FitBit 30 -- Day 3

It'd be so easy to lie about this challenge.  To simply not document tastes or snacks or to lie about portion sizes.

That makes this 30 day challenge as good an exercise in self-honesty as in self-discipline.

Here are today's results, after a day of work, errands, chores, and making cookies and puppy chow:

Calories out: 2647 

Calories in: 1508

Surplus/Deficit: -1139

In regards to what I talked about yesterday, adding 2 healthy behaviors a day:  success!  I meditated twice today, which I can't recommend highly enough.  I use an app called Calm, or its corresponding website, calm.com.  They have both free and pay services, as well as both independent and guided meditations.  I also invested some good time in prayer and Bible study, which was a wonderful bit of my evening.

Isn't it nice how positive behaviors result in positive feedback loops?

FitBit 30 -- Day 2

In a lot of ways, waiting 9 years after undergrad for medical school feels like I wasted an entire decade of my life.  There are a lot of things I won't get to do/enjoy during my 30s -- the prime of my life -- because I am doing med school and residency.

But thank God I didn't do it all back when I graduated from undergrad at 20.  I could have been a doctor at 24 -- a mere child.  I was way too young, both numerically and emotionally, to be a good physician, but I'd have been great at what medical schools like:  memorizing shit and doing nothing else but medicine.  And maybe I'd have ended up a surgeon.

I started a vascular surgery rotation today and had 7k steps by 8am.  It's going to be a pretty cake rotation, but I can see a) what's attractive and fun about surgery b) what great physicians the surgeons are c) how they change going from PGY1 to PGY 5, and not in a good way, and d) how much you really have to devote your life to it.

There's no way I'd want to now.  I am enjoying a much healthier work-life balance now than would ever allow me to be a surgeon.  Plus, I still want to have kids.

But yeah, got close to having my steps in yesterday.  Didn't hit it, because I came home and crashed for a few hours.

Calories out:  2432

Calories in:  1350

Deficit/Surplus:  -1082

Mondays are date night for us, whenever possible.  It's hard to have date on Monday nights because we're often so exhausted from getting back to the work week, but they're important to make a priority.  We knew we'd be exhausted tonight and had decided on going out to a movie.  We hadn't seen one in the theatre in ages so headed out to finally see Star Wars: Rogue One, which ended up being an amazing show.  Unfortunately for us the theatre had the volume up so loudly that it almost physically hurt to listen to it.

Anyhow, there's a point to my story:  I love popcorn.  I have an affair with it that is unhealthy probably both emotionally and physically.  I even have little enamel popcorn earrings.  My other love in life is Slurpeees/Icees/Slushies.

Which makes movie theaters dangerous places to be.

I managed to make it through the whole movie with nothing except a couple mints and a lindor truffle I snuck in via my coat pocket (it was disappointing -- I should have checked the  flavor first), which I of course tracked, and no popcorn.  NO popcorn.  Or a slushee.

I'll take the little wins with the big ones.

Adding Daily Healthy Activities: For Tomorrow

As I've said previously, I have a million ideas of what makes one "healthy" and since it's impossible to add them all at once and probable that adding one at a time will take to long to be effective, I've decided that my daily goal will be to do two "healthy things" a day minimum, in addition to my FitBit goal.

These might include meditation, stretching, running, Bible study, journaling, etc.

For example, tomorrow I'm going to try to meditate 2-3 times and do a Bible study. :)

Note:  I'm going to be backdating these entries so they show up for 11:59 of the night they apply to.

FitBit 30 -- Day 1

Obviously today is day 2, but hey, I can't post about a day's caloric expenditures until after midnight, so . . .

For the first day of 2017, I . . .

• slept in.
• missed church.
• made the hubby breakfast in bed.
• lazed about.
• went on a long walk in a really cool park.
• bought groceries.
• made dinner.
• lost 2 games of Rummikube and a Nerf gun war.
• went to bed super early because I had to be at work by 6am.

Calories out:  2414

Calories in: 1254

Deficit/surplus:  -1160

So I ended up under my calorie goal, but not by much!

I also managed to hit my steps and water goals.  w00t.

Part of me feels like these more passive challenges are a cop-out, like I should be kneeling at the altar of health by adding new habits and sacrificing time and blood and money.  But realistically, doesn't it make more sense to just make sure the things I have to do anyhow (like eat, sleep, breathe) aren't working against me in the long run?

So the park I found was a fluke that showed up on my Google Maps during a run on a different trail.  It took me a few times of trial and error to find it, but a few months ago, I did!  It's this crazy wooded area, absolutely chock full of fallen trees.  The weird thing is, it's one of the most grown-over areas I've ever hiked, but it's also developed in some spots, like trees being shaped or grinded down for mountain biking (?) and the such.

Paul on a downed tree that's been turned into a ramp!

And just when the place couldn't seem more grown-over, you get to a beautiful dammed up stream that creates a lovely waterfall, with a building from a local university in the background.

Not a bad way to start the new year.

The FitBit 30 -- Day 0, and What does being healthy look like to me?

So, I've been off the radar . . . residency interviews and applications, travel for the holidays, you name it.

I was having a conversation with my husband a few weeks ago and mentioned that it was funny that I *felt* fat that day, since I'd been about the same weight since I'd met him 17 months prior to that.

Then it hit me.

Despite a year of actively trying to lose weight, I've pretty much been +/- five pounds of the same point since we met.  Now, maybe my muscle mass has fluctuated, etc., but it's ridiculous that I claim to have been actively working on something for 17 months and have nothing to show in terms of change.

Which means, either:
A) I was doing everything right and my body is beyond broken.
or
B) I wasn't working as hard or consistently as I thought I was.

While there's a smidgen of A that is probably true, let's go with B, shall we?

