Seabright's 2018 Battle Log of Awesomeness

[Seabright]

Wed-Sun, Nov 21-25

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - all good.
• Lunch - all good.
• Dinner - mostly good (did have a slice of chiffon cake on TG)
• Snacks - mostly good (2 kind bars and one Jamba Juice smoothie)

Daily exercise

• Wed - Solid yoga session - 30 mins, yoga for energy.
• Fri - BWW Plan B.
• Sat & Sun - 2 great walks, 45 mins and 90 mins.

Taking time

• Offered to run errands.
• Gazed off into the middle distance in the yard.
• Took the long way a couple of times.

Bravery & Patience

• Wed - Patience and deep breaths. Had been looking forward to wfh today w/o interruption, but spousal unit just decided to skip work today. Quelling frustration, and getting ready to move out of shared office and back into the living room for privacy and focus time.
• Thur - Sun - Practiced listening, and patient with myself about this. I tend to rush to solutions, instead of listening to others and letting them feel heard first. The solution may be the same, but it's important that others get to have their full say. It just doesn't take any longer. 
• Really. It doesn't.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• None. Sigh.
• I feel like I've lost my way with this. At this point, I'll be starting over - with dexterity and with knowledge.
• I need to sit down and analyze the current roadblock. With the spousal unit working right now, I've got solo practice time I need in the  evenings, but I'm not making this a priority.
• Hmmmmmm.
• Maybe it's as simple as changing the strings? They are dead, and I don't know how to do this myself. 
• Sounds like a job for a Youtube video. 

Act like a leader 

• Time to create a plan to solve the wfh-but-not-being-able-to-wfh-really-because-of-contant-interruptions issue. 
• Will create some 'taking time' space today to create an actionable plan. It may be multi-step, it may take more than a year and saving dolares and work and such as that,  but it needs to be done. 

[Seabright]

Mon, Nov 26

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - veggie omelet and 4 pieces of bacon. cholesterol be damned.
• Lunch - salad w/veggies and chicken.
• Dinner - turkey burger, broc, sweet potato fries.
• Snacks - apple, blueberry fruit shake, very weird 'healthy' protein bar thingie. like eating a lead pipe.

Daily exercise

• Yoga for 20 mins. Solid basics. 
• Walked for 11 mins.

Taking time

• Stopped and grocery store and puttered around.
• Had been looking forward to a few mins alone time at home afterwork, but after stopping at the store and taking a walk, it was all gone. 

Bravery & Patience

• Bravely risked looking stupid and asked for info and definitions.
• Got what I needed, and was able to move on.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• Geez. None. 
• I really do need to be alone for this. I really do.
• Another reason to accelerate the Louise's Garden Office project. That's probably over a year out, and I can't just not practice until then, but the thought of having my own space is definitely a driver to keep moving this forward.

Act like a leader 

• Learning how to ask questions, and then sit still and LISTEN to the answers.
• Working towards not making the questions leading, or forming my opinion or advice before hearing full answers.
• This is harder than it sounds. It seems so obvious, but when you actually become conscious of your listening-responding behavior, you really see how bad you are at this.
• And by 'you' I mean 'me.' 

[Seabright]

Tue, Nov 27

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - veggie omelet and 4 pieces of bacon. The breakfast guy just piled those on without me asking for 'em, which is a very bad sign.
• Lunch - salad w/hard boiled egg (chicken sold out).
• Snacks - apples, 2 almond-kale ball thingies.
• Dinner - salmon with tons o' spinach, very small taste of the spousal unit's berry gelato.

Daily exercise

• Nada. very very very difficult to get up this morning. 4th night in a row where I've awakened at 3:00 am and couldn't get back to sleep.

Taking time

• Another day running from thing to thing, with more things in between.
• Arrived home and instantly had to launch into hostess mode.

Bravery & Patience

• On deck: my first real staff meeting, with an agenda and everything. 
• Update: did it! asked for something i needed, without worrying about whether or not people were/weren't going to like it. had a team discussion on another topic, listened, and asked questions.
• Ended 20 mins early and then let everyone go.
• I think this was a success. 

