Thrive Without Janelle: The Accountability Group

[Yeah No]

Just checking in to report that I've finally reached a milestone - I've officially lost 20 lbs. since I started my current diet and exercise program!  I've been losing just about a pound a week on average.  I'm very happy with my Echelon exercise bike too.  It has been life changing and just the kick I needed to get me through the Winter when I usually don't get enough exercise.  I'm up to 30 minute rides now and burn at least 100-130 calories each time.  Sometimes I do two 20 minute rides at different times of the day.  It's been a long time since I felt this good in the Winter months.  

[Gramto6]

Congratulations @Yeah No! Glad to hear you are having such great success!

 

6,115 steps yesterday.  Can't wait for dr appointment on 31st! Maybe I will at last be free of the brace!

[Gramto6]

5,282 steps yesterday. Feeling so tired so took it easy. This brace is really wearing me down, just hope the end is in sight.

[altopower]

2 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

5,282 steps yesterday. Feeling so tired so took it easy. This brace is really wearing me down, just hope the end is in sight.

Hang in there! It wasn't that long ago that you getting 3,000 steps was a big deal and look at you now. Take it easy when you're tired; I do, too. Then when rested we can go back and do more.

[Gramto6]

5,744 steps yesterday. Felt pretty good yesterday.

[Gramto6]

6,273 steps yesterday.

I reset goal from 10,000 steps to 7,000, seems more reasonable at this point. Also adjusted weight down to reflect recent weight loss (though I am slowly regaining some). Probably should readjust step length, but it is too early to deal with that right now...

[Gramto6]

6,212 steps yesterday.

Won't adjust goal up until I am consistently getting over 7,000 steps. Hopefully brace will come off tomorrow and some of this exhaustion will go away as things really get back to normal...

[Gramto6]

Well, frack!! Tripped over the leg of my elliptical (clothes hanger) a couple of hours ago and fell and hit my head and cut it open. Dang! Is there no hope for me??? Paramedics  said I don't need stitches and no trip to hospital, thank goodness. Tailbone hurts but I see neurosurgeon tomorrow and will have x-rays so I guess if anything wrong there it will show up. 

Better not slow down removal of brace!!

[Yeah No]

6 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Well, frack!! Tripped over the leg of my elliptical (clothes hanger) a couple of hours ago and fell and hit my head and cut it open. Dang! Is there no hope for me??? Paramedics  said I don't need stitches and no trip to hospital, thank goodness. Tailbone hurts but I see neurosurgeon tomorrow and will have x-rays so I guess if anything wrong there it will show up. 

Better not slow down removal of brace!!

Ouch!  Sorry to hear that Gram, take it real easy.....I'll keep hopeful that this won't set you back any with your brace.

I've had a minor setback myself - My husband finally put the second choice "comfort seat" on my stationary bike and I started a 30 minute ride on it before realizing it needed some minor adjustments.  The seat was throwing me too far forward and I also needed to put the gel seat cover back on.  I was determined to finish the ride but by the end of it my back didn't feel so great.   I have no major pains, just general achiness and tenderness all over my back, sort of like the kind you get with a cold or flu.  He readjusted the seat today and it felt better but I wasn't up to a ride.  I don't want to make anything worse.  So I'm waiting until I feel up to it again.  And I'm not sure I like this seat better than the first one.  I may go back to that one, actually.

[Gramto6]

A surprising 7,635 steps yesterday!  A lot of it was short walks in hopes of not stiffening up after the fall. Seemed to help some, but still pretty sore today.

[altopower]

No More Falling - any of you! Okay, us. I need the reminder, too. Glad you didn't need another hospital trip, @Gramto6 but also glad you had the paramedics check you out first.

I'm working hard not to turn my NuStep into a clothes hanger, too, but am doing almost nothing last week and this until I have a follow up with the retina doctor to be sure his laser "rivets" are holding on my tear. I feel like a slug.

[Gramto6]

Thanks @altopower Good news and not so good news from the dr today. She said she can tell I have been really following the back protocol well and am healing really well. Not so good news, I am not completely healed yet and will have to wear brace another 6 weeks then see her again. :(

Glad I'm healing well, not so glad to have to continue wearing the brace...

