What are You Doing For New Years?

[sassyfrassy]

 

I know what I'm doing! Kicking it off with the first Nerd Fitness Challenge!

 

I attempted a challenge last month in the midst of the holiday craziness, and it didn't turn out well. There was just too much going on at once, and attempting to juggle a challenge? I was driving myself insane. But I'm not giving up! I never want to give up and stop trying. I will continue to come back, push through challenges, ask for help and motivation, and keep my chin up until I have built a concrete and successful routine to better my lifestyle.

 

I did a lot of reflecting on what I need to do in a Respawn Point post, and I plan to dutifully stick to everything as much as I can. I can say that, on an emotional/mental level, I've been doing pretty good! I have been doing things to keep a smile on my face. I'm still learning to accept that being a sensitive individual is NOT a bad thing. I'm no longer pushing myself into social situations that I absolutely do NOT want to be in. Would it be nice to have a few folks to hang out with outside my family? Maybe, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don't need to do that. The times I have gone out in an attempt to meet folks, I just didn't enjoy it. I tried to tell myself and others that I did, but I was trying to make my self-conscious believe it so that I would keep trying I guess. Our brain works in funny ways like that.

 

 

I've also been fighting with a lot of past events that I still seem to fall back on at the oddest of times. Bad ex-roommate/friend situations, bad job situations, and just bad or sad things in general. I'm not sure why, but it happens every now and again. There were times when I felt guilty about the roommate/friend ordeal, but I have started down the path that I cannot and should not carry blame. I know, in my heart, that I did everything and anything I could for said group of people. I was there when they needed me, took care of them when they needed it, and gave far more than I should have. In the end, I was labeled as the bad friend, but I know the truth. I know what really happened, and that is what I'm going to remember. As for my work situation, I was not happy with my job. I didn't really like my job. It was stressful (probably too stressful for what I was getting into mentally) and just put a lot of pressure on me. I stayed there because it paid very well, offered me a lot of perks, and I was able to work remotely. I was able to visit family during holidays, and stay for a long period of time. In the end, I just couldn't handle it. Not in the state that I was. I am letting go of these things - these feelings and regrets - and not looking back. I am going to continue to look forward. I am going to learn from these lessons and work to be a better me!

 

ALL OF THAT SAID: 2016?

 

And now I move on!

 

QUEST ONE: YOU BETTER WORK, WORK IT GIRL!

I found three workouts that I wanted to do in order to start building up some stamina, muscle, endurance, and what not on Darebees. I plan on revisiting these three workouts as they are good for beginners. This quest is going to help me get back into a exercise routine while burning some calories, greasing up rusty muscles, and hopefully boosting my energy levels! I am also going to incorporate one day of yoga a week. This should help me work on my flexibility, maintain some good energy vibes, and possibly help with some lower back pain.

 

THREE TIMES A WEEK: cardio inc workout | slow burn workout | mermaid workout

ONCE A WEEK: various beginner yoga sequences

 

QUEST TWO: MILLIONS OF PEACHES, PEACHES FOR ME!

TRACK YO FOOD. That is literally what my second quest is going to be. When I was tracking my food, I was eating better. I was junk fooding less. I was just feeling better because I wasn't eating so much. I know that, in the past so many months, I have gained a lot of weight from overeating. Some of it has been stress eating. Some has been eating out of boredom (which is the WORST). There are a lot of things, but the most important thing is that I get back into tracking what I'm eating. Whether it's through My Fitness Pal, in a notebook, in a Google Doc; RECORD IT. Also, record how much water I'm drinking. I was drinking LOTS of water, but have been slacking. I also need to cut back on my soda drinking. It hasn't gotten out of hand, but I want to go down to one a week. I was down to drinking no soda, but I do enjoy Ginger Ale or Sprite every now and again.

 

TRACK ALL FOOD.

ONE SODA A WEEK.

MORE WATER.

 

QUEST THREE: OOH-OO CHILD, THINGS ARE GONNA GET EASIER!

This one contains a WHOLE LOT of things that, I think, will make life EASIER and BRIGHTER. I may also have been watching Guardians of the Galaxy while writing this up. EITHER WAY? IT WORKS. I want to take time out to just make ME feel better. I want to make OTHERS feel better. I want to take better care of myself and not feel so G R O S S in so many words. Whether it's painting my nails, doing one of my Craftsy classes, working on crafts, or watching a silly movie that I love, I NEED TO DO THIS. I also want to do all of this with MY MOM. She needs lots of laughter and smiles right now and always. If I can keep my spirits up and keep myself in a good place, that will help HER be in a good place. See? IT WILL GET EASIER AND BRIGHTER!

 

DO FUN THINGS AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE. (Once a day, a few times a week, WHATEVER! Just do it.)

