Laureleye

Next Challenge is going to be tricky, so I'm already working on a plan. I'm going to be in California for the middle 2 weeks of the challenge - so I'll really need a plan. I had fun again today. First I walked to the Botanical garden to see the mini-train. I'm glad I didn't have to stand in line too long, because it was worth much of a wait. Then I wended my way to the American Indian museum & spent a couple of hours there. Back home, I put on 20 rows of knitting. So with the tracking, I'm going strong. ***

I had fun yesterday; I went to the Botanical Gardens. They have it all full of pointsettas, and they have these wonderful miniatures of all the key DC landmarks, done in bark and wood. It was so much fun. The line to see the miniature train was huge, so I may have a 2nd go at it on Tuesday. I got 16k steps. I tracked, but didn't do any knitting. ** Today, I just did a bunch of laundry in my teeny W/D and made a trip to TJ's for supplies. For some reason, I ate everything in sight. I'm glad I tracked, because it wasn't as bad on paper as it was in my head. I think I'm going to be just short of 10k steps, but guess it was a good day anyway. I got a lot of odds and ends done, as well as some knitting. **

I had a nice Christmas, spent at friends house & full of (their) family. Laid back, laughing with friends. I ate a bit too much, but everyone was complaining about how little I ate, so I know I did well under the circs. I didn't get my steps, and didn't track, but I did knit. * I woke up with a headache (too much sugar yesterday?), but took a short walk and blew it away. I didn't hit any museums today, I decided a mall would be fun. I didn't buy a lot - I got my calendar, and a decent omlet pan though. I tracked, I knitted quite a bit and hit the 2/3 mark on my scarf, and got my steps in too. ***

I worked yesterday, but made sure I didn't work quite as hard. My asthma was a little rough yesterday. I've been changing my medication around and I was late with it day before yesterday and I think it gave me problems. I took it easy again today. But I had a nice day and got a lot of knitting in; I'm almost 1/2 way through with my scarf now. My house is all decorated, and my presents wrapped. Kitty's getting a catnip mouse. Wednesday's stars for 10k steps & tracking- ** Today's stars for knitting & tracking- ** Happy Christmas everyone!

Sometimes simple is good. I feel like I'm finally getting my feet back under me.

Whew, another busy day at work, rolling out more monitors and helping organize to get rid of the replaced monitors. A nice 13k steps. Fortunately, a lot of people are out on leave, so it's easy to do. I did all of the monitors for the front office today. No knitting tonight; getting ready to take a few things into the office tomorrow as it is my last day for the year. I did a good job tracking and was spot on with my calories. One of the ladies I work with wanted some advice; a friend just lost her spouse and she wanted to know how best to support her. We talked for a half an hour or so. It was hard, but I think it was good too. I think I helped her see some things she could do that would make a difference, so I guess I was making a difference too. **

I was running late last night, so I didn't post. It was, as expected a pretty busy day. I deployed a pack of monitors, and lined up some more installs for my side-kick. Then after work I had to head to the pharmacy and get my home delivery plan setup so it's working correctly. I didn't track at lunch, but I tracked while I was in line at the pharmacy, so I'm counting it. Didn't get home till after 6. With 15k steps in, I was pretty tired and didn't knit. ** (Stupid IE at work won't let me edit my stars to make them the right size/color). Couldn't wait to add this - Just saw my FitBit report; 79k steps for last week, so another *.

It was sure a nice day to be out and about, so I took full advantage. I did the Smithsonian American History and then stopped at a Christmas fair - getting in a whopping 18k steps. And even though I ate out, I tracked at lunch, and finished up for the evening. I got a bit of knitting in, but had to stop to rewind my yarn into a ball when it pulled itself into a mare's nest (it's an angora blend so it's fuzzy and sticks to itself). I've got a busy day planned at work tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Today's total: ***

And I had another good day. I did some grocery shopping, did a load of laundry, vacuumed and mopped. I planted up some cat grass. Mostly sat and knitted so I got a lot done on my scarf. I found a hat pattern and got it ordered. I'm not going to make 10k steps today, but should get 9. I pre-tracked at lunch and everything. Miss Kitty thought it was a great idea to sit and knit, and except for a brief game of "door into summer" she sat with me the whole time. ***

