Lillucia makes it through the crazy time intact

[lillucia]

Ok, so erosan poked me the other day about putting up a challenge thread which I'd been procrastinating about (typical) because I couldn't see how to do one without bombing out some or all.

*perfectionist moi rears her fairly-ugly head again*

 

Anyway, this is inspired by erosan and late-night overtired brain pickings, hastily scribbled in hot-pink Parker pen:

 

Main Quest: To survive the next 6 weeks, set up house and marry my love, without losing my sanity and/or alienating those around me (or seeing my company suffer).

 

Very Small Challenge Quests, designed for simple accountability and reassurance that life continues in all circumstances:

 

Quest 1: Bodyweight micro-movement, angry-birds style. Every night before bed (or during the day if possible, but I predict not), complete a 45sec+ plank, or a set of 10 squats, lunges or incline pushups. It's certainly not going to develop me any new strength and barely going to hold the ground I've reached, but better than no movement at all, and I'm a fan of the idea that ticking off something like this before bed makes me sleep better. Which I much need (sleep efficiency last night was 88%, too much hot ) Cheat day permitted if it's already after midnight.

 

Quest 2: No coffee after 2pm. One cheat day allowed per week. Tea allowed, but discouraged.

 

Quest 3: Minimum 7 glasses of water a day. I can do this!

 

Life Quest: Each night before bed, write in my diary to journal for the day and plan for the next one. Again, helps my brain to offload for the day and settle down for sleep (that's the plan anyway).

 

I can't magically make more hours in the day in which to sleep, but hopefully I can optimise what time I have head-on-pillow.

 

Slightly un-measurable side Life Quest: rather than get annoyed at the things I can't get done right now (e.g. study spanish, play piano etc), write them down in my wonderful Trello board.

 

Will try and work out my stat point allocation later (tbh, I still haven't allocated my last five points of my first challenge, or done a summary of how it went )

I can't promise to update this terribly regularly, but will work on at least once a week.

 

 

 

Good luck everyone; let's get this!

[kaelvan]

Trust me planks can easily give you more strength, especially if are a jackass like me and do that plank challenge, where you end up going up to 5 mins.

 

So good luck on your challenge.

[Elastigirl]

Glad you made a challenge. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

[lillucia]

Thanks! I also meant to mention, re: Paleo & No Alcohol goals I was working on last challenge - they are also carrying over to this one but not going to keep tally as such (as there will be many celebratory days etc between now and the end of the challenge).

 

Essentially, what I mean here is:

- Paleo: "As paleo as possible", 5 days a week, but not applicable if out with friends or it will create stress on anything else.

- No Alcoholz: Aiming for no alcohol 5 days a week, but again celebratory days will cause stress, so I'm just going to say no non-social drinking. At all, pretty much, but again I'm not beating myself up for failure.

[lillucia]

Quick recap on yesterday:

 

Q1: Done (10 x incline push ups). Not much, but challenging enough when I'm battling some sort of flu thing.

Q2: Done (felt tired, but it helped that I wasn't in the office so I would have had to buy one)

Q3: 5/7 glasses of water. Oops. New target for today and tomorrow = 8 glasses to make up. This should be no problem as I used to drink 8 without a hassle, but because I stopped tracking it I got lazy on how much I drank. All the better for making some progress on the challenge!

LQ: Done.

 

Anyway, am battling some abominable flu thingy - put that down as another of my fitness goals to NEVER get sick. I hate it, ja.

[NicTheRugger]

Found you and sub'd back!

 

Welcome to the Assassins! You have a really great challenge set up. I'm looking forward to following your progress!

 

Tea discouraged?! You are a stronger person that I am. I pretty much live off of tea, since I don't drink coffee, and would probably die without it. Do you distinguish between caffeinated teas (black and green) vs. herbal? Herbal tea has pretty much no caffeine in it, it's like juice without all the sugar. I drink different types of herbal tea all the time, to make sure I'm not over-indulging on the caffeine. I'm particularly fond of mint, myself. Or anything fruity. 

 

I hope you get over your abominable flu thing soon! Being sick is never fun! 

[lillucia]

Found you and sub'd back!

 

Welcome to the Assassins! You have a really great challenge set up. I'm looking forward to following your progress!

 

Tea discouraged?! You are a stronger person that I am. I pretty much live off of tea, since I don't drink coffee, and would probably die without it. Do you distinguish between caffeinated teas (black and green) vs. herbal? Herbal tea has pretty much no caffeine in it, it's like juice without all the sugar. I drink different types of herbal tea all the time, to make sure I'm not over-indulging on the caffeine. I'm particularly fond of mint, myself. Or anything fruity. 

 

I hope you get over your abominable flu thing soon! Being sick is never fun! 

Thanks

 

I'm really aiming to cut out caffeine after 2pm, so tea before that is fine (but I drink coffee more often from habit). But what you say about herbal tea is very valid (my gripe is against caffeine... I neeeed sleep!) Just I don't think I currently have any herbal tea on hand. Fiance loves herbal tea (especially fruit), I should get into it more...

