Koaladle

[Koaladle]

Exercise-wise, I haven't been the best. Late nights, terrible sleep, and early mornings have left me spewing excuses--especially since I logged off for a couple days and didn't have to admit my hermitting to anyone except Heimdall the Perpetually Sleeping Dog, and Handsome Husband the Perpetually Handsome Hermit.

 

 

BUT! Despite being surrounded with cakes, cookies, pies, candy, chocolate, I managed to keep my dessert/unhealthy drink consumption lower than my goals. 

 

 

Before i go to bed, I'm going to tidy the kitchen, do yoga, and chop veggies for healthy snackums so I can keep up the chocolate resistance. I'm actually amazed at how my attitude towards food has changed. Also, I have lost and kept off five pounds. Considering that I managed to do this during the holidays, I am super stoked. It's just the first five, but I stopped gaining weight and that alone is enough to reduce me to tears. I had pretty much given up before I found the NF forums.

 

BUT ANYWAY

 

Here's another cat.

 

[Mr_Willes]

Not a great time of year to get motivated for exercises. But great work!!!

 

 

Before i go to bed, I'm going to tidy the kitchen, do yoga, and chop veggies for healthy snackums so I can keep up the chocolate resistance. I'm actually amazed at how my attitude towards food has changed. Also, I have lost and kept off five pounds. Considering that I managed to do this during the holidays, I am super stoked. It's just the first five, but I stopped gaining weight and that alone is enough to reduce me to tears.

 

WHOA!!!

 

 

I've been just doing the opposite of you, had 2 days of giving in to cravings, but managed to keep lifting.

 

We're so gonna rock 2016!!!

 

[Lady Hawk]

A poke to see how you're doing!! Wondering how your New Years was and how you are...

[Koaladle]

My New Year's was outstanding! HH took me to NYC for the first time, and we spent 4 days walking, eating, walking off the food, and eating again. It has officially replaced Chicago as my favorite major city (in competition with: Las Vegas, San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Orlando, and Anaheim) if only for the subway alone. I can understand why there are people who have never left the city. Anyway, we had a great time. Normally after vacations I curl up in a ball and sleep for a few days, BUT I have all this great momentum with walking and moving around, so I volunteered to help my friends move. 

 

And that's where I'm headed right now! I'll post my challenge later tonight. :-) Thanks for checking in on me! <3

[Lady Hawk]

Glad to hear it!! Will watch for your challenge....

 

[Mr_Willes]

NEED

 

CHALLENGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

NOW!!!

 

 

 

 

[Koaladle]

I had a great morning. I woke up rested and early (ohh, my favorite), got a long shower with time for the water heater to warm back up for HH, laid out his work clothes (most of it was hiding in a basket of laundry waiting to get folded), had breakfast ready when he woke up, and took Heimdall out for a quick pee as soon as he was up and moving. By the time HH made it to work, the dishes were running through the dish washer, the handwashed dishes were dried and put away, and I was settling in for a cup of coffee.

 

Midway through formatting my update post, my browser opened a window that froze my laptop. I forced a shutdown and the post was lost. 

 

 

I was right in the middle of being upset when HH got home, so it wasn't the best time to talk about the impending order of 10+ pounds of junk food set to arrive from an online wholesaler. That may not have been wise--but I at least broached the subject delicately, asking if we could donate half of the order to a food bank. He absolutely, flat out refused, and that's when things went like birds in winter (for my hemisphere, at least). I've been using NF to fix my relationship with food and get physical for going on three months now. At this point, I would have hoped that he could understand that this is not a phase, it's a change in mindset. I have zero self control when it comes to junk food and grains, so I've built my pantry to reflect a balance of emergency food and good choices. I'm 60 pounds overweight, and even without that factor, I'm at extremely high risk for insulin-dependent diabetes. If I were to get pregnant, I could guarantee you I would develop gestational diabetes. Losing weight less to do with vanity than the very real consequences to my health.

