u/coral_bells

I WFH and am a homebody, so I’ve been pretty sedentary for a few years. Last week I decided to make a concerted effort to get more steps in. Using my iPhone to track, I got 8,000 the first two days, and that was fine. The third day I got a little over enthusiastic and did 17,000. Sadly, I have been paying for it since with ankle and shin pain. I’m basically out of commission. It’s a bummer.

Once the pain has gone away, I want to get back at it though. My question is, how do I know when I can safely increase my steps? When can I bump up to 10,000 or 12,000 or more? I have a decent amount of free time, and I want to use it to walk. But I don’t want to injure myself again.

Potentially relevant info: I’m 37F. I’m 5’1”. I don’t own a scale so I don’t know my exact weight, but last time I went to the doctor I was about 130 lbs.

Thank you in advance for any advice!

Edited to add: the ankle and shin pain began when I woke up the next morning. I didn’t “walk through the pain” or anything. There was no indication.

So yesterday I started playing Disney Dreamlight Valley for the first time. I’m not a huge Disney fan, but I’m enjoying it so far. But I’m a HUGE Studio Ghibli fan! How fun would it be to step into a beautiful Ghibli world and go on quests with those characters and creatures! Ugh, I would love it.

I feel like the answer is probably yes, but still wouldn’t mind getting some thoughts.

I WFH. On Saturday and Sunday my husband and I go to the gym and I power walk for an hour. But on weekdays I can’t make it over there. I also live in a somewhat unpleasant part of the city, so I don’t really like walking right outside.

I thought about buying a walking pad, but I’m a minimalist and would rather not acquire a heavy object. Since I’m a minimalist though, there is actually a lot of open space in our 670 sq. ft apartment.

I don’t know why it didn’t occur to me sooner that I could just pace around the apartment? I can’t really speed walk like at the gym, but I’m still getting steps in. In fact, I am pacing around right now as I’m typing this!

Do any others do this? Have you felt/seen benefits?

I know many minimalists have never regret a single item they got rid of. I was like this after my big purge (one year ago), and that included getting rid of things like old journals and photographs.

Somewhat steadily, I have been getting rid of even more things since then. At some point (maybe 8 months later?) I got rid of two quilts I had handmade, because they weren’t actually being used. I figured we still had three I made that are used daily, so why keep the ones in the closet?

I was shocked to find that after my husband dropped them off at Goodwill, I felt regret. For the first time! My husband kindly offered to drive back to Goodwill later that evening and try to get them back, but I declined. That seemed…wrong.

Anyway. This was a few months ago. And I no longer feel any regret at not having them. There are digital photos of them, and the space they were taking up got items out from under the bed (just gathering dust there, ugh). I hope someone bought them and is enjoying them very much. That thought actually makes me happy.

So where am I going with all this? I’m trying to figure out the way to word it. I guess it makes me even more confident that I’m making the right decisions by continuing to get rid of things. Now that I have experienced regret related to minimalism for the first time, I know that if it happens again, I will get through it. I should always trust my gut feeling when it’s time to let the next thing go.

My husband and I have drastically less furniture than we used to, but recently I had the urge to rearrange it to better suit our needs. The result ended up being we can get rid of another piece of furniture (the TV was on a coffee table, but by moving it to the top of a low bookcase we have, now we no longer need the coffee table). Rearranging made me realize we could do with even less.

Woke up and my husband was still asleep, so I decided to refill my pill organizer for the week, and take my blood pressure. LET’S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

Right now I just have a basic mini-PC that can only run pretty simple games. The Steam Machine is going to open up a whole new world of games with better graphics for me! Some of the ones I’m excited about are on sale right now. I’m on the reservation list for the 512gb, but haven’t received my email to purchase yet. Still, makes sense to buy these games now! I’m so excited to have a whole list waiting for me when my Steam Machine finally arrives, even if that’s not until December.

I was playing Unpacking, and working on putting the items in the kitchen boxes away. I was literally stacking bowls and plates in the game when I realized my IRL dishwasher was done and I should put the IRL dishes away. So I got up to do that, but the same activity IRL was a lot less fun. Why must it be this way!? 😂

Real talk. This experience has been a reminder for me that being a minimalist does not mean depriving myself. It means making sure the items I own bring value to my life.

The thing was an iPad, and the reason I wanted it was to have a larger screen and a stylus for a coloring book app I’ve had on my phone for two weeks. Day one of using it, I knew it would be way better on an iPad.

I used to have a closet packed with art and craft supplies. Years went by without me touching it. So I got rid of most of it in my big purge. One thing I kept was my large Ohuhu marker set, because I was still using it for coloring books. But my most used colors ran out of ink after about 6 months of use. I stopped coloring because of it, and donated the working markers.

But I’ve been missing it. Like many others, I love that’s it’s a creative outlet that’s relaxing and stress free. I’ve tried a handful of coloring book apps over the past few months, and finally found a good one. It was bringing me joy, but it was difficult to use on such a small screen and my finger rather than a stylus.

I told myself that because using the app on my phone was an option, there was no need to buy a second device. But two weeks had gone by and the desire for it hadn’t gone away (though music was a brief respite!). So I got it. And guess what? It was worth it. I have already spent three happy hours coloring today, and I look forward to many more. I wish I hadn’t tortured myself so much with the decision.

TL;DR: Minimalism is not asceticism. If your desire remains after time has passed, and you believe it will bring value to your life, just get it. Don’t obsess over it.

Edit: Looks like the oldest generation this app can run on is 6th generation. I should have thought to check that before posting, sorry!
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I know this is probably a ridiculous ask, but I thought I’d check if anyone has an old iPad sitting around that they’re not using. Doesn’t matter how old. I am really into a coloring book app on my phone and dreaming of being able to use it on a larger screen. Again, sorry if this is an audacious thing to ask here.

Today I was feeling frustrated with myself. I kept thinking about this thing I wanted to buy, a thing I thought would make me happier, even though I ultimately know I can get by without it. It has been awhile since I’ve felt this focused on a material item.

I put on my headphones and played my favorite album. It’s an album that just feels completely perfect to me. There’s not a single song I skip, and something about it feels both cathartic and nourishing. At the end I felt lighter. More centered. Reminded of the people and experiences that truly matter to me.

At least for now, the desire for that thing has dissipated. Does anyone else do this?