Leslie Sansone December 2023 Walk and Workout Challenge

texasgardnr

WELCOME to all walkers!

The December Walk Challenge starts.... today ! Today we should be thinking about our new individual monthly challenge goals!

Having Leslie's, or other walking or workout DVDs, can be a great alternative to walking outdoors in the freezing cold or snowy days of December when it is difficult to get outside for a walk. For some of us, walking or hiking outdoors might still be a pleasant alternative to walking indoors, especially on those bright sunny winter days.

This group is open to any and all walkers. The majority of us use Leslie Sansone Walk At Home via streaming or using our own stash of DVDs. Of course there are so many different kinds of workouts that are great alternatives to mix it up with. Another option are those great walks or hikes outside on the trails or pathways that are available to us, or a walk in our neighborhood weather permitting. And of course there are always those times that are spent on the treadmill.

All of these many options count toward our miles, steps, or minutes. However you get your walk in, or your exercise done, come on in and join us! Post your miles, steps, or minutes that you have walked & exercised, however you record it... it is all good, and hopefully fun also!

We are a happy, supportive group, and I promise that joining this walk challenge will motivate, challenge, as well as inspire you!

Set your personal goal for how you want to record your walk or exercise for this month. This is your own personal goal . Post your results daily, weekly, or whenever you are able to. It is such an encouragement to read each others' posts.

If you find this challenge at any time of the month it doesn't matter which day of the month that you join in. Just set your goals to reflect what you want to do for the remaining days in the month. You are always welcome !
So... please feel free to start today, so that by the end of the month you will be that much closer to your health goals. It is never too late in the month to join

It is always fun to read which indoors walk you used, or if you are also using another form of additional strength or cardio exercise, or perhaps you found a new place to walk. We all could use some new inspiration or ideas sometimes. So please share if you would like to .

I know that I often say this, but I am truly grateful for each one of us who continue to inspire and motivate mile by mile, and step by step, each month. And especially for all the walkers who have kept this challenge active and awesome during this past year.

I know that we are all excited to see our long time faithful walking friends join us for yet another amazing month together, and we are awaiting the opportunity to welcome newcomers to this month's Walk Challenge, our last one for 2023!

Lace up those walking shoes and get some water...it's time to walk into December. Can you believe it . It is like we blinked and December is already here... awaiting the turn of the calendar page.

As always, we are walking strong, together!

texasgardnr

zichab

Since I made my goal of Averaging 6500 steps/day in November, I am going to increase it for December! I actually averaged 6648/day for November, so my December goal will be to averaging 6700 steps/day. This is over 3 miles a day for me, which I could not seem to do in September when I restarted these challenges so steps seem to be working a bit better for me. Who knew? Of course, now I have to do it! :laugh:

Along with this challenge, I am also challenging myself to declutter 1 physical item and 10 old emails each day in December. I did the physical declutter challenge in October and November and 61 items have left this house! I do not know if I even have 31 more items, but that is the challenge right? :blushing: I am hoping excess Christmas decorations will help me reach my goal. Digital clutter I have a ton of so there are no worries for that challenge!!!

Believe it or not it is RAINING today!!! Who wants to see rain in December????? Santa will need a boat if this keeps up!!! :noway: Please send us a good snow storm @Deeder522! :bigsmile:

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day

Deeder522

December Goals

Mileage Goal 68
Apple Challenge: Reach my daily exercise goal 8x. ( that's 20 Apple exercise minutes )

I had snow to the North of me and Rain to the South. We had mostly rain with a little sleet.
We took it easy today. The gloomy day just did not garner any interest in being productive.
I did put together our Christmas cards today and they are ready to be stamped.

Digital clutter sneaks up on everyone. I see it often with clients when I'm either consulting on their computers or building a quote for their next computer.
Physical clutter, I understand that pain. I continue to weed things out of this house that my parents forgot about. They are still working on downsizing after being in the condo for 5 years now.

