When I was first cutting out sodium. I was doing the cardiac rehab plan, and going in with my bp at some ridiculously low readings, like sub 90/60.
I had virtually eliminated all sodium from my diet cuz I’m an all or none type. So none it was. The cardiac PT’s and my doc recommended a cheat day once per week when I could kinda cut loose, which also not coincidentally is how pizza night became dr. recommended.
So maybe thats something to consider. A cheat day. You typically make very good choices, even when snacking so this could be a practical way to refuel and relax while still being your diligently mindful self.
It doesn’t have to be like cicilian style pizza. Or even if it is, there are probably some good non-potato vegetable type toppings or something. I dunno. Barley is a vegetable, right?
I don’t think of it as cheating, but my goal/plan for the past year or so has been to enjoy the social occasions and holidays with some attention to good behavior and then exercise a little extra discipline in the aftermath.
We’ll see how that works when the GLP is no longer onboard!
CG Max day 36/50 - RDL, chest press, banded bridge, pullover, rear step lunge, shoulder press - with 5 minute cardio warmup. I loved today - slower reps with heavier weight, it just felt good. I’m ready to move to a program with more of this, but haven’t decided whether to finish up or jump ship for something else.
I’m not sure it’s the reason, but I had a fantastic workout this morning, followed by shoveling the back walk of maybe 8" of snow, then a 2 mile walk. It’s sunny and in the upper teens or low 20’s, and it was a huge treat after such a long cold spell.
CG Max day - low weight, high rep: heel elevated squats, sweeps, ball roll-out, lateral raise, bulgarian lunge, rear delt fly.
Approximately 2 mile snowshoe hike, or whatever, with a couple of breaks to socialize and enjoy the day. It was 30°, so really comfortable except Louie made our snow-sitting a bit difficult. The key is to drop into it and then not move because it gets snow everywhere, but not moving is not Louie’s style.
I’m in northern New England, USA. It really does look similar. Our cities are small, and I live in a village, not a town, really. I love it. So much easier to feel good about the world and the other people in it sitting in a chair made of snow.
Do you have sunny days? Today is one here, so we’ll be right back out there. Sunny is not the norm here. “Partly cloudy” is usually the best we can hope for in the winter. And in the summer, really.
Usually we start to have more sun right about now. Spring/summer we might have a lot of beautiful sunny days. It varies a lot from year to year.
Living in these latitudes also means that we have a lot of light during summers (sun doesn’t do down at all during midsummer), but then we barely get any light from November to January. Last December we had 6 minutes of sun. That was for the whole month. No wonder nordic people are often depressed…
It’s not that bad here, but it’s not great. During December and January it’s dark by 4:30 in the afternoon, then stays that way until 7 am or so. Dusk starts at 3-something in the afternoon. It’s always a big happiness to get home at 6 pm and there still be light as the winter wears on. I’m not sure how I’d handle as much dark as you have, though I don’t tend to get depressed. I’m more on the anxious side.
I have grown to this, but it’s not easy. Many people have quite severe symptoms during the dark months. Constant darkness (or bleak grey, if you’re lucky) creeps in to you. It’s like living in Mordor.
The summer months makes it up though. It’s quite strange for people who haven’t got used to it, seeing the sun at 2 am.
Today was a scheduled weights day and I was up at 5 for it, but I fell climbing over a stone wall in my snowshoes yesterday and my wrist is hinky. I had trouble getting the milk out for my coffee, so decided to give it a day or two. That being the case, rather than let the husband go outside without me while I was at work, I joined them afterward for a two mile snowshoe. I’ll probably take a rest day tomorrow, because my legs feel shot as well. Mark my wrist down for having been granted a two-day reprieve!
