July Health Goals Update 2023

I haven’t done a health goals update since April so I thought I would do one on the last day of July! If you’ve been following along you know that my doctor told me I had high cholesterol and was at a really high risk of a heart attack. His recommendation besides putting me on medication is to go more plant-based and increase my exercise.

To recap my health goals for this year:

• Walk 3 to 6 miles a day – I have a goal to achieve 2023 miles this year No longer actively pursuing
• Hike every other week – changed it to hiking 1-3 hikes per week
• Annual Physical – since I just had one this will be in December.
• Repeat Mammogram in September
• Change diet – continued progress
• Add supplements – I chose Obvi – see commentary at the bottom

What’s happening

Since April I hiked 18 trails which is roughly about 110 miles – not quite the milage I had in mind to achieve but I am a big believer that you can change your mind about your goals. While completing 2023 miles in 2023 would be amazing, I’ve fallen behind.

It’s not helping that I am currently dealing with a muscle strain injury in my back which has me sidelined from hiking until after I had some physical therapy and the twinge in my back is gone.

I’ve been using AllTrails to plan out hikes and download maps as some of my hikes lead me into the zone of no cell services. My plan is really to hike 2-3 trails per week – where two of those trails are 4 to 6 miles and the third trail is closer to 10-15 miles.

Changes I’ve made and progress I noticed

Health goals update in terms of what is or isn’t working:

My partner and I are following a low-carb diet, for him because he’s a Type 1 Diabetic and it helps keep his sugar in check while balancing his insulin. For me, well because my doc recommended more plant-based. I still eat meat but it’s pretty limited. I prefer beef over anything else – and even though it has it’s cons, as someone who is also anemic …well I make an allowance – and honestly, I like steak. I am not a big fan of pork and poultry but we do seem to eat more chicken than pork.

I mentioned that I started using Obvi. I had used them in the past last year and hadn’t seen the results I wanted and thought really hard about if I wanted to try it again. I decided to give it a 3 months trial run and see how it goes. And between my low-carb diet and the supplements, I do believe it is paying off as I am now down to 133 lbs. – I was at 140 lbs. at the beginning of the year and didn’t make much progress until this past month. I still have a few more lbs. I’d like to go down so that I am at around 120 to 125 lbs.

What supplements am I using?

Because I am peri-menopausal I started the Look Good Feel Good Bundle, which includes Hello, Good-Bye, and Burn. The Hello & Goodbye is mainly for hormonal balance and lower cortisol levels but comes with added benefits such as mental clarity and balanced mood.

Burn is a thermogenic fat burner infused with collagen and since my experience last year, that didn’t seem to be enough, so I added a collagenic burn powder that is stim-free and caffeine-free.

This entire combination seems to be doing the trick with the dietary changes and exercise plan I am following.

But the reason I am now dealing with a muscle injury is because I wanted to add strength training and didn’t pay attention or went too hard too soon – lesson learned, maybe.

I just want to say that the Obvi products are not a magic pill by any stretch of the imagination but that when you work it, it will work for you. The key thing is to find the product(s) that will work for you and the last time I did it, I did not do this exact bundle. And give them time to work – you will probably not see any results in the first 4 weeks. This is months 2 for me and I am starting to see results. Also staying hydrated is important just don’t overdo it – too much water isn’t actually good either!

Talk with your healthcare professionals about any changes you are planning to make! This is what is working for me and I don’t want you to hurt yourself because you read somewhere it’s working well for someone. I am not here to give medical advice – only sharing what is working for me!

I will do the next health goals update in a few months and share what’s been happening.