Elk

tiiiiireddddd Food: Breakfast: oatmeals Lunch: 1/2 chocolate marzipan croissant 2nd lunch: 2 wasa crackers with peanut butter, 1 carrot, 1 red bell pepper Dinner: homemade pizza, 90cal can of coke with 1oz rum Snacks: hot chocolate; 7 m&ms, 1/2 tomato, sunflower sprouts, remaining 1/3 kombucha Today I found that there's a difference between deciding to eat something unhealthy because I want to and feeling compelled to eat something unhealthy. Decision vs. compulsion. If I'm deciding, autonomously, "Wow, this is a really fancy and expensive croissant and it's really nice of this person to offer me half of his," I'm okay with that. But I also ate m&ms out of my trail mix today because I felt like I needed something, and I am not okay with that. So... let's say B. Because I ate some healthy things and made a nice meal, and didn't feel guilt over the unhealthy things I ate. But I don't like the compulsive eating part. Exercise: Another day of circuit training! A! I push myself REALLY hard, though. I totally crashed after dinner. OTL Psychological health: Journalled + such. There's been some stressful life events in the past couple of days and it's been good to take the space to feel my emotions. It's so easy to just ignore them and move on, but when I do that, it winds up leaking out somewhere else. Life balance: Didn't do music. ): Otherwise was a pretty balanced day, though. Volunteering, cooking, calling mom, lalala. C+.

Oops, disappeared for a few days! Oh well. Gotta just keep getting back on the horse. No need to be hard on myself for it, because I'm moving in the right direction. I've been exercising! Not eating great, but I've started doing circuit training videos. So far I've done three in the past four days. I'll do another one tonight. Wahoo. Eating... yeah. No bueno. I've eaten some weird things over the past few days... french toast, a McDonalds hamburger, half a pesto croissant, chocolate chips - stuff like that. And I completely forgot the no-sugar bakery rule. What's kind of cool, though, is that the habits I set over the past couple of weeks - not nibbling on things during my shift, choosing healthy options for lunch - just came naturally, even though I had consciously forgotten my goals. So... that's neat. Anyways, today, food is back on track! FOOD: Breakfast: 1/2 cup oatmeal with raisins, cinnamon, sprinkle of brown sugar, and rice milk Lunch: 2 eggs, 1 toasted piece whole wheat bread, 1 red pepper, a bunch of ketchup mixed with sriracha. Snack: 5 M&Ms, 1 peanut, 1 carrot. Beverages: 2/3 kombucha drink; 1 hot chocolate Dinner: 1 filet of sole, steamed potatoes, and salad with clover sprouts, mushrooms, tomato and spinach (with 1/2 tbsp caesar dressing). Dessert: strawberries Yeah. 8D A+ for me. Unless I eat something later. Which I won't. I will have tea. EXERCISE: Haven't done it yet! But I will! PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH: Journalllled! A. BALANCE: Did my music, my reading, some cleaning, some social things... yep, good day. A.

Today has been a good day. FOOD: Breakfast: bowl of oatmeal with rice milk and a sprinkle of brown sugar Lunch: 3 wasa crackers, 2 tbsp peanut butter, 1 apple Afternoon snack: 1 naval orange, 1 carrot, 1/2 roma tomato, 1 mug of hot chocolate (make with cocoa powder, nutmeg, 1 tsp honey, and 2 tbsp chocolate chips) Dinner: 1 frozen hot dog bun (...yeah) and 1 bowl leftover pho. Snacks: 2 pieces licorice, 9 chocolate-covered raisins, 3 chocolate m&ms, iceberg lettuce. And no cookies! BAM! A+! Only thing: needs more veggies! EXERCISE: Went for a run at 8:30. Yay! A. PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH: Yup. A. BALANCE: A+! Practiced chords, learned the words to a new song, did some reading, called some people I was supposed to. Awesome day. 8) Go me.

I didn't mean that at all! No offense, but I don't know how you got that out of what I was saying. What I meant is that what stops me from working out is when I become preoccupied with body image - whether or not this is in a gym! That's just me personally. I'm not saying anything about anyone else.

Your thread is so inspiring! You really seem committed to your goals, and it's super impressive that you've been eating so well and resisting junk food! I find that, as a student, one of my challenges in eating well is that it is cheaper to eat junk. Even buying marked-down cuts of meat and whatever vegetable is on special is more expensive than opening a can of baked beans or just eating a bunch of bread. What about you?