Glad its Friday. I ran around like a fool at work today, but at least it's good for your step count - 12,000 steps today. We got a shipment of monitors in today, so I had to handle them. Which means on top of the steps I got some pushing, lifting and bending in too. With most of today pre-tracked, I had no problem finishing up the tracking for the day. I did a bit of knitting, but spent a good part of the evening doing paperwork. All in all a good day ***

Well, it was a bit of a rough day to start the challenge, but it went fairly well. I had a holiday luncheon, an enormous conference call, and a couple of meetings thrown in. Because I didn't know what would be served at the luncheon, I couldn't pre-track, but I did track the entire day to the best of my ability. I was stuck in so many meetings that I didn't quite make my step count either (I'll probably end up at about 9500 so I'm close. I have tomorrow pre-tracked through lunch (yay). I also got in 3 patterns of knitting. Stars: ** Late adjustment: It turns out that by the time I packed my lunch, put away laundry, etc., I did get 10k steps. One more star! *

I'm not 100% I'm clear - is this your entire challenge or 1 goal of the challenge. If it's 1 goal, it's great. If it's the entire challenge, I think you need to do a bit more. I wonder what you could do with the time you're NOT spending on the internet? I know sometimes you help in your family business, but do you have some time for some other activities. Maybe you can try some different fitness activities, such as a body weight workout, jumping rope, yoga, or walking to the family business? Can you try to find some fun activities that you do with others? Is there a NF group in your area that you could join?

MINI CHALLENGE! Goal One: You’ll likely be traveling to and from friends and family around Christmastime, creating stress and limiting your ability to stick to your fitness routines. What are your healthy activity and/or fitness plans for the holidays? I’m going to keep this one simple; I want to make 70,000 steps per week. 1 star/day for 10k+ steps, bonus star at the end of the week for 77k+ steps. Goal Two: Christmas and winter often bring with them the opportunity for gorging oneself on comfort food and all of those delicious seasonal favorites. What is your strategy for dealing with the influx of unhealthy food over the winter break? Serious, honest tracking every day. No end of the day what did I eat tracking – Track through the end of the work day no later than lunch time. Star for tracking, star for pre-tracking. Goal Three: The holidays are all about spending time with family and enjoying yourself. Base this goal around how you intend to most enjoy the break (perhaps featuring a new activity like Holiday Light rucking), and include your preferred way of battling holiday stress! The last 18 months have been insane. Now I’m in DC for a year, and I just DON’T feel like getting my act together for anything. But for me, drifting along is high stress. I’ve decided not to go back to CA for the holidays. So – what will I do for fun and relaxation? Finish the knitted scarf I’ve started. Find a crocheted hat pattern. Make a big-picture plan of key events for 2016. Visit somewhere fun in the city. Stars for: 1) Knitting; 2) Purchasing calendar; 3) Jan-Jun in calendar; 4) Jul-Dec in calendar; 5) Fun day anywhere in the city (or surround). I have opted to stay in the area for Christmas, and spend Christmas day with some friends. I'll be heading to CA at the end of Jan to move one of my CA offices, and will add some leave to the front end of that. I'm hoping to use this mini-challenge to get into a good groove for the upcoming year (and the challenges!)

Goal One: You’ll likely be traveling to and from friends and family around Christmastime, creating stress and limiting your ability to stick to your fitness routines. What are your healthy activity and/or fitness plans for the holidays? I’m going to keep this one simple; I want to make 70,000 steps per week. 1 star/day for 10k+ steps, bonus star at the end of the week for 77k+ steps. Goal Two: Christmas and winter often bring with them the opportunity for gorging oneself on comfort food and all of those delicious seasonal favorites. What is your strategy for dealing with the influx of unhealthy food over the winter break? Serious, honest tracking every day. No end of the day what did I eat tracking – Track through the end of the work day no later than lunch time. Star for tracking, star for pre-tracking. Goal Three: The holidays are all about spending time with family and enjoying yourself. Base this goal around how you intend to most enjoy the break (perhaps featuring a new activity like Holiday Light rucking), and include your preferred way of battling holiday stress! The last 18 months have been insane. Now I’m in DC for a year, and I just DON’T feel like getting my act together for anything. But for me, drifting along is high stress. I’ve decided not to go back to CA for the holidays (more details in my previous challenge thread). So – what will I do for fun and relaxation? Finish the knitted scarf I’ve started. Find a crocheted hat pattern. Make a big-picture plan of key events for 2016. Visit somewhere fun in the city. I'm going to track in my previous challenge thread

