2021 WIR Healthy Lifestyle Discussion

[Rukh O'Rorke]

speaking of planners and markers.....I got these


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J09CO6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


not thrilled, they don't write so smoothly....any suggestions?

[nidena]

Jan 16, 2021 16:58:40 GMT -5 nidena said:

Just finished up 3.3 miles of trekking around Fort Harrison State Park.  Put my steps at nearly 11,000 for the day.  I'm sure I'll exceed that since I'll still be up and around for another 4-6 hours.  Made my water goal, too.  I count the smoothies towards them since they're mainly water fruits and veggies.

There's a definite downside to all the activity yesterday--went to the gym in the morning, too: My sleep wasn't very restful.  I was just sore enough to feel like I didn't sleep...even though my tracker shows that I did.
There's even a Body Battery feature.  That is showing I went from 12 to 35 while I slept.  100 is max.  Now, I'm pondering just how much work I'll tackle when I go in.  It need be only enough to feel like I got some stuff done.  The main company is closed tomorrow so it's gonna be very quiet in the office.

[saveinla]

Jan 16, 2021 17:38:25 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

speaking of planners and markers.....I got these


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J09CO6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


not thrilled, they don't write so smoothly....any suggestions?

I like the papermate Inkjoy gel pens for writing - they are very smooth.

The Bic velocity is also ok, but if the page is thin, then they show on the other side.

[wvugurl26]

I love the Pilot G2 pens. I might have like every color they make.

[laterbloomer]

I'm down 10 lbs. I've been feeling crappy all weekend and I have a head ache. I thought it might be carb withdrawal but it's 17 days, I should be past that. There are other stressers going on that are the more likely culprit.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

Jan 16, 2021 17:38:25 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

speaking of planners and markers.....I got these


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J09CO6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


not thrilled, they don't write so smoothly....any suggestions?

Which tip thickness do you have?
I love the Medium version of flair pens, but I hate the fine point version.
For fine point, I use staedtler fine liners.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 17, 2021 14:06:34 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Jan 16, 2021 17:38:25 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

speaking of planners and markers.....I got these


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J09CO6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


not thrilled, they don't write so smoothly....any suggestions?

Which tip thickness do you have?
I love the Medium version of flair pens, but I hate the fine point version.
For fine point, I use staedtler fine liners.

they are medium, maybe just the paper type I have? I guess I'll try to push through with them a week or two...see how I feel then.

Will look into the staedtlers...thanks!

[nidena]

Definitely fewer steps put in today.  Less than 2500.

[flutterby]

Last week's goals:

Average 16,000 daily steps - I averaged 17,100

Stay under 1,300 daily calories - Averaged 1,108

Arm workout at least 4 days - completely slacked off and didn't do a single day

And for that effort, I managed to gain half a pound. Awesome

Onward and upward. This week:

Average 16,500 daily steps

Keep calories under 1200 a day

Seriously, start an arm workout. I'll give myself a break and aim for 3 days

Have a great week all!

[chiver78]

I had to laugh after we put in some time in the bogs today, looking at my steps history for the week. yesterday that I was a couch potato, I also managed to hardly carry my phone at all. yesterday's tally was 222 steps. that is an impressive display of sloth, as unrealistic as I know it is. 🤣 for tho a e of you that track steps, what is your low number?

[Lizard Queen]

Somewhere in the 3000 range, I'd say. WFH is horrible for step counts. 4500 was about the lowest I'd get pre-covid.

[chiver78]

it really is, but I'm usually pretty good about throwing my phone in a pocket. I'm not an Apple kid, and I use an app called Sweatcoin. it runs in the background unless I call up the app. I don't do well with tracking things, be it calories, steps, push-ups, whatever. all I do with the Sweatcoin tracking is see if what I'm doing that day falls in line with regular motion. well, yesterday notwithstanding 🤣 but if I'm actively tracking things for metrics of any sort, my brain goes full on competitive and unhealthy along the lines of "how little can I manage to eat and not fall over" or worse. it's incredibly unhealthy and why I don't do food journals or anything like that.

so, for me, the biggest piece of the journey to better health isn't so much counting things, it is about building better habits. I'm not at all knocking anyone who is looking at counting things, but that isn't going to help me.

