April Goals and Check In

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ridiculous59
ridiculous59 Posts: 2,834 Member
Hello ladies!!!

Was March kind to you? I stayed on track and am definitely looking forward to more of the same in April. I did, however, discover that I have a weakness for Lindor dark chocolate mini eggs. I managed to fit them in my daily calories but I'll sure be glad when those bits of heaven are off the store shelves!

I have my activity level set to "not very active" and end up with 1200 daily calories. I usually eat back half my exercise calories. I don't fuss too much about being exact every day, as long as my week averages out. So far so good.

Skiing is done for the season so I need to change up my cardio. Usually I'd be doing a spin class but that's off the table due to COVID. I'm not sure about going back to the pool. I went once last year but wasn't comfortable with the social distancing in the change rooms. In retrospect though, it was partly my fault because I just marched in and put my stuff at my usual spot, when there are other areas that I could have gone to. So I will give it another try.

What are your plans for April?

Replies

  • tmbg1
    tmbg1 Posts: 1,278 Member
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    I'm going to try again to hit 175 and keep up my walking and yoga.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,256 Member
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    March was very good to me! Hope I can stay within my established weight range of 113-115. I was good during Lent and just a wee bit afraid I’ll give in to some temptations! Will continue to try to give up sweet “carbage”, hit 10k steps daily, and establish and stick to a strength training routine. I either go too hard and welcome injuries or look for the next shiny object. I’ll try to get my head back in the game after Easter.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,102 Member
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    Plans? I'm supposed to have plans? Dang, this stuff sounds more complicated all the time! 😆

    I'm getting bored with my workout routine, after a whole walloping month of consistency (I have short, short attention span). My puzzle is how to NOT do materially less, because less would be different, y'know? I'm hoping the weather will warm the river enough that I'll feel good about rowing (12" wide boat, cold water = iffy combo), maybe outdoor biking (it's been chill and windy, and I'm a wimp).

    I need to be doing more strength and core work, too, but I don't enjoy it so always procrastinate. I hope to keep up daily pre-breakfast yoga/stretch, perhaps abbreviated form, when we do start rowing again (so I'll need to get up early, which is deeply unnatural to me).

    I'm sure something will happen in this exercise space. 🙄 It generally does.

    Eating/weight-wise things are OK. Weight is still dropping, pretty much at the point where I need to make that stop. Mulling that over. My usual maintenance concept is to calorie bank most days (a little) and make that deficit up primarily with social events and restaurant meals occasionally. Right now (pandemic) no social events, few restaurant meals.

    However, I'm about 1 week past my 2nd vax, so there may be more such opportunities soon, so I don't just want to increase my daily base calories and get used to eating more every day. In the short run, I've been getting more take-out, but still seem to be on the ultra-slow loss trend overall. (I hate shopping, don't want to buy new clothes. That's my main motivation to stop losing, instead of letting a few more pounds happen. When I first hit goal (2016), I overshot it trying to dial in maintenance calories, got a little lower than ideal, in my own view. Don't want a repeat, I think.)

    So, no plans, just things I'm trying to figure out.

    Wishing everyone a delightful April!
  • losemicaroline
    losemicaroline Posts: 742 Member
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    I started March in high spirits and successfully sticking to my plan. That went out the window mid-March, with frustrating medical tests, a scheduled surgery for my huband, and a rare, but substantial spat over money (we have never argued about money before). On the plus side, we have lots of birds making nests in our tiny yard and bulbs beginning to flower.

    My goals this month are modest: get back to consistenly exercising and adding some walks to my routine; get back to how I was eating a month ago, because I was losing and feeling well.

    Speaking of money and the spending of it--we purchased a regulartion-size corn hole game yesterday and I'm looking forward to some leisure and fun with my friends, most of whom have been fully vaccinated by now. (At least those of a certain age.)

    Happy April to you all.

    Carol

  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,834 Member
    edited April 2021
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    @AnnPT77 I would love to try rowing. So much finesse is involved. I belong to a dragon boat club and we are anxiously waiting to hear how the 2021 season will unfold. Our lake is still frozen over completely so typically we don't usually get on the water till the end of May anyway. Because of the dragon boat's configuration (22 people in a boat), we weren't able to paddle at all last season, but we're optimistic that once all members are vaccinated, we'll be able to put the boat in the water this year. Most of our paddlers are seniors and we are chomping at the bit to get back in the boat :)

