Hi guys!
I'm here with week six of my fitness journey, which was a terrible week for me. I had to go to LA for business, so while I got a lot done there and it was a productive work week, fitness journey-wise it was not productive.

I was so looking forward to working out at the beach and possibly hitting up Los Liones (a hiking trail with beautiful views of the Pacific Ocean and coast) while I was in LA, but it was pouring rain the whole time I was there and it was just wet and dreary and gloomy, so I didn't get a chance to get outdoors...but even beyond that I didn't hit my daily step goals either for the majority of the week. Not even close.

On top of that because I was in LA and not home where I have a kitchen with all my groceries to cook my meals, I did a lot of fast food which is not healthy. I did try my best to stay gluten and dairy free...for the most part, but that still doesn't make it healthy. A lettuce wrapped original six dollar burger without the cheese from Carl's Jr. with crisscut fries is technically gluten and dairy free, but hardly anywhere near the realm of healthy, so bad eating and barely working out pretty much sums up this week, but at any rate, here are my stats for the week...

Day 36 - Saturday, December 1st, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day


Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Lower and Upper Trail)

Thoughts: Despite not getting much sleep last night, I still felt ok today. I felt light on my feet and my body felt good, so I had a great workout. I started off on the lower trail at Whitney Mesa, where I was actually fast walking/jogging a lot of the way. Then I connected from the lower trail to the Cattail Wash Trail to extend my walk a little bit further.
Then on the way back I took one of the spur trails that ascends from the lower trail and connects to the upper trail on top of the mesa.
This spur trail, different from one that I had done before, had a bit of a longer steep section and was steeper overall, so I did end up having to take a quick few seconds rest on the way up, but my legs felt pretty good. My right calf was actually completely fine although my left one did have a little twinge of tightening. Kind of weird that one leg was completely fine while the other got a little tight, but as soon as I reached the top the slight twinge in my left calf melted away like butter and both my legs were loosey goosey and felt good. I was light on my feet again instantaneously and I only had to take a couple seconds to recover and catch my breath when I got to the top, so I'm continuing to make improvements in my fitness.

The rest of my workout was easy peasy and I did jog a tiny bit more even after the incline to the top. This is the most I've ever jogged in one workout session and it's the quickest that I've recovered after a steeper incline, so I'm definitely making even more progress and am on the right track.

Day 37 - Sunday, December 2nd, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Cleaning out the garage...although, does that even count?

Thoughts: Today was not really a workout per se, but I still got a lot of activity in my day, although my steps don't really reflect that, but I spent about 5 hours organizing, sorting and clearing out my garage. I've got so much stuff I need to haul to Goodwill tomorrow to donate. In fact, I feel like I'll probably have to make three trips, that's how much stuff there is even after tossing out a lot of stuff. I don't know why I have so much stuff...stuff that I don't even use just laying around. I legitimately had like 3 barely used routers sitting around. Why?

Some of the stuff I had like books and movies made sense, but there was also a lot that I didn't understand why I had or had so many in my possession...another example being the fact that I had 3 Christmas trees, one medium sized Christmas tree and two little tiny Christmas trees. I'm just one person. Why? And it's not like I had a regular traditional tree, a white/silver tree and like a pink tree...they were all traditional green looked the exact same trees. I also had a grilling utensil set even though I don't have a grill and don't grill...and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

There was so much stuff/crap that I had somehow accumulated over the years...it was completely ridiculous. I feel like I'm a low key hoarder, so I'm trying to be cognizant and better about that and not hold on to so much stuff. I've been decluttering like crazy this year and I plan to do even more before the end of the year. My goal is to get rid of everything and I mean EVERYTHING I don't need and use and start off fresh in the new year with a clean slate/home.

Anywho, that's all I did today.

Day 38 - Monday, December 3rd, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day
Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Stationary Bike

Thoughts: Instead of working out during my lunch break, I went and donated all that stuff I had decluttered yesterday to Goodwill. I had to do three separate trips (my SUV chock full to the brim each time), but I still didn't manage to get everything donated. I'll have to go back another day to do the rest, but that's where the entirety of my lunch break went, so I didn't get a chance to squeeze in a workout outdoors.

I would've gone after work, but it's winter now and it gets chilly and dark at night, so instead I waited till the last possible moment and jumped on the stationary bike that I "stole" from my dad instead and got in 40 mins of spin time...even though I hate that thing, which is probably why I procrastinated until after 9 pm to ride it. The fact that I managed to stay on it for 40 mins though, even though I can't stand it...I'm proud of myself, although I can't wait for my treadmill to be delivered because that stationary bike is just not my cup of tea...which btw, I totally took the plunge and invested in that treadmill I talked about in my Sephora Holiday Beauty Insider Bonus Sale post: https://ahnspired.blogspot.com/2018/10/sephora-holiday-beauty-insider-bonus.html.

Day 39 - Tuesday, December 4th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Nothing, travel day

Day 40 - Wednesday, December 5th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Nothing, more traveling and working

Day 41 - Thursday, December 6th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Nothing, working and the last of my travels

Day 42 - Friday, December 7th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper Trail)

Thoughts: I am so happy to be back home and getting back into my routine. The past three days have been crazy. Days consisting of poor sleep, no exercise and bad eating, which is probably why I woke up so tired and exhausted and lazy this morning. I was still recovering from the past few days.