Today I challenged myself by making cookies. Usually, when I make cookies, I find myself compulsively eating a lot of the dough, and then a lot of the cookies, and I find I feel sick afterwards. Today, I ate one spoonful of dough and three cookies - and all mindfully! It's a huge improvement. So, today: Breakfast: Two eggs w/ two pieces of toast + ketchup; coffee with a splash of rice milk Snack: One carrot, one apple, and 1/4 cup of trail mix Lunch: Two wasa crackers (one with peanut butter) and some iceberg lettuce. Snack: One spoonful of cookie dough and three cookies Later tonight I'm going for pho with a friend. Yay! edit: Okay, end-of-day stats! Ate 1/2 a large bowl of pho and one more cookie. So! FOOD: I'm giving myself a B. Aside from the cookies, I ate healthy food all day. I see the cookies as being like, a challenge mini-game. If I had eaten three, it would have been an A-. Two would have been an A. Tomorrow, however, such concessions for cookies will not be made. I don't want to eat any cookies tomorrow at all, because part 2 of the challenge mini-game is to be comfortable having cookies around without having to eat them. EXERCISE: F. Did not do it. PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH: A+! I have been very committed to journalling this and I'm proud of myself. LIFE BALANCE: C. Volunteered and hung out with a friend. Did some work from home for a project. But I did not do any music.

Thanks! Too bad I proceeded to miss several days, haha! Yeah, I find the same thing! When I start thinking about what I'm eating and how my body feels, I naturally gravitate towards healthier foods... but then when I start obsessing about calories or weight loss, I start wanting unhealthy food because I'm not "supposed to." They become like forbidden fruits!

Thank! n_n Yeah, I hear ya. It's strange how divorced we become from what we're actually putting in our bodies. Like... eating is one of the most basic parts of being a human. How does it get so confused?! My yoga is pretty gentle, so it shouldn't be too intense. Anyways, thanks for stopping in!

For me, I only seem to stick to workout plans when the motivation is beyond body image concerns. When I did circuit training to prove that I was strong, I committed to it. When I did 30 day of yoga to learn to tune into my body, I committed to it. But when I make plans around attaining an ideal body? I don't stick to it. When it has to do with body image, I find myself asking, "Does it actually matter that much?" Especially because I'm at a healthy weight - it's just vanity pounds I'm dealing with here. But when I was trying to prove I was strong, or getting in touch with my body.. those things just do matter to me, and I never questioned that. So these goals were much more motivating.

Oh, cool! Maybe I should try something like that. Do you find it difficult to stick to the plan?

Today: Food: Ate sugar at the bakery. :C Did my best to remain mindful, but the choies I made were not good. C-. Exercise: Went for a VERY short run. Still, I'd rather go for a very short run (11 minutes... eh) then not exercise at all because "it's not worth it" if I only do a little bit. So for exercise, B-. Did before-bed yoga! So grade is now an A+ - because I did what I planned and an extra 11 minutes of running! Journalling: Journalled today, and spent some time reflecting on my relationship with food and my body. I'm really happy that I did. Yay! A. Life goal: went to work and hung out with friends. Yay for not being a hermit! Didn't do any music stuff, though. B. edit; Oh, yeah. The things I ate. Well, this going to be fun. 1 lemon ginger scone (too small to sell), 1 apple + 2 bites of a fruit chew for breakfast Half of a bagel with peanut butter, homemade salad with mustard [2 carrots, 1 orange pepper, zucchini, lettuce + cabbage], and coffee with 1/2 tsp of cream for lunch. Gluten-free lasagna from bakery for dinner. Snacks and extra bits: 7 pecans; 1/2 orange; 1 piece of bread, 1 small piece of peach, 1 piece of gluten-free banana bread. And yet I don't feel that full! Stupid refined foods.

Awesome theme! Daria carried me through the most cynical years of my life. What kind of cleanse are you doing?

So far, so good! Went for a run this morning. Breakfast was three wasa crackers (one with peanut butter, the other two plain), an apple, and a carrot. Lunch was chili and cornbread, plus five pieces of fruit from a fruit tray thingy. And dinner was a cup of leftover stirfry with salad and half a glass of cider! Oh, and I had a piece of rye bread as a snack at one point. Yay! (and half a teaspoon of honey because sweets cravings) (and two tiny pieces of fried cheese picked off of a pan in which grilled cheese was being cooked) (but those are all of the weird extras) Tomorrow is a day at the bakery. I'm nervous about writing down what I eat after that, because sometimes I eat a lot of really weird little things - a pecan here, a lonesome muffin crumbley bit there - but hey, if I don't want to write it down, maybe I shouldn't eat it. Also, today I was on a podcast about eating and stuff! That was interesting. But yes.

