Health at Every Size

Still Getting Better!

/ Bethany / 2 Comments

I had a great week. Everything keeps getting better. Last week I wrote some posts about how CPAP therapy is going for me. You can read them here, and here.

My kid had an ear infection this week, so he woke us up a lot at night for a few days, and I felt tired. But the amazing thing is, my mood was still good.  Even after 4 nights of interrupted sleep. In the months before I got my CPAP, if my kid had a bad night, my mood was terrible the next day. I found dealing with people to be too overwhelming. I felt irritable. I don’t drink coffee regularly, but I would go get coffee on those days. It didn’t help much. So, it was a big deal that this week we had four nights of interrupted sleep, and my mood was good even though I was tired.

In fact, I even did some housework after that fourth day! My kid was taking a nap, and a friend called. While I was chatting with her, I noticed that I had energy and didn’t want to sit still. So I got down on the floor and began stretching. Then I was done, and looking for something else to do. So I started cleaning off my bathroom countertop. Then the floor around the toilet. Then the baseboard. Then the sink. Then a couple spots on the walls, and the mirror. Then  dusted the bookshelf in my room, and in kiddo’s room. Then I took the trash cans out to the curb. Then I changed the cat litter. And all this was on a day I had already lifted in the morning, and after 4 days of sick-kiddo-interrupted sleep.

This was more housework than I would get done in a month or two, before. Before, I never had any motivation to do housework. The thought of it always seemed overwhelming.  I felt self conscious, thinking that everyone thought I was lazy, but I still couldn’t get myself to do it.  And I never would have done it on the same day I lifted weights. I always needed a lot of rest and recovery time afterwards. Essentially, I had to choose between lifting and housework. I always chose lifting, because it was more fun and it gave me lots of benefits, such as normalizing my blood sugar and just feeling better. It is amazing to me that now I can do BOTH sometimes.

My complexion is also improving. The photo on the left was taken a couple weeks before I started CPAP. The photo on the right was taken 12 days after I started CPAP. Look how my skin and eyes have brightened up!
image

I still haven’t been able to take a nap with the machine on. I tried for the second time this week and couldn’t fall asleep. However, laying in a dark room breathing deeply for 30 minutes was refreshing enough in and of itself.

On the training front, I finished my second Wendler 5 3 1 cycle of the year. The new minimalist lifting schedule is working out great. I still feel strong, and I still have enough energy to handle my other shit. So I will be keeping that up.  Unfortunately I caught my kid’s bug, so I will be waiting a few days to start the third cycle.

Like this blog?

You can follow via email (on the right side of the screen if you are viewing on a desktop, or closer to the bottom (after the comments) if you are mobile.

You can also follow me on Facebook.

I Cut My Grocery Bill in Half!

/ Bethany / 2 Comments

Last month I posted about how eating intuitively had suddenly clicked for me….but that my shopping and cooking habits hadn’t caught up to my eating habits yet, so I was wasting a lot of food.

Well, this evening I went grocery shopping and realized that for the past two weeks, I had easily spent almost half of what I had spent in prior weeks. Even though I bought plenty of vegetables and fruit, some meat and seafood and eggs, and some treat foods (I still had plenty of dry goods in the pantry).

And the past couple Sunday nights, my husband and I have cooked some food to have on hand for the upcoming week, and we have done a pretty good job cooking the right amount for the week and not throwing much away.

And my pantry is pretty full, so I’m sure that if I actually bothered to meal plan, I’d spend even less.

So, I would say that I am adjusting well to my new intuitive eating habits….and they are benefiting not only my physical health (better sleep), but my budget too!

A Weighty Experiment

/ Bethany / 5 Comments

I sometimes struggle with whether, when, and how I should mention bodyweight changes on this blog.

