15 Minute Intervals

When I last left off... I was mopey, grumpy, fat and losing ground. 

Well, I'm not mopey, I'm less grumpy, but I'm still fat and losing ground.  This is so frustrating.  I know what I need to do, I just listen to that stupid voice that says "Indulge... you deserve it" when really I need to be listening to the other voice that says "You don't like what this results in, choose something else."  I'm not quite sure how to make that first voice shut up.

So I'm writing down my plan again, I'm starting to do better.  I've been doing great at the getting up and doing a 15 min tidy.  I've been okay at exercising after L goes to bed.  I've been terrible about tracking points and keeping up with daily chores.  But I'm discovering... maintenance is a heck of lot easier than the huge tidy we do every two weeks when the cleaning lady comes.

Here is my re-affirmation of my goals:

1.  Track foods, stay in points range.
2. Exercise after Lochlan goes to bed.  It's easy to find the time then.  He's in bed between 7:30-8:00pm, gaming doesn't start until 8:30, so that's fine.
3. Get up on time - 6:15am - and get ready.  
4. Do a 15 min tidy in the morning, maybe practice some music too
5. Do a 15 min tidy in the evening, maybe practice some music too
6. Get a whiteboard to put on the fridge in order to keep track of daily chores
7. Stay on top of daily chores
8. Meal planning - plan simple, light meals in the evening.  Stuff that is quick and easy to put together, but still good.
9.  Plan a big meal on Sunday and freeze left overs.
10.  Start doing some larger chore on Sundays.
11. Use mondays off to run errands or do a large chore.


That's the plan, let's see how many I can work into the routine this week.

Yeah... It Caught Up With Me

Yeah... I gained this week.  Not too surprising given that I've been in sick mode, therefore all my self restraint has gone out the window.  But it's okay.  One week does not ruin an entire plan. 

I also know why.  I stopped tracking.  I track, I do well, I lose weight, I stop tracking thinking I have a pretty good idea what I'm doing, then I stop paying attention and boom!  I gain again.  It's okay.  It's not the end of the world.  I've started tracking again, and I will continue to do so this week.

I am also going to add exercise into the mix.  Turns out I'm getting tired of lazing around.  This means I need to listen to something my grandmother once told me.  I can't remember her exact words, but it was something along the lines of the more you do, the more you want to do.  I know she's right - I have more energy to do things the more I do.  The more I sit in my comfy chair and do nothing, the more I feel like doing nothing.

So this week my goal is to track my points, get some exercise, and stay on top of my chores.  I really struggle with energy after work.  So I'm going to get a cup at tea at 4pm, review my meal plan and decide on supper and what I am going to do when I get home.  With that in my mind... I should have the energy and the momentum to make more progess.

Being an adult is sure tough some days!! 

Other Things on My Mind

January and February have been rough months for me.  Mostly relating to things at work - from decisions that have been made that I'm not happy with to getting in trouble for some vague random post that I put on Facebook.  My spirit has taken a bit of a beating these days.  I've spent a pile of time moping and hibernating hoping to get through it, and I suppose it has because I'm at a point where I'm sick of moping and I want my "Okay, let's move forward with what I've got" spirit back.  It's starting to come back, but I want to help it along.


As I've been going, three things have been suffering, spending real time with my boy, keeping up with things around the house and keeping up with my hobbies.


As for The Boy... I'm going to start doing something with him on the weekends.  One day on the weekend we will do something together.  Whether it's today's plan to go to Build-A-Bear or we just go for a walk or into the backyard together for an hour.  Something together.


As for the house... I already have a schedule that I know works.  I just need to do it.  For that I need energy and while it's super easy to just flop, I suspect I'll start feeling better if I actually DO something when I get home.  Momentum is killer - once I'm sitting down, it's *really* hard to get back up again!


As for my hobbies...  I need to start getting up and getting ready on time.  My goal is to be up and dressed by 7am - then I can practice my flute while I'm waiting for Lochlan to get ready.  It should work... assuming I can actually get my butt moving.  That's my goal for next week.


More on hobbies... I miss my camera.  I've really slacked off on taking picture of Lochlan and just of stuff.  So I'm going to start spending sometime on the weekends with my camera, and I want to get a new camcorder.  The Boy is such a chatterbox these days I would love to get his stories on video.  Our current camcorder is big and bulky and the battery is always dead.  So I want to get a new, compact camcorder that I can just keep with me and use as The Boy does neat stuff.


So Feb/March Goals:


1.  Get up and ready by 7am on weekdays and 10am on weekends.
2.  Doing something with The Boy on the weekends
3.  Practice my flute in the mornings before work
4.  Take more pictures - use time on the weekends to practice my photography
5.  Spend 15-20 minutes in the evening keeping up on house chores.


Hmmm... 5 things.  That's tough.  But I'm gonna try.  Wish me luck!!  I'll check in next week with my progress :)

Well, I Have No Idea!

Well, I don't know... I have definitely not been as good as I should have been, I've been snacking more than I should, I've been indulging in french fries and coke more than I should and I'm pretty sure that I've gone over on all my daily points and most of my weekly points this week.  But... I'm still losing.  I have no idea what's going on.  I'm not losing much... this week I lost 0.4lbs.  So while it's not a lot, it is still in the right direction.

