NeverThatBored's Gotta Wake Up

[NeverThatBored]

Hey all! I'm still feeling super non-challengey, and I really enjoyed my non-challenge last time around - I needed the break! I'm also sick, so that's not helping. But I also feel like it's time to start doing the things again even if I don't feel like it. Rest is good, but quitting is not! 

 

I've been noticing that I just have no energy for things lately, and I don't know why? I'm objectively not doing anything much different. The areas where I'm succeeding are where I have things like Crossfit or Japanese class with outer accountability, but my ability to drive my free time effectively is...weakening? I used to do workouts on my own 3x/week, run weekly, go to aikido 1-2 times/week, walk almost daily, AND do yoga or other stretching work several times a week!

 

So this challenge is going to be all about energy management! 

 

1. Health & Fitness

I've got Cfit + some extra pushup/pullup work under control! So I'll keep doing those things but they won't be goals. Un-challenge-related, I'd like to add dip strength training into that extra work too. 

 

A) I need to pay more attention to mobility. I feel SO MUCH BETTER when I'm doing more mobility work, in any form. Every morning, I'd like to do a basic 4 minute sequence of forward fold stretches that usually helps me loosen up my hamstrings. I'm feeling stiffer than EVER and the basic 4 minute routine is a really good way to start building momentum to fix that. 

 

I'd like to keep working through Yoga With Adrienne's 30 day challenge videos once I'm not sick anymore. Once I've done them all, my plan is to start exploring classes at the nearby studio again. IDEALLY I'll finish the 18 videos I still have to do during this challenge. That's 5, 5, 4, 4 videos assuming I don't feel better in time to do any this week. 

 

C) I need to start paying attention to sugar again. To start, limit dessert foods to once/day and have at least one day a week with no desserts at all. For every no sugar day, I can put a few dollars into savings towards anything I want to spend it on. If I miss the no sugar day in a given week, I have to take those dollars back out.

 

2. Learning

My eventual goal is to build a habit of spending 5 hours/week on learning (1 hour/weekday) BUT to start I just want to spend ANY amount of time every week day on learning. Japanese class honestly might be taking up 5 hours/week anyway, but I want to be deliberate about this and make it a goal anyway. The learning can be anything, not just Japanese. One thing I need to do still is find a swim instructor. I asked my cfit coach but she said I should just check with nearby rec centers directly, so I'll do that. 

 

3. Energy Management

There are a few things I need to experiment with here to feel more energetic during the day:

• The main time I have to spend outdoors on weekdays is after 4pm when I finish work, BUT between Japanese and Crossfit I'm already booked during that time on 4/5 days. It's important to my well being to be able to go sit outside (weather allowing) or go on a long walk or do SOMETHING out of the apartment, so I want to experiment with moving Cfit to the morning 1-2 days/week. 
• Bedtime is another possible factor. I used to do an offline@9 goal where I'd sign off electronics and 9 and just read or do other things like that if I wasn't actually ready for bed. I'm not sure 9 is the right time anymore, but I'd like to experiment with it more. ESPECIALLY if I'm waking up early for Cfit. 
• OR I could try to get that outdoor time early in the day...wake up and go on a walk first thing, or use my lunch break to walk like I used to. I haven't been successful with that since I started working from home, so morning cfit is probably more realistic though. 
• Reduce screen time overall and do pretty much ANYTHING else...although this will be hard since I'm playing through Kingdom Hearts 3 right now. I'll focus on doing the learning/outdoor time first (adding) instead of subtracting the screen time, but reduced screen time is the goal.

 

It's not really a SMART goal yet, so....I'll pick one thing to try each day and try it. If I do the thing, it counts.

 

4. Adventure

I need to get out in the world more - even once a week is fine. Lots of stuff can count for this, but tagging along with my boyfriend to things he initiates doesn't count. 

• Meetups, social outings, etc.
• Anything new for the learning goal - trying a class, going to a new place, etc. 
• Trying something new (e.g. I've never had a massage before and I've been meaning to try one!)
• Visiting interesting places in DC or around town

 

5. General To Dos:

• Continue dealing with dentist stuff until resolved (tooth pain, then wisdom teeth removal)
• Make and go to a doc appointment to consult about vertigo issues
• Do taxes (gather docs, decide who to file with, do the thing)
• Clean out my Google Inbox inbox before they get rid of the service in March and force me to switch back to Gmail

 

 

[fleaball]

2 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

One thing I need to do still is find a swim instructor. I asked my cfit coach but she said I should just check with nearby rec centers directly, so I'll do that.