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Well as usual, I have started the month well below goal. However, I decluttered all my Christmas wrapping, bows, ribbons etc and now everything is all neat and I know exactly what I have! Every time I think this house is as lean as it can be, I find more things that can be decluttered. Kind of like weight loss! :laugh:
Digital clutter is the worst and really shows who the procrastinating hoarders are for sure! I am constantly saying, "I'll clean out those old files TOMORROW" and of course, tomorrow never comes! This is my year for digital clean out though. I am starting with email and then I am going to all of my Mott files as I am never going to use most of that stuff again. I have 4 flash drives that I need to be cleaned off as well. Personal files will be the next ones to go and my final task is the ... daunting ... never-ending ... photo organization! :noway: From my birth until 2008, I have 5-6 photo albums that contain all photos of me and my family and friends. Since 2008, I have THOUSANDS of photos of them as well as a ton of landscapes and "interesting" things!!! Digital photos should be outlawed! :grumble: I would die if anyone actually saw or worked on my Mac Book Pro as it is a MESS! I have only had a phone since last October so it is not as bad. I tend to keep stuff on my laptop more than my phone. The screen is bigger so I can see it. :blushing:
Christmas cards are on my agenda for this week as well. When I did the wrapping paper clean out last night, I found the card writing box with all the seals, stamps, and pens that we use when we do our cards. How's that for a cosmic push to get something done! I had no idea where that had gone as it was not in the box where I usually keep it. :laugh:
I know how your parents feel @Deeder522. Downsizing after an entire lifetime is so hard. Like me, they probably inherited the lifetime objects of their parents and grandparents and great-grandparents and on and on it goes. Some of those things are so hard to decide what to do with. For example, I have two of those huge Victorian pictures (you know the ones in the huge oval wood frames and curved glass with the photos of people with very serious expressions on their faces) of my great-grandparents. I have no place to put them and I do not want to look at such dour faces everyday and the eyes follow you all around the room. They are creepy! BUT, I cannot get rid of them. Who dumps their great grandparents????? :frown:
Well, I am not getting my steps up sitting here am I!! Good luck with those apple rings!! :bigsmile:

zichab

Geez @Deeder522!!! You work fast!!!! People need to be careful what they ask you for! 50 minutes ago, NOAA issued a winter weather advisory for the Adirondacks from Sunday at 1 PM until Tuesday at 7 AM for 3-10 inches of snow. 8-10 is predicted for elevations over 1500' and we are at ... 1545'!!!! :laugh: I sure hope that 45' brings those extra inches! Anyway, thanks for the storm!

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Yikes, I need to get a move on as my steps are not even close to my goal. :grumble: I think I need to get the decoration boxes out to the garage and spend more time on my feet today! Once the snow starts, getting out there will not be as easy! :laugh:
Happy Sunday! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

December Goals

Mileage Goal 7 / 68
Apple Challenge: Reach my daily exercise goal 8x. ( that's 20 Apple exercise minutes ) 0 / 8

Well, you are not alone in needing to get moving. I spent more time on the sofa than I realized this past weekend. I'm dragging this morning too.
Weather-wise, we are expecting a little warm-up this week. They are teasing us with nearly 50 by the end of the week.

