Yrsadur

Okay I'm a little late on my update about last week. I was a lazy piece of shit and it still shows haha I've been running! I wanted to see how long I was able to run without stopping. I made it to 15 minutes and then I had to stop because my (otherwise healthy) ankle started to burn, so I finished with the same distance back to the car in a 1:30/1:30 schedule. It went really well! Furthermore I did a pinterest-workout I found, which is a bodyweight box workout. I managed to find 2 decent structures to perform the exercises on, and then run between the two, a couple 100 meters. And boy did I underestimate that. It took me 20 minutes but halfway through the first set I was out of breath and sweating. Afterwards I was quite sore, which lasted for about 2 days. So all in all, it wasnt the best workout but it was fun and there's lots of room to grow. I didnt do much else action-wise. On the diet: Ive been drinking terribly last friday, which I almost never do but this time i was legit drunk. That isnt on my diet list for sure The next day I felt so sick I barely ate a thing, but didnt get to the point where I was secretly glad about that (because compensation). The rest of the week I was a little short on veggies, and I should try to eat more regularly throughout the day. And also I didnt write down the exceptions... Meditation: I discussed this with my helping hand, and she said it wasnt about scheduling time for meditation as much as taking a breath and keeping in touch with your feelings. So I'm doing that as often as i can remind myself, which is a lot. Bullet Journalling: All my appointments for last week are planned in, this week not so much but more on that later.

Haha wow what a week. I started off strong, riding my bike on monday to the future in-laws for our cat-sitting session while they were on vacation. One of them was very very pregnant so we had to watch her closely, so I took the bus home to feed our own cats and went back by bike which is about 20 km. It was a tough ride, against the wind and all but i was still proud of myself for doing it. However, said in-laws decided to cut their vacation short and we ended up back home the same evening. Tuesday I had another appointment to look at a car, and I had some time to kill before that, so I went for a long hike in a new area. It was a good hike, nice weather and only slighly wet socks afterwards:P I did however misstep somewhere on a branch or somerhing and rolled over my bad ankle... Which made working out the rest of the week impossible. I had quite a lot of pain and it became all swollen and stiff again. So I decided to give it some rest untill the swelling was gone, which is today. And now I have to pick it back up for it to stay flexible. I was pretty bummmed tho, so besides a few short moments of meditation I didn't go for my goals as much as I should've. I did end up buying that car tho, so that's something. Its a 2002 Ford Fiesta! The score of this week: Working out: 2/4 Clean eating: 4/7, failed to write down most of the exceptions. Meditation: 3/7, all sessions combined i think i hit about 30 minutes this week. Bullet journalling: 2/7, started off strong but after tuesday I didn't quite manage to keep it up. So I really need this 3rd week to pull myself together again. I can't have everything down because of one bad ankle, I cant let my success depend on that. I think, looking back, I was just using that as an excuse to take a break. I'm not doing myself any favours with that tho, because 'taking a break' means i get to sit back and do (and eat) whatever i want, which seems nice at first but isnt helpful at all, so it doenst make me feel better. The planning for the upcoming week: Working out: monday running, wednesday swimming, thursday running, something fun on the weekend (maybe boxing? idk yet) Clean eating: Sticking to the diet plan, and start the exception-rule back up! I already started this today. Meditation: At least make use of the times I'm outside for exercise anyway, so after a run for example. At the sauna (tuesday) I can get some meditation in. So I'm aiming for at least 3 times this week. Bullet Journal: I still have to draw in this week. I really want to start focussing on next week as well, since that's my first week on my new job. By planning a little bit every day, I can make the most of that week.

@Elastigirl I anticipated on easy to grow plants, for the balcony so i dont have a lot just yet, but I'll expand my collection to fill up the backyard! Right now I have radishes, carrots, oak leaf lettuce, rocket, basil, parsley and two kinds of thyme! One of the thymes has flowers so I hope it'll attract some bees. I'd like to add some rhubarb, tomatos, rosemary and mint! And of course some flowers, but I'm not sure what kind of flowers yet.