GET OUT OF YOUR JIMMYJAMS. (Even if it's to put on sweatpants or leggings or whatever! Brush your hair, take a few minutes to reflect, and smile!)

YOU ARE IMPORTANT. (Take better care of yourself, girlfriend. You deserve it!)

 

 

 

EXTRA: YOU CAN COLOR MY WORLD WITH HAPPINESS ALL THE WAY!

As my extra, I keep picking up and putting down my sketch pads with little to nothing to show for it. My creativity and inspiration is very low almost like that weird snow you get on bad channels. STATIC! It's very frustrating because it use to be on HIGH ALERT for a long time. Apparently anti-depression medication (and medication that messes with your head in general) can cause this to happen. I don't want to force it because then it's not fun, but I want to get SOMETHING going. I've been poking around in my "ADULT" coloring books and working with color palettes. I need to find something to give me a bit of a jump start. There are a lot of challenges, inspirations, and what not on Pinterest and Instagram that I might look through. See what speaks to me and everything.

 

I am ALSO trying to do a silly selfie a day through 2017 on Instagram! I just want to bring happiness and smiles to others, and remind myself not to take everything too seriously. I'm having a lot of fun with it so far. I'm even using some great Snapchat filters to add a little VA VA VOOM to them. It's great because the feeling of laughing just makes the day better.

 

 

I'm very excited about really taking this challenge and owning it like a champ! I know I have a lot of great folks here to help me along the way, and to help me keep my rear in gear!

[shaar]

YAAAHHHYAYAYAYAYA~~

 

YOU ARE GONNA DO THE THING!!!!!  I love MFP just as a base tracking item, like, WOW, food gets cray when you actually log it and see daaaang I shouldn't have eaten that cookie butter.  It gets real when you actually see it.  I can't remember if we're friends on there but I am Elrohiir!

 

I've been drawing too (I drew REAPS yesterday~) and posting it, so you should totally post 'em here for mad inspiration!!

 

Leave that past in the past girl, we got bigger and better things ahead!! <3333333333333

 

[doctorake]

Following along.

 

Yes MFP is great, I had a long streak going and noticed when I stopped I was gaining weight since I had no idea how much I was eating.

[shaar]

2 hours ago, doctorake said:

Following along.

 

Yes MFP is great, I had a long streak going and noticed when I stopped I was gaining weight since I had no idea how much I was eating.

 

This exact situation happened to me, too..... hmm.... we may be on to something..... *glares at MFP lovingly* ^^;

[doctorake]

35 minutes ago, shaar said:

 

This exact situation happened to me, too..... hmm.... we may be on to something..... *glares at MFP lovingly* ^^;

 

I found a very strange correlation that when I log what I eat accurately even if I eat whatever I want I tend to eat less. So the tracking itself helps me make some better choices along the way.

[sassyfrassy]

WOOHOOOOO!!!!

 

So today was my official day one for this challenge.

 

As far as my quests are concerned, I actually TRACKED MY FOOD. Even the cookies I ate because I WILL NOT HIDE THEM. I shouldn't feel the need to hide them anyway. I just need to moderate more. But, om nom nom! Homemade cookies are the best. In general, though, I didn't eat so great after breakfast. I started off great with a scrambled egg sandwich and some orange juice. EXCELLENT! And I was full nearly all day. I snacked on a few Miss Vickie's Jalapeno chips, but I never actually ate an actual lunch. BUT I did only eat the suggested serving in two sittings combined. I ended up eating three chocolate chip walnut cookies and four sugar cookies. Not at all the same time. Spread out throughout the day, but less cookies and more food. The problem continues to be not really knowing what I feel like eating??? Or eating when I feel like I should, but I'm not hungry. Both of those things literally have me sitting here always in a state of ?????????????????????

 

Sigh.

 

Today was neither a quest one or quest three day. Getting back into a routine of getting to bed relatively early and getting up early is rough sometimes. My sleeping, in general, has been wonky. I'm working the best I can to fix it. Hopefully I can get back into something where I'm not exhausted all day every day. I do have some paperwork to get some blood work done, which I'll do very soon!

 

I can say that, mentally, I've been doing pretty darn good! I don't know what it was, whether it was the turning of a new year or what, but I'm staying afloat the dark sludge that was keeping me down. I'm doing whatever I can to stay that way, and I'm going to keep paddling away to do so!

 

SO I would say that TODAY WAS A GOOD DAY.

 

 

Also, Meryl Streep continues to forever be my spirit animal. That is all.

 

[sassyfrassy]

OH SNAP IT IS DAY THREE ALREADY? Also, how is already JANUARY 11?? I feel like 2017 JUST started!

