Minimal Gemma

[Gemma]

What is happening in my life in this challenge period:

 

1) I get braces the day after challenge starts (+27 difficulty on eating x3 days) 

2) I travel to Portsmouth on the 21st to sit in the hospital all day on the 22nd while my son has spinal surgery (+10 emotional upheaval, spec. worry). Back home late on the 23rd and then ...

3) I travel to Quantico for a week starting on the 25th for my annual work conference (+15 stress, disadvantage on constitution rolls). Back home March 1. 

 

But after that, I ought to be back to "normal."  

 

 

 

So, I really did not put a lot of priority on either my eating or my lifting goals last challenge period, and am frankly unlikely to do so this time around either. Fortunately my eating habits are not particularly unhealthful right now. I pretty consistently meal prep/plan dinners and lunches for the week, breakfast has been spottier lately but I always manage to get something with protein into my face within the first few hours of waking up. My biggest non-healthy eating lately has been around snacks, I am not putting a lot of emphasis on the willpower to resist when boredom or stress makes a bag of cheddar and sour cream potato chips from the vending machine seem like a really good idea. That happens maybe two or three times a week though so I don't really feel like it's a dealbreaker for my current goals. 

 

Gym wise - I am still going, when I can, and doing what I have time and energy to do. Averaging probably twice a week lately. But I'm not being really rigid and controlling about NOT allowing anything else on my calendar on gym mornings or about MAKING myself go when I feel like a melted gummy worm. Not going to stress about that for now, I'll worry about getting back to a consistent 3 or 4 day a week habit after I get back from Quantico. 

 

So this challenge is all about looking for the small wins. 

 

1) Dental hygiene. I'm already quite good at this, but braces obviously add a complicating factor. So time to step up my game. Specifically, I have started keeping a spare dental kit at work, I want to form a consistent habit of brushing and flossing after lunch. This will be harder on travel, but my kit does fit in my purse so no excuses there. 

 

*1 point per mid-afternoon brush/floss*

 

2) Sunscreen. Again, I am already very consistent at applying this every morning - what I do not do is re-apply during the day, particularly before I leave the office and go back out into the scorching sunlight. I really need to be good at this, I am having a series of procedures done over the next six months that should really improve the health of my skin but only if I protect it properly, because a side effect is increased photosensitivity. 

 

 

*1 point per re-application*

 

 

3) Try to yoga. I'm not getting super rigid with this. But it does make me feel better, and certainly when I am in a hotel with no gym (and no time to myself, because I'll be on someone else's schedule for most of both trips!) doing a few rounds of Sun Salutation or a Yoga with Adriene video is a no-brains easy way to at least have some movement in my life. 

 

*1 point per session*

 

4) Sustain the habits I really like - things that I have added to my life over the past year that have had positive net effects, and that I do not want to lose while on travel or otherwise disrupted: 

1.  Meditation - seriously a major key to my success
2. Writing 444 words/day - I've sustained my 4theWords streak since the internet came back after Florence. Some days it is stream-of-consciousness junk babble, but some days I am producing fiction that I actually like, so I want to keep it up. 
3. Journaling in the 5 year journal - I bought this thing several years ago thinking it was a cool idea, and then I wrote in in for a few months that year, and a week or so in another part of another year, and some random days 4 years later, and ... so far in 2019 I have filled in the bottom of each page with a sentence or two about what happened that day. Nothing fancy, but it is surprisingly fun to look back and see what was happening in my life 'on this date' in 2013. (also useful in self-diagnosing SAD, because I have beat myself up about being 'lazy' or 'unmotivated' or 'a slug' in every single December, January, and February that I bothered to write in the thing at all.) 

 

*1 point per day of all three* 

 

Loot (because sometimes bribing myself helps): If I can accumulate at least 80 points during this month of habit-disrupting disruption, I will buy myself these earrings -  if I can get to 100 points, I get this bracelet. 

