[MezzotheLefty]

Winter is hard. We're finally all healthy again and settled back into our 'normal' so I'm back for another challenge.

 

1. Workout/Runs (race day March 19)

5-6 workouts/runs per week.

Workouts and runs are going great. Bard is having a great time programming my workout and I greatly enjoy not having to figure out what to do.  The trick is he has to write it down for me on our workout whiteboard. If he tells me what to do, I get combative in a "don't tell me what to do" way... I'm sure that's probably something I should discuss with my therapist.

I've been increasing milage weekly. Last week I ran 15 miles! Bard has me doing heart rate training so a lot of those miles are very slow to keep me in Zones 2 and 3. But in my recent interval run, I was doing half mile stretches at 9:30-ish pace, so that seems like progress.

I have a 5K on March 19. So I'll do 15 miles this week and next week and then Bard says I'll decrease mileage so my legs will be fresh. The goal is to beat my PR (34:45) and the big goal is to run it in less than 30 minutes. I may not make it this time, but I'm going to get close. 

 

2. Smile Protocol

I mentioned last challenge that I got braces. 😕 "It will be worth it" is the mantra.  In the meantime, I need to up my oral hygiene routine. Here's the goal:

• Brush after all meals (when possible)
• Even days: Floss top teeth in the evening
• Odd days: Floss bottom teeth in the evening (bottom teeth are more crowded, they get the extra days per year)
• Use Rx toothpaste on Sundays, as prescribed

Flossing is a pain without braces and with braces its even more important. But I don't have a habit for it (yet!) so this is my compromise. Hopefully it'll stick? and eventually I'll floss everything everyday? That's possible, right? 🙃

 

3. Bullet Journal!!!

Tracking habits and life in general in my paper brain is so helpful. So why don't I do it?!? I need to figure out how to make this habit stick. Because right now its: journal for an hour one day and don't touch it for a couple days, 20 minutes of 'catch up' documenting, 10 minutes a couple days in a row... you get the idea.

 

That's enough for now.

 

Parenting question:

Our no TV days were a mix bag. We watched less TV but now Pumpkin's first question of the day is whether its a TV day or not. 🤦‍♀️ He's throwing huge tantrums about TV when its time to turn it off. Restricting TV made it even more  important to him.... 

NF parents: How do you handle screens and TV with your kids? I think there's a balance to be struck here, but I'm really close to just no TV period for a while. 😬

 

[athousandwords]

Welcome back! Glad life is settling back into normal - it was a long, hard winter. Hopefully there are sunnier days ahead! Looks like a great challenge - congrats on your running consistency! And good luck with your sub-30 5k goal - you're so close!!

 

16 hours ago, MezzotheLefty said:

half mile stretches at 9:30-ish pace

 

I mean, WOW!

 

16 hours ago, MezzotheLefty said:

Flossing is a pain without braces and with braces its even more important. But I don't have a habit for it (yet!) so this is my compromise. Hopefully it'll stick? and eventually I'll floss everything everyday? That's possible, right? 🙃

 

It's possible! I literally did not floss for the first 35 years of my life, but finally conceded last year. I set a daily habit goal like yours and did a complete 180 - now I floss nearly every day. Another think you might want to look into is a waterpik - I have this cordless one and can use it in the shower, which is far less messy. It's actually kind of soothing, so I enjoy the habit!

 

16 hours ago, MezzotheLefty said:

NF parents: How do you handle screens and TV with your kids? I think there's a balance to be struck here, but I'm really close to just no TV period for a while. 😬

 

I don't think we're a stellar example of this - we've never had any real consistency with screen time. The kids are in daycare during the week so we generally don't do any screen time on weekdays (since it's such a short amount of time between getting home, dinner, bed). On weekends my 5yo always wants to watch "Saturday cartoons" and we usually let both kids watch for about 1-2 hours in the morning. And they often get another hour or so on Sunday nights because we're exhausted.

 

But I've definitely noticed the same thing - both my kids turn into screen time monsters when we take the tablet/tv away. It's generally out of sight out of mind though (having the TV in the basement where they don't usually go helps!) so a cooling off period of no screens might help break the connection. Think of it like breaking any bad habit: make it invisible, unappealing, remove the triggers that make them want it, replace it with something fun and engaging.

[Elastigirl]

Way to go on the running! I like your plan with the flossing. My son is grown, but I remember the TV struggle with my son. There was one time, I thought he was way too obsessed with TV when he was little . He kept asking what time  his show would be on , and how long it was. He was asking so much it was driving me crazy. After a few weeks of this,  he then started to tell me that it was 10:00 time to watch the show. Turns out, he was asking not only because he wanted to watch TV, but because he was trying to figure out how to tell time.😀 When you child asks if it is the day to watch TV, it might not just that he wants to watch TV,  he might be trying to figure out how the pattern of every other day works. It is a struggle to find that balance.  I tended to let him choose favorite shows to watch rather than a set time. Also, like athousandwords said, it was a lot easier when our TV was not in the main room

 

[Epsilonte]

On 2/22/2022 at 10:21 PM, MezzotheLefty said:

But I don't have a habit for it (yet!) so this is my compromise. Hopefully it'll stick? and eventually I'll floss everything everyday? That's possible, right? 🙃

This is such a good idea! I might steal it. ❤️ 

[Rebel Pilot Gar]

Following!

 

Great goals! Unfortunately no practiced advice from my end on the screen time, but good luck finding a balance!

Just brainstorming/throwing ideas out there but…

Is there another activity like shared games, reading / story time, music/singing dance party, walks etc to swap in? Something that’s also fun and engaging but not the zombie-trance of television. Or if there’s a favorite show, maybe re-enact it with toys and stories?

