Rubble ~ Minus 100 & Seeking Motivation to Continue

[Rubble]

Who Am I?:

Hi, I'm Rubble. I like cats, musical theater, coffee (way too much coffee), plants, and dumb movies. I'm a teacher who won't return to school until the end of August, and I have no idea what my district's plan will be. As you might imagine, I'm nervous as all hell. I'm currently teaching summer school (live Zoom classes, remotely) and trying to spend as much time in my little bubble with my immediate family until... well, I won't be able to see my parents if I'm teaching in person. So, I'm soaking it up now. 

 

About My Journey:

I've lost 100+ pounds over the last two years. Before *gestures vaguely* happened, I was at -120 pounds. Now I'm at -105. I'm still proud, and not terribly concerned; we are in the midst of a crisis, after all. However, I do want to get back on track. My loose goal is to lose another 50 pounds or so (I am still "obese" by BMI standards... which we know are bull.)

 

In general, I am going to try to build up my DnD stats for myself with 1 goal for each stat. I will award myself +1-5 for completing that goal, depending on how challenging it is for me and if I meet the goal completely).

 

Physical Fitness =                      STRENGTH

Stretching/Dance/ =                  DEXTERITY

Food/Diet/Wellness =               CONSTITUTION

Personal Growth/Learning =    INTELLIGENCE

Organization/Surroundings =   WISDOM

Relationships/Self Care =         CHARISMA

 

My Goals:

• Physical Health (STR, DEX, CON)
  • Move/Work Out for 20-30 minutes 3x per week (STR + 3)
  • Stretch for 10-15 minutes 5x per week (DEX +2)
  • Track my food intake daily on my app (completely) (CON +3)
• Mental Health (INT, WIS, CHA)
  • Continue reading anti-racist literature / articles daily (INT +2)
  • Adhere to my weekly cleaning/organizing schedule (WIS +5)
  • Check in to NF at least 3x per week to update progress (CHA +4)

 

I hope some of you will join me on my journey! I used to be an NF member, and I'm glad to be back (with a new account because I felt like a fresh start). #AssassinForLife.

[WhiteGhost]

Welcome back!  Here to follow as you slowly but surely make your way to -150  

[PaulG]

I understand the split feelings on parents. You are not alone in trying to be there for them during these times. It does crimp the social life though, since so many people are not being as careful.

 

Following for fitness, and also perhaps to steal your organization schedule!

[Rubble]

Update!

 

My Goals:

• Physical Health (STR, DEX, CON)
  • Move/Work Out for 20-30 minutes 3x per week (STR + 3)
    • I haven't "worked out" yet, though I've been doing so much deep cleaning that I've been working up a sweat. I'm going to give myself some minor progress here, though I'd like to do a dedicated workout later today.
  • Stretch for 10-15 minutes 5x per week (DEX +2)
    • Nope. Not yet.
  • Track my food intake daily on my app (completely) (CON +3)
    • I have nasty habit of logging breakfast, lunch, and then fading into the evening. Today's the day to work on that.
• Mental Health (INT, WIS, CHA)
  • Continue reading anti-racist literature / articles daily (INT +2)
    • I read a very interesting article about bias in the classroom yesterday afternoon (yes, everyone has bias. Recognize it and you can move past it). I also organized my newer books to make them easily accessible to pick up and start.
  • Adhere to my weekly cleaning/organizing schedule (WIS +5)
    • Oh dang, did I ever. Yesterday was "kitchen", according to my weekly calendar. Not only did I clear off the Counter of Doom (TM), I also pulled out everything, wiped down, tossed/recycled, and reorganized two of my most troublesome cabinets. The first is the container cabinet (we all hate this one) that doubles as my coffee/tea cabinet. It's all clean and organized and beautiful. The second was my spice/ingredient cabinet. I went through all of my expiration dates, and even found some doubles (bay leaves, powdered sage, etc). All of the sealed doubles with plenty of time left in them went into a box I've started for food pantry donation. I'm crushing this goal.
  • Check in to NF at least 3x per week to update progress (CHA +4)
    • Hey, I'm back the next day! Go me.

[Manarelle]

5 minutes ago, Rubble said:

I haven't "worked out" yet, though I've been doing so much deep cleaning that I've been working up a sweat.

 

Deep cleaning & other physical housework definitely counts as at least cardio. 

 

21 hours ago, Rubble said:

I hope some of you will join me on my journey! I used to be an NF member, and I'm glad to be back (with a new account because I felt like a fresh start). #AssassinForLife.