 

 

Other things that are not really 'challenge' but that I will probably post about here from time to time for accountability -

 

• continue tidying/minimalizing home, especially the parts that still look like an episode of Hoarders threw up (Hobbit Hole post-Florence is a scary, scary place!)
• continue using full-spectrum light and paying attention to energy, mood, and motivation levels

 

[Defining]

Pro tip: interdental brushes. Always have one or two on your when you have braces, they are a freaking g-dsend when you're in a rush and have stuff stuck between your teeth/wires. They saved the day many a time when I had my face metal in.

 

Also, re: sunscreen - can you just set an alarm on your phone as a reminder?

 

I do sun saluations every morning as soon as I get up for 15min. I drink 500ml of water, pee (and let the dogs out to do the same), and then bend myself around for a bit to get the juices flowing first thing. Highly recommend adding into your morning routine  - double whammy, since it could help guarantee it's a daily thing.

 

 

I love that you are still awarding yourself points for continuing on with the habits that are already consistent - that's a great way to make sure you keep it up! Looks like a great challenge cycle ahead.

[Mike Wazowski]

You got this!!!! Lots of disruption coming your way, but I have full faith in you!

[Scaly Freak]

2 hours ago, Gemma said:

2) Sunscreen. Again, I am already very consistent at applying this every morning - what I do not do is re-apply during the day, particularly before I leave the office and go back out into the scorching sunlight.

 

 I am in the exact same situation. I remember the mid-day reapplication sometimes, but not often. I really need to get better at this, so I will follow this particular goal of yours closely for inspiration and reminders.

[CourtnieMarie]

great choices this go-round! i especially love that jewelry company is a give-back type place. i've been buying my jewelry strictly from starfish since last year. it seems to be a similar company  

[Scaly Freak]

16 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

I remember the mid-day reapplication sometimes, but not often.

 

I remembered! I am so proud of myself!

 

[Gemma]

16 hours ago, Defining said:

Pro tip: interdental brushes. Always have one or two on your when you have braces, they are a freaking g-dsend when you're in a rush and have stuff stuck between your teeth/wires. They saved the day many a time when I had my face metal in.

 

Also, re: sunscreen - can you just set an alarm on your phone as a reminder?

 

I do sun saluations every morning as soon as I get up for 15min. I drink 500ml of water, pee (and let the dogs out to do the same), and then bend myself around for a bit to get the juices flowing first thing. Highly recommend adding into your morning routine  - double whammy, since it could help guarantee it's a daily thing.

 

 

I love that you are still awarding yourself points for continuing on with the habits that are already consistent - that's a great way to make sure you keep it up! Looks like a great challenge cycle ahead.

Thanks for the tip - I just checked my local pharmacy, and they carry them, along with the pre-cut lengths of floss with the plastic aglet for threading through wiry nonsense, so I will pick up both on the way home today!  

I use phone alarms for *everything* and they rock my world - but in this case I think I'm just going to have to do the work to reprogram my brain instead. I work inside and rarely go out during the day, but I also don't leave at a consistent time, so I just need to make it a part of my going-out routine. I'm taking the rest of zero week to try and sort out a 'trigger' to attach the habit to, possibly refilling my water bottle for the drive home.

 

I like the idea of SS as part of morning routine. I just need to guard against my tendency to plop *everything* into morning routine, since that is where I am most consistent. Between meditation, scripture, journaling, Duolingo, yoga(?), and the required hygiene/clothes/hair/warpaint nonsense, I could easily drag out to an hour and a half from wakeup to even leaving the bedroom. Maybe I could move the Duolingo practice to somewhere else in the day ... hmmmm ...

 

15 hours ago, scalyfreak said:

 

 I am in the exact same situation. I remember the mid-day reapplication sometimes, but not often. I really need to get better at this, so I will follow this particular goal of yours closely for inspiration and reminders.

 

Yay, I hope I can help! My strategy so far has been to buy several bottles of my favorite, then position them - in my locker at work (desk would work too), near the back door of the house for when I go out with the dogs or chickens mid day, in both purses for when I am out elsewhere in the world for more than a couple of hours. Perhaps I missed an opportunity to buy stock in Australian Gold!
 