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• Gazed at it longingly while walking out the door to do something else.

Act like a leader 

• I think I might have one employee who isn't super-psyched to have me be her manager (she was the one who was very late to our first 1/1, and then  just plain didn't show up to our first  group get-to-know-ya). Not sure how to approach this, but I think a little research is in order. I'm not taking it personally, but since I think she'd like to position herself for a promotion, we may have to talk about it at some point.

[Seabright]

Wed, Nov 28

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs with veggies, 2 turkey sausage. back home again.
• Lunch - 2 fish tacos and a handful of corn chips.
• Dinner - pulled pork on a bed of lettuce, one child-sized beer.

Daily exercise

• Light yoga it the am.
• Made up yesterday's workout, but bailed on the crab lift thingies (elbow tweakage. in the extreme.)

Taking time

• Stepped outside between rain squalls for a breath of fresh air.

Bravery & Patience

• Patient with someone who felt slighted.
• Brave with someone who was dissed by their former manager and had her soul crushed. Quickly came up with a bright side and a way to move forward. Hope I helped.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• Played my bass for a bit.

Act like a leader 

• Modeling self-care by wfh today, instead of braving heavy rain and solo spinout in the mountains.

[Seabright]

Mon, Dec 3

 

Eating paleo

• Meals today: the less said, the better.

 

Daily exercise

• 20-minute walk
• 20-minute restorative yoga session after work.

Taking time

• Saw a redtail near the marsh. He posed at the top of a tree while I got a nice shot. 

Bravery & Patience

• Trying to bravely accept that I have a bit more elbow room in my schedule.
• Part of this is the result of not trying to attend every single team meeting on the planet. I'm letting my actual team attend these. Since this is a departure of what my predecessor did, it involves answering the 'why weren't you there' question multiple times.
• It's just that I'm not sure how my team will understand that I trust them, if I don't actually, you know, trust them.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• Oy.
• I don't want to take this off, but I'm starting to bum myself out.

Act like a leader 

• Met the new contractor. 

[Seabright]

Great talk with Coach Pat today. I'm going to kick off Monday mornings from now on with a look at the upcoming week, and then PLAN any non-ideal-eating-drinking scenarios up front. 

 

So! Here's the outlook for special food-related events and potential hazards:

 

Friday

• Dinner w/friends for the spousal unit's birthday.
• Will control things a bit by making dinner, instead of the usual potluck scenario.
• Friends are vegetarians, so will make a few veggie-friendly dishes, and maybe some buttermilk biscuits (for others; i will skip).
• There will be champagne. I will alternate any of my champagne-ful glasses with a full glass of water.
• There will be cake. I will have one slice, and will enjoy the hell out of it.
• Leftovers will be sent home with the banjo player.

Saturday

• Birthday outing with the spousal unit.
• It may be a hike, or it may be an antique store. Either way, lunch will be the issue. 
• We'll look for a Chipotle, or if we want to sit down, an Applebee's or similar. 
• Will also bring along apples/oranges for sensible snacks along the way.

Sunday

• Spousal unit's actual birthday, but he's got a gig.
• Not sure what we'll do, but I may make a nice dinner.
• There will be dessert. I'm thinking apple turnovers or similar. Sweet, but not hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-chocolate-bar like Friday's cake will be.
• I will keep dinner light, and we'll eat it early, then follow with the lighter dessert, candles, and other birthday-ness.

[Seabright]

Tues, Dec 4

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - veggie omelet w/2 veggie sausage & bacon.
• Lunch - salad w/grilled chicken and veggies.
• Dinner - veggie burger, no cheese, no sauce, and a few sweet potato fries.
• Snacks - apples

Note: felt icky after the veggie burger, probably from the bun. next time, skip the bun, or just have the turkey burger lettuce wrap.

 

Daily exercise

• BWW workout. 
• Worked through my lunchtime walk, and then dark and raining after work. So no walk. 
• Insert major sad face here.