 

SO

 

When HH sees 67oz of Nutella for $15, he sees a delicious deal. I see that, and I fear the Bad Day where I'm hiding under a blanket with that jar and a spoon. History has shown that my self control breaks down when I am surrounded by junk food. I can say no the first three times, but the Call of the Wrapper will eventually siren this sailor to doom. The act of buying over 10 lbs of death treats is about as thoughtful as throwing a basket of folded laundry in mud. I tried to explain this (with less drama, I promise), but he refused to understand. He (very wrongly) believes my self control issues aren't that bad

 

Sigh.

 

His "solutions" are somehow worse. I can A) just get over it; B ) use junk food as healthy habit rewards; or C) we lock everything up so I "can't get to it" but as any addict would know, that isn't actually possible. My solution was to get rid of at least half of it (especially the pasta--we already have more than we need, and it's a food bank staple) so that it just isn't an issue.

 

It appears my challenge is going to be... challenging. What was straight-forward this morning needs some ruminating in light of the circumstances. The battle log will also, at some point, get a makeover; my challenges will just be posted here, as the thought of switching between threads every month makes me grumpy. I like things in one spot, and I can always link each challenge to the page where it starts. Plus, no days off between challenges; days off are Traitor Brain's favorite, so I've already marked off the "family holidays" on my year-on-one-page calendar. There's one just about every month which is about as much as I can handle, I've discovered.

 

/rant

[Blue Thunder]

I believe in you!  Those hard challenges and temptations you shall overcome 

[Koaladle]

With what stillness at last
you appear in the valley
your first sunlight reaching down
to touch the tips of a few
high leaves that do not stir
as though they had not noticed
and did not know you at all
then the voice of a dove calls
from far away in itself
to the hush of the morning

so this is the sound of you
here and now whether or not
anyone hears it this is
where we have come with our age
our knowledge such as it is
and our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible 

-"To The New Year" by William Stanley Merwin                                                                                                                     

 

This month, I'm going to focus on two easy things: my diet and my movement. I have the knowledge I need so I eat well, I have the hope I need to motivate movement. There is no reason that I can't bring together my knowledge and hope to create a foundation for the rest of the year.

 

Moderation: The Diet Goal

So far, I've been able to track my food for a week at a time, make sure I drink plenty of fluids (tea and water), and ensure I eat two veggies a day. I'm going to take this and add a new habit: limit my unwise calorie/carb consumption to three times a week. Unwise calorie/carbs prominent in my home are: white breads, alcohol, pasta, flavored coffee creamer, and white rice. I'm not going to include condiments, but I will be mindful of how much of whatever I'm putting on my food. I normally eat white bread with fast food (none of that, of course), or on its own. I mean sourdough? DELICIOUS. I'll replace alcohol with tea using my red and white polka dot teapot (adorable); pasta with squash (not as a pasta substitute, but as a different meal); flavored coffee creamer with inner grit (it's sissy stuff anyway); and white rice with either raw carrots or a salad (it's often a side with dinner, and I'll have to budget for Sushi Night). Only exception to pasta is avgolemono, as I bought the lemons already and it's an easy, light lunch option. I will, however, lighten up on the amount of orzo I use and add a few more eggs instead.

 

Movement: The Exercise Goal

For starters, I'm going to walk 5,000 steps every day. While in New York, we manged to do it without a hitch, so it's clear that I CAN do it. Now, I WILL do it. I have a FitBit that I will wear to make sure I'm making my goal every day. As for an additional workout, one hour every day is going to be dedicated to either a bodyweight workout, an extra 5,000 steps, or yoga depending on how I'm feeling. I found last challenge that getting too specific about my movement backfired, so I'm going to allow some flexibility. Some days are busier than others or I'm more tired or whatever else, so I'm going to acknowledge that and loosen up--if I skip the weights and do yoga all week, guess what? I did yoga all week and that's awesome! It's gorgeous out and I just want to enjoy the sunshine? Walk 70,000 steps over seven days! That's awesome! 