Anywho, it was cloudy and dreary and gloomy and my arm was still sore from my flu shot and it was chilly outside and I did not want to workout for all the endless excuses that I had this morning, BUT there was no rain and the fact that I basically did not workout this week...I forced myself to get my butt up and out to Whitney Mesa even though all I wanted to do was crawl into bed and stay there.

I turned on my hype playlist, which if you haven't seen my post of motivational hype songs you can check it out here: https://ahnspired.blogspot.com/2018/11/hype-playlist-songs-that-motivate-me-to.html, to get me through my workout and it definitely did the trick. I had a great workout with my best stats yet. I made it to the top of the mesa in record time: 7 min 20 sec. and had an average pace of 18'41", which I believe is my best yet. I did still feel the burn in my glutes today, but surprisingly my hamstrings/thighs were fine. Not surprising though is the fact that my calves and arches were back to barking, but despite that I still jogged a lot of the way.

I would walk until my calves and arches calmed down to a whimper, then I would pick up the pace and jog, but then when they started barking again I would slow down and walk, and then when they went back down to a whimper I would pick up the pace again and jog and I sort of ended up doing an interval workout of walking and jogging the entire way, but eventually my calves and arches calmed down for good the last 20% or so of my workout even while jogging, so I had a really great workout despite the fact that I had been complacent the majority of the week.

In fact, this workout ramped me up so much I ended up jumping on that darned stationary bike to burn off some energy. I think the fact that I hadn't really worked out this week...the flood of endorphins from my workout this morning, gave my body an exercise high after being deprived for so long. I was tired going into the workout, but came out the other side of it just spilling over with bounds of energy.

Hi guys!
I'm here with week five of my fitness journey and it's been a week of improvements, both in terms of fitness and weight loss...the numbers on the scale are finally starting to budge.

Speaking of which, here are my current body stats.

I use a Renpho smart scale (purchased off of Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N1UX8RW/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&th=1), which spits out all of these stats. Not sure how accurate it is, but it gives me a general idea of where I stand and how I'm progressing so...yeah.

I don't have any stats from when I started my journey, other than my weight...I came in at 230 lbs at the doctor's office, so I'm using that as my jumping off point meaning that I'm currently 3 lbs down, which may not seem like a lot...3 lbs in the span of 5 weeks, but to me it is, especially since I feel like it's 3 lbs of fat that I lost and not water weight or muscle mass. I say this because for the entire first month the numbers on the scale did not budge even though my body's been shrinking this whole time, which reminds me...I should probably also do measurements of my body and keep track of that as well.

Anywho, I have felt a huge difference in my actual body. Not only do my clothes fit differently and better, clothes that were too tight before actually fit now and clothes that did fit me are now baggier and looser, but also my thighs don't rub together like they used to, my tummy is a bit flatter, my love handles have gone down a lot and my back and arm fat seem to have trimmed down in addition to my boobs, which also seems to have shrunk down a little bit as well. Also, my body as a whole just feels lighter...I'm much lighter on my feet than I was and these are all changes that started and continued to take place little by little during the first month despite the fact that the scale was stuck at 230 lbs, which leads me to believe that I've been losing actual fat.

In addition to the physical changes, I've also started to see improvements in my fitness as well...as you'll see in my updates below. My natural pace seems to have improved to a new normal, inclines aren't as hard as they were when I first started and it takes less time for me to recover after exerting myself...my recovery time has improved a lot. I still have a long way to go of course, but it's so exciting to see actual changes taking place.

Anywho, here are my stats for the week...

Day 29 - Saturday, November 24th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day


Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper Trail)

Thoughts: After a lazy morning of lounging in bed, I finally got my butt up, ate breakfast, got ready and headed out to good ole Whitney Mesa for my daily workout. My legs were feeling good as was my body and I had a great workout. I could feel the burn in my hamstrings and glutes on the incline, but there was no tightness or cramping today, so I felt like I made pretty good time too...but my Fitbit seems to have had a bit of a glitch, so it only clocked me as having walked 1.94 miles. There are mile markers on the trail, so I know at the very least I should've clocked 2.5 miles for my workout, although I went even further, all the way to the end of the spur trail, so it should've been even more, but for some reason it didn't register the correct mileage.

I think it's just the mileage though because the time keeping was correct (I knew what time I started and stopped) and the steps walked seemed to be consistent with past workouts, so I think it's just the mileage and therefore because of the incorrect mileage it messed up the calculations for my pace...not that it matters since I said I wasn't going to focus on the numbers and was just going to focus on the fact that I get my workouts in and how I feel...but I guess it's just human nature to want to constantly one up ourselves and get better and improve, so I kind of can't help it.

Anywho, I got in a great workout and then a little more shopping because my mom dragged me out, but when I got back home I hunkered down to continue my Harry Potter marathon. Now I'm off to get ready for bed, so I can be well rested and bright eyed and bushy tailed for tomorrow's workout.

Day 30 - Sunday, November 25th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Nothing

Thoughts: Took a rest day today. I had trouble sleeping last night and I somehow ended up oversleeping until noon, so I got a super late start to my day and just decided to take it easy and make it my rest day for the week, so I continued my Harry Potter Marathon. That was all that I did today.