Just now, scalyfreak said:

 

I remembered! I am so proud of myself!

 

 

Yay you!!! I am now inspired. I am leaving work in about 15 minutes, so will finish up this post and go straight to my locker for more product.

 

Current (weekday) dilemma - remove the makeup, then reapply sunscreen? Or just put another layer on top? This will take some experimenting, I've never put sunscreen on over makeup before, don't know how it will respond. Luckily no one really cares how I look in my car on the way home, even if it winds up smeary and weird.

 

4 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

great choices this go-round! i especially love that jewelry company is a give-back type place. i've been buying my jewelry strictly from starfish since last year. it seems to be a similar company  

 

Oooh, thanks - I had not heard of the Starfish Project before but I like their stuff and will probably do business with them as well in future.

[Harriet]

Oooh, spinal surgery is a bit scary to think about. I hope your son's operation goes smoothly. 

Apparently hats and sunscreen are even better than just sunscreen, but I haven't found a brimmed hat that would fit over my hair if it were in a bun or ponytail. Hmmm. Maybe more braids are called for. 

[Scaly Freak]

13 minutes ago, Gemma said:

Current (weekday) dilemma - remove the makeup, then reapply sunscreen? Or just put another layer on top? This will take some experimenting, I've never put sunscreen on over makeup before, don't know how it will respond.

 

C. None of the above.

 

I wear makeup every day. If I'm going to work, I have my formal warrior face paint on. I also reapply sunscreen before going home (I have this down to a habit) and am currently trying to learn to remember to do it mid-day before going near windows or outside for lunch. I use a mineral sunscreen powder, that goes on top of my makeup, and comes in a shade that becomes invisible on top of said makeup as well.

 

 

I buy mine at the local Ulta store, but I have seen it in the local Co-Op as well. The cap can be a bit of a challenge to put back on, because all the air inside it has nowhere to go, but that is minor compared to the convenience of having this in my purse and the fact it does not in any way mess up my makeup.

[JustCallMeAmber]

Good luck to you! I hope everything is smooth sailing, especially your son's surgery and with getting braces!

[Gemma]

On ‎2‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 4:01 PM, Harriet said:

Oooh, spinal surgery is a bit scary to think about. I hope your son's operation goes smoothly. 

Apparently hats and sunscreen are even better than just sunscreen, but I haven't found a brimmed hat that would fit over my hair if it were in a bun or ponytail. Hmmm. Maybe more braids are called for. 

Thanks - this one is a weird combination of simple and terrifying, and I am having trouble knowing how I feel about it.

 

I don't have enough hair to worry about buns or ponytails, but I do know that these exist:

 

https://smile.amazon.com/Womens-Outdoor-Protection-Foldable-Fishing/dp/B07BJ2XT4J/

 

or, if you prefer straw

https://smile.amazon.com/Womens-Floppy-Accessories-Crushable-56-58cm/dp/B06VY7PF9R/

 

Actually, that is a really good idea, I ought to look into getting a hat. I have one for gardening, but it isn't really one that I would be comfortable wearing out in the world.

 

On ‎2‎/‎6‎/‎2019 at 4:05 PM, scalyfreak said:

 I use a mineral sunscreen powder, that goes on top of my makeup, and comes in a shade that becomes invisible on top of said makeup as well.

 

This is a pretty good option for certain situations, I will swing by Ulta on my way home today. I used to just use straight up mineral powder makeup with a high SPF, but for the past several years I have been avoiding all powders.  For women 'of a certain age' powders just make everything look even more crepe-y and put extra emphasis on the wrinkles. But if all I am doing is getting in my car and driving home then I don't need to care so much about that. Thanks for the tip! It would be easier than my usual go-to, which is a tinted mineral cream that I normally use as my foundation primer.

 

 

1 hour ago, JustCallMeAmber said:

Good luck to you! I hope everything is smooth sailing, especially your son's surgery and with getting braces!