I have been very grateful for online support in my healthy habits practice. Some of my favorite groups have a lot in common. They recommend focusing on:

  • the process of creating healthy habits, as opposed to the outcome
  •  loving your body as it is, now
  • finding a form of movement you enjoy doing consistently
  • learning to pay attention to your hunger and satiety signals, and recognizing factors that might prevent you from doing this
  • getting enough rest
  • taking care of mental and emotional health
  • getting treatment for any medical conditions you may have
  • setting healthy boundaries
  • cultivating patience and long term, sustainable habits that fit into your life

But when it comes to the question of “should we discuss bodyweight / weight loss?” ,  there is definitely a difference of opinion. Of course there are shades of gray in everything, but I’ve noticed that the support groups I love tend to fall into one of two camps: the “HAES/no weight loss talk allowed” camp, and the “discussion about habits that encourage weight loss is allowed and encouraged” camp.

Since I learn from and benefit from groups in both of these camps, I sometimes struggle with “what direction do I take for this blog?”

Continue reading →

A Great Day!

/ Bethany / Leave a comment

I had a fantastic day today!

I started off in a really grumpy mood. I hadn’t been to barbell club in a while and I wanted to go alone. But my husband had physical therapy and I was grumpy about bringing my kiddo.

It turned out great though. Kiddo ran off his energy by running laps around the training rig and playing with various balls and jump ropes he found, as well as the dogs that were visiting today, and his lunch, and his toy barbell.

Once I started lifting I felt better. My lifts felt great today and it turned my mood around! I did snatches, clean and jerks, and bench presses. Even though I am only doing olympic lifts once per week now, I felt good about how they went. And my bench press form is improving. Like a real powerlifter with my back arched and my ass off the bench! I also got some tips on setting up a sumo deadlift, which I will try tomorrow when I do my deadlifts.

Afterwards I got to go out by myself. I got a new phone for my birthday and I went to get it activated. I can’t tell whether I am more excited about the new phone or the CPAP machine I am getting on Tuesday.

And then got myself some treats. Something from a local candy shop called a fudge caramallow I think? And some Vietnamese food. I ate them for dinner. Om nom nom. Oh, and a jasmine limeade while I waited for takeout and played with my new phone. (Oh, THAT would be why I still have so much energy this late at night. The green tea in the limeade…)

I am excited to go watch a weightlifting competition tomorrow! It will be my first competition I am watching in person (as opposed to online).

I Color-Coded My Habit Tracker, and Couldn’t Believe What Happened Next

/ Bethany / 1 Comment

When I color coded my habit tracking spreadsheet, I thought it was just going to be a fun way to categorize my habits and make my spreadsheet nice to look at. I didn’t realize that it would also encourage and reinforce moderation, balance and slow, sustainable changes. I didn’t know that it would discourage obsessing over one particular area of lifestyle at the expense of other areas. And yet, that’s exactly what it is doing.

Habit Sheet

Continue reading →

Weekend update – New Wendler Cycle, New Habits, and other Miscellany

/ Bethany / 1 Comment

Nothing exciting today. Just a weekend update. Boring ass real life on the habit train….

Last week I finished my first cycle of Wendler 5/3/1 and this weekend I started my second cycle. So far it’s going well. I like the flexibility. I can spend less than 20 minutes per day if I want….or if I prefer I can combine days. I like how I feel so far.  Some days I’ve lifted first thing in the morning. Other days, after my kid goes to bed.

For this cycle, I am going to try including Olympic lifts 1 day per week, and see how that feels for me. I did them last night while watching Grease Live with my husband. The clean and jerk still felt pretty easy. The snatch felt a little awkward after a four week break.

I’ve been having some issues with my medical insurance not wanting to cover the recommended follow up testing for my diagnosis. Looks like I will probably be getting a machine soon, however. Fingers crossed! Now that I know I’m not breathing well at night, I want to fix it as soon as possible.

I went in for some routine bloodwork and weighed myself on the scale at the lab. The scale confirmed what I already knew by the way my clothes fit – I had lost a few pounds since I last weighed myself 3 months ago.  I didn’t do anything to intentionally lose the pounds; I just continued with all my habits, with the addition of using my new intuitive eating skills.  I’m trying not to get excited or put too much pressure on myself. It’s more difficult than it sounds.

