NeverThatBored: My Roommate is...Myself??

[NeverThatBored]

There's this great anime airing right now called My Roommate is A Cat. It's about an author with social anxiety or something similar who ends up taking in a stray cat, and in learning to care for and bond with his cat he learns to connect with other people. So basically, it was made for me.

 

In one episode, he realizes the cat is getting too chubby because he just puts food out whenever her bowl is empty, and her instinct is to eat all of her food right away. So he starts learning about how to put a cat on a healthy diet...he learns that for her size and breed, she needs X amount of food twice a day. And he also learns that he shouldn't reduce the amount all at once because it will cause her too much anxiety and lead to behavioral problems. And he ALSO learns tricks to make her slow down so she actually notices when she's full.

 

So basically the perfect healthy eating advice from a show about a cat!?!? It made me think...what if instead of getting all caught up in my emotions around food, I tried to treat healthy eating more like how they treat the cat's healthy eating? So that's what I want to try this time around, even though that idea is very vague.

 

Food

• Simplify meal prep - I always get too excited about recipes because I want to eat everything, and then I make too much food and it either goes to waste or just stresses me out to know I need to try to eat it all. I've dialed it back, but I still make too much. So: smoothies or other backup food for breakfast, one prepped dish or a simple backup for lunches, and one dinner to eat for a few days, then make another dinner later in the week. I'll adjust as I go. Each meal should be: 1 palm-sized protein, 1+ fist of veggies, 1-2 cupped palmful of carbs, 1-2 thumbs of fat. 
• Experiment with lunch templates to see if I can make lunch as automatically healthy as breakfast. The trick is to find something I'm ok with eating on repeat.
• Continue being deliberate with sugar. 1-2 days per week with none, every other day limit dessert-type foods or drinks to 1 max. Experiment: can I trade even more days of sugar for a fancy piece of cake on the weekend?
• Slow down. I eat more slowly than I used to, but I still don't eat all that mindfully. I haven't found an effective strategy for slowing down meals yet. I'll have to experiment with this more.
• Practice mindfulness in general around hunger...know what's motivating the hunger. Am I hungry or am I trying to meet an emotional need? What other ways can I meet that need?
• Be careful around weekends to keep overall food quantity the same.

 

Goals/Focus Areas

1. Make a checklist for food stuff and track how I'm doing
2. Stretching
   • Continue working through Yoga with Adrienne yoga challenge videos - 10 more to go
   • Daily toe touches  + internal hip rotation drill 
3. Daily learning goal - do something 5/7 days each week - Japanese, ukulele, or anything else I feel like doing. 
4. Adventure goal - 4 for the challenge - do something on my own initiative that involves either being social or doing something new
5. Energy management (continued from last challenge)
   • Mornings: 10 minutes any movement (esp. body maintenance), 10 minutes bujo, 10 minutes hydration and quiet.
   • Evenings: 10-15 minutes meditation, 5 minutes movement, 5-10 minutes bujo, 5 minutes soothing ritual like lotion, etc. 
   • Outside: Get outside regularly. I've been walking more lately, so maybe start to notice a baseline for how many steps I get in per week. 
   • Screen time: pay attention and work to reduce screen time

[Mad Hatter]

Feeding and taking care of yourself as if you were a pet or a child is a great strategy. Have checked out the IE group here? Feel like there's a lot of overlap between your goals and IE ideas.

 

I love the adventure goal!

[JessFit]

I really love your approach to this. I have a cat who is on a diet and it is so much easier for me to get her to slim down than to slim down myself! 

[Elastigirl]

I like your approach to food.

[Maggie-Miau]

That anime/manga sounds adorable! I haven't watched or read any in a long time but will have to check this one out

 

How's your ukulele-learning/playing been going? Being able to play an instrument is awesome!

[NeverThatBored]

Just now, Miaulin said:

That anime/manga sounds adorable! I haven't watched or read any in a long time but will have to check this one out

 

 

I suspect you'll like it! =^.^=

 

Just now, Miaulin said:

How's your ukulele-learning/playing been going? Being able to play an instrument is awesome!

 

So far so good! I'm self teaching via books and YouTube videos, but I feel like I'm making clear progress in learning the basics. I never learned any instruments, so I'm a total beginner. As a person with boobs I'm finding it kind of difficult to hold firmly, but there's a strap on the way so I'm hoping that will help with that bit.  

 

[Echoceanic]

This sounds really cool. 

[Maggie-Miau]

35 minutes ago, NeverThatBored said:

I suspect you'll like it! =^.^=

 

Your suspicion was. accurate. It's wonderful :')

 

36 minutes ago, NeverThatBored said:

So far so good! I'm self teaching via books and YouTube videos, but I feel like I'm making clear progress in learning the basics. I never learned any instruments, so I'm a total beginner. As a person with boobs I'm finding it kind of difficult to hold firmly, but there's a strap on the way so I'm hoping that will help with that bit.  

