Lateral Planet Gets Serious

[Lateral Planet]

It's been a couple of uneventful days. Not sure why, but I've been feeling a bit low on energy. Could be a hormonal thing, could be not drinking enough water or it could just be that I haven't been for a run in a while. Either way, not much exercise has been done this week. But Fiancé has his poker night tonight so I'll have some time to myself, just got to find the willpower to use it!

 

I've been eating pretty well though. Haven't had anything deep-fried, but it was a close thing on Wednesday. I failed to pack lunch and the cafeteria optiins were pretty dismal, but I resisted the chips and took a risk on some kind of curry(?) which claimed to have prawns in but I sure didn't find any. Anyway, it was awful, but at least the rice was filling so I wasn't tempted to go back for chips after all.

 

I have let myself have a couple of M&Ms now and then. I thought instead of trying to banish the cravings altogether I'll just let myself have a taste. Either way it's less than I'd usually have.

 

It was also a narrow victory on bedtime last night. I was drifting off in the last five minutes of the show I was watching (might have to rewatch before the next episode) so I said I was done for the night, but then Fiancé put on the puppy dog eyes and asked me to edit another book review he'd written. He's lucky it was only two pages! Went straight to bed after that.

 

On the other hand, we actaully visited a potential wedding venue yesterday, so that aspect of levelling up my life is getting somewhere at last!

[Tateman]

Hopefully, you get that energy pick me up again soon

[Lateral Planet]

4 hours ago, Tateman said:

Hopefully, you get that energy pick me up again soon

I hope so too! Looking at my diary, I had a similar lull last year around October and November. So as well as my above theories:

1) It could be a seasonal thing. Now the clocks have changed for summer there's no more dashing home for a run before dark; instead I'm hanging around at home waiting for the sun to cool off a bit in the evenings. So that means more time to get lazy and lose the will for walkies.

2) It could be a work-related thing. We're at the point of the year of, "Just get through the last three crazy weeks and then it's smooth sailing til February" so a lot of my energy is going into work

 

Next week should be OK, though. I'm doing some late shifts so I'll have all morning to myself to get some stuff done. So my energy will be used up doing exercise before work rather than the other way around! 

[Lateral Planet]

Saturday was nice. We went shopping and I treated myself to some new black pants for work. The size 12s I've been wearing are a strange fit now; they're quite loose when I stand but better when I sit. Also they're a bit old, so probably the material just stretched or something. So I got a new pair of 12s, but a different style, and they're perfect. So I'll feel more comfortable and confident at work again, yay! Didn't have time to look for new jeans, but the 12s I wore were far more comfortable than they were a few months ago.

 

We just went to a mall food court for lunch. Fiancé went for KFC but I got curry from the place next door instead. Not only was this a nutrition win, but the wait for KFC was so long that I'd finished eating before he even got his lunch!

 

Then we went to check out a second potential wedding venue, now comes the hard part: decision-making! 

 

Problem was, the afternoon went very quickly after that. Sat down to watch some shows and all of a sudden it was too late for a walk and time to cook dinner. Then we watched Fantastic Beasts to refresh my memory before the sequel comes out, but I was in very real danger of falling asleep in the last 15 minutes. So I went straight to bed and skipped the exercise for the day. Did some pushups this morning, though, so that's something! 

[Lateral Planet]

Week 3 recap: Oops, it turns out I didn't actually track anything so this is all off memory!

 

1) Pushups challenge = 2/3

Either I forgot or I just didn't have the energy most days.

 

2) Beginner Bodyweight Workout = 0/1

Again, I just didn't make an effort here. Maybe I'm just not that into it?

 

3) No junk food = 6/6

I had an iceblock on Saturday; after being out and about all day in the heat it was just what I needed! I had a few peanut M&Ms during the week, but nothing I'd call a substantial snack.

 

4) No deep-fried food = 7/7

Glad I resisted KFC the other day!

 

5) Daily affirmation = 7/7

This has mostly been more along the lines of putting a positive spin on negative thoughts, but it's going well. 

 

6) Don't fall asleep on the couch = 7/7

Had one or two close calls but I managed to escape the comfy blanket and puppy in my lap holding me down.

