KikiDee - Seriously Lapsed Ranger Returning To Active Duty

[Kiki Dee]

Hey guys!  I think it's about 3 years since my last ill-fated attempt at a challenge.  But I shall embrace the spirit of resurrection embodied by this 10 Year Anniversary Challenge.

 

I've been back on the fitness train, and the NF forums, for about a month or so, and it's going pretty well so far.  I'm doing the things I want to do, and seeing the changes I want to see.  So, the challenge is mostly going to be maintaining that momentum as I return to work in a few weeks.

 

Looking back over the past decade... I'm in a very very different place.  10 years ago I was 28 and in my second year of specialist training.  I was quite miserable and some point in 2010 I had my first stint on antidepressants.  I was dancing once a week but otherwise not getting a lot of exercise, being pretty much consumed with work - that year I was regularly doing 100hr+ fortnights, with a lot of 14-hr days and night shifts thrown into the mix.  My diet was terrible, we ate truckloads of takeaway - our local Indian takeaway literally sent us a Christmas card!!!  Every lunch was from the hospital caf.  (And I'm sure you know how bad those places are!!!). Even my "healthy" meals were basically carbs, carbs, and more carbs.  Toast or cereal for breakfast, pastas and curries etc for lunch and dinner.  I was also a total computer game junkie.

 

In the intervening 10 years, I have finished my training and am now a consultant gynaecologist in a great private practice.  I have control (to some extent) over what work I do and when I do it.  I have wonderful colleagues.  Haven't needed antidepressants since I left the hospital.  I got a Masters degree last year.  I have three gorgeous children, who are 8 (as of yesterday), 5 (as of today), and 5 months old.  With each pregnancy and birth, my physical condition has taken a massive battering.  But I am done having babies now.    I have a diagnosed gluten allergy (not actually Coeliac but the same antibodies, and my brother is Coeliac, so in that vein I guess) and so for 2 years now have followed a strictly gluten-free diet, which eliminates about 90% of takeaway options (and dramatically improves my bowel function!).  And for planet reasons I have recently transitioned to a low-meat diet.  (Currently pescatarian, with aspirations of progressing to vegetarian.  No plans to go vegan, I'd find it really restrictive when combined with the gluten avoidance).  My nutrition is really pretty good - protein at almost every meal, minimally processed, lowish carb, loads of vegetables, only 1-2 meals/week are not prepared by myself or my husband.  We have chickens in the backyard for our eggs, and a vegetable garden (which has produced bugger-all this year due to the bushfire smoke).  Coffee is now black.  I find that I function better if I snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and that's generally fruit or nuts.  My biggest dietary problem is alcohol; I never get drunk, but I do drink most days, and I'd prefer not to.  I certainly don't intend to go teetotal, got enough of that during pregnancy!  But I'd like a few more alcohol-free days each week.  Despite my diet being pretty much what I'd want... I'm still fat.  Because I haven't exercised in two years (basically since I started trying for this last baby).  And for me, exercise is ALWAYS the linchpin for my physical and mental health.

 

So my goals this challenge will be largely based around exercise.  It's the big change I need to consolidate.  I finish maternity leave and go back to work on March 2nd so it'll be a big challenge to keep that physical activity rolling.  Nutritionally I just want to focus on logging my intake, and limiting alcohol.  As for life in general... Honestly, in the last 12 months I have basically achieved everything that I had as a long-term career goal.  I want to take some time to enjoy that.  Building my practice will certainly be a new challenge, but not the sort that lends itself to SMART goals!  Some Domestic Rangering, on the other hand, is certainly in order.  There are some things I've been procrastinating on so I'd best pop them in here to make my lazy butt do them!

 

Fitness Goals:

1.  Strength training at least 2x/wk (preferably 3, but Life has a habit of getting in the way, and this isn't a short term habit we're looking at here - my activity has to fit within the demands of a two-doctor, three-child family.)

2.  Some other movement-focused activity at least 1x/wk (eg BodyJam, Sh'Bam, Yoga, hiking).  Can accept third strength workout in this category.

3.  Increase the difficulty of my strength workouts according to my longstanding self-imposed rules (All prescribed sets and reps completed in two consecutive workouts = mandatory increase in weight next time.  Exceptions apply to activities which I know trigger my back, eg Pallof press, which past experience has taught me needs to go up very slowly!)

 

Nutritional Goals:

1.  >= 3 alcohol-free days per week.

2.  Daily log of all food and caloric drinks consumed (Not going to log my coffee intake.  It's embarrassingly high.  I'm aware of this, and will reduce once the baby starts sleeping through!) - Criterion for success = 5/7 complete accurate days per week.