 

Me too! Actually feeling better now than when I woke up - fairly clear headed which is a relief. It could be all the water I'm drinking

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Good to see you back and kicking it!!! 

[lillucia]

Good to see you back and kicking it!!! 

Sannnks!

 

Report on Wednesday:

Q1: Complete (60 sec plank)

Q2: Done, but would have loved another coffee

Q3: Done-ish (7/7, but didn't get my extra one to make up for Tuesday)

 

Flu-thingy is more of a cold-thingy (thankfully!) which is on the way out, but I have no voice now Ah well, there are worse things in life to contend with. No phone calls at work today, ha!

[lillucia]

Report on Thursday:

 

Crazy day. Turned up for a 6 month eye checkup where I had my laser surgery done, and it was all dark and shut. What on earth?! I called the main number, and get told, oh no, we do all those appointments at East Melbourne now, not at Windsor (just the other side of the main CBD, but in peak traffic was a PAIN.)

Then, when I finally got there, could I find a place to park? Only available place was a Wilson Parking - complete rip off at $18 for an hour. Ah well. Rant over.

 

Exercise: 10 x Mountain Climbers (to count towards the mini-challenge as well)

Coffee: Done, apart from one mouthful (I made a coffee just on 2pm, but only had one mouthful and decided I didn't feel like it anyway.

Water: 9/7! Yay, made up for Tuesday

 

Flu-thingy is back to being a nuisance At least I'm getting plenty of sympathy at work, haha.

 

Too much to do et al is beginning to get me down a tiny bit. Can't wait till all the crazy is done with and we can just settle down. (Part of me is sincerely worried that it'll NEVER settle down, but whatever...)

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

I was just going to ask if settling down was an actual possibility.  For me, it happens for a few days.  Then I get bored and that's done for few more years .....

 

[lillucia]

Report on Friday:

Workout: I... forgot. Mind you, it was past midnight, so technically qualified for a cheat day anyway.

Coffee: Done. Crammed in a single shot just before 2pm

Water: Done (I think. Got a tiny bit cloudy at the end of the day)

 

I think I'm going to need to change this challenge to 5 days/week like the last one- I just tune out on weekends, too off-routine that I forget to track anything really.

 

That said, I did do my micro-exercise on Sat & Sun nights, just not the caffeine (and no idea on the water because I forget to track it when not at a desk).

 

So, week total:

Exercise: 5/6 (100% utilizing my cheat day)

Caffeine: 4/6 (forgot-ish on the weekend)

Water: 4/6 (again, forgot-ish on the weekend. Drank a fair bit of water but couldn't be sure I got my target)

Plan: 6/6. Hoping to make a decent habit of this. Need to extend it to my work-life as well.

 

 

Onward, fellow Rebels!

[lillucia]

Oh ya. I meant to tell y'all... I made a resolution last night to probably, you know, try my best kinda thing, not have any chocolate from until the wedding.

Reason? I'm not good at self-control on chocolate and (anecdotally) chocolate's not good on my skin. And my skin could do with some love (me no wanna pizza face for de wedding!!)

 

So, yep, I'm kinda sort committing myself / not sure how it's going to pan out so totally petrified to publicly commit myself because I might muck it up / but sure I really need to do it anyway.

 

There. I said it. Phew

[lillucia]

Oh ya. I meant to tell y'all... I made a resolution last night to probably, you know, try my best kinda thing, not have any chocolate from until the wedding.

Reason? I'm not good at self-control on chocolate and (anecdotally) chocolate's not good on my skin. And my skin could do with some love (me no wanna pizza face for de wedding!!)

 

So, yep, I'm kinda sort committing myself / not sure how it's going to pan out so totally petrified to publicly commit myself because I might muck it up / but sure I really need to do it anyway.

 

There. I said it. Phew

Take that, Tim Tam jar

I can now boldly foray to the coffee machine, not fearing the proximity to loads of chocolate biscuits. I HAZ SAID, and I must not be proved wrong.

[lillucia]

Monday report:

 

Bodyweight work: 10 x incline pushups. ALMOST forgot, but my life-questing/planning phase caught me.

Coffee: Done, I reckon. There's a bit of a muddy line there where I make myself a coffee before 2pm, but it sits on my desk and I keep drinking it much later, even when it's semi cold. Technically I should make it 'no drinking coffee after 2pm' but I get this NEED for coffee just prior to 2pm so I jump up and make one, thinking I'm just scraping through but I actually don't drink it all before 2pm. Ah well. Yesterday I only had a gulp anyway before I decided drinking cold coffee after 2pm was both not allowed and disgusting

Water: Done.

 

Went out for tea with friends, thoroughly enjoyed it, didn't have anything too unhealthy apart from brandy (mixed with water these days, because health)

Cold comes and goes, voice comes and goes, I was feeling better yesterday than today but I think that's because of a lack of sleep last night

 

And the Tim Tams stayed untouched Does it look like I'm slightly deranged in the last couple of posts on here?