 

Good for you! And self teaching, at that i hope the strap proves very helpful for you!

[NeverThatBored]

1 hour ago, Miaulin said:

Your suspicion was. accurate. It's wonderful :')

 

 

Yesssssss

[deftona]

I can always support someone taking life lessons from cats, they pretty much have it sorted. Following! 

[Xena]

Love this training yourself like a cat idea. Completely awesome.

[NeverThatBored]

I'm highly amused by how many of us support imitating cats.  

 

Week 0 Monday/Tuesday Updates

 

I did SOMETHING right over the weekend (trying to be mindful about fullness cues) because I was hungry much more often than usual on Monday. I can tell I'm eating better when I'm actually properly hungry at mealtimes. 

Today I've been struggling more. I struggle when it's a mealtime and I want a break, but I'm not actually hungry. Often I end up eating anyway, which is what happened today. So I had a small lunch even though I wasn't hungry yet, which would have been fine...except then I found snacks afterward. It was quite obvious to me that I was eating because I wanted an excuse to avoid work and other things I'm vaguely stressed about and not actually because I was hungry. At the very least, I want to make this a no sugar day to keep it from being worse. I also want to avoid eating dinner until I'm actually hungry...IF I actually get hungry at all.

 

I need to come up with better strategies for taking a break from work when I'm not hungry yet. Walking, meditation, lying on the floor and listening to music, IDK? I also think it might be worth doing a bit of a kitchen cleanout because a lot of snacks like to creep in. 

 

I made the tracker spreadsheet for the challenge, so I'm good there. I got outside yesterday (twice!) and today. I did crossfit yesterday and a yoga video today. I spent a ton of time on the ukulele yesterday and learned to play I'm Yours by Jason Mraz. I'm having a lot of fun learning! 

 

I was planning to go back to aikido for the first time in months tonight. I even got dressed with that in mind this morning. Buuuut then I wimped out. I'm so nervous about going back! I'm nervous I'll be super clumsy about it and people will be annoyed, or that they'll be bothered that I took 2 months to come back even after I got back to VA. I'm going to send my aikido sensei a note tonight telling her I'll be there tomorrow so I have to go. And then at least she'll know so I don't feel as weird about just showing up. 

[Xena]

2 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

Today I've been struggling more. I struggle when it's a mealtime and I want a break, but I'm not actually hungry.

 

So I don't have this one solved. But I've learned that for me, sometimes eating is more a procrastination strategy than actually needing a break. I sometimes force myself to use a heavily modified "Pomodoro" method (it's a productivity method based on using a timer...I think you already know about it). Anyway, I just set a timer for 25 minutes and force myself to work on whatever I've been procrastinating about. 25 minutes doesn't seem all that daunting, so I can usually force myself to do that.

 

2 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

. I'm going to send my aikido sensei a note tonight telling her I'll be there tomorrow so I have to go. And then at least she'll know so I don't feel as weird about just showing up. 

 

Sounds like a great idea.

[NeverThatBored]

8 minutes ago, Xena said:

So I don't have this one solved. But I've learned that for me, sometimes eating is more a procrastination strategy than actually needing a break. I sometimes force myself to use a heavily modified "Pomodoro" method (it's a productivity method based on using a timer...I think you already know about it). Anyway, I just set a timer for 25 minutes and force myself to work on whatever I've been procrastinating about. 25 minutes doesn't seem all that daunting, so I can usually force myself to do that.

 

 

Oooh, thanks for the tip! I do use a pomodoro timer sometimes when I'm fighting the urge to procrastinate, so it makes sense to use it in this specific situation too. I'll give that a shot next time.

[fleaball]

This is at least the 4th "NTB is a cat" challenge, isn't it? If I hadn't met you I might be suspicious that your profile pic is actually you.

[Son of Rylos]

I'm in, I'm so in. But seriously, will they make an anime for everything?! Not a bad thing.

 

[NeverThatBored]

9 hours ago, Calibre said:

But seriously, will they make an anime for everything?!

 

 

Yes, yes they will.

[Sylvaa]

11 hours ago, fleaball said:

This is at least the 4th "NTB is a cat" challenge, isn't it? If I hadn't met you I might be suspicious that your profile pic is actually you.

 

I mean, maybe underneath it all, NTB is a cat. Maybe the person persona is a lie.