Day 31 - Monday, November 26th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day


Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Walking at Cornerstone Park

Thoughts: If you guys saw my overview/summary for Week 4: https://ahnspired.blogspot.com/2018/11/fitness-journey-week-4-health.html then you know I went to see my gynecologist this morning, so I wasn't able to go workout until my lunch break, but my lunch break had to be cut a bit short due to an errand I also had to run, so I kept it simple with a jaunt at Cornerstone Park. I could tell my fitness has definitely improved though because the little hill at the park felt like nothing today. It didn't even feel like I was going up an incline at all, so I'm excited to see how my legs fair at City View tomorrow...which is where I'm planning on going.

As far as how I was feeling today...I was tired. The whole not sleeping well all weekend long did wear on me a bit, but it was nowhere near the level that it was in Week 3 thank god. Hopefully now that I have some peace of mind I can sleep better to get back on track, but I could not stop yawning the entire day...even while I was walking at the park. I actually thought about skipping my workout, but I figured being out and about and moving would get my endorphins pumping and help to energize me, so I kept it easy by going to the park that way I was getting activity into my day, but still keeping it chill.

Day 32 - Tuesday, November 27th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking at City View Trail

Thoughts: Yeah! I actually slept through the night last night! After seeing my Gyno yesterday and getting some peace of mind I was finally able to sleep through without waking up a bunch of times.

Anywho, I went to City View today as planned for my daily workout because I wanted to get in some incline action and I'm definitely making strides because the first half of the switchbacks were actually pretty easy. Just like the little hill at the park yesterday, the switchbacks today also kinda didn't even feel like I was going up an incline, but then of course at around the halfway mark my calves started tightening up...well not so much my calves really, but the very bottom of my calves where it meets the achilles...that's where it started to tighten up and it slowed me down. Before that I was trekking up those switchbacks as if they were nothing and if it weren't for the tightening in my achilles/lower calf I probably would've booked it up to the top in record time.

I still made really good time and finished the trail faster than I ever have before, but if it weren't for the achilles/lower calf tightness I would've finished even faster...but because of the tightening I had to slow down my pace. Once I slowed down I was good...it didn't really feel like I was going up an incline. When I tried to seed up my pace again then it did feel like I was going up an incline, but when I slowed my pace down I was totally fine, so I'm getting there. Eventually down the line I want to get to a point where I can run up the switchbacks...be able to do some hill running, but that's still a ways down the road.

I don't know what it is, but I just love hiking and inclines. As torturous as they can be while you're in the midst of it, when you finally get to the top...for me I just feel so good and happy and like I can do and conquer anything...especially after tougher hikes. Not only is it great physically, but mentally as well...at least for me it is. It relieves my stress and clears my mind and after the struggle and fight to get to the top after wanting to give up, but not giving up and persevering and making it all the way...it's just so empowering for me. Not that this is a tough hike by any means, but I mean just in general. I can't wait to build up my fitness enough to tackle bigger and tougher trails and to really push myself, but you gotta take it one step at a time.

Anywho, I digress like I always do, but the point is I had a great workout and have made some nice improvements.

Day 33 - Wednesday, November 28th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper Trail)

Thoughts: I went to bed on time and slept through the night, but I'm feeling kind of tired today. I was dragging a bit, but despite that I still made it out to Whitney Mesa for my daily workout...although it wasn't really so much a workout as it was me just strolling along and making sure I got activity into my day. My heart was definitely not in my workout today. It was more of a I should and need to do it especially since it's supposed to rain tomorrow and I don't know if I'll be able to get outdoors and I shouldn't go for two days without working out, so I made myself situation.

Surprisingly though my pace wasn't that bad. Not that I was walking like a turtle, but I feel like I was walking on the slower side, but I still made good time. Me being lazy today was better than me making an effort when I first started this journey during week one, so my body seems to be stronger and fitter than it was. Now that I'm a month into my journey I'm starting to notice little changes here and there.

Walking the incline today, however did feel like I was walking an incline, but I think that's because this is a steeper grade than City View...not that it's steep, but just steeper than City View. That's more of a steady continuous gradual incline, whereas Whitney Mesa has a more noticeable incline, but it's just a series of three short incline segments vs. a continuous steady incline, which is what City View is, so I definitely felt the burn in my hamstring and glutes and it did feel like I was going up an incline although my calves felt pretty good for the most part. There was a slight twinge in the achilles/lower calf area as I got near the top of the mesa, but other than that it was fine.

Oh, and my Fitbit seems to be back to functioning normally. Based on the mile markers along the trail, today's mileage seems to be accurate and on point as was the time meaning the pace was pretty accurate too. I don't know why it was sooo off on Saturday, but it seems to be back to normal, so even though it felt like I was walking slow, I guess I wasn't moving as slow as I thought I was based on my stats.

Day 34 - Thursday, November 29th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Stationary Bike

Thoughts: As expected, today was a windy and rainy and dreary day, so I did not make it outdoors to exercise...but, my dad does have a stationary bike, so I did squeeze in a quick 30 minute session on it before I went to bed.

I meant to do an hour long session on the bike earlier in the day, but I upgraded my Fitbit to the Ionic, which arrived today and I spent the entire day trying to get it set up, which btw was so frustrating. Oh my god it was so slow and glitchy and annoying trying to get the thing set up. I was almost done, but then I had to factory reset it and start all over again and it was so time consuming, but anywho that's were my day went...I literally spent hours trying to get the thing set up, which in the end I finally did, but I didn't want to end my day without any activity, so I squeezed in a half hour session on the stationary bike at 10PM.