 

End of Post Updates:

 

Moderation: Did/did not avoid unwise choices when I log food here.

Movement: Did/did not make step goal. Did/did not put aside an hour for walking/yoga/bodyweight. 

 

Rules:

1) Every day must be logged both on my wall calendar and here, preferably on that day. Accountability has been the key to my success so far, but I'll allow for a little wiggle room--if I don't get online, it HAS to be logged on my calendar. If I'm out of town (unlikely), I'll log it as a text on my phone.

 

2) Updates will be in this teal color for easy navigation.

 

3) This starts at 2359 on 05JAN16, and ends on 2359 on 31JAN16. (I tried posting this several hours ago, but the page wouldn't load)

 

4) Quests with >80%  success may be repeated in February; I will use my best judgement discerning between stubborn habit and future sustainability.

 

5) February challenge will be posted by 2359 on 31JAN16.

[Mr_Willes]

Bummer your partner is sabotaging you in the healthy eating department. But i'm glad to hear you are keeping your determination!

 

I'm just a bit concerned about your accountability, this thread will probably get much less attention than a new challenge thread would get. But i get it you don't want to start again every month, on the other hand it can also be liberating, to close of something when it didn't went all that well.

 

And you know, we moved to a 4 week format for the challenges. Next challenge starts on february first

 

Just keep updating, your followers will surely come in once in a while!

[Koaladle]

I plan on being active in the Den; many of the people who have read my thread have dropped by because I posted in theirs. A link in the signature and BOOM! As long as I get out there, others will be sure to drop by. I got a LOT of attention in the Recruit forum last challenge, which was sometimes overwhelming; so traffic isn't a worry with me. As for liberation, I need to accept my failures and use them as a learning tool; cognitively, fresh starts are my way of keeping my head in the sand. It works differently for everybody. :-)

 

We had A Talk over dinner where I explained the origin of my horrible relationship with food, how much I'd regressed from where I was when we met (I made it clear that him coming into my life was absolutely not the cause), and what the plan was moving forward. I explained that trying to reward me with foodtreats was counter-productive to my goal, and that I instead want fitness related rewards. This month, I'm aiming for new shoes, next month could be dance classes, that sort of thing. I don't know if he totally gets it, but he's at least letting me tell him what I'm doing. I don't think he realized that this really had been going on for almost three months, and that I was long past the Phase phase. This afternoon, I emailed him a list of possible complications during a diabetic pregnancy, and I think that may have been what opened him up to having A Talk in the first place. I may have also written dramatic phrases like "I'm not going to live half a life hooked up to machines" (referring to dialysis--2/4 grandparents with a third on the way, as well as my dad) and "I refuse to miscarry because I wanted one more cookie" which admittedly is an offensive over-simplification of glucose instability and miscarriages.

 

For some reason, this quote refuses to land in the right spot. I hit the quote button two minutes ago. >.>

Bummer your partner is sabotaging you in the healthy eating department. But i'm glad to hear you are keeping your determination!

 

I'm just a bit concerned about your accountability, this thread will probably get much less attention than a new challenge thread would get. But i get it you don't want to start again every month, on the other hand it can also be liberating, to close of something when it didn't went all that well.

 

And you know, we moved to a 4 week format for the challenges. Next challenge starts on february first 

 

Just keep updating, your followers will surely come in once in a while!

But anyway

 

Still no resolution on what to do with the impending Doom Box, but he has agreed to let me run the pantry. Also, he acknowledged that I had not been forcing him to change his lifestyle with me, so the request to have a junk-free house and to avoid fast food while with me was reasonable.

 

Time will tell if he really gets it.

[Koaladle]

GIF GIF GIF

 

 

 

[awesomesue]

Glad you two had A Talk.  He may get it but he will also stumble too.  Love the goals.  You know I will be here poking you along.  :0 

 

 

I have the same struggle at times with stuff being in the house.  It does get easier and sometimes yes harder but easier more often then not.