Well, consistency is the key to success.  You don't have to be perfect every day, but you have to be good more often than not.

Anyhow, I'd like to be more intentional about a lot of my day-to-day life, and one of those things is working on being healthier.  I'm 33, y'all, and am about to dive head first into residency (which will likely be hell) and haven't even added kids to the equation yet.

What does being healthy look like to me?

Emotionally/Spiritually

• Daily time spent in
• Prayer
• Bible Study
• Meditation (seriously guys, this can lower your blood pressure by a lot)
• Journaling/reflection
• Frequent quality time with my husband
• Date nights
• Weekly budget/to-do check-ins

Physically

• High aerobic capacity
• Better core strength -- I'd like to make it through the year without an L5 exacerbation, but hey, we might have to get rid of our futon for that to happen.
• Increased flexibility
• Eating more whole foods
• Decreasing intake of refined sugar
• Not reliant on caffeine
• Ability to listen to my body's cues on food, not cravings

Career

• Staying up to date on advances
• Reading at least one peer-reviewed article a week
• Listening/viewing at least one FOAM resource a week
• Networking
• Going to conferences whenever possible
• Reviewing
• Picking at least one concept/disease to review per week
• Find a mentor to help guide me through the craziness of residency

So for January, 2017:

I'm going to be working on a lot of these things on the side.  I can't totally change my life all at once, and some of them I've been doing in fits and starts.  But I'm going to write out what "healthy" looks like for me, and keep it visible on my bullet journal, so I can keep it in mind.

But for January, let's build some new habits:  hence, the FitBit 30.

I like the FitBit.  It calculates my daily energy expenditure (DEE) and can prorate the calories I have left for the day based on that.  I'm going to attempt to maintain a daily 1000 calorie deficit (according the the FitBit) for the 30 days, which should result in an 8ish pound weight loss compared to tomorrow.  It'll also build good habits.

Rules:  

I can not go OVER the calories prescribed by the FitBit -- must be "in the zone."  If I go over, I'll have to "earn" those calories back.

Can I go under?  Yes, but here's why:  sometimes, I go to bed still in the target zone, but earn enough calories while sleeping to push me under it.  So I can't be too strict about that.

Bonus wins:  Meeting the FitBit goals for water, sleep, activity, and steps.  But hey, let's keep it simple and focus on the calories for now.

Consistency is the name of the game.

Happy 2017 everyone!

Where in the world is Doc Doc Goose?

Guys, I'm here!  I swear I am.  I just was doing residency applications and getting married, so life got crazy for a bit.

We got home from the honeymoon Sunday, and I'm already eyeballs deep in my next ER rotation, so I'll update more ASAP.  I'm currently pondering a 30 day "refocus on health" challenge, using my FitBit and r/Bodyweight Fitness and r/Flexibility from Reddit.

More to come soon!

5k a day -- Wrap Up of a Semi-Failure

Guys, I failed.  I have been MIA but not out of avoidance -- but because I failed and had nothing to share.

I didn't do 30 days of 5k.  I did try, and try valiantly.  But I failed to account for what would be required during this "active" 30 day challenge:  a hour of time commitment daily, that has to work with the weather, and I have to have a safe place to walk/run alone at a safe time of day.

Admittedly, the biggest part of this problem has been the shifts I've been on for this hospital rotation.  The ER I'm working at right now switches our schedules around from night shift to early AM and back and forth -- meaning I've literally been spending all of my time either at work or catching up on sleep, because my body is so messed up.

"But Doc Doc Goose," you might say, "isn't that exactly the time you should be even more diligent about self care and personal time?"  Well, yes, probably. But I certainly didn't take into account how hard it would be to fit in that time within all those restrictions.

So I failed.  Lack of planning, lack of . . . I don't know, willpower?  Maybe.  But more like my priorities changed from improvement to survival.

At one point I was so tired this week I put the bag of popcorn away in the freezer.

So what did I get from this?

Well, one of the biggest things is recognizing the difference between active and passive challenges.    There's always time to *not* do something.  It's the doing something that can become cumbersome.  And that's okay, but if I'm going to do an Active challenge in the future, I need to be very purposeful and aware of how much time I'll be able to squeeze into my schedule.  And 5k a day while rotating, prepping for and taking boards, and planning a wedding just wasn't feasible, and I should have seen that.

I'd like to do this challenge in the future.  It was good for me, and I enjoyed it, but it will have to wait for a rotation when I know my schedule far ahead of time and that schedule is more unchanging.

Maybe it's good to fail.  Keeps me humble.  Makes me focus on the journey, not the destination.

---

Been talking to Paul about what my next challenge should be.  I still want to keep doing the 30 day effort, and I have just enough time to fit one in before the wedding.  If it's gonna be active, it'll be something that doesn't take much time.  Maybe passive would be better.  

Do you guys have any suggestions for a 30 day challenge to improve my wellness?

5k a day -- Day 23

I had a crazy schedule the past few days and a stressful day with work, so I was looking forward to my walk tonight -- after running for two days, I had planned on a nice, relaxing walk.

Super humid out, but I just walked with no music.  So I'm not quite sure why Pokémon Go! is such a huge addiction for people.  But I will say I had no music or audiobook or partner for my walk tonight, and it was nice to have running in my hand and just forget about it.  And then, every so often, a pokémon would appear, which added a little variety to keep me awake.  So I guess it was a nice tool to have?  But I'm still not getting it . . . maybe because I never played/watched it as a kid.

The 5k:

5k in 1:13:02

23:34 min/mile average pace

Splits: 22:13/23:23/24:37/29:39

I mean, I may have been pausing frequently for pokémon.

The Workout:

84 squats

90 seconds plank

32 modified push ups (these are feeling much better)