[wvugurl26]

I scrolled back through June. The lowest I found was 2,113. That was the day after Thanksgiving. I planted myself on the couch and binged watched the Hallmark channel all day. I ran all day Wednesday prepping, cleaning and finishing decorating to host 8. I barely sat down on Thanksgiving until we ate. By Friday I was done. I think I ignored half the Fitbit move your ass reminders that day.

I started with the tracking sheet this month to help make some things better habits. I moved my step goal down to 7500 because winter sucks and I was beating myself up over 10,000. It still requires effort from me to hit that number but I don't need to spend a hour walking in the cold to make it. My vitamin/calcium are on there because I couldn't get consistent in taking them. Both should be taken with food but not together. And water intake because I can't seem to get it down working from home.

I want to add regular workouts in but I'm trying to get those things down first. And the combo of workout, steps and cook dinner seems to be a I can have two but not all three on the same night. And then I beat myself up over the one I fail on. Dinner being short changed becomes a beat myself up over higher calorie take out and associated costs.

[nidena]

I've had my Garmin Venu for just under two weeks and it looks like my migraine days will be my lowest days.  I had one the day after I set up the tracker and it was ~300 steps for that day.  Despite the goals it sets for me, I'm aiming for 5,000 or more each day that I work.  My days off will vary like they did this weekend: 12,000 one day, 2,100 the next.
My biggest thing is the heart rate tracker.  I look at my true resting heart rate and am completely baffled why the heart doctor wanted to put me on beta blockers.  It's 52.  My awake resting heart rate is 70ish.  My BP averages 120/70.

[ners]

Weekly check in


I hit step goal.  

Only 2 days eating after 9:00 PM.  

Water intake needs improvement.

Weight not moving in the correct direction.

This week goals

No eating after 9:00 PM
Work on lowering carb intake.
Drink 20 ounces of water after work and 40 ounces on Saturday and Sunday.
Try to go to be by 10:00 no later than 11:00.
Get out of bed when alarm rings
30 minutes of strength training.


01/01/19 177.2
01/01/20 165.2
01/01/21 169.0
01/04/21 167.8
01/11/21 168.0
01/18/21 168.6

Keep up the good work everyone.  

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

What was supposed to be the Sunday night check in:

Epic failure last week.
Other than water intake, no discernible commitment to my health.

Since I’m typing on my phone right now, I won’t repost my goals as they’re the same as last week’s. I’ve not weighed myself since Thursday, and that was 143.0.
We took along weekend away in our camping trailer, and I won’t be back home until this afternoon. Last year, I’d have just not posted here on a week like this. I’m trying to hold myself accountable though.

[tcu2003]

Jan 17, 2021 14:06:34 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Jan 16, 2021 17:38:25 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

speaking of planners and markers.....I got these


www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000J09CO6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


not thrilled, they don't write so smoothly....any suggestions?

Which tip thickness do you have?
I love the Medium version of flair pens, but I hate the fine point version.
For fine point, I use staedtler fine liners.

For fine point, I like the Staedtler fine liners as well, or the Sharpie pens.

[tcu2003]

I had a couple of failure days as far as steps and movement go (and food choices, if I’m being honest), but did manage to buy a Kettlebell on Saturday and used it yesterday for a short workout after walking on the treadmill, so yay for small things.

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 18, 2021 13:53:19 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

Jan 17, 2021 14:06:34 GMT -5 Knee Deep in Water Chloe said:

Which tip thickness do you have?
I love the Medium version of flair pens, but I hate the fine point version.
For fine point, I use staedtler fine liners.

For fine point, I like the Staedtler fine liners as well, or the Sharpie pens.

thanks tcu! do the sharpies have that hideous sharpie smell, or just more of a regular marker aroma?

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 18, 2021 13:55:45 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

I had a couple of failure days as far as steps and movement go (and food choices, if I’m being honest), but did manage to buy a Kettlebell on Saturday and used it yesterday for a short workout after walking on the treadmill, so yay for small things.

