   On Tuesday morning I woke up early and split my time on the bike trainer and the stair stepper.  I realized that the stair stepper gave me a better workout (the bike trainer is a bit louder and I didn’t want to mess up Jason’s sleep OR the people downstairs so I kept it on an easy and more quiet resistance).  Sooo on Wednesday I did most of my time on the stair stepper and then finished up with a few minutes of sit ups on the exercise ball (Amazon Affiliate link) ..a good cool down before my shower!  Thursday was a repeat of the previous day’s workout!  But I was  really dragging on Thursday morning.  Honestly I was dragging by Wednesday night...bad!     I am always really dragging by the end of the week.  Sooo...I am altering my plan.  4 days a week...allowing me a Friday off!  (Or Friday is a make up day if I miss a day earlier in the week). My altered plan really does make sense, to me at least!! It allows my body/muscles a bit of a rest before we break into our weekend plans of hiking or biking. 

You can see my stair stepper thingy on the far left at the bottom and my old Trek bike on the trainer in the middle top of the picture ...and of course the exercise ball!  

So this week I’ve learned a few things....wear shoes on the stair stepper....remember to put my hair in a pony tail....it is possible to do it blind in my little ‘exercise room/area, without glasses....lots of fun lessons.   But I have also come up with a few ideas to pump it up.  I will be going into the storage closet this weekend to grab my weights to add upper body to my stair stepper machine.  I will also be perusing my dvd collection to add in a dvd workout.  So I am full of plans as I alter and adjust this new lifestyle behavior to fit my needs.

Walking on my lunch break???   Well...hey I’ve been waking up early to workout...that’s something...right?  Ok, so walking on my breaks hasn’t gone ‘well’.  In fairness Monday and Tuesday were rainy.  Wednesday was just sheer laziness on my part!!!  On Thursday We had a fire drill at work so I walked down the steps...then walked the steps back to my floor...but otherwise..I’ve been a slug!

Eating
The crazy fact of the week?  While we were on vacation I tracked every bite of food!  There were some high days but I tracked them.   I went back to work and the tracking went away...and I barely tracked anything!   Crazy isn’t it???    This week I picked it back up!  My calories were kept in line...betweeen 1200 and 1400 calories a day!   

I did indulge in a small piece of my homemade fudge here and there...but it was totally accounted for!!!

The hardest part?  I had been doing intermittent fasting ..not eating until 1pm...my lunch break.  It has worked well for me.   Until this week!   About an hour or so after my work out I’ve found myself hungry...and then I think about food all morning long!   I caved one morning and ate breakfast!  (I’m not a sadist...if it isn’t working I’m not doing it!). So I’ve been doing a bit of research...and I’m up in the air about continuing that morning fast.

Weight
Typical week...my weight popped up on Monday....frustratingly so.  It dropped again, a little....and today my weight is a pound up from where I was last Friday!  Grrrrr

So that’s my week.   Some plans for a healthier lifestyle were made.   Some were altered.  Some were deleted....life is going on and I’m slowly going to figure this out!!!!  And it’s going to be something that I can do forever!!!  Sustainable!!!



7 comments:

mxtodis123 said...

You have had a busy week. I've got to tweak a few things myself. Since my hamstring pull exercise has been down to next to nothing. Have to find a way to fit in a wee bit of exercise until I am healed.

jesseybell said...

Have a great weekend!

When you work out before your shower, what time are you getting up? I KNOW I need to d this, but the idea of getting up earlier than I need to, I just haven't done it! No more running at 5:00 am (getting up at 4:30) but I know I should be able to get up at 5:30 (normally my alarm goes off at 6:00 but I have extra time built in so I could get a good workout in).

If you aren't eating until 1:00 pm, does that mean you are eating until 9 pm (ie the 16/8 theory). I am contemplating doing it - normally I fast for 15 hours (6 pm - 9 am) if I don't eat a little something when my son is eating breakfast (in that case I fast for 13.5 hours). So I could go fro 6-10 I guess, and then eat at 10, 1, 4 and 6).

MaryFran said...

I usually shower at 6am...so I have started by waking up at 5:30....that gives me about a 25 minute workout...no snooze button allowed. And I really do just roll out of bed...quick bathroom visit...throw on clothes...tie up my hair and head to the other room. 5 minute prep time....luckily I wake up easy and don’t need lots of time for coffee and morning rituals. If it goes well maybe I’ll contemplate waking up earlier...but honestly the 5:30 is hard enough and makes me cringe enough!

Yes I fast from about 9pm until 1pm. We usually Eat dinner late (like 8pm) and since my lunch break at work is 1pm it works well for me. Fell into intermittent fasting accidentally...I just didn’t feel like eating breakfast so early...so I was grabbing something for in the car on the way to work....and I would eat it about halfway to 3/4 of my way to work....and then when we moved I just kinda forgot to take something a few times and figured out that I didn’t really miss it...so I stopped even trying to remember to grab something....when I mentioned it to a friend she said intermittent fasting...so I looked it up and researched it. It sounds like you are pretty much already doing it also...

jen said...


You are doing it !!
I have tried the intermittent fasting too...and I found the 16/8 worked better for me...thats where you eat your meals in the 8 hours bracket, and fast for the 16.

KB said...

Have you tried eating regular small meals instead of fasting? You need fuel in the tank especially if you are working hard. May give you more energy. Just a thought.

TheAgonyOfBeingFat said...

Girl, I always have trouble tracking food at work. Stress eating is a serious problem and it's not easily fixed. People say that if I know it's a problem, I should be able to fix it. IT'S NOT THAT EASY!!!!

Anyway, I only got through one day on IF before quitting. Lol. It's not for everyone. But good job on giving it a try!

Tiffany said...

Good for you sometimes we need to make adjustments to our plans to fit us and still move forward.