shaeon

That sounds awesome. It's good that you told your husband how you felt and wonderful that he listened and understood. I really like my undercut, I'm glad I did it! My stylist was very cautious about it at first; she kept saying "are you sure?" because I have long hair, and obviously if I get tired of it, the undercut is going to be growing out for a while. Finally, I told her "I promise you that I have never cried over a haircut," and she went for it. From that point on, she was grinning and saying "this is so cool" the whole time. I have a job that's sort of a mix - a few people in the company have a LOT of arm tattoos, including the Vice President. But we also have conservative clients, so it's understood that you have to cover the tattoos at times. Likewise, you can have hair that's a little punk but it needs to either be somewhat conservative or you need to be able to tone it down. I went for the undercut and dyed only that side (I got the undercut with very short, close-cut hair instead of full-on shaved), and so when I style my hair a certain way, no one can see it at all.

I like you too! And the week is getting better now. I really like the new haircut. I did a blend from blue to purple, and it turned out good. When it was done, my immediate reaction was "I'm a peacock!"

I haven't posted in such a long time. I had a crappy week this week but things are a bit better now, so I decided to do something bold and get my hair undercut today, and now it's 1:15 a.m. and I'm dying the undercut blue. I miss you, fellow queers! I think you and I have the O's in common. I get far more upset at us being jerks than at them being jerks. Something I frequently see is that the B and the T don't get a fair shake as often in the LGBT community. I can't stand to hear people talk shit about bisexuals and I get FURIOUS if someone tells me not to date a bi girl (never tell me who I can date!). I see more situations where other members of the community don't have a lot of understanding about trans people, and I can forgive ignorance more than aggression. Willful ignorance, however, also annoys me. But I love that here, I've seen people being really open minded and willing to ask and learn. This is a great community we've got going. Well it's so late that even my cats have gone to bed. I think I'm about to rinse this out and see what I've done.

Sorry I haven't been back in a while. Crazy week. Hm. I think superfoods may be a way of making better food choices - emphasis on the Super - I'll have to consider it. I sort of like something more general. what works best for me is tracking everything I eat, because when I do that I feel accountable for my bad choices and make fewer of them. But it's very easy for me to skip a day of tracking, and that turns into a week, and so on. I am much better at keeping on track with exercise than with food, but it's not always a specific type of exercise - it's just easier for me to feel inspired to move because it makes me feel stronger and better. It would be cool to have something like that with tracking to eat right. But I guess mainly I need to convince myself that eating right make me stronger and better too.

It works wonders. Before giving it a name, I would see the CBoD and feel drawn to it, because I have a very bad tendency to tell myself that one bite of candy does not count - but the problem is that one after the other most certainly DOES count. I realized that with things like Snickers bars, I would NEVER sit down and eat two full sized Snickers bars in a row. That sounds not just like too much, it sounds miserable. But with bite size Snickers, I have certainly eaten the equivalent of two bars many times. So clearly I needed to overcome that almost automatic tendency I have to reach for a candy bucket or dish. Once I called it the Candy Bucket of Doom, I would start to think DOOOM as I walked past it. That alone changed my tendency to reach for candy without thinking. I wonder if there's something I could do that would have the opposite effect, and draw me towards things that are good. Like could I give my workout a name that makes me more excited about doing it? Is there a way I could think of cooking at home that makes it more enjoyable than getting take out? Edited to add: I've been thinking about this. A workout is usually easier for me than eating right, and I think the reason is that it IS easier to link working out to building strength to being a superhero. Even if I don't call it the Superhero Workout, my mind makes that connection. This is helped by the fact that there's a lot of action involved. But the Superhero Diet? Not so much. First off, Captain America can probably eat whatever he wants. Although this logic falls apart if I expand it out to heroes that do not have special powers (Black Widow is probably on a pretty specific diet). At any rate, cooking for myself, having healthy meals, eating less - these ARE actions but they don't feel like action the same way that working out does. It doesn't inspire the same amount of inspiration as working out does. So I wonder how I could flip my thinking on this and think of something as a Superhero Diet and use that effectively. I'd like to hear other ideas about this.

Last night at 12:30, my hot water heater died - shot sparks and everything. It was a little scary. So I called maintenance who came over immediately - because they treat something like that as an emergency. But maintenance was also here til 3 a.m. And I had a busy day at work too - got to work from home, but still, I was busy all day. And of course I'm still tired from surgery. So yeah, no exercise today. I actually crashed out and napped for an hour after work. Going back to sleep now.

I got in a 30 minute walk tonight, no trouble. I also did the walk at the mall and rewarded myself with pinball afterwards at the mall game store. I actually feel pretty good after walking and pinballing. This is definitely going to be a walking week.

