Happy Friday, friends. I’m kicking off another round of Ask Stephany Anything today with questions that people have asked from my form. (If you have questions for me, fill it out! I’m an open book.) Since I’m dedicated to keeping my posts short and sweet this month (when possible), I’m just going to answer the questions San asked me, since I got a bit wordy! These were great questions, San, and I loved answering them.
First and foremost: How are you? Especially now that the election results have fully sunk it?
I am doing okay. I have decided that social media is not going to be where I get my news so I have unfollowed many news sources and muted people who seem to only share political posts these days. I want to be able to go on Instagram to be entertained and my algorithm is very much geared toward cat videos, dachshund videos, funny meme accounts, and comedians. That’s exactly what I want. (I don’t really believe that sharing political things on my Instagram is going to move the needle, considering those who agree with me are already watching my Stories and those that don’t have either unfollowed or muted me.) I will listen to Pod Save America and read their nightly newsletter to stay up on the news, but I may also take breaks from it from time to time. My friend also clued me in to this news source (unfortunately, she’s only on Facebook, ugh), who shares long detailed recaps of what happened the previous day and I plan to read through her recaps once a week.
The fight for democracy is going to be a long, hard one. There is not much we can do now, but I hope to find local organizations that I can give my time and money to.
Do you feel a noticeable difference in your energy levels now that you are using the CPAP?
Oh, for sure! I mentioned in the post I wrote a week after I’d been using CPAP therapy that I had already noticed a difference in my energy levels and that continues to be true. I don’t think I realized how exhausted I really was before starting CPAP. I truly could not get through the day without needing a nap and I felt so terrible about that. I felt like I was lazy and unmotivated and maybe even depressed? Some of those depression symptoms were likely just due to my lack of sleep, not a chemical imbalance. My blood oxygen percentage is also improving (usually staying steady around 95%, which is so close to normal! Before CPAP, I was regularly seeing blood oxygen levels around 90% and sometimes even below that.) Things are for sure on the upswing.
What’s your go-to breakfast right now?
I switch between a bowl of apple and cinnamon oatmeal (the instant kind, from Quaker) and two fried eggs on toast. Easy, simple, and delicious!
What do you like most about your new workout routine?
I like the feeling of pushing myself and working hard. It can be really easy to let myself off the hook when I’m doing a workout at home (for example, I was only using 5-lb weights anytime I did a strength video and now I don’t select anything under 10 lbs at the gym!). I like that I can come to class and the workout is ready for me, but that there’s also a community aspect. I see the same people week after week. I have a trainer who pushes me but also provides modifications if I’m struggling with back pain. I like feeling consistent and excited about working out. It doesn’t feel like a chore, but rather something I look forward to.
What’s your go-to breakfast?
Oooh! First of all, I am so happy you’re feeling so much better and well rested. Sleep is so important. I feel like a weird sleep/ rest evangelist but it’s true, our bodies need the yin so we can do the yang!
My son Jake LOVES that apple cinnamon Quaker oatmeal!
Look at you getting so much stronger! Amazing!!!
Also I kind of missed you were doing an AMA! I’m so sorry! I didn’t have questions!
You are FINE! I find it very hard to think of questions to ask when other people do AMAs so I’m always grateful I get anyone to ask questions, haha.
Yes- It’s VERY hard to push myself at home as much as I would at the gym, and I don’t push myself as much at the gym as I did when I worked with a trainer. I’m wondering if I need to work with a trainer again to see real strength gains. Sigh.
Yes, I don’t think posting anything on social media is helpful. The people reading you, already agree with you. I also just want light, funny things right now. At some point I’ll get more involved in the fight, but I just can’t right now.
Glad you like your CPAP! I was pretty sure you would. I know someone else who uses it, and he said it changed his life.
Jenny, I wish we lived closer because I would force you to come to a HIIT class with me. I think you’d love it!
I don’t want to quit social media because I love seeing adorable animal Reels! It brightens my day so much.
I can’t even imagine how horrible is must be to have untreated apnea. To be “doing everything right” yet being tired all of the time. Yikes.
My rule is that if a follow on FB or Insta does not bring me joy, then unfollow. I’m on social to keep up with people that I care about, learn about cool places to go for my local travels, and for puppy videos. I don’t follow the news very closely – some people have told me that’s why I’m a liberal, because if I followed the news and was informed, then I would obviously think like they do…which is exactly why I continue on my path of blissful ignorance.
Breakkies!!!! I’ve been on a frozen sandwich kick forever. My favorite is the sausage biscuits from Costco but sometimes I mix it up with English muffin sammies. I always have breakfast burritos in the freezer, and once in a while I have oatmeal.
YESSS to this: My rule is that if a follow on FB or Insta does not bring me joy, then unfollow.