 

Crafting Goals:

1.  Finish my Rose Coloured Glasses socks.

2.  Block at least TWO of the three projects currently sitting at 99% in my Ravelry notebook, which are done and just awaiting blocking!

3.  One of these blocked projects must be my Annis, because I wish to wear it.

4.  Work on the "Love Is..." mystery knit along (once it is released) at least 3 times per week.  Hopefully this will be in my nice pleasant 5.30-6am radio listening time.

 

Career Goals:

1.  Spend at least one hour reading journal articles per week.  Document what I've been reading, when and where in my Battle Log.  I'm out of the habit and need to be back into it.

2.  Arrange time off work to attend at least one conference this year.  Preferably two - one fertility, one general gynae.

 

Domestic Rangering Goals:

1.  By the end of this challenge, COMPLETE CLEAN of Miss 8's bedroom, including a Wardrobe Purge

2.  By the end of this challenge, the Shelf Of Doom in my wardrobe will have been cleared, cleaned, and reordered.  Photos required.

3.  By the end of this challenge, the floor of my wardrobe will have been cleared, cleaned, and reordered.  Photos required.

4.  I will count the challenge as nominally successful if two out of the above three are complete.  Each of those tasks is actually pretty freaking huge, and I do have a very small human to look after.

 

Sheesh.  That is a lot of goals.  But many of them are big-ticket one-shots so it's actually a manageable number of habit-building goals I think.

 

Here's to gains that I can finally keep.

[RES]

Welcome back, those ARE a lot of goals, but I have no doubt you will RANGER it

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Welcome back!!  I see you also have a case of RangerBrainTM!!  What do you use to log your food?

[Kiki Dee]

1 hour ago, RES said:

Welcome back, those ARE a lot of goals, but I have no doubt you will RANGER it

 

Lol, that's right, I remember now... a whole lotta goals across a bunch of different domains is a very Ranger thing, isn't it??? 😂

 

 

[Kiki Dee]

Just now, Chris-Tien Jinn said:

Welcome back!!  I see you also have a case of RangerBrainTM!!  What do you use to log your food?

 

At the moment, a combination of Foodibility and my Battle Log.  I'm less concerned about calories/serving sizes/macros atm and more concerned with having a record of what types of food I'm eating and whether it's balanced.  Removing meat is pretty recent so I figure it's worth keeping an eye on.

[Elastigirl]

Welcome back!

[Salinger]

Hey !!! will be following along. YOU CAN DO IT x

[TGP]

yes, welcome back.

I LOVE that you recognize the importance of exercise.

 

some people absolutely Perseverate on weight loss; and then when they learn that weight loss is often a matter of diet. they are like...

how cares about exercising then?

 

No,  "exercise in the linchpin of mental and physical health" is Absolutely right! and your preaching to the choir to state that within the ranger guild.

 

I see you list hiking as a supplemental activity.  my absolute favorite way of exercising.  do you think you'll get out much in the weeks and months to come?  

 

I don't know where you are, but you mention bushfires, so maybe if your in Australia- summer is passing and fall is nearly beginning.

here in the North; Hiking season is about to begin but I'm still rangering on and doing some even in the snow.  so I suppose it guess it is a year round thing.

 

anyway like you say, its a big LIST.  but if you can pull it, there's nothing wrong with being ambitious!

[Kiki Dee]

4 hours ago, TGP said:

 

 

I see you list hiking as a supplemental activity.  my absolute favorite way of exercising.  do you think you'll get out much in the weeks and months to come?  

 

I don't know where you are, but you mention bushfires, so maybe if your in Australia- summer is passing and fall is nearly beginning.

here in the North; Hiking season is about to begin but I'm still rangering on and doing some even in the snow.  so I suppose it guess it is a year round thing.

 

 

I honestly have no idea.  I am NOT a hiker, it's an aspirational thing.  Hiking has always irritated my back (stress fractured at age 14, never recovered) and tends to have me laid up for days afterwards, so I don't do it.  But my husband and kids like to "walk up a mountain" here and there, and I have in my head that if I get strong enough through the core, maybe I can start to join them.  It's something I'd like to be able to do.

 

I'm in Australia yes, Canberra in particular.  We were smoke bound all summer so haven't been outdoors much in the last two months.  But autumn can be a nice time to get out; much of our nearby national parks are burned so could be interesting to get out and see the regrowth in a month or so.

[TGP]

the thing to say about Hiking is that it really is merely walking. it can be a very low impact kind of activity.

 

the key is to be small and incremental about it.  go someplace pretty.  only hike a few km.  Even if its so tiny it doesn't feel like anything significant; like everything you body will adapt to it.  Do little enough that it doesn't create a full blown eruption of pain with your back since I don't think that will help...

