elisanns

To be honest, the candle scent was a bit weak. I need to make another one and add a bit more I guess. In the bottle it smells great...but mostly like a normal orange.

Oh hi there. 💜 About to do a short yoga routine. My arm is actually doing pretty well, but I'd rather play it safe and be completely back to normal tomorrow than hurt myself and delay things. 💙 Continued to eat at home. Meal prep has been a big help, plus my boyfriend came over and made pizza. It was a nice treat. 💚 Recorded everything as best I could. It's a bit harder with someone else doing the cooking, but I tried to be as honest with myself as possible and not lowball anything. I also didn't intentionally eat less during the day to accommodate the larger meal...I know that in the past that just means I'll snack throughout the whole evening. Tomorrow things can go back to normal and I'll only be slightly over the usual amount that I eat.

Nice to meet you!

Forgot to report back here yesterday. The good news is that yesterday went pretty well! 💜 Yoga work out done! 💙 Food was made here. Turned out okay, though I need to learn some more quick recipes before I get bored. 💚 No issues here this time around. Now, onto today: 💜 I got my booster today, so I wanted to stay off my arms. I looked up a hands-free routine to do instead, which I'll do tomorrow since I'm assuming I'll be even more sore tomorrow. 💙 Made some fish. It was tasty, but the smell took a long time to leave my kitchen. 💚 Not bad, but I think I need some healthy snack suggestions. I've noticed I'm much hungrier before meals than usual, which I'm sure will lead to some mindless eating at some point.

May have to add this one to my list, along with a few public speaking books I've had in my tbr pile since...basically forever at this point.

Well, it's day 2 and...I did some things well, and some things...less well... 💜 This was an abs focused work out, but again, it wasn't so bad. I felt pretty good afterwards. 💙 Made food here, but was definitely tempted to go out instead of eating meals here. I had made a plan in advance last night, but didn't keep to it, which brings me to... 💚 Logging food in MFP. I did log everything, but definitely went way off my calorie goal today. The moment I went off plan, I got into an "all or nothing" mode that meant I could just eat none stop, because I already screwed up already. Since it's the second day, I'm trying to remind myself that this is a process, and being unrealistic and strict with myself isn't the point. The point is to learn what works for me.

Well, day one is done! 💜 I was somewhat reluctant to start the first video in this series, but it actually wasn't so bad. I did realize how taking a week and a half off set me back a bit, but about halfway through I started finding my feet again. I'm glad it didn't feel much longer than what I normally do. Optimistic about day 2! 💙 Went grocery shopping and did some meal planning today, including a bean stew. It looks like it will be cold this week, so having something warm on hand will be really nice. 💚 This went well. Any time I start up MFP again, it always goes well at first. The real question will be will I be able to keep it up once something stressful happens. 😒

One of my goals this year is to get back into reading more. I used to be such an avid reader, and then over the last two years I just couldn't get my brain to focus. As modest a goal as this may be, I'm currently hoping to hit 12 books this year (1 book per month), plus comics and magazines on top of that which I don't usually track. Currently reading Yours Cruelly, Elvira: Memoirs of the Mistress of the Dark. Not sure what I'll pick up next, but I have a lot of unread books on my shelf.

Happy New Year! I welcomed the first day of the new year with a 4pm breakfast, because why not enjoy one of the last lazy days before real life starts up again. Besides, breakfast is wonderful, no matter what time of day. See? This cat agrees. But since it will be back to business very soon, here are my goals for this month: 💜 Complete all 30 days of Yoga with Adriene's MOVE series. I want to add some longer videos into my routine, since the ones I do right now tend to be around 20 minutes. 💙 Only get take out/eat out with friends and family. If I'm all by my lonesome, I'm going to focus on saving money and improving my cooking skills by actually making what I am in the mood for. The only exception is if it's a date night, family comes to visit, or I'm with friends. I still want to be reasonable and enjoy myself, and I know completely banning restaurants isn't practical. 💚 Track my calories/meals in My Fitness Pal. I always feel better and eat more mindfully when I'm keeping track of things which I haven't exactly been doing these last couple of weeks.

Meditation: Done this morning Hobbies: Started learning how to make a hat Yoga: Just finished up now.

Yoga: Done today at lunch Meditated: This morning Hobbies: Didn't fall down the youtube hole by knitting and cleaning while listening to podcasts.