[Gramto6]

Wow! An amazing 8,301 steps yesterday!!

Got lost looking for x-ray in a different part of hospital and then grocery shopping in an unfamiliar grocery store in town really added to the step count! Was exhausted by the time I got home so am not going to push at all today.

[Gramto6]

6,220 steps yesterday. Took it as easy as possible after the busy day before. Still, not a bad #!

[altopower]

Update on my trip to the vein doctor - my blood clots (2) are likely to stay where they are and are now chronic thrombus's. Still on Xarelto which is wildly expensive but so are my other options. Will be on blood thinners for life. We reviewed symptoms to watch for and best ways to contact the office people if anything new appears (I even have a cell phone number). Now back to looking at the recent hospital bills, wondering when someone will figure out I paid my 2023 Medicare deductible on Jan. 1st.

[Gramto6]

6,413 steps yesterday.

Sorry to hear about your situation @altopower Hope you get some relief from the meds, sounds like you have a good medical team working with you. All the best! (((Hugs)))

[Gramto6]

6,544 steps yesterday.

[Gramto6]

7,070 steps yesterday.

[Gramto6]

5,861 steps yesterday. Up, down, no rhyme nor reason, just doing what I can...

[Teafortwo]

The Walk at Home videos are great! I'm only on the 20 minute one but hoping to go up to 30 this week. Trying to do it any day that I don't get a walk outside. Great recommendation!

[Yeah No]

I've been hanging in there.  The back is all better now and  I'm back on the bike, thankfully.  We went back to the first comfort seat and all is well again.  I never stopped walking.  I've been getting 4-6,000 steps a day and on days I stay home I'm doing two 20 minute rides or one 30 minute ride per day.  The only problem now is that despite doing everything I was doing for months and then some I haven't lost any weight in 2 weeks.   It's maddening.  My husband says he's up 2 lbs.  Same story.  Plus thanks to the cold weather I'm feeling hungrier, which sucks.  It's not easy being on a 1200 calorie reduced glycemic diet in the Winter.  You crave starchy carbs. like pizza and pasta.  Plus I tend to suffer from SADS which is worse at this time of year even with the vitamin D supplements and trying to get as much sun as possible when I'm out and about (which isn't easy in the cold weather).  

I actually made a half a pound of real fettuccine the other day.  That is significant because we normally don't have it much anymore.  We only ended up eating an eighth of a pound each for two days in a row as a side dish. I made a lightened up version of chicken marsala with tons of mushrooms and so it felt like the right time to have it.  We hadn't had real pasta in a while.  We've been eating various non-grain pastas mostly made with zucchini and lentils when we do have it.  Sometimes I make an eggplant dish and serve that pasta on the side smothered in red sauce.  The sauce masks the different taste so your taste buds are fooled into thinking it's real pasta.  I find the texture is most like real pasta of all the veggie based pastas.  Birdseye makes a frozen line of zucchini pastas that are very good and very easy to heat up.  I get the one with garlic and oil and put my own red sauce on it, then sprinkle it with chopped basil, grated parm. and Romano cheese.  Being part Italian I have to get my red sauce fix somehow!

[TurtlePower]

7 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I've been hanging in there.  The back is all better now and  I'm back on the bike, thankfully.  We went back to the first comfort seat and all is well again.  I never stopped walking.  I've been getting 4-6,000 steps a day and on days I stay home I'm doing two 20 minute rides or one 30 minute ride per day.  The only problem now is that despite doing everything I was doing for months and then some I haven't lost any weight in 2 weeks.   It's maddening.  My husband says he's up 2 lbs.  Same story.  Plus thanks to the cold weather I'm feeling hungrier, which sucks.  It's not easy being on a 1200 calorie reduced glycemic diet in the Winter.  You crave starchy carbs. like pizza and pasta.  Plus I tend to suffer from SADS which is worse at this time of year even with the vitamin D supplements and trying to get as much sun as possible when I'm out and about (which isn't easy in the cold weather).  