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Well, I guess yesterday was "better," but I thought I would make goal as I mixed up 2 of my 5 Christmas cookie recipes and put them in the freezer. Apparently running around the kitchen finding ingredients and standing at the counter mixing does not really have a "positive influence" on step count? :laugh: Meh, it had to be done as I need to be ready for holiday visitors. I make Andes cookies, gingerbread cookies and chocolate chip rolled in holiday sprinkles cookies, shape them into balls and freeze them so they are ready to bake whenever I need them. I also make cardamon linze cookies, but I have to roll those out and cut out the shapes and bake them so when I need them, I can just add the jelly between the two cookies while they thaw. It is better for Dennis and I not to have a lot of Christmas cookies laying around calling to us. :blushing:
We are in for a few cold days (14F-25F, 13F-29F), but by next Sunday, it is supposed to be 45F!!! :noway: Oh and our HUGE snowstorm also fizzled! We got rain and it took away most of the snow we already had! :explode: I know you tried. The strange part is that my son's family loves to be here for Christmas because of all the snow we get and they got 5" of snow in Netherlands last week! They are the ones who usually have the rainy gloom all winter and now it is us! I can deal with the gloom, but the rain has to go!!!
You are dealing with so much @Deeder522 that I am not at all surprised you are dragging and need a couple of couch days. It is hard to run a business, take care of a spouse (or any family member to be honest) who has autoimmune and diet issues, plus children and a house? That is a lot on one plate and it is the constant small decisions that sap your energy every day. Moving does help, but it is hard when you feeling moving is just "more of the same." Hang in there! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

I managed to do an Express Walk with Jessica Smith. I added arm weights because I guess I decided to punish myself. 🤣🤷🏼‍♀️

Any chance you ship cookies back to Michigan? 🤔😝🥰
I have a friend who makes 3 types of Christmas cookies and peanut butter fudge. She gives me a small plate around Christmas. She usually ships hers off to her niece as well.

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
:laugh: If I could figure out how to get the cookies there frozen, I would ship them to MI for you. If I bake them and ship them, they will be a crumbled mess when you get them. I tried that when my son was in college in Iowa. I packed them in tissue paper and bubble wrap and they arrived all crumbled together. He ate them anyway and said they were "good," but he was in a hurry to get home and try them separately!
The house is finally all decorated and has had the weekly dust, vac and mop so I am feeling really on top of things. This is the first year I can decorate downstairs as it was Dennis' construction zone last year. It was also full of furniture and boxes. What a difference a year makes. It is so cozy now. Of course, I have not written ONE Christmas card yet so there is that! :ohwell:
Good for you doing the Express Walk with Jessica!!! I am in awe of all you are managing to do to be honest. I need to get back on the Leslie/Jessica workout train. It is my plan for 2024 to get back to it and not to stop again. Dennis and I carved out a great space in a very small house to work out and I need to get to it!!! I cannot believe I am going to be one of those people who says, "I am going to lose weight and get in shape in the New Year!" :laugh:
Catch you tomorrow! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

In the "before times, " Jessica and Leslie had some New Year challenges. Maybe we should both commit to a New Year challenge.
I was at a client today and their network room is upstairs so I was doing flights of stairs today. It got me 10 apple exercise minutes. I'll see if I can get the motivation to finish off to close that ring today.


Leslies: https://www.youtube.com/embed/videoseries?list=PL-8fyND0sPmMRmDie807Yd4G5MPrP5qyj

Jessica:

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Can you tell I cleaned my whole house yesterday??? The den and office remodel was finished last spring, but I am still not used to them being on my cleaning schedule along with the spare room, which is slowly becoming my workspace. I have a cleaning caddy and a separate mop for down here and I use my electric vac, but still, everything I want is upstairs!! So, up and down the stairs I went all day long! :grumble:
I LOVE the idea of doing a New Year Challenge together!!!! It is so helpful to have someone else to be accountable with. I am also going to have to build up my cardio system again I think and I KNOW my strength is in sorry shape. You are probably in better shape than I am right now, but hopefully, I can catch up. I bought a new planner for this year that I can add pages to and one of the pages I want to add each month is my fitness tracking. For me, when I plan it and it is written down it gets done. Now I am more anxious for the New Year! :bigsmile:

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
YIKES!!!! Yesterday and today are going to throw off my step goal that is for sure! We are writing Christmas cards and that means a lot of sitting! They changed Dennis' Cardio Rehab appointment to tomorrow, so we are getting these cards finished today and out tomorrow!!!!
Tomorrow night, we are going to the Wild Center, which is the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks in our town and we are going to do the "Wild Walk." It is a walk through the woods where the museum has put lights in many of the trees and there is music playing. The music is an original piece written for the "Wild Lights" event by a student at SUNY Potsdam's school of music and is new each year. We always look forward to it and it should make sure my steps are right up there tomorrow!!! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

Wild Walk sounds amazing!