 

Thanks! And that GIF is fabulous, too  

 

TMI-ish medical detail venting below:

Spoiler

Number two son/father of my grandson is 27 years old and in the Army. He has grown himself a Schwannoma tumor inside the spinal cord casing between his C4 and C5 vertebrae.

The Army neurologists are about 90% positive that it is benign, and if it were not causing him distress they would leave it alone. But ... spinal cord. It is causing him great pain, random numbness and muscle twitches, significant problems. So it has to come out. This boy is totally my mini-me, he has a ludicrously high pain tolerance and a pack animal instinct to never show pain ... if it was not horrible, he would just say "eh, leave it, I'll deal." At Christmas he was jumping on the trampoline with his brother and the kids, because he figures he can be in horrible pain and still do fun things, or be in horrible pain and lay around feeling sorry for himself, and either way the pain is the same so why not play with his son and niece?

The complication is that it is right up against not only the spinal cord on one side, but the major blood vessel on the other side. So in order get to it, while minimizing the risk of damage to either of those two things, they are going to have to cut through the bone of some vertebrae and then fuse several cervical vertebrae together afterwards. This is very likely to end his military career - he will be in a great deal of pain for a very long time, but he will also probably have very limited range of motion in his neck for the rest of his life. Probably. Although, as with everything else, they won't know for sure until they get there. He's young, very strong, and will push through any amount or pain a physical therapist might ever ask of him, so his prognosis is as good as it can possibly be for this particular mess.

But of course I am a mom, so my inner worrywart still exists. I have her pretty well controlled, but she is there, periodically reminding me that someone with a very sharp scalpel is going to be very close to not only the boy's spinal cord but also a major blood vessel.

 

[Scaly Freak]

16 minutes ago, Gemma said:

I will swing by Ulta on my way home today. I used to just use straight up mineral powder makeup with a high SPF, but for the past several years I have been avoiding all powders.  For women 'of a certain age' powders just make everything look even more crepe-y and put extra emphasis on the wrinkles. But if all I am doing is getting in my car and driving home then I don't need to care so much about that. Thanks for the tip! It would be easier than my usual go-to, which is a tinted mineral cream that I normally use as my foundation primer.

 

I use the Australian Gold for my face every morning and the powder for lunch and for leaving work (I forgot again today ) I haven't seen it emphasize my wrinkles, but this is facial skin so mileage varies and all that.

 

And your foundation is obviously a lot more forgiving than mine is...

 

I completely forgot to mention:

 

There is a learning curve between "first time I use it" and "first time i use it without making a powdery mess all over the front of my shirt"

[CourtnieMarie]

20 minutes ago, Gemma said:

TMI-ish medical detail venting below:

  Reveal hidden contents

Number two son/father of my grandson is 27 years old and in the Army. He has grown himself a Schwannoma tumor inside the spinal cord casing between his C4 and C5 vertebrae.

The Army neurologists are about 90% positive that it is benign, and if it were not causing him distress they would leave it alone. But ... spinal cord. It is causing him great pain, random numbness and muscle twitches, significant problems. So it has to come out. This boy is totally my mini-me, he has a ludicrously high pain tolerance and a pack animal instinct to never show pain ... if it was not horrible, he would just say "eh, leave it, I'll deal." At Christmas he was jumping on the trampoline with his brother and the kids, because he figures he can be in horrible pain and still do fun things, or be in horrible pain and lay around feeling sorry for himself, and either way the pain is the same so why not play with his son and niece?

The complication is that it is right up against not only the spinal cord on one side, but the major blood vessel on the other side. So in order get to it, while minimizing the risk of damage to either of those two things, they are going to have to cut through the bone of some vertebrae and then fuse several cervical vertebrae together afterwards. This is very likely to end his military career - he will be in a great deal of pain for a very long time, but he will also probably have very limited range of motion in his neck for the rest of his life. Probably. Although, as with everything else, they won't know for sure until they get there. He's young, very strong, and will push through any amount or pain a physical therapist might ever ask of him, so his prognosis is as good as it can possibly be for this particular mess.