Taking time

• There really wasn't any.
• This made me feel sad. 

Bravery & Patience

• Ran another staff meeting.
• Bravely just ended early when there was nothing else to say.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• Oy.
• I don't want to take this off, but I'm starting to bum myself out.

Act like a leader 

• Started talking about goals with the team, if you can believe that. 

[Seabright]

Wed, Dec 5

 

Well, dang.

 

I had one of those awful awful moments this morning. I had a tricky meeting today, and really wanted to look my best to give me a mental edge. I had been planning on wearing a dress I consider to be my Power Dress. I haven't worn it since last year. I put it on and looked at myself in the mirror. Whoa. I've gained an easy 10 pounds since I last wore this thing, and the dress now looked awful, stretched out, and showing every horrid bump and bulge. What then ensued was a frantic search for something else that made me feel 'powerful', but by this point I was running out of time and everything looked too casual, sent the wrong message, or didn't fit. I ended up hiding myself in a big tunic and long scarf. Instead of feeling happy and strong, I walked out the door in borderline tears, feeling hopeless and lost. I was sort of teary all morning, too.

 

Well.

 

That actually hasn't happened in a long time, which is a good thing, but it used to be a regular occurrence. At some point, I just dumped everything that didn't fit, so I wouldn't have to feel like that. But, in the past year, with various sadnesses and stresses, the weight has been upped, and the clothes don't fit. A way forward from here: 

1. Address the root cause.
   In progress. I'm doing regular, sensible BWWs, that feel good, and I've got someone's watchful eye to make sure I don't hurt myself. I've addressed lunchtime shortcomings, and have plans--and backup plans--for food. I'm working with someone who is ready with support and ideas. 
    
2. Address the secondary cause.
   There are things in my wardrobe that don't fit. Let's find them and isolate them. Either give them away (and then potentially have the fun of buying new things later), or bag them up and put them on the top shelf of the closet. This is about self-protection, not about giving up.
    
3. Address the tertiary cause.
   If it's for an important event, try on the outfit at least 10 days in advance. If it fits, yayness! If it doesn't fit, bag it up (see above), and now you have enough time to identify an alternative. 

Update: Hid in another building and attended the meeting video. This was sort of chickening out, but it made me feel better, and I was actually a bit more effective not being in the room. 

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs and veggies, 2 turkey sausages.
• Lunch - turkey sand, no sauce, no cheese, just turkey, lettuce and whole wheat.
• Dinner - chicken breast and veggies in a light teriyaki sauce.
• Snacks - apples. also took one bit of a caramel-salt protein ball, but it was horrible. spit it out and tossed the rest.

 

Daily exercise

• Gentle yoga session in the morning. Worked on that right hip.
• Walked 12 mins, the bare minimum.

Taking time

• Walk was good. Thought a bit about this and that.

Bravery & Patience

• Attended the scary meeting. Gently pushed back, gently held my ground. I think it went okay.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• Did it! REALLY had to force myself, but did the dreaded first-time-after-you've-been-getting-somewhere-and-then-you-stopped-and-now-you-have-to-start-over out of the way.

Act like a leader 

• Had a good talk with my mentor about goal setting for my team. Came away with a better understanding of the process here. Plus, it felt good just to talk about how things are going.
• Deeply appreciated her time. Vowing not to take advantage of her availability to me, but so grateful she's there.

[Seabright]

Thurs, Dec 6

 

Feeling better this am.

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs and veggies, 2 turkey sausages.
• Lunch/Dinner - all good.

Daily exercise

• Nothing in the am. Kitty-kins was all purry-wurry and so snuggled with her instead.

Taking time

• Nice walk.

Bravery & Patience

• On deck: Going to bravely stick to my 11:30am walk time.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• Played some warm-ups and tried to remember my tunes.

Act like a leader 

• Looks like I have my first uncomfortable development discussion coming up. Someone would like a promotion, but she's actually not ready. Doing some research today to craft a way to address issues clearly and kindly, and then find a path forward to get her the skills she needs to get to the next level. 
• Might have to hit up the ol' mentor on this one already. 