1. 3/4. I worked out 3 times this week: 2 runs, of which one 5k (!), one swim of 1350 in an hour. Bouldering didnt happen. I did stay active on rest day and not-bouldering day. 2. 7/7. I kept track of my exceptions every day, and had one day of clean eating. the exceptions that I made weren't all wise, but I was very hormonal this week so that explains why i had a harder time than usual in this matter. Normally I dont get hormonal, maybe 3 times a year or so, so i could afford this one. I'll discuss it with my dietician tomorrow though. 3. 3/7. I intended to use my journal every day, and I planned very well on the busy days. However, after said busy days I kinda let it go a little more, to the point of forgetting to do it. Today I wanted to do it, but i realised I'd left my journal at home and we're watching the in-laws' house for a few days. I'm back in town tomorrow though, so I'll go pick it up. 4. 4/7. I didnt meditate on thursday, friday and saturday. It's starting to feel like a chore because I haven't gone out to find a relaxing spot yet. That seems like the key to increase this goal. Planning for the upcoming week: Roadbiking on monday, swimming on tuesday, running on thursday and running again on saturday(morning) or sunday. Clean eating and writing down exceptions: every day. Meditiation: every day 10 minutes. During the day and outside. Bullet journalling: every day 30 minutes, in the morning or in the evening.

Yesterday went a little different from what i planned. My therapy session was a little intense, so I was really looking forward to going climbing with my sister to get out of my head a little. Unfortunately, she called me and told me she had a cold and she didnt think it would be wise to go do something very tiring, like climbing. Instead, we met up for coffee in town. I ran into an old roommate of mine there as well, and later our mom joined us for a cup of coffee as well, so it was a very social and nice morning/noon. Afterwards, I went home with my mom and stayed a while. Then I went to my dad's, whom I dont see as much as I would like, and we ended up chatting the entire rest of the afternoon until 6, when my BF came to pick me up to go to the restaurant. And let me tell you, that was insane. It was a make-up dinner, because we had an appointment at that place for our upcoming wedding, to see if it would be a nice location. The appointment was terrible and I wrote them about it afterwards. They offered us a free dinner to show us they do care about their customers and know how to give them personal attention. Of course we didnt let this offer slide, and boy am I glad we didnt! It was top notch fine dining, with fine wining of course! We had an amazing time, it was super romantic and we ended up sitting there for over 3 hours, being served course after course after course, and wine after wine after wine. It was really amazing, I intend to send them another e-mail to tell them how pleasantly surprised we were. Maybe we'll even write a good review ;) After all, my car turned out not ready to take home just yet, so that'll be done tuesday. A bit of a bummer, but I can wait. I'd rather have it well taken care of than done too quickly. So instead of a very busy, active day I had a very laidback, social day. The only thing that I didnt anticipate on, was being home so late (00:30) and so tipsy... So I didnt do my bullet journal or my meditation. Also, I had some small cakes with my coffee, so I skipped lunch and some snacks, and then of course in the evening we had a rather large dinner. So that's 3 unmet goals in 1 day. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I try not to be too hard on myself but I do feel that I couldve done better with a bit more discipline and preparation. For now, I will pick up right where I left off, so today I'll get some meditation in and start on drawing next week in my bullet journal. Also, I gotta watch that eating schedule, because now I've noticed I already forgot another snack. I do count yesterday as an active day though, because I spent a couple of hours walking through town, biking through town as well (to my mom's and my dad's), and on top of that i was still feeling quite sore from my 'rest day' doing garden work. I'll take that as my something fun, and go for a run today or tomorrow, and I'll have at least one goal on point to finish this first week off strong! Attention points for next week: 1. Anticipate on activities - prepare food in advance, have a backup plan in case something doesnt work out. 2. Discipline - When things go differently, I want to stick to my goals and not throw them overboard because 'its all different now'. Gotta learn to be flexible. All in all it was a good first week i think. I hope you all had a great first week, and that you're all motivated to keep going! Because we can do it! <3

So today is my rest day. Well, it was supposed to be. I slept in and had a slow morning (afternoon...) but after that I started feeling a little restless so I decided to do some work in the backyard, which hasnt been getting attention for years but my downstairs neighbour moved out last week and now we get to use it, on top of our own balcony. Long story short, I ended up spending over an hour and a half removing plants (dead and alive), moving junk from one side to the other and sweeping and whatnot. It's not done yet but the neighbour will be coming over this evening to remove his old stuff, and then I can remove the rest of the plants and start putting in some flowers, herbs and vegetables. For now, I'm totally knackered tho. So much for resting! :P In terms of eating it hasnt been going too great today, my stomach feels a little upset and i try to figure out whether it needs food or rest. Also, *that* point in my cycle has arrived so I'm trying not to eat everything I see. So far it's been going well, I've only made one exception on my diet plan today, but i do feel its something that needs a little more attention the next few days. My swim was great yesterday, I managed to swim 1350m in one hour, i dont know if that's a lot but for me it is! Afterwards i hit the steam sauna, the bubble bath and the regular suna, which i had all to myself so i could get some meditation in. I had kind of a crazy day in terms of stuff that needed to be done, so i used my bullet journal to keep track of everything and i feel so much more organised! Tonight I'm going to draw in the spread for next week. And for tomorrow... Tomorrow is an exciting but very busy day. I have to be in my hometown (Zwolle, an hour away) at 9 for a therapy session, afterwards me and my sister are going even further away to the boulder hall, then we have to get back to Zwolle because she has work, and I'll be going to pick up my car! Then me and the BF are going out for dinner at this super fancy restaurant (I know, twice in a week. We got this one for free and we needed to use it...) Then I'll be driving by my dad to show off my new car, and then we're stopping by at my BF's dad to pick up a new tv stand, and then we'll be going home. Gonna be a late one, so today I'm sparing my energy for tomorrow! For tomorrow I want to focus on meditation, because of how busy I'll be. Somewhere between all the tasks I plan on finding a quiet spot, putting on my headphones with some nature sounds or something and taking 10 minutes to switch back and remind myself of my 3 words - intention, kindness for myself, kindness to others. Also I gotta plan ahead for my meals since I'll be gone all day. I'll put that in my journal as well. I'll keep you posted! <3

