Frozen grapes on a hot Texas afternoon are AMAZING! 🙂
It was another slow week and I didn’t even come close to meeting my goal of averaging 9K steps per day. However, I did accomplish my 5K for June:
I’m fed up with the weight loss program I’m on through the VA. Weighing myself every day is more discouraging than anything else and the information is often outdated. For instance, it’s strongly suggested to use artificial sweeteners to reduce calories and to eliminate as much fat as possible. Also, I was told by the RN that strength training won’t help me lose weight.
Once I’m done with the program I’m going to sign up for the hopefully more up to date one offered for free through my employer. I’m also going to start a Couch to 5K program because, so far, my knees have been able to handle walking a 5K within an hour. It’s the pads of my feet that are having issues, and, as soon as I can, I’m buying some new shoes to hopefully remedy that problem.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
I didn’t even come close to meeting my goal for this week, even after I made the decision to redo week 9 (averaging 9K steps a day). I’m not going to bother blaming this on anything because that doesn’t matter and is beside the point.
I’m going to redo week 9 again this week and, hopefully, get off my rear end enough to do it. At least I went well over my stairs and active minutes goals again.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
This month’s #ShelfLove discussion is all about the real places in books that we would visit. While I would love to say I’d go on a road trip across the US, visiting all the literary spots that American literature has to offer, I realized after being honest with myself that the literary locations I want to travel to are, with one exception, in Europe. Without further ado, here is the literary vacation I would take if time and money weren’t an issue.
First stop: Scotland
Image: Moyan Brenn
If you are someone who knows me well enough to know what my favorite series is, then you would also know that the first place I would visit, and where I want to someday move to, is Scotland. Particularly the Highlands of Scotland, but, thanks to the Boyfriend’s Scottish roots, I would also traipse around the Lowlands. I would probably need a year to see every little spot and visit every library and bookstore.
Next stop: England
Image: rawenImage: summonedbyfells
I wouldn’t spend nearly as much time in England, but it would still take me awhile to see everything because I would visit for two reasons. The first being that I would have to visit every real place mentioned in the Harry Potter series. The second being that I could not go to England without seeing anything and everything related to J.R.R Tolkien. Also, I would want to stay in Podditon. Perhaps half a year would suffice.
Next stop: France
Image: marnix.catteeuw
I would spend even less time in France, but I added it to my list of literary vacation spots after I read The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George. The idea of slowly making my way down the Seine in a barge full of books and stopping for a long visit in Cuisery while improving my spoken French seems like the perfect way to spend a lazy month or two.
Last stop: New Zealand
Image: Tom Hall
This is another obvious choice if you know me well enough to know my all-time favorite book. Thanks to that book and The Lord of the Rings books being made into movies, I can now visit the home of my people, Hobbiton, as well as other Middle Earth locations. I would probably only stay here for a week or so before heading back home to Texas.
If you won the lottery or had a seemingly endless trust fund and lots of time to kill, where would you go?
I finally lost another pound, but I’m not counting it as truly gone until it hasn’t returned for a week.
This week, my goal was to average 9k steps per day. That didn’t happen, even though I started out the week with enough extra steps to have a couple rest days. However, my mood, my feet, and the weather combined to keep me from walking enough to meet my goal. I may have to get a bit tougher with myself to make sure I get my steps.
On the plus side, I went well over my stairs and active minutes goals.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
My weight is still holding steady. As I move into week 8, the final week, of the I Quit Sugar program, I’m thinking I’ll begin tracking the number of calories I’m eating again. I may not make any changes to what I’m eating, but I want to see if I’m taking in more calories than I’m burning.
This week, my goal was to average 8k steps per day. Thanks to some laziness over the weekend (which I think I needed, so no regrets there) and some foot pain after I did a 5K, I didn’t make any of my goals. However, I still did well the days that I did exercise, and I’m proud of myself for accomplishing that 5K.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
My weight is still holding steady. While it’s great that I haven’t gained back any of the weight I’ve lost so far, it’s a little frustrating to have plateaued so early on.