It’s been about 5 weeks since I added a new habit. I am adding two more habits to my list today:

  • eat a vegetable with at least two meals (goal: 150 days by the end of the year).
  • do something myself instead of asking my husband to do it (goal: 150 days by the end of the year).

I’ve already been doing these items more than usual, so I’m pretty sure I can succeed with these goals.

January Report: Kicking Some Habit Butt

/ Bethany / 2 Comments

It is the end of the month and I love statistics! Here’s how my habit goals are going, as of the morning of January 31, 2016.

Number of days tracking habit goals: 398!

2016 Progress:

  • Days lifted some weights on purpose: 17 (11%  of goal of 160 by the end of the year )
  • Days taken a walk on purpose: 14 (7% of goal of 200)
  • Days eaten at least one green vegetable: 27 (8% of goal of 355)
  • Days taken my Vitamin D: 19 (5% of goal of 355)
  • Days finished my food for the day by 8pm: 17 (8% of goal of 255 by the end of the year)
  • Days no TV shows started after 9pm: 27 (11% of goal of 250)
  • Days in bed by 10pm: 21 (8% of goal of 250)
  • Days named something I love or appreciate about myself: 30 (8% of goal of 350)
  • Days named something I feel grateful for: 30 (8% of goal of 350)
  • Dates with my husband: 1 (10% of goal of 10)
  • Days said or did something nice for my husband on purpose: 15 (6% of goal of 250)
  • Days deposited at least $10 into my family’s emergency fund: 2 (4% of goal of 50)
  • Days made a pot of rice and beans: 1 (2% of goal of 45)
  • Days did some cleaning on purpose: 10 (20% of goal of 50)
  • Objects gotten rid of: 40 (8% of goal of 500)

Reflections on these numbers

I am doing so many of my habits really well! We are 8% of the way through 2016, so any habit where I did at least 8% is a habit that is on target or better. That means I am kicking ass and taking names at: lifting weights, eating green vegetables, finishing my food early enough in the day that I can sleep well-ish, not turning on the TV after 9pm, getting to bed by 10pm, naming things I love/appreciate about myself, naming things I feel grateful for, dates with my husband, cleaning my house sometimes, and getting rid of things that don’t spark joy.

I’m even going to say I am kicking ass at taking walks, even though I am only 7% of the way to that goal. It’s January in New England! I expected January to be a less productive month in the walking department. Last year we had tons of snow, but this year we haven’t so I have been able to take some walks. I’ve been working it into my schedule by taking a long lunch and walking at a nearby park on days I work if the weather has been nice enough (the walking track there is paved).

I need to find a “habit trigger” for taking my Vitamin D. It is such an easy thing to do and the only thing that is keeping me from doing it more is that I forget. So I need a trigger such as “take Vitamin D at breakfast” or “take Vitamin D with ice cream” or something like that. The issue is….sometimes I eat my breakfast in a rush, and I don’t eat ice cream every day. I’ll need to give some thought to a good “habit trigger” for this.

As for the habits where I am a little behind, I’m not worried about them. I’ve had extra responsibilities and expenses this month due my husband still not being able to drive after his injury. Given that, I think I should be proud of myself for doing well in the essential areas, and not worry about the things I’ve done less of due to prioritizing and triage.

Wondering how I figured out these habit goals? I wrote a series of posts about my process. You can start here.

Wondering how I track my goals? That’s covered in the third post of the series, and also in this post.

Wondering how I did in 2015, and what effects I’ve noticed? Here’s the report.

Like this blog?

You can follow via email (on the right side of the screen if you are viewing on a desktop, or closer to the bottom (after the comments) if you are mobile.

You can also follow me on Facebook.

Minimalist Lifting, Week 2 Training Log

/ Bethany / 2 Comments

I am about halfway through my second week on a more minimal lifting program.  Here are some thoughts and observations.

If you read about the Wendler 5/3/1 program online, you will see that each day has you do 3 sets of the main lift. There are different templates you can follow for assistance work. The templates have names like “Big But Boring,” and “The Triumvirate.” The template where you do just the main lift, with no assistance work, is called “I’m Not Doing Jack Shit.”

Continue reading →