Wow you live near a beach?! That's so cool! Love the pictures! Also great to see the level of motivation! I have a question for you: how do you anticipate on weekends in term of drinking and (over)eating? Asking because this is a difficult theme for me as well...

Love the goals and the honesty towards yourself! You´re already doing a great job by holding yourself accountable!

@doctorake its a Peugeot 206! It's currently in the shop, where it will be nicely polished and revised for me :) The girl in the pic is my sister with her most charming face haha

Thanks for the support everyone! My run yesterday was really nice, it was warm outside but it was my best run so far regardless! Today I was planning on going for a swim, but something came up... Being buying myself my first car! That took all day and after that I went out for dinner, which also went really well and according to my diet plan. I´m currently looking up what the pool has for me tomorrow, maybe just swimming laps but maybe a new aquafitness class or something! This weeks bouldering session is also planned, we´re going on friday, right before I go to pick up the new car! So I think I'll go for my second run on the weekend. Rest days will be today and thursday, and either saturday or sunday depending on which day i go running. As for the other goals: meditation is hard. I do it on my balcony, which may not be the best place because i notice my thoughts pouring back in whenever people walk/cycle/drive by. I did see a nice and quiet place while out on my run, so tomorrow I'm gonna go see if that works better for me. I try to start by emptying out my head, switch back from overdrive into slow thinking and from that into feeling what i feel in the spur of the moment. I notice myself being very eager to start thinking again, so that'll take some more practise. Then, i find 3 words that resonate with me and help remind me of my goals. For this challenge, i found the words intention, mildness to myself and mildness to others. I try to switch back and reflect on those words, and when I'm done I'm done. Today it took 10 minutes, but yesterday it took half an hour. I'll see what happens. My bullet journal has never looked so well-organised, and at the same time fun! I made a startpage for April, with lots of leaves and greenery. I think it turned out great! Weekly spreads are all in the same colours and styles, and i have enough space left to doodle in some more branches whenever i feel creative. I havent journalled today yet, so i think I'll start on that now! I hope you are all feeling positive about the next couple of weeks. If there's anything I can do to help, feel free to let me know!! Thanks again for the support, and kick some ass guys! <3

I have this: https://www.lidl-shop.nl/CRIVIT-Dames-yogabroek/p100249935 Which I feel comes very close to sporty harem pants, they're for yoga but they are really nice and baggy so i use them for other sports as well - just not bouldering as they might be a little too loose for that, maybe in a smaller size it would work. In the pictures it doesnt look extremely baggy, and I've seen a lot of tall women replying here, but i'm quite short and it fits me quite baggy! Its a brand from LIDL, so for european people: you can probably order it on the website, I'm in Holland and i can order it.

Aaaaand... We´re off! Just starting the GOT download and then I´m off on my first run of this challenge! Tomorrow its swimming, somewhere this week me and my sister will be going bouldering again, and then I gotta squeeze in one more running session and week 1 will be complete! The weather is incredible right now, which gives me loads of energy so I´ll be using that! Good luck to everyone for this 4 week period! <3

