It has been a long time since I have written a post for this blog. Over the past few years my fitness journey turned into a fitness pause. Can I call it a pause if it lasted years? Hiatus. A fitness hiatus. That’s better.

During this hiatus, my husband and I moved into our campervan in February 2024. Changing homes and careers (nuclear power to natural resources) also led to other changes. No longer miserable with my job and stressing about how to keep an entire house clean and organized, my eating habits changed as well. Gone were the days of mindlessly stuffing my face with sweets and overeating to try to munch away my misery. In the van, I only ate when hungry, stopped when full, and sweets became a treat instead of a meal.

I ran here and there, did a little bit of bodyweight training randomly, and some hiking and backpacking, but most of my movement consisted of walking. The walking only started after the weight started piling on. Sitting and working on my computer all day burned very few calories, all while causing my muscles to slowly atrophy. The combination led to a softer, larger version of me. I absolutely loved my job and vanlife, but I no longer liked the body I resided in.

Determined to reduce my body to a more comfortable size, I resurrected my 10,000 steps a day goal. This increased my daily step count by almost 7,000. With the hills around wherever we parked the van to call home and walking almost five miles a day, I returned to a smaller, more comfortable version of me, albeit still soft. For nearly a year, I maintained this slightly fitter body and felt mostly content. Every now and again, when trying to lift something heavy, I found myself missing my strong body.

For a year, the walking kept my body to a size I felt happy with. Then, within weeks, my body expanded, my boobs no longer fit in my bras, and my clothes became snug. What happened?! Stress? Too much going out to eat because my husband and I went on a splurging streak? A combination of the two? The 10,000 steps a day are only enough to maintain my newfound weight and are not enough to lose any of it.

Along with the extra weight, my guts turned on me. Or did they turn on me because of the extra weight? For as long as I can remember, my guts have given me problems. Constantly bloated, excessive gas, not pooping–all the things! Every once in a while, it feels like I swallowed cement and it hardened in my guts. This cement feeling returned with the most recent expansion.

There is nothing worse than being uncomfortable in your own body. This discomfort came more from the cement guts than anything else. Desperate to rid myself of this feeling, I planned a five-day fast while pet sitting for a friend. Fasting in a temperature-controlled environment sounded much more appealing than fighting the elements in the van. Fasting is supposed to help your gut microbiome reset, and the prospects of that delighted me.

I only fasted for three days because I began to feel sick. Nausea. Smells made it worse. Hot and cold flashes. A salad broke the fast, and I instantly felt better. My guts no longer feel like cement, so I guess I accomplished my mission.

Training Journal fitness health journal