Sea-to-sky works on Finding the path

[Sea-to-sky]

Not sure what this is going to be yet (i hear direction is a good thing). Just thought id try and put some sort of goals for the year here to keep the chaos organised slightly. 

So. Goals for 2024:

 i am currently 246lb (17st 8lb). Id like to get to 154lb (11stone) ish.  That means loosing 92lb (6st8lb).

as this is a stupidly huge amount and is going to take me (person with M.E/CFS) quite a while (I'm talking years here) i feel its reasonable to break it town into achievable chunks. 

so this year id like to try and loose 3 stone

 

if i loose more that is great, but i don't want to set the bar too high and then kill myself trying to reach it. Plus M.E./CFS has a way of screwing up plans, so leaving some space for the unknown seems sensible. 

 

my life basically derailed 15+ yrs ago due to the M.E/CFS. At this point I've kind of forgotten what normal looks/feels like, So basically right now I'm doing an impression of this tree and trying to find my way forward now I'm coming out the other side of this thing. 
 

 

Ive got some longterm goals, but starting small seems sensible. 
I want the weight loss to be sustainable, so basically rethinking my relationship with food and eating more healthily going forward is the way to go. 
 

so, here a a few goals. I know there are too many. I doubt i’ll get them all done. Im sure some will get tabled for another time as i go along, but I'm putting them here for the moment.

 

I'm going to try working through a few a month on the challenges. 

- challenges in orange

- things i am doing less formally in green.  
(i am not holding myself to time frames for these, if they get done then great. If not, no worries. They are more just things im trying to work towards at the moment)

 

get moving more:

• Try to walk 3 times a week (ongoing)

• Walk different places
• Try to Swim once a week (conditions permitting) (ongoing)
• Work/yoga out once a week (ongoing)
• Weigh myself weekly (sunday) (yes, i know it sucks. Do it anyway) (ongoing)   
  (reward at end of month)

take better care of myself:

• Stick to healthy snacks in between meals (ongoing)

• Drink enough water (ongoing)  
  (reward at end of month.  New ebook)
• Go to sleep at a sensible time (ongoing)  
  (reward at end of month. Pretty bookmarks)
• Get up at a sensible time (ongoing)
• Cook more and different things (ongoing)

• Log calories (ongoing) 
  (reward at end of month.  new book)
• one treat meal a week (ongoing)
• Avoid emulsifiers as much as possible (ongoing)
• try to reduce ultra processed food intake (ongoing)
• Look after feet
• floss daily
• get out of house regularly (ongoing)

 

look after my mental health:

• Sort bedroom (ongoing) 
  (reward: handwriting book)
• Work through my TBR pile (ongoing).  
  (reward: 1 or 2 new ebooks or 2nd hand books a month)
• Moisturise
• Look after myself better
• Write challenge on NF regularly (ongoing)
• Practice mandolin 2x a week (ongoing)
• Practice flute, whistles
• Work my way through my song book till i can sing them with confidence
• take better care of my greenhouse and house plants
• try to care less about what others think

 

try new things:

• Join the archery or other club
• Start calligraphy
• Get into writing journal. Work out what i want out of it and how to make it fun/arty (ongoing)
• Plan a holiday
• join Thai chi, yoga or other keep fit class
• learn harmonica
• plan some trips/walks further afield on the bus
• start learning Swedish again
• start relearning spanish
• have a go at origami  (ongoing)
• start a sketching practice book  (ongoing)
• try nature/art journaling (ongoing)

 

saving the pennies

• try to work through TBR pile before buying more books. Maybe make books rewards? Try not to preorder ebooks (ongoing)
• Take lunch/tea with me instead of eating out (more a warmer month thing)

 

 

 

[Sea-to-sky]

Thinking adding some rewards for certain targets might be good. 

I am very susceptible to the lure of new books so this is always a good motivator. Plus i am trying not to buy new ones right now ? as i have a big TBR pile i want to work through (it is admittedly only going okish at the moment, but at least it is progressing)

a new labrette for my helix piercing might also work well as it would be nice to have more than 2 to swap between. 

going for tai would also be a special treat (it is expensive so i eat it very rarely)

 

i would love a small backpack for hiking as i am trying to work up to walking further this year. I use a messenger bag right now, but being able to take a little more (like a flask, lunchbox, swimming kit) would be good if I'm going further.

this is not vital till it gets dryer/warmer out there though. 

Keep coming back to the lego orchid kit you can hack to make a flower demogorgon. (Seriously google it, demogorchid)
 

I would love a decent set of cass cass (the percussion instrument). I will have to practice upstairs as they drive the household barmy, but they are fun. 
 

 

[Shello]

Love your list of goals.  I started doing yearly roadmaps several years ago and find them really useful in keeping me centered towards my bigger goals that I can't accomplish in one challenge.  

[Sea-to-sky]

2 minutes ago, Shello said:

Love your list of goals

Thanks. 
 

yeah, i figured having some sort of…calling it a roadmap sound a bit too organised at this point xD but page to bring all the many note pages of ideas on my ipad together. It is a work in progress.

