[Shello]

Another week gone and no updates!  Where have I been?   The event calendar is starting to clear up but it's staying just busy enough to keep my goals difficult to manage.  I'm struggling to lose the extra weight I picked up on vacation and the holidays are right around the corner.  On a fun note, the kids and I have pinned down next year's vacation and we're planning it for March.  I've been spending time in planning mode.  We're going to the Gulf coast, spend a few days in New Orleans, and then hit San Antonio and someplace in Oklahoma on our way home.  We'll cover 6 states.   So far I've booked the first couple nights and we're in a high rise condo with an ocean view and a pool.  We are excited!

 

W4Monday - Event Calendar - Izzy's Pizza Bus just for fun.  We ate too much.  Grade  Not So Lean 🍕  No fitnessing.  DDG is having some foot pain and I am having some motivation issues making myself go on my own.   I like our routine of going out together better.  Calorie burn was low. 

 

W4Tuesday -  No events.  I had no batch cooking since we still had leftovers on Sunday so I just made some spicy chicken sandwiches with frozen chicken patties (real for DDG and soy for me)  I did get some fitness done.  Grade - Extra Lean! 🥕I forced myself to go out for a walk.  But there were other things going on and I was feeling rushed and would have rather been doing something else.  So I used it as an opportunity to check my fitness improvement and I ran.  I RAN!  I haven't done nay running in so long I can't even remember when.  It was easier than I expected.  The limiting factor was not getting out of breath but partly my knees and my brain just giving up instead of pushing.  But I ended up with DOMS for days so taking frequent breaks was a good idea.  

 

W4Wednesday - No Events.  No fitnessing.  DDGs foot still hurts and I took it as a rest day but calorie burn met goal.  Spicy chicken sandwiches for dinner.  Grade - Lean 🍗

 

W4Thursday - Event Calendar - Surprise Party.  No time for fitnessing but calorie burn met goal.  We had dinner at the party.  Some roast pork loin and some ribs.  Cheese and crackers.  and a drink.  There was cake too.   I didn't overeat.  Luckily my day was scrambled and I didn't get lunch until 3 in the afternoon so I wasn't terribly hungry at dinner.  Grade - Not Quite Lean 🍷

 

W4Friday - Event Calendar - Mario was over for the weekend.   DDG had plans to hang with his youngest, Mario for the weekend.  We had planned on frozen pizza but the boys wanted to order Dominos so I didn't argue.  I ate more than I should have but I've done worse.    I spent most of the evening starting a new painting and then relaxed on the couch watching trash tv.  No fitness and low calorie burn.  Grade for the day Could Have Been Better 🍕🍕

 

W4Saturday - Event Calendar - Junkstock and a game.  I had to run out to Junkstock to exchange the wedding band I bought for the right size.  While I was there I ate lunch at a food truck.  I was H-E-A-VE-N.   It was a BBQ place.  I couldn't decide between between the loaded BBQ mac and cheese or the BBQ sandwich so I got the pulled pork sandwich and a side of mac then pulled some of the meat from the sandwich to add to the mac and cheese.  Both were very very good.  The food truck was a wedding contender but we just didn't think BBQ fit with the other choices.  I'll definitely eat there again though.  I also bought another half dozen apple cider donuts (my last for the season I'm sure) and had 2 on the drive home and gave the rest to the boys.  I also bought some cinnamon roasted cashews that made they're way onto some ice cream with salted caramel sauce and some chocolate syrup for dessert.  Dinner was a hot dog at the game.  Grade for the day, upgraded to Could Have Been Better because I was still mindful and never stuffed.  🌭🍨  No fitnessing but calorie burn met goal.  I did get my painting finished.  Pic posted to Insta. 