Last night, I did 10 minutes of bedtime yoga. I yawned through all the moves. Went to bed and couldn't sleep 😣

Saw clients 3 days this week and had a dental cleaning today. I'm whipped and have a headache. I've mixed up the days this week and my body is now refusing to do anything but sit on this sofa. They are teasing 51 for tomorrow and I may try to bundle myself up and walk. I promise nothing though. lol

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611 :explode:
Well, it was better than Wednesday, but not by much! I need to get up off my Bahookie and get stepping or I will not meet my goal!!! Hopefully, the Wild Lights Walk to night will help!!! I need 2569 more steps today to make my daily goal!!! UGH!!!
You probably have the headache @Deeder522 from not getting enough sleep. That always happens to me. My mind will not shut off so I can't sleep, then I fall asleep for like 65 minutes and end up with a migraine during the day. Thankfully, it is only an occasional problem for me.
We are under a NOAA Winter Storm Watch for Sunday into Monday for 5-10 inches of snow with 18 inches possible. It is supposed to snow at a rate of more than an inch per hour on Monday morning. Of course, this is the second time they have predicted this, so I am not getting my hopes up too high. However, my birthday is on Monday and it would be a wonderful Birthday present so I can hope! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

It warmed up to 54! I grabbed my earbuds, threw an extra layer, and walked outside for about 20 minutes. There was sun and overall it was lovely. There are no signs of snow in my forecast for the next few days. Rain is probably tomorrow and then a new cold snap.

I was tired and probably dehydrated. I must have slept well last night because I woke up refreshed. I ran errands and even braved the retail stores on a Friday afternoon during Christmas. lol

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611
Dec 8-Steps-7930
The Wild Light walk really helped my step total yesterday!! It was so beautiful. I am going to try to attach a photo after this post as I post on my laptop, but all my photos are on my phone. It is just too hard to type on a phone. :embarassed:
Were the stores all that busy in MI? I think online shopping has grown to such an extent that the stores are no where near as crowded as they used to be. Granted, Dennis and I went on Dec 1, but we did not wait at all to check out and there were no real crowds to speak of. We were looking to get into the spirit, but the stores did not seem as highly decorated as in the past and there were not a lot of shoppers, so it was kind of a bust. I hope it was busier for you.
Our storm has also been downgraded already! The "possible 18 inches" is now down to 15 and it will no doubt be max of 10 by the time the snow actually starts falling. They are saying that it is going to be wet and heavy and I cannot imagine 10 inches of that! If the forecast is right, I may be shoveling our roof off as 10 inches of wet heavy snow is super heavy. We will probably lose power as well. Should be fun! :grumble:
Not much on the agenda today. More cookies, more cards and more wrapping. Typical of this time of year :bigsmile:

zichab

Wild Lights at the Natural History Museum of the Adirondacks.

Deeder522

I stopped at Marshall's, which had a long checkout link when I walked in. When I decided to check out, it was a reasonable wait.
I didn't get any exercise minutes yesterday. I sat more than I realized which makes sense when I sat at a bar with a friend for 4 hours and 2 1/2 margaritas. 😝

Temps dropped in the 30s today and it will be cold and gloomy for the next couple of days. We've been turning the Christmas tree on during the day for extra ambiance.

