Enter Player 1 - Arcknitect

[arcknitect]

Happy New Year! 2017 for me will be a year of regrouping and resetting life in every way (career, fitness, and finances).  

For more info on me and my quests: intro, battle log, and character are in my signature. In a nutshell I found NF quite a while ago but only joined the Academy in May of 2016 after having my first child. My goal is to get myself in a better space for when we start working towards #2 in the next few years. To that end I’ve broken out the following goals for this round:

1) Keep food under 2,000 calories a day.

• Goal is 1,500, but after tracking all last month it’s clear that I have a hard time with under 2,000 especially if I forget snacks or lunch.

2) Go to bed 10 minutes earlier each week

 

• Week 1 - 10:00

• Week 2 – 9:50

• Week 3 – 9:40

• Week 4 – 9:30

       3) Complete 10 minutes of Yoga everyday  

•      Able to do this at 9pm once my LO goes to sleep. Hopefully it will also help me with my periodic insomnia

       4)  Go to kickboxing once a week

•       Got a Groupon before the holidays for 10 classes. First one was a huge success and I want to continue attending a class a week, even if it eventually change from kickboxing to something else. I hate being out late since I work and only get the evenings with my LO, so this is huge since it will be devoted to fitness rather than another type of social gathering.

 

Other Areas:

      5)   Update resume

First step in a new path. Need to set aside a specific time to do this since it easily goes by the wayside. Need to be mindful of becoming too content.

      6)    Set a budget

•             I update our budget on a yearly basis, so it’s time for the 2017 refresh.

[stealthstitcher]

Good goals all round! Kickboxing sounds like it could be quite exciting.

[annyshay]

 

How's it going so far?

[deftona]

On 03/01/2017 at 6:16 PM, arcknitect said:

I have a hard time with under 2,000 especially if I forget snacks or lunch.

 

Urgh, I feel you on that! 

 

Good luck with your challenge! 

[deftona]

Hey there, how are things going?

[arcknitect]

Thanks for checking in! Well, things have gone a bit sideways. My husband has been sick for the last 2 weeks and it's taking a major toll on my progress. I’m so exhausted after not being able to split baby duties at all (somehow LO has not gotten ill. Want to keep it that way). Fingers crossed that his new meds help and kick this plague's butt. So far so good, since he woke up this morning feeling better. 

 

I managed to get sick myself, had shark week, and we had a bad ice day here in PA and I almost got into a car accident. Managed to pull something in my neck to boot. Whew. Glad last week is over. The upside is I can come back at it now and kick some butt, downside being that I definitely went to bed at 10pm at the earliest, treated myself to wine and chocolate a few evenings, and didn’t follow through with my yoga. Now the good news, I did make every meal except one dinner and stayed under with my calories, minus one glass of wine, so that’s becoming a more ingrained habit. 

 

My budget has been set and I created a BJ spread for it to track every month’s spending (I use Mint for day to day tracking). Also looked at companies nearby that I want to keep my eye on. 

 

I recognized that I am just not going to get up early to workout. I will leave the house early, but not workout at home so I signed up for my gym membership to go at lunchtime and exercise. I was doing this routine successfully for awhile before one project had crazy deadlines and have been walking at lunch every day for the past few weeks, so no reason not to up my game. I joined Planet Fitness with the Black membership since there is a location near my house as well as the office. 

 

Having a blast at kickboxing. Skipped last week since that was the day of the car incident, but looking forward to class this week. Got my gloves and all set for action. Also going to try setting my fitbit alarm for 9pm so I start getting ready for bed earlier (currently set for 9:30).

[arcknitect]

On 1/4/2017 at 11:01 AM, stealthstitcher said:

Good goals all round! Kickboxing sounds like it could be quite exciting.

 

Thanks! Yea, it's a ton of fun. The instructor is great and changes it up a lot too. When I get more comfortable there is a Level 2 class, but I'm a-ok with Level 1 for now! lol. 

[stealthstitcher]

Wow, that's quite the week. Impressive that you got anything done, let alone what you did!

[annyshay]

Well done handling all life's curveballs. You got this!

[stealthstitcher]

Still hanging in there?

[arcknitect]

Apparently this isn't going to be my month. This past weekend we found out that my mother-in-law, who has been fighting cancer for the past three years, is losing her battle. All treatments have stopped working and she is scheduled for surgery tomorrow that is kind of a Hail Mary. Really hoping it goes well, but the waiting game stinks.  It's obviously thrown life into a tailspin as my husband is staying with his mom until we know more. We were all up there this past weekend to see her and so there is no food in the house, I'm essentially a single parent for the week, and have been having a hard time getting myself to focus on doing yoga, workouts, etc. Bleh. The good news is I'm feeling up for the gym today, and tomorrow is my work from home day so I can hit the gym then too. Need to get better about bedtime and evening yoga. Anybody have tricks they can suggest? So far I just think I need to have the willpower not to get sucked into Netflix and doing other things. 

[Sylvaa]

Oh no for bad personal news!

 

My thoughts are with you and your family. Sounds like right now, surviving and not backsliding is the way to go. What about a 5 minute stretch in the evening to get you ready for a bedtime routine if you want to add in something.

[Violetta]

I'm sorry to hear your news. Let us know how the surgery goes!

 

When my kiddos were very little and I needed to get a workout in, I had the best luck with videos (I like Fitness Blender for harder ones and Jessica Smith for lighter ones -- both are on YouTube). Going for a walk and pushing a stroller, especially if it's a hilly area and you're moving fast, can also help (weather permitting). But it also sounds like, as @Sylvaa said, you should try to focus on just maintaining SOMETHING for now.

[annyshay]

Agree with everyone else. Aim for one small action for yourself each day. Do you like dancing? There are silly videos to pop songs from the Fitness Marshall on youtube. I think a goal of some activity for 2 minutes each night would be an excellent start.

 

*Hugs* to you and your family. We're here for you, let us know how we can help.

[arcknitect]

Thank you for all of the support. She made it through her surgery and we have a few pokers in the fire to try to find any more options, but she is stable right now at least. Hubby came home Saturday night and we spent Sunday taking down our Christmas tree (yes, finally) and doing grocery shopping. If there is one thing I am big on maintaining right now its meal prep. I have officially been tracking for 60 days now, which is pretty awesome. Oh, and on a more positive note it was my son's first time in the shopping cart. Previously I wore him in a baby carrier every time. 

Not my initial goal, but I have managed to get in a few workouts this week during my lunch hour and actually pushed myself to obtain some sore muscles. When I was going to the gym before I couldn’t tell the next day, so I knew I wasn’t doing enough.

 

Love the idea of the fitness marshal videos. He chooses such catchy songs! I wonder if my son would find it amusing watching my attempts to follow along. J He loves it when I sing Disney show tunes to him and dance along while making dinner. Dinner and a show for him!

 

Just take one day at a time, right?