 

 

Day two went WELL! Tracked my food, did lots of laundry, did some art, and generally had a great day! The only thing that brought down day two was the fact that I didn't get a restful sleep like I was hoping I would. I was so ready for a good night sleep. I was tired and WANTED to sleep. I did some art before going to bed, which really calmed me. I was sleeping SO WELL and then WHOOSH! BANG! BOOM! Monster winds out of NO WHERE come slamming into the house. My room gets hit pretty hard when it's really windy, and our street is like a mini wind tunnel. I can say it was REALLY loud if it woke me up from a dead sleep because I can usually sleep through pretty much anything. Then, of course, I wasn't able to fall into a deep sleep again because of the wind. On top of that, my leg and arm muscles were really bothering me. There is a history of restless leg syndrome though my family (I'm pretty much guaranteed to get it considering both my grandmother and mother have it, and my cousin suffers from it too), but I'm hoping that it's just my muscles throwing small fits because I'm trying to use them more. Getting up and walking or just marching in place does help. My Mom told me to drink club soda (with cranberry juice or lemon/lime) because whatever is in it helps. IN ANY CASE -- I'm a little groggy today, but I haven't napped!

 

Coming to TODAY! I've been keeping myself busy or doing my marching in place to keep myself awake. So far so good!

 

For breakfast, my Mom and I had a fun breakfast of adorable mini waffles! We bought a mini waffle maker just before Christmas, and it's TOO CUTE. We had some and they were SUPER delicious. Prior to that, I drank some water and a glass of orange juice just for an extra boost. I've also been drinking my coffee with powdered creamer, and I prefer it over liquid. My coffee stays MUCH hotter, and it's just as good to me!

 

I haven't had lunch yet, but I DID do one of my Darebee workouts. I did the Cardio Inc workout and WHOA BUDDY! My arms and shoulders were like WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? But I pushed through it, and did all three rounds. YES! I was so proud of myself. Part of me was like UGH. I cannot make it through three rounds, but NOPE. I PERSEVERED! Not only did it warm me up, but it woke me up, and I just smiled SO MUCH when I was done! I was also really happy because rather than allowing my brain to be all "YOU NEED A SPACE" I just stood up from my computer and DID IT while watching South Park. I don't need a SPECIAL place. I just have to do it and stop making excuses! >:O

 

Tomorrow I'm going to make a pot of homemade Northern Bean soup. It's SO good and SO warm when it's cold. Lots of protein and fiber, too. I can't wait! *_______*  I love hearty soups in the winter.

 

[shaar]

42 minutes ago, kellie.eugenia said:

 Not only did it warm me up, but it woke me up, and I just smiled SO MUCH when I was done! I was also really happy because rather than allowing my brain to be all "YOU NEED A SPACE" I just stood up from my computer and DID IT while watching South Park. I don't need a SPECIAL place. I just have to do it and stop making excuses! >:O

 

 

YEEAAAHHH

 

THE POWER OF EXERCISE

 

This part made me SO HAPPY.  Man it's so true, I get up at ass-dark-o'clock to drag my sad buns out of bed to go to the gym before work, and it's literally the hardest habit I've ever had to sustain, but it is so worth it because the positive juju of exercise is for real!  YAAAAAH high five!!!!!

 

Your Sombra picture was amazing, I am so bad at faces, but yours was perfect!!*o*  I'm going to practice drawing birds today!  (Minus Bastion~)

 

We are killin' Week 1!!! <3

[sassyfrassy]

OH HI!

 

Didn't mean to disappear like I did, but I've been busy putting Christmas stuff away. This is really an achievement for us as we usually have the trees up until March or something. Mostly because as much as I love putting the tree up and decorating it? TAKING IT DOWN. Ugh. It's like ... UGH. That's the best way to put it. But I did it!

 

I've actually been trying to do more housework and organizing than I usually do. A little each day along with every day things. Our winter project is going to be a MAJOR event. We have so much to organize, purge, and put away. It's very intimidating, but we are going to accomplish it. Sometimes I find myself getting overwhelmed when talking about keeping house because there is A LOT of things to do. My Mom always feels bad because she really can't do a lot with her conditions, so I have been working to build up my stamina and ability to do more and more. The exercise is going to help TREMENDOUSLY. While I haven't done any of them since the last time I posted, it has been due to carrying storage boxes up and down the stairs.

 

I did have a hiccup in tracking my food towards the end of the week. It's something that is so easy to forget. When I realized that I had not written down what I had eaten, it made me wonder just how much I had eaten. Especially looking back on the days when I did track, and didn't overeat. Eventually I will start looking at calorie intake as I know that not getting the necessary/needed amount of calories does not help with eating habits. That will come in time, though! Next challenge perhaps! I need to get in the habit of actually writing down my food before I start worrying about numbers and everything.