I know various DC pools had lessons, but idk if they're limited just to DC residents? I looked considered them at the Eastern Market one but that's like stupid far from you (assuming you haven't moved).

[Maigs]

Following along for another non-challenge

[NeverThatBored]

1 hour ago, fleaball said:

I know various DC pools had lessons, but idk if they're limited just to DC residents? I looked considered them at the Eastern Market one but that's like stupid far from you (assuming you haven't moved).

 

Yeah I'll look closer first. There's a rec center where I went swimming a few times that's not too far, so I'm gonna start there. 

[Lara]

That is a HUGE amount of things to do! Best of luck!

[Sylvaa]

13 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

Visiting interesting places in DC or around town

 

If you do this on the weekends, I'd be down!

 

Also, my MIL has this app game that's like a treasure hunt around the city... I think we are potentially going to do it once it gets warmer, but something like that might be fun!

[NeverThatBored]

If I'm gonna get back into challenging, I've got to get back to posting real updates too, and I killed it today. I'm still sick and haven't done any workouts this week, but I'm really optimistic that I'll at least feel well enough to hit Crossfit after work tomorrow. 

 

I went to the dentist today and she referred me to an Endodontist (a thing I'd never heard of before) because she thinks it must be a nerve issue - so I'm going in about that on Monday. Yikes. I don't know anything about root canals other than to fear them. I got in some walking to/from the dentist and it's been warm out, so that was really nice~ 

 

I ALSO just randomly decided to do my taxes, so that's done! My taxes are very easy. 

 

Daily Stuff:

• Toe touches  - done 
• Sugar - I made muffins from some mix we had in the pantry and ate too many of them, so that's a no. >.< 
• Learning - spent about an hour at the Starbucks next door after work studying Japanese
• Outside time - walked to dentist earlier and spent time at sbux...not outdoors, exactly, but out of the house!
• Bed/morning time - didn't do anything with this today
• Screen time - did my taxes instead of playing video games

Yoga - 0/18 videos

Adventure - 0/4 - made plans to go over to Japanese classmate's house to study on Sunday!! (Whoah, right??)

Doctor - Nope

Inbox - Nope

Taxes - Yep! 

Dentist - In progress

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fleaball]

FWIW, I didn't think having a root canal was that bad (especially considering it was done 3 times >>). I had a panic attack before going in but during/after I started wondering why everyone thinks they're so terrible. It's not fun, obviously, and it sucks, but I went to work right after it with no issues.

[NeverThatBored]

1 hour ago, fleaball said:

FWIW, I didn't think having a root canal was that bad (especially considering it was done 3 times >>). I had a panic attack before going in but during/after I started wondering why everyone thinks they're so terrible. It's not fun, obviously, and it sucks, but I went to work right after it with no issues.

 

Honestly, that's a HUGE relief to hear! Thanks! I remembered you being miserable about it when you had it done, but I guess it was more the dentist shenanigans than the actual procedure.  

[fleaball]

3 minutes ago, NeverThatBored said:

Honestly, that's a HUGE relief to hear! Thanks! I remembered you being miserable about it when you had it done, but I guess it was more the dentist shenanigans than the actual procedure.  

Yeah, I just had massive anxiety about it - found out on a Saturday that I needed it, had to schedule it for that Monday and was freaked out about not being at work, it was going to be expensive, the draft of my capstone paper was due the next day, and then anxiety convinced me I'd lose all my teeth? But I went to work because we were shorthanded anyway and the two coworkers who were there freaked out and kept insisting I go home, which I couldn't understand because like, it hurt but that's what ibuprofen is for. The worst part was my jaw being sore just from keeping my mouth open so long. And I was pissed the longer it went on since it needed to be redone twice, but that was because they just couldn't hit all of the infection with the medicated stuff they put in it, which is a thing that I guess happens but isn't that common? But it doesn't sound like you have an infection so you probably just get to have it done once! 

[Maggie-Miau]

20 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

an Endodontist (a thing I'd never heard of before)

 

Huh. Yeah that's one i've never heard of before either!

 

Sorry about your being sick! You've got some impressive Adulting done already though! Taxes instead of Kingdom Hearts, that's got to be worth a trophy.

[Lara]

On 2/8/2019 at 1:39 AM, NeverThatBored said:

she referred me to an Endodontist (a thing I'd never heard of before)

You've been lucky then.