 

But I think I should probably NOT comment on the injury.  I have no medical background and I see that you do.

generally, Aren't injuries like that meant to be healed by physical therapy ?  if its chronic it can hamper you from doing many, many things.  

 

that ofc though goes back to the issue of health care; and again I have no real knowledge of it.

 

anyways. 

if you aspire to do it; I think you should try!  sort it out and start by walking as much as possible; I'm sure that is one of the first reasonable steps.

 

if you have a fitbit or other ways of consistently measuring daily steps; something quite a few of us have is to track the mileage; add them together and go on a (virtual) LOTR (Lord of the Rings) voyage.

 

it takes 3079mile (per the LOTR nerds) to destroy the ring and return (I'm not sure what that is in km; but the tracking spreadsheet does the math)

 

we've got a thread tucked around here somewhere dedicated to it (which is linked to a google spreadsheet).

 

that might seem like a long, long time to walk all that but the miles, err km all keep adding up.  and for myself at least it was motivating.

 

if you want more information about it said in a more succinct way; steve wrote up a good essay about it, too. 

 

 

 

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

On 2/10/2020 at 1:13 PM, Kiki Dee said:

Hiking has always irritated my back (stress fractured at age 14, never recovered)

 

Is that from the back pack?  Or any walking on uneven terrain?

[Kiki Dee]

9 hours ago, Chris-Tien Jinn said:

 

Is that from the back pack?  Or any walking on uneven terrain?

 

Any extended walking actually.  Doesn't even have to be uneven.  Too much time at a shopping centre will do it too!  I have more luck with dance, aerobics, lifting etc where the physical movements are very controlled and my core is more consciously engaged for shorter bursts of activity.  I'm good at keeping my transversus on when I'm concentrating, but if the movement itself isn't my primary focus (eg walking and looking at scenery or wrangling the kids)... it drifts.

[Rurik Harrgath]

Wonderful goals!

 

From one seriously lapsed Ranger to another, let's be glad to be here and help spread the respawn hype!

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

On 2/12/2020 at 5:00 PM, Kiki Dee said:

if the movement itself isn't my primary focus (eg walking and looking at scenery or wrangling the kids)... it drifts.

 

I hope you have some sort of PT plan!! 

[Kiki Dee]

3 hours ago, Chris-Tien Jinn said:

 

I hope you have some sort of PT plan!! 

 

Lol.  Let's go with that.  😂

 

Nah, my plan is "get strong enough in the core that I can keep it engaged full-time".  Done a lot of physio over the years (decades).  It helps me get through acute flares but hasn't made a colossal difference to baseline function.  Pole dancing has had the best effect long-term; it was all core strength.  Can't find a class I can actually get to atm though, so lifting and BodyJam it is for now.  I'm optimistic.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Any yoga classes available?  They often really work the core but in a gentle fashion.  

[Kiki Dee]

8 hours ago, Chris-Tien Jinn said:

Any yoga classes available?  They often really work the core but in a gentle fashion.  

 

I have access to NF Yoga, but yoga is something I just don't particularly enjoy.  Time is my big limiting factor - with three children and a two-doctor household, scheduling is pretty tight so I'm focusing on activities I love.  Lifting, dancing.  The rest can wait.   

I promise my current regimen has *heaps* of core work!  I don't get to sit/lie on a bench even once from start to finish! 

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

When my daughter was little we did "Mommy and Me" workouts.  It seems like most of those years were built around workouts that I could multi-task with something else.  

[Kiki Dee]

Ok, end of week 1, and... well, it has been a shocker!!!  Poor choice I guess to start a challenge during a week in which Husband is on call.  It kinda throws things out.

 

Fitness Goals:

1.  Strength training at least 2x/wk (preferably 3, but Life has a habit of getting in the way, and this isn't a short term habit we're looking at here - my activity has to fit within the demands of a two-doctor, three-child family.) - 2/2, pass

2.  Some other movement-focused activity at least 1x/wk (eg BodyJam, Sh'Bam, Yoga, hiking).  Can accept third strength workout in this category. - Nope.

3.  Increase the difficulty of my strength workouts according to my longstanding self-imposed rules (All prescribed sets and reps completed in two consecutive workouts = mandatory increase in weight next time.  Exceptions apply to activities which I know trigger my back, eg Pallof press, which past experience has taught me needs to go up very slowly!) - Pass, within the limits of injury.  Kinda stoked that my dumbbell shoulder press is now up to 7kg; a month ago I struggled with 4.

 

Nutritional Goals:

1.  >= 3 alcohol-free days per week. - Nope.  Only two.

