Are you looking for support on your health and fitness journey? If you are, then this thread is for you.

There are no expectations in this forum. Post as often as you like. Post anything that you feel is relevant to your own personal health and fitness goal. Here are some ideas:

• Monthly health and fitness goal
• Daily health and fitness goal
• Progress (or setbacks) in reaching your goal
• Personal stories about why you are joining this topic
• Healthy recipes that you feel others will enjoy
• Links to articles or books that you feel others would find helpful

Remember, your health and fitness journey is your own. There is no one program, method, or philosophy that is right for everyone. This thread is for support only.

Thank you for the invite to this thread, though I don't know if it will help me accomplish anything, but I will give it a try.

My story: 2021 was a year of discovery for me. First, I visited a dermatologist and discovered the rash on my face was Keretosis, a sort of pre-cancer.  I was told this was a common affliction, and a couple weeks using a topical chemo cream should clear it up. YAY!  It worked. 

Next, Mrs C insisted I get my glucose levels checked because they seemed to be rising over my last few wellness exams.  She and my GP then agreed I have diabetes.  So, before he put me on metformin, I told him I wanted to try managing it naturally.  In three months, I ta able to bring my weight down about 20 pounds, and dropped my A1C almost 2 full points. However, he reasoned my dibetes was genetic, and would probably be forever, so he put me on meds anyway.

And now there are the beginnings of tremors.  I'll be seeing a neurologist about those, here, in a couple weeks.

I was playing volleyball once a week, until the Omicron numbers went up. Hopefully, Mrs. C will let me go back soon.  I try to get between 10 and 20,000 steps in each day.  I usually get at least 6,000 in at work, so I usually do laps around the neighborhood after dinner, to hit that goal.

I don't keep track of my fluid intake, though I know my diet soda addiction trumps my water intake.

And, finally, I stress eat.  I was able to shut it down when I was told I have diabetes, but it seems to be back.  I work in a high stress environment, as well as the pressure I put on myself to get things done.

So, my goals for this month include getting control. While I won't publish my weight, I can give losses and gains.  I will attempt to decrease my soda intake, and increase my water.  And I will try to limit my stress eating to carrots and celery.  While I have proven I can do it, I am struggling to make it a habit.

Tomorrow I will set my benchmarks. Let's see if this works. Thanks for listening. 

Al, I don't think you were on our January thread, so welcome.  One thing we talked about in the January thread that you might be interested in was creating one new healthy habit a month (or more if you are an overachiever) vs making 'goals.'  It is helpful to me to form habits vs goals, because I see a goal as something I achieve and then I can go back to the unhealthy behavior that caused me to need the goal initially.  I won't rehash that whole conversation here, but if you are interested, you can find it in the January thread.

Thanks Melissa for setting this up.

February New Habit is spiritual, not physical.  "Start my day with 10 minutes of dedicated prayer."  I have such a tendency to just jump into my day or jump into my Bible Study.  I need this 10 minutes to get centered for my day ahead.

My January new habit, which is now a habit so it continues to be achieved, was to get my step goal 6/7 days per week.  My step goal has been 8,000, but I think I'll up it to 8,500 for February.

And, if along the way I can lose a pound or two that's a bonus win for me.  :)

Thanks for inviting me Melissa!

Hi all, I'ma give it a try again. I tried at the end of January but again chickened out. Will be adding more to my list. 6:12pm updated on my page, more to come. I eat to eat, happy, sad, depressed, stress, lonely and anything in between. 

January 2022 Health and Fitness Support 

Started to write but then stopped, end of January:

Gastric sleeve 4/9/2014 – Gastro bypass 8/18/2020 – No gallbladder.

I was supposed to have lost 3lbs before my appt on Feb 10^th.

Write in my Journal, everything I do. 

