Thrive Without Janelle: The Accountability Group

[deirdra]

An ASMR video of someone slowly unpacking crinkly bags would have the opposite effect on me, enraging me.  However I did almost fall asleep when I wasn't even tired while watching a tinykittens YT livestream that had cricket sounds playing in the backround to relax the feral cat and her newborns (they were sleeping and relaxing to watch).  It look me back 55 yrs to where I'd listen to the crickets outside as I fell asleep on warm summer nights as a child.  I could feel my body sinking into my childhood bed even though I was sitting in a chair.

[TurtlePower]

18 hours ago, LilWharveyGal said:

Please don't feel like you have to have a weight-related goal to participate in here.  Any project that you might want to tackle in your life, we are here to support your getting started if you feel like sharing.

Accountability time - the holiday weekend really threw me off, I only just found time to weigh in today and I barely lost anything so far this month.  It's been a crazy week at work, but I'm doing my best to meal prep and keep my exercise going.  All of your step counts are very motivating!

Agreed, health isn't always weight related, though it is for many people. I don't need to drop any weight, but it's nice to keep each other motivated to stay active, be able to reach out emotionally and get support however it's needed. 

 

[TurtlePower]

16 hours ago, laurakaye said:

Regarding insomnia, has anyone tried to fall asleep to an ASMR video on YouTube?  ASMR is the feeling of relaxation you may get (if it triggers you) by watching someone slowly unpack crinkly bags, or turn pages in a book in a quiet room, etc.

This has been my holy grail of discoveries since Covid made it nearly impossible for me to turn off my brain long enough to get a good night's sleep.  My current favorite channel is "Rebecca's Beautiful ASMR Addiction."  She has an hour-long video of shopping at a Dollar Store...no talking and no sounds except the crinkling of her picking up and putting things back on the shelves.  Crazy as it may sound, I have used this video for sleep at least 50 times and I have never, not once, been able to stay awake until the end.  

My other favorite is "ASMR Made in France."  There is a zen garden video where the artist simply draws out designs in a tiny zen garden and the lights in the room fade over the course of 45 minutes.  I typically fall asleep, then rouse just enough to take out my earbuds and set my iPad on the floor.  It's a great way to zone out, IMO.

I looked at ASMR and found it irritating with the random things like fingernail tapping, etc. It made me more anxious because I could not stand the sounds and wanted them to stop. Everyone's different, right?

I'm currently experimenting with sound frequency, specifically lower frequencies to calm me. Seems to work. 

[Yeah No]

On 9/9/2020 at 10:18 AM, CocoPuffs said:

BTW, I haven’t seen posts from @Yeah No lately. Love reading her NY stories. Hope she’s okay. I know we all pop in when we can, some post a lot, some post a little. But I can’t help but miss when some regulars disappear. I used to read and post on SWB and CJ. Hate that they’re both now defunct and unfortunately don’t know what happened to the mods. 😢

Hi, thank you for asking about me.  As Kohola said, I posted in the Small Talk Thread.  I am not ready for any striving other than trying to eat healthier because I'm too depressed and dealing with a LOT as usual.  I am taking advantage of the time of year to buy wonderful local vegetables.  I've been making my old family recipe "caponata" (Sicilian eggplant salad), which you can eat hot or cold and keeps in the fridge forever.  I've also been making lots of local corn.  I know every state thinks it has the best corn.  I've had corn from many places, but have decided that CT corn is among the absolute best.  It is sweet, tender and the kernels are small and alternate between white and yellow.  You can eat it raw, it's that good (although I don't).  The other day I made a pasta dish with whole wheat spaghetti, zucchini and yellow summer squash, fresh corn kernels, walnuts, diced pancetta, diced onion, garlic, halved cherry tomatoes, basil and grated parm cheese.  It was my modification of this Jeffrey Zakarian recipe from the show "The Kitchen" on the Food Network.  It was FANTASTIC (or as Janelle would say, "Rock Star", LOL)!  I added the pancetta, onion and garlic and I think that made the dish even better.

Cooking is therapy for me.  Thank God for that because I need some therapy right now.  Maybe when I feel better I can concentrate on more exercise.  I just have to get past cleaning out that apartment and my acid stomach.  I'm still so close yet so far.   Congrats to all of you on your amazing step counts.  I have a pedomenter - I used to get at least 8,000 steps a day in at one time but after one too many life tsunami's in the pandemic era, I stopped counting.  I want to get back into that when things settle down somewhat.  Thanks for providing motivation and support!