    Here's a picture of us from the provincial senior's games a few years ago. And yes, our steersman is wearing a kilt! 😆 We're either heading to the start line, or returning to dock from the finish line, which is why our paddles aren't 100% in sync (that's my story and I'm sticking to it LOL).

    ahqk2j1bftf8.jpg
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,102 Member
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    @AnnPT77 I would love to try rowing. So much finesse is involved. I belong to a dragon boat club and we are anxiously waiting to hear how the 2021 season will unfold. Our lake is still frozen over completely so typically we don't usually get on the water till the end of May anyway. Because of the dragon boat's configuration (22 people in a boat), we weren't able to paddle at all last season, but we're optimistic that once all members are vaccinated, we'll be able to put the boat in the water this year. Most of our paddlers are seniors and we are chomping at the bit to get back in the boat :)

    Here's a picture of us from the provincial senior's games a few years ago. And yes, our steersman is wearing a kilt! 😆 We're either heading to the start line, or returning to dock from the finish line, which is why our paddles aren't 100% in sync (that's my story and I'm sticking to it LOL).

    ahqk2j1bftf8.jpg

    That looks like great fun, @ridiculous59! If you weren't in synch, wouldn't that potentially be the drummer's fault, anyway? 😉😉😉 Rowers in multi-boats mostly don't blame their coxswain for things, because s/he's steering, so can get back at us in various ways; we tend to blame the equipment for our lapses in technique. 😉


    I actually got into rowing perhaps partly because of dragon boating. While I was going through cancer treatment, at a low phase (physically and psychologically) from chemo, I saw something on TV about a breast cancer survivors dragon boating team. It encouraged me to believe that maybe some day, eventually, I'd be able to feel strong and energetic and happy again.

    After treatment, I looked around and found no dragon boating at all in my area, but then a survivors rowing team was starting. I overcame trepidation to join, and rowing literally changed my life, in diverse ways.

    I've since paddled a dragon boat, but only briefly. (During one of those trucked-in dragon boat community-participation competition events, I helped paddle boats from the launching area to the competition area.) I have a long term canoeing history (my late husband & I usually did back-country canoe camping vacations, among other canoeing), plus a bit of kayaking. Any kind of human-powered boat makes me happy, but with those paddlewheel craft that have bicycle-type pedals, I need an umbrella drink for best enjoyment. 😉

    I wouldn't say rowing takes more finesse than the other oar/paddle sports, really. (I'm not really a specialist in finesse . . . !) It *is* a fairly technical sport, perhaps a bit more so than canoeing/kayaking, but maybe not hugely more. I think it's more that canoe/kayak is more forgiving of bad technique, still lets people safely enjoy those sports with limited skills in safe water, but rowing (in the skinny shells) requires a higher baseline technique to avoid turning it into instant swimming - especially the singles. A wide rowing shell is about as wide as a fairly narrow canoe or kayak. It helped my rowing that I'd spent some time in relatively narrow canoes, including solo models.

    I don't actually have a lot of photos of myself rowing, especially in the single shell, doubly especially ones where I/my shell are not a tiny dot in the distance. Here's one in my single, but from a few years back, maybe 2014-ish? (when I was still pretty overweight).
    iujfsed0gfxl.jpg

  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,834 Member
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    @AnnPT77 We don't have enough survivors in our community for a dedicated team but I was at a regatta awhile back and the first thing on the agenda in the morning was a survivor paddle along the shoreline. We all threw pink carnations in the water as they past and it was a very moving ceremony. My husband and I have a canoe and our specific model is casually referred to as a "dog and a cooler" LOL. Its quite wide and stable and perfect for us and our Golden Retriever :) I also have a kayak which sure saved my sanity last summer when I couldn't dragon boat. Several of us have kayaks so we could safely social distance, have a bit of a work out, and then enjoy the sunshine on the lake. We often took a bottle of wine to share too 😉 I'm like you: any kind of human powered boat makes me happy. On my bucket list is a five to seven day canoe around a chain of lakes in our area. One day......
  • bebeisfit
    bebeisfit Posts: 951 Member
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    I'm working out again at home. March was not kind and I'm sure my waistline expanded.

    I'm going to get 7000 strps ea day for the first week and bump it uo 1000 ea week so by the end of april I'll be doing 10,000 steps a day.