[NeverThatBored]

Week 0 Friday

 

I went to Crossfit even though I wasn't 100% sure I was up for it yet, and I'm SO GLAD I did because it went well and I feel great now. I think I also really needed to be around people after being holed up all week. I'm planning to go again in the morning to get a second workout in for the week, too. 

 

I haven't restarted Aikido yet, but I'm finally starting to feel like it again for the social aspect, if nothing else. 

 

Uhhh, what else am I supposed to be doing again??

 

Daily Stuff:

• Toe touches  - I forgot T_T
• Sugar - Muffins part 2, so no. But they're gone now!
• Learning - not a ton, but I did some flashcards
• Outside time - went out to dinner so I could get out of the house
• Bed/morning time - didn't do anything with this today
• Screen time - not bad 

Yoga - 0/18 videos

Adventure - 0/4 

Doctor - Nope

Inbox - Nope

Dentist - In progress

 

 

 

[shaar]

Muffins why!!  I love making them but then yeah, gotta eat 'em, and they're so goooooood.......

[NeverThatBored]

Ok I didn't do any week 0 updates but that's ok because it's a test week anyway, right?? I don't remember Monday very well either so I should try to update at least every 2 days.

 

Monday

• Went to the endodontist! They were also baffled by why chewing could possibly hurt from such a tiny filling. I got vague "we don't believe you" vibes but maybe I just don't trust people who smile too much because they didn't actually say that. They gave me some steroids to take for a week to see if that helps with any inflammation that might be causing problems. *flexes new supermuscles* 
• Dailies
  • Toe touches  - Nope, forgot
  • Sugar - I think it might have been a no sugar day? I was strong and turned down CUPCAKES my boyfriend was going to get for me. Man, thinking about lost cupcakes makes me sad even two days later.
  • Learning - Did some review for Japanese, I think?
  • Outside time -  I don't remember??
  • Bed/morning time - I think I may have gone to bed a little earlier? 
  • Screen time - I don't think it was terrible. I finished reading a book instead of playing Kingdom Hearts.

Tuesday

• Dailies
  • Toe touches  - Yes! Before bed - it would be better to do this in the morning though. 
  • Sugar - No sugar day!
  • Learning - Had Japanese class. It was a rough one! I was mad because the teacher clearly expected me to know something that it was perfectly reasonable not to know! Now I have to learn a bunch of new words so it doesn't happen again next class. That'll show her.
  • Outside time -  Walking to/from subway for Japanese class, but not much else.
  • Bed/morning time - Nothing
  • Screen time - Kind of high

Wednesday

• Dailies
  • Toe touches  - Yes, before Crossfit
  • Sugar - Another no sugar day!! Unless I sabotage myself in the next few hours.
  • Learning - Not yet but I've got some flashcards to do tonight to prep for our double class tomorrow (usually only once/week but this week we have an extra)
  • Outside time -  None, and I kept looking out the window longingly all day. I really need to consider moving crossfit to the AM but I also don't wanna.
  • Bed/morning time - I got up early to do yoga!! This is a BIG deal, and I actually lay on the couch for 15 minutes after I got up and considered going back to sleep instead. Then I realized I was just afraid of being tired all day since I've been sleeping badly...but I knew lying on the couch for 20 more minutes wasn't going to help things, so I got up and did the thing! I obviously felt much more awake after that too.
  • Screen time - not bad 

Challenge-length goals:

Yoga - 1/18 videos

Adventure - 1/4 (studied Japanese with a classmate!)

Doctor - Nope

Inbox - Nope

Dentist - In progress

 

Observations:

I need to find a way to get outside more. I'm just not doing it enough because Crossfit/Japanese use my free outside time. I need to either go outside in the morning, go outside at lunchtime, or switch my Crossfit sessions to mornings some days so I can use the evenings for outdoor time.

 

I need to get sleep under control. I'm not sure WHY I'm sleeping badly, but one obvious fix is to go to bed a little earlier and try to get moving better in the morning, like I did with yoga today.

 

I'm doing really well at incorporating extra work after Crossfit (pushups and ring rows)! I've been getting the urge to add EVEN MORE bodyweight strength practice, like hanging leg raises. But I don't want to overdo it too fast either, so I'm taking it slow. 

 

For the next two weeks, the precision nutrition program I'm doing wants us to focus our energy on having protein & colorful veggies with every meal (including snacks). We're mainly already supposed to be doing this, but I've been struggling since leaving CA, so I think this focus will actually help me get my consistency back up! I'll probably report in here on that for extra accountability. ALSO we're supposed to do an experiment this week where we have one plant-based food day, so I'm planning to try that out on Friday. 