That Wild Lights walk looks Amazing 🤩

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611
Dec 8-Steps-7930
Dec 9-Steps-3745
OK, so I do not even have the excuse of chatting with a friend for 4 hours! :laugh: Apparently, finishing Christmas cards, baking cookies and wrapping presents do not make for a lot of steps!!! :grumble: We need Jessica in the New Year @Deeder522! We are turning into sloths! :laugh: Meh, I always find December is hard for workouts because there is so much going on that is not active. The village of Tupper Lake is sponsoring a "Walk Down Main Street" that Dennis and I are going to because we are trying to find more active things to do. Plus the Main street in town looks like Bedford Falls in the movie It's a Wonderful Life. It should be fun and hopefully, snowy.
Speaking of snow, we are now under a Winter Storm Warning!!! Yes we are no longer watching for snow, we are being warned that it is coming. I am a bit worried about this one though as they are predicting wet, heavy snow with 40 MPH winds :noway: and it has been raining all day!!!! Many of our trees here are Hemlocks and they have very shallow root systems, much like willows. They are prone to falling over in high winds and with the ground being so saturated and the temps not really dropping well below freezing, I suspect a few are going to come down and we are going to be without power for a few days. Not fun!!!!!! :frown:
It's hard to capture the Wild Lights Walk in a still photo because there is music playing and the lights are dimming and brightening and changing color all along the walk. The plan next year is to have it synchronized to the music and that will really be a memorable walk! It is a museum so it takes a while to raise money for all these improvements, but people come from miles around to see this each year. :bigsmile:

Deeder522

December Goals

Mileage Goal 24 / 68
Apple Challenge: Reach my daily exercise goal 8x. ( that's 20 Apple exercise minutes ) 3 / 8

I did some digging around last night to find any other New Year challenges from Leslie or Jessica. I didn't. I even looked through some FB group's "files" but did find other challenges that I had forgotten about. It looks like 2018/2019 was the peak of the challenges. After that, they started pushing for people to join their Apps.

I've got appointments nearly every day this week. So It will either be early morning or late night routines for me this week.

My friend that moved to NY, 1 of her dogs had puppies: Link below if you want to take a peak.
https://www.twitch.tv/bellatorbasenjis?tt_deeplink=tachyon

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611
Dec 8-Steps-7930
Dec 9-Steps-3745
Dec 10-Steps-3915
We got about 5" of snow and it was very wet. A lot of trees were down on our way to Dennis' cardio reahab this morning, but not on our property. We lost one limb and the Hemlocks are hanging very low, but aside from that, all is well and we have power. The wind is suppose to come up with afternoon so time will tell, but so far, a meh storm that NOAA blew out of proportion! :yawn:
I looked around as well and it looks like we will need to put together our own program from what is out there. I have a lot of Leslie's DVDs to mix and match, and I know I will have to start at 15 minutes and work up to the 5 mile walks. I think Jessica's Walk and Talk series is also a place I could start. I guess everyone has become far more commercial. :sad:
The puppies are so cute and Mom looked over them when I peeked in. :laugh: She's pooped!
Good for you on those Apple rings!!!! I need to get a move on! :bigsmile:

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611
Dec 8-Steps-7930
Dec 9-Steps-3745
Dec 10-Steps-3915
Dec 11-Steps-6059
Now we're talking some steps again. I had laundry to do yesterday and I helped Dennis deal with some of the snow, as in I shoveled while he cleaned up with the blower :grumble: It got me lots more steps than I would have had and he had already done his cardio workout for the day, so I guess I can't really complain. Tuesday around here is clean upstairs day so we went to the Post Office this morning and after we go back, I cleaned upstairs-you know, the once over lightly clean that we probably all do in December! :laugh: Dust surfaces, vac everywhere and then mop high traffic areas and call it good! The house is clean (er), I got steps in and it's all good! Tomorrow should be much better! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

I had a rough day yesterday and just couldn't win at anything. So I'm resting and getting my resorted for tomorrow.

