Active April Challenge 2020
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baconslave wrote: »1 1/2 mile walk while on break from work. Done.
I hope to get that up to 3 miles/day for as long as I can.
Eating as well as possible. We're in the land of bare grocery stores and have been on lockdown for weeks, so we're eating a lot of beans and rice. It is what it is for now. It's hard to get fresh vegetables and we're rationing our meat supply (we have a decent amount for now, but who knows how long it will have to last?)
It's like that here, too, though we were able to make it mid-AM Saturday and got some milk and lettuce and broccoli crowns. Carrots. And some fruit. A couple bags of frozen broccoli cuts, which are indeed mostly cuts.
We made sure to take only what we needed and not more. But there weren't more than a couple packages of chicken (we got one) and the bigger slabs of meat no one had gotten yet since they are pricier due to the poundage. So we did get a pork shoulder and a ham. Which in our family doesn't last as long as you'd think. But I bet you know what that's like. And we have no excuse here in NE TN as our reported cases are low (they aren't testing) but people are just being hoarding jerks. I hope things look up for you soon.
Thanks! Fortunately, since we live in the boonies, a once a month shop is our norm, so we have good supplies of certain things. And chickens! Thank goodness for the chickens...we have fresh eggs.4 -
baconslave wrote: »1 1/2 mile walk while on break from work. Done. I hope to get that up to 3 miles/day for as long as I can.
Eating as well as possible. We're in the land of bare grocery stores and have been on lockdown for weeks, so we're eating a lot of beans and rice. It is what it is for now. It's hard to get fresh vegetables and we're rationing our meat supply (we have a decent amount for now, but who knows how long it will have to last?)
It's like that here, too, though we were able to make it mid-AM Saturday and got some milk and lettuce and broccoli crowns. Carrots. And some fruit. A couple bags of frozen broccoli cuts, which are indeed mostly cuts. We made sure to take only what we needed and not more. But there weren't more than a couple packages of chicken (we got one) and the bigger slabs of meat no one had gotten yet since they are pricier due to the poundage. So we did get a pork shoulder and a ham. Which in our family doesn't last as long as you'd think. But I bet you know what that's like. And we have no excuse here in NE TN as our reported cases are low (they aren't testing) but people are just being hoarding jerks. I hope things look up for you soon.
Thanks! Fortunately, since we live in the boonies, a once a month shop is our norm, so we have good supplies of certain things. And chickens! Thank goodness for the chickens...we have fresh eggs.
Right now is when I wish we had chickens. We tried that once but they made such a god-awful mess (the kids would come in covered in it) and foxes and racoons kept coming out of the woods after them. So the first flock was the last. We live far out, too, so our pantry was already pretty well stocked (I think we've had this convo before) so we are similar, though I think we're just a bit closer to a grocery store than you all. We do have to come in to get milk and bread. I know how to make it from scratch, but there's no flour to be bought anywhere here.
I need to plant a garden but the feral cat colony across the street, fed by a well-meaning elderly gentlemen, really enjoys getting into my garden and killing all the plants. So even though I have a couple fenced in beds, they did poorly last year, the cats still get in there and it makes me want to not even fool with it. So we'll make do with whatever we can get and all the beans and rice and noodles in the pantry when we get to that point.1 -
1 1/2 mile walk while on break from work. Done. I hope to get that up to 3 miles/day for as long as I can.
Eating as well as possible. We're in the land of bare grocery stores and have been on lockdown for weeks, so we're eating a lot of beans and rice. It is what it is for now. It's hard to get fresh vegetables and we're rationing our meat supply (we have a decent amount for now, but who knows how long it will have to last?)
Good for you on doing the best you can given trying circumstances. Maybe you can order some dehydrated vegetables online? I was very impressed with the quality of the ones I bought at Winco. They only take about 15 minutes to rehydrate when making soup.
Great work on the walking!
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4/1 check in
1. >15,000 steps daily (Fitbit data), got it! 15,350
2. > 3,000 calories burned daily (Fitbit data), got this one too, 3,142
3. Low carb < 35 net and low calorie < 1,500 day, success
4. Close the active ring on Fitbit. Set at 250 an hour. got it!
Goals will be easier if able to get outside, the weather has been pretty good, 50's and no rain with normal Spring winds.
@Cadori , so sorry to hear about empty food shelves. Our area is having trouble keeping paper products and bread stocked but has been able to keep up with meat, dairy, and canned vegetables for the most part. I hope to score some toilet paper this weekend, I haven't been able to find any since this COVID started. My sister has been blessing me with rolls.