[Seabright]

The weekend

 

The spousal unit's birthday! Took Friday off to go to neck doc, hit up the ol' aesthetician's office for some beauty maintenance, go to the grocery store, pick up a birthday cake, and make dinner for 5 peoples.

 

The banjo player showed up 1 1/2 hours early!!!!!!!!!! (<- Note that that was the banjo player). The big eating/drinking plan then went out the window, as I cracked the first bottle of champagne and tried to make dinner, clean the house, do some dishes, set the table, and entertain a 6' 4" banjo player, all at the same time. Ate a biscuit, ate 2 pieces of cake, drank way too much champagne, played some music, and everyone had a good time.

 

Later in the weekend, ate 2 of the cookies someone baked for the spousal unit, then we tossed the rest. We also tossed the gigantic pumpkin cupcake with about an inch of cream cheese frosting someone gave him. Friends who wanted to take him out to breakfast as a present were almost 2 hours late; we ate an apple galette each to keep from fainting. I had pre-paid for a 4" chocolate cappuccino cheesecake with writing (the traditional celebration cake for us), but by the time Sunday evening rolled around, we couldn't look it in the eye. Candles were blown out, we laughed, and then put it back in the fridge...to toss later (just couldn't bring ourselves to toss it immediately).

 

Somewhere in there, went for a nice walk and planted 250 daffodil and bluebell bulbs. 

 

Whew!

[Seabright]

Mon, Dec 10

 

Blech. Still feeling blech-y from the weekend. Blech. The stricter I am this week, the faster I'll get back to feeling good.

 

Look forward for the week

• Team lunch on Monday. Will go early to check out the food. If there's nothing for me to eat, will run and get a salad.
• Dinner with a friend on Monday. Will skip the wine, and order as paleo as I can.
• Will come in each day and set aside 30 mins for a walk. if it's raining, will walk around all floors of the office building. 
• Jam Wednesday night. Eat a good dinner first, and bring an apple to snack on. 

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs and veggies, 2 turkey sausages.
• Lunch - salad w/chicken.
• Dinner - chicken breast and veggies (friend bailed on dinner, rescheduled for tomorrow).
• Snacks - apples.

Daily exercise

• Light, warm-up-y yoga in the am.
• 10 min walk.

Taking time

• Drove through the little town on the way home. Went super slow, so I could look into all the Christmas windows. 

Bravery & Patience

• None.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• None.

Act like a leader 

• Wrote a bunch of reviews. 

[Seabright]

Tue, Dec 11

 

Weight: 127.2.

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - piece of zucchini bread.
• Lunch - thai chicken wrap.
• Dinner - chicken and green beans. 
• Snacks - apples and a cookie.

Daily exercise

• None.

Taking time

• None.

Bravery & Patience

• Had a medical appt for a skin check with a new doc. Bravely showed up.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• None.

Act like a leader 

• Had my first ever leadership-y conversation with the person who has tons of potential, but is currently lacking in craftsmanship. Think it went well. I wanted to treat this kindly, and encouragingly, but still be straightforward about what was wrong. Left it with some suggestions on ways to find one's purpose---you always want to be running to something, not running away from something. 
• I think it went well, but it's the type of thing that you won't know is successfully until 5 years have gone by. :-)

[Seabright]

Wed, Dec 12

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - blueberry scone.
• Lunch - salad w/chicken and veggies.
• Dinner - chicken and green beans. 
• Snacks - apples.

Daily exercise

• None.

Taking time

• None.

Bravery & Patience

• DID NOT EAT A MACAROON AT THE GIG! 
• Yay for me!

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• Bass gig.

Act like a leader 

• More leadership-y 1/1's with my team. Trying to listen more, talk less, ask questions, and get to the heart of things.