Also, I didn't charge my Blaze since I knew my Ionic was arriving, so it ended up dying before I was able to get the Ionic up and running so I didn't get all my steps accounted for today, but I probably still would've been under my daily goal of 8K. I imagine I would've ended up around 6,500. If only I were able to get my Ionic set up quickly without any issues...then I would have had all my steps tracked and I would have gotten my workout in earlier in the day and for longer, but oh well. Tomorrow is a new day and now that I finally have my Ionic set up, I love it so much and can't wait to take it out for a spin.

Day 35 - Friday, November 30th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper Trail)

Thoughts: Yesterday was cold and rainy and dreary, but today was nice and sunny. Still cool, but not cold and the sun was out shining, so I actually got my butt out of bed on time, instead of lounging around, and made it to the trails in the morning vs. my lunchtime, which is what I had been doing lately.

Hi guys!
I'm here with week four of my fitness journey. Sorry for the delay...this post was supposed to go up on Saturday, but I got distracted so it's going up now. The reason I was distracted though was because on Friday evening I found a lump on my right breast. Logical me was like it's probably nothing and no big deal, especially since it was a painful lump and most of the time cancerous lumps are not painful...it's not like cancerous lumps can't be painful, but generally most of the time they aren't and also the fact that I'm still young, but I couldn't help but to still obsess over it and my OB/GYN is closed on the weekends, so my entire weekend was spent trying to ignore and forget about the lump and live my life, but of course it was still constantly there at the back of my mind lingering, so I couldn't focus and concentrate on anything.

Since I always have a Harry Potter marathon over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend anyways, I did that instead to help me forget about it and pass the time, but now that I was finally able to see my doctor this morning I feel soooo much better. Just as I thought, he explained to me how most of the time cancerous lumps are not painful and also given my age and how quickly this lump grew over the space of a weekend it's doubtful that we are dealing with anything serious. He said it's probably folliculitis, so it should go away on it's own with time and he just recommended that I do a hot compress on it to help it go away faster.

We could've done an ultrasound, but his recommendation was that we do nothing and just monitor it for the next few weeks. If it goes away then I'm fine and good and we know that's what it was, but if it doesn't then at that point we can do an ultrasound, but he thought that doing one now was probably overkill. If I wanted to do it for peace of mind I could, but he was like if you were my sister I would just recommend monitoring it and taking it from there since it's most likely folliculitis and not a big deal, so that's what I decided to do.

I figured as much and even though it's mostly information I already knew, I just feel better hearing it from a professional, so I'm glad they were able to get me in first thing this morning cause I was kind of starting to go crazy. Despite going to bed on time, I did not sleep well this weekend as I kept waking up in the middle of the night...so I'm looking forward to a nice restful sleep this evening. Anywho, after the struggle that was Week 3, which kind of bled into the beginning of this week, I feel like I've finally gotten back on track. I'm feeling so much better and like my normal thyroid balanced self.

Here are my stats for the week...

Day 22 - Saturday, November 17th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Nothing, just taking it easy

Thoughts: Ever since last week, I have been having some issues with my sleeping again, so I dug out my melatonin tablets and took one last night. It allowed me to go to bed and fall asleep on time and I slept in this morning, so I'm feeling better than yesterday, but still not great. Still have some body aches and feeling tired and low energy. I somehow feel rested and tired at the same time, which I know doesn't make sense and is weird, but that's how I feel...kind of like when you're on the verge of getting sick, but you're not full blown sick yet. I guess that's the best way to describe how I'm feeling. That coupled with how it feels when you sleep too much...sort of out of it and off and not yourself. Am I even making any sense?

Anywho, I thought about just powering through and working out anyways or at least getting in some sort of activity into my day, but I decided to just keep it easy peasy today, so I just snuggled up, since I'm freezing cold for some reason, and binged on youtube. Fingers crossed that I feel better tomorrow. It's so frustrating to not feel well. I thought I was finally done feeling like absolute crap when my thyroid and anemia normalized, but I guess not. I'm going to see my doctor on Tuesday, so I guess I'll see what he has to say if I'm still feeling terribly, although I'm seeing my primary care physician and not my endocrinologist.

I'm not seeing my endocrinologist again until February of next year since the last time I saw him my levels were looking fantastic, but if I continue to feel like crap then I'm going to have to make an appointment to go see him and see what's going on, but I'll see what my PCP has to say when I see him on Tuesday. Not a great start to the week, but hopefully it gets better from here on out and I can get back to feeling good and getting in my workouts. That's it for today's update.

Day 23 - Sunday, November 18th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Grocery Shopping

Thoughts: So it hasn't been the best start to the week, but I feel like going to bed on time and "catching up" on my sleep has been slowly, emphasis on slowly, been helping me to feel better. Today I was feeling more bleh and lazy than fatigued and low energy and the body aches were a bit less as well. Not completely gone, but better than I had been.

I had some things I had to take care of this morning, so I went grocery shopping after while I was out and about and I'm counting that as my "exercise" for the day since it allowed me to get some activity into my day...unlike yesterday where I got absolutely no activity in my day. I only got in a paltry 3,284 steps as you saw. I still didn't hit my daily goal of 8K steps today, but still better than yesterday.

