[W.L.K. Sarah]

Doing a continuation of my 2nd challenge. Can't wait! 

 

[Heidi]

On 12/28/2021 at 12:51 PM, W.L.K. Sarah said:

Doing a continuation of my 2nd challenge. Can't wait! 

 

Looking forward to cheering you on!

[Scaly Freak]

That means more stretching. I'm in.

[Harriet]

More salads! What could go wrong? Nothing, that's what! Happy challenging

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Today's little wins:

• Hydrated first thing in the morning
• Scheduled my annual exam with a new doctor
• Left a voice message to my local chiropractor to schedule an appointment
• Drinking the iced herbal tea I made the night before (I'm learning that the best way to take care of my health is to plan ahead. So rather than drink soda, I drink herbal tea with a squeeze of lemon -- delicious! )

Coming up ahead, I've schedule a consultation call with a health coach.

 

Excited to start off the new year right.

[Rookie]

Wow keep that momentum rolling. Thats a very productive first few days of the new year

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Booked my first visit to the chiropractor for next Monday! I want to take care of getting my body in alignment again before doing any intense physical activity. For now, I keep my body moving by doing house chores and taking my dog for a walk.

 

Continuing to listen to my meditation app and chatting with my therapist at least once a day. Healthy mindset = healthy & sustainable habits!

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Sharing my chat with my therapist today about the dream I had this morning.

 

My Message:

 

I just remembered that I had a dream last night. I was being recorded on video and it felt like I was my heaviest/ugliest ever. But I wasn’t upset about it at all. I saw myself on video and I simply accepted myself for how I look at this time. It’s just nice to experience this self-acceptance and to acknowledge how far I’ve come. Even when I was my most fit, I was still so very insecure. Living in Southern California for 20+ years, where Hollywood is just a 2-hour drive away, it was embedded in our culture to always feel like your body wasn’t good enough. I’m so glad to be in a space now where I have a healthier mindset toward myself and my body. If anything, I’m grateful for all of the experiences that have stretched me out of that unhealthy mindset to get to where I am today.  

 

My Therapist's Response:

 

This is all so good! Yes it is so important, as you say, to acknowledge that we would not be where we are now if we have not gone through the adversities we have. It is the contrast that shows us what we do and do not want and then teaches us how to have a voice and healthy boundaries even when we may upset and disturb people! Of course it's important to be as considerate as possible and not reactive but we do the best we can! I love how accepting you are becoming of yourself and your body. This is so important, and such a huge HUGE achievement!

[Scaly Freak]

I like your therapist.  

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Lemon. I love lemon. My favorite things to add lemon in:

• Tea
• Broth
• Water (when I'm out of alkaline water)
• Salad
• Meat

My mother-in-law gave me her mother's old, fashioned, glass lemon juicer, which I use all the time. It basically lives on my kitchen counter.

[Scaly Freak]

53 minutes ago, W.L.K. Sarah said:

Lemon. I love lemon. My favorite things to add lemon in:

• Tea
• Broth
• Water (when I'm out of alkaline water)
• Salad
• Meat

My mother-in-law gave me her mother's old, fashioned, glass lemon juicer, which I use all the time. It basically lives on my kitchen counter.

 

Vodka and ice.  

[W.L.K. Sarah]

I just got settled into my new office.

 

This may not seem like a health-related thing to mention, but it totally is. I've been working from home for the last decade. With the intensity of being at home during the pandemic, I basically couldn't focus anymore.

 

I'm already feeling like a whole new person.  

 

More updates soon.

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Having an initial consultation with my health coach tomorrow. She asked that I fill out a Wellbeing Test. Here's a description of what the results mean (before I share my results):

 

Generally speaking, a score higher than 90% is great and you should focus on maintaining that.

 

Scores between 50-90% indicate that these areas can be improved further.

 

Scores below 50% need your attention urgently, as they're likely a significant source of dissatisfaction and are probably having a negative impact on other areas of your life.

 

My overall score?

 

12%.

 

I'm laughing (not because I'm about to go crazy), but laughing as a gentle acknowledgement and understanding to why I received this score. Not shaming myself or feeling bad or guilty, etc. Nor do I feel the need to deflect and blame the person who created this test. When I see this number, I'm thinking, "Oh okay, so now I know where to begin."

 

Here are my scores on the 3 pillars of wellbeing:

 

Focus: 24%

Food: 0%

Fitness: 13%

 

Yep. It's nice to visually see where I need to go from here. Now that I have an office, I anticipating building a good work/life balance. I know it won't be perfect, but I know that I'm in an environment to start making some positive changes.