But of course I am a mom, so my inner worrywart still exists. I have her pretty well controlled, but she is there, periodically reminding me that someone with a very sharp scalpel is going to be very close to not only the boy's spinal cord but also a major blood vessel.

 

 

Spoiler

Ugh, I am so sorry to hear this. Vaguely similar to what my dad is going through rehab for except his was an injury-related surgery. I now know more than I want to about SCI injury rehab so feel free to bug me if you have any questions or just want to vent.

 

[Mike Wazowski]

Hugs, Gemma! I am SO sorry to hear about the surgery your son's having to go through, but praying he has a successful surgery and a speedy recovery.

[Harriet]

Ooof. That's a hard situation with the surgery and potential complications. It sounds like neither leaving it nor removing it is without downsides. Well, he sounds like a stoic, resilient lad who will make the best of anything, so I believe all will be well. 
 

[Gemma]

So far so good - I got my braces installed today, and am planning to eat soup for dinner. And breakfast. And however long it takes me to re-learn how to chew.

I did pretty well with the sunscreen and dental hygiene goals during zero week, except Friday I got busy about an hour before leaving, then left in a hurry and forgot both. But I remembered them yesterday.

I'm glad I made keeping up with certain previously established habits a goal for this round, because I actually broke my 4theWords streak on Saturday and would have otherwise been tempted to go with 'oh well, I'm super busy this month anyways, we'll just try to get back to writing sometime in March...' sort of nonsense. But since I had tied that to my scorekeeping, I went ahead and started a new streak and wrote the words.




I now have a plan in place for the yoga goal. I love @Defining's idea of making Sun Salutation a part of my morning routine, since that really does guarantee it will happen - but my morning routine is already almost an hour and a half long, and to get to work on time I already have to get up at 0500 - I am currently not willing to push that to 0445 or earlier just to add 'one more thing' to the one place in my day where I already add everything    

However, I do have some space in my early evening routine, after coming home from work, having the daily storytime with hubs, and getting dinner started, I usually go up and change into loungewear and take my makeup off. This time of year that is usually after dark and just a couple of hours before my (very early, see wakeup time above!) bedtime, so I spent yesterday evening finding and learning one of the myriad variations of Moon Salutation that the internet currently has on offer, and I'm going to work on incorporating this into my evening wind-down with some level of consistency.




Total Monday points - 4

[Defining]

It may also be a good idea to try shifting your Duolingo practice to the evening as well!  

[Mike Wazowski]

Love the thinking on shifting yoga to the evening, but also WOOF that's an early wakeup - I won't complain to you about my 5:30 wakeup for the gym, duly noted.

[CourtnieMarie]

exciting about the braces! from what i vaguely remember about them they only hurt for a few days after install or adjustments.

[Harriet]

45 minutes ago, CourtnieMarie said:

exciting about the braces! from what i vaguely remember about them they only hurt for a few days after install or adjustments.

 

My memories are less neutral...I hated everything about the braces. But at least my teeth are all straight now. 

How long will they have to stay on, do you know?

[Gemma]

9 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

exciting about the braces! from what i vaguely remember about them they only hurt for a few days after install or adjustments.

 

8 hours ago, Harriet said:

 

My memories are less neutral...I hated everything about the braces. But at least my teeth are all straight now. 

How long will they have to stay on, do you know?

 

They actually <frantically knocks on wood> don't hurt at all. They feel weird, of course, and I have bite blocks on my molars so that is odd - and why I am having to learn how to chew all over again. I actually managed a PB&J for dinner, though, so things are looking up. Hubs is concerned that I won't be able to eat steak when we go out for dinner on Friday, so that gives me some incentive and a deadline to get used to this quickly! 

 

Current estimate is 12-15 months, wired up, then a retainer for an as-yet-unspecified period of time after. 