My suspicion is that I fill in the point tracker at work - realize I've done something stupid like eaten french fries, or cake, or chocolate milk and then I adjust what I'm eating at dinner.  I'm still not in my points target for the day, but I suspect that making those dinner adjustments is more than what I was doing before so it's still making a difference.

This week I want to stay in my points target.  Both weekly and daily.  At some point I'd like to stop using the weekly points every week, however I don't think I can do that yet.  So this week will be focused on staying actually within my points targets, and making good decisions.

At some point I need to work exercise in... maybe I should start taking the stairs at work.  I can't seem to work it in any other way, so maybe that will be the goal next week.  Everytime I need to use the elevator, I go up two flights of stairs.  I will try that next week and see how that goes.

I'd love to do it at home... the problem is 1) I don't get up early enough 2) I'm too tired in the evening 3) My exercise space is full of random junk that needs cleaning up 4) We aren't great about getting Lochlan to clean up his toys so I don't have room to do my Wii exercises.

So the goals for this week are:

1.  Stay in points target
2.  Everytime I need to take the elevator, go up two flights of stairs.
3.  Start doing my Wii exercises again (start with 10 minutes in the morning)

Those are good weightloss related goals this week!

I have other goals... that needs a new post :)

Not As Bad As I Thought

Weighed in yesterday - I was down 0.1 lb from last week.  So while not the best results ever, it's certainly better than I expected given how crappy I have been eating.  So I'll take it.

My goal is to get some rest, so I have the energy to keep tracking this week.  I'm also hoping to start adding some exercise into the mix this week.  We'll see.  I also have a cold, so rest and recovery is the priority right now.  When I am rested and well, I feel much more capable.

This week I just feel beaten down.  Decisions at work make me feel depressed and having a cold doesn't help.  I'm hoping a weekend of D&D, rest and peanut butter M&Ms help perk me up so I can feel more normal next week.

I'm also thinking about dumping a project back to my boss... I've got two right now that take 60-70% of my time each.  So when you do that math... I'm struggling.  However, my boss knows this, so I will talk to him on Monday and we will sort out how to transition so I don't lose my mind.

So rest.  Friends.  Games.  That's the plan this weekend - I hope I'm not too sick to enjoy the games!!!

So...

So - I think this is just going to be a week of gains.  It sucks, but it's just that kind of week.  I think that's okay.  It's not okay for next week to be a bad week, too, so I need to figure out what is bugging me about this week and what I intend to do about it so I don't fall into the same trap next week.

There are a few things...

1. I am disappointed with some decisions that have been made at work.  My director has made some decisions as a result of a poorly managed project.  I think the decisions have a negative impact on my ability to do my work and threaten the long term health of the tool I use to do my work.  It sucks, I feel like he's decided that since he doesn't understand our work it must not be important.  We've had three positions cuts and two major programs.  I'm generally unhappy with these decisions.  Although I am happy with the work that I do have to do and I like everything else about my job.  It just sucks that this director doesn't care at all about how these decisions affect people.  Oh well, I will have my chance at employee survey time.  Not that it will go anywhere... his ratings will go down, again, and he'll whitewash it all, again.  However, he is only a small part of my job and I need to find the joy in the rest of what I do and put this behind me.
2. I'm fighting a cold - so I'm tired and not feeling 100%.  This makes me a lazy cook and much less likely to make good choices.  So I will get some rest, take some vitamins and hope that by next week I'm back to normal.

Hmmm... I thought there was more, but I come back to I'm disappointed at work and just exhausted.  So I think I have my action plan...

GET SOME REST

I also think indulging in activities that I *do* like will also help lift the blahs and make me feel better.

I'll post my weight tomorrow - today is about pizza, crazy bread, reading a good book and going to bed early.

January - Progress

So January 1 hit... and I started watching what I was eating.  I started with WW Online because I don't have time to attend meetings, and I don't like the group format.  I wanted something that was minimal fuss, but got results, was healthy, and something flexible enough so that I was still indulging in the stuff I enjoyed... just less.  WW online works, I have access to it at home and at work, it's easy and the system accounts for calories and fat and exercise.

Since January I've lost 7.6lbs.  Not bad, not bad at all.

So why did I start this blog?

I can feel myself slipping.  I ate waaaaaay to many M&Ms this weekend, I had a grilled cheese and fries for lunch when I know, know, KNOW that fries are just not good for me.  Not only do I feel gross after eating them, they are sooooo high in fat that I can feel myself sliding back into old patterns and I want to stop it.

So I'm writing again.

And I'm going to stop indulging.

It's okay.  It's okay that I had a rough weekend food-wise.  I'm not punishing myself for slipping.  But I am not going to let myself slip tomorrow.  I am working on the philosphy that life is a series of ups and downs.  Sometimes I need the indulgence and I think that's okay.  I just need to keep the indulgence to a day or two and not a week, month or year or two.  I can do that.

I may go out for lunch - but I will balance the rest of my day.  I will stay away from french fries and coke.  I will be good.  I will.

I like the numbers going down, I want them staying that direction and I will NOT let one weekend's indulgence scrap my goals.

So there.

I will be not indulge tomorrow.  I won't.