I actually made a half a pound of real fettuccine the other day.  That is significant because we normally don't have it much anymore.  We only ended up eating an eighth of a pound each for two days in a row as a side dish. I made a lightened up version of chicken marsala with tons of mushrooms and so it felt like the right time to have it.  We hadn't had real pasta in a while.  We've been eating various non-grain pastas mostly made with zucchini and lentils when we do have it.  Sometimes I make an eggplant dish and serve that pasta on the side smothered in red sauce.  The sauce masks the different taste so your taste buds are fooled into thinking it's real pasta.  I find the texture is most like real pasta of all the veggie based pastas.  Birdseye makes a frozen line of zucchini pastas that are very good and very easy to heat up.  I get the one with garlic and oil and put my own red sauce on it, then sprinkle it with chopped basil, grated parm. and Romano cheese.  Being part Italian I have to get my red sauce fix somehow!

I do this with spaghetti squash and Rao’s sauce (love that stuff so much I’m tempted to eat it right out of the jar). I bake the squash, mix in sauce once it’s tender and top with a little cheese. Then it goes back in the oven for maybe 10 minutes.

I understand the 1200 calorie restriction because it’s easy for me to gain weight. Oh how it sucks. If I don’t stay on track and dedicated to my plan, weight gain happens quickly. Staying to natural foods is the only way for me to keep ahead of it because companies design processed foods to be so palatable, we crave more. 

I’ll keep an eye out for zucchini pasta!  

[Yeah No]

5 minutes ago, TurtlePower said:

I do this with spaghetti squash and Rao’s sauce (love that stuff so much I’m tempted to eat it right out of the jar). I bake the squash, mix in sauce once it’s tender and top with a little cheese. Then it goes back in the oven for maybe 10 minutes.

I understand the 1200 calorie restriction because it’s easy for me to gain weight. Oh how it sucks. If I don’t stay on track and dedicated to my plan, weight gain happens quickly. Staying to natural foods is the only way for me to keep ahead of it because companies design processed foods to be so palatable, we crave more. 

I’ll keep an eye out for zucchini pasta!  

I'm not even straying, not even a little bit and yet I'm on a 2 week plateau.  🤷‍♀️ My food diary keeps me honest.  We eat more "whole foods" now than ever.  I love squash but I've never developed a taste for spaghetti squash with red sauce on it.  My Italian roots are strong in that I like my red sauce meals a little more traditional.  My husband loves Rao's but my personal favorite is Victoria marinara sauce.  I actually like mixing them too.  Try it, it's amazing!

I've wondered if maybe I'm building muscle in my legs, and muscle weighs more than fat.  All the bike riding has firmed and toned my legs more than before.  So that may be part of it.  

[Gramto6]

7,483 steps yesterday.

I need to get new batteries for my scale. I am on the opposite spectrum of @Yeah No and @TurtlePower in that I need to gain some weight back after my stint in rehab for my back injuries. I only got weighed once at my 2 week medicare required appointment after hospitalization. I need to get back to checking at home too. (I went into hospital weighing about 135-140# came out of rehab at 121#, I'm 5'4". I gained back 8# at 2 week appointment but don't know where I stand now...)

I do love Rao's and usually eat it on zucchini noodles. Lately I bought some angel hair pasta to have it on. The pasta is just a special treat! I try to stay away from carbs and sugar and keep my weight down as it keeps my diabetes under control.

[TurtlePower]

4 hours ago, Yeah No said:

I'm not even straying, not even a little bit and yet I'm on a 2 week plateau.  🤷‍♀️ My food diary keeps me honest.  We eat more "whole foods" now than ever.  I love squash but I've never developed a taste for spaghetti squash with red sauce on it.  My Italian roots are strong in that I like my red sauce meals a little more traditional.  My husband loves Rao's but my personal favorite is Victoria marinara sauce.  I actually like mixing them too.  Try it, it's amazing!

I've wondered if maybe I'm building muscle in my legs, and muscle weighs more than fat.  All the bike riding has firmed and toned my legs more than before.  So that may be part of it.  

You may well be building muscle. I never pay attention to weight, but rather how my jeans fit. They don’t lie.