So, I want to trim down and eat lots of healthy food that makes my body feel good! This is why a combination of yoga, cardio, and healthy food choices is going to get me there! I know it's important to make specific goals, but I've had some issues in the past with... obsessiveness. I'm afraid to use the scale or calorie counts because of this. So, for now, I'm going to avoid those, and instead focus on exercise and eating well/mindfully. I'm also going to reflect on my relationship with food and my body, and use this challenge as an opportunity to explore all forms of unhealthy tendencies in my life - whether physical or psychological. Goal 1: DEVELOP HEALTHY EATING HABITS I want to eat more vegetables and fewer refined foods! No sweets when I am at work (I would part time at a bakery). Become patient with cravings! They pass! Whenever I get a craving, I start to worry about having the craving - which is not conducive to success! Instead, if I have a craving, but it's not time to eat, I will tell myself, "It's not time to eat yet, so you don't have to think about this for now." For whatever reason, this seems to help me a lot. Buy vegetables. Then I will eat vegetables. Because I don't want to waste vegetables, and I love vegetables. Write down everything I eat - just not the calories in them! Goal 2: EXERCISE! Get exercise in one way, every day! Last challenge, I did a fairly gentle 30-day-yoga challenge. Now, I want to amp it up with some more challenging yoga sequences, in addition to running and occasional circuit training. I'm thinking: Yoga three days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday) Running two days a week (Wednesday and Friday) Circuit training videos (I've used the ones from the 30 Day Shred before) two days a week. (Monday and Saturday) If I want a day off, I have to plan ahead by doing two workouts in one day. Instead of making a specific plan, I'm going to play it by ear right now. Thinking about exercise in a rigid way has been generating stress and obsessiveness, and I've found myself getting anxious about it! Instead, I'll grade myself each day based on: a) Did I exercise? If so, how was it? What was my approach to exercise? Did I guilt myself into exercising or did I motivate myself in a positive way? Goal 3: PSYCHOLOGICAL HEALTH IS IMPORTANT TOO! I've been journalling daily, and I'm going to keep it up. Life goal: FIND A BALANCE Because I have all this spare time right now, I've determined the things I want to do and am going to set up a weekly schedule for them. These things are: -Work on making music - every day, for at least 1 hour. -Reading - right now I'm reading a textbook on existential psychotherapy and it is very interesting. -Making time for friends! I can become a pretty big hermit pretty fast if I'm not careful.

This challenge went well! I missed a couple of days of yoga, and on a couple of days I did a different video instead... so I'm doing the last one today. :3 30 days of yoga... Elk gets an A. Food awareness? Pretty okay! Did I eat healthy? Mmm... not always. But I was aware, and I've developed a much more compassionate attitude towards myself when it comes to eating. Before, I wanted to eat healthy because I felt bad about myself if I didn't. Going forward, I'm finding I want to eat healthy because it feels good. Elk gets an A! Food pragmatics? Mixed. I didn't plan meals on Friday, but I have gotten better at planning in advance. And I don't know if I cooked three meals a week, but I did cook more than usual. Elk gets a B. Music? C+. Better towards the end of the challenge... not so good early in. Yep! So A, A, B, C+. Pretty okay... although I wouldn't feel that way if these were my uni grades.

DAY 18 18 days straight. 8) Retaining many waters today. :c I said I would write in this daily, but I have not been. I think it would help if I did. Ate a mixture of very healthy and very unhealthy. Salad, apple, nuts... but also croissant and danish. I feel much better when I eat salad. I am going to aim to eat more salad in general. I want to set more specific goals for next challenge. I'm sleepy~~~ so many schooly things.

DAY 15 15 days straight of yoga. 8)

Day 12. YOGA: It's 7:36 and I haven't done my yoga yet. I will do it when I get home. I feel tired, and I don't want to do anything. But I will do it. FOOD: Food is... food. I'm finding that I quickly want to change my food-related goals. I start thinking, "Maybe I should try to go without sugar," or, "Maybe I should keep my calories around 1200 a day." It's like a fantasy. Changing goals, and imagining myself fulfilling them, is much easier than actually carrying out a goal, while maintaining an illusion of being a productive state of mind. It's not a productive state of mind. It's indecision. I continue to drink coffee. Should I alter that goal not to? I don't know. I think I've been aware of food today. Feeling more restrictive. Eh. I should eat something. Then maybe I wouldn't be so tired. ACADEMICS: ...so much personality psych @.@ MUSIC: Did lots yesterday! ..Not today. Yet.