[Kestrel Grey]

17 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

They gave me some steroids to take for a week to see if that helps with any inflammation that might be causing problems. *flexes new supermuscles* 

[Elastigirl]

Hope your mouth feels better soon. Woot for all those no sugar days!

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Found you and Following! 

 

Way to go on getting up early to do yoga! Mornings are tough and need constant vigilance. (Based on my experience anyway)

[NeverThatBored]

On 2/13/2019 at 6:44 PM, NeverThatBored said:

Ok I didn't do any week 0 updates but that's ok because it's a test week anyway, right?? I don't remember Monday very well either so I should try to update at least every 2 days.

 

 

Aaaaand 10 days later, here I am. I've been thinking pretty much every single day that I need to update, but then I always seem to have other things to do instead.

 

My boyfriend made a comment yesterday that I seem "fully booked" which is true, but also super weird because I'm still doing less than I was before! I think Japanese really eats a lot of time, for one, even though I feel like I can barely keep up with it. There are 2 more classes left of this session and then I'll get a break until April.

 

Some highlights from the past 10 days:

• Steroids didn't fix my tooth issue so I have to go back in to deal with that. I've been paying more attention/chewing on the tender spot more and trying to get more intel to share with the dentists, and the only pattern I can see is that it hurts/is tender when I'm chewing food that kind of sticks to the tooth. Not everything hurts it, and it seems to be all different textures of food, so it's tricky. I could chew on a pen all day and not feel anything - and that's the kind of test they do at the dentist...so when I say biting plastic doesn't hurt they kind of shrug at me about how they can't seem to recreate my symptoms so they don't really know what to tell me.
• Got my federal tax return already! Still waiting on the state.
• I mentioned to my coach that I was signed up for an OCR in April (that's coming up fast!!) so I thought I should restart running, and she said she thinks it would actually be better for my shins if I didn't run at all leading up to it. So I think I'll stick to that advice for now. 
• The crossfit open has started! I'm not doing it officially but we're doing the workouts on Fridays, so I did the first one yesterday. It was a 15 minute AMRAP of 19 wallballs and 19 cals on the rower. I got 7 cals into a 5th round. 
• Last weekend, I went to the last day of a nearby anime convention (Katsucon) as my adventure goal for the week! I hadn't been to a con in AGES so it was fun to walk around all the vendor booths and stuff, even though most of the actual panels and stuff were already over by Sunday. I miiiight have bought a bunch of yuri on ice merchandise while I was there. 
• I'm on a team of 3 contractors at work, and our contract with our client (who we've all been working for full time for years) is up at the end of the month. This week we found out that they're not renewing one person and they're dropping another one down to 50% time...and I'm the only one they're keeping full time. I'm a little bit baffled that I'm the one they chose to keep, but I'm also obviously super relieved too! I feel awful for my coworkers though...one of them had just come back from maternity leave! It's tough. 

Challenge Stuff

Mobility - I honestly haven't been tracking super well. I'm doing the toe touches at least 50% of the time, possibly more. I haven't done any more yoga because of the feeling of being super busy I mentioned. I've thought about it a bunch of times, but it hasn't happened. I had morning meetings all week so I didn't pull off any other cool morning yoga sessions, either. I was going to finish the challenge THEN start taking classes in person...but I should probably just jump to the classes. OR alternatively I could take some time to memorize a basic flow to do on my own so I can just do it without having to set up a video to follow. Maybe both.

 

NRG Management - I've clearly found a pattern where if I go to sleep late (even if I get enough sleep!) I feel like garbage the next day, so I need to be more careful with that. I'm still struggling a bit with sleep, which is unusual for me! And that makes it hard to commit to trying morning Crossfit, too. But I really need to make the switch, because right now most evenings I can EITHER do crossfit OR go outside on a walk/call my mom/do some basic chores/update NF/etc. I think I need the free time after work to do stuff...even though the idea of dragging myself out in the mornings sucks, I need to start doing it and see if I can maintain it. Part of the problem is that I really like the people who come in the evening! But I'm going to try to do morning workouts on Monday/Wednesday this week and keep Friday evenings. It would free me up to get back to Aikido, too, which I'm feeling increasingly guilty about not going to.