Well, here we are! After my post in the respawn point 2 weeks ago, I´ve been getting more and more pumped to make something of my life instead of being a lazy student. Also, on that note... I´m not a student anymore! I just passed my final exam after so many years of chaos, pain, wasted effort and whatnot. After I´ve been in a traffic accident in 2016, everything became different and difficult in terms of my degree. But now I can say I have my degree in social work, I graduated from university of applied science and I´ve just landed a very exciting job today! I feel like my ´real adult life´ is about to begin, and however thats really exciting, it´s also a bit scary. I´m very used to having all the time i need (and then some), and having to fit into a daily structure and managing to put everything into that, is something i havent had a lot of experience with. Right now it feels like i need to start managing all aspects of my life properly: my new job, exercise, groceries, cooking, cleaning, tidying, sleeping decent hours, making my appointments, having time for my friends, being a decent friend/girlfriend/person... It all feels a little overwhelming. So what better time to hold on to some new goals? Here goes: 1. I want to work out 4 times a week - 2 times running, 1 time swimming and 1 time something fun. 2. I want to keep eating according to my diet plan, and keep writing down what exceptions i make. 3. I want to get back into bullet journalling, to help me keep track of what i need/want to do. I want to have about 30 minutes each day to work on my journal. 4. I want to meditate for at least 10 minutes every day, in order to keep track of how i really feel and to make sure i shift back a few gears instead of staying in overdrive. I think that's enough for now, before monday I'll make my bullet journal up to date so I can start well as soon as the challenge begins! I hope I'll be able to complete this challenge, because a challenge it will be... I can't imagine what my life will look like in about a month and thats a really weird feeling. But I honestly think i can do this, and I'm excited too, so i'm trying not to let my fears get in the way!

Alright, so this is about my second week after respawning. The first week I've been going bouldering with my sister, tho the place was quite far away we had a great time. I could definitely feel those extra 20 kilo's since the last boulder session about 4 years ago, which is a bit frustrating but as long as i avoid any steep overhangs I'll be fine. I guess it gives me even more incentive to get rid of the extra weight. Also went running once, which was really nice. I can feel my overall shape starting to improve, and I'm not as tired anymore afterwards either. Me and my BF signed ourselves up for a 5K in july, and my goal for now is to run that without stopping, no matter how slow my pace. His goal is to crush his previous 5K record, so if I dont step up my training game we wont be running it together. Also great motivation. On top of that I'm making it a point to go places on foot, to get some of that extra movement in. Really liking that so far as well! The second week has been an absolute blast. I started the week with a running session of about 30 minutes, had a rest day on tuesday, did some mild hiking on wednesday, and went climbing again on thursday! We went to a different boulder hall this time, which was closer by, and we had a blast again! We'll definitely be coming back to this particular place. In the evening i also did a floatfit class, and accidentally ended up in the experienced group. Boy was that tough! I could feel my abs 3 days after haha! It was great fun tho, i didnt expect it to be this intense and also to be this fun! I'll do this again as well, for sure! And to top it all off, me and my BF went on a bike tour on sunday. The weather was amazing, i really missed roadbiking. It was actually a tour set up for older people on e-bikes to enjoy a nice day outise, but we decided to go for it anyways because why not? It was free and incredibly well organised, the weather was great and we made it all the way through 51 kms, even though the last 15-20K was dead against the wind. BF's legs were really burning towards the end and i felt i needed to pace myself as well in order to make it to the end, but we did it! The start of week 3 hasnt been as spectacular tho, as i've gotten a pretty bad cold from the roadbike-adventure. So far I've been sleeping, resting, and sleeping more. My appetite is also at an all time low, which is frustrating because i really try to stick to my diet plan. Today I'm thinking of going on a short workout outside, but I'm not sure about that yet since I'm not feeling my best being out of bed, sitting at the computer. I made a pact with myself to stick to working out, with only three exceptions: important events that can't be rescheduled, too much soreness from a previous workout, or being ill. So right now I'm technically ill, and i think i need to figure out why i'm even thinking about breaking my own pact. Something to reflect on! In the meantime, I graduated! The official term is that i now have a bachelors degree in Social Work, from university of applied science. Also landing me a job, I just had the second interview yesterday and it seems like a great company i'd love to work at! Today or tomorrow they will contact me about their final offer in terms of salary and my starting date, and if i agree to that I'll have a job! Its a job coaching and helping people of all different sorts of backgrounds, and on top of that i will be a part of a new team that will be developing new kinds of social work, for example digital coaching, which can be done over distance. Not only will i be developing the actual programmes, but the organisation on a larger scale as well. All in all, I'm very excited and, despite being ill, bursting with energy to start my new job, to be graduated, to committing to a healthy lifestyle and to being a better, happier person! You'll be seeing me in the next 4 week challenge! :D

Thanks for the support man! I'm a few days back in now, and Ive been going very strong with exercise, doing fun things like bouldering and enjoying my runs outside! Diet wise I'm sticking to my dieticians' plan, and it makes me feel a lot more energised already :) I have a lot of momentum right now and it feels great. Gonna start thinking of a good challenge for the next 4-week!