My anti-anxiety meds are working so far, but it was rough going until a couple days ago, so I’ve taken it easy with myself about everything.
The Boyfriend added me to his yoga membership so I can now go to as many yoga classes as I want on my own. I went with him on Sunday, and I plan to start going after work at least 3 days a week.
I’ve been concentrating on getting enough water this week, and my efforts paid off. Five out of Seven days isn’t bad, and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to say I drank at least 64 ounces of water every day in next week’s check-in.
Image: Dominic Hartnett
For those of you who regularly read the posts I write here at Fortified By Books, you probably noticed that this past Friday I did not post my weekly Fit Readers check-in. It’s the first time I haven’t posted a check-in since I joined Fit Readers. I simply didn’t have the spoons to look at my FitBit stats and write about what has been going on. Instead, I chilled out on the couch with my cat and watched Parenthood.
As many of you know I have dealt with Anxiety and Depression for years. I’ve considered myself lucky to not have to be on any kind of medication for over a decade. That changed this week.
Until Tuesday afternoon, I was feeling pretty good. I’ve got a great boyfriend who’s family is amazing. I’ve got a job that, while it’s not my dream job, pays the bills. I’ve got friends, and this blog, and a hundred other things in my life that are either great or at least going well. So why did I have an anxiety attack at work? Why did the panicky feelings continue into the evening and then on into Wednesday? For the first time, I have no idea. Usually, my anxiety escalates during major life changes, not when my day to day life is stable.
For the first time since my first anxiety attack when I was a teenager, I was scared for myself. I knew I had lost control and needed help. I called my Doctor. I said “Yes” when I was asked if I was open to medication. I took my new meds for the first time on Thursday morning, and while I’m doing pretty well, SSRIs are not the kind of pills you just take and then everything is magically better. Hence the lack of spoons to write a simple weekly blog post.
While I can’t promise that I’ll definitely have a Fit Readers post up this Friday or any other post for that matter, I’m slowly adding back in all the activities I normally do as long as I feel I have the energy. I’m not going anywhere. This blog and the community of book bloggers I’m a part of means too much to me to shut it down. So, I’ll see you back here as soon as I can.
This check-in is for November 25th – December 1st.
I’m getting better about drinking enough water, and that’s pretty much my only accomplishment this week. I hope my groin muscle heals soon so I can get back to exercising.
I’m no longer tracking my food and the only reason why is because I’m not eating at restaurants or eating other easily trackable (i.e. pre-packaged) meals much anymore. Instead, I’m cooking at home and eating real food. Trying to figure up the nutrition information for everything takes up far too much of my time; time that could be used to sit and enjoy my food.
I won’t say that everything I eat is super healthy, but it’s full of flavor, which means I’m eating less because I’m more quickly satisfied. I’m also taking in fewer calories and less fat, sodium, and sugar, just from the fact that I have control over the ingredients. I’m also only eating when I’m hungry, and allowing myself to have a snack if I get hungry between meals. I’m much happier than I was when I was trying to track everything I put in my mouth.
I still need to improve on getting enough water, though.
The Texas Book Festival was over the weekend. I was only able to go on Saturday, but, WOW, did I get a lot of steps racked up! I walked over 12K steps, and I definitely felt it the next day.
I’m having a really difficult time getting my butt out of bed early enough to get a workout in, shower, and make it to work on time. If you have any ideas to help me get motivated, please share them in the comments.
Mandatory overtime is finally over! Now I just have to get my butt out of bed to go workout in the mornings.
My new FitBit is much more accurate than my old one, and it turns out, I haven’t been getting nearly as many steps or burning as many calories as my old one was counting 🙁 No wonder I haven’t been losing any weight.
I wrote up a new plan, which means some new goals, but I haven’t implemented it yet, so I’m going to wait until the next check-in to list them below.
I’m still working mandatory overtime, but starting next week that should be ending *fingers crossed*
I removed the Monthly 1 mile and 5K goals since there’s no way I’ll be able to get a total of 10 of either before the end of the year.
I got a new FitBit, thanks to the Boyfriend 🙂 It’s the Blaze, and I LOVE IT!
The Boyfriend has started school and has to get up at 5am every morning. I’ve adjusted my schedule to better fit his and since I now have more time in the morning than I do in the evening, I’m planning on exercising before I go to work. I’ve got to write up a plan this weekend so I know what I’ll do on the days that I’m not doing cardio, but I already know I’m going to concentrate on my core strength and keeping my ITBS in check. So, I’ll probably have some new goals listed below for the next check-in.
The Boyfriend had eye surgery this week and his Mom was in town to help out. So, of course, tracking my food and water went out the window for most of the week.
I didn’t lose any weight again this week, and I’m ok with that since I’m eating healthier and steadily getting more exercise.
I’ve improved a little bit more on drinking enough water. I got at least 45 ounces on the days I didn’t quite make it to 64.
I created a FitReaders team for the Step It Up challenge. If you’d like to join me and 8 other wonderful people, just click on the link to sign up. You don’t have to have a fitness tracker to participate.