No failure days! Some days are just more better than others. 

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Having a bit of a breakthrough I think. I've really been struggling to get my water up, some days only 2-3 glasses and once I tried to make it up later in the day (because of the journal record!) and my sleep was disrupted by several bathroom breaks.

last few days been supplementing with several cups of ginger tea, and finally - I woke up today and several things were clicking for me. Felt good despite low on sleep (last night was game day) - and I was thirsty! I always pour a glass of water and sit down to the computer first thing, but this time I drank nearly 3 cups before breakfast. 

That's the only thing so far! Will try for some exercise before lunch.

Have finally swapped out my regular seat for an exercise ball. Going well and it's fun!

[Lizard Queen]

Jan 18, 2021 15:41:36 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Jan 18, 2021 13:55:45 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

I had a couple of failure days as far as steps and movement go (and food choices, if I’m being honest), but did manage to buy a Kettlebell on Saturday and used it yesterday for a short workout after walking on the treadmill, so yay for small things.

No failure days! Some days are just more better than others. 

Absolutely! There is no perfection, and every day is a great day to start anew.

[Deleted]

Jan 17, 2021 22:38:29 GMT -5 chiver78 said:

it really is, but I'm usually pretty good about throwing my phone in a pocket. I'm not an Apple kid, and I use an app called Sweatcoin. it runs in the background unless I call up the app. I don't do well with tracking things, be it calories, steps, push-ups, whatever. all I do with the Sweatcoin tracking is see if what I'm doing that day falls in line with regular motion. well, yesterday notwithstanding 🤣 but if I'm actively tracking things for metrics of any sort, my brain goes full on competitive and unhealthy along the lines of "how little can I manage to eat and not fall over" or worse. it's incredibly unhealthy and why I don't do food journals or anything like that.

so, for me, the biggest piece of the journey to better health isn't so much counting things, it is about building better habits. I'm not at all knocking anyone who is looking at counting things, but that isn't going to help me.

First, to answer your earlier question, one day last November, I only had 130 steps logged.😂 I have an Apple Watch, I usually wear it even when I’m home, but not always. Looking at the graph of my number of steps every day, it’s very obvious which days I worked and which ones I didn’t. On workdays, I have between 16k and 18k steps. On my days off, less than 2k, often less than 1k. 

IRT my journey to better health, after getting overwhelmed trying to figure out what to do, I remembered some of what my initial strategy was before and decided it was a good one for me. I’m going to focus on adding more “good” stuff to my diet, instead of worrying about what I shouldn’t eat. As I add more good stuff, eventually, I’ll be eating less of the things I shouldn’t be eating anyway, without me overthinking it all in the meantime. At least that’s how it worked last time.

I don’t mind tracking things, as long as it’s not a hassle. Speaking of which, gs11rmb, I canceled Noom this morning. It doesn’t sync between my iPad and iPhone and I already know I won’t be consistent with it without that capability. I’d set it up on my iPad, but I don’t take it to work with me, so logging things would have to wait until the evening, and I’d have to do it all at once. Prior experience has shown me I won’t do that consistently, I do better when I can do it immediately. I prefer reading on my iPad, so switching it all over to my phone, I won’t to do the other parts. If I’m going to pay for something, it needs to be as easy for me to use as possible.

I think a vitally important part of making these lifestyle changes is figuring out what works best for each of us. Chiver, focusing on building better habits is a great mindset. I think it’s the bottom line for what we all are trying to do, building better habits, regardless of the details of how we go about it as individuals.

[Deleted]

Exercise, for now, I’m starting one of the yoga “programs” I found on Nike. I forget how many weeks it’s for. I really enjoy yoga. Besides the physical benefits, I’ve found that it’s also good for my mind/mental state. Hopefully this program will help me start practicing yoga regularly again. I’m going to do my first session of the program this evening.

I still plan on starting a body weight circuit training plan, I'm still figuring out the details. I didn’t enjoy that so much, but I did like the benefits when I was doing it regularly. My body responded quickly and it didn’t take long for me to see changes in the mirror and how I looked in my clothes. I did actually gain a few pounds, but I believe it was muscle because of what I was seeing, both in the mirror and in how my clothes fit.