[Lovecat]

On 9/9/2020 at 7:38 AM, ginger90 said:

When I wore scrubs, my cell phone fit perfectly in the pocket. I wouldn’t buy a scrub top if it didn’t. I’d check my step count every night. Now, I’m in a home that the client prefers street clothes so she doesn’t feel as if people will see her as  needing  medical care when we are out and about. My cell stays on the kitchen counter all day, or in my purse when we’re out. So, my step count looks like shit, so I don’t look at it anymore..

I got a generic Fitbit-like tracker on Amazon for about $40 because I got tired of trying to have my phone on me at all times to log steps.  My gizmo interfaces with an app on my phone, and with Apple's Health app that came with the phone, too, so I can look at all my historical data.  It also tracks my sleep (total, deep, and light), which has helped me figure out what sleeping positions give me better sleep.  You can also get a simple pedometer for about $20 to clip to your waistband, but those might not have the ability to talk to your phone.

In other news, I've been doing really well with yoga lately--6 days a week for the past few months--and have seen loads of improvement in my flexibility and strength.  I've had to be careful due to a slowly-healing groin strain (dude, those take a LONG time to heal!), but I've kept at it.  I decided to up the ante this week by adding some proper sun salutation sequences, modified with blocks because I have little T-rex arms and am somewhat fluffy in the middle, so it's hard to reach the ground and still have enough leverage to move my feet around on the mat.  Things were going well until this morning--I was halfway through my second sun salutation of the day, hands on blocks, right foot back, fixing to send left foot back to plank, and when I shifted my weight to move my left foot I felt a POP in the arch of my right foot.  I've been having some plantar fasciitis-like pain in that foot for a few weeks, and I think I may have torn the fascia a little.  Balls.  It's not excruciating pain, so I don't think I've ruptured it outright, but it does hurt more than it has been.  If it doesn't feel better tomorrow, off to the doctor or urgent care.  Sigh.  Stoopid old body.  I turned 50 a month ago and am starting to fall apart.  Well.  More apart than I was in my 40s.  One part gets better and another one breaks down 😞

[Yeah No]

On 9/6/2020 at 8:56 PM, Teafortwo said:

@TurtlePower Thank you for your kind and understanding words (and @Pickleinthemiddle too!). I know what it's like to have insomnia. I get a bout of it in the spring as days start to get longer -- for some reason that also kicks in my ocd-type rumination, where I can't stop running the events of the day through my head, or what I have to do the next day etc (when I was working). Taking magnesium might help. I tried Ambien and had a bad experience with it. It's really only recommended for short term. It can really mess with your mind. Benadryl unfortunately doesn't work for me, it makes me jumpy.

My mind goes around and around thinking of moving, looking at possible places. The property values are going down here in NYC and the property taxes are going up (because the commercial tax base has declined due to so many business failures). I love my neighborhood and have lived in my apt for 25 years (all happily and quietly, before the bad neighbor moved in). I love going to the various local merchants and restaurants and parks etc. But I could use more space, and I reeeaaallly need my own washing machine. I just talked to a dear friend who may have to move out of his rental in December (he lives in another state, where rents are going up so his current rental may no longer be affordable). If I sold my apartment and bought a lower-priced house in another state, and he took the second bedroom, it would actually work well for both of us. I would not normally want to share my space with anyone (except a romantic partner) but he's one of the few people I could imagine living with, and I would charge him less than half of what he currently pays in rent. I would not want to live with him forever (he's allergic to cats, for one thing, so I'd have to delay getting a cat), but at this point I'd welcome some company and so would he.  Covid has probably created stranger roommate situations. Anyhow, it's tempting, and something to distract me from my anxiety about needing to find a job.