I carry A LOT of muscle. Even when I was 7, there are photos of me riding bikes with these toned arms and shoulder muscles, like a boy’s arms. When I was anorexic, I always weighed more while still a size 0 (24 waist). So to me, the numbers on the scale don’t mean much. What matters is do my size 29 jeans fit. If they’re getting snug, I need to shake it up. 

Edited February 7, 2023 by TurtlePower

[Yeah No]

10 hours ago, TurtlePower said:

You may well be building muscle. I never pay attention to weight, but rather how my jeans fit. They don’t lie.

I carry A LOT of muscle. Even when I was 7, there are photos of me riding bikes with these toned arms and shoulder muscles, like a boy’s arms. When I was anorexic, I always weighed more while still a size 0 (24 waist). So to me, the numbers on the scale don’t mean much. What matters is do my size 29 jeans fit. If they’re getting snug, I need to shake it up. 

It's so hard for me to judge anymore based on clothing.  As I age my weight gets distributed differently.  Since menopause the weight tends to accumulate in my mid section and as I get older that seems to be the hardest place to lose it.  I read about this phenomenon all the time.  That's why all those diet ads claim to help us "lose the belly fat".  Plus as we get older we lose muscle mass no matter how hard we try not to, even with exercise.  And that makes us look bigger at the same weight we might have been a few years before since fat takes up more space than muscle.   Even a few years ago when I was this weight I was taking a smaller size in non-stretch jeans thanks to my stomach being smaller proportionately then than it is now.  10 years ago I weighed the same as I do now but I was taking sizes I only wish I could get into now.  Just one of those "joys" of aging.  

Also, like you I think I always carried a lot of muscle which made me look thinner than my weight would suggest.   I recently found a website that shows you several women at the same height and weight and it's amazing how much they differed in terms of appearance.  Some looked svelte while others looked very flabby and fat.   Even with the extra stomach I still don't think I look as heavy as some women my height and weight do, but it was even more true of me years ago.  

That said, I am fitting into a lot of things I haven't worn since 2019, which is fantastic.  When I told a friend I haven't seen in a while that I lost 20 lbs., she said, "Oh great, now you can buy new clothes!"  I said, "Yeah, I go shopping out in my garage where I have plastic tubs full of clothes in smaller sizes".  I just started wearing some sweaters and puffer jackets I haven't been able to wear in 3 years.  It's like they're new all over again!  

 

[TurtlePower]

8 hours ago, Yeah No said:

It's so hard for me to judge anymore based on clothing.  As I age my weight gets distributed differently.  Since menopause the weight tends to accumulate in my mid section and as I get older that seems to be the hardest place to lose it.  I read about this phenomenon all the time.  That's why all those diet ads claim to help us "lose the belly fat".  Plus as we get older we lose muscle mass no matter how hard we try not to, even with exercise.  And that makes us look bigger at the same weight we might have been a few years before since fat takes up more space than muscle.   Even a few years ago when I was this weight I was taking a smaller size in non-stretch jeans thanks to my stomach being smaller proportionately then than it is now.  10 years ago I weighed the same as I do now but I was taking sizes I only wish I could get into now.  Just one of those "joys" of aging.  

Also, like you I think I always carried a lot of muscle which made me look thinner than my weight would suggest.   I recently found a website that shows you several women at the same height and weight and it's amazing how much they differed in terms of appearance.  Some looked svelte while others looked very flabby and fat.   Even with the extra stomach I still don't think I look as heavy as some women my height and weight do, but it was even more true of me years ago.  

That said, I am fitting into a lot of things I haven't worn since 2019, which is fantastic.  When I told a friend I haven't seen in a while that I lost 20 lbs., she said, "Oh great, now you can buy new clothes!"  I said, "Yeah, I go shopping out in my garage where I have plastic tubs full of clothes in smaller sizes".  I just started wearing some sweaters and puffer jackets I haven't been able to wear in 3 years.  It's like they're new all over again!  

 

It’s all very frustrating, aging is.  It was hard enough working hard at a younger age. I plan to fight it all the way, even if it means restriction. If I wanna have a bite of something, I can chew it and spit it out.  

[Gramto6]

7,137 steps yesterday. 