 

Result: This morning's weigh-in said just over 75kg, so that's a little increase but I'm not worried. To be fair, I didn't do much exercise at all in the last two weeks so that probably contributed.

 

Reckon I'm doing well with sugar intake, but this week I'm going to try to resist having tea during the day. That's re-established itself as a regular habit but now it's warmer I'm going to try going without. If I can pull it off that'll be 50g less sugar this week!

[Bean Sidhe]

All in all, it sounds like your doing better overall. You are making progress even if it isn't the "Hey I did all the things easily".

As far as the venue, good luck. I didn't really get a choice in the reception site, my mom chose it and signed us up before we could even look at it. It was fine since we didn't really have any ideas on where to start. I did choose the "church" and that went fine. (old historic church in the middle of a forest with pretty pretty wood everywhere). Granted, we didn't put a ton of effort into the ceremony since it was just making it legal, but we had a good time and that is what is important.

[Lateral Planet]

It was quite nice to be wearing nicely fitting pants at work today! Otherwise it was a weird day, mostly because I didn't start work til 3pm. I slept in a bit and had a late breakfast, and then wondered why I was suddenly starving at 4pm. Oh yeah, I forgot about lunch! So I had quite an early dinner to compensate.

 

I did grab a small bag of chips from the vending machine in case of further hunger, but I put it straight into my desk drawer and designated it the super emergency snack. I didn't end up needing it tonight but if I continue to be forgetful like that it could come in handy!

 

Also I did some pushups this morning. Maybe should've had a rest day in between because it wasn't easy!

[Lateral Planet]

3 minutes ago, Bean Sidhe said:

All in all, it sounds like your doing better overall. You are making progress even if it isn't the "Hey I did all the things easily".

As far as the venue, good luck. I didn't really get a choice in the reception site, my mom chose it and signed us up before we could even look at it. It was fine since we didn't really have any ideas on where to start. I did choose the "church" and that went fine. (old historic church in the middle of a forest with pretty pretty wood everywhere). Granted, we didn't put a ton of effort into the ceremony since it was just making it legal, but we had a good time and that is what is important.

Thanks! Yep I think I lost some momentum in the second week there but hey, I'm still here, so that's a win in itself! Baby steps

 

Thanks for the luck! I'm glad you had a good time even if some of it was out of your control. That church sounds lovely! We're trying to keep it simple but fun is the goal (especially considering there's enough family frama on both sides to put fun in jeopardy, but ain't that always the way). Anyway, we're making progress at last, hooray!

[Tateman]

I think I would have liked curry more then kfc   Just never been too big a fan of KFC. Though I have had some really good ones. 

 

The time change here has messed with me too. Hopefully, I am adjusting quickly enough to it.

[Lateral Planet]

10 hours ago, Tateman said:

I think I would have liked curry more then kfc   Just never been too big a fan of KFC. Though I have had some really good ones. 

 

The time change here has messed with me too. Hopefully, I am adjusting quickly enough to it.

I think I made the right choice I'm not all that into most fast food places (apart from pizza, give me all the pizza!) so I haven't missed it much in the last year or so. Not to mention my work building is pretty far from any fast food so I don't have to deal with any daily temptation.

 

Yep it's tricky having to rethink your usual schedule because of daylight savings! Just as I had established a good routine I have to mix it up again. Oh well, we'll get the hang of it just in time to change back again

[Lateral Planet]

Did some more pushups this morning; it was a real struggle but I managed! I'm still doing late shifts but work hasn't been too bad. Probably won't be able to go for a walk til the weekend though.

 

I've been eating well. Fiancé got me a chocolate mousse last night, but that was only 20g of sugar, which just replaces all the cups of tea I haven't had this week. Resisting tea hasn't been as difficult as I expected, apart from having one less excuse to step away from my desk every now and then After Monday's lunch fail I also made sure to pack a salad for lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday, and that's been fine but I'll probably want something a bit more substantial tomorrow!