[Sea-to-sky]

list of reward/bribery ideas
 

• book journal
• Expensive earplugs for swimming
• Books i really want
• Ebooks i want (could maybe do £10’s worth or something)
• treat from delicatessens 
• inks, books etc for the calligraphy
• coloured pens, stickers etc for journalling
• New labrette for helix piercing
• Bouzouki/octave mando (might be nice for if i crack my yearly target)
• Nice set of cass cass, (the precussion balls on string things)
• Something from my etsy or amazon wish list
• Thai meal out
• New tarot deck
• Lego orchid/gorgon kit
• Other random musical things like hawaiian musical stones?
• DM’s (want to wait till ive lost the weight, so maybe next year?)
• Computer games
• wet suit socks/boots (out of season now. Save for next winter)

[Sea-to-sky]

Yearly Battle planning

 

Jan

- healthy snacks only in between meals 

- try to go for 3 walks a week

- sort room

 

Feb 12th - March 17th

-practice mando 2x a week

-get to sleep at 10:30pm

-drink enough water

 

- work throughTBR list (try not to buy more books)

-sort room

 

March 25th - April 28th

- get up at a sensible time (within half an hour of waking up, or 7:00 if before then. Maybe give myself one lie in a week. Im thinking sundays?)

-get to sleep at 10:30pm

-learn chords on the mando

-practice mando 2x per week

-cook one new dish a week

- work throughTBR list (try not to buy more books)

-sort room

May 6th - June 9th
- get up at a sensible time (within half an hour of waking up, or 7:00 if before then.)

-get to sleep at 10:30pm

-learn chords on the mando

-practice mando 2x per week

 

- work throughTBR list (try not to buy more books)

- sort room

-try to do darebee 5 times a week

 

June 17th - July 21st- 

- try to do one new thing a week (eg. Live music, new walk, eat somewhere new, cook new dish)

-try to do darebee 5 times a week

- go sketching 1x per week

 

continuation of good habits:

- sleep routine

- walks 3x week

- drink water

 

- work throughTBR list (try not to buy more books)

- sort room

 

 

July 29th - September 1st

- practice flute 2x per week

-.moisturise daily

-darebee 5x a week

 

continuation of good habits:

- sleep routine

- walks 3x week

- drink water

 

-sort room

- work throughTBR list (try not to buy more books)

 

September 9th - October 13th-—

 

--ankle rehab month—

-mandolin 3x a week

-drawring 2x a week

-remixing wardrobe

- clear one thing a day

 

continuation of good habits:

- sleep routine

- drink water

 

-sort room

- work throughTBR list (try not to buy more books)

 

October 21st - November 24th

- ankle rehab 1x day

- get out of house 1x week

- moisturise daily

- knit neckwarmer 3 x week

-mandolin practice 2x week

- sketching 1x week

 

continuation of good habits:

- sleep routine

- drink water

- walk 2x week

 

-sort room

- work throughTBR list (try not to buy more books)

-soft no spend

 

December 2nd - December 22nd

-cook one new dish a week

- go swimming 1x per week (conditions permitting)

-garden

- floss daily

- work out 1x per week

- work through song book. Practice one song a week.

[Sea-to-sky]

Plan B protocols (incase of life occurring)

Illness and/or very low energy :

-still try to keep inside calorie budget.

- try to stick to healthy snacks

- 10-10:30 lights out

- naps 

- drink water

-try to keep writing in challenge if i can manage it

- try to get a few short walks in possible

everything else is on an energy level basis. 
do not push yourself when you’re ill

 holiday/guests/other event where i need to pull weight:

- all food goals still stand. 
-make effort to get walks in

-workouts and swimming suspended where appropriate

-extra short workout routines a good option

- try to keep writing in challenge. 
everything else gets semi suspended til normality resumes. 

[Sea-to-sky]

(chucking this in here so i can refer back to it easily)

 

What i achieved the first 6 months of the year

• lost 1.5st
• Got back into drawring
• Started a bujo
• Got comfy being by myself when out
• Got more confident at using the bus system
• Had a massive declutter of my room
• Changed the way i eat to be more healthy
• Started to learn how to sketch
• Challenged myself with harder walks
• Improved my fitness
• Got better at the whole social interaction thing
• Learned some new recepies
• Got better at taking photos with my phone
• Read a lot of books
• Started taking my mandolin to session
• Came out of the last six months happier and healthier. 

 

What i want to do in the next 6 months

• lose another 1.5st
• Finish sorting my room and decorate
• Get better at sketching and using brush pens ✅
• Start practicing calligraphy more seriously
• Get more confident with playing the mando in front of people
• Start practicing one of my other instruments regularly
• Begin learning a new instrument ✅
• Learn how to make an origami crane
• Continue to improve my fitness ✅
• Continue to eat healthily
• Widen the genres of books i am reading✅
• Gain more self confidence✅