Everybody stay safe out there...
Nailed it vkrenz! nice work
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baconslave wrote: »4/1:
Got in a Dreadmill walk of 1hr 20min. Inclined the whole time, as it is ancient and the incline is a structural setting. I literally have to turn off, get off, lift up the walking deck and do something to the legs to change it. So not as many steps as one would like but the effort was there. Got between 11k and 12K steps so I know NEAT was locked-in.
Today is strength so I'll need to make sure I pace around a bit and if it's dry enough out take a couple laps to the yard to make sure I get 5-6K steps today.
that's a lot of walking! good job0 -
4/1 check in:
NEAT was on point leading to my best active day ever according to my watch rings. Got a run on the treadmill and a dog walk.
Portions turned out well, no snacking and ended the day under calories. I wanted to continue to munch but turned my attention elsewhere and was successful!
A personal best! outstanding!
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I'm in for this challenge. I started increasing my activity on a daily basis about 4 days ago. It's a necessity, really: I've got some circulation issues. My doctor told me it's a genetic thing. My grandmother had varicose veins; I have some spider veins... if I don't get enough movement, if I just sit around like a sloth, I get these painful areas in my legs. Even if I'm already wearing compression socks. These flashes of pain/sore areas go away if I get in a 20 or 30 minute walk... or dance or do yoga...
I'm counting a lot of things as exercise (as mentioned in that post about NEAT), including gardening and cleaning. Those things burn a lot of calories. I actually got DOMS from doing spring clean up in the backyard.
My goal is just to be active every day. No mileage or step goals. I hope to improve my flexibility, improve my dance technique. Safely. At home.
Report for 1 April: 10 minutes of hatha yoga; 50 minutes of heavy cleaning. I haven't done yoga for years, and I got a little dizzy after only about 10 minutes, so I stopped. Maybe it was because it was early afternoon and I hadn't yet broken my fast. IDK. I did the cleaning in my basement. Cleaning the basement has always been the lowest priority. It was filthy down there. :-o4 -
MistressPi wrote: »I'm in for this challenge. I started increasing my activity on a daily basis about 4 days ago. It's a necessity, really: I've got some circulation issues. My doctor told me it's a genetic thing. My grandmother had varicose veins; I have some spider veins... if I don't get enough movement, if I just sit around like a sloth, I get these painful areas in my legs. Even if I'm already wearing compression socks. These flashes of pain/sore areas go away if I get in a 20 or 30 minute walk... or dance or do yoga...
I'm counting a lot of things as exercise (as mentioned in that post about NEAT), including gardening and cleaning. Those things burn a lot of calories. I actually got DOMS from doing spring clean up in the backyard.
My goal is just to be active every day. No mileage or step goals. I hope to improve my flexibility, improve my dance technique. Safely. At home.
Report for 1 April: 10 minutes of hatha yoga; 50 minutes of heavy cleaning. I haven't done yoga for years, and I got a little dizzy after only about 10 minutes, so I stopped. Maybe it was because it was early afternoon and I hadn't yet broken my fast. IDK. I did the cleaning in my basement. Cleaning the basement has always been the lowest priority. It was filthy down there. :-o
Hey there!
Yeah there are places in my house too that are low priority. Like the upstairs. My hubby and I are up there exclusively, and as the areas the kids slime are more pressing, it's getting pretty gnarly. I have plans to work on that this weekend. Cleaning really can burn a lot of calories.
I do hope the regular exercise helps you with the pain.
I can get light-headed exercising before I break my fast sometimes. Maybe an electrolyte thing? Ketoaid can help. But it's only an occasional thing with me. After crouching for more than half a min and I stand up, I get lightheaded. YUCK. Very unpleasant and annoying so I can imagine not wanting to experience that again anytime soon.1 -
So yesterday was strength and I was still more than a bit sore from the previous strength session and the Dreadmill.
4/2:
I did 3 Fitness Blender videos (legs, arms, and 10 min abs.) I don't have the links. My laptop has been in the hospital. It's out but I did the workout using the backup. I also got between 5k-6k steps which is out of "sedentary" range and as much as I have time for after I spend an hour working out. I'd like to nudge that up consistently above 6k on strength days by the end of the month. I'll work on it.
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4/3
So far April has been ok. Still room for improvement re calorie counting. Just barely under all of my limits. Since I am close to goal I need to lower calories a bit but have been resistant. My head understands but my mouth doesn't.