I definitely need to get back out on the trails, so unless I revert back to feeling worse, I do plan to go to Whitney Mesa tomorrow morning since feeling lazy and bleh is something I can power through vs. feeling tired and fatigued and like I have no energy. Alrighty, off to bed now, so I can get my sleep on...since I apparently need all the rest that I can get to function like a normal person.

Day 24 - Monday, November 19th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day


Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper & Lower Trail)

Thoughts: I'm finally feeling like a human being again! I guess it really was the going to bed "late" and not getting enough sleep that set me back. After several nights of getting back on track, with the help of my melatonin pills, I feel sooooooo much better. I'm not so crabby and tired and down in the dumps anymore. I feel good and happy and my body feels lighter...I'm still not quite 100%, but I had energy and was smiling and just felt like I had gotten up on the right side of the bed unlike the past week where I felt like I was waking up on the wrong side of the bed.

Anywho, I was feeling good so I made it out to Whitney Mesa, but I thought I would keep it a little simpler and easier by going for a walk along the lower trail. I ended up exploring a spur trail off the lower trail, but then I found that it dead ended, so I went back to where I came from, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to do the entire length of the lower trail as I had spent a bit of time on the spur trail, so at the last second I decided to take one of the spur trails that climb from the lower trail up to the upper mesa to complete my loop since my body was feeling good and I was feeling light on my feet again.
It looked kind of steep, although it doesn't look that bad in the pic, so I was a little unsure if I was going to make it, but it actually wasn't that bad of an incline. It's just the last little bit at the very top that does get a bit steep, hence this sign...
...but it was totally fine and it was such a short little section. Once you get past it you're good. My calves did get tight on the incline, but they loosened up real fast as soon as I got up to the top and the rest of my workout was easy peasy as my muscles were loosey goosey the whole rest of the way.

It feels so good to feel good again, so I'm off to bed now...so I can get in my apparently much needed sleep.

Day 25 - Tuesday, November 20th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking at City View Trail

Thoughts: I'm back to feeling good and I'm so happy! I did have to go to the doctor's this morning for a follow up, so I didn't get my workout in until my lunch break, but I had a bit of a longer lunch break so I decided to hit up the City View Trail. It's been a hot minute since I went there, but it was nice to be back hiking the switchbacks.

My calves felt like they kind of wanted to get tight, but they didn't actually get tight. They were like on the verge of getting tight, but never crossed the line into being tight so my workout was not that bad. In fact I actually made it all the way to the very top without stopping once, which has never happened before. When I first started working out I would have to sneak in a quick break when I got about 80% of the way up, but I was able to power through no problem. I didn't get out of breath and my heart rate stayed steady, so I was able to go all the way without stopping.

So I had a great workout, but my doctor's appointment was not so great. Not that it was bad, but my cholesterol and blood sugar were not good. It wasn't terrible...it's not like I need to be put on medication or anything like that, but my cholesterol was a bit off as was my blood sugar. Ideally, for cholesterol, based on how Quest Diagnostics (the lab I use) measures it, you want to be below 200, but I was at 216 and as for my blood sugar, it was a smidge above normal as well. The cutoff for fasting blood sugar is 99, meaning you want to be below 99, but mine was 101 and my Hemoglobin A1C was right at the cutoff of 5.7%.

Nothing to be alarmed by, according to my doctor...those were his exact words, but I was low key freaking out that my numbers were above normal, but he said I was ok for now, but we definitely want to watch those numbers and bring them down...but since I'm working out consistently now and am eating better my doctor said he wasn't too concerned. He said to just keep up with the workouts and eat better as I've been doing and my numbers will go down and the rest of my bloodwork was great, so I just need to focus on losing the weight and getting my dang cholesterol and blood sugar in check.

I feel like I don't eat bad, so I'm not sure why my levels are off...I guess because I'm just generally overweight, but I'm definitely using that as motivation to keep up with my workouts and eat healthy to get healthy because yes, I want to lose weight for vanity's sake, but being healthy is so much more important, so I'm just going to focus on getting healthy...which is why I haven't really been paying attention to the scale and posting my weight with these updates. I haven't really been checking my weight...and my doctor agrees that I shouldn't obsess over the numbers on the scale. I should focus more on how I'm feeling and just continuing to workout consistently and eat healthy so that's what I'm going to do.

I will of course post updates with actual numbers from time to time, but it won't be the main focus of this journey and for now the numbers on the scale are not what's important, it's the numbers on my bloodwork, so I'm just going to stay focused on how I'm feeling day to day and working towards getting my bloodwork in check.

Day 26 - Wednesday, November 21st, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking at Amargosa Trail - Shadow Canyon Trailhead

Thoughts: Today was the start of my long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, so I took advantage of having nothing to do and having loads of time to hit up Amargosa Trail starting at the Shadow Canyon Trailhead. It's been like 1.5 years since I was last there, but it was nice to be back. This is a longer and more varied and tougher trail, so I had held off on coming here, but my fitness definitely seems to have improved a lot because it wasn't too bad.

