For the past 10+ years I have kept a blog with the same title on the MyFitnessPal (MFP) website. Sadly, MFP has chosen to disable their blog feature and so I am continuing the posts here. I have archived most of the posts from the other site, I have another 2 weeks to finish that little chore, and I will. I won't move them here, but I have them. I don't think I ever explained the blog title, and since this is the first post outside MFP-land, here goes....
When I was just out of college at the start of my consulting career, I was staffed on a project in Boston. The client's headquarters was in a very old (but nicely renovated) five-story building. The elevator that had been installed was terribly slow, and we worked on the top floor. Our client contact was a very slim woman, a tiny little thing, and she always took the stairs (and we felt obligated to take them with her) every. Single. Time. She reasoned that 'every bit of movement mattered.' Not long after that project, I met the man I was going to marry - a very fit, slim guy himself - and he also ALWAYS took the stairs. He sought them out everywhere we went, and his attitude was 'the more stairs, the better!' So, there it was... clearly, skinny people take the stairs.
I'm not skinny. I may never be skinny like that VERY thin client lady, or even as trim as my husband, but that's not my goal. I want to be as fit, healthy and mobile as possible for the rest of my days. I know there is no elevator to long-term success of any kind, and so I, too, will take the stairs whenever possible, and I will always aim to progress toward the best healthy version of me. This is a journey I never want to end.
--
November 6, 2022 - getting back on track and the rest of this year
We've been back from VT just over a week, and in that time I've met my new primary care doc (and got bloodwork done), volunteered at two writing events, had my regular meeting with my current mentee and met my former mentee for dinner, did a hill workout at track with the tri club, caught up on work (including extra shifts and big annual chores there), decorated and un-decorated our house for Halloween, and almost caught up on sleep. I also picked up our bikes, which were tuned while we were away, grocery and Costco-shopped, and tried a new healthy awesome recipe, which will be in our rotation going forward! So while I'm not 100% back on track, I'm definitely taking lots of steps to get there. I don't have to climb the whole mountain in a day, but I do have to take a few steps every day and I am happily doing that.
In very good news, despite driving across the country and splitting less-than-healthy foods with my DH the day before I got my bloodwork done, my labs all came back GREAT according to my new doc. WIN! These are the numbers that matter. All good, hooray. :) Also, I was thrilled to return to my WW Coaching job. I missed my members and my coworkers, and they missed me, it was wonderful to be back. I love this job. And all the volunteer things were FUN. It's really a joy to be able to help out with things that add to your life, too. You really can volunteer for anything, people are always needing an extra hand. I'm happy I have one to lend.
But that other hand... time to get planning. Oregon IM 70.3 will be here sooner than I think, so Now is the time for all good men... haha. My brain has been all over the place as you can imagine, lately. But now that things are settling down... today will be the final push to get things unpacked and in order, house-wise. Once it warms up this afternoon, we'll do a short ride (short = an hour-ish). And tonight I'll plan my workouts and food for the next week, to fall in line with my goal to become The Best Triathlete I Can Be. And this is how we get fully back on track!
One of my WW members shared that she is 'on a health journey with a side effect of weight loss' and I really loved that perspective. With that in mind, I have come up with five behaviors I am focusing on through the end of the year.
1. Not even one - not even one negative thought about myself, or doubts about my capabilities. I will actively seek to acknowledge any negatives as they happen and will replace those with a positive, immediately.
2. Pause and reflect before eating - in the words of Jesse Kopelnicki, every time we eat, we have a chance to give our body something it needs. So, before I eat, I will ask myself 'how is this food giving my body what it needs?'
3. Reasonable alcohol consumption - work towards ~4 drinks/week. I love a Manhattan, a cider, a good glass of wine. But I have noticed that consuming more than one drink at a time definitely affects me more than it did Younger Me. And, I really don't need a drink every day, so I have already been working toward this. To be continued!
4. 8PM stopping point for food/drink. Working toward this one, too! Generally my body isn't going to *need* anything after 8PM and I really do want to focus on giving my body what it needs, not what my head wants ;) Again this is not a hard and fast rule I must stick to, or anything like that, but it's something I want to be mindful about.
5. Prioritize sleep. I am aiming for a 9:45PM bedtime, which I fully acknowledge is difficult for me. I am a night owl, but my family members are not and they are all up with the sun. I'd rather bend to their needs on this one, as it can also benefit me. I'm at least getting my jammies on by 9PM and weaning myself off phone scrolling in bed. Baby steps on this one, and we will get there...
So that's where we are this week! I hope some of you from MFP will find me over here, I plan to dual-post until they finally disable the MFP blogs. I will say I have really loved archiving the MFP blogs, I see so much growth and so many patterns as I review that near-decade of my health journey. This really is a process, but I feel like I'm climbing a great stairway to heaven. ;) Hope you are all having a great healthy weekend!
p.s. Operation Mouse Mitigation seems to have been a success, thank goodness. Here's hoping that holds up!
No comments:
Post a Comment