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611
Dec 8-Steps-7930
Dec 9-Steps-3745
Dec 10-Steps-3915
Dec 11-Steps-6059
Dec 12-Steps-6013
You said you had appointments every day this week @Deeder522 and from what you have said, I gather it is all tech work, which can be freakin' exhausting! Plus, a lot of it is like teaching, it is all head work and it exhausts you for anything physical. If you have a week of appointments, make your challenge work, dinner & dishes PERIOD!! :laugh:
I need to clean my 1st floor today and get my grocery list ready for my Aldi shop tomorrow. I am not sure why my steps are not higher, but it may be because I have not looked at my Garmin or tracked my steps throughout the day, so I am not purposely moving more. I got my hair cut yesterday and I know I stood a lot more than usual wrapping gifts, but I thought cleaning the upstairs would make up for it. Apparently not! :ohwell: It will be more of the same today as we need to mail all our US packages and get the wine we need for the holidays before I can get back to clean house. Of course, a real deep clean would also add steps but I am not taking time for that over the holidays! That is what January is for! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

Today, I was onsite for a tech visit and I did get some Apple exercise credits running around to all the computers.
Tomorrow is a Hospital trip for an Ultrasound for Ryan's gallbladder. I'm sure they will tell us there are stones and we should take the whole shebang out. Which we will kindly respond nö! Then deal with it in a better non-cutting way.
Yesterday we did get news from immunology that is immune system is not "acting appropriately" and they want to start IV treatments. So not great news but good news that confirms something is wrong. We'll just add it to the "Confirmed" list of things.
Friday, I have a phone transfer I have to assist with.
On Saturday, I have a funeral.
Dang, this week just went by fast.

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611
Dec 8-Steps-7930
Dec 9-Steps-3745
Dec 10-Steps-3915
Dec 11-Steps-6059
Dec 12-Steps-6013
Dec 13-Steps-4029
OK, no way I am making 6700 steps average this month. :laugh: I am doing better today and will probably do better tomorrow because Dennis and I are doing the Tupper Lake stroll around Park Street, but after that, I am going to relax and enjoy my decorations, food, cookies and drinks and work on decorating my workout, house management and book planners for the new year. It is my creative outlet time!
They don't cut your gallbladder out anymore, they "suck it out!" :laugh: I almost had a stroke when my sister told me they "sucked out her gallbladder." :noway: I got this mental picture of an MD with a straw sucking on her. I cracked up laughing for days!!!! She had a horribly diseased gallbladder and had no choice but to remove it, but the way she described I will never forget!!!!
I am so glad Ryan at least KNOWS his immune system is not functioning properly. Sometimes just having someone confirm it makes such a difference in how you feel about yourself. My sister has mitochondrial disease and it took years to diagnose it because the only way to truly find it is with specific genetic testing that is very new. When she found out, she felt so vindicated. She even had doctors that told her to see someone else as they could not diagnose her "problem." Ryan can try IV treatments and if they help great, if not dump them. That's what my sister does now with everything they suggest for her issues.
The weeks always fly by fast during the holidays @deeder522. it is even worse when things are going on at work, at home, and in your personal life added to the holidays! Dennis used to handle all the holiday stuff when I taught at Mott except decorating. We had a full day today and we both mentioned how life goes on during December and there is just an added layer of stuff to do. It is no wonder we all crash on the couch for hours. If you take care of yourself and Ryan, you'll be doing great! The rest can wait until January! Hang in there! Hugs! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

Ultrasound report came back and the gallbladder looks in great shape and they couldn't find any stones. The kidney, and pancreas all look good as well. There is some "scaring" on the liver so they think it's fatty liver. We're not 100% sure if we're on board with that response. More research is needed on that.
We are wondering if the IV treatment might mean he could eat more food. Right now, I've counted 50 foods. Being able to add other foods in may help other things.
Thanks for your encouragement @zichab it means so very much right now.

My client for this afternoon is now tentative so I hope to move around more and get some minutes in. I think our January goal should be to complete the Walk N Talk series. That's 21 1-mile walks and talks. That gives us some wiggle room or maybe grace would be a better word.