 

Sugar - has been ok-ish. I had one double sugar day at one point, but I also had several non-sugar days that I think balanced it out. I've had sugar more this past week (in my 1/day range), but my other meals have been better so again it kind of balances it. Food habits in general continue giving me trouble. I've gone up about 2-3lbs since I got back from CA and I'm fighting just to keep that from climbing more. 

 

Learning - So-so. My daily hw time has fallen off the same way that everything else has with feeling overbooked, but I'm still doing the basic homework ok. I haven't been tracking if I'm doing stuff daily...I was for a bit, but the past week or two I haven't been. Moving crossfit will probably also make this easier. I HAVE been reading a book about how to learn new skills quickly to help support this goal, so that's something.

 

General To Dos:

• Dentist stuff - I'm doing it
• Make and go to a doc appointment to consult about vertigo issues - I'm not actually sure I want to deal with this while also dealing with the dentist stuff...I can only take so much time away from work to go to appointments at a time.
• Clean out my Google Inbox inbox before they get rid of the service in March and force me to switch back to Gmail - nope

[Elastigirl]

Where do you teeth hurt? I'm wondering if the vertigo and tooth pain are related. If you have an ear infection,  that could mess with your balance, and make your teeth hurt.

[NeverThatBored]

9 hours ago, Elastigirl said:

Where do you teeth hurt? I'm wondering if the vertigo and tooth pain are related. If you have an ear infection,  that could mess with your balance, and make your teeth hurt.

 

They're unrelated. The vertigo is (I think) orthostatic hypertension, which is where your blood pressure drops for a moment when you stand up fast and causes vertigo. My dad has the same thing and I've had the symptom for a long time where I get dizzy when I go quickly from lying down to standing up. But lately it seems to be getting worse and it's affecting me during some workouts, so it's frustrating and I'm wondering if it's worth talking to someone about.

 

The tooth pain is from a filling I had in October...the filling is tiny and they can't see anything wrong with it, but it sometimes hurts when I chew on that tooth. 

[Kestrel Grey]

1 hour ago, NeverThatBored said:

 

They're unrelated. The vertigo is (I think) orthostatic hypertension, which is where your blood pressure drops for a moment when you stand up fast and causes vertigo. My dad has the same thing and I've had the symptom for a long time where I get dizzy when I go quickly from lying down to standing up. But lately it seems to be getting worse and it's affecting me during some workouts, so it's frustrating and I'm wondering if it's worth talking to someone about.

I've got that! Mine has gotten much better in recent years; my vision almost never blacks out when I stand up anymore. I wish I knew why so I could help you out, maybe something to do with consciously drinking more water?  Definitely asking about it won't hurt if you have a gp. 

[shaar]

YURIONICEYURIONICE YESSSSSSS

 

smol grouchy sassmouth yurio is definitely my spirit animal

 

 

I feel you on the updating GOSH IT IS SO HARD when Life Is Lifing huh???

[NeverThatBored]

On 2/24/2019 at 12:36 AM, Kestrel Grey said:

I've got that! Mine has gotten much better in recent years; my vision almost never blacks out when I stand up anymore. I wish I knew why so I could help you out, maybe something to do with consciously drinking more water?  Definitely asking about it won't hurt if you have a gp. 

 

Yeah, hydration is definitely one thing I want to experiment with! I've had a few instances where it was less bad and I've wondered if it has to do with hydration. 

 

On 2/24/2019 at 10:40 AM, shaar said:

YURIONICEYURIONICE YESSSSSSS

 

smol grouchy sassmouth yurio is definitely my spirit animal

 

 

I feel you on the updating GOSH IT IS SO HARD when Life Is Lifing huh???

 

Yurioooooooo~ His routine is the best and I don't care what anyone says! Everyone in Yuri on Ice is so good~ And I have so many of them on keychains now hehehehe~

[NeverThatBored]

Week ? Monday Update

I got a bunch of things done this weekend! Mainly chores and stuff that had piled up.

 

I did some yoga on Sunday (finally). I walked/got outside both Saturday and Sunday. I bought tickets to go see the US Premiere of Fruits Basket in theaters in March....so I'm counting that towards my adventure goal even though I haven't done it yet.  

 

On Saturday I had both dessert AND a sugary coffee beverage, so technically it was a 2 sugar day even though I've treated drinks inconsistently in the past. Sighhh. Sunday was just one.

 

Monday, I finally switched to morning Crossfit again. My coach was SO confused when I showed up for the 6:30 class (and I was the only one who did, so that was fun). I went to bed a little later than I should have last night, but it was ok to go in the morning and it's even nicer that I don't have to go now!