 

I've been doing some art here and there, which has been great! I want to say it's almost like riding a bike getting back into it, but I still have some work to do when it comes to re-learning how to use certain mediums. I will get there, though!

 

I'm still feeling pretty good mentally and emotionally! I've been working to keep my spirits up, and keeping my Mom's spirits up! The winter is a rough time for the both of us, but the more I tell myself GOOD and POSITIVE things, it makes it a little easier.

[sassyfrassy]

SO! I have been tracking my food LIKE A BOSS and it really does help keep you in the know. And it does help you not grab up anything and everything when you're not hungry. It's kind of like, you track but then YOU DON'T WANT TO GET CAUGHT? I definitely don't get down on myself, but it's good to be mindful of everything!

 

I'm going to do a quick wrap because I'm sleepy, still battling horrible allergies/hives, and my brain is kind of blurring right now.

 

Quest One: Last week, I had one day of doing one of my workouts. The week was filled with a lot of cleaning and organizing. I didn't get any yoga in, but I did do some stretches here and there. I've been doing a few if I have any dishes to handwash, and also while cooking. It's helping with some lower back pain, which is good! Today, I was staying active as much as possible because these hives are OUT OF CONTROL. I ran out of allergy medicine, went two days without it, and UGH. Now I have to get it back into my system.

 

Quest Two: Tracking is BACK ON TRACK. I'm going to keep making daily google docs. They are easy to access from various locations and it works for me! I definitely plan on plugging my food into My Fitness Pal to start keeping track of my calories in the next challenge. However, I think I'm going to continue using the docs as well! I have been making mindful choices regarding snacks, food portions, and only eating when I'm hungry. I keep a glass of water with me AS MUCH as possible. That way, if I get the bored snacky bite, I sip water. But if I do get the snack bug, I've been having chips and salsa because I am obsessed with Tostitos Roasted Garlic salsa.

 

Quest Three: I have been doing GREAT with making sure I'm out of pjs during the day! I've been doing better with self care, and I've been doing fun things! It's amazing how great it makes a person feel, and how it boosts the mood when you need it. Just a feeling of accomplishment is enough for me!

 

Bonus Time: I have only done the two drawings, but I'm anxious to do more! Before I get too much into sketches, though, I want to get started on a Craftsy class. I found that I can finally watch the classes on my phone. So I can chill with Mom with headphones in the living room, and do my sketch/drawing classes! And I really want to do something out of my Chinese take out class because OM NOM NOM.

 

I'VE GOT THIS! I am chugging along and I am going to keep DOING IT. Little by little! I'm loving it, and I don't want to lose this feeling. I'm going to hold on to it as TIGHTLY as possible!

[shaar]

MFP is GREAT, it takes a bit to get used to and do every day, but having those actual calorie numbers staring back at you as you make your choices is an A+++ game-changer.

 

I'M SO GLAD you are keeping afloat and killing it! GIIIRL WE GOT THIS!!!

 

 

(ps i am having so much fun gaming together again <333333333)

[sassyfrassy]

OH HI!

 

UGH. My updates are getting TOO spread out! It's my own fault, though. But I'm not going to linger on that. NOPE.

 

I've been doing a lot of thinking in the past few days about where I want to go with my future challenges, and things in general. With the work I've been doing around the house, I realized that I am getting some decent cardio and strength in my every day movement. Walking the stairs, vacuuming, dusting, mopping, lifting boxes, organizing, and just general cleaning gives me a lot of good and decent movement throughout my days. I've been beating myself up because I wasn't doing the workouts that I found, but I realized that I can't do that. I haven't been just laying on the sofa like a lump like I use to. I am up, moving around, doing things, and not feeling like a slug. THIS IS PROGRESS! This is so much better than I was doing, and I should always be proud of that. And I am.

 

So, moving forward, I am going to work heavily on lifestyle changes. Working harder to track food, look at numbers, making sure I'm eating right (and enough because that's important!), track my activity, and go from there.

 

Continuing like this, for now, is going to work for me. And I know this because I put on a pair of leggings that, two weeks ago, did not fit. I WAS SO HAPPY! And I can tell others that, without a doubt, NerdFitness is helping me achieve these things. Slow and steady will help you achieve great things!

[shaar]

11 hours ago, kellie.eugenia said:

. And I know this because I put on a pair of leggings that, two weeks ago, did not fit. I WAS SO HAPPY!

 

THIS STUFF RIGHT HERE

 

This is the stuff that makes you go, "aw yeah, it working."  We never use the scale in the house anymore, the fit of clothing is IMO a MUCH better telling sign of how your body is changing, and so much more validating than a random number on a readout.

 

Your adaptation and constant determination is amazing <3333  You know you can do this for yourself, and you won't stop because some things don't work!  YOU ROCK LADY!!!!