Tea, I really feel for you.  Sorry for my late reply but as you can imagine I've been depressed myself lately and not keeping up with the board as much.  You remind me of my best friend in NYC.  She is alone and now due to being forced into early retirement is feeling way more isolated than before the pandemic because she doesn't drive and now (understandably) has pandemic-related anxieties about going anywhere on public transportation.  Plus, what is there to go TO?  Suddenly all the social events she used to attend are now either cancelled or too anxiety provoking or logistically difficult to attempt with social distancing.  She only wishes she had learned how to drive and would be able to see her way clear to leaving the city.  It's all she's ever known.  At 62 it would be very hard for her to make the changes necessary to leave.  I left the city when I was 33, in the middle of the "crack is whack" era, when homeless people were living in the alleyways of my building.  Even though I only moved 40 miles away to Norwalk, CT, the culture shock was so intense it threw me for a loop.  My husband and I moved to a brand new townhouse development.  My next door neighbor was fresh from Brooklyn and she and I both shared our culture-shock with each other.  We might has well have moved to the MOON as have left NYC.  But we were natives so it was even more difficult for us - I'm not sure I remember if you are or not.  But even if you're not and you've been in the city for a long time it may be an issue.

Buying a house in another state is also not that easy if you're by yourself.  Having a friend with you helps, but not having any social network in place wherever you go wouldn't help toward not feeling isolated.  In the pandemic era we are more isolated to begin with - throw being in a new state into that mix where you don't know anyone, and it can feel even more difficult.  I'm not trying to discourage you, but it may not be the win-win situation you'd hope for.  I don't know how old you are, but it might be a good idea if you're old enough to seek out 55+ communities where the emphasis is on community.  At least there you might find people in your general age bracket and situation in life who are open to making new friends, or at least become a social network.  My other best friend who lives out on the Island in Suffolk County recently got herself into one of those communities and it has been fantastic for her.  I am a little envious in some ways because she always has friends around to talk to or do things with.  Of course now with the pandemic there's less of that, but they're all in the same boat together so they do social distancing visits outside and in the community hall.  Fortunately this is not one of those "old age home" atmospheres and they are all active seniors.

Anyway, I just read all of that back and it does sound very pessimistic - I just wanted to play "devil's advocate" to help you think about some of the pros and cons.  It could also be a great thing.  But sometimes escaping is an attempt to flee a problem that needs to be solved within you before escaping is a good idea.  And one thing I learned when I was depressed is never make any permanent life altering decisions when you are depressed or you almost always regret them right away.  I'd say wait and see if the feeling persists.  If it does, you will live into your answer when you don't pressure yourself to have to know right now.  If you really do love your neighborhood and can afford to stay there, maybe there are other ways not to feel so isolated there.  I can't suggest any offhand, but it might bear some looking into.  I could give you my friend's name and number, LOL.  Joking, but the point is that there are a lot of people like you in the city right now that are cut off from their social networks during the pandemic.  So I would bet that they are all looking for ways to connect with others in the same boat.

I hear you about the prices - I am worried about putting my father's apartment up for sale at a time when people are bailing on the city.  My own house here in CT has seen a recent increase in value - ironic as it hasn't seen much of any increase since we bought it in 2006.  I shouldn't worry about the apartment, but I do.  My realtor says people are still looking in the boroughs and Harlem and above.  So the real exodus is below Harlem in Manhattan.  Most of the people fleeing have tons of money so they wouldn't be the people interested in my Dad's apartment anyway.  So I have to look at it like that.  Some Manhattanites are actually looking for cheaper places in the Bronx in an area that has one foot in the suburbs, like this one.  So that's my hope, anyway.  We are very nearly done with the sorting and are almost ready to have it cleaned out and list it.  I am hoping for a miracle - someone that wants it as-is and is willing to renovate it.  Please, God, I have had so many blows, I need a break right about now!

Anyway, I really understand.  I hope you have friends you can talk to when you are feeling down.  I am blessed with wonderful long time friends who are more like family to me.  And then there is this wonderful group too!  I'm here if you ever need an ear to sound off on.  I majored in listening in grad. school (counseling psych. at Fordham) and I'm out of work myself (I've actually given up on that for many reasons), so it helps me to step out of my own worries to give support to others.  

Many, many (((hugs))) - we will get through this together!!!

[Gramto6]

11,986 steps yesterday.

[Teafortwo]

10 hours ago, TurtlePower said:

I looked at ASMR and found it irritating with the random things like fingernail tapping, etc. It made me more anxious because I could not stand the sounds and wanted them to stop. Everyone's different, right?

I'm currently experimenting with sound frequency, specifically lower frequencies to calm me. Seems to work. 

I find all that stuff seriously annoying too. I once went to a meditation class that was advertised as having special random musical tones (they were generated by these computerized sound boards, it turned out). So we all had to lie down on mats in the dark and listen to the sounds for over an hour. I found it so irritating I almost got up and left -- but I didn't want to cause a disturbance so I just lay there. Afterward everyone was raving about how relaxing and also energizing the sounds were. OMG

[ginger90]

A pedestal fan is my sound machine. Works for me. 

