Summer Bucket List

To make this summer a little more exciting, I want to create a little bucket list of things I want to do or achieve this summer.

Some are health driven and some are just for fun. 

1. Paddle board in the ocean. I've never paddle boarded in our ocean, only been on a lake, but I want to give the ol' Pacific a try this summer.  The ocean freaks me out a bit mainly cause ours here is not that vibrant blue that you picture in your mind when you see the ocean. Ours is dark, a little grey and scary. 

2. longish bike trips. We have ordered our ebikes and I'm so excited to get them. I want to take a trip to  White Rock Pier (33K) and then eventually vancouver island (90KM). Hopefully the bikes are not too delayed. They were supposed to arrive mid may, but now looks like mid June. :(  We have vacation booked the last week of June, so hopefully we will have by then. 

3. Park Picnic with the family - this one seems simple enough, but it's so hard to drag the family out to the park for a picnic. I need the girlfriends to be there too so that they will agree with me and force the boys to come. Haven't done a full picnic in years, but I want to this summer. Even if it's just once. 

4. Okanagan wine tour - this one all depends on whether or not we will be permitted to travel this summer, but if we are, this is on my list! I've always wanted to do one.... but never gotten to it. We've gone to a few of these but not in an actual tour. 

5. Build our home gym. I haven't returned to the gym since Covid hit last april and I'm not sure if I will return. We took my car off the road as I really don't need a car during the day and I would only be insuring the car to actually go to the gym. I am starting to get into a rhythm of working out at home but I would like to setup an actual gym in the garage. It's going to take some planning and some money but I think it will be great. 

Day after Vaccine

Did I get a placebo?? Seriously, not ONE side effect? 

I mean, I'm not complaining but..... so weird. 

I did weigh in this morning and I was 169.8 Been hovering around that for a few weeks. Haven't been working out as much either but I feel good. 

Thursday and Friday off to celebrate the hubs 50th birthday.  In a pandemic. Should be interesting 

Emotions

So many emotions today.  Must be that time of month..... 

I had some serious fear this morning regarding my Covid vaccine appointment. I managed to get an appointment after they opened up the age group yesterday, for this morning.  The only vaccine that is available for my age group is the AstraZeneca vaccine and that vaccine has had reports of blood clotting and even some death. But the reality is that there are risks with all vaccines and medications. 

I did end up getting it and now I am feeling happiness that I have an opportunity to try to protect myself, my family and my neighbours. 

Somedays the news affects me more than other days. I have anxiety today about the news. Today I pray for the Floyd family, Minneapolis and the entire World....

Hoping tomorrow is a day of peace, serenity and healing. 

Newish Goals

 I've never actually published my monthly goals but they are always in the back of my head. The calendar turns and I immediately think.... this month I'm going to do x. X usually meaning "lose ?? number of lbs".  At first the number was big (ie lose 10 lbs). Then I realized that losing 10 lbs is actually not easy, so the number would change to 5 and that eventually became "I'll be happy with just a 2 lb loss".. 

But after spending the last few weeks concentrating more on my health and movement, I have strayed from "caring" what is actually on the scale. Yes, of course the number is still important and although it's not the only measure of my "health" it is a measure of it.  So I can't get rid of the scale all together, at least not yet. I do hope one day I can become less reliant on it and not feel that it's the only thing that keeps me accountable. 

So I decided for April, I'm not going to care what the scale says. I will still keep track of it but my goal for this month is to become stronger. I want to increase my cardiovascular strength and my physical muscle strength.  I'm still not comfortable going to the physical gym but I have enough equipment here at home to get in a good strength workout. 

My step count has increased daily and I'm getting 3-4 "sessions" at home as well. The sessions might be a quick 10-20 minute HIIT or a 30 minute muscle focused workout. So far, I'm feeling good. 

I did end up going to my GP to review my blood work and as expected he wasn't happy. He said he's not ready to recommend any medication as he believes I can control with lifestyle. He's not a fan of the Keto diet, which I completely expected, but I don't care. I feel better than I have in years and I have been spending a lot of time researching blood work results on a Keto diet and it all makes sense to me. I will continue what I'm doing with some small changes in my food (ie. Using plant fats instead of animal fats for cooking, and reduce my red meat consumption). 

I do think activity will better my numbers overall. I have already seen a dramatic decrease in my blood pressure over the last 2 weeks since starting my exercise regime. 

So my goals are really the same, about overall health, but with much much less focus on the number on the scale. 

Oh and I did exchange my too big clothes for smaller clothes. Can't wait to make another trip (sans hubby) to the mall so I can get some cute spring/summer items. 

Springing into Spring

I love spring. Not as much as early Fall or Summer, but it is right up there. Actually, winter is really the only season I dislike, which makes me think that I should plan to move somewhere that is warmer year round. I do want to stay in Canada though, sooooo, I'm outta luck for finding somewhere warmer :) 

It's been a long time since I have gone shopping into a mall and spent the day trying on new clothes and shoes and going for lunch. Any trips to the mall right now are to quickly return something or pick up something. I park close to the store that I plan to go to and rarely stop at any stores just to "look". 

