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.