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

2 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

 

• @silvermoonlady9 has a meditation technique she explained in her thread. I've tried it a few times with limited success. I don't like saying, "I can't", because I think that creates the attitude in your mind that it won't ever happen. But I definitely struggle with finding a style that works for me.

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

On 12/10/2016 at 9:04 AM, TheRealHoganMyer said:

Dreams are almost always too difficult for me to remember. How's getting to bed on time going??

Mostly ok. I like to get to bed by 11 on weekdays, so it doesn't much matter during the weekend. I've been good about it on days when I don't have other commitments.

Week 1, Day 7

No dream journaling or meditation today. It was Saturday and I kind of took it as an off day for those things.

Food tracking:

Scrambled eggs with cheese and sausage - 500

Coffee with Splenda - 0

Spinach salad with cheese, sweet peppers, chicken, and ranch dressing - 275

Merlot - 488

Doritos - 280

Total caloric intake - 1543

Also! I weighed myself at the gym and lost 4 lbs! Huzzah for me!

Week 1, Day 6

I actually journaled my dream from yesterday this morning. I thought I'd lost it because I was woken up with a work call, but then Brandon said something that reminded me of it, and it stuck. Enough that when I tried to remember my dream this morning, I could only remember yesterday's dream. So I wrote that one down. On track for my calorie intake today. Yay!

Food tracking:

Maple cinnamon apple overnight oatmeal - 305

Coffee and Splenda - 0

Shortbread cookie - 142

S'more cupcake - 198

Chipotle chicken panini with grilled asparagus - 785

Light and Lean Sweet and Sour noodle bowl - 250

Diet green iced tea - 0

Hummus and bread - 110

Total caloric intake - 1790

Week 1, Day 5

I'll document a little more later, but I want to get my food tracking in. And it looks like I'm just over a gain. I thought I chose pretty ok going with the shrimp tacos, but they were higher calorie than I imagined. A lot. It's really frustrating when I go out and eat because I can never know what the calories are before I order. And I don't always want to be "safe" and get salads every time. I'll have to figure something out. I did get to bed on time and meditate, and I got my dream journaling in.

Food tracking:

Jimmy Dean Delights fritatta - 260

Coffee with Splenda - 0

McChicken and SF French Vanilla Iced Coffee - 447

2 Cheesesticks - 140

Cheese and toast - 210

Mandarin oranges - 40

Shrimp tacos and chips and salsa with sour cream - 702

Raspberry iced tea - 70

Diet coke - 0

Total caloric intake - 1869

14 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

 

I might be stealing this! I've tried different types of meditation and just can't, but I think I could get behind this.

My sister is not particularly into this kind of thing, either, but when stress at her job was getting her, I taught her to do this and it worked for her, too. I'm glad it might help you, too!

I think the issue with fairness is like that cartoon with the kids on the boxes trying to look over the fence at the game. There's different ways of measuring fairness.

As the eldest child, I remember being mad and feeling like I had been treated unfairly when my sister was allowed to do something I hadn't been (ie: waiting to get my ears pierced until I was 10, but my sister got hers pierced at the same time even though she wasn't 10 yet). I'm not saying I was justified, but fairness is really hard to judge, which I guess is your point.

As for the maid thing, my mom and I hired a maid when we lived together because I worked too much and she didn't want to be stuck doing all the chores. It really made it easier on us. Now, I still work a lot, but Brandon has a part time job. Since he's home more, he does most of the chores. No need for a maid since it's fair for both of us (also, not as much free money for us now). So, I think the cost analysis thing is a good suggestion. Just because you could or should do chores doesn't mean you have to - so long as they get done, who cares?

I use several different visualizations. I do a tree meditation where I visualize myself becoming part of the tree and then I exchange positive (sun energy from the sky and moon energy from the ground) energy and negative energy through my roots and leaves until I feel balanced and centered. Negative energy (which I try to "name" as stress or something else I don't need to carry) goes out and dissipates into the sky or is grounded into the earth.

Another visualization I like is for balancing the chakras - I visualize each chakra, starting at the root chakra, as a tunnel of swirling energy of the appropriate color. The tunnel goes through my body and out the back, widening again - kinda like this: >< The crown chakra is a little different because it's at the top of the head, and there isn't so much a place for it to come out the other side. Any way, I visualize them all swirling - clockwise - and watch for dark spots, etc., to balance them out. Once I feel that they're all balanced, I "close" them by flattening out each tunnel so it's just a swirling circle of light at the appropriate location.

I have a few others, but they're much more in-depth and require "building" a safe space that you can return to whenever you meditate or center.

How does centering prayer work?

Week 1, Days 3 & 4

Day 3 - This was my off-day, food-wise. I had my office holiday party, so I planned this as one of my no calorie counting days. Did my dream journaling. The party actually wasn't so bad for food, but since it was my off-day, when I got home, I wanted to make it "worth it" and binged a bit. Not the most logical decision.

Day 4 - No dream journaling. Couldn't remember any when I woke up. I plan to meditate later and get to bed by 11. Also met with the trainer today - did some adjustments for heavier weights and added some new exercises. I'm excited.

Food tracking:

Blueberry and strawberry maple overnight oatmeal - 285

Coffee with Splenda - 0

Chick-Fil-A Chilled Grilled Chicken Sub with mayo - 630

Cream cheese brownie bar - 72

DD iced coffee with skim milk and Splenda - 20

Shortbread cookie - 142

Cheesesticks and hummus - 230

Turkey sandwich with peppers - 455

Cheese and crackers - 95

Total caloric intake - 1929

So, now's the season when we get a lot of "treats" at the office. It's super hard to stay on track, so if I limit myself to one or two a day, I can usually do ok. I hate to consume empty calories, but going cold turkey will not go well for me. I know I'll end up binging. It's kind of a tricky balance. And, oops, I overdid it. Luckily, I have 3 more days to make it under my 1800 calorie goal. Tomorrow is a day I work from home, so no temptations from the office. I also think I'm going to adjust my snack goal to no snacking after dinner. That's where I started several challenges ago, and I think maybe I'm doing too many things from where I left off. I also have a different schedule, and I think I need to work up to less frequent snacking.

I can relate to the issue with viewpoints. I like discussion, but some things really seem to set me off and I can't talk about them, at least not rationally. I usually try to avoid getting involved with discussions on those topics (since I expect better of myself), but I can't avoid them every time.

Week 1, Day 2

No dream journaling today. Did not wake up well. Lots of anxiety for Monday morning, which is usual. Did my meditation and went to bed by 11.

Food tracking:

Banana maple nut overnight oatmeal - 320

Coffee with splenda - 0

Amy's organic pesto tortellini - 440

Oatmeal raisin nut cookie - 110

Cheesesticks and hummus - 230

Diet blueberry tea - 0

Broccoli and cheese stuffed chicken - 250

Peppers and hummus - 120

Total caloric intake - 1470