I agree. I'd love to meet everyone. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

Turns out I couldn't avoid that migraine after all. Spent Sunday and Monday totally flattened. So my first challenge didn't go so well. On the positive, I think I learned a lot. So Dorothy - what did you learn? 1. Sick twice, and a migrain. I kinda think I'm not taking good enough care of myself. 2. I think as simple as my challenge seemed, I was overreaching. So time to try it again. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk Added: Tank and Terra - thanks for the reality. I need a new post challenge summary. Challenge Summary: This was my first challenge in a year. I had some rocky places, particularly staying healthy. When I was healthy, I was doing great. I got acquainted with the gym in my new (temporary) apartment and even tried a session of interval training. I had some adventures about town; trips to museums, the mall, and Union station. I explored, rode the metro and had a make-over. Although it wasn't a perfect challenge, I learned from it. So I'm counting it as a good start.

Inspiration? Just had to turn up the pressure, didn't you I missed Thursday just because I was home late; dinner with friends and then suddenly it was later than I thought. I tracked and had another good day. I avoided the bake sales and everything. Friday wasn't as good. I woke up with what they call visual disturbances that precede a migraine. They vary; mine are like a translucent kaleidoscope everywhere I look. I managed to shake it by the end of the day without actually getting the headache. I tracked, and did sos so, but not much for steps. Felt a bit washed out, but did my grocery shopping and a couple loads of wash, and a bit of organization. Yup, I got things tracked too. I'm working on a plan for the next challenge. Off to bed before it gets any later. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

I had a good day today. There were bake sales galore, a luncheon, and a cake walk. I decided to have a single small slice. I did that and kept it reined in. Up on time, everything tracked. Baked squash and yams, took out all the trash, and got my knitting started. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

I keep thinking (wishing?) that it's Wednesday. It was that kind of day. Started off with a headache. Work was 15k steps of insanity, and I twigged my knee moving equipment. BUT - I got up on time, tracked early and had a good healthy food day. I got home late, so other than making lunches and doing dishes, I didn't get to anything. Really want to start my knitting tomorrow. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

Okay, I'm in for the mini challenge! Started the week of pretty well. I didn't hit the gym - I planned to set up 3 systems. But I did get up on time. Work was hectic, but I accomplished a lot...and finished my 3 systems. I tracked my entire day by lunch time. This evening was "make and mend". Sewed a button on, polished all my shoes, mended a necklace, folded laundry, and got my knitting project ready to start. I've already taken all my pills. Woohoo. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

A geek wreath. And stocking Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

And, yes I vanished again. I decided that my "cold" was really the beginning of a sinus infection and started taking action. I felt up to work so I went on in to find that we were having serious network and database issues. Home late and crashed early. Tuesday, my counterpart from Indy was in. We're the same age, and she went thru an ugly divorce about the same time my husband passed on. So we've been supporting each other via phone. She was in all week for a special project. So I was out having fun instead of posting all week. I taught a Window "tips" class, which was well received. Another session next week too. Also got started decorating my office for the upcoming contest. Couple of pix to follow. Went grocery shopping, and cooked up some chicken breasts, pork chops and yams, so I'm good for meals. Planning on a big comeback for the challenge to build some momentum for next year. Yikes! Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

Whoa, all caught up on your adventures. You are really grinding this challenge up. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

Wreath before and after Junk before and after Tea cozy Read a couple of threads then off to bed. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk

Week 4/day 6 I actually got a Thanksgiving invitation after I made my last post. Had a nice quiet time with friends. I managed to minimize bad food choices too. Friday, I did a liitle house work, then spent the day crafting. First, i dug out the job-lots of Christmas junk I'd Ebayed, and went to work on them. I crocheted up a quick tea a cozy in the evening while sorta watching TV. I'll try to add pictures. Today I'm crying FOUL! I woke up with a available cold. Not fair after I finally felt like I was over the flu. At least I had some nice turkey leftovers so I could make soup. Sent from my SM-T217S using Tapatalk