I’ve started doing the same. If someone makes me feel bad or mad or angry… just unfollow. It’s not worth it!
My breakfast sandwich maker died on me suddenly and it’s the SADDEST thing. Maybe I just need to find some frozen sandwiches and make things easier on myself, ha.
Isn’t it cool when you are working out and at first you can barely lift anything and later you start to get stronger and notice it? I remember doing bench presses and only being able to press the bar and later I could put a lot of weight on it and it was so satisfying. Of course, now I am back to probably being able to only lift the bar (if that!) but it is nice to see the progress for sure.
My breakfast when biking is often oatmeal, but now I am in one place and am really enjoying being able to cook some eggs! I love eggs but they are not something I can carry with me when on the move. I usually just scramble and cook in the microwave for ease and top with cheese!
I’m always a bit shocked when people say they have issues with Instagram, but my feed is 90% dogs and the other 10% is people I truly know in real life. I have no idea how I managed to get that algorithm, but I’m keeping it! More Dogist for me, please!
I have literally had the same thing for breakfast for at least a decade – probably more. Yogurt with homemade granola, fruit (whatever’s in season), and tea. What a boring life I lead.
I suspect I know who you’re talking about on FB, Heather Cox Richardson. She’s amazing, but sometimes I can’t even manage to read that, it’s too stressful. My husband told me this morning that he is going to turn off his news alerts on his phone, and I thought (quietly, to myself), ‘Why the hell would anyone want news alerts on their phone all the time?’. I mean, he subscribes to 3 newspapers (all online), so I would think he can just read the news there and then be done with it for the day. Now if we can get our daughter to do the same (turn off her alerts), I think she would be happier too. There’s a difference between burying your head in the sand and being uninformed, and being informed but not bombarded. That’s my thought anyway.
I’ve been struggling with the workouts. I do yoga every day, and I walk every day, but I need to get consistent with my strength. I don’t have time or money to go to the gym, so it needs to be something I can do at home. One thing that I’ve noticed with my yoga is that if I do it EVERY DAY, I am not tempted to skip a day, because I don’t want to break my streak. I think I need to do that with strength too, because otherwise I think, ‘eh, I’ll do it tomorrow’, and then tomorrow doesn’t come. All of that ME talk to tell you YAY for getting stronger, and for enjoying the community of in person classes! I have done that at times in the past and really enjoyed it.
My breakfast rotation is: scrambled eggs, fruit, and sourdough toast; cream of barley cereal (very similar to cream of wheat) with raspberries, pecans, raspberry jam, and 1/2 a banana, with a little butter swirled in; whole grain toast with peanut butter and blueberries; avocado toast with lemon pepper, and berries on the side (in summer or early fall when we have really good tomatoes, I’ll slice a tomato and put it on top of the avocado toast). Once every couple of weeks I like to go to Starbucks and get a latte and a sausage/egg/cheddar english muffin sandwich.
I agree – there really isn’t any reason to have push notification for news alerts. Nothing is going to burn down if you don’t read about XYZ thing the moment it happens! We’ve gotten so used to 24/7 access to news that we forget it wasn’t always like this. I like compartmentalizing my news.
This is so amazing that the CRAP machine really does work and your energy levels are so much higher now. I am also really in awe about your workout routine.
Great questions and answers!
My go to breakfast is cereal (never with any added sugar) and something called filmjölk, not sure you have anything simular where you are. It’s sour milk:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filmj%C3%B6lk
And coffee of course.
I’m so glad the CPAP is helping! My dad also needed daily naps at lunch time before he found out he has sleep apnea. It is such a game changer to use a CPAP!!
I am so glad you are loving in person classes. I miss going to in person classes. I would like to go to them again when my kids are older and don’t need me at bedtime. But that is so far off so for now I am glad I have running and at home workouts!
Thank you for this post! I noticed that I work harder at yoga when I am physically present at the studio and slack off when I am doing a virtual class. In the fall, I got 3, 8 and 12 lbs dumbbells off Amazon and been focusing on my upper body strength but I only lift for about 10 minutes daily. But it’s better than I what I usually do- nothing.
Oh yay, thanks for answering all my questions. Loved reading your answers! I am glad to hear that you’re “censoring” what you consume online, because I agree, I don’t want to be swamped with doom-and-gloom news. I have listened to Pod Save America a few times (me! Who doesn’t do podcasts!) and these guys always make me feel a little better.
So happy to hear that you’re loving your new workout routine! That makes me smile 🙂
Sigh. I need to learn (still more) lessons from you – I am currently reading enough news for the 3 of us. Plus J. NY Times (no more Post – thanks, Bezos) and the Guardian. No alerts, though – I can barely stand alerts for calendar stuff and texts.
You are a rock star with your workouts and your CPAP! And your breakfasts! Look at you prioritizing you. So happy to see that. <3