Thursday, March 27, 2008

Phase One, Day 19

Today's Roundup
Exercise: Check

Go me. 4 whole check marks in a row! Whoop! Whoop!

Eh, whatever.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Phase 1, Day 18

Today's Roundup
Exercise: Check

Take that! 3 checkmark days in a row. Much more of this getting my act together and I may even get around to wrangling up graphics for the daily roundup. You'd think that someone compulsive enough to start a blog to manage their own self improvement projects would've taken care of that sooner. Just further proof that I really need this project.

Today's exercise was a trip to the gym and 40 whole minutes on the treadmill. Why so long? I was waiting for the latest chapter of Emma by Jane Austen to end. Librivox has really saved my ass with treadmilling. Even listening to music isn't usually enough to end the tedium of walk, walk, walking with no change in scenery. But audiobooks give me just enough stimulation to keep my mind from complaining loudly.

I'm planning on a repeat tomorrow. Go me!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Phase 1, Day 17

Today's Roundup
Exercise: Check

Thanks to good weather I was able to walk to writing group today. Go me!

And tomorrow? I am so getting my butt onto the treadmill. Interesting. It looks like Week 3 is finally the week when I'm actually able to do it. Maybe I need 4 week phases, so I can have a week of keeping it up before adding another thing. Well, I'll make sure that Phase 2 isn't something that could possibly get in the way of exercising. Because 4 weeks of me talking about whether or not I exercised is lame.

I've been avoiding talking too much about exercise issues and body issues and so on because I really just don't want to go there. I feel better when I exercise. I had barely been exercising at all. Therefore, more exercise needed to happen. And still does.

Future phases will include rambles on the tyranny of the To Do list and why the fuck does my purse weigh so much anyway?

Monday, March 24, 2008

Phase 1, Day 16

Today's Roundup
Exercise: Check

Much to my surprise. I was able to walk from work to the class I had this evening. This was somewhat negated by the McDonald's double cheeseburger I had on the way for dinner. I haven't eaten at McDo's for years, but apparently, it was exactly what the hangover gods were demanding. In my defense, I attempted to get a regular cheeseburger from the cafe downstairs from my office, but the grill was closed. However, I have yet to train my metabolism to eject the excess calories when they are justified, so I'll have to indulge less for the rest of the week.

But! Phase One is exercise more. Not burn more calories than I take in, even though that's implied. So no need to go off on a tangent driven by my food issues. I walked to class. And a little extra because I had the time. So it was definitely over a mile. Probably.

With any luck, I'll be able to walk to my writer's group tomorrow. Aw, crap. I just jinxed it.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Phase 1, Days 15

Today's Roundup
Exercise: Nope

Easter dinner with the family. No time for exercise, unless you count little kid wrangling. No? Oh, well, I didn't think so.

I have things going on after work Monday and Tuesday, so I'm not sure how that's going to work out. How do you all out there sneak in/squeeze in a little exercise when your schedule's packed?

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Phase 1, Days 13 & 14

Completely forgot to post last night. I have no idea why--it was a long time ago.

Anyway, no exercising yesterday--Friday after work feels like relaxing time, not gym time. Plus, I spent the whole morning with a headache, so I feel like I deserve a medal for not having a donut just on principle. But no check mark.

Today, we cleaned the apartment like the wind. I shopped and cooked (more time on my feet), so that calls for a check mark.

So, three, count 'em three checkmarks in a week. Truly a Purim miracle.

Day 13 Roundup
Exercise: Nope

Day 14 Roundup
Exercise: Check

Aw, man, only one more week to go. I guess I should start deciding what Phase 2 will be.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Phase 1, Day 12

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Nope

Jinx!!! I jinxed it. I did wake up with my foot hurting. I once stepped wrong while walking down the street and ended up in a soft cast for a week. So I decided to wuss out and call it not pushing it. I even wore an ace bandage for most of the day.
I did spend the evening in front of my pet iMac plowing through my To Do list, but since I'm not on the Do Stuff on the To Do list phase (coming soon to a blog near you), no check mark for me today.

At least I have more vigorous cleaning planned for Saturday. If I can't manage to exercise 3 times in a week with the internets watching, then I just don't know.