[Bean Sidhe]

On 11/12/2018 at 6:57 AM, Lateral Planet said:

Thanks! Yep I think I lost some momentum in the second week there but hey, I'm still here, so that's a win in itself! Baby steps

 

 

Really, this is the important part. And the part I haven't been as good about. But everyday you try is already a win compared to every day you don't.

Keep working on it.  Good job on trying to resist the tea. I know you can do it. Maybe instead of getting a cup of tea, you can get up and go get a refill of water?

[Tateman]

I have had some days where I felt like I needed somethings more substantial the next day. Good job on getting the push ups in, and packing in those salads

[Lateral Planet]

7 hours ago, Bean Sidhe said:

Really, this is the important part. And the part I haven't been as good about. But everyday you try is already a win compared to every day you don't.

Keep working on it.  Good job on trying to resist the tea. I know you can do it. Maybe instead of getting a cup of tea, you can get up and go get a refill of water?

That's so true! A couple of weeks ago I went through all my old threads to do a sort of stocktake, and I've now completed more challenges than I've abandoned! I joined NF a couple of years ago and had a lot of false starts. Basically I got frustrated and bailed out if I had any less than 100 per cent success. I have a much better mindset now, though, which is definitely helping with actual progress.

 

Tea consumption has been a major win for me over the years. Coming from a family of tea drinkers (that is, hot, sweet and milky, British-style tea) I used to have several cups a day with three teaspoons of sugar in each. It's been a journey, but these days I'm happy with two sugars (in a much larger cup, so equivalent to probably 1.5) and only once a day, or not at all! 

[Lateral Planet]

3 hours ago, Tateman said:

I have had some days where I felt like I needed somethings more substantial the next day. Good job on getting the push ups in, and packing in those salads

Yep salad is good for a quick lunch; it's easy to just chop up some veg and throw them in a container and call it a day. But it's not always that filling, and I'm determined not to use the emergency packet of chips in my desk drawer yet. Hunger is cumulative, and I've just had three days in a row of quite light lunches (or no lunch, oops!) so I'll get myself a nice pad thai or something on the way to work today to make up for it.

[Lateral Planet]

I failed at dinner last night. I had my prepped lunch and planned to buy takeaway on the way home. Tragically, I ended up having to do a bit of overtime and the noodle place was shut by the time I got there (I guess they hadn't updated their new opening hours on the website). And the only other things open were Pizza Hut and McDonalds. Maccas would ruin my "no deep-fried food" rule so I abused the loophole and got pizza. But it was terrible pizza! Serves me right.

 

Also realised another good reason not to have tea these days: moth season is well and truly underway. Every year my work building is inundated with huge bogong moths (that's Australia for you), and it's so tragic finding one has drowned in your morning cuppa. One less thing to worry about!

[Lateral Planet]

I'm cursed, there was another nutrition fail today! Not that it was going to be a very healthy lunch; I was just doing some oven chips. After half an hour in the oven they were barely defrosted! The stupid oven broke, and at that point I was too hungry to argue against Maccas for lunch.

 

At least I had a good breakfast and we're going out for dinner so there should be some nice options for me. I just have to resist the allure of Ben and Jerry's at the cinema! 

[Lateral Planet]

And of course the trifecta: had a family dinner for Grandma's birthday on Sunday, so it was pizza, cake and ice cream. This last week has been a bit of a fail!

 

Week Four Recap: Well, I completely forgot to keep track again but I don't feel like it was a very successful challenge. But I'm still here and ready for the next one!

 

Exercise: I wasn't great here. Didn't end up doing a full workout even once, and although I did do my pushups challenge I wasn't very regular. Haven't been for a run in a couple of weeks but I managed some walking.

 

Nutrition: I was doing pretty well but then it kind of fell apart this week so I ended up having quite a lot of junk food.

 

Mindset: Actually did really well here. The affirmation, which basically boiled down to "think happy thoughts" helped, I think, especially in the face of a not-very-successful challenge. And I managed to avoid sleeping on the couch altogether, so that was a major win!

 

Result: scales said 74.6, which is a loss since last week but not as great as I was hoping. I weighed myself once or twice during the week out of curiosity, and it was saying 73-odd, so all the junk in the latter half of the week certainly had an effect. But I'm devising a plan to get there in the next challenge!