[lillucia]

Tuesday report:

 

Bodyweight work: 2min plank. Yass.

Coffee: Done. I was away from the office for the afternoon (shopping for crazy expensive headpieces, hmph) so not tempted then, but felt a tiny twinge looking at the awakened coffee machine at tea time. Turned resolutely away.

Water: Hmmm  Clocked up 6/7, so one glass to catch up on today. How much I drink in the morning seems to be a big influencer.

 

Now, I'm just sooooo tired. Got to get more sleep in somewhen. Fiance is fighting the flu too

[Elastigirl]

Woohoo for staying away from the chocolate!

[NicTheRugger]

Great job so far! You're making some fantastic progress!

[lillucia]

Thanks, all!

 

Wednesday report:

Exercise: 20 x bodyweight squats. I know, not much, but I don't have time for much.
Coffee: No problem (had the second half a cup of tea after 2pm but was fine without coffee)

Water: 8/7 (made up for Tuesday's low report) woo hoo!

 

Having a splendid morning so far. I remembered to get my clothes out the night before for a change (actually spurred on by the MDA post about decision fatigue) and the difference it makes to my morning is AMAZING. More motivation to get out of bed, and less procrastination once I'm out. No agonising over what top to wear, black or sheer stockings, control top or no, heels or flats, black jacket or grey...

Aaand, I went grocery shopping yesterday and got some anti-hunger boss potions (dried apricots and almonds, and tinned chicken). Plus, with the extra time I had this morning I went scavenging in the fridge and actually brought some fresh food to work to eat instead of buying (too much money draining down there).

 

Then, had an interesting, even if slow, drive to work as the regular route was closed because of an accident () so went the scenic way which took 20mins longer but I enjoyed seeing the sun rise over the fields anyway

[lillucia]

Thursday report:

Exercise: 15 x incline pushups. A future challenge goal will be to do a (or several) proper floor pushup. I'm sure if I just dedicate some time to it I'll get there without a whole lot of effort.

Caffeine: Done. Wanted coffee, had a tea instead.

Water: 7/7 (ish... I find it hard to measure how much I have from my water bottle in the car, but I'm rounding it at the equivalent of one glass, which makes my quota full for the day).

 

Experimenting with deep conditioning my hair, and found it a lot easier than expected (at least, my version of deep conditioning). Maybe this girl might get into taking care of herself a bit more! It actually feels so good when I spend some time to look after hair and skin and stuff. Forces me to slow down a little at the end of the day anyway.

[Chris-Tien Jinn]

Nice job - taking care of yourself and slowing down a bit to do so.  How are you deep conditioning your hair?  I was bored the other day while I was cooking and noticed that coconut oil is recommended as a deep conditioner for hair .... 

[lillucia]

Nice job - taking care of yourself and slowing down a bit to do so.  How are you deep conditioning your hair?  I was bored the other day while I was cooking and noticed that coconut oil is recommended as a deep conditioner for hair .... 

Hmm, have just been using my regular herbal essences (which I know isn't very herbal) hydration condition, leaving it in for longer and wrapping it in a warm towel. For interest though, that variety of conditioner contains coconut oil, but probably not a lot of it. Interesting though!

[lillucia]

Friday report and week summary:

Bodyweight work: 1min 30s plank. I was tired.

Coffee: Done
Water: 4/7 glasses

 

Report for the week:

Bodyweight work: 5/5

Coffee: 5/5. Having something definite like this makes it so much easier than just a vague thing in my head that I shouldn't drink coffee in the afternoons. I can just apply the formula (sorry, nerding here) that if current time = 2pm or later, than nada.

Water: 4 days out of 5. Keeping me on my toes here! Spending hours in the car (getting to city and back in peak traffic after work) with no water but also busting for the loo doesn't help. XD

 

Nao, I have to look after this poor body really well this week... cold is trying to come back again, much to my annoyance!  Good incentive to really stick to Paleo/No alcohol/minimal caffeine/enough water/as much sleep as I possibly can get!

[lillucia]

Monday report:

Bodyweight: 10 x lunges.

No coffee after 2pm = no problem.

Water: 6/7 glasses :| it was a public holiday, and I slept in so consequently only had one glass all morning, which left me really behind quota for the rest of the day.

[lillucia]

Tuesday report:

Bodyweight: 2min 15sec plank. Woo hoo
No coffee after 2pm: Done

Water: 5 1/2 glasses out of 7. Got a bit of catching up to do this week and I will be away from the desk again this afternoon (it's when I'm out of routine that I really can't keep up).

 

Starting to get zombiefied without sufficient sleeeep. Got a dentist appointment this afternoon, need an osteo one as well but don't know when I'll have time for it All the stress locks my shoulders and neck up something chronic. Ah well.

Trust everyone's challenges are doing awesome! Don't have enough time to go poking around the other threads lately.