Daily Exercise

Hello today I walked for about an hour. Then walked my dog throughout the day. I purchased a food journal. I also ordered a Weight Watchers cookbook. It should arrive around the 6th of Jan.

I'm looking for ways to eat less sugar, and lessen emotional eating.

I exercised for the past 3 days.

It’s so cold I did not get out much. I walked my dog a few times. I’m still not feeling up to going to the gym. My meds keep me pretty tired. I have felt a little more energy since starting the B-12 Complex. It gives me enough energy to get a few things done around the house. I can tell it’s almost the first of the year. I seen a commercial to purchase exercise equipment.

Starrysky....The Whole 30 is a plan that cuts out sugar. You might want to go to their website for more info. I have a friend that did their plan.

Coco, I think you're doing pretty good with walking, for what its worth. I'm sorry your meds keep you tired. At the same time, its good they keep you stable / mentally healthy. I struggle with medication side effects too. I'm glad the B-12 complex helps! I wondered about that before. And vitamin d, and Omega-3. I've heard they all help for mood.

Yeah, its that time of year again. The exercise equipment and dating website commercials are out in full force!

Thanks for the Whole 30 suggestion. I'd heard of the words before, but didn't know it was about sugar. I will look it up.

I just started taking vitamin D. Because my latest round of increased depression has been going on for weeks, and I'm not getting any ultraviolet exposure to speak of.

I have never relied on supplements before, because I can get what I need through forcing myself to eat properly. But vitamin D is different. It's main source is direct sunlight on the skin, with presence in food running a very distant second place.

I did some research. There's only anecdotal claims for the vitamin D, not any statistically valid studies, but it's harmless and cheap enough so I'm doing it anyways. I've already covered all the other basics (proper diet, lots of water, exercise, sleep) and I was feeling pretty desperate lately. I'm taking the standard 1000 IU supplements with lunch.

I feel somewhat better, like there's less of that crushing weight of mood and listlessness. But I don't know if that's just a co-incidence.

Anyways, I'll keep it up for the time being. I'm not getting the needed sun exposure in this weather (too bundled up when I do go out). And I'm not eating fish every day for the rest of my life.

I think most of us northern hemisphere folk could do with vit D supplementation in the winter months. I got tested as insufficient (which is not as bad as deficient) a few years back and took a daily supplement, levels tested okay again and now I just take it now and then - good reminder to take some as I had slipped and it is so dark these days.

Dark days in themselves are a challenge I find, and adverse weather. I got two runs in this week, which is not bad considering the holidays, going to try to get back to running group next week.

Hold on tight everyone, winter will end eventually.

So I take 2000 IUs of vit. d3 because my primary care doc wants me to. I have a deficiency. I have no idea if it helps my mood or not. I haven't really felt a difference. Over the summer, I was suffering pretty badly even with vitamin d intake, and taking Omega 3 fish oil (though taking that was pretty irregular).

What really helped me, was finding the right antidepressant. And still, things are not perfect. I like to think of my own wellness (and the wellness of a lot of other people) as getting help from many different sources. Meditation, medication, social connection, exercise / movement, eating well, therapy, etc etc etc.

I haven't really exercised today. I may later on though, or do some stretching and warmups.

Hello everyone,

I walked 45 minutes today. It’s really cold outside. I went grocery shopping for New Years. Enjoy the weekend

I have a cold again. I just got over one. This one includes a nice cough. Lol.
So I'm resting, mostly, and not exercising. I do have a yoga class today, which I don't know if I'm going to go to.

Someone sent me this soup recipe: This Ancient Ginger And Garlic Soup Recipe Beats The Flu, Common Cold, Excess Mucus and Sinus Infections ? The Healthy Lifestyle I might try it.

I've also been asking people about ways to boost the immune system. I've been getting some interesting and helpful answers! Ranging from "find ways to lower stress" to buying "Peak Immune 4" on Amazon. Someone told me that while doing yoga is ok and mild exercise, exerting myself, like what I do at the gym, would not be helpful.

I really fell apart due to depression, frustration, mental fatigue, and emotional overwhelm.

I went to exercise class today, which was the first time in two weeks I've gotten any exercise beyond walking the dog and something like two or three theraband sessions for my hip.

I'd been struggling with reduced capability and mental health for weeks prior to that. Which was impacting my home exercise terribly. So I'd been finding class harder and harder while performing worse and worse every time. Intensely discouraging.

Needless to say, today was too difficult physically and mentally. I couldn't slow down enough.

I spoke to the instructor about finding easier (less than beginner) variations on the moves and poses, because I have to keep stopping otherwise.

I've never been able to do the basic moves for the duration. My goal had been to reach that level. Now, I can't even try that.

I know I shouldn't, but I feel wretched.

I am so so sorry you are struggling, Cepheid.

Why do you say you know that you shouldn't feel wretched?

Hello there,

Depression can take a big toll on our lives. I also know this first hand. Please consider speaking with your pdoc if you have one. Sending a hug and best wishes.

Hello everyone,
I was able to walk 30 minutes. Then I received a call that my daughter was sick (at school). I took her to her allergy specialist and they gave her plenty of meds. She’s now still resting.

Starrysky - I hope you feel better soon.

