x Valkyrie x

Weekly recap: This week was a blur, every day felt like a manic Monday! It’s funny how change in routine can throw you so off your game. my biggest win this week was standing up to my boss. They (for the sake of anonymity) are manipulative, narcissistic, and highly ambitious. I’ve seen them bait and bully myself and my teammates into doing what they want, even to the point where in the last 2 weeks, my coworker’s sister died and our employer wouldn’t give her a full week off to make the 12 hour drive there and back for the funeral and to help with caring for her 93 year old mother. Last week, my other coworker had time off requested for over a year and had a staycation with his family, and my employer knew he was still local, and called him in to do evals. I’m getting sick of watching them pick on my team, and on me. So, when I learned we had the option to take Memorial Day off(because of changes in rules to Medicare reimbursement), I brought it to them, asked very genuine questions and they had to be honest or else outright lie to my face about public record. So, I have a 3 day weekend and a lasting glow of victory to take me into next week! Gym: 1/3 Total Ave intake: not sure. I was ~<1800 on the 4 days I tracked this week, but Fiber and protein were lacking.

Wednesday, May 27th bedtime: 7 something sleep window ❎ morning routine: went to the gym! ✅ eat for success: 149 G protein, 18g Fiber...so close, but no cigar on Fiber, and didn’t hit water ❎ This week has been kind of manic. I’m going to make a slow cooker/instant pot meal plan for next week and get on top of prep over the weekend so that next week can go easier.

Quick update: this week has been kind of chaotic, I haven’t been keeping track of things this week and kind of just getting pulled along by the current. Too much documentary-watching and video game playing, not enough adulting. So today I’m gonna clean and get organized so the rest of the week can get back on track. 👍

Friday, May 21st Nailed the gym today! I didn’t quite get enough sleep, but I knew I wanted to come home, play video games and chill tonight, so I got up and got ‘er done, rather than miss my chance. another day with 10k+ steps, that’s 3 this week! Even when I was my absolute fittest, with visible abs, I never got this many steps. Being active for the sake of my health, rather than abs, is a new thing for me, and I’m proud of myself! I figured out the blurb that would go on the back of my novel. Now I just need to outline and write the novel I’m going down the road of some female-protagonist tropes that I don’t super love, because it’s some real bullshit(why is “female in peril” so captivating, but if you tried to do the same with a male character, it doesn’t quite feel right? Because internalisation, that’s why). but I do really like the story and my character and I figure I will learn how to write a book and then once I’ve figured out how to actually finish something, I’ll remaster genre conventions and tropes to put that bullshit on its head. bedtime: 7 something sleep window ❎ morning routine: went to the gym! ✅ eat for success: 100g protein, 24g fiber, 80-90oz water, calling it a win, might have another yogurt and take it up to 115g if I get peckish before bed ✅ Weekly Gym: 2/3 Weekly Ave calories: 1647/1800. I need to eat a bit more at least one more day a week, my body lets go of weight better when I have a couple of higher calorie days a week.

Thursday, May 20th It’s been a good day- I paid my registration violation ticket, I scheduled my annual physical, got Bird Box from the library (which I walked to from work because it’s about 1/2 mile away, and I needed to get my walk in), worked on school and did some thinkin’ on my novel. I didn’t get as much school done as I intended, but I was tired this afternoon and ended up taking a power nap on the couch while dinner cooked in the Instant Pot. I’m all set up to hit the gym in the morning, but feeling a little concerned I won’t be able to sleep because it’s 8:40 and I need to be asleep in the next 20-30 minutes to hit my 8 hour sleep window and I feel pretty awake. I took my melatonin and I’m going to listen to Sawbones, a podcast about medical history, and play on my switch for a while, which usually does the trick. Here’s my bread that I stayed up late to make last night- it turned out well, despite an abbreviated second rise. bedtime: went to bed late, but for a good reason (see bread above) and got an 8 hour sleep window ✅ morning routine: skipped morning routine but went for a walk and did homework in the afternoon, so, that’s a win ✅ eat for success: 119g protein, 33g fiber, 125oz water ✅ I chose to have a higher calorie day (about 2100) because I’ve been really active and pretty hungry this week and I want to be well fuelled(fueled? Fuelled? 🤷‍♀️) to kill it tomorrow at the gym.