Wednesday, March 19, 2008

Phase 1, Day 11

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Check

2 days in a row! Try not to faint from shock. Yoga class tonight. I even plan on hitting the treadmill tomorrow after work, though I fear the universe will smite me with something to keep it from happening now that I've been so bold as to declare my intentions.

I did hurt my foot an eensy bit tripping over my husband's shoe. While his foot was still in it. He didn't trip me on purpose, and even caught me as I fell, so it's all good. My foot feels OK now, but my clumsiness is such that I wouldn't be surprised if I woke up tomorrow unable to walk without an Ace bandage. I once walked around with torn cartilage in my knee for a year wondering why my bad knee (hurt when I was 12) was acting up so much.

Let's hope this isn't like that.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Phase 1, Day 10

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Check

Though I didn't make it to the gym today, my writing group was cancelled on account of hangovers (none of which were my own), so I came straight home from work and cleaned the fuck out of my kitchen. No, seriously. I was at it for 2 hours. Counters were cleaned, crumbs were vacuumed and stuff was organized. There's a lot of vigorous cleaning to do when you're a slob.

No pictures, because even clean, the counters still look kinda cluttered. That's just how I roll.

Monday, March 17, 2008

Phase 1, Day 9

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Nope

On the bright side, my headache is almost gone now. Any day that includes a medicinal doughnut is unlikely to include much exertion of any kind. What? Sugar glaze does too make headaches feel better.

Now if I could only convince my metabolism to ignore the calories. You know, like not guilty by reason of insanity. Not caloric by reason of my head hurts.

Sunday, March 16, 2008

Phase 1, Day 8

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Nope

Woke up with a migraine so bad that even my miraculous new migraine pills couldn't get me up and off the couch today. I'm no longer in agony, either, so I can't really complain.

Nothing else got done today, either, which bothers me more than the lack of exercise. But I did get caught up on the DVR, so it'll be that much longer before it starts threatening to delete stuff. So there is that.

Phase 1, Day 7

Big St. Patrick's Day party at my aunt's house, which took up most of the day between the traveling and eating massive amounts of corned beef and cabbage.

And so, as I had suspected would happen:
Today's roundup:
Exercise: Nope

The weekly roundup--I exercised twice. Off to a smashing start.

Friday, March 14, 2008

Phase 1, Day 6

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Nope

Although really, my commute home involved so many stairs that my legs were exhausted by the time I got home, so that should count for something. But it doesn't, really, so tomorrow's another day, I guess. Which isn't bad. Each day is Pass/Fail and either my final grade isn't cumulative (clean slate each day), or I have nothing to beat at this point (no previous phases to compare to).

Besides, it's Friday night for crying out loud. People shouldn't exercise on Fridays. It's just not natural.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Phase 1, Day 5

Went to a book launch party after work, so no gym. How often does your chiropractor have their first book published? There were several things I wanted to do this evening, but this was the only one that wasn't going to happen again. You don't miss that.

Besides, I had every intention of sneaking in 10 minutes of yoga when I got home. That was destined not to happen as soon as I got a glass of wine at the party. I certainly didn't get drunk, but I was tired already from the daylight savings change and the wine just pushed me over into not going to get off the couch territory.

Remind me not to try to do anything at all for the first week after the Spring Ahead next year. I've been so wiped out that it took me until today to realize that I wasn't just tired from losing an hour of sleep. It's that my body thinks I woke up at 5:30 AM. For a non-morning person, that is 5 kinds of brutal.

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Nope

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Phase 1, Day 4

Made it to yoga class today. Om to ya mutha.

Still sore, but much less achy than before.

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Check

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Phase 1, Day 3

I briefly considered doing a few minutes of yoga when I got home tonight so that I could earn a check mark and loosen up (after yoga last night, I am much with the soreness), but it ain't gonna happen. I had my writer's group tonight after work, so there was no time to go to the gym.

And now I'm just too tired and I've felt like I'm coming down with something all day. So, to the couch!

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Nope

Monday, March 10, 2008

Phase 1, Day 2

Dragged my ass to yoga after work even though (like everyone else feeling the Daylight Savings) all I wanted to do was go home and spend some quality time with my pillow. 

You know why? Because if I skipped yoga, then I'd have to tell the blog. The blog that no one reads yet. But still.