[Kohola3]

59 minutes ago, Teafortwo said:

I find all that stuff seriously annoying too.

I admit that I don't do well with meditation or anything. When I am at my yoga class, the teacher does a meditation segment and my mind just wanders away to making a gorcery list or planning the activities for the week. I don't do well with stillness.

[deirdra]

34 minutes ago, Kohola3 said:

I admit that I don't do well with meditation or anything. 

I'm the same, my mind always wandered when I tried conventional meditation methods and a word mantra, but I took a relaxation course (only because my friend had signed up and wanted company) and got one good idea out of it.  You think of three enjoyable and memorable times in your life when you felt calm, alive and breathing well and then make a visual mantra in your head linking them together.  Mine happens to involve three times when I was outside and walking down a gentle slope in nice weather. First on a cool l afternoon in Fall with all the leaves in vibrant colours and starting to fall, then I come to a clearing that becomes a gorse-covered hill in Scotland and then onto a warm sandy beach.  I feel the air, rocks, dirt and sand under my feet and smell the scents as I descend.  While on a bed, recliner, or the floor, you consciously un-tense your muscles and go limp, starting with your toes and slowly working your way up your body until you are completely limp while going through your personally chosen scenes in your head. You can work your way up and down your body tensing and untensing your body as long as you like.  Apparently many military people do something similar to get to sleep in 4 minutes when they are in a tent in Afghanistan or wherever, lying on their back with hands lightly touching at their waist or with arms along their sides as they feel themselves sinking into bed/cot/ground.

Edited September 11, 2020 by deirdra

[Teafortwo]

6 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I'm not trying to discourage you, but it may not be the win-win situation you'd hope for.  I don't know how old you are, but it might be a good idea if you're old enough to seek out 55+ communities where the emphasis is on community.  At least there you might find people in your general age bracket and situation in life who are open to making new friends, or at least become a social network.

Thanks for your long and, as always, thoughtful post! All of the points you made are very important considerations. I do know people in the areas I'm considering moving to. I am fortunate to have several very dear friends that I have been speaking to regularly during all of this. I also do like the idea of active senior communities (I'm 59) , but I am certain that Suffolk Cty would be out of reach for me financially. I've been feeling a little better of late, going outside for walks more often and have even gotten take-out! It would be an interesting adventure in any case. 

ETA: we should probably take any further discussion on the topic of moving to the small-talk thread. Regarding accountability, I walked for almost 2 miles yesterday, and today I did a short workout with hand weights, followed by stretching. Glad to hear others' checking in with their activities, whether exercise, cooking or anything else that helps us feel better.

Edited September 11, 2020 by Teafortwo

[Pickleinthemiddle]

I don't do well with meditation either.  But I have used the calm App in the past and it was relaxing and helped a little.

[crazycatlady58]

50 minutes ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

I don't do well with meditation either.  But I have used the calm App in the past and it was relaxing and helped a little.

I use the Calm app to help me sleep. Their sleep stories are great.  I have tried to do the meditation but cannot match my breathing to theory count. 

[Gramto6]

11,739 steps yesterday. Took a little fall last evening, no injuries, just a couple bruises. Just makes me nervous as a couple years ago I had several falls that did bang me up quite a bit.

[Pickleinthemiddle]

4 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

11,739 steps yesterday. Took a little fall last evening, no injuries, just a couple bruises. Just makes me nervous as a couple years ago I had several falls that did bang me up quite a bit.

I'll tell you like I tell my mom, carry your cell phone on you in case you fall and can't get up.  At least you can call for help.  Be careful Gram.  

[Gramto6]

Absolutely! I always have my phone in my pocket, Not only to count my steps, but it is my "Help I've fallen and can't get up device!" I am a widow and live alone so rely on my phone....

[Pickleinthemiddle]

22 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Absolutely! I always have my phone in my pocket, Not only to count my steps, but it is my "Help I've fallen and can't get up device!" I am a widow and live alone so rely on my phone....

My mom lives alone too.  She always messages me once or twice a day.  So If I don't hear from her I will call her.  She still does some of her yard work and I always remind her to carry her phone.  I carry mine.  You just never know when you might twist an ankle.

