All right, so I am pretty much doing what I need to then? I am ok?

I wouldn't exactly. And your last paragraph is exactly what I am trying to figure out. How do I keep myself healthy so that it isn't so hard to re-establish the habit. I get so tired of being able to walk 3-4 miles easily and then suddenly walking 1.5 miles feels like my legs are made of lead. Yes, in a couple of weeks I am back up to that level. But I just want it to be consistently easy. To consistently drink the right amount of water to keep me healthy and from subsituting food instead of the water. (I am constantly hungry these days no matter how much I eat. I am never full.)

Yes, I know these. I didn't list all the ones. So water: I keep it by me at all times. Appealing: Drinking is just something you do because you have to. It isn't something to enjoy. I may experiment with teas, I have a ton there, but they are just drinks. I am not sure how to make it rewarding. I have attached it to the coffee drinking. Making myself try to get down 8 ounces before I have my coffee. Walking 1. Not sure how to make it convienient other than when alone I don't make myself go somewhere, I just walk on the rural road Ithat is by my house. 2. I enjoy talking to people when I do it. So walking with my husband and with my friends has definitely helped me do it. Podcasts are fine. But again, when I am alone it is hard to get myself to do it. 3. What to attach the walking to I am not sure...

Yes, I know, but in this rural area there are not that many groups. When I was home more and bored, I looked on the places you guys told me to look then and no groups like all of you talked about existed. If I lived where my MIL and SIL's lived, I would EASILY be able to find TONS of groups to join and things to do. There were tons in that area when I looked. Just none in mine.

Yes, and I am trying to lean into this. I am trying to figure out what the right routines and goals are for this season, but it feels hard. I feel untethered and a bit lost.

Interesting. How does it know if you do something or not? Is it linked to your watch or fitbit or something? Because I would lie.

Interesting. Nope. Not at all. I will try it, though it will feel strange trying to stop and tell myself. This is fun. You are enjoying this. I feel good when I check things off of a list.

The closest YMCA is an hour and fifteen minutes away, so not feasible. I take both a D supplement and a Calcium with D supplement, so it is probably fine. I go for my yearly checkup next month.

If it is, I really wonder if there has been an uptick in this. I know 3 people with it: One died within a few months and two were recently diagnosed and are not doing well. It just feels so prevalent.

Ok, someone else mentioned a straw. And yes, I have a container with a straw that holds 24 ounces of water. I would try to drink 3 of them throughout the day when I was doing well. But that is what I mean. I was in the habit of using it. I didn't think about it. But then we travel. I am in Africa or whatever. And I don't think about using it.... To make habits stick, they say you need to make them small and as easy as possible until they become automatic. But I change so much nothing is automatic. Sigh... I have an Apple Watch : If I walk, I easily hit my 11,000 steps. Today I already have 8,000. But every other day since I got back from Kenya I have only done 2,000-3,000. In Africa I got 11,000 to 15,000 steps a day with the equivalent of climbing 30-45 flights of stairs. It is similar in Honduras. On the RV trips, we hike nearly every day and I normally have 12,000 to 18,000 steps. But home alone, 2,000.

Yes, that happens with every single doctor I have and my gynecologist. But this is a separate entity. I have gotten no calls, no texts, no emails. No paperwork. I find it very, very strange. It is with the breast center at the hospital. I am supposed to go into the emergency room entrance and register. So strange. My husband thinks it is strange as well.

It isn't water. It is just drinking period. The only thing I tend to drink is coffee and water. I just don't drink much. Yeah, I HATE artificial sweetner. Can't stand the taste. Never drink diet drinks. They are gross. We don't stock or buy soft drinks. So it isn't that I am trying to replace something with water. It is just trying to get hydration. I tend to eat less if I drink more water, which is another bonus. 🙂

OK, a couple of thoughts: No one is telling me that I can't feel things or want things or anything like that. But I am either alone or with my spouse for the most part these days. As I mentioned before, he is trying SUPER hard to make sure I get to do what I want to do. I will try the shower thing. But I do a ton of stuff with my body with several groups I am with, especially the Table of the Beloved with Summer Joy Gross. Here is a video of an example: Ok, I have tried the video you shared several times before and it doesn't make me shake. I guess maybe I am doing it wrong?

Never heard of this. Off to google.

Phoning friends won't work because all of my friends work and most have children at home in tons of activities. And remember our conversation awhile back about talking on the phone. No one I know does that anymore. Podcasts. Yes. I did that today. I try to walk some without anything sometimes as a spiritual discipline. But yes, most of the time I listen to podcasts if I am by myself.

