Health and Fitness November, 2024

[Harriet]

Let's do something healthy with November! There's a 30-day clean slate awaiting us! For many of us, this the month that leads up to the season of more social engagements, more visitors and more acquaintance-renewal than any other time of year! For others, it's going to be a month of recuperation back to strength, so we're making plans to feel a lot better by it's end! Some have success with plans already in motion. No matter what, we can see a positive change a month from now with a little Habit Forming!

Can you "put your finger on" the change/trend you'd enjoy seeing over the month? What is it?

What is the habit(s) that, in 30 straight days (or 15 "every-other-days"), could offer you that change?

If you'd like to, commit with us to the new habit(s) you choose for November and we'll cheer each other on for 30 days!

For inspiration, take a look at our October thread : 7 pages of attention, goals, researching, and smart cookies.

[Lady Maverick]

Harriet - THANK YOU for this monthly focus thread on Health and Fitness.

I spent some time considering what I wanted to prioritize during November TAKING CARE OF MYSELF health focus

Protein - 120g
Carbs - 70g
Fat - 36g
My calorie goal is derived from the 3 macronutrients goal.
Protein has 4 calories per gram so 120g x 4 =480 calories of protein
Carbs have 4 calories per gram so 70g x 4 = 280 calories of carbs
Fat has 9 calories per gram so 36g x 9 = 9 = 324 calories of fat
Adding 480 + 280 + 324 = 1,084 calories per day.

I am aware many people say never to go below 1200 calories a day. I am choosing to listen to my own body. I have months of data and am monitoring the micronutrients (minerals and vitamins) that I eat and using recommended daily amounts for what I am eating. I am almost never hungry if I keep my protein level up. The only micronutrient that I am missing is choline. I cannot figure that one out. I am adding liver this month to my frequent foods to see if I can increase my choline intake.

Something I recently read that sorta shocked and challenged me.

“Not reading ingredient labels is like taking random pills from a stranger.”

[Ramblinrose]

I had another tummy flare up… although I ate very little Halloween candy, I’m pretty sure that’s what set it off. Especially since I’m not eating sugar any more.

LadyM… I do well with added protein and staying around 1200 calories. My body seems happy with that.

However, I’m still eating easy today. Yesterday it was yogurt and avocado toast, plus lots of tea to drink. Think I’m gonna repeat that today.

[Lady Maverick]

I'm settling into my new month tracking sheet. I have added some things to track and decided some others were not giving me useful feedback so I removed them. Got to be useful information or I don't want to put the effort into tracking it.

I might have set my macro goals a little too aggressive. I will settle in with these numbers for a few days and see how it goes. I have no problem changing them if these numbers are impossible for me to meet in this phase of my life. However, I want to try a few days and see what the results are.

I remember when every single night I was aways in a battle with binge eating after getting the kids to bed. I rarely think about eating at night now. I was sorta surprised last night with how I handled 2 stressful situations without wanting to eat something to relieve the stress. DS16 got a call from a friend that is a girl (not girlfriend) that she was with someone that had been drinking and she needed a ride home. DS16 woke me up around midnight to ask if he could go get her and take her home (about a 50 mile drive). I agreed to it and stayed up until about 2am when DS16 was safely home again. I went back to sleep only to be woken up again at 2:30 by powerful storms. We lost electricity but our whole house generator didn't come on. DH and DS16 went out into the storm (lots of lightening) to check the generator settings. One of the switches wasn't put back into automatic mode the last time it was tested. ANYway I was awake another hour with that and making sure the tornadoes were not near us. Overall I was awake in stressful situations for 3 hours during the middle of the night but did not eat anything. I didn't even want to eat anything. THAT lack of desire to eat was definitely not my previous pattern.

[Nancy]

Thanks for the sharing on here.
I have had some tummy upset not sure what if it was flu yesterday or the new creamer flavor or what.
But am thinking I need to log some info.
Last night almost took to much insulin caught it just in time.
So might have to go back to the logs l Ike I did in the beginning.
Knee was acting up and all joints and muscles were achey / making me think flu instead of food intake.

I did get my steps in each day. Not as many 10 k days that is already being tracked on my phone app so not
really a need to do it here as well.
Point of Interest it takes apx. 100 steps to burn 10 calories according to my phone app.

[Lady Maverick]

I am comfortable with my effort in tracking nutrition and want to just keep on keeping on with what I am currently doing.

Now that part of TAKING CARE OF MYSELF is back on track I am ready to put some focus on moving my body. I am on day #139 of doing morning mile so that feels comfortable. But my overall daily steps have taken a deep hit after the 2nd periodontal surgery. I was on day #61 of getting at least 7k steps when I lost that habit. I averaged 6086 steps for the month of October.

Also I am noticing my hourly step goal has tanked since I quit focusing on getting at least 250 steps each of the 14 hours. I think if I focus on moving at least 250 steps per hour that habit will take care of reaching 7K steps per day.

However I am hesitant to commit to the hourly steps because I get frustrated because it never gives me credit for moving my body when i am doing some activities. When i am in the kitchen on my feet 100% of the time cooking it never counts many steps. Also I feel penalized for being in the garden and driving because those activities don't rack up steps. I am not kicked back in my recliner doing nothing, so I don't want to be penalized. I am trying to think of a way to focus on the hourly step goal without getting frustrated.
note to self....if this is all I have to complain about, then I need to do an attitude check and count my blessings.

[Ramblinrose]

LadyM… I feel the same way when counting steps. It won’t count them unless I’m swing my arm. So if I’m working in the house say like dusting or sweeping and moving my feet but not my arm swing it won’t show up in my step count.

I put on a pair of jeans today that I haven’t worn in awhile. They fit but I am finding them uncomfortable so they are going into my Goodwill pile.

[Lady Maverick]

My wardrobe has recently changed in this phase of my life. I kept one pair of jeans and gave the rest away. I prefer pants that are jogger type material with easily accessible pockets. I surprised myself with this switch away from jeans.

I am also surprised when I noticed that I keep pulling my pants up because they are sliding down. Before long I am going to need to buy smaller pants so they will stay in place. #GoodProblemsToHave

My average weight trend shows that I am 1 lb down this month. I am running a couple days ahead of my expected weight loss goal.

I had 9 hours yesterday that exceeded 250 steps. That is my goal for today (or better).

[Nancy]

Walked Mon. 8K steps goal met.
Walked & got my steps in for today 10K yea! Wed. ?
10K on Thurs. & 9.5K Fri. 10K. Sat.

[Ramblinrose]

LadyM… I’m working to get back to my favorite jeans. Also the more protein I eat the less my cravings are.

Working to eat at least 100 grams of protein, 80 ozs of water and 10k steps.

I saw someone add cottage cheese to their scrambled eggs so I gave it a try. Not bad. Last night I made my Big Mac hamburger bowl, minus the pickles cause I forgot to cut them up. Half cup of ground beef and cottage cheese with lettuce and a small bit of cheddar cheese, along with a bit of 1000 island dressing. Yum! It filled me up to the point I couldn’t finish it.

Need to hard boil some eggs this morning … I’ll use them for my egg salad later. I made sloppy joes for Sweetie last night so he’ll have leftover tonight. I plan on fish and a veggie.