There is something to the whole be accountable thing. I totally would had some chocolate to take the edge off, but I'm also back to keeping track of my eating. (I did the Weight Watchers Core plan and I've been following it, except without keeping track. Which means that I can have snacks without doing math and contemplating the ramifications on what I get to eat later on. Which means that I end up pounding back entirely too many cashews and all that monounsaturated fat still contains a lotta calories. And I'm fed up with my pants being too tight. So I'm not waiting to make the eating thing Phase 2 3 weeks from now. Besides, counting points means that I earn activity points for exercising. Which means I get to eat more. Which is the best motivation for exercise I've been able to come up with. Because that whole I'll feel better afterwards thing doesn't cut it when I'm trying to talk myself into not making me go to the gym.)

So anyway, it was yogatastic. I do feel better and I got a little kick about giving myself a little check mark on my calendar. 

Today's roundup:
Exercise: Check

Sunday, March 9, 2008

Phase 1, Day 1

Hungover thanks to Karaoke party last night. Worth it. Though I wouldn't recommend staying up extra late on the night we Spring Ahead.

Exercise is not going to happen today. Although the several hours I spent on my feet cooking this afternoon certainly mitigate the 3 slices of sausage pizza I sacrificed to the hangover gods, that's not the sort of exercise I meant. 

I'm not exactly getting off to a smashing start, here, but there are worse things than not earning a check mark for the day. 

Phase One--Exercise

I'm starting with something easy. I used to go to the gym 3-4 days a week, so this shouldn't be too hard. I went almost 4 months without making it to the gym for the usual reasons (too busy job searching, then too busy starting a new job, etc., etc.).  

For the past 2 weeks, I've done my time on the treadmill 2 days a week. I feel better when I exercise, so I'm going to be doing more. 

The gym every day--not gonna happen. More exercise than usual daily--feasible. 10 minutes of yoga on the bedroom floor counts. 

Let's see how it goes, shall we?

Saturday, March 8, 2008

The Project

I spend an inordinate amount of time worrying about everything that I'm not doing better. I let the housekeeping slip so I can have more time for my creative pursuits, but then I start to hyperventilate whenever I can't do something because I can't find an uncluttered surface to do it on. If I eat in, that helps me save money and eat healthy, but seeing my friends usually requires eating out. And having friendships is good for my health too.

I'm constantly finding books and articles to help me with one aspect of my life. I could get more organized, but it might require getting less sleep. And I'm not getting enough sleep as it is. There's got to be a way to make it all work.

So I thought of this project. In each phase, I'll tackle something different, adding on to what I've done before. I'll exercise more, eat better, stay on top of my to do list, and find time to relax. It doesn't seem possible, but when I asked my husband if he thought the idea was crazy, he said, "Well, weren't you kind of going to do that anyway?" I take this as proof of my insanity, but if I keep expecting myself to do it all, I might well try and find out whether or not I really can.

So here we are.

The Rules

  1. Each phase lasts 3 weeks. That should be enough time to absorb each new habit. 
  2. I reserve the right to make a phase longer if I need more time, or cut it short if it's just not working out.
  3. I reserve the right to pick something easy, like flossing daily if I need a break. 
  4. I reserve the right to repeat a phase. I imagine that I'll need to repeat Setting Realistic Expectations a couple of times.
  5. You don't get to pick what the phases are. If you think I need to give up carbs, stop swearing, or find Jesus, I don't give a rat's ass. I'm doing this to please me. Not you. That includes you, Mom. 
  6. You do get to give advice on the current phase. I'll need all the help I can get.
  7. I'm not shooting for perfection. Getting it right more days than not is good enough.
  8. No backsliding beyond Day 1. I don't save money by shoplifting now and I'm not about to start. No blogging at work, keep on doing good things for the environment, that sort of thing.
  9. You get to play along. If you want to join in and make some of the changes that I'm making, then come along and let me know in the comments. 
  10. I reserve the right to change the rules at any time.
How am I going to keep track? Well, I'll report on my progress on the blog and I'll also be keeping track on a calendar. If I find the time to figure out how to do the calendar in HTML, great, but I have bigger fish to fry. I've printed out a calendar (on scrap paper, of course). Each Phase will get its own color. I get to make a check mark with a colored pencil if I meet my goal for that day. I may be 36, but I still like getting check marks.