[Seabright]

Thur, Dec 13

 

Wow, really feeling yucky after all of this not exercising. Low back hurts, neck aches, coughing a lot, and drinking too much coffee. The only way I know to turn this around is by doing some yoga...or doing something. I'm taking a nice chunk of time off between Christmas and New Year's, but I feel like I'm sort of dangling around in limbo waiting for the time off to get here before really sinking my teeth into anything.

 

The psychology of the calendar. 

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs w/veggies and 2 turkey sausages.
• Lunch - salad w/veggies and chicken.
• Dinner - turkey burger lettuce wrap, a few too many sweet potato fries.

Daily exercise

• Went for a walk after work. The first step to recovery.

Taking time

• Not much.

Bravery & Patience

• Drove all the way in specifically for a 1/1 meeting --- with the proposer then canceled. 
• Patiently did not go ballistic. Am calling this a lesson learned. If I want to wfh for some reason, just do it.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• None.

Act like a leader 

• Have to have a meeting today with someone who thinks I report to him. I need to find my balance here. Be kind, and act like a partner, rather than a kafka-esque functionary. I think maybe I need a list of needs or questions or things he can clarify, rather than waiting for him to talk to me. 
• Update: he canceled the meeting. Hilarity ensued.

[Seabright]

Fri - Sun, Dec 14-16

 

Still jumping out of my skin on Friday. Maybe I need to make a list of things that are on my mind, and then just start checking them off. 

 

Things that are on my mind and making me feel like I can't move forward:

 

I need a haircut.

There's a mountain of laundry to do.

There are tons of dishes to do.

I still have a zillion reviews to write.

I haven't identified the PMs in that one segment.

I need to get xmas checks/cards for dad to sign to send to the sibling-units.

I'd like to send some xmas cards to friends this year. They are sitting in a big bag near my feet.

I want to get the shed project off the ground.

We paid off a gigantic 401k loan, and a mid-sized car loan, and I achieved a long-term goal of landing a people-manager job. None of those things have been really celebrated.

I haven't done yoga in a while, and I've missed a couple bww workouts. 

I'm worried about retirement planning...mostly because I've never really bothered to think about it before.

I need to clean out Dad's storage area and dump the garbage.

I'm not playing the mandolin. In fact, it's been so long that I feel I need to start over.

I'm not singing regularly, and I'm losing the high notes.

I'm coughing constantly, endlessly, and painfully.

I'm drinking coffee...to my detriment on a variety of levels.

 

Will cogitate on all of that and come up with a plan.

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - pretty good. had a breakfast sandy on a croissant at one point, but otherwise good.
• Lunch - all good.
• Dinner - all good.
• Snacks - apples, a jamba juice and a blueberry cliff bar.

Daily exercise

• Got walking in on all days.
• Did yoga on Sat & Sun.

Taking time

• First time just being in the yard in quite a while. 
• Also ran an errand and took a walk by myself.
• Note: Sharing an errand run with the spousal unit on Saturdays isn't a good idea. We've done that the past 2 weeks, but I'm realizing that that errand run is a big part of my taking-time-for-myself time, and when someone else is there the outing doesn't lend itself to random stops or mindlessly gazing at the water.

Bravery & Patience

• Struggled a bit with patience. I think I'm caught in that awful place where I don't know if I'm having not enough caffeine or too much caffeine.
• Next week will consciously cut back, in prep for Friday's elimination work.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• None.

Act like a leader 

• Re-reading 'It's Your Ship'. 

[Seabright]

Things that I'm doing today about the things that are on my mind and making me feel like I can't move forward:

 

I need a haircut.

 - Scheduled a cut with a new stylist for next Thursday afternoon.

 

There's a mountain of laundry to do.

 - Sorted it all and have started in on the loads. Setting a timer for each to make sure I move things along and don't forget.

 

There are tons of dishes to do.

 - Powered through and did the dishes in 15 minutes.

 

I still have a zillion reviews to write.

 - Set the timer and wrote 2. The rest should be manageable M-Th next week, if I stay on it, steady eddie.

 

I haven't identified the PMs in that one segment.