Stop eating btw 7/8pm

EXERCISE: Walk dvd/outside: Start w/1 mile -- stretch bands/sitting exercise or Stretch/yoga: Before bed

Feb 1, 2022

Time - 7:48am Bld Glucose 113 -- 2:08pm Bld Gluse122 -- 6:13pm Bld Glucose 178

Weight - 190

Breakfast: 8:19am 

Boost Women 8oz

Snack:

Lunch: 

Bolony/cheese sandwich. 2sl white bread, 1 tbs reg mayo, 1 sl american cheese, 1 sl bolony. 1/2 cup coffee w/milk, sugar.

Snack: 3:30pm 4 mini powered donut w/5 yr old granddaughter

Dinner: 1 airfyied chicken let small, 2 tbl spoon matched potato instant. 

Snack:

STOP EATING: 

Water: 16oz (so far 6:07pm)

Exercise: 1 hr PT - Twice a week. -  Today - 

Daily wlkg goal: 8000 steps:

Steps: So far 8433 - 3.27 mi -  470 cal burned - 

Stretch bands or sitting exercise or Stretch/yoga befor bed: 

Quiet/Reding/Meditation Daily goal 45/1hr: So far none :) at 6:11pm

I'm back!  Thanks for keeping this going, Melissa.

My last weigh in of the month was disappointing.  I actually gained 1.2 lbs.  I'm not surprised that its up but I am surprised by how much.  

I have a new short term goal but am unsure if I will reach in February.  Once I hit 40 lbs off (I'm currently at 29) ,  I am going to allow myself one day off from the gym.  The get up, get dressed, hit the gym, go to work, come home, help with dinner (DH cooks M-F), eat dinner, clean the kitchen, do a load of laundry, hit the treadmill...rinse and repeat is getting tiring.

If I find I can't keep the weight down by missing one day of the gym, I will have to go back to 5 days a week.  But its a little reward for myself.

My main goals for February are no eating after 6 pm, as I've identified that as a trigger, and increasing my fluid intake.  

I posted in last month's thread that the habit I am going to try to form this month is to make my own salad dressings - just some olive oil and vinegar and whatever herbs I want to throw in - instead of eating commercial salad dressings that have a lot of sugar and bad oils for you.

Last month I listed the following goals: (1) drink more water - at least one glass every two hours; (2) "green" foods, fruits and veggies, at every meal; (3) less carbs, less sugar; (4) don't eat after 7:00 pm; and (5) some kind of exercise every day and cardio at least 3x a week.  I mostly did ok with the food goals.  I did not drink as much water as I would like or exercise as much as I hoped to, but I did better than I had been doing.  I am going to continue with these things again hoping that they also become habits.

I did buy girl scout cookies today from the girl next door.  Because she is the neighbor.  And because I like to support the Girl Scouts.  Hopefully someone else in my house will eat them and not me!

Thank you Melissa for hosting this thread.  It helps keep me accountable and conscientous about what I am eating and how I am caring for my body each day.

Hi Melissa, Last month was a bust for me over all so I'll give it another try this month. I started out 2022 at 230.5 lbs. I've yo-yo'd 5 lbs for the last 4 years with Jan. 1st being the heaviest in that length of time. I know it's fluid build-up so really need to up the water to 60 oz. a day. I'd really love to be under 200 lbs. by this time next year. I weighed this morning and I was 230.2 lbs. I only managed to drop 0.3lbs ( not even 1/2 lb). It's a loss, so I'll take it over a gain.

My goal for February is to drink more water, and watch my portion control. I don't feel I should have to give up any foods I like as long as I keep my portions under control so that will be the goals for this month.

Wishing everyone a good month and some awesome wins in our journey to better health.

My goal is to fit activity in and lose 4lbs a month..

I have a sleep disorder and I think that's why I always lack energy in general..plus my job can be soul sucking . ( the positive is that I have a job in an industry that is vital and my boss is cool!)

Lisa N. said "One thing we talked about in the January thread that you might be interested in was creating one new healthy habit a month (or more if you are an overachiever) vs making 'goals.'"