Still no paper products or bacterial soap/wipes in my area so I keep on truckin with bleach and paper towels. 2 -
Cayenne pepper helps circulation, sometimes I take it in pill form. I used to just have a teaspoon of it with water and some yogurt. Also vitamin E can help thin your blood. Hazelnuts have a lot. My carnivore sources are sardines and shrimp.MistressPi wrote: »I'm in for this challenge. I started increasing my activity on a daily basis about 4 days ago. It's a necessity, really: I've got some circulation issues. My doctor told me it's a genetic thing. My grandmother had varicose veins; I have some spider veins... if I don't get enough movement, if I just sit around like a sloth, I get these painful areas in my legs. Even if I'm already wearing compression socks. These flashes of pain/sore areas go away if I get in a 20 or 30 minute walk... or dance or do yoga...1 -
Thanks for the information about vitamin E, I had forgotten that it can thin blood.
Check in April 2
1. >15,000 steps daily (Fitbit data). Wow I smashed my goal and got 20,811 steps. Walked on my lunch hour and then after supper for 3.8 miles while I talked to friends on the phone that I haven't been able to see b/c of COVID
2. > 3,000 calories burned daily (Fitbit data). Also did really good b/c of the extra exercise.
3. Low carb < 35 net and low calorie < 1,500 day. Surprisingly, the extra exercise did not make me any hungrier than usual.
4. Close the active ring on Fitbit. Set at 250 an hour. Had to get up and walk in place a couple times while at work to make this successful.
Keep on keeping on, everyone!2 -
I was going to say that I went to my local grocery store after work last night. Still no toilet paper. Plenty of paper towels and Kleenex.
Fresh produce pretty good about half as stocked as pre-COVID.
Meat department also half as stocked, hamburger and hot dogs more slim.
Canned goods looking quite bare actually.
Milk and dairy like eggs and cheese very good, I do live in a "dairy state".
Frozen area also looks about half as full as pre-COVID.
I heard today that there have been folks from larger communities coming to my town of about 11,000 shopping b/c they can't find groceries where they live, people from as far away as Milwaukee area and Appleton, likely d/t being originally from this area. Wow is all I have to say, who would a thought?!
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1. Mini Break workouts (10 min x 4, 5 times)
2. Eat low carb
3. Limit drinks to weekends
4. Close all 3rings on Apple Watch (stand, move, exercise) daily.
4/2 check in:
1~4 ✔ I love seeing the all rings close on my watch. It's super sunny today. I'm going to get my work done and go to the Metro parks later! Gotta get my steps in 3 -
Nice work, people!
4/2 check in: 30 minutes heavy cleaning; 10 minutes panicked searching my house room to room (all 3 floors) looking for my phone charger! Yes, I did find it. phew!1 -
Yes vitamin E thins the blood and K1 clots it. They are antagonists. I made a huge order from Aldi's yesterday and they had everything but ribeyes. I ordered strip steaks instead. I have enough toilet paper for several months especially being on carnivore. I'm taking antiviral herbs today because my throat feels funny. I was big into herbs about 9 years ago and still have them all. I don't believe dried herbs ever go bad unless they get wet somehow.1
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4/2-4/3 check in:
Over quite a bit on calories the last two days- still trying to get a handle and wrangle those carb cravings. Tomorrow is back on plan.
To counter the poor choices, I’ve taken advantage of the weather and some boredom by upping my activity. 18k steps today and 20k yesterday- smashed those rings on the watch!
Here’s to better choices and smaller portions tomorrow!6 -
Good morning! I’m a bit delayed in posting. For 4/2 I closed all my rings, 4/3 was more “active” without exercise as I did a lot of yard work. I did have a spell yesterday where I wanted to eat everything! I was able to eventually get distracted and refocus. I just feel hungry so often, like legitimate hungry. I keep waiting for that to subside. I’ve only been low carbing at 20g level for about a week or so. I’ve been focusing strongly on keeping fats high with healthy types. Day by day I’m seeing little improvements. Swelling is deceasing, tender points are less acute and sleep is slightly improved. I have fibromyalgia and after two years of experiments with foods, I know that sugar is my nemesis. Curious if anyone here has used the low carb lifestyle to help with similar diagnosis?
Today will be another nice day so more yard work is on the table! I hope everyone has a wonderful start to the weekend. Stay healthy!5 -
4/3:
Yard hike for about an hour and 15. Got just over 11k steps.
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4/4 check in:
OH had nearly 70 degree temps today so I stayed active for most of the day and did a longer fast than anticipated. This resulted in being under plan for calories and a closure of all rings on my tracker. Nothing like getting back to basics!5
