spooky

Okay Week 2, Day 1 Exercise: complete, 60 minutes pilates Meditation: complete, 20 minutes Water: complete 2+ L Mindful eating: complete, under daily calorie goal writing: worked on essay, will write one sentence before bed, counting this as complete Notes: Made a ton of chicken breast (grilled and pan seared), a triple squash noodle lasagna/casserole (my own improvised recipe). Pretty tired right now. On to the next!

You are going to rock Week 2! I believe in you <3 <3 <3

8fit sounds really interesting. Small bites FTW! Short segments give me a totally different perspective on time. You can get a lot more done in ten minutes than you think. Also great job keeping up with your fitness goals even without constant NF check-ins! You got this

First of all THANK YOU for your wonderful post. It's so lovely to hear that I'm not alone with the writing block. Writing has always been what I'm best at but I definitely overthink it. I do the same "see spot run" thing with first drafts. Make each sentence and idea as simple as possible so that I know what I'm saying first haha. And also so I don't psych myself out with crazy vocabulary. Good point about Hemmingway. I'll have to remember that especially since A Moveable Feast is one of my all time favorite books I am trying to think of each essay as practice, more like a workout session for my brain than as some cosmic indicator of my worth but it's really hard. I love your post so much and I will return to it again and again when I feel stuck. Thank you thank you thank you <3! I will check in on thread more often for sure so we can encourage one another I have to remind myself that there can always be more. But more isn't always better. I learned that the hard way with food.... Thanks for all the encouragement Jenn! You've been so wonderful . Can't wait to read about Jym's further adventures!

Wooo onto week 2! todays goals (same as ever) -exercise (pilates at 2pm) -meditation -mindful eating -2L water -writing Attempting to work in 2 hour blocks today. First one is right now (I'm 1/2 way through). Already did some work on my paper to start the week off strong

Week 1 recap My original grading system was more day by day thing than a weekly thing so I'm winging it: Exercise: 7/7 A -3/3 C25k (90 total minutes) -2/2 Pilates(120 total minutes) -1/1 Weight Training (60 total minutes) -1/1 Yoga (30 total minutes) -walking 10+ so thats... 300 total minutes for the week, or 5 hours. Meditation: 7/7 A - 288 total minutes of meditation this week, 4 hours and 48 minutes. This is the most surprising part to me. I felt like I hadn't meditated as much as I was exercising but the difference is actually pretty small. Most proud of this part of my week. Mindful Eating: A- (for the mini-binge...but close to full marks) I have been keeping track of my calories in MFP. Have cut down a lot of snacking out of boredom (aka like 85% of my snacking). Water: 7/7 A In progress today but will be finished so a slightly pre-mature A for the week. 14+ liters of water consumed this week. Writing: 5/3 for the week A slow but steady progress FTW. A great way to start my first challenge. Now to keep the momentum on my side.

Thank you so much! I've been meditating a couple different ways. I either focus on my breath or I listen to binaural beats and try to lose myself in the sound. I've had good experience with both but definitely need more practice. I did tai chi one summer but couldn't get into it. Probably because I'm not so great at concentrating. But that's part of the what the meditation is for. I'll try again some times. It's so nice to hear I'm not alone with the essays. Starting meditation was kind of about seeing the essays as a symptom rather than a cause....if that makes any sense outside of my own head. Thanks for stopping in! *curtseys and falls off-stage*

zero-ing in on this bit: Mainly because I deleted my Facebook a couple months ago. Its was definitely contributing to my anxiety and self-conciousness. It made it too easy to constantly worry what other people thought of me. It can become a soapbox pretty easily. The journal is a great idea! Also great pumpkin reference <3. Made my day!

I hate it too. The only person who fits their workout is someone super active who went on vacation for a week and rebounds fast because of muscle memory. And even that's a maybe. Way to limit your audience.

last night was good. Avoided the bread baskets at dinner which is a huge step for me since I used to call myself the Carb Queen. Had a small cup of soup and a salad with grilled chicken (no dressing). Treated myself to a glass of wine. Had nice time at dinner with the future in laws. We are lucky that the whole engagement has been drama free. Had two handfuls of white chocolate M and Ms last night but otherwise no major binging. I was in a bad mood earlier in the day but managed to get myself out of it. Huge progress. Very pleased about that. Completed all my goals for the day (yesterday). Same goals today. Weigh training this morning and then grocery shopping this afternoon. Goals for the day: Exercise (weight training, complete) Meditation Mindful eating 2L of water Writing

early afternoon progress: Exercise: complete c25k workout three. I might repeat the first week because it is still difficult, especially towards the end. I don't want to go too and then get discouraged. (6/7 workouts for the week) Meditation: complete, 20 minutes 6/7 for the week (very proud of this one) Food: 1 hardboiled egg, 1 string cheese, 1 poppy seed cracker, Water: 1L down, one to go Writing: Did a little work on paper, will take my notebook to the dress fitting and get one sentence done.

currently reading The Gambler by Dostoevsky. Would like to finish it this weekend, I only have a couple chapters left.