Not that this is a hard or difficult trail by any means, but it is a step above the other trails that I've been doing. I believe this is considered more of a moderate trail due to the length and amount of incline. City View is a hill and Whitney Mesa is well a mesa, but this is an actual mountain...a little baby mountain, but mountain nonetheless, which is also why I like this trail more than the others because it actually feels like I'm hiking...it's got varied and rocky terrain at times.
Anywho, again my calves kind of felt like they wanted to tighten up on the incline, but they never actually did and as soon as I wasn't on an incline they were completely fine and loosey goosey...my legs felt really good otherwise.

This trail does have a lot of inclines both gradual and more hefty inclines and switchbacks and dips and lulls. Here are just a few...
As you can see in my stats above, it clocked me as having climbed the equivalent of 69 floors, although I don't know how accurate and reliable that data is, but it definitely does have a lot more inclines...I believe there's an elevation gain of about 935 ft, which is why I did end up having to take a quick water break during the switchbacks...but I only had to take the one water break. I was fine the rest of the way without having to take a break...although there were moments where I was walking like a turtle.

I didn't end up doing the entire trail though end to end. This trail has two trailheads, so it goes up the mountain and then descends down the other side, which will take you to the other trailhead. I have done the entire length before, but today I just stayed on one side of the mountain...I went up to the top and then returned the way I came. I didn't go down the other side and then come back up and then return. I'll wait till I'm feeling stronger and have been working out for a bit more before doing the full length from trailhead to trailhead and back.

Day 27 - Thursday, November 22nd, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day


Workout Stats

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper Trail)

Thoughts: Went to Whitney Mesa today for my daily morning workout and my calves seemed to be fine until they reached the very last bit of the incline...at which point they started to tighten up for like 5 seconds, but then I reached the top of the mesa and was completely fine...aside from my legs feeling like dead weights. They weren't tight and there was no cramping or anything, but it felt like I was walking around with ankle weights for some reason, or as if I were walking around in a pool...that kind of feeling. Not sure why my legs were feeling dead...perhaps all the inclines from yesterday really worked my muscles?

At any rate, aside from my legs feeling like dead weight the rest of my body felt light and good and I had a great workout. Then after an afternoon break, I headed out for some Black Friday shopping, which now starts on Thursdays for some reason...hence I got in sooo many steps today. A personal best so far. I probably would've stayed out later, but now that we know how important going to bed on time and getting enough sleep is for my body, I returned home early because I definitely do not want a repeat of last week. Black Friday shopping will have to wait until tomorrow, which is when it's supposed to be anyways. Alrighty, that's it for today. I'm going to get ready for bed now. 

Day 28 - Friday, November 23rd, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Black Friday Shopping

Thoughts: I knew I wanted to Black Friday shop today, so I didn't do a normal workout cause I figured I would be doing a ton of walking around the stores...but I ended up not doing as much shopping as I anticipated. I feel like this year Black Friday shopping was kind of...bleh. I wasn't really excited by it like in years past. Sure there were specific things I wanted, which I had pretty much already ordered online, but I didn't have as much fun as I used to wandering around the stores and picking things out. I don't know if it's a me thing or if the merchandise and sales this year were boring...or maybe it was a mixture of both.

If I knew this was going to happen I would've just done my usual workout this morning. In years past I used to be out and about Black Friday shopping for like 12 hours, but today...today I called it early on my shopping. Also, I seem to have lost my patience for waiting in long lines, which that could have something to do with me not enjoying my shopping experience. I ended up walking out of some stores without even browsing because I saw that there were long lines that weren't moving and I didn't want to wait in it. I mean why bother looking through the merchandise and shopping if you're ultimately not going to wait in that line to purchase it. So I would end up just walking out and going to another store which didn't have long lines or even if they were long that were moving quickly, so I wouldn't have to wait for forever.

Anywho, since I wrapped up my Black Friday shopping early today, I thought about going for a late afternoon workout, but I was starving and by the time I ate and was ready to workout, the sun was already setting so I ended up watching Harry Potter instead, which is my go to Thanksgiving binge fest. For some reason I associate Harry Potter with Thanksgiving and so I always binge the entire collection every Thanksgiving weekend. At any rate, I still got in my daily goal of 8K steps today, so it's all good. Tomorrow I will most definitely be getting in my morning workout.

Hi guys!
I'm here with week three of my fitness journey...which has not been the best week. I had a couple good days, but the rest...the rest was not that great because I was not feeling that great. I had been feeling so good these past few weeks, but I sorta reverted back to feeling tired and low energy and not so great like I used to before my thyroid and anemia were normalized, so I really hope that it's just a fluke and that my health is not backtracking, but I guess we'll just have to see.

At any rate, here are my stats for the week...

Day 15 - Saturday, November 10th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper Trail)

Thoughts: I started the day being lazy...I slept in and didn't get up until it was almost 9AM. Then I lounged around for a bit, so I didn't hit the trails until almost 11AM, but despite it being a nice sunny day, there was still a breeze so it was nice and cool and perfect for a workout. Since it was Saturday and I wasn't on a set schedule, instead of just doing the normal trail, I also ventured out and explored some of the spur trails, so my workout went a bit longer than usual, but I still made good time just like yesterday, so faster than the first 2 weeks. Here's a pick of one of the spur trails...

