March goals
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Hmm, March:
I did finish the Concept 2 Mud Season Madness challenge, as of yesterday, though at the lower level (5k row or 10k indoor bike on Concept 2 machines, on at least 25 of the 31 days in March).
I went with a 6-day-a-week schedule, alternating the rower with the bike, mostly at moderate steady state, because this was a bit of a volume increase from February, didn't need it to be an intensity increase, too. Each of those at the needed distance takes around half an hour +/-.
Weather's been nice here, and I've decide I need to condition myself better to walking (something I don't do a lot of, because of sketchy knees, torn meniscus and some arthritis). Therefore, I've added a 4-5mi walk on each of the indoor bike days, and I think I didn't miss any on account of weather - kind of a miracle in Michigan at this time of year.
On the weight front, maintaining is maintaining, not much drama. My jeans, snug some months back, are now quite loose, really need to find a belt. I tried on my single pair that's a size down from the others, and they fit, albeit snugly (I can squat in them, though, and there's not appreciable muffin top). Still, I want to stay in the size I have most of, so my plan is to stay at the same base calorie level I've used to lose ultra-slowly for a year or so, but include more indulgent days in the mix more often. I think that will set me up for the higher social-eating and restaurant temptations that I think/hope will come within the next few months. So, sitting at around 125 lbs (I'm 5'5"), will try to stabilize around there.
Speaking of socializing more, I did get my 2nd Pfizer Covid vaccination, with very negligible if any side effects, and about 5 days into the 14 day wait for presumed full effectiveness. Still mostly just hanging around home, though, and expecting to keep doing so until local infection rates subside more. If the weather holds up, I'll probably add some outdoor meet-ups with friends, though. Did one walk and one garden visit recently with friends, which was nice. Also hoping the river warms more, so I can feel comfortable out on the water to row.
Lots of flower-y stuff in the yard. Here's a sample:
That's a double pink Hellebore, near-black Hellebore, 'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' Daffodil. There've also been a sequence of Snowdrops, Tommie Crocus, Winter Aconite, Rock Garden Iris, Spring Crocus, other Hellebores, and now Striped Squill and a blue one confusingly called "Spring Beauty" a common-name-twin of one of the native Spring ephemerals that hasn't shown up yet. I love these early Spring things, so cheering. A few of these Spring bulbs are naturalizing nicely, marauding way out into the lawn in numbers, and a few even into the neighbor's lawn next door (I don't think they mind?).
Hoping to hear more updates from others!1 -
March went well for me. Not counting today, I did 347,690 steps which apparently is equal to about 267 kms (about 166 miles). I put the cross country skiis away mid-month which always makes me sad ☹ I used my ski pass 28 times between the end of December and this month, so it was a good winter. My dogs are truly the reason I get outside every day and I'm just there to observe their joy
I record my weight on Fridays but so far I'm down 3 pounds this month, so I'm very happy with that. My back story is that I lost 90 pounds but over the past 5 years allowed 17 pounds to creep back. That's what I'm working on now.
My location's version of Spring is here. No flowers yet so no lovely flower pictures to post (my backyard is still covered in snow and the lakes are frozen solid), but the geese are back, I've seen some robins, and there are tiny buds on branches. The extended daylight hours definitely feel good
We have just received news of a "circuit breaker" order because our COVID numbers have actually been rising. It has shut down my yoga class which is disappointing, but I can still do it at home on my own till things re-open. And I have some dumbells, bands, and tubes that I haven't used in a couple of months. My shoulder couldn't manage xc skiing, yoga (think poses like downward dog), and weights, so I chose not to use the weights. I had a wonderful appointment with my massage therapist yesterday to give my shoulders a "tune-up" after their hard working winter so now I feel ready to tackle April I'm a bit of a wimp so I am waiting till the temp is consistently above freezing in the mornings before I start C25K (its something I've done for the last several years and then I run till the Fall). I could run later in the day when things warm up, but I prefer early mornings when no one is around to see me LOL
How was your March??1 -
@AnnPT77 Thank you for sharing those lovely photos! Spring flowers! This year is going quickly to me at least - and keeping my fingers crossed that some real fun can be had this summer. I have 11days until “full vaccination” status - but concerned that things have opened up too soon here.
