October

Hey, look at me not waiting an entire month in between blog posts! I am a firm believer in celebrating the small things in life so there's my mini celebration for today. Either we are having a particularly lovely September here in Northeast Wisconsin, or I just don't recall September being so warm and nice in previous years. I tend to start dreading the oncoming snow by the time the sunlight changes in August and then I miss out on being in the moment with fall. I'm so glad this year I am able to truly appreciate this time. The tourism has dropped off dramatically so getting into restaurants and a spot on the beach for amazing fall sunsets is much easier. My morning walks with the dog are in the dark, but within just a few minutes we are downtown where shops are lit with displays and Halloween decorations. It really is such a nice time of year! My hip is slowly starting to feel better and there is less snapping and pulling. I'm so grateful! This will be a big deal come next month when I refocus on exercise. After 2 years of living in our house I think I have our boxes in the basement roughly 90% sorted and on shelves, the rest is either being donated or is comprised of items that aren't mine to decide to keep or not. This big project made space for me to have a small workout area. I have a nice stationary bike some dumbbells and bands so far. I typically do strength training with bodyweight only, but I'd like to get and use more weights and would love a treadmill at some point. For now, I'm happy to have a dedicated spot with foam panels down for extra impact resistance. I am pleasantly surprised how my mind is beginning to positively prepare for October and the goals I have in mind. I have been keeping track of my fasting times this week to gauge how tough it will be to get back into consistent fasting. I habitually rarely eat after 4 PM or before 6 AM so that's 14 hours that I am used to. For the past month or so, I have gotten in the habit of eating right at 6 AM when I start work, so I was never getting a longer fast, whether I was genuinely hungry or not. So this week I am trying to go at least 15 hours because that used to be my typical fast. The longterm plan is to do 5-1-1, 5 days of a typical fast (15 to 16 hours), 1 day of a longer fast (more than 16 hours) and one day "without fasting". Since we're always fasting when we sleep, that's a bit of a misnomer, but for me it will simply mean I will not intentionally delay breakfast on that day, so it will likely still be a 14 hour fast but that's not stressful on my system. I am going to try to focus on getting more protein in October,mostly from meat and eggs and maybe I'll cut back on dairy some. Probably the hardest part for me will be not having my liquid stevia drops in my water except when I'm eating. I'm so very hooked on it. I drink nearly 2 gallons of water a day and every last drop of it has that in it, even my coffee and iced tea. I am going to allow a splash oflemon or lime juice, apple cider vinegar, salt, black coffee and unsweetened tea-hot or cold. I honestly thought my mind would be fighting me on it by now, but I feel like I an up for the challenge. I would be over the moon if I could break through the 160's into the 150's once and for all. The scale said 164.2 today, up a little due to my wacky cycle finally starting this week. I have been hovering in the 163-162 range for a while and I am ready to move on but it's going to take some dedication on my part. It will be October before we know it and I will be challenging myself to stick to these changes all month. I'll try to be better about blogging more often so you know how it's going, good or bad. What changes are you planning for October?