Silvergamma's Druidic Self Care Retreat

[Silvergamma]

Howdy!

 

I'm back on Nerd Fitness after a long absence, and am really excited for this next challenge.  I decided to just start from the ground, at level 0, and give myself room to refocus and grow.

 

Some reasons I picked druid this go around:

 

I've been a vegetarian for the last year, and am working on being more conscious about what I'm eating in terms of its environmental impact, and the humane treatment of animals.

 

I'm happiest when I'm playing outside, but haven't had a lot of time for that -> part of my challenge goals below.

 

There have been a lot of stressful things going on for us lately, and I'm working on self care, compassion, and meditation. These are kind of ancillary to the goals I have for this challenge, but are a guiding idea for me right now.

 

All of the below goals are daily practice goals. I'm going to rate my success by 1 point/goal/day.  The maximum points for the challenge would therefore be 168 (three health goals, one life goal -> possible 4 points/day).

 

My goals for the 6 week challenge:

 

1.) Prepare breakfast and lunch every day, one of which should be vegan. This is a two part goal: A.) We have a snack cabinet at work that is full of not great food items -> In order to overcome my snack cabinet addiction, I need to not be hungry at work. B.) I'm good about no meat, but dairy is still a big part of my diet.  I gave up beef primarily due to the environmental impact -> dairy needs to go too.

 

2.) Get active, outside, time every day. Walking to and from the car doesn't count. Purposeful outdoor time.  Walking the dog, walks at lunch, gardening, hiking etc..

 

3.) Reduce my reliance on my favorite crutch. One cup of coffee/day.

 

Life Goal:

 

Work on training activities with my dog after work. She's a 10 month old mutt puppy, super smart, and loves learning new commands, and doing training work. She's still hella hyper, so we've also been working on relaxation protocol with her.  Length of time is dependent on her attention span, but a daily dose of training work for even 10 minutes is super good for both of us. Not to mention that caring for an animal compaion is a big part of playing a druid .

 

Edit: Changed my vice/crutch goal to just focus on reducing my coffee consumption. Trying to tackle two things with that one goal was going to be problematic. I'll work on alcohol next challenge.

[Silvergamma]

Weekly Tracking:

 

Week 1 - 22/28 possible points, 79%

 

Week 2 - 25/28 possible points, 89%

 

Week 3 - 23/28 possible points, 82%

 

Week 4 - 28 possible points

 

Monday 3/4

Tuesday 4/4

Wednesday 3/4

[Silvergamma]

I found out I'm going to have quite a bit of work travel during this challenge. Trying to figure out how to tailor my goals to still work with being on the road.

 

I think that my food goal, and my coffee goal are still good. Just instead of preparing my own breakfast and lunch, trying to make sure I vegan things up as much as possible, and eat actual meals (instead of scrounged gas station food).  

 

Getting outside while traveling isn't an issue, since field work for me involves being outside all day.  

 

The biggest issue is my life goal involving training work with the dog.  There are a couple of behavior/training books I've been meaning to read, so maybe sub out working on my own education when I'm on the road? Spend a minimum of 30 minutes a day reading while I'm traveling?

[Silvergamma]

Day 1! 

 

Last week was a really tough week. It was the one year anniversary of when we lost our dog to a really sad accident. I definitely went off the rails regarding self care. A lot of comfort eating and drinking. Coming out of that week, I'm ready to start focusing on the positive again. Forward.

 

I was running a bit late this morning. Breakfast was easy (granola and yogurt), but we didn't have much in the way of lunch options -> lunch today is a sweet potato... It's veg based calories, and at least I know it will fill me up which is the idea of packing lunches.  I'll work to have some better options for tomorrow.

 

It's 10am, and I'm only about halfway through my one cup of coffee. The tough one there is going to be if I can make it through the mid-afternoon lull. Also doing my coffee black today. See if I can wean myself off the cream.

 

Side quest, I'm starting to track my calories again. Not very druidic, but numbers help me be more aware of what I'm eating and why (am I hungry, or is this just here).

[MiscKlaire]

I don't know if you've thought of this but one thing I really like to pack for lunches is what I call 'instant shepherd's pie'. Microwave one sweet potato until it's mashable, then putting it in a plastic container and covering it with shepherd's pie things like corn, carrots, ground meat, etc. With being vegan you could forgo the meat and any substitute even and still probably be really full.

 

In case you get tired of just plain sweet potatoes.

 

Good luck!!

[Silvergamma]

Thanks for the idea! I really like sweet potatoes, but I'm pretty sure there are more balanced lunch options than just a potato XD.

[Silvergamma]

Finished out yesterday strong. Didn't bow to the pressure of the afternoon coffee or the snack cabinet at work, and got some training time in with the pooch. 