OOOh. I really like the way you organized this. I will tweak it because I don't agree with all of it. But I really like the framework and it goes with @scholastica said and that is what I cannot figure out. So let me try my take: 1. At home with spouse: Walking works pretty well. Not perfect. But we generally walk a lot if the weather isn't horrible. So I should probably just be content with the good but not perfect. Water: It depends on weather or not this works because like I am so far down right now. I am having trouble even drinking 16 ounces of water. It is a slog. And by the time I travel in a little less than 2 weeks, I won't be up to my goal. 2. RV Trips Honestly, I don't have trouble with either walking or drinking water. 3. Mission Trips: Exercise isn't a problem at all. Lots of stairs and other walking. So it is fine. Water is an issue, but I don't know what to do with it. 4. At home alone or traveling alone which isn't all that often Huge problem on both counts. Eating is a huge issue as well. I have no one to stop me so I eat a ton of junk and sweetened drinks. No one is here to see so who cares if I walk. So, I need a system for being alone. That said, it will be 2 weeks now. Then not again until this summer when he goes on some mission trips without me.

Ok, this is the issue. I am not home enough to belong to any groups. That is part of my issue. If I were home, I would do what you suggest in a flash. But here is my schedule for just the next 3 months: Here at home until Feb 15th Trip to Indiana Feb 16- Feb 26th ( Part of which I will be alone, last 5 days hubby will join me as he flies there from Africa) Leading a ladies retreat March 1st- 3rd Short nearby camping trip to try out the new camper March 14-16 April 1st- May 6th RV trip to Indiana. Going to various state parks in between shows, recitals, graduation, etc. for our daughter May 24- June 8th Honduras Mission Trip

Ok, so strange. I finally called back myself. They tried to call me and it wouldn't put them through to my number... Weird. Anyway, I am on the schedule for Wednesday, and I don't need to do anything but go into the entrance of the hospital. I still think this is so strange that I have gotten no paperwork at all for this. No confirmation emails or anything.

Walking is the only one I do. To be truthful, I do not enjoy any exercise for exercise sake. What I enjoy about walking is talking to other people. I also don't mind walking like the way I only walked around campus or when I walked everywhere in Kenya. That is natural and has a purpose.

Update at end of first post.

I like that ten minutes. I will see how I can apply that.

I cannot make myself do it. I cannot. Last part is probably true to a certain extent, though he is constantly asking me now what "I" want to do and realizing that he can steamroll me without trying, so ever since his head bleed he is like, "Whatever you want or need, I will do or help you do."

Ok, I have read all the books and understand about starting small and habit stacking, but I cannot figure out how to make that work for me. I get them established, but then my routine changes and it is like trying to walk uphill again. Let's take two habits I would like to keep up: drinking more water (56 -64 ounces) and walking 3 miles at least 5 days a week. For water, I have a glass with me at all times. I drink 8 ounces before my first cup of coffee. But man, it is a chore to try and drink that much. I will try to drink 24 ounces every day this week and work my way up. What messes me up and causes me to start over? Mission trips. In Kenya, bathrooms are not readily available, so I made sure I quit eating and drinking by 7am (To start at 8:30) Then, I drank at lunch, but made sure I quit drinking by 1 to go back at 2. On hospice visitation days I barely drank at all because they never stopped at a bathroom unless I asked and it was just a hole in the ground. I would just barely sip water occasionally. I struggle to drink on driving days like in a couple of weeks, I will be driving by myself to Indiana and if I drink the 64 ounces, I would have to stop every 30 minutes to go to the bathroom. I can't do that. Anyway, I am constantly re-establishing this habit and it is always hard. Walking. If my husband is in town with me, then I do ok for this. Although if the weather is bad consistently, it won't happen. My husband does pushups and situps every day and rides a stationary bike the days we don't walk. I do nothing on the days we don't walk unless I am able to walk with a friend. But then like now, what about these 2 1/2 weeks he isn't here. How do I make myself walk? Or in Kenya, we walked when the weather allowed and he was with me. I couldn't walk alone there obviously. I have these walking videos I could do, but how do I make myself do them? Any suggestions?

Honestly, this was the big thing that all three of my children have against our homeschooling. They feel like they would have been better prepared socially for the world if they had gone to public school. They do not argue that they were way better prepared academically, way better than they would have been in public school. But they got very, very, very tired of being outcasts/outliers in all of our places: not conservative enough for homeschool group, too conservative for our church (sort of...hard to explain. No one homeschooled in our church. Nearly everyone who homeschooled went to one church in our small town, and it was too conservative for me. The homeschool group where we did co-ops and such were in a town 30 minutes away and people went to a couple of different churchs, again, more conservative than I was. I homeschooled for academic reasons, not religious reasons. Anyway, they just didn't fit with anyone and never really made close friends. Luckily, two out of my three did make some close friends in college. One of mine only has one friend that he occasionally goes to the movie with. He works remotely since Covid (which I HATE for him) and sees no one in person except at the grocery store or when he comes to stay with us sometimes.

She said A LOT of complimentary things about my daughter. So this is what I texted back to her: Thank you, and I did enjoy spending time with xxx over the holidays. Looking forward to seeing them both in xxxx (the show that is in a few weeks). That is all I texted. She texted back that she was glad I was going to come and that was the end of our conversation.