silvermoonlady9

Alright, it's time for a take two. I struggled with my first return challenge, and then a cold kind of cut me off from finishing up the last week of the challenge. So, I'm calling a redo/restart/respawn. Here are the goals from last challenge, so I can meet them all the second time around. I am going to start early with Week 0. It's not going to count for the challenge, per se, but I still want to track it. As before, getting to the gym is not so much of a challenge for me because Brandon and I have a pretty strict schedule about it, and I only want to give myself goals that are an actual challenge to make. Health Goals No snacking after dinner, 5 days/week (20 pts) Stay under an 1,800 calorie goal 5 days/week (20 pts) Spiritual/Mental Health Goals Go to bed by 11pm 4 days/week (16 pts) Keep a dream journal 3 days/week (24 pts) Meditate 5 days/week (20 pts)

End of challenge update: So, yeah, Brandon and I got pretty sick for several days. I simply didn't have the energy to keep up with updates, or really try to stick to my goals. However, I am now ready to get back on track. I had to change my next meeting with Doug, my personal trainer, to the end of next week since I hadn't gone to the gym all week. We went on Thursday and yesterday we walked for an hour or so. We'll go to the gym today. So, yes, I am looking forward to getting back to my goals!

Week 3, Day 7 No dream journaling. Brandon and I have come down with a cold, so I woke up feeling icky and restless, and I couldn't recall any dreams. Food tracking: Diet green tea - 0 Scrambled eggs with cheese and sausage - 500 Coffee with Splenda - 0

Week 3, Days 5 and 6 Day 5 I did my dream journaling. Got home late from playing Scythe (amazing board game, complexity level of Risk), so I did not get to bed on time or do meditation. However, I don't have to work Friday, so I'm going to let that slide. Also, I'm surprised I kept it under on my calories - I splurged a bit at dinner, and I thought I might have gone over, but I'm happy I didn't. I chose a light entree so I could have the appetizers I wanted, and it worked! Food tracking: Scrambled eggs and cheese - 250 Coffee with Splenda - 0 1/2 Everything bagel with cream cheese - 340 Cheese danish - 230 Merlot - 240 Thai beef salad - 256 Thai appetizers - 370 Total caloric intake - 1676 Day 6 Did my dream journaling. I'm waiting for my mom to show up with the kids so we can go to the zoo. We're going to eat out for breakfast. Ouch. I went way over. Both the burrito and the sandwich had way more calories than I expected. And I am almost never a soda drinker, but I was tired and needed to stay up late, and that was my caffeine option. Food tracking: Southwestern breakfast burrito with a side of tomatoes - 582 (approximate - not a fast food burrito, but it seems kind of accurate when I look at and combine calorie totals for the ingredients) Coffee with Splenda - 0 Edy's no sugar added chocolate fudge ice cream - 100 Turkey, brie, and cranberry sandwich with french fries and ranch dressing - 945 Chardonnay - 123 Raisin almond cashew mix - 120 Dr. Pepper - 250 Total caloric intake - 2120

Week 3, Days 3 & 4 Day 3 Today is an off food day because it's game night. Also got home late because we were busy slaying a dragon. I did get some dream journaling in. Day 4 No dream journaling. I will get to bed on time and do my meditation. Brandon showed me Final Fantasy - I like it. Ended up playing that instead of going to the gym (we were stuck in the house for laundry anyway, but still). No gym tomorrow, either, but Friday I'll be on my feet at the zoo or aquarium all day. Food Tracking: Egg and cheese sandwich - 350 Coffee with Splenda - 0 McChicken - 360 McDonald's Sugar Free Iced Coffee - 60 1/2 Everything bagel with cream cheese - 340 Diet green iced tea - 0 Turkey wrap with peppers and veggie cream cheese - 285 Total caloric intake - 1395

Week 3, Day 2 No dream journaling today. I couldn't seem to catch any remnants of my dreams when I woke up. I get to meet with my trainer today at the gym. I weighed myself yesterday and I was back up again. Brandon said it was probably from the party, etc., so I hope it's down again when I meet with my trainer. I'll get my meditation in and go to bed on time later. No weigh in with my trainer (Doug) - we'll do measurements next time. But lots of new exercises, and increasing weights on all my reps, which is how it's been going for me - I'm pretty happy with my progress. In non-challenge related news, I got Brandon the Nintendo Mini for Christmas. He made me play Zelda - I am not good at this game. But he's having fun - playing Castlevania. Food tracking: Maple blueberry overnight oatmeal - 282 Coffee with Splenda - 0 Pecan pie - 250 Milky Way bite - 40 Special K crustless quiche - 170 P3 pack - 180 Diet green iced tea - 0 Chicken wrap with hummus and cheese - 390 Turkey wrap with cream cheese and peppers - 285 Total caloric intake - 1355

Week 3, Day 1 Did my dream journaling. Today is a party day, so I'm taking it as an off food day. I did my meditating and went to bed on time.