I agree on food issues. I know some very picky eaters, and I think everyone has to do the best they can with their own limitations. Also, I'm not sure if this comment is about my own appetite issues, but that has been better the further I get from the surgery date. I cannot eat a lot of food all at once (which is a good thing, honestly - it's like my body is currently averse to over-eating). But I am getting a normal amount of food at each meal without difficulty. The hard part now is I am pretty tired, and therefore I'm also averse to cooking. But I can still pick up pre-cooked food without getting something that's bad for me. Speaking of being tired; all during this extended recovery weekend, I've found it very easy to sleep at pretty much any time. Close eyes, put head down, sleep. Until, of course, last night when I knew I really needed to get some rest for work. I couldn't sleep for quite a while. And then after I did get to sleep, I believe there was a cat party on my bed. It's hard to remember - any actual cat activity blended with my dreams, which were all about needing to choose in what way I would like for the cats to interfere with my sleep. At 5 a.m. they definitely woke me up expecting an early breakfast, because I got up and locked them out of my room. But I am back at the office today. The CBoD is still there, but with far less candy than before. I did have one Lemonhead candy (one of the big ones, about the size of a gumball). I will track that, in keeping with my goals. Happy week 2 to everybody.

It might end up being 15/15. I will see what happens as I start to exercise this week.

Ah, cool! I have some maille bracelets. Cool stuff. Do you use it to make armor, or jewelry? Or both?

This week in summary: Goal: no more than 4 sodas: 3. Goal: exercise at least 3 days: 3. Goal: track at least 5 days: 7 Goal: put at least $100 in savings by end of challenge: $44.09 Yay week 1!

So, what is maille knitting? Googling it brought up chain maille and knitting, separately. I feel like perhaps I don't know exactly the right question to ask google in this case.

Thanks, Teirin! This, by the way, is why my goals are largely about eating habits right now. I knew I would have this down-time, and I also know that times when my health isn't the best are the times when it is easiest for me to eat bad food as well.

All this talk about chia pudding, and I was misreading it as chai pudding. Which also sounds tasty. Congrats on the promotion!!!

Happy birthday Stillskies!

I did specifically talk to my doctor about activity post-surgery. She encouraged me to walk a lot afterwards. Walking is good. So if I just have to keep it at walking until I rebuild some strength, so be it.

Gotta say, guys. I am tired. Ti-i-i-i-red. Anesthesia is no joke. This coming week, I am going to attempt at least 3 days of 30 minute walks to rebuild my energy. But if 30 minutes is just too hard, I'm going to re-adjust my goals. We will see what happens. Tomorrow I have to return to work and stay awake all day. In actual clothes and not just pajamas (gasp). I'm not looking forward to it.

That tennis ball technique is awesome. The ex was a massage therapist and passed on a lot of little self-massage techniques like this to me. I actually keep a tennis ball at my desk at work for just such an emergency. And yay on dancing! I believe we've talked about how much I like to go out dancing. Great exercise and a great way to spend the evening! Way to go on your first week, it looks like you've been adapting well to exercising around your injury and making it work! Wooo!

My progress so far this week - I have continued to track every day. I have only had 2 sodas this week (I have had some orange juice - I don't feel guilty about this though, because I have a bad appetite due to the effects of anesthesia, so I could use the sugar). I went for a short walk today too, out to check the mail here at my apartment (this is about a 15 minute walk). It was a little exhausting, but mostly because I got a book I've been waiting for in the mail and I was in a hurry to get back to my place and start reading. So far, it's been a good week one and also a good recovery!

We did have a nice time! We watched The Avengers and Brave, both of which he has never seen before. He liked when Hulk smashed Loki, and he said Brave was not the movie he expected but really good. We also talked some, but my dad also has a good sense of when someone is too tired to talk - which is a really good quality for someone who is caring for you post-surgery.

Thanks Redeagle! Just wanted to post an update here; I'm back from surgery, and doing good. More info over on my challenge page.

Hey everybody! Just wanted to check in and note that I'm still here and doing well. My surgery was really early in the morning and I also left the hospital fairly early. I've been pretty tired (go figure), but everything went well and the procedure was successful. I've actually continued tracking my food yesterday and today. Of course, yesterday was easy to track because all I could stand to eat was some crackers and chicken soup. I've had more of an appetite today. My dad stayed with me overnight and made sure I was good today before he headed out. A good friend came over to watch TV with me tonight. So all is well, and I think I might take a walk tomorrow, if only a short one, because walking is good for recovery. I hope everyone else is doing well with their challenges! I hope to spend some time tomorrow catching up.

