Tag: #FitReaders

• This check-in is for July 6th – 12th.
• As I mentioned in yesterday’s “Building the Book Fort,” my relationship of 12 years ended last weekend and I will be moving to my own place in the coming months. This somewhat sudden major life change put me in a lot of pain, both emotional and physical, but right now, in this moment, I’m doing OK.
• I went to the Columbus Book Festival yesterday. Though the festival was expanded, I think there were even more people than last year, and the lines for just about everything were still very long. The one author panel I was really looking forward to had a line that wrapped around the inside of the library (which, for my readers who have never been there, is massive) and I knew there was no way I was going to get a seat or even a place to stand before the auditorium was full. Since I had been on my feet most of the day, and was exhausted, I decided to go home and skip the last author panel I had planned on seeing. I left at just the right time and beat the traffic of everyone leaving for the day. I also got home right when a thunderstorm was rolling in. Overall, it was a good day, though. I bought three books, a few stickers to put on my water bottle, a pack of “Bookworm Bingo” cards, and a notebook with a cover that says “THE POSSIBILITIES ARE ENDLESS.”
• My plan for the notebook is to start a list of all the things I can and want to do now that I’m not in a relationship. It won’t be a bucket list so much as a reminder list of the advantages of being single. I’m also planning something fun for me to do each month. For instance, in October, I’ll be going to see “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” I don’t have anything planned for August or September yet, so if you have ideas, please leave a comment!

• Exercise Days: 1/7
• Steps: 41,828
• Miles: 16.91/16.31
• Total Miles: 416.68/850
• Zone Minutes: 85/150

• This check-in is for June 29th – July 5th.
• My life has been turned upside down and shaken vigorously. I’m barely holding it together emotionally, and the stress is causing me some neck and shoulder pain. I’m meditating every day, and doing other things for self-care, so I’m sure I would be an absolute wreck if I hadn’t already established those habits and routines.

• Exercise Days: 3/7
• Steps: 33,693
• Miles: 13.62/16.31
• Total Miles: 399.77/850
• Zone Minutes: 115/150

• This check-in is for June 22nd – 28th.
• This week was much better than last week. Life has calmed down considerably, and I chose to rest as much as possible while I had the space and time to do so.

• Exercise Days: 0/7
• Steps: 37,798
• Miles: 15.31/16.31
• Total Miles: 386.15/850
• Zone Minutes: 45/150

• This check-in is for June 15th – 21st.
• This past week has felt like being stuck in the middle of a whirlwind. It wasn’t tornado-level chaos, but it was definitely stressful, difficult, and exhausting. My boyfriend was out of town, one of the short-term medications I was on to help get my nerve pain under control was causing a bunch of unpleasant side effects, and one of my two cats got sick with some kind of stomach thing.
• One of the biggest things that helped me get through the week was breathing exercises. I still felt on edge and had all of my usual stress responses, but making myself stop periodically to breathe deeply for a few moments kept me from going over that edge into a breakdown. My body is still feeling some side effects from the medication (feeling tense, jumpy, and agitated regardless of what’s going on), but the deliberate, slow breathing is letting my body know that I am not in fact being chased by a wild animal.
• The other thing that helped a lot was the decision to go to a day-long meditation retreat yesterday, even though I thought to myself that I couldn’t possibly take the time to do that with so many other things that needed doing. When I realized I was trying to talk myself out of going to the retreat because of busyness, I knew, barring any real emergency, I HAD to go to the retreat.

• Exercise Days: 0/7
• Steps: 41,258
• Miles: 16.72/16.31
• Total Miles: 370.84/850
• Zone Minutes: 77/150

• This check-in is for June 8th – 14th.
• I’ve been nearly pain free all weekend thanks to the new medications I’m on. I also don’t deal with as much stress on the weekends (as long as I stay away from the news), so I’m sure relaxing, finally getting better sleep (again, thanks to the meds), and taking some much needed time for self-care have all gone a long way towards helping me manage my pain.
• Someone recently told me that our mental health (and really all parts of us, but he was speaking specifically about mental health) is no different than keeping a car. You would never get one oil change in your car and expect it to run well forever more. Cars, just like our mental health, need regular maintenance. I knew that on an intellectual level, but until those words were said, I didn’t truly understand the connection between my struggles with my mental health and my frequent neglect of it. Over the years, any time I started feeling good again, I would stop meditating, journaling, going to therapy, etc., not getting that I was feeling good because I was taking care of myself and not because I was “cured.”
• I take the time and effort to care for my car, my plants, my pets, and anything/anyone else I love, and now I know I deserve and NEED the same level of care for the rest of my life, not just when I’m sick or hurting. That is such a simple truth, and it only took me a couple of decades to learn it.