Been running out of steam just after 9PM for some reason these days, going to bed earlier does cut into walking time though by evening I am just about done in anyway.

 

[Yeah No]

29 minutes ago, TurtlePower said:

It’s all very frustrating, aging is.  It was hard enough working hard at a younger age. I plan to fight it all the way, even if it means restriction. If I wanna have a bite of something, I can chew it and spit it out.  

My dietician tells me that I can work most foods into my diet on a limited basis (even some fattening ones) if I really want to but unfortunately a lot of those foods are a "slippery slope" for me and even one bite would actually make avoiding them more difficult.  So taking a bite and spitting it out would only make things more difficult.  Plus it's a little too much like eating disorder behavior for me. 

I have pretty good willpower but my husband doesn't.  He knows his "trigger" foods and has avoided them at all costs since starting his diet last Summer.  One of them is pizza, like from a really good pizzeria.  I haven't had it either - instead we substitute it with frozen cauliflower crust pizza.   I know a few good local pizzerias that offer a cauliflower crust option but I haven't looked too far into it because even at that it's complicated, like is the crust completely flour-free or does it have some flour?  Also, because I'm sure pizzeria pizza is more fattening than the small frozen pizzas we've eaten it would involve even more portion control, like sticking to one or two slices at most.   I used to have 2 slices when we ordered pizza in, but my husband would eat at least 3.   So for now we're still avoiding it.   I've taken to sampling all the supermarket cauliflower crust pizzas out there and so far we think Aldi's was the best, although they only have it every once in a while, unfortunately.

I do recommend substitution.  I just found some low sugar/carb/grain free veggie muffins in my supermarket frozen aisle that are pretty amazing, although a little pricey.  I like the cinnamon ones the best although the chocolate are good too.  They're called "Veggies Made Great" in the Keto variety.  Some of the Keto stuff has too much fat (especially saturated fat) in it for most dieters so I look carefully at the labels.  These only have 4.5 grams of fat in them:

Here they are on the Target site.

For an occasional hot dog fix, I recommend Hebrew National very low fat hot dogs.  They're not so bad once in a while, not on a regular basis.  If I really want a better hot dog experience on special occasions (like July 4th, LOL) they also have a 50% fat reduced variety, which are better.  They freeze well so if you only allow yourself one once in a while they won't go bad before you do.

For the most part, though, we avoid a most of the more processed foods now.  

[TurtlePower]

1 hour ago, Yeah No said:

My dietician tells me that I can work most foods into my diet on a limited basis (even some fattening ones) if I really want to but unfortunately a lot of those foods are a "slippery slope" for me and even one bite would actually make avoiding them more difficult.  So taking a bite and spitting it out would only make things more difficult.  Plus it's a little too much like eating disorder behavior for me. 

I have pretty good willpower but my husband doesn't.  He knows his "trigger" foods and has avoided them at all costs since starting his diet last Summer.  One of them is pizza, like from a really good pizzeria.  I haven't had it either - instead we substitute it with frozen cauliflower crust pizza.   I know a few good local pizzerias that offer a cauliflower crust option but I haven't looked too far into it because even at that it's complicated, like is the crust completely flour-free or does it have some flour?  Also, because I'm sure pizzeria pizza is more fattening than the small frozen pizzas we've eaten it would involve even more portion control, like sticking to one or two slices at most.   I used to have 2 slices when we ordered pizza in, but my husband would eat at least 3.   So for now we're still avoiding it.   I've taken to sampling all the supermarket cauliflower crust pizzas out there and so far we think Aldi's was the best, although they only have it every once in a while, unfortunately.

I do recommend substitution.  I just found some low sugar/carb/grain free veggie muffins in my supermarket frozen aisle that are pretty amazing, although a little pricey.  I like the cinnamon ones the best although the chocolate are good too.  They're called "Veggies Made Great" in the Keto variety.  Some of the Keto stuff has too much fat (especially saturated fat) in it for most dieters so I look carefully at the labels.  These only have 4.5 grams of fat in them:

Here they are on the Target site.

