Physical Check-In #2

This morning I feel sedated by my morning Seroquel XR. Also between the weather, my husband's and my situation, the pandemic, and the continuous calming of what was a growing mania, I'm lethargic and slow thinking.

My sinuses are congested and my ears are feeling a bit clogged. I'm used to that happening from time to time, but it's annoying.Yesterday, I had an odd pain spot in my back, but that has seemingly gone away.

I'm going to finally get up and make myself more useful by cleaning the deck furniture. I did take a shower and wash my hair, this morning.

This is ridiculous. My therapist strongly recommended that I start working out everyday or at least a few times a week, so I was going to buy some more workout gear (as I currently only have two sets of dumbbells and a single jumprope), but I guess every person who has/had a gym membership is now buying out all the home workout equipment. Practically none in stock anywhere or the shipping is 14-21 days.

After about an hour of scouring the web, I managed to find a 15lb kettlebell and 8lb medicine ball on Wal-Mart's website, and found a pull up bar from Target. Probably not the greatest quality if they're being sold by Wal-Mart and Target, but I know how I am -- I will get bored of doing the same thing and want to switch up the exercises. That's why I stopped with weights.

Again, I'm sure the quality is kinda crappy and thus these things may not last long, but I can always buy better quality stuff if/when this stuff gets too worn out. I expect these things to last me at least a few months. (I know that's not saying much. lol.)

The damn kettlebell was $42 and the medicine ball was $27, both with "free" shipping. I know that elsewhere, I could get these things for cheaper, but it is what it is. Now all I need is an exercise mat. I guess I'll be stuck with the really crappy ones (like $10 and under) or the really expensive ones (which apparently are $120 and higher). Maybe I'll just buy two crappy thin ones and stack one on top of the other.

@bluebicycle Yes, equipment prices are a total sham. I only have a couple of free weights and then just use my own body weight as resistance. I'm sure I could benefit from a few more pieces, but I get by. I had an awesome mat, but my dog thought it looked yummy and shredded it

I've been walking a lot more now that the weather is nice and its the only time I'm away from the house except for the occasional store adventure. We have walking paths in my neighborhood and plenty to look at, so it is a nice experience. My kids have been going with me, so I haven't been moving as quickly as I'd like to, but we are having fun together. We had several ducks chase us down looking for food yesterday. They thought it hilarious. There was also a daddy goose watching us to make sure we didn't get to close to the mom sitting on her nest. We stayed far away. Angry geese are scary.

The pollen has eased a bit, so we can sit outside and eat our meals. That has been a lovely change. We have a creek and woods behind us and we see deer and all kinds of animals when we are quiet and observe. Also, the blue jays are back. I have a window feeder and it is fun to watch them fly in and out all day. I also enjoy the cardinals. The finches are cute too as they usually feed together with their mates.

I hope everyone is having a good week physically. Love to all.

Sorry to hear about your dog shredding up your mat.

I'm trying body weight exercises too (e.g., squats, lunges, etc.), but they're kicking my butt. lol. But no pain, no gain...

I did manage to find a 3lb dumbbell set from Target and it's coming to my apartment.

I realized that I can actually do a lot of exercises with what I have. I never realized it until I started talking to people on Reddit. I never thought about taking a 5lb weight and an 8lb weight, and crossing them over each other in an X shape. Then you can grab the weights in the middle to get to 13 lbs... which is good for me because I'm using a fitness app that wants me to do lunges with 12.5 lb weights (so 13 is close enough).

Anyway, i want to do some walks too. I haven't done any yet though. Yucky rain here... Sounds like you had a g great time.

I walked yesterday and today in the lovely weather. What with walking more and eating less I've lost some weight. Forty pounds from my highest. Recently, its about 10 pounds, though. I used to have free weights but I don't know what happened to them. I think I'll ride my bike in the summer. We shall see. Its at my mom's as I don't have a garage and she parks in the garage so its not always easy to get the bike out/down.

@bluebicycle that's a great idea to cross the hand weights! Never thought of that.

Yeah, that's what I like about Reddit -- lots of people are having difficulties finding workout gear, so people are coming up with all sorts of clever ideas. It's worth a look if you're interested.

Here's the link: Fitness

If you have an account, you can ask for tips here: Daily Simple Questions Thread - April 04, 2020 : Fitness

Anyway, glad you had a nice walk. Congrats on losing weight!

I'm going to ride my bike this summer too.