• Exercise Days: 4/7
• Steps: 39,506
• Miles: 15.95/16.31
• Total Miles: 354.12/850
• Zone Minutes: 53/150

• This check-in is for June 1st – 7th.
• Everything I’ve been doing to try to manage the pain I’m in seems to be at least helping. I’ve had a few pain free hours every once in a while over the past week, and I’m getting a bit more sleep.
• To help me track my symptoms and what I’m doing, I got the Bearable app. So far, it’s already showing me that my pain gets worse when I’ve been stressed, which I suspected.
• Seeing this pain-stress connection in the data, and reading Mind Your Body, has gotten me to truly focus on my self-care, and not just for pain-relief. I’ve suffered from Anxiety and Depression most of my adult life, and I haven’t been great about managing those. So, I’m back to journaling regularly, going to a group, attending to my spiritual health, and reading books that might help me. I will likely start going to see a therapist again, but I’m on the fence about that right now.

• Exercise Days: 4/7
• Steps: 42,997
• Miles: 17.39/16.31
• Total Miles: 338.17/850
• Zone Minutes: 21/150

• This check-in is for May 25th – 31st.
• I’m still dealing with a lot of pain, but yesterday I was determined to go to the Pop Cats convention to see all things cat-related, but also to meet Lydia Sherrer, the author of the “Love, Lies, and Hocus Pocus” series. The boyfriend and I had a good time, and I was the happiest I’ve been in a while. Not only did I get to meet Lydia, I also got a pic with her, and I now have signed copies of the last two books in the series. While we were only at the convention for a couple of hours, I had to lay down when we got home, and wasn’t able to do anything else for the rest of the day but rest.
• I checked out Mind Your Body by Nicole J. Sachs from the library, I bought a massage pad, starting taking a supplement that is supposed to help with nerve pain, and I got the Reverse Health 28-Day somatic exercise program, all because I’m getting desperate to alleviate my pain. Medication isn’t working, and while I do have a serious diagnosis that will likely require surgery, it’s two weeks until I get to see a doctor, and I’m struggling to function.

• With my physical and energy limitations in mind, I’ve decided to change “Active Days” to “Exercise Days,” and will track how many days each week I do one of the somatic workouts from the Reverse Health app.

• Exercise Days: 2/7
• Steps: 40,217
• Miles: 16.09/16.31
• Total Miles: 320.78/850
• Zone Minutes: 25/150

• This check-in is for May 18th – 24th.
• In yesterday’s “Building the Book Fort” I wrote about how I had to go to Urgent Care. My shoulder pain is actually a problem with my neck. So far, it hasn’t gotten much better. I did manage to get a decent amount of sleep last night, but I feel like I paid for it with severe pain this morning that has only let up a little. Since Friday, I’ve tried a number of different things that have worked in varying degrees, but nothing is getting me to the point where I can go about my day normally. It’s sapping my energy, ruining my mood, and even making reading difficult.

• Active Days: 0/5
• Steps: 38,507
• Miles: 15.62/16.31
• Total Miles: 304.69/850
• Zone Minutes: 23/150

• This check-in is for May 11th – 17th.
• The boyfriend and I went to a couple farmers’ markets yesterday and had a good time hanging out in the sun and walking around for the day. We went to a small, local Greek restaurant for lunch, and we’ll probably be returning there in the future.
• I also decided to do another screen-free 24 hours, but I wasn’t entirely successful. I used my phone far more than I normally would, but I stayed off my computer and away from the TV. I also finished two books, and I feel more relaxed, so I’m happy.

• Active Days: 1/5
• Steps: 48,806
• Miles: 19.46/16.31
• Total Miles: 289.07/850
• Zone Minutes: 38/150

• This check-in is for May 4th – 10th.
• The weather has gotten much nicer, and I had a couple of vacation days this week, so I’m feeling much better than I have in the past few weeks, both physically and mentally.
• I’ve been mostly relaxing with my cats while my boyfriend has been out of town, but I’ve done a little bit of gardening (mostly weeding). I plan to do some more today once I’ve got some chores done.

• Active Days: 1/5
• Steps: 28,529
• Miles: 11.54/16.31
• Total Miles: 269.61/850
• Zone Minutes: 52/150