[Scaly Freak]

2 hours ago, W.L.K. Sarah said:

I'm laughing (not because I'm about to go crazy), but laughing as a gentle acknowledgement and understanding to why I received this score. Not shaming myself or feeling bad or guilty, etc. Nor do I feel the need to deflect and blame the person who created this test. When I see this number, I'm thinking, "Oh okay, so now I know where to begin."

 

This may be one of the healthiest reactions you could have had to that kind of test. Indeed, knowing where to start is the first step towards meeting our goals.

 

2 hours ago, W.L.K. Sarah said:

Now that I have an office, I anticipating building a good work/life balance. 

 

Suggestion: Establish clear boundaries immediately, and stick with them. It can be very tempting to compromise on them early on, because you have the energy and it's a new thing, but what that will do is set the expectation in everyone you work with that you will always be checking your work emails every evening (for example). And once that has been established, getting away from that to where you are completely done with work and gone from it at the end of your shift, becomes very difficult and may even have undesired consequences. Protect your work-life balance!

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Excited to report that I had my first consultation call today with my prospective health coach. I've been following her work for sometime now and I just really appreciate her kind, gentle approach to maintaining sustainable health habits. She asked that I put together a food journal for the next three days. Then I scheduled another consultation call with her husband, who focuses more on fitness goals. I'll get a full assessment with a recommended strategy by next week.

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Had my first visit with the chiropractor today. Will be coming in again to review my assessment on Thursday. Tonight, I'll compile a food log of the last three days to share with my health coach. Tomorrow, I'm scheduled to speak with a fitness coach that my health coach recommended.

 

Excited to be kicking off my health journey for the new year right.

[Rookie]

Oh how did your chiropractor appointment go? I think I need to go do that. My body is just feeling a bit... off lol. 

 

Food journaling is such a great tool.

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Hello everyone! Some quick updates:

• I'll be getting my food/fitness assessment from my prospective health coaches tomorrow (Friday). I really enjoyed doing the 3-day food log, so much that I think I'll continue doing it! I'm mainly just taking photos so I can visually see what I eat at what time of the day. It's so insightful! For example, I definitely veg out in the evening. So I'm now thinking of 'healthier' ways to veg out - like switch candy with grapes, or milk chocolate with dark chocolate, etc.
• Going to my second chiropractor appointment today. I did the x-ray for my first exam and my suspicions about my body were right. Unfortunately, my health insurance doesn't cover my chiropractor after all. So I may consider moving money around to pay out of pocket as this is a priority for me. I want to be adjusted and feel normal again before doing any serious exercise.
• Lastly, starting to figure out my meal prep now that I'm going to the office.

To be continued!

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Just wanted to share that some thing about today’s first adjustment at the chiropractor & listening to this guided meditation on InsightTimer before bed got me feeling a wave of emotion and gratitude.

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Finally cleared some floor space at home to stretch. It's so therapeutic to take care of my body in this way while listening to meditative music. Today, I got my 2nd adjustment at the chiropractor. Loved it. Lastly, I'll be moving forward with my health coach this week. Really grateful to have the means to hire the kind of help that'll help me build sustainable healthy habits.  

[W.L.K. Sarah]

I also brought my exercise ball to the office! I plan on sitting on it for a couple of minutes whenever I want to take a short break from the computer.  

[W.L.K. Sarah]

Having feelings of fearing my own success.

• What if I give up while I'm ahead?
• What if I can't sustain this?
• What if it's too good to be true?
• What if I run out of the resources to keep this going?
• What if I fail again?

This is a good time to remind myself that I don't have to identify with my feelings. Feelings come and go. Here's a reminder of a good meditative practice to look at feelings as clouds floating by in the sky: 

 

[W.L.K. Sarah]

My lower back doesn't hurt anymore. I noticed this as I bent over to clean the cat litter. I'm also feeling more comfortable standing for long periods of time. Chiropractor adjustments often cause me soreness shortly after my appointments. But, wow, am I feeling the difference now!

[W.L.K. Sarah]

I'm scheduled to chat with my wellness team (this is what I'm calling my health coaches since they are a husband-wife duo) tomorrow. Super excited!

[Scaly Freak]

11 minutes ago, W.L.K. Sarah said:

My lower back doesn't hurt anymore. I noticed this as I bent over to clean the cat litter. I'm also feeling more comfortable standing for long periods of time. Chiropractor adjustments often cause me soreness shortly after my appointments. But, wow, am I feeling the difference now!

 

This is fantastic news. Congratulations on the lack of pain.