Starting Again

[Lady Amezan]

Hi Rebels!

 

A few years ago I was doing regular strength training and cooking lots of healthy food. But since then, I prioritized other things. Those things were important, and I don't regret them,  but not surprisingly, by setting my health to the side I gained 40 pounds and a bunch of new aches and pains. 

 

But not all those who wander are lost. I know what I need to do, I just need to get started doing it.

 

My big overarching goal: develop the healthy habits that will keep me feeling okay long-term despite a mostly sedentary life (I'm a writer and teacher who does a lot of meditation). And I'm thinking on a big scale--I want to form habits over the next 12 months that will keep me healthy for YEARS. I'm 43 now, and I want to develop habits I can maintain and still be practicing daily when I turn 50.

 

A secondary goal is to lose 40 pounds over the next 12-15 months. 

 

My starting goals for this first month aren't huge. I have better long-term success when I keep my goals easy. Also, I live in South Korea and we're about to have a big holiday here (Thanksgiving, September 24-26) so my schedule is going to be all over the place. 

 

Nutrition quests:

** I'll substitute water or no-cal herbal tea for soda, juice and mix coffee. (In case you don't know Korean instant coffee: Maxim Gold is addictive as CRACK.)

** I'll pay attention to my food and eat mindfully. Whenever I eat, I'll avoid reading, TV and the computer, and focus on the taste of my food. This sounds easy but in practice it's so, so hard to do. And to do it for a whole month? Really, I don't know if I can beat this quest. But dammit, if Frodo could walk to Mordor, I can try to turn off the damn TV for 10 minutes.

 

Workout quests:

** Do something physical every day. In week one, I'm alternating a beginner flexibility routine and a beginner yoga routine. (I've got YouTube videos picked out.) At the end of the week, I'll evaluate: whether I want to start bodyweight training with NF Academy, continue daily flexibility training or whether I can add a daily walk (so far I'm finding it hard to get up 5 minutes early! Can I perhaps manage a lunchtime walk?)

 

Life quest:

** I'll wash the dishes once a day. This one habit always makes a huge difference in whether I eat and drink healthier things. Seriously. The dishes are like a major, major Boss Battle for me. I hate doing the dishes so much, and if I do them everything about the day is better, I make healthier snacks, and I'm not tempted to stop in the convenience store. (Since I live in Korea, I'm only 100 yards from an awesome 24-hour convenience store full of wonderful things. This is a challenge.) 

 

I can't wait to work together with the other rebels starting our first month challenges! 

 

And here's a link to my character:  https://www.nerdfitness.com/character/308643

 

[Lady Amezan]

Finishing day one here (I'm in South Korea, so we're going to bed when Americans get up in the morning):

 

Good day one:

I drank water when I was tempted by the sweet coffees.

Didn't distract myself with screens or books at meals. It's really beautiful outside today and it was nice looking out the window.

Did my flexibility routine after work.

Washed the dishes, even conquering one particular pan that was really hard to clean. Imagine me muttering to myself as I scrub, "I'm a hero--I'm a hero."

[Odango]

Haha! Awesome first day!

I also find it incredibly difficult to not distract myself when eating. Sometimes soothing classical music helps me feel less restless and focus on the food (when there's nothing nice to look at for example ^_^).

Sugo haesseoyo!

[Mera]

7 hours ago, Lady Amezan said:

Washed the dishes, even conquering one particular pan that was really hard to clean. Imagine me muttering to myself as I scrub, "I'm a hero--I'm a hero."

 

 

Haha, I love it. Not all superheroes wear capes, some scrub pans!

[Lady Amezan]

16 hours ago, Mera said:

 

Haha, I love it. Not all superheroes wear capes, some scrub pans!

 

This hero thing is useful!  It was such a long day today, the only way I got myself to wash the dishes was by telling myself, "You're a hero, dammit. Heroes wash dishes."

 

[Lady Amezan]

Day 2 ending here in the Far East, and it went fine despite a frustrating day at work. Normally I wouldn't have come home and done anything healthy after a day like that, but I felt like I had to do it because of the Challenge, so I guess this thing is working?

 

** No beverages with calories, not even a beer this evening, though sorely tempted. I'm drinking more water than usual, just because I'm thinking about water more. It definitely feels good to drink more water. 

** Did the 20 minute yoga video (Yoga with Adriene on YouTube) and I finally held downward dog the full length of time. This video is super gentle and easy but I'm so out of shape that I wasn't able to do everything the first few times I did it. Nice to see some progress. Someday I won't be totally weak anymore!

** No screens or books while eating 

** The dishes are washed. Hallelujah.

 

Small but important victories! I hope everyone else is having or going to have a great day 2!

[Odango]

Well done!! Super props to you for resisting that beer!

 

[Harriet]

Awesome challenge, great job on the yoga and water. Drinks are so tempting because they don't fill you up, so you can always have more. Plus they give you something to do if you're slightly bored. sip, sip, sip. I too am giving up alcohol and excessive caffeine for the challenge, and I miss my wine. Since your day ends as mine begins, hopefully I can take strength from your water drinking! I also want to hear how the yoga videos work out for you, if they make you stronger or just stretchier, or maybe fill you with zen calm... 

Interestingly, I used to hate washing dishes as a teenager. I thought it was the absolute worst. I don't mind it now, not sure what changed. Obviously it's not objectively difficult so I guess a mental change occurs if you do it often enough or just decide it's not so bad? I hope that happens for you, too.

 

PS I Love the sword in the stone gif. That was such a favourite when I was little.  Do you remember the song they sing as fish?

[Mera]

Awesome job on day 2! Resisting that call of the beer is no easy feat.

I'll have to look up that Adriene person on YouTube. With you and Nol talking about stretching in your challenges, I now feel the urge to do the same.