For an occasional hot dog fix, I recommend Hebrew National very low fat hot dogs.  They're not so bad once in a while, not on a regular basis.  If I really want a better hot dog experience on special occasions (like July 4th, LOL) they also have a 50% fat reduced variety, which are better.  They freeze well so if you only allow yourself one once in a while they won't go bad before you do.

For the most part, though, we avoid a most of the more processed foods now.  

This is by design, as you probably already know. Companies do their damnedest to make foods highly palatable, which means high fat/high calorie — and hard to stop eating and craving.

Im one of those people with a list of “safe” foods — Fage 0 fat yogurt, Kefir, under 300 calorie veggie meals, certain fruit, etc. when I was anorexic, however, it was so bad I thought people were sneaking calories into my toothpaste and had issues even brushing my teeth 😱. Hopefully that doesn’t return. 

[xwordfanatik]

One of my "red light" foods (as they called them years ago in WW) is potato chips.  I still think that they are addictive (to me, anyway!) and I wonder sometimes if manufacturers add things to make those kinds of things addictive, like tobacco companies add things to cigarettes to make them even more hard to give up, should one choose to quit smoking.

Candy used to be my downfall when I was younger.  I still like dark chocolate, but I'm careful to only eat a couple of bites occasionally.

 

[TurtlePower]

5 minutes ago, xwordfanatik said:

One of my "red light" foods (as they called them years ago in WW) is potato chips.  I still think that they are addictive (to me, anyway!) and I wonder sometimes if manufacturers add things to make those kinds of things addictive, like tobacco companies add things to cigarettes to make them even more hard to give up, should one choose to quit smoking.

Candy used to be my downfall when I was younger.  I still like dark chocolate, but I'm careful to only eat a couple of bites occasionally.

 

I still have a weakness for crisps and Doritos. LOVE. I used to love broken up doritos on cottage cheese. So, I don’t buy them problem solved! 

[lookeyloo]

I am in the same boat with getting older (just turned 79) small stature, had estrogen positive breast cancer so took the estrogen blocker.  Gave me my "ring of fat"  between bra and waist and a lot of wrinkles. Also have hypothyroidism which I think is treated correctly.  I have been on a weight journey since young adulthood and have that kind of figured out for myself.  My greatest downfall is fresh bread.  So, I avoid it mostly.  I am a unicorn in that I can eat one potato chip or one hershey kiss.  So that isn't my issue.  It is time catching up, crepey skin and that new Gold Bond does not work! I walk every possible day in my subdivision up and down hills which turns out to be about 3.5 miles.  I used to belong to a gym and did weight classes.  I have weights here, the room, endless YouTube videos.  I am not motivated by myself and I haven't gone back to the gym yet.  I cook the evening meal.  We eat a simple breakfast and I don't eat a real lunch, usually something small.  We don't go out much by choice.  I try to buy at least good food to cook!  Grass fed meat and pasture raised eggs, milk and chicken.  Hard to know if that is even helpful but makes me feel good.  Very little processed food.  I can look really good in clothes, but, I know what it all looks like underneath it all!!  Getting older isn't for the faint of heart!!

[xwordfanatik]

Getting older isn't for the faint of heart!!

 

Isn't that the truth!  I never gave it a thought when I was younger (what it would be like to be pushing 70, now) and my mom used to say that old age "isn't for sissies."  

I actually looked forward to turning 60...both my dad and my older sister didn't live that long.  So, I'm still happy to be here, and snarking with all of you.  ❣️

[Gramto6]

I know what you mean xword! My parents died at 66 and 67, DH died at 69 (though he had a lot of health issues). I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I turned 70, didn't think I'd make it there. I am 73 will be 74 in June and looking forward to more years snarking here too!!

Edited February 9, 2023 by Gramto6

[Gramto6]

6,623 steps yesterday. Guess I chose well making 7,000 steps my new goal. Just going with the flow for now and not pushing.

[altopower]

7 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Guess I chose well making 7,000 steps my new goal. Just going with the flow for now and not pushing.

That's a very practical goal for you - and me, too. Before the wheelchair, I set my goal at 8K instead of 10K because it was more attainable. 10K just seemed like way more steps than I could possible get in any one day. Having something lower let me actually reach the goal most of the time. I think you're doing great!