 

My parental units never really monitored/controlled screen time that I know of.  Except that we went camping every summer (no screens/games) and there are definitely embarrassing home videos somewhere of my sibling and I running around the campsite singing the Pokémon/Team Rocket theme song and pretending to catch Pokémon 😂

[Elastigirl]

How's it going?

[Elastigirl]

[MezzotheLefty]

On 2/23/2022 at 11:27 AM, Elastigirl said:

Way to go on the running! I like your plan with the flossing. My son is grown, but I remember the TV struggle with my son. There was one time, I thought he was way too obsessed with TV when he was little . He kept asking what time  his show would be on , and how long it was. He was asking so much it was driving me crazy. After a few weeks of this,  he then started to tell me that it was 10:00 time to watch the show. Turns out, he was asking not only because he wanted to watch TV, but because he was trying to figure out how to tell time.😀 When you child asks if it is the day to watch TV, it might not just that he wants to watch TV,  he might be trying to figure out how the pattern of every other day works. It is a struggle to find that balance.  I tended to let him choose favorite shows to watch rather than a set time. Also, like athousandwords said, it was a lot easier when our TV was not in the main room

 

 

On 3/14/2022 at 8:22 PM, Elastigirl said:

 

I am! Lol love the gif 🤣 I feel like I blinked and a month went by... Thanks for checking in. ❤️

 

Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I think you are right; he's trying to make sense of the pattern and needs more input. 

 

I'm gonna look making a little wall calendar for him!

[MezzotheLefty]

On 2/23/2022 at 8:09 AM, athousandwords said:

Welcome back! Glad life is settling back into normal - it was a long, hard winter. Hopefully there are sunnier days ahead! Looks like a great challenge - congrats on your running consistency! And good luck with your sub-30 5k goal - you're so close!!

 

 

I mean, WOW!

 

 

It's possible! I literally did not floss for the first 35 years of my life, but finally conceded last year. I set a daily habit goal like yours and did a complete 180 - now I floss nearly every day. Another think you might want to look into is a waterpik - I have this cordless one and can use it in the shower, which is far less messy. It's actually kind of soothing, so I enjoy the habit!

 

 

I don't think we're a stellar example of this - we've never had any real consistency with screen time. The kids are in daycare during the week so we generally don't do any screen time on weekdays (since it's such a short amount of time between getting home, dinner, bed). On weekends my 5yo always wants to watch "Saturday cartoons" and we usually let both kids watch for about 1-2 hours in the morning. And they often get another hour or so on Sunday nights because we're exhausted.

 

But I've definitely noticed the same thing - both my kids turn into screen time monsters when we take the tablet/tv away. It's generally out of sight out of mind though (having the TV in the basement where they don't usually go helps!) so a cooling off period of no screens might help break the connection. Think of it like breaking any bad habit: make it invisible, unappealing, remove the triggers that make them want it, replace it with something fun and engaging.

 

So I just looked it up and water picks are actually affordable. Somehow I was under the impression that they cost hundreds of dollars ( were they expensive in the 90s  00s?)

There's one in my cart now. 😁

 

Saturday morning cartoons are a thing here too!

 

On 2/24/2022 at 10:08 AM, Epsilonte said:

This is such a good idea! I might steal it. ❤️ 

 

Go for it! ☺️

 

On 2/24/2022 at 5:29 PM, Rebel Pilot Gar said:

Following!

 

Great goals! Unfortunately no practiced advice from my end on the screen time, but good luck finding a balance!

Just brainstorming/throwing ideas out there but…

Is there another activity like shared games, reading / story time, music/singing dance party, walks etc to swap in? Something that’s also fun and engaging but not the zombie-trance of television. Or if there’s a favorite show, maybe re-enact it with toys and stories?

 

My parental units never really monitored/controlled screen time that I know of.  Except that we went camping every summer (no screens/games) and there are definitely embarrassing home videos somewhere of my sibling and I running around the campsite singing the Pokémon/Team Rocket theme song and pretending to catch Pokémon 😂

 

This is an excellent point. Physical activity is great distraction from TV and fun too!!

We're having a better time now that it's warmer outside! Both my kids love going outside so the winter is rough for them... 

 

 

[MezzotheLefty]

And.... The challenge is over 🤦‍♀️

 

It's been a good month overall, just hectic and it continues to be. Bard is out of town for a while so just me and the kids.

I didn't do a good job with flossing or journaling (largely hit and miss so partial credit) BUT

 

I have a new 5k PR!!!

I ran my 5k on Saturday and I shaved 2:25 off my PR! My new time is 32:20. 😁

AND this PR has an asterisk because I didn't wear my normal running shoes so it could have been faster.

(I packed them but Sweet Pea unpacked one of them  and I didn't notice sooooo I had to borrow sneakers there were a size too big).

 

I hope to catch up with everyones threads over the next couple days and maybe gear up for a very lowkey challenge. 

 

[athousandwords]

19 hours ago, MezzotheLefty said:

I have a new 5k PR!!!

I ran my 5k on Saturday and I shaved 2:25 off my PR! My new time is 32:20. 😁

AND this PR has an asterisk because I didn't wear my normal running shoes so it could have been faster.

(I packed them but Sweet Pea unpacked one of them  and I didn't notice sooooo I had to borrow sneakers there were a size too big).

 

Congrats, that's awesome!! Also I'm dying that Sweet Pea unpacked your racing shoes! 😂 I got so nervous on my way down to my race last weekend that I checked that my shoes were in the car twice! Well done on hitting a PR even in too-big shoes; that's a testament to your training paying off!

[Elastigirl]

Woot for the PR- in borrowed shoes!😃