[Koaladle]

At this stage, I need it to just not be around. I had a couple of gawdawful years where I ended up drinking heavily, so when I quit drinking I just didn't have it in the house, and when I went on liberty I was the sober buddy. Now, there's vodka, brennivin, and beer that's been in the fridge for ages without an issue. I'm just not even close to that point with junk food.

 

So the plan for the day is to set up HH's day with breakfast and work clothes, move heavy objects from a truck to a storage unit, come home and cook dinner (pork chops and squash with carrots for me and rice for HH, finish any movement quest left undone. Bonus points for laundry!

 

I need to come up with a plan for lunch, though---I may just bring my water, almonds, a shaker bottle with Spirutien and eat a big breakfast so I can work through lunch. The challenge is that all my good choices on hand need to be refrigerated, and all I have are almonds and a protein shake. My UC are already budgeted for the week--sushi night, a glass of wine, and my back-up. The best plan I can think of is a big breakfast, so I'm going to get on that--I have less than an hour before I have to go.

[awesomesue]

Get some freezer packs that you can toss into a lunch bag when you want to pack something that needs to be kept cold.    We have kept grab and go items on hand too.  Fruits are handy since they do not need to be refrigerated.  Shoot carrots and many other veg do not need to be cold either (I like mine cold though).  We would keep little baggies of nuts made up to be grabbed in a hurry too.  Time saver and easy for a toddler to learn to grab good things to eat which also included the fruit we kept within reach for her.  Maybe assemble your emergency snack packs that can also be grabbed for a quick lunch.  Hard boilded eggs while needing to be cool are good keep on hand in a pinch lunch/snack item.

[Koaladle]

The big challenge right now with the good snacks is that I didn't know what was going on this week so I wasn't able to plan for it. Now that I have an idea of what's going on with my schedule and the challenge, I can do better when we go shopping next week. 

 

A super bummer--much of the produce I got a couple days ago has already gone bad. :-( No veggies today so far, but my liquids are going fine and as long as I get off my butt soon, I should be able to make the physicality goals. Official update will come in the morning, most likely BUT I will log whatever I accomplish on the calendar.

[Koaladle]

 

 

Today is over and I am SO GLAD. I'm going to just do a quick update because i am SO FREAKING TIRED. I didn't sleep last night, so it has been a long day. I am also considering changing this challenge to a point system--one point per quest completed each day to earn new running shoes. So for instance, every time I choose a better option for meals, that's a point--rather than going cold turkey on all carbs/calories and "failing" if circumstances change. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I'm going to start gorging on crap, it's just that I think I made the goal a little too extreme. I'll sleep on it.

 

Moderation: Did avoid unwise choices when I replaced a bagel and cream cheese with Greek Yogurt and strawberries for breakfast, didn't have rice at dinner, and limited my UC consumption to a taste test of grilled cheese. HH had a grilled cheese sammich and tomato soup for lunch, and insisted I have a bite that he wasn't going to get a chance to eat.

 

Movement: Did make step goal. Did complete a session of NF Yoga. Tomorrow I won't put it off until the last minute, though.

[ixaera]

I FIND YOU. *stalk*

[Koaladle]

STALKSTALKSTALK

[awesomesue]

Hope today is better...not putting it off are you?

 

If you are setting yourself up to fail then tweak that goal.  It sounds like it will still be challenging but will give you more opportunities to succeed and make an improvement.  Do we need to find another goofy outfit in the gym motivation to keep it going?  Hey I will post a vid of me dancing in a dress (shudders) if I do not make my strength training goal.  I am thinking a video of you in 80's garb at the gym, oh wait you have done that already as a reward for me which is not too much of a punishment for you so what to do.....

 

You get the point.  Miss it and I want pictures or video.  Tweak the goal first.