So most of my shopping has been online and I have not been buying anything because I don't go anywhere. Why would I need new clothes or shoes? But I actually do need new shoes. My shoes are starting to wear and so they will need to be replaced soon.  

I did buy 2 jackets online because I needed a transition jacket for our night walks when it's warm but still brisk.  I wanted a white one as every other jacket I seem to own is black and I think I'm small enough now that I won't actually look like a marshmallow in white! I also wanted to buy a light weight vest that would be reflective for when we are out late riding bikes or again walking at night with the dog.  The jackets arrived yesterday and they are TOO BIG! I am thrilled that they are too big but now I will have to venture back to the mall to return/exchange them. But that's ok. 

I then wondered, if I had actually changed sizes or if they were just a roomy fit, so I went into my summer drawer and pulled out some shorts that I know were tight last summer. Not only did they fit, but I honestly could go down a size. Say whaaat? 

So this weekend I will go to the store, return my too big jackets, look for some shoes and MAYBE even some smaller shorts if they are on sale. :) 

I have been much more "active" this past week. I've done a number of home workouts and have been lengthening my walks with the dog at lunch. My body feels good and I feel good! 

Weight this morning was 170.2

No news is good news?

Haven't had anything interesting happen the last two weeks so not really point in posting boring stuff. Still nothing that is mind-blowing happening in my life, which I think I'll be thankful for.  

We are all healthy. The weather is starting to turn. Things are good! 

Hubby turns 50 next month. I'm disappointed that we can't have a celebration with family and friends but it is what it is. We will still do a special dinner somewhere and the boys talked about taking him golfing so we will make sure to do something, even if it's nothing draw-dropping! 

Last time I wrote I spoke about my lab results and the fact that my doc had not called to talk about my numbers. I figured I was out of the woods... apparently not. He called monday and asked me to make an appointment to go over my cholesterol results. I'll hear him out but I know what he's going to say, and I am NOT going on any more meds. 

I have started tracking my BP daily as I want to have a log to bring into him to show him how good it's been. I think the berberine that I started (supplement) and the body movement has been helping. 

With regards to my weight and exercise. I have been moving more, I try to get in a strength training session at least 3 days a week and then I'm still doing my daily walks with Murph. It's been going well. 

My weight. I really really want to not have to focus on that damn number but I'm just drawn to it. I have been feeling better if the number rises a bit and I did think about just skipping weighing in daily but I KNOW that it keeps me focused or at least aware. I went back and looked at when I was my lowest weight 167.5 and about a month later, I stopped posting and I am pretty sure I stopped daily weighing and low and behold 10 lbs just slowly crept back on. So for now I keep weighing daily and try to not let it get to me - either good or bad. 

But for the record. My weight is down. I was 170.6 today. So close to my lowest weight. Not stressing it, not putting any specific goals on when I want to get there, but it's nice to have it just around the corner from where I am now. 

Change My Mindset

 Ok - WI Wednesday again and I did not lose this week. Stayed exactly the same at 172.8

BUT... 

Today I woke up and honestly did not care what the scale would say back to me. Normally on a wednesday morning I get a bit of nerves just before I step on the scale as I know the number that is shown back at me is what I need to "record" as my weekly number. I know the number is not actually recorded into anything official but for me it's my official accountability marker. 

But today, I didn't feel those nerves.  I think this is the reason why... 

Since my annual physical and my lab work, my mind has shifted somewhat. Not totally but I feel more excited about making my body healthy than the my weight. I figure as I make myself more healthy, the weight hopefully will just fall in line. 

After seeing some rather alarming lab numbers I decided to try and make a few changes. Some will be easy and some will not be as easy. 

I am moving more. On weekday mornings, I will take out 15-25 minutes to do a quick work out. Since last wednesday I have done 4 workouts.  2 upper body and 2 lower body. I like to do them right before my lunch and then at lunch I continue with my walk with Murphy.  I feel good.  I have done a few quick peeks at my blood pressure and it seems to be happy and not having any crazy spikes like it has in the past.  

With regards to food, I have cut back on my cheese intake, removed whipping cream and I am going to try to eat less red meat. I know I eat quite healthy as it is right now but I can always improve that as well. 

I have really  tried to limit my carbs this past week. The weekend I still had a few glasses of wine, but I counted them and although I went over my carbs on those days, I still stayed under 50!  Ideally I want to be under 30 each day. 

So although the scale did not move this week, I did and I feel so much better for it. Well not right now as  I have some serious DOMS kicking in on my legs and my arms but it's a good pain! I like muscle pain when I know I've pushed them. 

Can't be promising that I won't be stressing about the scale numbers again in the future but for now, I have a new focus and hopefully a healthier one.