When the weather warms up, I’ll do more cycling than strength training. I really enjoy cycling too. In addition to the health benefits, it’s a stress reliever for me. When I was cycling several times a week, there were days I’d be stressed and said I’m going to ride my bike instead of “I need a drink”. I’d usually ride “hard” (for me) on those days, and I ALWAYS felt a lot better afterward, even if my legs felt like limp noodles. It eventually became my go to when I was stressed, which was much better and healthier than some of the other things I tend to do when stressed. I want to get back to that too.

[flamingo]

We bundled up once the snow stopped and took an outdoor walk this afternoon. I miss the steps I’d get in naturally throughout the day when I went to the office - I feel so much better when I move more throughout the day. And even though I was COLD, the fresh air felt nice. 

we are having salmon, rice, and veggies for dinner. And I’ve managed to cut way back on my wine consumption this month. So thus far, I’m feeling good about my health goals. It’s only 18 days into the year, tho. This could change 

[nidena]

One thing I did a couple weeks ago was re-align my vitamin intake.  I take biotin, b-complex, vitex, and vitamin d in the morning; kelp in the afternoon; and magnesium glycinate in the evening.  It feels like it's helping with my energy levels during the day.

[Deleted]

Well, my first yoga session with the program was a fail.

BF was participating. It was supposedly for beginners, so why not. Wellllll, I’m familiar with the basics of yoga and basic poses, but she was still going too fast. 3 minutes in, I was confused about what she was saying to do. I looked up at the screen and said how the hell did she get to that pose from what she was saying?! And I stopped the video lol. He was even more confused than me, and I think still stuck at the very beginning.

I told him we were gonna do some of the things I know how to do, and that’s what we did. I was coaching him, telling him how to get into the poses and reminding him to keep his spine straight, shoulders down and back, stuff like that. Which meant I couldn’t really concentrate on what I was doing myself. That didn’t really matter though, because I was unprepared anyway, thinking I was going to follow a video. When I’m going to practice on my own, I plan ahead of time what poses I’m going to do, in what order. Today, I was flying by the seat of my pants so we could at least do something while we were both willing. I kept it short. I didn’t time it, but I’m almost positive it was no more than 30 minutes, if that.

I’ll try to find another video for tomorrow. Now I know to watch a couple of minutes before I decide which one to use.

[tcu2003]

Jan 18, 2021 14:31:04 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Jan 18, 2021 13:53:19 GMT -5 tcu2003 said:

For fine point, I like the Staedtler fine liners as well, or the Sharpie pens.

thanks tcu! do the sharpies have that hideous sharpie smell, or just more of a regular marker aroma?

I don’t notice any smell with the Sharpie pens. These are the ones I have.

Sharpie 1802225 Pen, Fine Point, Assorted Colors, 6-Count smile.amazon.com/dp/B005LU2QA6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glc_fabc_GUJbGb5VHXTVP?psc=1

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Overall think I did pretty great yesterday! But I feel a little overwhelmed to even try to do it again today!! Plus working.

And - I didn't even do a whole lot either...ok - let me review....

[Rukh O'Rorke]

Jan 16, 2021 10:43:49 GMT -5 Rukh O'Rorke said:

Nutrition
4 cups greens - daily did 2
4 cups sprouts - daily none - but they are still asprouting
8 glasses water - daily
1 serving blueberries - daily none
vitamins 4-5 times/week none

Fitness
3 buckets, MNN, minimum 4 times per week each, mix and match, something everyday
yoga (initial goal 10 mins)
walking or jogging (initial 2 miles) one mile
strength training (initial 10 minutes) none

Mental Health
meditation - daily
sleep hygiene
    no screens 2 hours before bed
    establish predictable and leaisurely pre-bed routine
    in bed by 10 for reading/lights out by 11 a wee bit late here, maybe an hour late

so - not a lot for yesterday, but feels like I was on a roll through the day and now starting over with a blank slate seems too much!