 

Welcome back! Following along, you'e got a solid challenge here, though it took me a moment to figure out how you weighed negative weight.  

[Rubble]

1 hour ago, Manarelle said:

Welcome back! Following along, you'e got a solid challenge here, though it took me a moment to figure out how you weighed negative weight.  

Hah! I prefer to share my loss goals rather than my current weight. I get that this is unusual and also a little tricky!

[sylph]

Hi and welcome (back)!

 

If you're willing to share your cleaning schedule, I'd love to see it

[Rubble]

6 hours ago, sylph said:

If you're willing to share your cleaning schedule, I'd love to see it

 

Sure! So, I am one of those out of control messy people. The "sorry, I can't give you a ride because you literally can't fit in my car people." I'm starting to understand that I am an adult woman who has probably had ADHD all of her life, but was an A/B student with decent coping strategies so was never diagnosed. I have a doctor's appointment next week to get the ball rolling on a diagnosis. For me, I have coping strategies in every other area of my life (you should see my color-coded Google Calendar), but could never get a handle on the mess.

 

 But honestly, this realization has been a game-changer for me, so I researched advice from adult women with ADHD. The biggest piece of advice I saw was "a little every day", "a checklist", and "break down each task". It's true... "clean the bathroom" feels really monumental, but "clear off the counter" and "clean the toilet" are small and manageable. I bought a little weekly dry erase calendar from the Target dollar section (it was $5) and hung it in a spot I can see from my hall, kitchen, and living room. Here's the breakdown!

 

Sunday: Living Room

- Pick up items off floor

- Change out linens

- Clear tables (dining and coffee tables)

- Sweep

- Vacuum 

- Water plants

- Litter Box

 

Monday: Kitchen

- Clear counters

- Empty sink of all dishes

- Change out linens

- Clean counters

- Clean stovetop

- Clean 1 appliance (microwave, etc)

- Mop

- Organize 1 drawer / fridge

 

Tuesday - Thursday: 3 10's (3 sessions of 10 minute pick ups)

 

 

Friday: Bedroom

- Change linens

- Pick up

- Laundry away

- Vacuum

 

Saturday: Bathroom

- Clear counter

- Clean counter/sink

- Clean tub/shower

- Clean toilet

- Change litter

- Mop floors

- Do all trash cans

 

I started this on Thursday, and have kept it up faithfully through Tuesday. I don't know if this will always be a strategy that works for me (especially when school is back in session, regardless of how it goes). Right now, I'm doing summer school virtually from 8-12, so I have much more time. That said, I'm motivated and am doing the deep cleans now so that I can do more maintenance cleaning next week!

 

[PaulG]

Love the cleaning schedule. I am usually super on top of kitchen cleaning and laundry, but other things have a tendency to fall by the wayside. I may nab a couple elements...

[Mad Hatter]

On 7/27/2020 at 6:51 PM, Rubble said:

(way too much coffee)

I don't understand this.  

 

That cleaning schedule stresses me out so much.  My approach is more like - water the plants when I notice they're dying + another week or so. Yeah. But I do like to keep at least the living room clean of clutter because otherwise I feel a little claustrophobic... Cleaning's hard though. It's just never ending!

[Rubble]

5 hours ago, Mad Hatter said:

I don't understand this.  

 

That cleaning schedule stresses me out so much.  My approach is more like - water the plants when I notice they're dying + another week or so. Yeah. But I do like to keep at least the living room clean of clutter because otherwise I feel a little claustrophobic... Cleaning's hard though. It's just never ending!

 

I empathize hardcore with that. You need to understand that I am queen of the MessyGirls, and right now I'm in a slightly manic organized phase. I'm completely cognizant of the fact that this will not last forever. Eventually, I will need to reassess this schedule and simplify it. It's been less than a week since I started, and I'm really in the midst of trying to de-chaos my place. My kitchen looks great, my living room is in good shape, my bathroom is clean... but there is still a pile of clean laundry in the hall in front of my washer. My spare bedroom/studio is currently the catch-all of chaos (and in DESPARATE need of a vacuum). My car is still not capable of fitting another person. 

This schedule, right now, is really just to focus me in a targeted de-chaosing. Eventually, I'll be in maintenance mode (hopefully).

[sylph]

I love the idea of a cleaning schedule and getting to maintenance mode.

 

Currently, I am of the "Let everything go until it's a mess, then lament at how messy things are, then spend an entire weekend marathon cleaning and repeat" which I am trying to break, especially now that I'm WFH. Small habits are helping--every day do the dishes right after lunch. Do it often enough and it's becoming automatic, like brushing my teeth. it's slow progress, but it's progress.

