Daily Movement - Wednesday, December 16

[purpleowl]

Hello, everyone!

These threads are for those who'd like accountability and encouragement in doing intentional daily movement. Anyone may join in at any time!

[Ausmumof3]

Half an hour tennis and walked the dog today 

[purpleowl]

1.2 miles in the rain (yuck). Also did arms. 

[sbgrace]

Purpleowl--it's great you push onward even with weather being yuck! 

I tried a new aerobics video today. I'm so uncoordinated! I hate feeling that way in a work out! 15 minutes in, I was subbing in so much because I just couldn't do the "moves" right, that I decided to switch back to mid-stream of a Walk at Home. Total aerobic movement was a little 35 minutes. I did my pilates this evening--finished the challenge, so I'll cycle back to day 1 tomorrow. I think I'm getting stronger.  

 

[Jenny in Florida]

Sorry I missed posting yesterday. I was waiting until I was sure I was "done" for the day, and then I fell asleep.

I walked another 3.1K with the dog this morning, then had time for only 20 of my planned 30 minutes of cardio before I had to settle in to work. I had intended to make up the rest of that and do 30-ish on the bike "later," but I took a half day off today to do some holiday volunteering and came home pretty wiped out. Fortunately, the volunteering involved walking around for about three hours, so I at least met my step goal for today.

Sigh. Let's hope I get back on track tomorrow.

[purpleowl]

@sbgrace - it's Pokemon Go that helps me get out there even when the weather is yucky. 😂 It's a silly little game, but the little "prizes" in the form of game accomplishments that only happen when I walk are motivating for me.

@Jenny in Florida - I know you have some daily goals for yourself. How did you come up with them? 

[Pawz4me]

I was a slug yesterday. I hurt my back on Tuesday, and yesterday we had an icy/cold rain all day. So . . . slug. It was the first day I'd missed walking since at least October. Oh well. An opportunity to start a new streak. 😉 

[purpleowl]

4 minutes ago, Pawz4me said:

I was a slug yesterday. I hurt my back on Tuesday, and yesterday we had an icy/cold rain all day. So . . . slug. It was the first day I'd missed walking since at least October. Oh well. An opportunity to start a new streak. 😉 

Icy rain plus an already-hurt back doesn't sound like a good combo! Good to play it safe. 

[Jenny in Florida]

19 hours ago, purpleowl said:

 

@Jenny in Florida - I know you have some daily goals for yourself. How did you come up with them? 

It's been gradual, adding and refining. I started with daily step goals when I first got the FitBit and kept increasing those until I was walking 7-8 miles each day. I took a break while I was in treatment for the breast cancer, then started working back up again. When I was back to walking that much but my weight was stuck, I decided it was time to up the intensity and added 30 minutes of cardio MWF, alternating with some light strength work (lifting cans of garbanzos at first, because that's all I could handle) on Tuesdays and Thursdays to try and rebuild some of the muscle I lost with the mastectomy and recovery time. 

Then I fell and broke my (non-mastectomy-side) arm. And then I fell (multiple times) and hit my head and developed vertigo. So I wasn't allowed to go outside and walk by myself. I was still doing my 3X/week cardio as best I could, at first using videos that had me seated in a chair so I wouldn't fall down (or at least not fall as far). I worked back up to not needing the chair and guilted my husband into taking me for occasional short walks around the neighborhood, but I was still really antsy and started looking for something I could do safely indoors. With the blessing of my physical therapist, orthopedist and very nervous husband, I bought a stationary bike and set myself the goal of riding at least 30 minutes every day (the idea being to more or less replace the outside walking I wasn't doing regularly). 

Finally, the arm healed (mostly) and I got treated for the vertigo, and I am now allowed to walk outside by myself again. But in the meantime, I've developed a taste for the other exercise, too.

At some point, I discovered virtual challenges and was hooked. 

Something I've realized about myself during the Age of Staying Home is that, while no one would ever accuse me of being "athletic," I am by nature a pretty active person. Even all of those years when I was home with the kids, I was up and moving and doing things a lot of each day. And when I can't do that, my mood plummets. Since I've been struggling with depression for the last year or so, anyway, and am now doing so through a time when most of my regular self-care/coping mechanisms are not available to me, I've gotten increasingly dependent on those daily exercise goals to give my days and weeks a shape and a routine. 

Edited December 17, 2020 by Jenny in Florida