 

Also, I fully support everyone becoming a cat. http://purrtacular.com/15-reasons-why-being-a-cat-is-better-than-being-a-human/

[Maggie-Miau]

Heyoo NTB, i saw this and thought of what you said about

On 3/11/2019 at 11:01 AM, NeverThatBored said:

Experiment with lunch templates

On 3/11/2019 at 11:01 AM, NeverThatBored said:

The trick is to find something I'm ok with eating on repeat.

On 3/11/2019 at 11:01 AM, NeverThatBored said:

I make too much food and it either goes to waste or just stresses me out

 

the tl;dr is that the post author will roast some veggies, cook a grain, chop some fresh veggies, and keep some toppings/dressing on hand and it's good to mix-and-match for a week or so. the writer is vegan but it'd be simple enough to add protein-of-choice to the equation. idk if this is something you'd like but it's, as they say, 'food' for thought

 

13 hours ago, Calibre said:

I'm in, I'm so in. But seriously, will they make an anime for everything?! Not a bad thing.

 

not sure if it's true, but i heard once that there's an anime about soda, where the different sodas are personified by human girls.

[NeverThatBored]

10 hours ago, Miaulin said:

the tl;dr is that the post author will roast some veggies, cook a grain, chop some fresh veggies, and keep some toppings/dressing on hand and it's good to mix-and-match for a week or so. the writer is vegan but it'd be simple enough to add protein-of-choice to the equation. idk if this is something you'd like but it's, as they say, 'food' for thought

 

 

Thanks for sharing! These look tasty.

 

10 hours ago, Miaulin said:

not sure if it's true, but i heard once that there's an anime about soda, where the different sodas are personified by human girls.

 

Wut. 

 

12 hours ago, Sylvaa said:

Also, I fully support everyone becoming a cat. http://purrtacular.com/15-reasons-why-being-a-cat-is-better-than-being-a-human/

 

I mean, I guess it's a sacrifice I'd be willing to make.

[NeverThatBored]

Week 0 Wednesday Update

 

I'm very tired so posting a quick update. Did crossfit in the AM, stretched, didn't really get outside, practiced the heck out of the ukulele (I'm learning some Steven Universe jams, yo), WENT TO AIKIDO, and did at least a sort-of morning routine.

 

Food was...meh? I didn't have breakfast but had a mid-morning snack. Had a decent lunch + 2 girl scout cookies, then had a smoothie at like 5:30 before Aikido. I figured that would be my food for the day but I was hungry after class. I could have just had something healthy, or even unhealthy, at home and broken even. Buuuut my bf was also on his way home late, so I ended up asking him to bring me french fries because I am a french fry opportunist. So, that was definitely self sabotage. >.< NO LATE NIGHT FRENCH FRIES FOR CATS. 

[Owlet]

You went to Aikido! I demand to know how it went! (After sleep that is, obviously, since you're a cat and all.)

[JessFit]

Late night French fries sound amazing! 

[NeverThatBored]

12 hours ago, Owlet said:

You went to Aikido! I demand to know how it went! (After sleep that is, obviously, since you're a cat and all.)

 

<3 

 

It was good! My sensei hugged me when I first came in, so I felt less weird about coming back after the gap~~ She's so nice~ It was a really small class too, which was perfect for my first day back. Only 3 students. 

 

The dojo is doing an aikido demo at the Cherry Blossom festival next month, and I said I'd like to go, but I just meant to watch....then they thought I meant I was agreeing to participate. So in the later half of the class they were suddenly talking about what everyone should do for the demo, including me, and AHHHH. I spent the end of class feeling kind of panicked because I really have no interest in being in this demo, but I was so blindsided that I didn't say anything. And they're doing another demo at a seminar the following weekend that they ALSO want me to be in. I don't want to do two aikido demos / weekends in a row.

 

As I was leaving, I mentioned that I might be busy and I wasn't sure yet, but I couldn't bring myself to outright say I wouldn't do it. So we'll see. >.< Now I feel like I have to do at least one of them. 

[Maggie-Miau]

11 minutes ago, NeverThatBored said:

Now I feel like I have to do at least one of them. 

 

You don't have to do anything if you don't want to - as you mentioned in your post you're not super interested, it seems better for a demo to be done with enthusiasm rather than a sense of obligation? And with your sensei being so nice, surely she would understand if can tell her it was a misunderstanding?

 

But good for you going to the class in the first place!

13 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

I am a french fry opportunist.

 

Same, tbh, tater tots too. even during my spells of not wanting to eat, fries or tots almost always do the trick.

 

13 hours ago, NeverThatBored said:

23 hours ago, Miaulin said:

not sure if it's true, but i heard once that there's an anime about soda, where the different sodas are personified by human girls.

 

Wut. 

 

Found it, it's real! (but at what COST?)