[Rubble]

8 minutes ago, sylph said:

Currently, I am of the "Let everything go until it's a mess, then lament at how messy things are, then spend an entire weekend marathon cleaning and repeat" which I am trying to break, especially now that I'm WFH. Small habits are helping--every day do the dishes right after lunch. Do it often enough and it's becoming automatic, like brushing my teeth. it's slow progress, but it's progress.

 

MEEEEEE. It is MEEEEE. 

 

Honestly, my kitchen was in "ok" shape when I tackled it on Monday. This is why I had the energy to go through those 2 cabinets and organize. Today is one of my "3 sets of 10 minutes" days. I just finished up my summer school virtual class, so now I'm thinking about how to organize that. I think 1 set will be a laundry-put-away. Another will be a pick up of my bedroom. The third... Hmm. Maybe a "continue filling the food pantry donate bag" activity. That's a good one, actually. I panic bought some soup cans at the beginning of quarantine and... I don't eat much soup. Better to donate it to those who will use it!

 

 

Daily check in time! Instead of pasting the whole thing every time, I'll only post the ones I have made progress on...

 

My Goals:

• Physical Health (STR, DEX, CON)
• Move/Work Out for 20-30 minutes 3x per week (STR + 3)
  • Cleaning counts, as you all assured me! So good progress here. My left arm is my "scrub arm", and it's sore today
• Stretch for 10-15 minutes 5x per week (DEX +2)
  • I'm making a point to do some stretching after my cleaning activities, so I hope I'll have progress on this one!
• Mental Health (INT, WIS, CHA)
  • Adhere to my weekly cleaning/organizing schedule (WIS +5)
    • Crushing it. Really proud of myself.
  • Check in to NF at least 3x per week to update progress (CHA +4)
    • Still here daily! Woo!

 

 

[sylph]

35 minutes ago, Rubble said:

Honestly, my kitchen was in "ok" shape when I tackled it on Monday. This is why I had the energy to go through those 2 cabinets and organize

heh, we just moved in May so I'm trying to keep on top of things with our new place as a clean slate. Fingers crossed, it seems to be working out okay so far.

[Rubble]

Update! Today is my mother's birthday, and she is in my Rona bubble. I will be bringing curbside takeout to my parents' home tonight from her favorite restaurant. Still no word on what fall will officially look like in my district. Sigh.

 

 

My Goals:

• Physical Health (STR, DEX, CON)
  • Move/Work Out for 20-30 minutes 3x per week (STR + 3)
    • I'll be lugging around bags of donations today. Is that technically a work out? No... but I may do some dance fitness YouTube videos this afternoon. I'm so SORE today, expecially my lower back. Cleaning is no joke. 
  • Stretch for 10-15 minutes 5x per week (DEX +2)
    • Just did this. Good gravy, was I stiff from all these cleaning days!
  • Track my food intake daily on my app (completely) (CON +3)
    • Utter failure on this one . Still making decent food choices... I'm just not logging them!
• Mental Health (INT, WIS, CHA)
  • Continue reading anti-racist literature / articles daily (INT +2)
    • No progress on this one today. I'm honestly taking a bit of a mental health day, as I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the world. 45 threatening (yes, I'm using that word) to push for delayed elections sent me into a bit of a spiral. 
  • Adhere to my weekly cleaning/organizing schedule (WIS +5)
    • Today's focus is donations. I'm going to finish my bag of pantry goods to donate today. I will also pick through my clothes again to see what I should donate (I've held on to a few items from my bigger self that really do need to go. I also have a bag of old sheets and towels to drop off at my local animal rescue. In these weird Times of 'Rona, it will be a great excuse to leave the house and do no-contact drop offs for all of these items.
  • Check in to NF at least 3x per week to update progress (CHA +4)
    • Hey, I'm back for the fourth day in a row!

[raptron]

The world is overwhelming a lot these days, damn.

 

Such a nice thing to do for your mom's bday.

[Manarelle]

On 7/30/2020 at 11:53 AM, Rubble said:

No progress on this one today. I'm honestly taking a bit of a mental health day, as I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with the world.

 

Mental health is critical. Hope you're feeling better. 

[Mike Wazowski]

Hope your mom had a lovely birthday and you enjoyed spending the time with her!

[Rubble]

Checking back in! It's been a few days, but I'm feeling pretty decently about how things are going.