Haha despite my pasty appearance, my heritage is Italian and I seem to have inherited the “tan, not burn” gene as long as I don’t really overdo it 😹

Wednesday, May 19th I slept badly and have been up since 3:30, but I got a bunch of homework done before work, so that was a win. I also made no knead bread dough before I left for work, and that’s why my sleep tonight and morning routine tomorrow will look a little different because I forgot to get it shaped and baked at 6 pm so I’ll be up a little later tonight. It’s got half a wedge of Romano grated in it, cannot let it go to waste 😹🤷‍♀️ I finished a book tonight that I highly recommend to anyone who loves magical realism, emotions, and beautiful story telling. It’s called A Million Junes, by Emily Henry and it was so good. I don’t normally consume media that makes me feel my feels...I have so many feels 😹 and truly, I sobbed at the end of this book, but not out of sadness, just because I felt such a huge volume of emotion, and I’m out of practice, I think. I need to read more, to let myself be open to the love and hurt and beauty in the world that can be found in fiction, rather than avoid it out of fear of discomfort. anyway, this was a really good one. bedtime: I went to bed at 10 and woke up at 3:30...most unfortunate. ❎ morning routine: homework, but no gym because no sleep ✅ eat for success: 127g protein, 25g fiber, ~100oz water ✅

Yes, I did, those naughty rabbits!! We don’t have rabbits here, that I can tell, but plenty of nosy birds. Will you get more kale or is that a lost cause this season?

Started out reading and recognizing a fellow BJJ person (*waves excitedly*), was wondering how you like Elements (I bought it but haven’t ever gotten past week 2 😖), and then saw appendicitis! Dang, dude, way to bury the lead. Glad you’re on the mend, and that you got in before any explosions could ensue.

Click “add files” and it should pop up with your photo library, if you’re on your phone.

Ooh, will you share some pictures of your garden? I loooove peonies, they’re probably my favorite. Well done getting that all done, it’s hard work!

Tuesday, May 18th So many great things today! foremost on my mind is the fact that I planted a potted garden today! I went to the nursery, I picked my plants, then I went to the garden guy and said, “I don’t have a clue how to get started. Can you help me?” And you know what, he did! He even gave me big black pots for free, I think they were for trees or something, and it really cut down my cost. He showed me what potting soil, mulch and plant food to get, explained how to mix everything and how much to water (less than I thought!, everything I needed to get started. Then, I came home. Now, I’m the kind of woman who starts a load of laundry, fully intending to see it through to being hung up and put away in the closet, and it ends up moldering in the washing machine, or getting wrinkled as it sits, forgotten, in the dryer. I was determined that these baby plants would not meet the same fate as the bell pepper and tomato plants I bought last year and never planted. So, I went to work dragging out the old wheelbarrow so I could mix my dirt. I knocked over my dad’s table saw and broke the cabinet it’s mounted on...sorry dad, I’ll help you fix it. Mom and I hoisted it back to rights, and then I loaded up my wheelbarrow with my dirt and plants and...discovered the wheelbarrow had a flat tire. It’s 80 degrees, I’m sweating, I haven’t taken a minute to chill since getting off work...and I found the air compressor, freed the hose from the tangle of death trap bicycles (are you getting the impression my parents’ garage needs to be organized? Me too.), and fill up the tires. After that, it was just a matter of mixing the dirt (talk about functional fitness!), filling the pots and planting the plants. Afterward, I made dinner, took a shower, and had an amazing 45 minute FaceTime conversation with a lady I know through a group on Facebook. She’s an author, and I’m a writer, and she talked to me about the structure of story and her process for getting to a point where it’s a story and not just an idea. It was really helpful for me and I’m excited to read some books on the craft and apply it to my novel idea(s)! Today is a day that shows me how far I’ve come. I gardened in short shorts and my sports bra because it was HOT and I was super comfortable in my own skin, little belly rolls and all. Gardening is something I’ve wanted to do for years, but never did due to intimidation and lack of initiation, and I did it in one go, all the way through to the end, and I didn’t get frustrated or lose my temper when things didn’t go quite smoothly. I’m super happy how it all turned out! And, I went out of my comfort zone and talked to a lady who knows how to do what I want to do, and I learned a lot. I also got over 12k steps again! 2 days in a row...who am I?! I’m Valkyrie Managing Her Mindset and it’s fucking great. bedtime: 8 hour sleep window achieved ✅ morning routine: homework and morning walk ✅ eat for success: 115g protein, 24g fiber, ~80oz water, didn’t keep good track. Gonna call this a win because 115 loosely tracked could be 110 or could be 120, the effort was there. ✅

Looks great! Pain is temporary, tattoos are forever 😝 hope you’re feeling better and get some sleep!

bedtime: 8 hour sleep window achieved ✅ morning routine: gym! ✅ eat for success: 152g protein, 33g fiber, 100+oz water ✅ gym: 1/3 calorie ave: 1853/1800 Hit the gym this morning with my mom, her first time going to class with me, and we killed it! I’m so proud of her for coming with me, it’s definitely outside of her comfort zone, and she did great. I forgot my packed lunch on the kitchen counter but had some time before I had to be at work, so ran to the store and got fixins for a healthy, high protein breakfast and salad for lunch. Big win over resorting to McDonald’s, or just trying to white knuckle it through the day without food and ending up snacking on all the readily available junky snacks at work. I got 12.5k steps today...nearly a record for me as I usually hang around 5-7k a day, so that was cool, too!

Oh, interesting, I’ve seen people looking for partners for games like that but haven’t tried it before. Sounds way fun, though! yep, sleep>pretty much everything else in my book 😹