Week 2 Summary: 18/22 Health Goals No snacking after dinner, 5 days/week 5/5 Stay under an 1,800 calorie goal 5 days/week 4/5 Spiritual/Mental Health Goals Go to bed by 11pm 4 days/week 3/4 Keep a dream journal 3 days/week 2/3 Meditate 5 days/week 4/5 Well, it looks like I improved in some areas, and not in others, but I'm overall holding steady. I'm ok with that, but do expect to do better, especially with food.

Week 2, Days 6 and 7 Day 6 Did my meditation. No dream journaling - I couldn't remember anything. Wow - I made my calories! I was pretty sure I hadn't, but I'm glad I did. Food tracking: Maple blueberry overnight oatmeal - 282 Shortbread cookie - 198 Gyro and pickles - 598 Tea with Splenda - 0 Shrimp tempura - 62 Crab rangoon - 67 Shrimp lo mein - 510 Total caloric intake - 1517 Day 7 Nothing today - I went to help my sister get ready for my nephew's party. Basically, I had sugar cookies for lunch. Because that's what we were baking. Then I stayed late to watch the kids while they went out.

Week 2, Day 5 Well, it looks like my post got eaten. No journaling this morning. Been tired, so I hit snooze and didn't have any dreams to remember. I will get to bed on time and get my meditation done. Food tracking: Maple blueberry overnight oatmeal - 282 Coffee with Splenda - 0 Shortbread cookie - 198 Red velvet cupcake - 180 Cuban sandwich - 500 Diet coke - 0 Spinach salad with chicken, etc. - 275 Diet green iced tea - 0 Lindt peppermint truffle - 75 Cheesestick - 70 Total caloric intake - 1580

The positive thinking thing is absolutely right - keep doing that. One thing to try (I will admit I hated it myself), is to draw a black dot on a white piece of paper and focus on it, starting for 5 minutes and then extending it to longer amounts of time as it gets easier. Stay focused on the dot and keep your mind free of other thoughts. It's a training exercise to help with focus. You might also want to try doing a guided meditation where you listen to a recording guiding the visualization for the meditation. You can even record yourself and listen to that if you can't find one that works for you. Overall it sounds like your week is going well!

Week 2, Days 3 & 4 Day 3 Today was one of my off food days. Did my dream journaling. It was also game night, so I got home late and no meditating. Also, I do need to avoid taking advantage of my off days - I keep purposely eating really bad stuff because it's my cheat day. It's ok for me to let go a little, but I still don't need to overdue it. Day 4 Did my dream journaling. Had to go to a morning meeting, so I managed to remember the dream all the way through the day to tonight. I will get to bed on time and do my meditation. Food tracking: Banana - 100 Coffee with Splenda - 0 DD veggie flatbread - 320 DD iced coffee with skim milk and Splenda - 20 Pecan pie - 250 Wendy's asiago chicken sandwich - 520 Pinot noir - 240 Cuban sandwich - 500 Total caloric intake - 1950 Dammit. The thing that threw me was the asiago chicken sandwich. I went grilled for healthier, but I had no idea how many calories it was anyway. Oh well. I have another three days to keep to my goal.

Week 2, Day 2 No dream journaling today. I woke up in the middle of the night with a dream, but I didn't want to wake up all the way by writing the dream down and then not get back to sleep. A little poor planning tonight - still doing laundry and won't get to bed on time. Food tracking: Jimmy Dean Delights fritatta - 260 Coffee with Splenda - 0 Thai ginger shrimp - 370 Salad with peanut sauce dressing - 150 Pa thong ko (Thai doughnut) - 80 Green tea with Splenda - 0 Taco salad with taco meat, spinach, cheese, and Greek yogurt- 675 Total caloric intake - 1435

Week 2, Day 1 Got to bed on time and did my meditation. Food Tracking: Egg and cheese sandwich and bacon - 530 Coffee with Splenda - 0 Spinach salad with chicken, etc. - 275 Cheesestick and hummus - 150 Humburger with cheese and olives - 515 Tortilla with veggie cream cheese - 200 Pinot noir - 120 Total caloric intake - 1785

Week 1 summary: 18/22 Health Goals No snacking after dinner, 5 days/week - 5/5 (Yay!) Stay under an 1,800 calorie goal 5 days/week - 4/5 (Not as bad as I thought. This is one of the tough goals for me, so I'm ok with Week 1 being a learning week for me in getting back to this.) Spiritual/Mental Health Goals Go to bed by 11pm 4 days/week - 3/4 (Could have done better with this, but it's not terrible. Again, Week 1 getting used to my new goals is ok with me, but this is something that should be relatively easy.) Keep a dream journal 3 days/week 3/3 (Yay! And this was one of my stretch goals.) Meditate 5 days/week - 3/5 (Could have done way better with this one. It's usually connected with going to bed on time, since I plan to meditate before I go to bed.) So, my overall take from Week 1 is that I am having a little bit of a difficulty getting back into the swing of things. I am trying to change my lifestyle, and that's a little hard to do in one week. Some of this is from laziness - I'm into old, bad habits, and it's hard to break them. I didn't do terribly, but I could definitely do better. And I expect to do so in Week 2