Maybe you can think about it this way, you've faced some adversity at the beginning so that you can figure out the problems now and make the rest of the challenge go smoothly. You've already made so much progress (70 lbs!) so don't get too discouraged. You can do this. When I feel like my energy for exercising is low I break it up into really small chunks (like 5 or ten minutes) and then use that as breaks from school work or writing. Good luck with Camp NaNo! I wanted to do the camp but I have some other writing I need to get done. Maybe in June. Keep plugging away! You're doing so well, just keep at it!

Day 6 goals: meditation exercise: C25K today, must complete before noon mindful eating 2L of water writing My sister got engaged a couple months ago and we are meeting her fiancee's parents today. She is already close with his parents but my parents and I have never met them. Not sure where we are eating, will have to look at the menu online when I find out. I will try to think of my time in 2 hour block and see how that goes.

Final day 5 log exercise: complete meditation: complete, meditated twice (!) today, 30 minutes each time. definitely getting better. mindful eating: had strawberries, 1/4 cup of dried cranberries and 2 tbsp of cookie butter but all still under calorie limit for the day and it is less than yesterday, slowly tapering down nighttime post-dinner sugar cravings. B+ for the day, it is getting better water: over two L (not including tea) complete writing: did some work on essay. one sentence of story complete

subbed! Love your determination and two hour time-blocks. I might just have to steal that keep up the great work!

early evening check in exercise: complete meditation: complete mindful eating: going much better today since The Powerbar Experiment. Lots of tea and water. A lot of my eating seems to be more habit based than hunger based. water: 1.5 L down (not including tea) writing: did some work on essay. one sentence of story later.

You're welcome! I found it in the mindful eating thread. I really felt great choosing to stop eating something sweet in the middle and saving some for later. I finished the power bar after I meditated but it was nice to put it away and forget about it for a little while. I totally understand what you mean about the weekend vs. weekdays dilemma. The more we feel deprived the more internal resistance we build up. And that build up is hard to control. Still working on consistently and actively choosing moderation though. It's damn hard.

as per this article I am leaving my protein bar snack half finished for the moment. If I'm still hungry after meditating then I will have the rest.

I totally see how it will help. It forces you to be calm and present at the very moment you are doing something hard, excited to begin my practice! I've been keeping up with your thread and you are so fabulous! Keep up the great work and the wonderful (and hilarious!) posts!

today so far Exercise: 30 minutes incline walking on the treadmill (two 15 minute segments), 30 minutes of yoga (this video for future self reference). It kicked my butt. Integrating yoga into my routine once a week is a great way to get started. I feel great after doing the session. I did it with 3 breaks, 2 short ones and 1 long about 20 minutes through where I played with my cats. Got to start somewhere and at least I finished the workout. I find small segments really helpful in exercise. Must keep that in mind for other mentally blocked areas. Completed 5/7 for the week Going to have some tea, do a little work on my paper, and then meditate.

Yes life is more like chess than checkers. Or at least that's what I immediately thought when I read your post. Love that you read my posts in Mabel's voice. She's a role model for me because she is SO comfortable in her own skin. And it allows her to accomplish amazing things. GRAPPLING HOOK!

Day 5 Goals: -meditation -exercise: 30 min walking, 20 minutes of yoga -mindful eating -2L of water -writing: essay and short story. Today's theme: self-forgiveness after last night's slip up. I slipped. I didn't fall off the cliff. Onwards and upwards.

You're totally right. I am ready to attack today's blank slate (or at least I'm psyching myself up to that point). I have a tendency to binge during "desert time" after dinner, it's hard to stop myself. Maybe I just need to substitute it with fruit? I have been trying tea as a substitute but maybe real physical food objects will help. The binges are getting a bit better, but it used to be if I woke up in the middle of the night I would go to the fridge, eat a piece of chocolate, and then go back to sleep . I've definitely cut down on amount but figuring out the cues and impulses is still a work in progress. I just have to accept that and keep making baby steps with the binging. After I eat dinner it's hard to stop eating, need to work on figuring out exactly why. Thanks for all of your amazing suggestions and general support, it really helps! Especially with not beating myself up about mistakes. The road to a better self is still there even if I stumble. Onwards to day 5!

love your energy! Subbed to cheer for you and bask in your awesomeness!