 - Wrote a reminder to self to ask DPM who these people are, first thing Mon am.

 

I need to get xmas checks/cards for dad to sign to send to the sibling-units.

 - Will prep tomorrow and take over Sunday eve.

 

I'd like to send some xmas cards to friends this year. They are sitting in a big bag near my feet.

 - Maybe during TV time?

 

I want to get the shed project off the ground.

 - Go to the shed place, check 'em out, decide, and get on their schedule.

 

I think there are wasps nesting in the attic.

 - Called the pest control people to come and see. 

 

We paid off a gigantic 401k loan, and a mid-sized car loan, and I achieved a long-term goal of landing a people-manager job. None of those things have been really celebrated.

 - Sent a note to the cat-sitter for availability between Christmas and New Year's week. Maybe we can sneak out of town for a day.

 

I haven't done yoga in a while, and I've missed a couple bww workouts. Feeling bleach.

 - Had a call with my coach and feeling like I've got some perspective on this. Walking helps.

 

I'm worried about retirement planning...mostly because I've never really bothered to think about it before.

 - Reminder for Tuesday to call identified financial planners.

 

I need to clean out Dad's storage area and dump the garbage.

 - I think I need to do this without the spousal unit around. He tries to keep absolutely everything. Plan: get the codes from him and schedule time.

 

I'm not playing the mandolin. In fact, it's been so long that I feel I need to start over.

 - Not sure what to do here. I like being by myself when I practice. And I need to change my strings.

 - Set a reminder to change my strings this weekend. 

 

I'm not singing regularly, and I'm losing the high notes.

 - Will call in sick next Fri, take vacay days, and then I'll have 12 full days to get out of caffeine's evil grip. Start date: longest day of the year. 

 

I'm coughing constantly, endlessly, and painfully.

 - See above.

 - Also, just took a cold and cough.

 - Also, will start daily neti potting again tomorrow. 

 

I'm drinking coffee...to my detriment on a variety of levels.

 - See above. 

[Seabright]

Mon, Dec 17

 

Feeling better, and a bit more in control.

 

Look forward for the week

• Connecting with a friend on Thursday. Will beg off 'happy hour' and just ask to meet at a restaurant somewhere.
• Jam Wednesday night. Eat a good dinner first, and bring an apple to snack on. 
• Friday is caffeine-free day. Will plan ahead and make sure I have lots of water and tea on hand, as well as lots of crunchy-sweet apples, and maybe some berries.

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs and veggies, 2 turkey sausages.
• Lunch - salad w/chicken and veggies.
• Dinner - chicken w/veggies and alight teriyaki sauce.
• Snacks - apples, and a white chocolate macadamia nut cliff bar. the bar tasted good, but still feeling it's effects a day later.

Daily exercise

• Nice yoga basics session in the am.
• 20 minutes walk.

Taking time

• Really had to force myself to take that walk. Glad I did.

Bravery & Patience

• Said what I thought.

Mando - 15 minutes a day 

• None.

Act like a leader 

• Doing my first set of candidate interviews as a people manager today. I want to be kind throughout the process, and find ways to ask open-ended questions to help me understand each candidate's process.

[Seabright]

Tues, Dec 18

 

Weight: 127.6.

 

I suppose I should be glad this went up only 1/2 pound, given all the garbage I ate last week. Also, am taking mando off for the rest of the year. I can't see myself turning this around in the short-term, and it's just getting depressing. Hoping to find my way again after a bit of a rest.

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs and veggies, 2 slices of bacon, 2 sausages. 
• Lunch - salad w/chicken and veggies.
• Dinner - chicken and green beans.
• Snacks - apples and fruit leather.

Daily exercise

• Had a 6am meeting, so nothing in the morning.
• BWW in the evening.
• 20 min walk.

Taking time

• Read a couple of lovely little posts on rest, and spiritual whitespace, and what that means. 
• Found myself craving rest, too. And lying on the couch watching TV ain't it.
• Food for thought. Rest with intention. Taking time. They are the same.