Meditation: Done this morning. Yoga: Did a 10 minute routine when I got home. Hobbies: The scarf is done!

It is very snowy out, so staying in means I knocked all three off my to-dos pretty quickly. Meditated after I woke up. Yoga before lunch Hobbies: this scarf is seriously so close to being done. Like maybe one more day.

I'll be honest...I skipped yesterday. But in my defense, it was my birthday. Granted, it was a very low key birthday owing to the upcoming holidays and you know...everything else...but having a lazy day was also quite nice. As for today: Just wrapped up yoga. Meditated this morning. And I am so close to finishing this scarf that it may actually be ready for winter time this year. So hobbies done and done.

Man, I spoke too soon about the sunny weather because today was grey and rainy and gross. On the bright side, my two weeks off from work is so soon I cannot wait. Meditation: Done this morning. Yoga: Did a small ten minute routine. Hobbies: Got in a small amount of writing and knitting, which is still better than doing nothing.

The fact that we've actually had sun for two straight days after two weeks of cloudy days has definitely improved my overall mood. Oh Canadian winters...I prefer colder weather, but why do you have to be so grey all the time? Meditation: Done this morning. Actually went pretty well. Yoga: Almost gave up part way through and wound up making modifications to make it a bit easier, but still got through the whole 30 minute routine. Hobbies: Continued to work on my short story. My goal is to get it done by the end of January, and I'm actually feeling pretty positive about hitting that goal.

Today was actually pretty good, though my eating habits definitely got out of hand again. Meditation: Done this morning. Yoga: Got some done after work, and it was really nice to wrap up the day. Hobbies: Got in some writing and some knitting.

Well today was definitely not the best in terms of healthy choices. I decided to cozy up with junk food and vampire movies after hearing about Anne Rice. I didn't always like her as a person, but I can't deny that my tastes would be very different if I hadn't picked up Interview with the Vampire in grade 9. I did do my tasks for today though. Meditation: Done this morning and then again in the afternoon. Yoga: Done and done. Hobbies: Made a new spruce scented candle. For some reason the tops have been coming up pretty rough. I think this has to do with the room temperature being cooler, since the ones I made in summer/fall didn't have this problem. I should really just get a heat gun already to fix stuff like that.

Covering yesterday and today, because I didn't have time last night. Yesterday Meditation: Done in the morning Hobbies: Got in some knitting and some candle research Yoga: Done and done Today Meditation: Done when I woke up. It was easier when I didn't have work waiting for me. Hobbies: I'm going to say cooking/baking counts, because a lot of that happened even though it's not my usual hobby. Meditation: Did a short one today, but still got it in.

Meditation: Successfully done this morning. Yoga: Surprised myself by doing 20 minutes of yoga even though I was exhausted. Hobbies: Did some candle research. I think come the new year I'll be confident enough to give one to another person so they can tell me what they think.

Today was not the greatest in terms of health/fitness. I barely got any sleep last night and I woke up feeling exhausted. I did do all of my challenge items, so I'm happy about that...but I also ate a truly disgusting amount of cookies and iced coffee. I'm trying be easy on myself about it, especially since I've actually been pretty good overall in the last few months, but I won't pretend I wasn't a little disappointed in myself once I took a step back. Meditation: Well, I was already awake when my alarm went off, so going back to sleep wasn't a risk. Yoga: Did 15 minutes of yoga right after work. Hobbies: Made progress on the scarf. Also, got a lot of cleaning done, which isn't a hobby, but definitely improved my mental health.

This is an amazing book. Can't wait to see what you think of it! I've been so bad this year in terms of reading--I used to read all the time, and this past year I just could not get into it. I want to get back into the habit next year for sure...I certainly have enough unread books on my shelf.

Those cakes look amazing!

Yoga: I got my flu shot today and my arm is pretty sore, so I kept it gentle today with this bedtime yoga routine that is more focused on stretching out the legs/back than anything too intensive on the arms. Meditation: Done this morning, nothing really to comment on this time around. Hobbies: Turns out you use your arms/hands for a lot of stuff, so I wrote a bit more and am now deciding to rest up. The knitting/candle making/whatever else is going to have to wait until tomorrow.

Well, I know I'm hungry. You'll have to post pictures!