Jié Xī

So, I've not done very well logging in every day let alone every week. But I have worked out nearly every planned workout day. I have been working on my getting up from the floor, but I haven't googled ankle mobility exercises yet, nor have I designed a pull up routine yet. This week's WAM (Weekly Accountability Meeting): Follow Meal Plan. Weight Workout Mon, Tues, Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat Log in for Daily Huddle: State the day's goal and report on the success (or failure) of the previous day's goal. I will try to remember to do this.

Jié Xī ( the rebel formerly known as Magdalena Ravenclaw) attempts her first 12 Week Year (over the next 3 NFR challenges). Shortly before the New Year, I discovered the book, The 12 Week Year. While I am applying it mostly to business goals, I am also going to use it to attempt to achieve my fitness goals. I have to have a Week Accountability Meeting (which means log in here at least weekly and report on my progress). It is also suggested to have a Daily Huddle (which would be logging in daily just long enough to say if I accomplished the previous day's goals). Main 12 Week Quest : Zip My Coat(s). Not sure what weight/pounds that will be, but I am trying to focus on something less abstract and more profitable than seeing a number on the scale. I like coats the way many women like shoes. But I've gained weight after 2 kids (now 4 and 6) and though I lost 30 of the 60 gained during pregnancy, I'd like to get the rest off and get back into most of my nicer clothes. But, I recently realized why I have failed at my weight loss attempts for the past 4 years. It's because I am no longer fat / in the obese category as I was for 4 years. I'm not thin by any means (I'm in the overweight category), but I don't hate what I see anymore in the mirror, so the discomfort of not snacking or enjoying pizza does not outweigh the discomfort of not liking my reflection. So in other words my "long-term vision" (lose weight) which is suppossed to keep me motivated and focused on my goal (of not snacking) isn't working because my actual goal is "don't be fat" and I achieved it. With that in mind, my new goals are more fitness oriented. I will be 45 this year, and while writing my 5, 10, and 15 year vision (for 12 Week Year) of who and where I want to be, I realized my goal is to maintain (or up) my current level of fitness. We went to the zoo the other day, and while my mom and MiL went to the restroom, I ran up and down 3 flights of stairs. I want to be able to do that at 50, 55, and 60. I don't want age to stop me at anything fitness-wise. So, I need to get stronger and more flexible (which is part of this 12 week year goal) and then maintain that level of strength and flexibility. But working on that should by default help me achieve weight loss as well and so my goal is to be able to zip my puffer coat and button my 2 wool coats. Maybe, I will take pictures of how much they won't close. Side Quest/Warrior Goal: Do one complete pull up (or chin up). I've never done either one in my adult life (now in my 40's), and I have an old shoulder injury in the left and new shoulder injury I've only just recovered from in the right. So, in the event that a pull up is unrealistic to achieve in 12 weeks, I am leaving myself the chin up option. Also, I usually get up from the floor by doing split squat, putting both hands of my front knee, and pushing up with an old lady groan. No more. I watched a YouTube video on how to get up from the floor gracefully and have incorporated that into my lower body routine. The video pointed out that I have poor ankle mobility, so I will be incorporating an ankle mobility workout into my lower body routine. Side Quest/Druid Goal: Touch my toes. I've never done this in my adult life either. From sitting, my hands are about just past my knees (wrists over knees). From standing, my back is flat as a table (would like for my chest to touch my thighs). Again, I have no idea if this is a realistic goal or not. But there is bound to be flexibility improvements if I actually do yoga 3+ days a week (compared to 3x a year, which is about the norm for me). Any improvement would be nice. I have two yoga routines (one is a 10 minute full body, the other is a 12 minute leg and hip focus). I've also taken up Tai Chi Sword (I have two swords complete with tassels) and am really enjoying it. I tried a Tai Chi workout without the swords and it was boring / too slow. But put swords in my hands and I can do slow and deliberate like a boss, lol. But the TCS is not actually part of my goal. It's more a fun hobby that I took up that compliments my fitness goals.

I finally did a full upper body workout tonight. I only did one set of reps (instead of my normal two), but fear of injury and/or pain has been holding me back. But I did the reps and no pain. So assuming I don't fear horrible pain tomorrow, I should be able to resume my regular workouts. Yay!

Hahaha, I have no idea. I think that I'm just still adjusting to being a special needs mom, who is homeschooling, and still adjusting to allowing my 6 year old be the grade he is (pre-k with phonological weakness instead of first grade). I'm good now, but it was hard at first. We were doing kindergarten, and it just wasn't working, so I had to drop hold him back again, 2 years. It was hard. Hard for me, not him, lol. Once we dropped back to Pre-k instead of Kindergarten he went from "I hate to school" to "I love school" so I know we are in the right grade. And I have the best phonological curriculum on the market (was fortunate enough to find it on Ebay as it's expensive). It's just hard to watch him struggle. He cannot hear rhymes. Cat, rat . . . he just looks at me blankly, cuz he can't hear the similarities. And so he struggles. But he loves to play this rhyming Bingo game I found . . . even though he can't hear the rhymes, lol . . . it's almost funny. But his loving to learn is what's important. So that makes me happy.

Definitely just a beginner. And I'm sure I suck at drawing, lol. . . so that kinda sucks if I need to know how to draw in order to watercolor. Hahahaha. Loose watercoloring looks so easy. You just have to give the impression of a tree, lol, not actually know how to draw a tree. At least that's what one of the YouTube videos I watched implied, lol. But it all seriousness, yes, I would LOVE to troubleshoot together when I can give it the time it deserves. But for now, I am swamped with work projects. But it is high on my list of priorities for next quarter as a way to step back from work and relax. So I will def touch base with you then. Thanks!!! <3

My hubby is trying to limit time on the phone too. He is def addicted. Littles are so much fun aren't they? Mine are 4 and six. Both autistic so not quite reading yet, but they love to sit beside me and "read" make up stories about the pictures.