[Lady Amezan]

13 hours ago, Harriet said:

Interestingly, I used to hate washing dishes as a teenager. I thought it was the absolute worst. I don't mind it now, not sure what changed. Obviously it's not objectively difficult so I guess a mental change occurs if you do it often enough or just decide it's not so bad? I hope that happens for you, too.

 

PS I Love the sword in the stone gif. That was such a favourite when I was little.  Do you remember the song they sing as fish?

 

I love that gif because I really wish I could do dishes by magic! I don't know why I hate dishes so much, maybe because they pile up so quickly. It's funny, though, I remember my grandmother hated doing dishes too. They interfered with her book-reading time. She would use every clean fork, spoon and knife in the whole kitchen before doing dishes--about once a week. Sometimes I think I'm turning out like her! 

 

I'm really hoping I can reach that mental place of not hating dishes, or at least of having hero power to defeat them on a regular basis. It makes such a difference to whether or not I eat healthy (especially since I have a small apartment without a ton of food prep space).

[Odango]

Or maybe you'll reach that place where you can have a dishwasher some day xD My husband absolutely hates doing dishes too and hoping for a dishwasher some day is what keeps him sane, haha!

[Lady Amezan]

54 minutes ago, Nol said:

Or maybe you'll reach that place where you can have a dishwasher some day xD My husband absolutely hates doing dishes too and hoping for a dishwasher some day is what keeps him sane, haha!

 

Ha! Yes, that's a good idea: Quest for Dishwasher!

[Lady Amezan]

Day 3 and steady as she goes:

 

1. Was offered sugary coffee by colleagues and resisted. 

2. Paid attention to my meals despite temptation to phone browse.

3. Dishes weren't so bad today (mainly because there weren't many).

4. Flexibility routine great. After just a week of gentle stretching/yoga routines, I feel much more connected to my body. I got unhealthy in the first place because I started ignoring my body. When I ignore my body I do things that hurt it. When I pay attention to it--and give it compassion--I find it much easier to do healthy stuff. 

 

I hope everyone's off to a good start of Day 3!

[Odango]

In tune!

 

Amazing job today! Coffee break at work is tough to resist, isn't it?

 

[Mera]

6 hours ago, Lady Amezan said:

When I ignore my body I do things that hurt it. When I pay attention to it--and give it compassion--I find it much easier to do healthy stuff. 

 

 

Totally! A bit of self love and compassion goes a long way. As soon as I start taking care of my body a bit more like this, making healthier choices becomes so much easier.

 

[Exylem]

I also HATE doing dishes, but I did what you intend to do (washing them everyday) and it makes things so much easier! It is boring as hell, but when i go to the kitchen and everything is clean and ready for cooking, i give myself a pat on the back and say: "Thanks, past me! I won't need to clean anything before cooking and eating!"

[Harriet]

Awesome job on today, keep it up! 

[Lady Amezan]

Awesome gifs, gang! I need to work on my gif game.

 

Day 4:

Busy as heck at work, managed to stick to my goals anyway. The fact that I ate an ice cream cone mid-afternoon just makes me very happy my goal wasn't "avoid ice cream." It's all about setting achievable goals, right?

 

I hope everyone has a great day 4! As they say here in Korea, Fighting!

[Harriet]

13 hours ago, Lady Amezan said:

The fact that I ate an ice cream cone mid-afternoon just makes me very happy my goal wasn't "avoid ice cream."

Yep, I feel the same! I realised that having very specific, limited challenge goals means I can give myself leeway on other things, which makes it easier to be strict about the challenge goals. When I try to fix everything at once, I cheat on everything. I'm currently eating plenty of cheese, and not cutting calories in general.

 

 

I sometimes feel guilty, but then I remember that my first goal is getting more energy, not losing weight (I'm a normal weight). Then I shrug, eat some butter, and keep grinding away at the no-refined-carbs slog. 

[Lady Amezan]

9 hours ago, Harriet said:

When I try to fix everything at once, I cheat on everything.

 

This is very well said! Yeah, one thing at a time.

[Lady Amezan]

And I prevailed today, despite being totally exhausted. It's the last day before the Thanksgiving holiday here in Korea, which means it's the beginning of a five-day weekend. I really, really need the long weekend because I've been pushing myself hard at work. So. Tired. 

 

I hope everyone has a great day 5!

[Harriet]

Good job getting it done despite the tired! What do you do for thanksgiving in Korea? Is it like American thanksgiving? 

[Odango]

On 9/20/2018 at 1:08 PM, Lady Amezan said:

It's all about setting achievable goals, right?

 

13 hours ago, Harriet said:

 When I try to fix everything at once, I cheat on everything.

 

Amen to that!

 

I'm also curious about Korean Thanksgiving what the Korean name?

Enjoy all that well-deserved rest!

 

And hwaiting!

 

 

[Banana92]

Hi Amezan! Just wanted to say that I've been reading the forums for a couple of weeks, and finally signed up because of your post! I literally JUST got back from South Korea (was there over the thanksgiving weekend too) and felt I could identify with the addictive coffee! Good job on your first week, I hope that it gets easier to stick with as your schedule stabilises :)

[Lady Amezan]

18 hours ago, Banana92 said:

Hi Amezan! Just wanted to say that I've been reading the forums for a couple of weeks, and finally signed up because of your post! I literally JUST got back from South Korea (was there over the thanksgiving weekend too) and felt I could identify with the addictive coffee! Good job on your first week, I hope that it gets easier to stick with as your schedule stabilises

 

Maxim Gold Mix Coffee is my kryptonite!! So glad you joined! I always find it hard to stay on track when there's travel involved. Good luck and hwighting!