Anywho, I went from a high of 117 in March to a low of 113.4! The only big changes have been accepting a daily 10k step challenge from a mfp friend (my usual is 3-4K daily if I’m lucky) and I gave up sweet treats for Lent (even tho I’m still in my daily calorie goal). Could that have done it?
Ready for maintenance and getting back to strength training, but I’ll admit to an analysis paralysis. I get 1200 daily and my maintenance is about 1300 - so I get an extra slice of Ezekiel
Bread - oh well.1 -
CeeBeeSlim wrote: »@AnnPT77 Thank you for sharing those lovely photos! Spring flowers! This year is going quickly to me at least - and keeping my fingers crossed that some real fun can be had this summer. I have 11days until “full vaccination” status - but concerned that things have opened up too soon here.
Anywho, I went from a high of 117 in March to a low of 113.4! The only big changes have been accepting a daily 10k step challenge from a mfp friend (my usual is 3-4K daily if I’m lucky) and I gave up sweet treats for Lent (even tho I’m still in my daily calorie goal). Could that have done it?
Ready for maintenance and getting back to strength training, but I’ll admit to an analysis paralysis. I get 1200 daily and my maintenance is about 1300 - so I get an extra slice of Ezekiel
Bread - oh well.
My Lent thing was to overall cut down on carbs. My calorie count wasn't any different, but carbs averaged less than 100g per day (I had intended to average less than 90 but it is what it is 🤷♀️). And I'm down 3 pounds. I'm a firm believer in CICO but our experiences does make a person go hmm......0 -
If one materially reduces carbs (in the form of sweets or otherwise), there could be a small scale-weight drop from lower average water retention. I always forget specific numbers, but each gram of carbs requires several grams of water in the body while the carbs are being metabolized. I think this could account for at least part of the weight drop from Lent changes.
@CeeBeeSlim, did you add exercise calories for the increased step count? Whether yes/no, an activity change could make a difference . . . a good sized difference if not adding calories at all, and even some difference if calories were added but they were underestimated a bit.
All of this stuff is estimates, though, and lots of things can make small differences. I'm finding I give the scale *trend* a little more attention in maintenance because of that, even though it's potentially more misleading during maintenance than during loss . . . I've had periods (multiple weeks) where even my trending app thought I was gaining when I knew I wasn't, and the longer term bore out my belief that the daily water-weight fluctuations were hiding ongoing very slow fat loss.
Bodies are weird. 😆0 -
@AnnPT77 Thanks for the feedback. No, I did not add any of those exercise calories back. Interesting.
I actually was doing ok - as expected - pre Lent and the exercise. Losing slowly, maybe .25 pounds a week - hoping to see 115. I was surprised that those changes yielded such a big unexpected loss and going down daily. That. Had. Never. Happened. It’s like my body reset itself. But I’ll take it.
Like you say, bodies are weird.0 -
CeeBeeSlim wrote: »@AnnPT77 Thanks for the feedback. No, I did not add any of those exercise calories back. Interesting.
I actually was doing ok - as expected - pre Lent and the exercise. Losing slowly, maybe .25 pounds a week - hoping to see 115. I was surprised that those changes yielded such a big unexpected loss and going down daily. That. Had. Never. Happened. It’s like my body reset itself. But I’ll take it.
Like you say, bodies are weird.
It sounds like you pretty much tripled your daily step count? Good for maybe a couple of hundred extra calories spent per day, maybe? For me, a 5-mile walk seems to be something in the realm of 11,000 steps, which for 236 net calories according to the ExRx walk-run calculator, which tends to be conservative, and that's assuming all level ground.
But sure, increase activity, keep food intake the same, a person's going to lose more weight. Couple hundred calories a day is almost 2 pounds a month. (I know you've seen more than that.)0