 

W4Sunday - No Events.  I thought about going for a walk but never made it and I felt busy most of the day.  I relaxed some and got some grading done while I watched trash tv.  I did all the outside Halloween decorating.  Calorie burn met goal.  Brunch was pumpkin spice pancakes with pumpkin and maple syrup and cinnamon roasted cashews.  I also had some scrambled eggs and the last slice of bacon.   Dinner was a homemade meat sauce with paccheri pasta and garlic bread made with naan.  Grade Lean Enough 🧇🍝

 

[Shello]

Homestretch of this challenge and I'm ready for the next.. 

 

W5Monday - No Events.   Worked and had class.  DDG and I made it out for a walk.  His foot is still hurting but he insisted on walking all the way around the lake.  It was dark by the time we finished.  We might need to get some headlamps.  Food choices were good but I did break fast early and grabbed some potato cakes from the cafeteria for breakfast.  Dinner was leftover pasta and texas toast garlic bread.  Grade Quite Lean 🍝

[Snarkyfishguts]

Head lamps are awesome!  My visiting uncle also has some impressive flashlights that can be seen from space.. at least. It feels like it, they’re so bright. I’ll ask him tomorrow if you like. 

[Shello]

On 10/13/2022 at 8:40 PM, Snarkyfishguts said:

Head lamps are awesome!  My visiting uncle also has some impressive flashlights that can be seen from space.. at least. It feels like it, they’re so bright. I’ll ask him tomorrow if you like. 

They are cool!  I thought I had some head lamps for camping but I can't find them.  I probably wouldn't bring a flashlight.  I am lazy* and don't want to carry anything.  

 

*I'm not sure lazy is the right word since I'd already be going for a 3 mile walk. 

[Shello]

I missed updating for the final week.  Not much happened.  We went to see Amsterdam Tuesday night and we ate dinner at the theater.  We shared a pizza and cheese curds.  And then got Dairy Queen on the way home.  I think we were busy Wednesday night as well but can't remember what we did but no fitnessing happened.  Thursday we were free to go for a walk but DDGs foot is still bothering him so I ended up not going either.  My Fitbit is on the fritz so I'm not tracking calorie burn either.  It is what it is.   Food was better as the week progressed and we were less busy.   

[Shello]

This challenge is finally over!   It was a great challenge since I had lots of fun things planned and had a great time doing them but it wasn't a great challenge because goals are hard.  I started the challenge returning from a vacation that took a toll on my waistline and the busy challenge did absolutely nothing to rectify that, in fact, I continued to gain a little more during the challenge.  I'm back up over 250 and since I refuse to document a weight over 250 during 2022, I'm taking a break from the scale until I can recover.  

 

What went well this challenge:

Fitness

I allowed for some grace here and didn't expect to get 3-4 walks in a week.  I didn't.  It was more like 1 or 2.  But not zero.  

 

Food

I stuck with batch cooking to set myself up for the best success I could. 

Batch cooked meals were healthier but still tasty.  

I leaned up my usual lunch a bit and don't miss it.  

I broke my candy after lunch habit, though still struggle with candy and sweets in the afternoon.

I broke my dessert habit and instead have a single occasional piece of chocolate.

 

Castle

The daily tidying challenge was not as successful this time around.  Perhaps because we were busy a lot of nights so it didn't feel like a daily habit.  

I did purge 31 items 

 

Creativity

I didn't set a goal this time around expecting to not have the time.  I ended up spending 10 hours and finishing 2 paintings.  

 

[Shello]

Moving on..

 

 

[Somalution]

On 9/12/2022 at 12:42 AM, Shello said:

To counteract the splurge and the Fitnessing time crunch I’ll focus on trimming where I can and focusing on the things I can control. 

I've found that a simple more/less/stop/start approach to nutrition helps me the most- just fyi. I hate tracking stuff I eat and making lists of what i should and shouldnt eat. Life, for me, is really just too short for that kind of time waster. So i go (for example): more greens, less bread, start eating nuts, stop eating candy. and this changes as my needs change. Anyway- not to interfere- just some help   Enjoy your challenge