    Meal planning!
  • Kathryn41057
    Kathryn41057 Posts: 181 Member
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    Plans for April?? To be better than I was in March😶. I’ve been trying to focus on eating more fruits and vegs, and eating less meat and processed foods....and have even dropped a few pounds. Why is it a constant battle?
  • watergirlb2361
    watergirlb2361 Posts: 2 Member
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    April is get back to healthy month, since March was a bag of crap for me. March rolled through with many trips to the doctor, a hospital stay and a diagnosis of Wegener's Disease, a rare auto immune disease. It was thrashing my kidneys, so I have been using MyFitness Pal to track my food intake to keep my carbs, sugars, salts, potassium and Phosphates low as my body heals. On the plus side of things, a month in I have lost weight since I am eating cleaner, so April is looking up. I am trying to get back to walking more and exercising (cardio at this time) per the doc's. If anyone else is chasing a health issue, I would love to touch base and hopefully help each other out on the journey. One of the hardest things is finding the kidney healthy foods and keeping the protein intake low. I love camping with my husband and grandkids and want to get back to being able to hike again and hopefully buy a kayak too! Send me a message or friend request!
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,834 Member
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    @watergirlb2361 My father-in-law had Wegener's. I remember that the worst part was it took so long for the doctors to put all the symptoms together to reach that diagnosis. But once they knew what was going on, things improved so much for him. I'm glad that you are at that point, though I can't imagine how difficult it must be to keep both your protein AND carbs low.

    I bought a kayak a couple of years ago and love it. It sure saved my sanity last summer because it was something I could do with friends while social distancing. My husband and I have a canoe but in order to use it, we both have to want to go out. But the kayak is something I can do whenever I want and loading it is so much easier than the canoe. I vote that you buy one 😎
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,256 Member
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    113.0 today - can’t recall a lower weight at adulthood! Was rear ended and haven’t been able to do any strength training. Arrrrgh - For some reason, urgent care facilities won’t see me - I have to go to an ER - which I’m trying to avoid. Day of (last Friday) I felt ok - everyday since then has been another story. Full-time elder care makes you feel unless you’re bleeding through a gaping hole, you’re ok. Could’ve been much worse tho!
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,834 Member
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    @CeeBeeSlim So sorry to hear about your collision!! Its frustrating when something like that happens and its totally not your fault. Make sure you do everything required to get back to feeling 100%. But congrats on the weightloss. How tall are you? You must be quite petite.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,256 Member
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    @ridiculous59 Thank you. I’m 5’3 - so maybe just a couple inches below average? I just need to “tighten” up - I don’t want to see a smaller number on the scale. That’s a statement I would’ve never imagined saying ever! I was able to put on a size 1 jeans the other day! But let me be clear - i put them on - but it was a squeeze. 😀
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,834 Member
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    @CeeBeeSlim I know you're recovering from a collision right now, but normally, do you do much in the way of strength training? If not, that may be your answer to looking more toned.
  • CeeBeeSlim
    CeeBeeSlim Posts: 1,256 Member
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    @ridiculous59 The truth is my “normal” - which I’m
    trying to change - is to get into a great routine which could last weeks or months - two days of strength training (found a great YouTube program for women over 50) and vary the rest of the days with a TRX workout, airdyne bike, rower, treadmill, or a boxing workout - even bought a heavy bag!

    One stressful eldercare incident (almost full time eldercare giver for both parents) disrupts my routine and psychologically it’s hard to get back into it. That’s where I was - but ready to get back to it - when I was rear-ended.

    Not sure exactly what it is - fatigue, worry, the unpredictability of my days - just trying to establish something I can sustain! So I “tighten up”, soften, tighten up - sigh!

  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,834 Member
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    @CeeBeeSlim you'll get there. Give yourself some grace ♥️ For me, I need to be outside. I'll do free weights and yoga indoors, but everything else is outdoors. My mental health demands it. Maybe you could try changing your environment for working out and see if that gets your mojo back?
  • srcats88
    srcats88 Posts: 5 Member
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    Hi All!
    April has been great for me so far. I have officially hit Overweight based on BMI!!! Now, I know that isn't a big deal for some. But keep in mind, I've gone from Obese 2, through Obese 1, and now to Overweight. This is all starting from Normal back in the day. So I'm heading back to myself!!! I'm ecstatic. I feel so strong and motivated. I've been doing Yoga, indoor biking on my bike trainer, and started weights. I'm also eating at 1000 calories and mostly low carb.

    Add me if you want to co motivate! :D Always looking for more buddies!
  • ridiculous59
    ridiculous59 Posts: 2,834 Member
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    @srcats88 Congratulations!!! Like you, I also felt like I had lost myself when I was obese. What a fantastic feeling to know that you're back on track to be a healthier, fitter, version of yourself :)
  • srcats88
    srcats88 Posts: 5 Member
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    Thanks so much.