This week, my goal was to average 7k steps per day. Now that I go walking during my two 15 minute breaks and for half of my lunch break while I’m at work, my step goal is a breeze. I’m still concerned about what will happen now that the temperature is starting to climb, but for now, I’m not having a problem getting enough exercise throughout the day.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
My weight has held steady this week, but I’ve successfully made it through another week without sugar. I miss chocolate, though.
This week, my goal was to average 6k steps per day. I had to work a little harder to meet that, but I did it! Since the Boyfriend and I moved, my commute to and from work is just long enough to make it difficult to get a full workout in after work and still have time to do my physical therapy exercises, shower, eat dinner, and relax before going to bed. So, I decided to rearrange my day a little. I now go walking during my two 15 minute breaks and for half of my lunch break while I’m at work. If I need to, I can still work out when I get home, but without feeling rushed for time or as if the rest of my life is stopping me from making my health a priority. The only problem with this plan is that I live in Texas, so I might not be able to continue walking outside once Summer arrives.
I completed my 1 Mile Fun “Run” for May on Wednesday:
I’m hoping to be able to do a 5K by the end of the month.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
I’ve managed to keep 3 lbs. off so far this week. Completely quitting sugar hasn’t been too difficult, except for a couple of days after Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon. I was majorly craving all kinds of junk food. I’m sure those cravings came from a lack of sleep, and I didn’t give in to them.
This week, my goal was to average 5k steps per day (I’m in week 5 of the program, but only week 4 into quitting sugar). That was easy to meet, but I’ll have to work a little bit harder to get next week’s average of 6k steps per day.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
For this month’s #ShelfLove discussion, participants are supposed to write about their local library. However, I’ve done that before. A couple of different times. I’ve also written about the important role libraries have played in my life. Libraries have had such an enormous impact on my life that I want to be a Librarian. Unfortunately, that’s several years away, and I haven’t set foot in a library since before I graduated. I’ve stopped myself from checking out any books because I have so many at home that my shelves are struggling under the weight. So, instead of writing about a library I haven’t been to in several months, I’ve decided to re-share those older posts along with a few links about libraries and librarians.
With the weight loss program, I’ve had slightly different goals than the ones I’ve had while participating in Fit Readers. I realized by having two different sets of goals, I’m not being fair to myself. So, I’ve edited the goals below to reflect my goals with the program.
I’ve managed to keep 2 lbs. off so far this week. Fingers crossed that that doesn’t change by the end of the weekend. I’m hoping it’s because I’m in week 3 of the I Quit Sugar plan, which is the week I had to cut out sugar completely. The first two weeks were all about cutting back and making small changes.
Before, I would only increase my step goal when I eventually met my step goal for that week. That meant that I sometimes went months without increasing my step goal. With the new program, I’m holding myself more accountable and increasing it each week regardless of whether or not I meet it. I’m also making a point of hitting my step goal each day before I allow myself to be “lazy”, which, barring injury or illness, means I’ll be more likely to at least meet that minimum goal.
This week, my goal was to average 4k steps per day (I’m in week 4 of the program, but I gave myself an extra week to quit sugar since I started this right in the middle of moving; hence the difference, in case you noticed). That’s an easy goal, I know, but the point of going back to lower steps is to ensure I achieve my goals the first few weeks, making it more likely that I won’t give up or get discouraged.
If you’d like to add me as a friend on FitBit, you can find me HERE.
Steps: 36,658/28,000
Miles: 15.44/14
Flights of stairs: 112/70
Active Minutes: 134/210
Monthly 5K Races Completed: 1/10
Monthly 1 Mile Fun “Runs” Completed: 2/10
Total Money Donated: $13.49/$100.00 – I’m having trouble getting logged in again. I’ll update it when I can.