I got the lump on my lip removed today, doc said it was a traumatic fibroma. I have some stitches there now. Just happy to have that off my lip.
I've been doing yoga lately. No weight loss yet but I've been doing only 10 minutes a day to work myself up. I have to be careful with my sciatic nerve though.

I overate this past weekend which left me feeling sluggish. Damn. I feel better when I under-eat...in these conditions...so have now started it again. I am sure I will feel better in a few days.

I was going to take long walks but actually we are coming into allergy season and I have recently been diagnosed with asthma so I am going to exercise inside - set up weights, yoga mat etc. and maybe just make a corner of my apartment a mini gym.


I have been using a blue light box and it has been having the effect of both energizing me and relaxing me. Someone sent it to me as a gift. Really cool gift!

I am doing the same thing with making a section of my apartment a mini gym. I have weights and now a mat. I don't really have the space I can dedicate to working out though, so I have to clean up after every session, but it is no big deal for me.

Good luck with your mini gym setup.

Hmm...I will have to be careful not to trip over my weights at night! I have a very small apartment...it is amazing the crap I have crammed in here. I have to put my mat in the closet, too. Do you have resistance bands? I know you can order them online and they are pretty cheap. I got a set for under ten dollars for several bands in a storage bag. Yes, good luck to you, too! Let's get started and report back how it's going. Mini gyms in mini abodes are cool!

I've been overeating and not exercising. Need to change that.

It's so easy to overeat during this time. I find it helps if I don't keep anything too addictive in the house. I ate all my Easter peeps over the weekend and now I am in lock down with no more Easter peeps...until Easter! I can't have them in the house and that's that.

I have to put my workout gear in the closet too because, like you, I have crammed a lot of stuff in this apartment.

I would love resistance bands. I should probably buy some -- great idea!

I lived in Beantown when I was in college. On Commonwealth Ave. -- four girls crammed into a two bedroom apartment. It was quite wild when all our boyfriends showed up. Compared to those days I live in a palace!

I had to explain what peeps are to my kids over the weekend. I picked some up when I went shopping. I'm not a fan, buy maybe they will like them. Cadbury eggs are my kryptonite. I cannot be within 50 feet of them or I will gain many many lbs instantly

I know some of us are feeling this way...

Yoga for vulnerability
YouTube

I feel like I'm eating all of the time, but the scale actually shows 2 lbs down. I'll take it!

Hubby and I have been exercising more than usual. There are also a lot of nice parks with trails nearby. They've actually been more crowded than ever since many people are home because of the pandemic. Yesterday we took a trail that we knew would be muddy, so we wore galoshes. That was a good idea because it was super muddy.

I've been cooking and baking up a storm. I realize that sounds bad, in terms of eating, but I work up such a sweat doing these things that I call it mild exercise. For lunch, I made homemade French onion soup, with nice half sandwiches on the side. Then I made apple turnovers. Then for dinner, I made a pasta dish with hedgehog mushrooms. First time eating them. They didn't have much flavor.

Birds and other animals are so nice to watch. Today we harassed some grackles. We played grackle calls loudly on our cell phones. Almost an entire group flew into the bush nearest us, just staring. I wonder what was being said from the phone?

I don''t think many people like peeps and I will really be surprised if your kids do. I have no idea why this is the only Easter candy I like. My best method is to freeze them!

My father has always loved peeps, but only the yellow chick shaped (not bunny shaped) and only when they've been left out to get stale for at least a week. Maybe you recall that stale peeps are extra crispy. Usually my sister and I buy them for him, but he may not get any this Easter.

My favorite Easter candy is by far the Reese's peanut butter eggs. For some unknown reason, the egg shaped have always tasted better than actual Reese's peanut butter cups in the traditional shape. I don't like the other holiday shapes, as well either.

When I was a little kid, my paternal grandmother used to make homemade chocolate covered Easter candy, in the shape of eggs. There was always the coconut, nougat, peanut butter, and a candied fruit type filling. I think those recipes died with her. It's just as well. She eventually died of complications relating to diabetes type 2. She died on my 30th birthday She was always making cookies, cakes, pies, and all sorts of sweets. I'd better be careful I don't follow her footsteps. She was the sweet and lovable grandmother.

I weighed myself yesterday and was 2 lbs down. I weighed myself this morning, and was yet another 2 lbs down. I feel a bit ill. Bathroom runs (might be contributing to the weight loss). I've also been super cold. I don't have a fever. I'm only 98.0 F (36.7 C). I don't plan to do much today. Just some light chores, some meal prep, my therapy session, and perhaps some outside time.