[Ms.Lulu]

FWIW: From the NYTimes: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/06/well/move/10000-steps-health.html

A 2019 study by Dr. Lee and her colleagues found that women in their 70s who managed as few as 4,400 steps a day reduced their risk of premature death by about 40 percent, compared to women completing 2,700 or fewer steps a day. The risks for early death continued to drop among the women walking more than 5,000 steps a day, but benefits plateaued at about 7,500 daily steps. In other words, older women who completed fewer than half of the mythic 10,000 daily steps tended to live substantially longer than those who covered even less ground.

[Absolom]

The 10,000 steps a day is a complete myth.  It came from the minds of pedometer manufacturers as nice round number.  

[Gramto6]

30 minutes ago, Absolom said:

The 10,000 steps a day is a complete myth.  It came from the minds of pedometer manufacturers as nice round number.  

Yeah, I have read that before. That is why I really didn't have a problem dropping my goal down to 7,000 while I am healing. May eventually go up to 8,000 at some point, but not soon.

[Gramto6]

5,657 steps yesterday.

[Gramto6]

7,692 steps yesterday.

As usual, errands add to the step count. Will see what today brings, not going to push my luck...

[Gramto6]

5,189 steps yesterday. Didn't expect or try to get close to yesterday's number but at least I made it over 5,000.

[Gramto6]

5,878 steps yesterday.

Just for yuks, I looked at my personal best on my step counter. It was 20,714 steps back on 7/28/2019! Followed by a lot of +20,000 counts. Those days are gone, probably forever, and really don't care as long as I can get some activity each day with a goal of at least 5,000+ when I can do it.

[xwordfanatik]

5 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

5,878 steps yesterday.

Just for yuks, I looked at my personal best on my step counter. It was 20,714 steps back on 7/28/2019! Followed by a lot of +20,000 counts. Those days are gone, probably forever, and really don't care as long as I can get some activity each day with a goal of at least 5,000+ when I can do it.

I'm with you, Gram.  At least 5,000 steps is what I reach for, on my walk days.  Bike days I do 30 minutes on days I'm inside.  

[Gramto6]

6,041 steps yesterday. Surprised myself!

[TurtlePower]

Finally broke 10 miles today with 10.4 total (half walking, half running). Haven’t gone over 10 miles since last year (before being on crutches all summer). 

I feel so much more like myself — the goal is to stay injury and pain free and maintain higher distances. 

[Gramto6]

Congrats @TurtlePower! Glad to hear you are making such great progress! 

Edited February 14, 2023 by Gramto6

[Yeah No]

I'm very happy to hear about both of your progress, @TurtlePower and @Gramto6.  Unfortunately my crappy luck continues to plague me.  Thanks to a doctor that made me lay down on a hard exam table in a strange position for a routine examination of my thyroid, which is fine, BTW, I now have lower back pain which I think is more of what I had already and suspected is sciatica only worse now.  I've only ridden the bike once this week so far and my step count hasn't gone above 4,500 steps all week as a result.  Between this and being too sensitive to take any of the drugs prescribed to me for weight loss, I can't win for losing.  Story of my life, unfortunately.  And now I'm going to have to make an appointment to see a doctor about my back, too.  The good news is I'm holding at the same weight for 3 weeks, if that can be considered good news.  

[Teafortwo]

35 minutes ago, Yeah No said:

I'm very happy to hear about both of your progress, @TurtlePower and @Gramto6.  Unfortunately my crappy luck continues to plague me.  Thanks to a doctor that made me lay down on a hard exam table in a strange position for a routine examination of my thyroid, which is fine, BTW, I now have lower back pain which I think is more of what I had already and suspected is sciatica only worse now.  I've only ridden the bike once this week so far and my step count hasn't gone above 4,500 steps all week as a result.  Between this and being too sensitive to take any of the drugs prescribed to me for weight loss, I can't win for losing.  Story of my life, unfortunately.  And now I'm going to have to make an appointment to see a doctor about my back, too.  The good news is I'm holding at the same weight for 3 weeks, if that can be considered good news.  

Taking my response to small talk.