ninjakitten

Wednesday May 26th #1 – Running day, so I ate a bit more as I had planned and at least for now that really helped me. Now could I have spent those extra calories on something more useful? Probably. Will I do so next time? Hm... #2 – I really didn't want to go out for a run. Not sure if I ever mentioned it here, but I do have cholinergic urticaria which is just a fancy way of saying I get hives when my body temperature goes up. So in a way I have an allergic reaction to exercise (also to hot showers, hot weather, etc. but let's focus on exercise). Does that sound like a good excuse? Eventually I still went for that run, though. Probably because I wanted to eat more. #3 – Did stretch after my run.

Oh it's so interesting to read feedback from someone who successfully uses the feature. Thank you for going into detail! I don't use a watch that has that feature, so I have no insight of my own and so far have only met two or three people who actually use it (even if they have one of the watches that does provide that data) and those said the accuracy wasn't all that great for them. Stress at work was a bad example, I wasn't thinking in terms of the types of stressors, but rather of it being unavoidable in my case. I like the idea of using it more for management, though. And sometimes it just might be nice to know why you're having a hard time with things that normally are easy.

Thank you! Maybe I'll note down some of the results here. There usually isn't much of a grey area, it's either quite good or hilariously bad.

You did the important stuff! You shouldn't be disappointed! Especially if you're not having the best day that absolutely can be counted as a win. Also maybe change how you loaf around a couple of times and you can add working on your posture to the list. (And thank you for the daily inspiration. If you want to hear about truly useless overthinking: I sometimes look at quotes, just for myself, no purpose really... and wonder if they are attributed to the right person and where to check. Because apparently I need proper citation just for fun. It makes no sense.)

For me it wasn't Starbucks, but I MYSELF made coffee that was 99% milk and other things. With a tiny hint of coffee. If you know you have habits like that, changing those really can get you a long way without making it too complicated. By the sounds of it perfect for how much else you've got going on. I think it's an awesome idea. Also love the new challenge goals in general. I always admire it when people set creative goals, but for me it sucks all the fun out of it. Especially if it's something you do to relax. Hope all the changes will work well for you!

As convenient as a lot of online application stuff can be, that must be the most painful part. Thanks for uploading all your things. Please enter everything again. It seems to be based on heart rate variability (while at rest) to gauge how stressed you are, which can be a decent enough marker as far as I know. I am a bit curious how well they work. But then I also don't know what to do with the knowledge that I am stressed at work...

Tuesday May 25th #1 – I stuck to my lower goal for the first time today. Adjusted the portion as planned (more veggies, less of my poorly planned meals). And experimented with some food like substances for breakfast. (Oat fiber in everything.) I only made it to 85g of protein. So I have to plan a bit better there maybe. Or maybe add a protein shake at some point during the day instead of one of my less than ideal snacks. #2 – No run today. I have on scheduled tomorrow. We'll see if the rain will sweep me away and I can swim instead. Also didn't do anything else, so that was a bit of a fail. #3 – I did stretch after my run, though. Still focusing a bit on my calves.

Written by the creator of cult favourite Kneading Each Other, the first (and only) sourdough-themed rom-com. By the end of this challenge you'll need to add a new page to your CV.

Monday May 24th #1 – Getting started with doing some lower calorie days was a bit rough to be honest. But it is mostly poor planning. I did most of the shopping for dinner this coming week before I decided to do this and some meals are just a bit too high in calories for the lower calorie days. Most dinners tend to be around 600-700 calories. (I tend to eat two meals a day and one or two smaller snacks, so this always worked out ok.) But today it made planning my other meals really difficult. I did ok until the evening and then went a bit over when I was still hungry and ate a bit more than planned. I think the easiest way to fix it for now will be to prep some more salads/veggies on the side and eat a smaller portion. For next week I'll plan better. #2 – No running scheduled, but even though the weather was a bit crap I went for two walks today. So I'm quite happy with that. #3 – Since yesterday's run my calves felt really tight, despite stretching. So I focused a bit more on those today, it does feel better. But it also made me wonder if there's some strength exercises I maybe should do... or if my form has been a bit shit recently. (Without someone to point it out, it is always easy to slip back into bad habits.)

Thank you Snarky. I think I just make the running sound harder than it is, because I'm not that great of a runner to begin with.

The flowers look great. I hope they'll survive those people with their tarps. And that your elbow gets better. At least the rain is cooperating.

I'm not sure if it will feel like this for you, but I am pretty sure I couldn't have done this all on the side while I'm about to finish... any kind of big project really. So I hope you're still proud of all the effort you put in working on your health goals (or however we can call what we're doing here).

While I wasn't quite serious about the question, I really feel the struggle. Socialising never came natural to me and while I got a lot better at it, I had to actively "learn" everything and now it sometimes feels like I am just pretending to be one of those humans.

I hope you'll feel better tomorrow. Don't be too hard on yourself. Some things just take time.

Summary Week 2 #1 – This week was a bit harder. A mixture of PMS binging and just plain old failure. I decided to try to have a lower goal for non-running days in the next week and a higher calorie goal for days I am running. I'll see how that goes. Maybe it'll allow me to cut back a bit more without struggling too much. I won't count Saturday's weigh in I think, we'll see how good that decision was. However, after eating take away the day before my weight was up by several pounds and I cannot really tell how much progress I made (or didn't make after this amazing week). #2 – I did all my runs, but thanks to seasonal allergies this has been a bit harder than before as well. I don't really enjoy running on the treadmill though, so that's not really an alternative. Guess I'll just deal with it and pretend it's my version of high altitude training. #3 – Sticking to a daily stretching routine is getting easier. Sometimes it's really short to be honest, but I think doing it regularly will be more effective in the long run than coming up with some super complicated routine I do once a month because I just can't be bothered. Sunday May 23rd #1 – The higher calorie day (to no one's surprise) worked out just fine. Now I only need to cut back tomorrow. We'll see how that goes. (I start to think having a run on day one of this week wasn't a good idea.) #2 – Did the run as scheduled. Tried to breathe while running. Didn't perform all that well in either category, but I finished the session. #3 – Did the stretching. Not a flexible person yet.