I took up watercoloring for a few weeks over the summer. I found it very relaxing. I was doing pretty good while following along with youtube videos, but then I decided on a style (loose) and tried to get better (rather than just relax and enjoy). I watched several videos by Sterling Edwards and others, but every one seemed to have a different techniques and I ended up disliking everything I painted, and having no idea what I was doing wrong. It stopped being relaxing and I gave up, lol. I love your fish. He's beautiful. It's making me wonder if I should give watercoloring a second chance.

So, family left and after 2 days of good eating, I dropped 4 of the 11 pounds I gained. I'm actually feel much more positive that I can get back to my pre-Thanksgiving weight by Christmas Eve. My shoulder is getting better every day, so I will probably resume weight lifting today or tomorrow. I also need to get back into Tai Chi which I had only just added to my routine when family came to visit for 6 weeks so of course it immediately fell by the wayside. After practically living between 166 and 172 for the last 5 years, entering January at 159 feels incredibly motivational and like 2023 will definitely be the year that I get back to goal.

I have very realistic prop swords (Tai Chi style even with tassels). This way I don't have to worry about my littles while I exercise. Don't want a Wheel of Time situation, lol. Barely got some sleep last night due to the shoulder pain. It is still VERY sore. But my back, ironically, is fine. Thanks!

Eating today went well. I was going to lift weights this afternoon but then forgot. Then this evening I took my littles roller skating for the first time. I haven't been on skates in forever. Of course I fell (trying to help the 4 year old back up after he fell) right on my tailbone at the beginning of the two hours. I then spent the rest of the evening bent over to stabilize the walker/trainer thing that my son was holding on to. Drove home (half an hour) by the time I got home my body was ridiculously stiff and in pain. I've taken an 800 ibuprofen and am now allowing my back massager to kneed my back. As I was closing the van door, my shoulder screamed in pain. I have no idea why. I didn't hurt my shoulder (that I know of). I can only assume that it was because that was the arm I used to help my son to his feet every time he fell. Point is, I would have lifted weights this evening but today is upper body. I feel like I shouldn't be in this much pain, lol. Must be getting old. Sigh.

Main Quest: Don't Gain Weight from now until January 10 (and lose the little I gained over this Thanksgiving weekend) Side Quest: Practice Tai Chi Sword (3x a week minimum) Side Quest: Lift Weights (4x a week minimum) Main Quest. I've been struggling to get out of the 160's for months. Months and months and months. (Technically about 2 years. But let's not go there.) I finally hit 159 mid November, then shot back up to 163. Then back to 159 right before thanksgiving. I'm sure I'm up again . . . but I refuse to get on the scale. Need a few more days between Thanksgiving and now. Once I'm back at 159, I am hoping to maintain that from now through the Christmas holiday. If I can actually lose some too, that would be cool. But if I can just enter 2023 in the 150's even if it's 159, I'll be stoked. Side Quests. Tai Chi Sword and Weight Lifting. Basically just trying to be consistent. I do both about 2-3x a week. I would like to get that to 4-6x a week. I would love for it to become so second nature that I actually notice when I don't workout (and miss it!) rather than, late at night, realizing, oh, man, I forgot to workout again. My life is a bit out of the norm right now (have family visiting), but I will have my house to myself again come next week (Dec 5th). At that time, it'll be much easier to get back into my normal routine (less food in the house, less junk food in the house, less eating out). So this week, I'm trying to get back to 159, but there's still several more "family eating events" between now and then. I've been upping my workouts to try and compensate. I'm glad my December social calendar is pretty empty after this coming weekend, lol.

I'm not sure why I gained that week, but I am losing 1-2 pounds now that I am doing 3:4, so that's much more motivating to stick to it. I was 159.8 this past Friday and tomorrow we leave for vacation, so I am sure there will be a bit of a gain. But I do think that I will be able to maintain on 5:2 but I much prefer 800 calories on fast day rather than 500. So yes, I think I can maintain my weight loss o 5:2 since I am losing so well on 3:4. I'm pretty happy overall as I think I will reach goal by Christmas.

So, I just checked a 2020 challenge to see what I weighed for vacation last year this time and I had made it out of the 160's. I got to 157, went on vacation, came back in the 160's and I don't think I've seen it since that point. This is so utterly frustrating. It makes me feel as though I am wasting my life and not enjoying food for nothing since I'm stuck in the 160's anyway. I'm glad I found the 5:2 diet, but I am not convinced that I will stick to it for life to maintain. I gained last week fasting 2x and eating maintenance 5x -- that doesn't really bode well. I've upped my fasting days and am losing better . . . I should be in the 150's just in time to go on vacation. I will meal plan but not going to fast. Ugh. Here is my weight from 2015 right before 2 back to back pregnancies through now. The red circle is when I joined NFR.

So far so good. It's def nice to not have off limit foods. I'm still holding my breath that it actually works. I feel I won't actually know until I get out of the 160's, since I've been stuck here for 2.5 years. If I in month on this diet, I'm in the 150's, yea, I will sing the praises of this diet for life, lol.

Only .4 this week, but considering I ate at maintenance calories levels (1900) and I didn't work out, I can't really complain, lol. Going to stick to 1400 this week and have already meal planned for the week including for a church cookout Sunday. Am hoping to see at least 1 if not 2 pound loss next week. If I do, then this diet works better than even Keto for me. Which would be absolutely amazing, because I can eat real food and all food groups. What a concept,