Anywho, my legs were feeling good today as well. Aside from my calves tightening up on the initial incline, they were perfectly fine the rest of the way...loosey goosey and good to go. I guess my muscles don't really need to warm up anymore, which is nice. Then I came home to eat and then ventured back out again because the Sears near my home is closing and they are having sales, so I decided to go check it out with my mom. We spent like 4 hours wandering around the store and now my feet are killing me. I would've been out of there sooner, but my mom was digging through and shopping for clothes for my dad and she took forever...but thanks to her I achieved my personal best, since I started my workout journey, of clocking over 12K steps today.

Now I'm going to go eat some dinner and rest my feet because tomorrow is going to be a long day...I have to drive to LA to take care of some business. Since I have to hit the road super early, I'm not going to be able to get in a workout, but hopefully I can still get in at least 8K steps.

Day 16 - Sunday, November 11th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Nothing, nada, absolute zero

Thoughts: Today was a total fail. Didn't get in any exercise, didn't get in my daily step goal of 8K AND I didn't get to bed on time. I mean...I got a lot done today, but in terms of my fitness and health...complete zero. I didn't even eat well today either.

BUT tomorrow, or rather today since it's 1AM already, is a new day so back to the grind. Now I need to go to bed, so I can get up and hit the trails.

Day 17 - Monday, November 12th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Dance Party in my room

Thoughts: So...today did not go as planned. I woke up feeling like I had gotten beaten up by a UFC fighter. My entire body was so stiff and sore. I have so much respect for long haul truck drivers. I don't know how they do it. Me driving for 10 hours yesterday left my body in terrible shape...although I have driven long distance before in the past when I was in college and don't remember being this stiff and sore afterwards. I used to drive back and forth between Atlanta and Tampa a lot as well as between LA and Vegas and I've driven from Atlanta to Houston and from Houston to LA, which is an even longer multi day drive before, but at any rate I was feeling miserable today, so I ended up skipping my workout again.

Instead, I spent the majority of my day stretching and massaging and trying to loosen up my body...particularly my neck/shoulder region. My neck was so stiff this morning...but at the end of the day, after all the stretching and massaging, I was feeling a bit better, so I decided to have a little dance party in my room. I was determined to at least get in my 8K steps for the day, so I turned on some music and got my groove on. I was walking and jogging in place and around my house and dancing up a storm shaking my booty and getting my heart rate up for about 30 minutes or so, which was enough to get me over the 8K step thresh hold, so at least I did that and got in some activity in my day.

The one positive to come out of this though, skipping my workout for two days straight, is that my right heel has had time to rest and recover and is now pretty much back to normal. While it had been feeling a lot better after getting my cushiony house slippers, it was still sore, but now it's not really sore anymore...it's like 90% better. If I'm wearing some thick cushiony socks or my cushiony house slippers my foot/heel feels completely normal. No soreness. If I'm barefoot though, I do still feel a tiny bit of soreness, but it's pretty negligible now, so yeah! Also, my blister has healed as well, so I'm ready to get back out there on the trails tomorrow. No more excuses. I WILL get back out there tomorrow.

Day 18 - Tuesday, November 13th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper Trail)

Thoughts: Oh my god it felt so good to get back out and about on the trails. It was freezing cold this morning though, so I didn't get my workout in until my lunch break, but my body was just itching to get out there. I was so wound up from not working out the past two days. Who would've thought that I, me, Ahn Kim, would ever feel this way. I used to HATE exercise with a passion. I used to workout because I had to...for health, but I never really enjoyed it and my body certainly never craved it, but I so enjoy my workouts now.

I was afraid my body would've backtracked a bit after not working out for 2 days, but it felt really good to be back at Whitney Mesa working out and I actually made really good time...even better actually. When I first started working out a couple weeks ago it took me like 8.5 min to get up the incline to the top of the mesa, then it took like 8 min 15 sec, then about 8 min and the last time I went it took me like 7 min 50 sec. Today it took me 7 min 40 sec. Also, my pace was a lot faster as well overall.

I didn't start tracking my pace until a week and a half ago, but on November 1st my pace was 23'25"...

then on November 5th it went down to 23'00"...

then on November 9th it went down to 21'57"...

and today was even better at 20'59"!

So I'm definitely making progress. My muscles felt good the entire time from start to finish without needing to warm up...even my calves were fine on the incline as well...no tightness today. I think my body was just really happy to be out and about again because it was just happily zipping along the trail...and I'm still full of energy. I just might have another dance party in my room tonight...but at any rate, a fantastic workout on the books!

Day 19 - Wednesday, November 14th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Walking around the neighborhood

Thoughts: Today is Wednesday, my early start day, so I kept it easy and simple with a jaunt around the neighborhood. The sun was out shining brightly, so while it was still a bit chilly it wasn't too bad. I remember when I was in college, in Boston, there would be people in the dead of winter when it's freezing cold outside running in shorts and a t-shirt and I thought they were crazy. I mean, I know your body warms up when you're active and you exercise, but still...I was layered up with my thick winter coat and gloves and scarf and there they were jogging along in their shorts and t-shirt like it was a nice sunny day.

Anywho, I digress...like always. I don't know if it's because I went to bed later than normal and didn't get my normal amount of sleep, but I felt like I was dragging a little bit this morning. I didn't feel light on my feet and even though I was walking on easier relatively flat cement sidewalks I could feel every slight incline that I came across. My pace was definitely slower today than it was yesterday

even though it was easier terrain, but at any rate I powered through and completed my workout for the day, so mission accomplished.