Quick update before I go from the chaos of work to the chaos of getting all my stuff together and heading out to dad's: I think naming the Candy Bucket of Doom has helped me avoid it. Every time I walk past the CBoD, I think "DOOOOOM!!!" and then I keep walking. What this really helps is that whenever I pass a candy jar or candy bucket, some part of me reflexively reaches for it without thinking. I seem to have avoided that problem by giving it a name. I'm about to head home from work, get the cats set for a night alone, gather my stuff, hit the gym for 30 minutes, and then head to my dad's house. In terms of my goals, today I have: Tracked everything I've eaten. Had no sodas.And then once I'm done with the gym, I will have hit my goal of 3 days of exercise per week. Tomorrow, I will do whatever is required of me by post op. If they give me a Sprite while I'm in recovery (has anyone else had the experience that Sprite is the official drink of surgery recovery???), then I will drink the tiny little 6 ounces of Sprite they bring me and not sweat it. I will eat for dinner whatever it is that I feel like I can stomach and that is easy for my dad to get. I will track if I can, but if not, that can be one of my non-tracking days this week. I think it's likely to be a day where I eat less than usual, so I'm not too concerned about it. Have a great Day 4, everybody!

My trouble with the CBoD is even if my concern were the amount of sugar, there isn't just one Milky Way in there, and that one bite - or 2, or 3, or 5 - isn't all that filling. I can't really handle two apples in a row. That's a lot of fiber. I can eat bite size candy bars hand over fist. Edited to add: Stillskies, I reread this and realized it could come off as "meh, my way is better so there!" If the bite size candy works for you and keeps your sugar low, then I say more power to you. My personal system is very forgiving of fruit consumption and not very forgiving of candy consumption, because I know that if I allow even a little soda and candy, I'm going to want more. Whereas once I switch over to fruit as my only source of sweets, I find that I can stick to that with great success and lose weight. But each of us has our own path to follow. I'm not sure what your own situation with sugar is, but I used to live with a diabetic. So I know what it's like when too much fruit can be awful, but carrying some candy around with you is crucial. Whatever works is the best method for each of us! End edit. Also, just got the time of my check in for surgery tomorrow, and it is FIVE A.M. Good lord. My dad is my ride to the hospital, and I'm having to let him borrow my car because he's had car trouble. So now I've got some things to wrap up at work, then need to exercise and take care of my cats, and basically I'm going to head out to his place and have dinner with him, and leave out from there in the morning. So I may not be back online for a bit. Lots to do, lots to do. As for recovery viewing - part of my schedule tonight is stacking up a few DVDs to simplify things for dad tomorrow. Avengers and Captain America are on the list. Probably Thor. I am betting that dad is largely unfamiliar with the Marvel movies, and hey. They are entertaining, they aren't the kind of thing that I'd feel weird about watching with my dad, they are a good bet. Honestly, by the time we get back from the hospital after getting there at 5 a.m., I think it's likely that we will both be watching these movies through our eyelids.

Hey Redeaglespirit! Thanks for the follow! Alright, so today I'm back in the office, and I'd like to talk about The Candy Bucket of Doom. It's a plastic bucket. It's full of candy that someone brought in from their Halloween leftovers. Good candy. Candy I like, such as Skittles, Milk Duds, Kit Kats, Snickers, and Lemonheads. It is full of doom. I have to walk past the CBoD whenever approaching my desk first thing in the morning, or after lunch, or whenever I'm coming back to my desk with a cup of tea or from the bathroom or a meeting. Essentially, if I walk away from my desk at all, it means another pass by the CBoD. And one of my goals is to track everything I eat. I'm going to confess a cheat that I have used in the past - prior to this challenge, when tracking food, I have neglected to track bite size candy. Sure, I would track a candy bar if I got one. But not a miniature Snickers or a single roll of Smarties. Which is bad if there's a lot of it around (say, an entire CBoD of it), because in most cases single bites of candy are worth 1 point on Weight Watchers. That adds up really fast. Yes, I realize it's self-defeating. "This one bite won't matter" is one of the lies I have told myself. So now I'm choosing to stop telling that lie and I'm working really hard to avoid the CBoD. So far, I've done good. I was in the office on Monday, and I didn't get any candy. Yesterday was a holiday. I'm back in today, and avoiding it so far. Then I have surgery on tomorrow and I'm out for the rest of the week. And maybe while I'm gone my coworkers will eat all the candy, which would just be great. Or else they won't, or there will be other goodies because it's the holidays and that's just how it is. I've been doing things like brushing my teeth often to avoid the CBoD (because who wants Lemonheads while they have minty breath? Ick!). If I do get something out of the CBoD, I will track it. No more cheating.