Thanks for that update, Lisa. So, I intend to begin by breaking a 40-year habit.  Currently, I am sucking up an average of three cans of Diet Coke a day.  My intention is to replace those sodas with seltzer.  This will help keep the artificial sweetners out of my system.  As for the caffiene, I may have to make a cup of Joe each morning, and work on eventually weening myself off that.

Good news is I'm below my target weight. So I just need to maintain.

girl scout cookies are evil.  

Thanks for the invite Melissa. I had no idea this forum even existed!

I'm relieved that January is almost over. It was an impossible month to spend any ime outoors with so many days of subzero windchills. I did reorganize my art stuido so I have more room and easier access to stuff I use the most. 

After my dh's recovery from COVID and he lost 15 pounds and he brought up recipe recommendations from the hospital staff, we;re relying more on a Mediterranean diet. I've been taking advantage of Misfits shipping to order small quantities of produce that is organic, and sometimes something we're not familiar with like purple garlic or yellow beets.  

This month's focus is on tracking hiking/walking time and talking myself out of binge-eating crunchy food, I cannot resist popcorn, nuts, trail mix, and don't stick to reasonable portions. I'll eat an entire bag of whatever in a day. 

I will join for the month of February.  I am currently 158 pounds and 5'4", so I need to lose quite a bit. Five years ago I was 192 and managed to get to 146 but went back up to 158 recently. I am clearly headed in the wrong direction.  I love food and snacks and have a tendency to binge eat when I am bored or stressed.  My goals for the month of February:
-Lose 8 pounds to get to 150 by February 28th (2 pounds per week)
-Increase my water intake to 64 oz per day. (I bought one of those motivational water bottles that has the times of the day on it)
Thanks for inviting me to the group.

I forgot to watch this thread so I will have to go back and read the posts.

I think I will add a goal of tracking my water intake and being sure I get a minimum of 60 ounces.

I am usually a good water drinker, but because it's been cold, I am drinking less in favor of hot coffee.  Winter is always harder, but I just need to drink room temperature water.  I don't mind that, but I really want hot liquids.  Maybe just hot water.  Lol

I am going to keep the 3 goals I picked off that list that Shayla posted

1. walk dogs.  They need it, I need it

2.  Daily gratitude

3.  Save or Make $10 a day,  Right now selling stuff on ebay. and maybe having an estate sale this month.  Selling hubbies hot wheels. 

Goals I posted to begin January:

• Be more faithful at following the intermittent fasting... do it always, not almost always
• Either swim or watch/attempt to follow along with one of the Essential Stretch episodes I have recorded, 6 days a week.
• Drink only water, sparkling water, or tea, and drink at least 2 liters a day

My plan was to measure success by losing 1 pound a week and add more habits as needed. After looking at motivations, and having extenuating circumstances, and thinking about the differences between goals and habits, here goes a new month.

January success/or not

Habits I tried to form:

• Be more faithful at following the intermittent fasting... do it always, not almost always - GOOD ENOUGH. Calling this a habit that is now in place.
• Either swim or watch/attempt to follow along with one of the Essential Stretch episodes I have recorded, 6 days a week. NOT so much! Couldn't swim much, and the episodes were pretty hard; so I have backed up to the beginning. Reconsidering.
• Drink only water, sparkling water, or tea, and drink at least 2 liters a day - SPLIT. The removal of diet drinks was not as hard as I expected, and is now part of my lifestyle. BUT I don't drink enough every day!

SO:

Habits from January to keep:  IF, no diet drinks.

ONE main habit to focus on in February: DRINK enough (goal is 2 liters a day)

Other habits to keep in mind: do the stretching warmups every day, cut back on the sweets.

Help... who has advice for keeping track of this? What I am doing is not working. I get to the end of the day and realize I didn't drink enough, but can't even track what I did drink, because that app won't let me go back to the previous day to fill in. (and my day usually ends well after midnight.)