2.  Daily log of all food and caloric drinks consumed (Not going to log my coffee intake.  It's embarrassingly high.  I'm aware of this, and will reduce once the baby starts sleeping through!) - Criterion for success = 5/7 complete accurate days per week. - Pass

 

Crafting Goals:

1.  Finish my Rose Coloured Glasses socks. - Got some work done on them but have been diverted by the Love Is... MKAL

2.  Block at least TWO of the three projects currently sitting at 99% in my Ravelry notebook, which are done and just awaiting blocking! - 0/2

3.  One of these blocked projects must be my Annis, because I wish to wear it. - 0/1

4.  Work on the "Love Is..." mystery knit along (once it is released) at least 3 times per week.  Hopefully this will be in my nice pleasant 5.30-6am radio listening time. - Pass.  I've put a lot of work into this, but am still behind the pace!

 

Career Goals:

1.  Spend at least one hour reading journal articles per week.  Document what I've been reading, when and where in my Battle Log.  I'm out of the habit and need to be back into it. - Nope.  Forgot I was even going to do this...

2.  Arrange time off work to attend at least one conference this year.  Preferably two - one fertility, one general gynae. - 0/2, but this has to wait until I'm back at work in March

 

Domestic Rangering Goals:

1.  By the end of this challenge, COMPLETE CLEAN of Miss 8's bedroom, including a Wardrobe Purge - 0/1

2.  By the end of this challenge, the Shelf Of Doom in my wardrobe will have been cleared, cleaned, and reordered.  Photos required. - 0/1

3.  By the end of this challenge, the floor of my wardrobe will have been cleared, cleaned, and reordered.  Photos required. - 0/1

4.  I will count the challenge as nominally successful if two out of the above three are complete.  Each of those tasks is actually pretty freaking huge, and I do have a very small human to look after.

 

So what could account for such abject failure so early in the challenge?  Well, Miss Nearly-Six-Months has decided this week that she will ONLY nap while she is physically lying on my lap.  And when awake, she will cry if she does not have Mummy's full attention!!!  It's absolutely crippling my ability to do just about anything, and playing havoc with my frustration levels too of course.  She's also decided she no longer likes the baby carrier.  Add in a hefty dose of Mummy Guilt that I"m going back to work and leaving her in a week... Yeah.  Lots and lots of time on the couch.  Cuddling my baby.

 

Guess what I'm doing right now??? 🙄

 

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

5 minutes ago, Kiki Dee said:

So what could account for such abject failure so early in the challenge?

 

I'd say that you've found some ways that are not working for you right now, but you didn't fail.  What can you change or adjust?  Is there anyone who can do some tasks that would let you tackle some of the activities you didn't get to this week??  

 

 

(And I know that everyone probably tells you this .... but babies get too big to sit in your lap too quickly .... mine just turned 30 day.)

[Kiki Dee]

4 minutes ago, Chris-Tien Jinn said:

 

I'd say that you've found some ways that are not working for you right now, but you didn't fail.  What can you change or adjust?  Is there anyone who can do some tasks that would let you tackle some of the activities you didn't get to this week??  

 

 

(And I know that everyone probably tells you this .... but babies get too big to sit in your lap too quickly .... mine just turned 30 day.)

 

Honestly it's mostly down to husband's unusually busy work week.  I could get the big ticket stuff done if he were here to baby wrangle.  And he's usually here all day Fri/Sat/Sun, just not this week.

And yeah... she's sleeping on my lap right now, has been for the past 2 hours.  I can smell her sweet milk-breath and she's just quietly breathing, occasionally doing that cute little sleeping dreaming baby-smile.  Put her down for five minutes to go to the toilet and she screamed the whole time... back to sleep within 2 minutes back on me.  She does at least sleep well in her own cot overnight.

 

In more positive news, although I'm not back "at work" for another week, I happened to be the only specialist from our team who was in town this weekend.  So I got to pop in this morning for a nice embryo transfer.  And they've done up the front door, and my name is now on the door!!!  Very exciting.   (Sometimes it's the little things!)

[Kiki Dee]

I think I should share at least one photo of my sweet little Challenge Derailer.  Here she is right now, being all sleepy and adorable.

 

 

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

1 hour ago, Kiki Dee said:

And they've done up the front door, and my name is now on the door!!!  Very exciting.   (Sometimes it's the little things!)

 

Congrats!!!  (I know.  Those little symbols of belonging are very important!)

[RES]

21 hours ago, Kiki Dee said:

 And they've done up the front door, and my name is now on the door!!!  Very exciting.   (Sometimes it's the little things!)

Congratulations! That doesn't sound like such a little thing to me! 

[Kiki Dee]

On 2/24/2020 at 9:56 AM, RES said:

Congratulations! That doesn't sound like such a little thing to me! 

 

Yeah... considering how many years it's taken me to get here, I guess it symbolises quite a big thing. ❤️