Developed a large bruise 10 days after the surgery, nowhere near any incision sites. They said it should be fine since I don’t have any other symptoms (fever, chills, etc.), but keep an eye on it. Surprised me, was all. Guessing it was a deep bruise and took that long to surface.
My skin is still has spots that are porcupine-y from rash, some that are red and nasty looking but not infected, some dry and flakey, or just plain itchy. I’d use lotion or moisturizing soap, but not really supposed to scrub or lotion most of it yet.
Not sure where I read that one needs a minimum 60 minutes a day of moderate activity. That’s a lot even if I take multiple 10 minute walks. What if my fitness tracker doesn’t register that my pulse is up to the moderate zone the entire time? Glack I’m pathetic if this seems like such a challenging goal. I don’t recall where I saw it or who came up with this number. A couple other resources and health professionals had advised about 150 minutes a week, which comes out to 22 minutes a day. Certainly more feasible, but one might also argue if that’s enough. Even breaking up 60 minutes during a regular workday, it seems like a lot. Yes, one has breaks and lunch, but using this time to use facilities, get water and food at lunch, I think it’d be pressing it to get 40 minutes total. And that’s only if you go by the clock and don’t worry if the tracker states you only spent 25 of those minutes in your target heart-range. Then 20 minutes after work wouldn’t seem so bad, but that’s still an ideal day. If you had to do most of it after work, or feel you need to make up for any other days you didn’t get 60 minutes in, you start to see where activity seems more like a chore than an opportunity to be healthy.
Under surgery recovery protocols, I’m not supposed to worry about walking speed or intensity; only gradually working up total endurance for length of single walks. At the end of 6 weeks, I should be ok to walk 30 minutes continuously. This is still week two. I can do 10 minute walks. All I’m saying is 6 of them is still quite a bit. What about the tiny walks inbetween if you don’t start your timer? Do you discourage yourself from sneaking in a few extra steps if you don’t got a full 10 minutes at a time?
I saw another site that recommended 150 minutes plus strength training. That means if you strength train 3 times a week for 20 minutes that's an hour that doesn't count? Good grief.
Perusing the internet, I found a walking app that professed it could get me to my ideal weight by a not so distant date. I will not be investing in it, but it was that an interesting thought. Maybe that’s the type of ideal I should visualize when I’m griping about 60 minutes of daily activity. The last time I was at a healthy weight, I did roughly 90 minutes a day of combined activities. Parked far away on purpose, walks and stairs on lunches and breaks, 40+ minutes vigorous activity (dripping sweat) after work, and then stretches and mild strengthening on top of that. I did not find it to be sustainable. There’s a point where you don’t mind pushing yourself when your trying to lose weight, because you think eventually you can let up a little bit. You think sure, I’ll do extra right now to get to that goal, but you don’t necessarily think you’ll have to keep up that intensity forever. Some activity, sure. 22 minutes, no problem. An hour? Maybe.
I guess for me, just try to be consistent and build up as permitted. Try not to be overwhelmed or discouraged by ideals that seem far off . . .
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