[ginger90]

@Gramto6 I hope you’re feeling ok since the fall.

[Gramto6]

11,326 steps yesterday. Thanks ginger90, today a few more sore spots are appearing, but still nothing really serious.

[lookeyloo]

3 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

11,326 steps yesterday. Thanks ginger90, today a few more sore spots are appearing, but still nothing really serious.

May I ask how long that takes you?  I walk for an hour up and down hills in our subdivision almost every day and it takes me an hour and my device says about 3 miles and about 7300 steps.  I just don't want to walk more than that.  It takes me an hour to cool off and then shower.  Seems like all morning is taken up with it.

[Meowwww]

12 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

May I ask how long that takes you?  I walk for an hour up and down hills in our subdivision almost every day and it takes me an hour and my device says about 3 miles and about 7300 steps.  I just don't want to walk more than that.  It takes me an hour to cool off and then shower.  Seems like all morning is taken up with it.

That seems right...on my Fitbit, 10000 steps is about 5 miles.  

[lookeyloo]

43 minutes ago, Meowwww said:

That seems right...on my Fitbit, 10000 steps is about 5 miles.  

And how long does it take?  It takes me about an hour. I can’t go very fast up and hills. 

[ehall1052]

14 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

May I ask how long that takes you?  I walk for an hour up and down hills in our subdivision almost every day and it takes me an hour and my device says about 3 miles and about 7300 steps.  I just don't want to walk more than that.  It takes me an hour to cool off and then shower.  Seems like all morning is taken up with it.

I have the exact same question. I need a hip replacement now, so I can’t walk like that anymore, but I could never make it to 10000 steps a day by walking 1 hour outside per day plus all my regular steps around the house! I swore something was wrong with my Fitbit! I have an acquaintance who walks 6-8 MILES a day but starts at 5 am. Forget that! That is really time consuming. Not to mention, it’s plum dangerous to walk like that in the dark. 

[Absolom]

I've been inching the walking steps/distance up and it may be helping maintain the weight loss.  Stabilization of weight loss has never been easy for me so I hope to do better this time.  I'm trying not to relax any standards this time.  No celebration for hitting a goal and no days off for awhile.

[deirdra]

There are steps and there are steps.  It used to be routine in (military & exercise) bootcamps that a "step" was a "pace" and only counted one foot, usually the right foot, not both. Back in the days when people used clickers to count steps, you only clicked when the foot on the same side as the clicker hit the ground.  Now with digital devices people seem to count steps both ways. My pace (right+left) is 5' and that is how I've always set my pedometers and Fitbit.

Going up and down hills uses a lot more energy & calories, Lookeyloo.  I barely break a sweat on flat ground but really work my muscles, lungs & heart on hills covering distance at the same speed.  Your steps will be shorter on hills too.  Over 45 years of fieldwork I've used my pace to measure approximate distances and will even remeasure my pace on terrain of different steepness to calibrate it. 

Edited September 14, 2020 by deirdra

[Pickleinthemiddle]

21 hours ago, lookeyloo said:

May I ask how long that takes you?  I walk for an hour up and down hills in our subdivision almost every day and it takes me an hour and my device says about 3 miles and about 7300 steps.  I just don't want to walk more than that.  It takes me an hour to cool off and then shower.  Seems like all morning is taken up with it.

When I was between jobs and had the time to get a good walk in every day.  I walked on a local hike&bike trail paved on the walking part,  round trip it was 7 1/2 miles and I was walking about 3 miles per hour (ideally it should be 4 miles per hour).  It would take between 2 1/2 to 3 hours depending if I had to stop for toilet breaks.  I carried a quart bottle of water as it gets pretty hot here it Texas, sometimes filling up at the turn around point.  Yes some days I would add an extra 4 miles onto my walk.  Starting around 9 and not finishing up until 1-2, then having packed a lunch and eating at the park where the trail starts.  

 

Right now I walk for a living, doing my rounds I walk on and off for a 12 hour shift, but as it's a stop/ start, It is not really giving me any cardio benefits.  I average between 16,000-20,000 steps per day.  

[lookeyloo]

7 minutes ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

When I was between jobs and had the time to get a good walk in every day.  I walked on a local hike&bike trail paved on the walking part,  round trip it was 7 1/2 miles and I was walking about 3 miles per hour (ideally it should be 4 miles per hour).  It would take between 2 1/2 to 3 hours depending if I had to stop for toilet breaks.  I carried a quart bottle of water as it gets pretty hot here it Texas, sometimes filling up at the turn around point.  Yes some days I would add an extra 4 miles onto my walk.  Starting around 9 and not finishing up until 1-2, then having packed a lunch and eating at the park where the trail starts.  