 

• Physical Health (STR, DEX, CON)
  • Move/Work Out for 20-30 minutes 3x per week (STR + 3)
    • I just have such low motivation for this right now. I'm not sure what the cause is. I've definitely been doing lots of cleaning, but I know I need to actually dedicate some time to some strength and cardio.
  • Stretch for 10-15 minutes 5x per week (DEX +2)
    • Did some this morning and plan to do another session this afternoon. I'm so stiff today!
  • Track my food intake daily on my app (completely) (CON +3)
    • Still an utter failure on this. Again, my motivation is gone. I've been making solid food choice (mostly), but can't seem to make myself track. It's probably related to my current stress levels.
• Mental Health (INT, WIS, CHA)
  • Continue reading anti-racist literature / articles daily (INT +2)
    • I signed up for an Anti-Racist daily digest email, and I've been skimming through and reading an article on most days, when I have the emotional bandwidth. 
  • Adhere to my weekly cleaning/organizing schedule (WIS +5)
    • This is my success story. I've been holding strong with this. I have done some rearranging of my schedule, but it's going well.
  • Check in to NF at least 3x per week to update progress (CHA +4)
    • I'm back! 

[Manarelle]

Sometimes you have to prioritize what you're really after. Maybe make the mental health goals top priority, and the physical health goals a bonus? Then you can upgrade the physical health goals when the mental health ones have become habits and don't need to be consciously worked on?

[Rubble]

9 hours ago, Manarelle said:

Sometimes you have to prioritize what you're really after. Maybe make the mental health goals top priority, and the physical health goals a bonus? Then you can upgrade the physical health goals when the mental health ones have become habits and don't need to be consciously worked on?

 

I'm inclined to agree with you. I actually just received a diagnosis of ADHD (something I've LONG suspected) yesterday, and am picking up meds to treat it today once they're ready. I think it makes sense that this is something I focus on treating/improving/working on right now. I'm also a teacher in... pretty uncomfy times...

 

I think I'm going to modify my goals moving forward. 

 

NEW GOALS (I've written the modifications in purple to show the changes).

 

• Physical Health (STR, DEX, CON)
  • Move/Work Out/Deep Clean for 20-30 minutes 3x per week (STR + 3)
  • Stretch and/or meditate for 10-15 minutes 5x per week (DEX +2)
  • Limit snacking outside of meals to 1x per day and before 8pm (my weakness is late night munchies) (CON +3)
• Mental Health (INT, WIS, CHA)
  • Continue reading anti-racist literature / articles multiple times per week (INT +2)
  • Adhere to my weekly cleaning/organizing schedule (WIS +5)
  • Check in to NF at least 3x per week to update progress (CHA +4)

I'm really happy with these modifications. I think it will allow me to focus on the mental wellness side of things while also not neglecting my physical wellness. 

[sylph]

12 minutes ago, Rubble said:

I'm inclined to agree with you. I actually just received a diagnosis of ADHD (something I've LONG suspected) yesterday, and am picking up meds to treat it today once they're ready. I think it makes sense that this is something I focus on treating/improving/working on right now. I'm also a teacher in... pretty uncomfy times...

I feel like this may seem like a weird response but... congratulations  Sometimes it's nice to have a reason--and also a path forward for management.

 

 

What do you teach?

[Rubble]

18 minutes ago, sylph said:

I feel like this may seem like a weird response but... congratulations  Sometimes it's nice to have a reason--and also a path forward for management.

 

 

What do you teach?

 

Honestly, thank you! Getting a diagnosis (and treatment) for struggles that I have been beating myself up over for my whole life is such a relief. As I said to my parents, "This means I'm not just a messy piece of sh&t!"

 

I teach middle school English. I'm one of those people who went undiagnosed for so long because I am CRAZY good at coping skills. I have 3 calendars at work at any given moment (desk pad, daily planner, and digital calendar. I have alarms and reminders set for everything. If it isn't written down, I won't remember it. If I don't have push notifications, sticky notes, or highlighted reminders, I won't remember it. I'm actually praised for data organization consistently in my evaluations and by my colleagues. I also have my more helpful students clean and organize my classroom. 😏

[raptron]

I love the revised goals, honestly. Mental health/stress management is the base foundation for everything else we have going on and it's so easy to beat ourselves up for failing goals/tasks higher up the ladder, but how are you supposed to get up there if your bottom rungs have been kicked out, you know? 

[Mad Hatter]

On 8/5/2020 at 7:05 PM, raptron said:

I love the revised goals, honestly. Mental health/stress management is the base foundation for everything else we have going on and it's so easy to beat ourselves up for failing goals/tasks higher up the ladder, but how are you supposed to get up there if your bottom rungs have been kicked out, you know? 

Love this analogy!