Exercise - I got in 6 days of exercise. I spent a total of 3 hours exercising.
Healthy Eating - I am doing fine over all: plain oatmeal with spices for breakfast; Non-Fat Greek Yogurt with spices for lunch (salad/soup if still hungry); flaxseed and chia seed pudding with spices for afternoon snack and protein/vegetables for dinner; I will add in some fruits to my oatmeal or yogurt at some point.
Using the FitBit App for counting calories in/out has made me realize that I either eat less food or I exercise more. Right now, I'm working on eating less food until I can figure out what else to give up for more time exercising and where to fit it into my day.
I got my bloodwork done on Friday. My fasting glucose levels were in the normal range. My AC1 levels were the lowest they've been in 5 years! This is huge because diabetes runs in the family. The only carbs I've been eating are oatmeal and occasionally bread or saltines with dinner. I've cut sugar from my coffee. I switched out soda/beer for seltzer. I do allow myself the freedom to eat sweets, drink soda/beer, etc. on the weekends. It helps me not feel like I'm in a "Woe is me..." moment all the time. In fact, I've found that because I do allow myself that opportunity, I'm not thinking about the food I'm missing all the time. I also have discovered that I can't handle the taste of sugary foods as much.
My cholesterol numbers went down but not as much as I was hoping considering that I've made some drastic changes to my diet like eating non-fat dairy, cutting out egg dishes, using flax eggs, eating beef once a week, and adding in more plant-based proteins. I think if I could manage to exercise 60 minutes a day, I might get those numbers down more. Just am not sure what to remove from my daily life now to get that extra time.
Mental Health - I caught myself focusing on one number that went up on my blood work instead of celebrating all the other numbers that went down. The hard work paid off and I will keep it up. Journaling has been helpful with addressing stress and anxiety that I have not been able to name. Once I can name it, write it and deal with it, it all goes away. For two years, I've been avoiding something because of a perception of a situation. Once I realized it through journaling, I faced it, changed the perspective, and now I see no need to avoid it at all. In fact, I am looking at it now seeing how silly it really was to avoid it for so long. I would have been better off dealing with it then and there. These are good lessons to take with me in the future.
Dahlia Doll, Jampss and Lori - Keep up the good work!
Lori - If your neighborhood isn't super busy where hearing your surroundings is important, then maybe you can walk alone while listening to an audio book or podcast on your phone. I like to do that on my morning walks when it isn't below freezing.