I'm piling all my other failures and self-esteem issues on to this. I need to be more objective, but emotions are anything but.

I just hate getting so emotionally worked up about it. It's not helpful. The emotions don't tell me anything I don't already know. They don't motivate me. They don't do anything but hurt. And we all know you can't just bottle them up or ignore them long term. So I have to ride it out. But try not to wallow.

I'm sorry. I can't talk about it much right now. I have a couple of things I really need to do tomorrow, and I can't afford to go off the rails. I need to maintain some degree of composure until the afternoon.

Maybe we'll talk about it later on a more appropriate sub-forum.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Yes, I've met with many pdoc's over the years and have one now. But my biggest problem is my personality disorder (AvPD), which isn't something that can really be treated with medication -- although the medication can help sometimes with the resulting anxiety and depression.

A lot of times, the side effects are not worth the minimal relief I get from the meds. I may be starting a new course within a certain time frame if things don't work out. It's rough. Switching can be really tough. Withdrawal is pretty awful.

And most meds leave me rather dead inside, which makes trying to deal with the personality disorder in therapy effectively impossible.

I'm sorry you've had struggles with depression yourself. And thank you for the kind words.

I have bipolar one and for the first time in six years. I had nothing but depression in 2017....no hypo or mania at all. I was put on a med that gave me bad side effects. My pdoc tapered me off to fast and I had bad withdrawals. I know exactly what you mean. Then I had gained so much weight too from the med. What’s the point of being a happy diabetic. You just do what you can, when you can. Take care

No worries at all, Ceph. Do what you've got to do!

I get the whole beating yourself up over exercise goals. I have done this so many times, there was a time I was hooked on my best time, etc.

These days my daily exercise is there but scaled down, sometimes it's a walk or a cycle to and from work. Personal records are forgotten, often I run without my Garmin just listen to music.

Idk if this is helpful to you Ceph, but I now decide "will this make me Happy?" if it doesn't I don't do it anymore. Maybe I'll get joy from the intense training again but right now no, and I'm not an elite athlete so no need to pressure myself.

Do whatever activity makes you feel good is my advice.

Thank you everyone.

I was feeling really bleak and upset yesterday, but it's better now.

I went out today and got something done despite the frigid weather and I made a very important phone call that's been badly stressing me for ages. So I got those couple of things I needed to do, done. I'm quite tired from the anxiety, and some poor sleep last night, but feeling somewhat relieved and calmer.

Tomorrow I think I'll muck around with trying out some exercises with no expectations. Trying to put together a proper workout is just not happening. If I have to start back at the lowest level it's still better than nothing, which is what I've been doing. So, I'll just do something and start slowly adding to it over time like I did last year.

Thank you again for the support Coco, starry, and prefab. I really do appreciate it.

I made the soup. That ancient Chinese soup with ginger I posted about. Its really good and pretty much not spicy, which I really thought it would be, but I'm glad its not.

Exercise hasn't been happening. I'm pretty much snowed in. I should really do some yoga in the house. It just hasn't happened yet. Lol. I DID change my sheets, do my laundry, and knit some of a friend's scarf. So I'm proud of myself for getting some stuff done.

Hello everyone ,
I was able to walk for 30 minutes today. It’s cold here in Oklahoma but no snow. I had my first therapy appt today and it was ok. I’m going to try out some of my Weight Watchers recipes this weekend. I’ve heard good things about their chili (made with chicken breast).

Starrysky - I have a scarf I need to finish up. I think I’m going to give it to my grandmother.

I did some theraband exercise today and a few leg and knee exercises. No weights yet because I'm a little reluctant to do only upper body with weights, and a recent visit to a physiotherapist indicated the muscles that support the knees are still in fact quite weak.

I at least tried to do some gentle and limited range stuff quickly, so as to get the heart going a little and actually feel something. No dog walking today -- too cold and windy.

It wasn't much (10 minutes?), but my reason for doing all this is general health and mood. So my main target is to do *something* every day except once a week (I feel I need one day where I can ignore it all if I have to). Ten minutes isn't nearly enough, but I wasn't doing anything. I have to somehow build back up again. At least I started something.

Hmm ... soup. I should do homemade vegetable and leftover soup ... it's a bit of a hassle ... it's so much better after at least one day.

Hello everyone,

I logged 90 minutes walking on my Apple Watch. I put my recipe on crock pot chicken taco chili. I’m letting it cook over night. My crock pot has a timer. I’m watching Diners, Dive-Ins and Dives.

Today my parents are coming over to help me unfreeze my windshield wiper. I'll probably need new ones. But its going up to 22 today, so maybe I can walk or get out of the house.

I ate a TON of chocolate last night. I was trying to figure out if it was emotional eating. I think some of it was. I also felt like I had low blood sugar, so wanted something sweet. This morning though, I woke up feeling not the greatest from it.

I think being cooped up in here for two whole days has been a real struggle! So glad my parents are coming over today!! Also, I'm just going to go stretch. Right now. There's no reason why I shouldn't / couldn't.

Hello Starrysky,

I think it’s good your parents are coming to help you. Years ago my wipers were froze. I had to replace them. Having cabin fever came be terrible. I hope your able to get out soon. Take care and enjoy your visit.