Day 10. Today was definitely an off-day for me. YOGA: Yoga was hard today. I'm happy that I did it anyway, though. When I'm in an unpleasant state of mind, yoga is much more difficult. That's the downside of a practice that puts me in touch with myself - that negative moods become much more salient (although, in the long run, this is actually a good thing!) Yoga has been helping me become more compassionate towards myself. A couple of days ago, I looked at my feet while doing yoga, and I felt this innocent, blissful joy in my body that reminded me of being a child. FOOD: I packed a healthy lunch. Ate dark chocolate - more than I probably ought to have. Was I aware of food? Yeah.. I think so. I felt a strong pull towards food for comfort (hence the dark chocolate), but I consciously gave myself permission, and had the clarity of mind to ask, "Do I really need this? Can I be satisfied without it? If eating chocolate is not satisfying my craving, then what is it that I am really craving?" I did drink coffee. I've gone back to doing it every day. When I'm depressed, it's pretty helpful, ahahaha Also, wanting to lose weight. Feeling uncomfortable in my body. It's very divorced from the reality of what my body looks like. Next challenge, I think that I will focus on more specific nutritional goals. But for now - awareness. SCHOOL: Did a reading. Woo! MUSIC: Nope. :/ Points: 2 Total points: 8

Day 9. YOGA: Yes! If today's day 9, that means I've done 9 days of yoga. I'm starting to notice the effects. Yesterday, when I went from my lunge into warrior 1, there was this miniature epiphany that accompanied the movement as I realized that it was suddenly much easier than it had been in the past. This is one of my favourite parts of any kind of fitness - those moments where something that used to be more difficult (although I usually hadn't even noticed the difficulty!) suddenly comes easily. FOOD AWARENESS: Today I wasn't hungry, but I wanted a Hershey's kiss, so I ate it - well-aware that it's not the best thing to do for weight or whatever. Did the same with a granola bar later. This is pretty freeing. Instead of guilting myself over eating, I've just been doing that. This opens the door for more positive conversations with myself about food. Instead of a dynamic of authoritarian forbidding food/rebel craving it, it becomes desire for pleasure/overall goals. c: FOOD PREP: I made some food! I think I'm going to switch this goal to: "ACADEMICS." Because food prep can go under food awareness. MUSIC: ...not really. :c I forgot this was a goal, ahehhehe that's why i should check in erryday

Good point. Well, I generally have a pretty good sense of how to go about breakfast and lunch, so what I'm looking for is recipes or tips for easy-to-make dinners that don't involve too many oils, refined carbs, or sugary sauces. I often find I just get home and graze on whatever's around (cheerios, bread, popcorn, anything involving chocolate). Haha, I like, live off of apples! Thanks though ^.^

Hi! I'm a student and I'm looking for healthy eating tips, taking into account that I don't have much time... or money to spare, with graduate school looming in the distance. Also, are there any recipe websites that anyone knows of? I've seen websites with recipes that are healthy and quick, or cheap and quick, or cheap and healthy... but I can't seem to find anything that forms this magical trinity.

Day 7. Total meltdown day! Wahoo. That was fun. Ah well, needed to get it out of my system. GOAL: Yoga 7 days. Aw yeah. Today was ab work. I love this Yoga with Adriene series. She is so funny. I feel so comfortable in my body and happy. I keep forgetting that this is not my only goal. :/ GOAL: Food awareness Today, being a meltdown day, I was driven to overeat. I allowed myself to eat some unhealthy stuff. I watched the automatic processes patiently, and acknowledged them and that I may have needed the space to eat compulsively. Healing can't be forced, and there will be a tendency to eat for comfort - this is a normal soothing instinct. I'm proud of how kindly I handled this. GOAL: Food prep lol yeah no. Maybe I should nix this goal. I don't really care about it. I just chose it because I needed to have a third goal. Well, i guess I did steam some yams! That was good. GOAL: Music Lotsa noodling on the synth today! ^^ I think I'll give myself points now. So today, I'm giving myself 1 point for yoga, 2 points for being nice to myself with food, and 1 point for synth. Yay! 4 points.

Thanks TMedina!

Day 6. Didn't fill this in yesterday. I was too exhausted. GOAL: Yoga Yep! 6 days strong! Yesterday, instead of doing a video in the series, I did an absolute beginner one with my fella. :> I'm getting a little antsy about doing other exercise. I don't want to lose the strength I built doing the 30ds and running. If I get enough schoolwork done, I will do one of these things. Or bike to school. Or something. GOAL: Food awareness I haven't really been writing about food. I have been... wanting to restrict. I'm doing less high-intensity exercise, so I find myself wanting to compensate by undereating. I also have been very busy, so I keep finding myself feeling very very hungry because I haven't gotten around to eating. That said, my food choices have been very healthy for the most part. My cravings for sugar have substantially decreased lately, and I'm only realized that now as I write it. Coffee: I'm drinking coffee almost every day. My goal has been to decrease my coffee intake. Tomorrow: tea! No coffee! GOAL: Food pragmatics Made a sandwich for today! Didn't buy any food on campus (but did buy coffee)! Partner and I cooked a proper dinner! Victories all around. GOAL: Music Watched a tutorial. Woohoo!