Bravery & Patience

• Took that walk in the morning. Whoa.

Act like a leader 

• Hoping to do at least 4 reviews today. Want to be fair and direct. Have already let my new team know that I won't be able to be too detailed, given that we're new to each other. Will do my best.

[Seabright]

Wed, Dec 19

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs and veggies, 2 turkey sausages.
• Lunch - salad w/chicken and veggies.
• Dinner - chicken and green beans.
• Snacks - 2 M&M cookies, 1 apple.

Daily exercise

• Nice, though brief, yoga session in the am.
• 30 minute walk around the buildings delivering little presents.

Taking time

• Oh, none. None at all. 

Bravery & Patience

• Very very bravely did not just put down my bass and walk away in the middle of that horrific jam session.

Act like a leader 

• Reviews done, including that really hard one.

[Seabright]

Thur, Dec 20

 

Eating paleo

• Breakfast - eggs and bacon.
• Lunch - chicken and veggies in a light teriyaki sauce. Next time, I'm going to skip the sauce.
• Dinner - heading out with a friend. will report back.
• Snacks - 3 tangerines.

Daily exercise

• Yoga in my chair. Yep, fact.

Taking time

• Snuck out and got my hair cut. 

Bravery & Patience

• Stuck to it and kept the dinner date with a friend, even though I just want to veg out in front of the TV. 

Act like a leader 

• Reviews done, including that really hard one.
• Plus, did a very honest self-assessment. 
• Yay for me!

[Seabright]

Dec 21 - 31

 

I QUIT COFFEE AND CAFFEINE AND ANYTHING CAFFEINE-RELATED AND CAFFEINATED. 

 

That's took most of my energy, honestly. Here's some other stuff, too, as well:

 

Eating paleo

• This could have been worse. Breakfasts were solid, lunches were pretty good, dinners okay-ish (alcohol, rice, dessert), and snacks were pretty good until the box of homemade fudge and Christmas cookies from my cousin arrived. ;-)

Daily exercise

• Stuck to yoga each day.
• Did my workouts.
• Did my walks, except one day when my knee was hurting.

Taking time

• It was challenging to work this in, since the spousal unit wasn't working, either. Took a couple walks on my own, took the long way home, went out and bought myself a winter hat, and took a few naps.

Bravery & Patience

• More than any tongue can tell.
• Horrible aggression and borderline violence at the old folks home. Hitting and blood was involved. By Christmas Eve, I was struggling to get the neurologist on the phone so I could get the med dosage upped. 
• In all of this, I stayed strong and true and continued my caffeine-withdrawal journey. And I didn't drink too much - the local brewery was out of amber, so why bother?
• Also, out-of-town guests.
• But I did it. Meds secured, Christmas day was managed, everyone left town by the end of the day on the 26th, and then the spousal unit and I drove out of town for a day or two on our own the morning of the 27th.
• Whew!

 

[Seabright]

2018 RECAP!

 

Let's take a look back and see how we did. What worked? What didn't? What did I learn?

 

As a reminder, I picked ONE goal, and articulated 3 ways to get there. Then, I chose ONE or TWO power words to help me focus all year long.

 

 

GOAL FOR 2018:

Focus on Eye health!

Get healthy, mind, body and soul, by eating paleo, getting daily exercise, and taking daily time for myself.

 

1. Get healthy by eating paleo

• Eye health: eye vitamins 2 x day, plus anti-oxidant snacks.
• Eat Paleo 80% of the time. Extra points for weeks where my eating is 100% Paleo.
• I will monitor weight with weekly weigh-ins each Monday morning and by keeping a food log (and reviewing said food log for what worked and what didn't).

     How I did

• Eye health: I stopped taking eye vitamins mid-year. Things had progressed as far as they were going to, and I felt that they were wreaking havoc with my digestive system. I ate pretty much only anti-oxidant snacks all year.
• Paleo: eating was mixed. Main meals were good, except for a months-long stumble where I ate rice and croissants and whatnot (and had the weight stall-out that went with it). Ended the year on a strong note: no caffeine, no grains, very little alcohol this last week. Feeling good.
• Weight: kept the log religiously, but stopped the regularly weigh-ins when things weren't moving in the right direction.