 

Right now I walk for a living, doing my rounds I walk on and off for a 12 hour shift, but as it's a stop/ start, It is not really giving me any cardio benefits.  I average between 16,000-20,000 steps per day.  

Very commendable. I just don’t want to devote my entire day to walking. I am in the south and carry a water bottle and a sweat towel. 

[Pickleinthemiddle]

6 minutes ago, lookeyloo said:

Very commendable. I just don’t want to devote my entire day to walking. I am in the south and carry a water bottle and a sweat towel. 

I don't really either.  But as I didn't have much to do, I felt like I need to get up and move around.  I actually felt much better after walking for several hours.  I was kinda like Janelle that first mile or so, I kept trying to talk myself out of going much farther.

[lookeyloo]

9 minutes ago, Pickleinthemiddle said:

I don't really either.  But as I didn't have much to do, I felt like I need to get up and move around.  I actually felt much better after walking for several hours.  I was kinda like Janelle that first mile or so, I kept trying to talk myself out of going much farther.

I agree about feeling better.  I walk more for my head and then for my bones and heart.  I just put myself on autopilot and head out in the a.m.  Some days I just don't want to, but, say to myself, just start and see.  And I always do it all.  But, I still have other things I want to/like doing so only devote mornings to the walking.  I try and add some upper body work when I get home.  I used to go to the gym for that, but I am very undisciplined to doing it at home, regardless of how many cute videos I try.  And I've tried a lot.  But, I do it a few times a week anyway.

[Gramto6]

On 9/13/2020 at 4:40 PM, lookeyloo said:

May I ask how long that takes you?  I walk for an hour up and down hills in our subdivision almost every day and it takes me an hour and my device says about 3 miles and about 7300 steps.  I just don't want to walk more than that.  It takes me an hour to cool off and then shower.  Seems like all morning is taken up with it.

I have several back issues, knee issues and balance issues, I walk mostly inside my 2200 sq ft home. I am a widow living alone, I am a night owl going to bed around 2-3 AM and getting up 9:30-10AM. The first thing I do is turn on the TV for background noise. I feed the feral cat and take my blood sugar reading (also diabetic). I walk every time commercials come on the TV during the whole time I am awake, no matter what else I am doing. Yes it is flat, but it has to be because of my balance issues, note I just took a fall a couple of days ago that I am recovering from slowly. I'm 71 one heals much slower at that age. In younger days I was very physically active, but age has slowed me down. The steps are the best I can do now while also trying to keep myself safe.

10,771 steps yesterday. Still sore and backing off a bit today.

[LilWharveyGal]

I'm on day 4 of not being able to take my daily walk due to the horrible air quality, so all of you getting steps are making me jealous! I might have to just deal with it tomorrow, just to get out of the house for a little bit.

[Gramto6]

Just now, LilWharveyGal said:

I'm on day 4 of not being able to take my daily walk due to the horrible air quality, so all of you getting steps are making me jealous! I might have to just deal with it tomorrow, just to get out of the house for a little bit.

I'm in MT and we are getting the smoke from the fires to the west, total white out,  Air Quality today was Unhealthy. Another advantage to walking inside.

[TurtlePower]

Been getting my 5-7 miles in for the last several days. Not much change, same old same old. Unlike Janelle, I look forward to my morning cardio versus trying to talk myself out of it. 

[Gramto6]

10,333 steps yesterday.  Still stiff and taking it a bit easy. Just trying to make my 10,000 steps.

[laurakaye]

Regarding the fires, we have had hazy skies over southwest Michigan for the past several days as the smoke drifts across the country.  It's kind of eerie in the mornings, as it makes the sun glow like a red fireball.  We all comment on how pretty it is but we're also devastated by the reason.

Edited September 15, 2020 by laurakaye

[Gramto6]

11,852 steps yesterday. Finally feeling better.

[Kohola3]

3 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Finally feeling better.

Glad to hear it!