 

Doing well so far today. Got the dog out for a walk before work (outside time), packed breakfast and lunch (lunch is left over vegan stir fry), on my only black coffee for the day.

[Silvergamma]

4/4 yesterday!

 

Got the dog out for a walk this morning before leaving the house.

 

I had a dentist appointment -> I had oatmeal at home before leaving for the day. We haven't had time to go grocery shopping yet this week, so I'm going to have to buy lunch today, but that's ok. An excuse to leave my desk and walk to the deli.  I'm still going to count that as working toward my goal because it's a real lunch and not just scrounging granola bars out of the snack cabinet.

 

The coffee thing is getting easier. I might bump down to 3 cups/week.

[Silvergamma]

Yesterday snowballed toward the end of the day. Ended up hitting up the snack cabinet at work, and didn't get in a training session with the pooch.

 

I did good about getting outside, and only had one cup of coffee.

 

-> 2/4 for yesterday.

 

Having a good morning so far today. Packed a really good breakfast and lunch and included a couple of snack items for the 3pm munchies (peppers and hummus!). Took the dog for a 2.5 mile run which is the first time I've been running in ages.  Onward and upward!

[Ahyar Dreamspark]

OMG, my workplace has coffee on tap and all-you-can-eat snacks also, and it's such an exercise in willpower, I swear.

 

I caved and had a cookie today, but seem to be doing okay at keeping the coffee at bay. Glad to hear that the coffee goal is getting easier for you!

[Silvergamma]

Yeah... Total exercise in willpower! We have coffee available all the time too.  I'm a stress/emotion/boredom eater, so it's an issue. I think if I can cut out the bonus calories from crappy snacks I'll be on track to start meeting my other health goals.  

 

Yesterday I was doing really well, but then the rain rolled in in the afternoon, and it got all dark and... yeah a chocolate "granola bar" happened. That 3pm lull yo. While I did bring in my breakfast and lunch, I'm going to doc a point from yesterday for the snack cabinet being mightier than I was.

 

In happy news, Tasha (the dogglet) and I had a really awesome training session. She's starting to be able to relax more which is an important skill for a high energy adolescent pooch. We almost made it all the way through Day 1 of the relaxation protocol. She got up once which is the best that she has done to date.

 

We also got out for a 2.5 mile run, which is the first time I've been running in months, so that was also pretty awesome. Any outside time counts, but getting a higher intensity session in felt great.

[LittleTurtle]

Edit: Changed my vice/crutch goal to just focus on reducing my coffee consumption. Trying to tackle two things with that one goal was going to be problematic. I'll work on alcohol next challenge.

This is wonderful!  I love when people realize that they may experience difficulties by tackling too many things in one challenge.  Small changes for big improvement is my theory!  

[Silvergamma]

This weekend was a bit of a fall apart weekend on the food front. Nailed the other goals fine -> 3/4 both Saturday and Sunday. Finished up last week with a C point wise.

 

Doing well so far today. Focusing with being compassionate to myself, and not trying to punish myself for a bad weekend of eating junk (as is my first instinct). Good vegan lunch waiting in the fridge, good breakfast, single cup of coffee. Going to try for a lunch time walk, and a walk after work with the pooch and husband.

[Silvergamma]

4pm energy drop. The sugar and coffee are both yelling at me, quite loudly. I think I need to factor in a 2pm snack.

 

/puts on spotify nature noises, gets some water, and ignores the peanut butter filled pretzels.

[Silvergamma]

Yesterday was on point. Now to maintain momentum this week!

[Nusuth]

yey !  one more day to go & it's weekend : go momentum

[Silvergamma]

yey !  one more day to go & it's weekend : go momentum

 

Seriously ! I haven't had a lot of time to update this week, but things have been going well. Lot's of cooking in the evening -> left overs for lunch time success!

[Silvergamma]

This weekend went pretty well in spite of being very busy. Ate pretty well, got the dog out for some good walks and training enrichment, kept the coffee and booze down. Here's looking forward to week 3!

[Silvergamma]

Buggered up my food goal yesterday. Damn you snack cabinet! Hit all the other goals though, so onward and upward!

 

A big bloated today due to hormones. I can feel some of my self punishing tendencies pushing at me from the edges. "Up 2 pound!? Work out! Eat less! Don't have those left overs from last night, they were probably too high in sodium!" So managing the crazy with self care, and compassion. I know what's going on, and am staying the course instead of trying to over compensate.

[Silvergamma]

Blerg. So unmotivated right now. Hoping that the short week helps. My husband is finishing up his last week of school, and I think the stress bug is pervasive through the whole house.