     What I learned

• Eye health is impacted mostly by an excellent diet and tons of exercise. 
• I feel my best when I'm skipping the grains, no question. 
• Weighing in monthly is enough. Too often and I find that it impacts my emotions and self-worth, and who needs that crap? Good to monitor this, though, to make sure things are stable and not inching up in the wrong direction. The food log helps, though, and I'll keep that up next year. 

      Grade

• B-

 

2. Get healthy by getting daily exercise

• Eye health: brisk 20 minute walk 4 x week.
• Daily yoga practice, even if it's only 10-minutes worth of stretching.
• Very very light bodyweight workouts, starting from ground zero. If I experience neck pain or arm numbness, I am to stop immediately. 
• Weekends will find me hiking, biking, or horseback riding on at least one day.
• I will monitor this by tracking activity here on my battle log.

     How I did

• Eye health: the walks were hit-and-miss most of the year, until I connected with my coach. Ended the year strong, with a nice daily walk.
• Yoga: very consistent here, especially when I switched to another teacher (DVD). Feeling good. Ended the year strong.
• BWW: started, injured, stopped, started, injured, stop, rinse and repeat. Ended the year strong, thanks to the new coach. 
• Weekend activity: fail. really, a big, fat fail. almost none, all year long. 

     What I learned

• Eye health is impacted mostly by an excellent diet and tons of exercise. 
• Yoga is essential to how I feel, physically and emotionally. Even if it's only for a few minutes, it's worth taking the time.
• BWW: I need to be monitored. ;-) 
• Weekend activity: what happened?? Looking back over the year, I let the tremendous amount of stress I was carrying impact me having fun. Sleeping in on the weekends, nightly alcohol, no energy, allergies, a hesitance to do things on my own if the spousal unit had a gig---I started out with one hike, it rained one Saturday, and then I never recovered. When I had some time and energy, I had to spend it raking leaves away from the house or doing laundry. No bueno. This needs to be addressed in 2019, big time.

      Grade

• B-

 

3. Get healthy by taking time for myself

• Eye health: keep stress levels low with breathing and meditation.
• Find a few minutes every day: solitary walk, cup of decaf in the early am in the backyard, journaling at lunchtime, stop at the beach on the way home to watch the waves, take the long way home, horseback riding -- these all count. This will make me a nicer person all around, and give me energy for other things.
• Learn 3 cowboy songs to play and sing lead on by March 30.
• Knock 3 items off my mandolin epic quest by June 30.
• I will monitor this by setting up a practice schedule and tracking it here on my battle log. 

     How I did

• Eye health: stress levels off the charts. 
• Alone time: pretty consistent here. Even when the only time I could find was taking the long way home, it helped.
• Songs: fail. None.
• Mandolin: Meh. Pretty consistent until the last quarter, then things fell off a cliff. 

     What I learned

• Eye health: impacted mostly by an excellent diet and tons of exercise. These also reduce stress. Like, duh.
• Alone time: makes a big, big difference, and doesn't need to be that big of a deal. This needs to roll into next year. 
• Songs: blocked by needing to figure out chords. also, blocked by thinking I can only learn stuff that I'm going to perform somewhere. Need to take a longer look at this. 
• Mandolin: Boy howdy. Once you get off track, it's really hard to get back to it! Privacy for practicing is still very much an issue. I think I need to bump up the priority of building that garden office. 

      Grade

• C+

 

 

POWER WORDS FOR 2018:

Patience & Bravery

 

These were the words, for sure. I think I started out with just 'patience', but added 'bravery' later. 'Cause, you know, I needed that bravery, big time. In fact, I think bravery is what gets you through everything...it takes bravery to have the confidence to be patient. 

 

 

Overall score:

 

B-

 

:-)