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611
Dec 8-Steps-7930
Dec 9-Steps-3745
Dec 10-Steps-3915
Dec 11-Steps-6059
Dec 12-Steps-6013
Dec 13-Steps-4029
Dec 14-Steps-5560
Garmin says my daily average is 5321 :laugh: No way that is getting to 6700 by the 31st! "I cannot worry about that today. I'll worry about that tomorrow." (paraphrasing Scarlett O'Hara in Gone With the Wind)!
I LOVE that idea @deeder522! I was just telling Dennis this morning that I need to get back into my walking work outs because I am tired and that usually means I am not getting enough aerobic exercise. BUT, no way I can do 7 days a week, 30 minutes+ a day like I used to. I need to start with 15 minutes and hope I do not keel over! :blushing: I love the idea of 21 days of 15 minutes with Jessica. I think I can do that ... although based on this month, maybe that is even too ambitious! :laugh: We shall see!
WOO HOO Ryan does not need his GB sucked out!!!!!! Good news for him!!! Scaring on the liver can be caused by a lot of things including infections, illnesses and childhood injuries to name a few. As an adult, it would be difficult to escape liver injury entirely. It was a broad jump from scaring to fatty liver. So much of Ryan's issues probably cannot be diagnosed in the normal way. All of my sister's tests come back "normal" also except that she has some "elevated muscle enzymes," which as near as we can tell, are not a diagnoses of anything. However, when added to her genetic testing, it is clear that her muscles are what is being effected by her genetic problem. Conventional medicine cannot deal with these new mulit-system diseases. Dennis is getting great care because he has a one organ problem! MDS love that! :ohwell:
We all put too much pressure on ourselves during the holidays and we tend to forget that normal life goes on. Babies are born, people get sick, people die, countries invade each other etc. December is not exempt from life and right now, yours is very full caring for others. I just hope it helps to know "I get it!" because I often felt all alone when caring for all of my people. Grace is all we have!!!! :bigsmile:

zichab

December Goal: Average 6700 steps/day
Dec 1-Steps-5318
Dec 2-Steps-5277
Dec 3-Steps-6166
Dec 4- Steps-6559
Dec 5-Steps-8331
Dec 6-Steps-3057
Dec 7-Steps-4575-Daily Average 5,611
Dec 8-Steps-7930
Dec 9-Steps-3745
Dec 10-Steps-3915
Dec 11-Steps-6059
Dec 12-Steps-6013
Dec 13-Steps-4029
Dec 14-Steps-5560 Daily Average 5,321
Dec 15-Steps-3514
Bad day yesterday. All of my urgent Christmas stuff is done. All I need to do now is wrap presents for DH and decorate the Christmas tree when we bring it in. The snow finally melted off it and it is warm enough that Dennis put it in a pail of water. I always have this tendency to need a "To Do" list longer than my arm to keep going. Once it is all done, I tend to crash and that is what happened yesterday. We went out for dinner in town and then did the stroll around the stores, but I did not have very much to all day except go down the You Tube rabbit hole.
Today, I have a ton of stuff to do including bringing in more wood from the pile, so hopefully, my steps will be better. Dennis wanted Waffles and the no sodium waffle blog filled the bill so thank you again @Deeder522 for that link! I do not like waffles or maple syrup so no problem making salt free ones! :laugh: After I get a face cord or so of wood on the screen porch, I am going to make home made refried beans for our nachos tonight and home made salt free tortilla chips for Dennis. I draw the line there and eat the regular ones. :blushing: I made ginger bread cookies sodium free and you would never know it, but tortilla chips are dreadful without salt. :sick:
Well that wood is not going to bring itself in so I need to get crackin'! :bigsmile:

Deeder522

Today it warmed up into the 50's and I took the opportunity to Walk outside at the nearby township park. It was a bit breezy but worth the walk and stretch.

I once asked my 2 closest friends what they thought my hobbies were. They came back with photography and recipe research.

hhmmmm, Nachos sound delicious. The salt on tortilla chips is my favorite thing. The more salt the better.