Day 20 - Thursday, November 15th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Hiking/Walking at Whitney Mesa (Upper Trail)

Thoughts: I went to bed earlier than I did the previous night, but still later than usual and I don't know if it's me not being on my normal sleep schedule this past week, but I struggled again today as well. I woke up later than normal, and I didn't wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed...I think the lack of sleep is starting to catch up with me. For me personally, my body needs like a solid 8 hours of sleep and I've been getting 6-7 this week, and while that doesn't seem like a huge difference and still a good amount of sleep, I think my body is still sensitive to those slight changes...especially since it hasn't been that long since my thyroid normalized and it's finding it's new normal. I'm guessing...that's what my intuition is telling me.

Even though my thyroid is good now and my bloodwork looks great, I think making sure I go to bed early and get enough sleep and keep with a routine is gonna be really important for me going forward because I feel like I've been dragging a bit since yesterday. I feel like my old self is creeping back a little bit from when I was still struggling with my thyroid issues, so I definitely need to nip that in the butt and get back to my normal sleep routine. I think that's what it is, but at any rate, when I finally got out to Whitney Mesa for my workout, my muscles started off fine enough, but then my calves and arches got tight on the incline up to the top of the mesa. I still made it up the mesa in record time though...it took me 7.5 min today, which is even faster than Tuesday, but that was probably because there was a group of super fit people running up the trail and I felt compelled to book it up that incline because I felt self conscious and didn't want them to think I was out of shape or anything like that.

Have you guys ever felt that way? When you're working out and someone super fit works out next to you, you don't want to lag behind. You want to show that you're just as fit as they are and can keep up? I mean, I'm sure they didn't care as they were just there working out and doing their own thing and I was just in my own head being silly for no reason at all...generally people are super nice and encouraging and I remember when I was struggling on the trails last year, when my anemia was really bad, but I didn't know I had anemia and was trying to hike and people would be like you're doing great, keep going, you're almost there and really nice and motivating and encouraging and I find that people are just super friendly and nice on the trails, so I don't know why I was feeling self conscious, but I'm digressing, surprise, surprise.

Anywho, I powered up that incline as fast as I could despite the arches of my feet starting to cramp and the tightness in my calves, so I made good time there, but as you'll see in my stats, my pace for today was A LOT slower than it was on Tuesday. In fact it's worse than when I first started tracking my pace.

I don't know if it's cause I powered up that incline as fast as I could despite the tightness and cramping and so it took longer for me to recover...for my muscles to loosen up, but I just couldn't walk fast today because my arches were cramping and my calves were tight, so I had to slow it down...way down.

I feel like I took a step back today, but the important thing to focus on is the fact that I got out there. That I went and exercised. I may not have improved my time or stats, but that's not what's important. The most important thing is that I went and got my workout in and that I did the best that my body could do today. I just need to stay the course and make the effort and eventually my numbers will follow and improve at their own pace.

Day 21 - Friday, November 16th, 2018

Fitbit Stats for the Day

Today's Exercise: Strolling around a car dealership

Thoughts: Again, not a good day. I woke up feeling like I used to before my thyroid and anemia were normalized. My body was aching and I felt tired and low energy and feeling a little blue. Since I had to take my car in to be serviced, I decided to skip my morning workout and just get my car taken care of, so I drove down to the dealership to do that...but then I felt bad and also I was going to have to wait for my car to get serviced anyways, so I decided to stroll/saunter around the dealership and the block the dealership was on while I waited, so it wasn't really so much a workout workout, but I still got in a solid 34 minutes of activity.

Since I was just wandering around I decided not to log it on my Fitbit as a workout, so I have no pace data or workout stats from the Fitbit, but the Samsung Health App on my phone automatically logs activity on it's own whenever it detects it, so I do have the stats from the Samsung Health app.

After seeing that it had me going at a pace of 19'27" today, I kind of wish I had logged it on my Fitbit because now I'm curious as to what Fitbit would've logged my pace as because I didn't feel like I was walking fast or anything...I was just simply taking a leisurely stroll around the dealership, but the Samsung app had me going at such a quick pace. My fastest pace thus far since starting my fitness journey has been 20'59" from Tuesday and this is even faster...I don't know why my pace is so good today when I felt like absolute crap and like I was being slow.

When comparing the stats between my Fitbit and Samsung from past workouts the stats don't line up, so who knows what my Fitbit would've recorded me going at, but it seems to only deviate anywhere from a few seconds to 1 minute, so even if it were off by a full minute which is the most it ever seems to be off by compared to the Fitbit, that would still put me at a pace of 20'27" which is still better than Tuesday, so I'm a little confused...not that it really matters. I said I wasn't going to get caught up in the numbers, but here I am obsessing over my numbers and stats.

Anywho, I didn't get in my normal workout, but I still got in some activity, so I'm not going to be too hard on myself. The fact that I still got some in despite feeling so terribly...I'm going to count that as a win. I tried going to bed early yesterday, but I couldn't fall asleep so I did not get a lot of sleep. I really hope I'm not backtracking with my health. I was feeling so good the past few weeks...I really hope it's just a fluke because I do not want to go back to how I used to feel.