[Koaladle]

So far, so good with the food and hydration. I've been PMSing big time, but have managed to only have two pieces of chocolate--this is a major deal. I really want to eat all the chocolate in the house, because at this point there are literally pounds of it. I've been doing steps in place while waiting on the microwave, but I am cognitively planning on doing yoga tonight. The dog will be sleeping by then, so the likelihood of him sitting his furry bum on the mat is a lot lower. 

 

Will not miss yoga. I've seen improvement already in the few days that I've yoga-ed

 

What is the miss, by the way? CONFUSED.

[Koaladle]

Starting with yesterday...

 

 

Not only did I manage my eating pretty okay (only one veggie--half my veggies turned the day after I got them), but I drank the fluids, did yoga, and got in 6,646 steps. Today, I'm halfway through my steps and have yoga on the docket next. I'm really glad I didn't put this off, because it's an early day tomorrow. 

 

08JAN

Moderation: Did avoid unwise choices when I limited the PMS chocolate consumption to 2 candies from the box (not concurrently). I had avgolemono for breakfast (soup is good for grumpy tummies), leftover taco stuff for lunch, and veggie packed bento box for dinner (clear soup, seaweed salad, 4 pieces veggie delight roll, 4 pieces Mt Fuji roll, most of a California roll). Breakfast and lunch were small portions, and I stopped eating when I was full at dinner. No appetizers, no boba tea, no beer, soda, and no juice. My PMS monster is a junk food junkie, so "getting through the day with only 2 chocolates" could be on the 1980 USA hockey team.

 

It's right in the middle of that Man Hug.

Movement: In progress, but totally gonna make it.

 

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Made it, with yoga and 5,120 steps.

[Koaladle]

This is how my morning feels, inside and out.

In no particular order.

 

We got up really early (for us) to run some errands, and on the way home, HH wanted to drop by a Dunkin' Donuts. NOT ONLY did I get through the drive-thru without ordering food, I got a black coffee. For those unfamiliar with Dunkin', there is only one kind of coffee that is ever ordered: sweet 'n light, which contains enough sugar and other crap to be koalafied as caffeinated, liquid candy. Saying no to all of that was just as much of a rush as taking a  double turbo boost sweet 'n light intravenously. 

There can be only one explanation.

 

After that, we dropped by a fancy-schmancy, Mozart-playing, low-lit grocery store to seek out vegetables that won't turn the day after we purchase them. Our normal store has had disappointing produce lately, so the handsomest of husbands suggested we go elsewhere for greenery. The veggies were lovely, imperfect, and still had just a little dirt on them (which means they haven't been soaked in chlorine to be "cleaned") and they actually looked appetizing. For heaven's sake, the carrots still have the greens attached! WHAT IS THIS DEVIL MAGIC? We got what we needed and escaped without much in the way of excess food stuffs, and our cost for this week's food was lower than our usual grocery bill. For a store that resembles a romantic restaurant with river views, I'm impressed.

 

No exaggeration necessary.

 

Think of it as Trader Joe's sophisticated Aunt Beatrice, who spends a quiet evening with tea and cross stitch. HH has promised that we can go back to that store (or another similar) for our veggies from here on out. The farmer's markets down here are expensive, but I will do some looking and see what I can find. I mean, the store down the street is fine for eggs and dairy, but for meats and veggies? I'll go a few extra miles.

 

So much better than their bagged rivals.

 

Walking and yoga are yet to be done, but it's still early. 

[Beren Calanor]

FOUND YA!!

 

Awesome Thread! Its getting better and better!

 

 

Starting with yesterday...

 

 

Love the Ice Cube Reference

 

Keep Up the good work!

[Koaladle]

FOUND YA!!

 

Awesome Thread! Its getting better and better!

 

 

 

Love the Ice Cube Reference

 

Keep Up the good work!

 

Thank you! Ice Cube is amazingly talented--rap artist, actor, driving instructor...