Margaret, what app are you using to log your water?  I think you can do it in BodyFast.  I am going to start keeping track this month and I will just log the ounces as I drink them.  Remembering and logging after the fact wouldn't work for me.

If it's not convenient to use the app, maybe just a little notebook you log in would work.

Up extra early this morning.  It's my favorite time of day.

Today's goals - stick to IF schedule (eating between 7-3); log water and drink at least 60 ounces; meet step goal of 8,500

New habit - the first 10 minutes of my day were spent in prayer.

Wishing y'all a good day.

ETA - in spite of shrimp scampi and garlic bread, the scale was down this morning by .4 pounds.

Monday I walked 13,455 steps and had three Diet Cokes.  Today I start working on the sodas.

Margaret, Mrs. C fills a container with water every morning. Her goal is to empty that container by the end of the day.  That's the only measure she uses.  Any water after that is a bonus.

You'll have to excuse our methods. We tend to stick to low tech stuff.

Margaret - I know a lot of people who buy the big water bottle that has markings on the side for how much water.  Some of them even have markings to indicate how much you should drink by certain times of the day to inspire you to keep drinking.  I have seen them on amazon before.  I just try to remember to drink a glass every two hours. I drink a glass of water as soon as I wake up, mid-morning, with lunch, mid-afternoon, with dinner, and then after dinner.  That is only 48 oz so I am not drinking enough water either, but it is more than I was drinking before I started tracking it that way.

Monday I walked 13,455 steps - and I was impressed with my 9,930 Al.  I actually wish I'd realized how close I was to 10,000 because I would have treked around the house a bit to get there.  But, I went to bed without looking to see where I was.  I knew I'd met my goal of 8,500 so I quit paying attention.

All this water talk has made me decide to have a bottle of water instead of another cup of coffee.  :)   I'd never get my water drinking 'glasses' of water Shayla.  I always drink bottles of water. 

Margaret-I'm old school & use paper...I have goals written in a notebook but for the daily tracking I have them in my paper planner. Like Al...I tend to stick to low tech stuff.

Lisa-I tend to like mornings best too. I really utilize that time before anyone else is awake. And congrats on getting Feb off to a good start by meeting your daily goal this morning!

My February goals/habits I want to achieve are below. (Some of these are carry overs from last month)

1) lose 2.8lbs so that I'm 126 by the end of Feb (didn't lose all that I wanted last month)

2) walk every day that it is 50+ degrees (wasn't as active as I'd have liked last month)

3) Continue carrying on with the successful Jan goal of only 1 pop/day

4) Apple Cider Vinegar every night before bed...1 Tablespoon in 6-8 oz of water. This helps a lot with my acid reflux & I need to get in the habit of doing this every single night. I feel better when I do it, sometimes I forget, sometimes I'm just lazy about it.

5) Crossover Symmetry shoulder therapy every day. I have a rotator cuff tear & an impingement in my right shoulder...have had them for a few years. I found all that out through an MRI, went through physical therapy, I won't do surgery so I'm just dealing with it. I bought the Crossover Symmetry bands & when I do them it helps a lot. I have not been doing it for several months now & am paying for it. My shoulder hurts a lot. So back on the therapy train

The next 2 might not be health & fitness but will be good for my mental health & overall attitude...

6) Quiet time/bible study every day, preferrably in the mornings

7) Read 10 min each day of a success book.

girl scout cookies are evil.  I agree, they are so delicious, but yet so bad for us. I decided a few years ago to quit purchasing them & have stuck to it. Since my boys are older now I don't really know anyone that I feel I "have" to support. All the girls we used to know in GS have grown up. I figure I wouldn't go buy a bunch of cookies for myself in the store so I don't need to go seek out a girl scout to buy them either.

Margaret..

Would a bullet journal be to your liking? They're fun and you can always go back and fill in things as you need to.