[LilWharveyGal]

Just leaving this here in case anybody else needs to hear this today. 😊

[Meowwww]

11930 steps today.  
My issue with walking distances is I have to pee.  Tell me I am going to walk with no bathroom near, and it’s worse.  I have a mind-bladder problem.  
Hubby and I set out to walk a new bridge near us.  I had to pee, went before we left.  Got to the start site, bathrooms closed.  Bladder emergency.  It was awful.  How do you all control mind over matter (bladder) to even walk?   I don’t even have to go until I see lack of bathrooms.  

[TurtlePower]

9 miles yesterday. A bit sore today, so today is a rest day. As it cools and my runs become longer, more rest days are needed. Marathon in May 2021. 

[suomi]

9 hours ago, Meowwww said:

11930 steps today.  
My issue with walking distances is I have to pee.  Tell me I am going to walk with no bathroom near, and it’s worse.  I have a mind-bladder problem.  
Hubby and I set out to walk a new bridge near us.  I had to pee, went before we left.  Got to the start site, bathrooms closed.  Bladder emergency.  It was awful.  How do you all control mind over matter (bladder) to even walk?   I don’t even have to go until I see lack of bathrooms.  

Bummer. Could your husband stand guard while you use a disposable urinal made for women? 

They fit the female anatomy and contain a powder (? or something) that turns liquid into a gel that smells good. You could stash it in a bush and retrieve it on your way back.

I think you can flush the gel.

Edited September 17, 2020 by suomi
typo

[laurakaye]

9 hours ago, Meowwww said:

My issue with walking distances is I have to pee.  Tell me I am going to walk with no bathroom near, and it’s worse.  I have a mind-bladder problem.  
Hubby and I set out to walk a new bridge near us.  I had to pee, went before we left.  Got to the start site, bathrooms closed.  Bladder emergency.  It was awful.  How do you all control mind over matter (bladder) to even walk?   I don’t even have to go until I see lack of bathrooms.  

This is also my issue!  I love to walk around a local lake and it takes about 90 minutes.  There are two potty stops along the way but both are closed due to Covid.  At this point I know it's a mind over matter issue because I never thought twice about walking that route when the bathrooms were open - and I rarely used them when they were.  But now that they're closed?  NooooOOo!  I also don't have to use the bathroom at night until I hear someone else go in there and I know I can't get in.  It's ridiculous.  If there's a solution to this issue then I need to know what it is!

[Kohola3]

1 hour ago, laurakaye said:

If there's a solution to this issue then I need to know what it is!

Ditto.  I have a brain issue that says I need to hit the bathroom the minute I arrive somewhere in a car.  It's nutty - I might have gone to get a curbside grocery order and haven't had a thing to drink in the 20 minutes I've been gone and the second I pull into my driveway I need to dash inside.  I know logically that's insane but the urge presents itself every single time. 

Yesterday I went before leaving home and by the time I got to the state park 25 minutes later and pulled in I immediately felt like I had to go again - and all of the bathrooms are closed.  Luckily something diverted my attention and the urge passed.

I've tried to talk myself out of it, tried to tell myself to think of other things, tried to sing but nothing helps except a complete unconscious change of focus.

[Absolom]

I'm holding at one pound under goal weight and trying to add 250 to 500 steps a day every week.

[Gramto6]

20 hours ago, Meowwww said:

11930 steps today.  
My issue with walking distances is I have to pee.  Tell me I am going to walk with no bathroom near, and it’s worse.  I have a mind-bladder problem.  
Hubby and I set out to walk a new bridge near us.  I had to pee, went before we left.  Got to the start site, bathrooms closed.  Bladder emergency.  It was awful.  How do you all control mind over matter (bladder) to even walk?   I don’t even have to go until I see lack of bathrooms.  

Well due to my health issues I do most of my walking inside my home. So if I have to pee, no problemo... but when I am out and about I do have issues of cleanliness and availability of facilities, so I plan my outings carefully.

[Gramto6]

11,858 steps yesterday.

[Absolom]

I'm up to two miles - 5344 steps.  I had to start over at a quarter mile after breaking my foot.  My goal was initially get back to 4400 steps and trying to ease up to 7500.  With my health issues my doctors are quite happy at 5000 and will be thrilled if I can get to 7500.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Absolom

[lookeyloo]

I just walked an entire hour on the hills in our subdivision.  My app says 6,354 steps, 2.6 miles and 3 floors climbed, which is for the steepest hills.  I am sweating and it is in the 60s.  An hour is all I'm willing to give.

[Gramto6]

11,178 steps yesterday.