 

I got full points yesterday. Today I did all of the things except I completely forgot to add sunscreen before leaving for day. 

 

Lesson learned: when I do not have a lot of tasks scheduled for a single day, I tend to not look at my BuJo as much - so having a BuJo reminder to re-apply sunscreen does not help.  On busy days I look at it all the time. 

 

Possible solution: Move the open BuJo to a more central and visually obvious parking spot on my desk. 

 

 

Also, I really like doing the moon salutation in early evening. It's only day 3 and I already feel like my balance issues are improving. 

 

 

Total Tuesday points - 4

Total Wednesday points - 3

Running Total - 11

 

 

[CourtnieMarie]

13 hours ago, Gemma said:

Current estimate is 12-15 months, wired up, then a retainer for an as-yet-unspecified period of time after. 

from my experience they won't ever give you a stop date for the retainer! I stopped mine probably within a year of getting braces off but was lucky enough that my teeth stayed put. my sister has been wearing hers every night since she got her braces off maybe 6 or 7 years ago!

 

love that the evening yoga is working out for you!

[Grumble]

If your son wasn't already getting it done, you should kick him to get it done. If this is being handled by army docs and not by insurance based docs, shit's free, yo. Let the army pay for everything medical. Be a stubborn ass about it after you get out and have to pay for it yourself, but while you're in? DO IT.

 

Also, Hi busy lady.

 

[Harriet]

16 hours ago, Gemma said:

Current estimate is 12-15 months, wired up, then a retainer for an as-yet-unspecified period of time after. 

 

2 hours ago, CourtnieMarie said:

from my experience they won't ever give you a stop date for the retainer! I stopped mine probably within a year of getting braces off but was lucky enough that my teeth stayed put. my sister has been wearing hers every night since she got her braces off maybe 6 or 7 years ago!

 

Yeah.... I've had the retainer in for... 17 years? They won't take it out. 

 

16 hours ago, Gemma said:

 

Lesson learned: when I do not have a lot of tasks scheduled for a single day, I tend to not look at my BuJo as much - so having a BuJo reminder to re-apply sunscreen does not help.  On busy days I look at it all the time. 

 

Possible solution: Move the open BuJo to a more central and visually obvious parking spot on my desk.

 

Yay for lessons learned! Smart habit building for the win!

[Mike Wazowski]

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 6:24 PM, Gemma said:

They actually <frantically knocks on wood> don't hurt at all. They feel weird, of course, and I have bite blocks on my molars so that is odd - and why I am having to learn how to chew all over again. I actually managed a PB&J for dinner, though, so things are looking up. Hubs is concerned that I won't be able to eat steak when we go out for dinner on Friday, so that gives me some incentive and a deadline to get used to this quickly! 

Woohoo! Is there a backup plan if you're not feeling up for steak that'll still feel festive and fun?

 

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 6:24 PM, Gemma said:

Current estimate is 12-15 months, wired up, then a retainer for an as-yet-unspecified period of time after. 

I don't think they ever specify on the retainer - I think I wore mine for about 3 years before getting inconsistent and my teeth didn't shift back (still have the bottom retainer in, I guess eventually it's supposed to fall out?).

 

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 6:24 PM, Gemma said:

I got full points yesterday. Today I did all of the things except I completely forgot to add sunscreen before leaving for day. 

 

Lesson learned: when I do not have a lot of tasks scheduled for a single day, I tend to not look at my BuJo as much - so having a BuJo reminder to re-apply sunscreen does not help.  On busy days I look at it all the time. 

Woo hoo for full points - that's interesting, I find I'm almost the opposite - the busier I am, the less I reference task lists unless they're inescapable (I'm playing with the idea of having two Kanban boards - one at work for work tasks and one at home for everything else).

 

On ‎2‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 6:24 PM, Gemma said:

Also, I really like doing the moon salutation in early evening. It's only day 3 and I already feel like my balance issues are improving. 

That's awesome! Is a moon salutation a lot different from a sun salutation?