[Darciana]

Now that vacation is officially [and sadly] over, it is time to buckle down again. My goals have not changed all that much, only becoming more refined. I don't want to overwhelm myself during an already overwhelming time with busy season at work, vacation and holidays, and other life goings on so I'm aiming to just be a bit more focused.

 

Part of this challenge isn't to go hard - it's about consistency. Yes, I want to focus on my goals, but I'd rather be consistent with them than allow life to disrupt my flow. I've included some extra Spirituality stuff since this is the time of year I feel most connected and can start looking inwards. Meditation is aimed at slowing things down. Life tends to get too hectic too fast and it feels so go-go-go. I want to live a softer, slower life. Balance between pushing hard for my goals and living softly in tune with Nature and the turning of the seasons. Reading, too, is aimed at slowing down. I've been very consistent with reading before bed every night (except on vacation, I found various times to read through the day, though). I'd like to continue that and even expand on it to read outside of my normal bed routine as a way to slow down and savor just existing. I may be existing with a good book, but I'm not running around frantic and that's a huge deal for me!

 

The Goals:

 

Workouts: Build Muscle - stay consistent with routine

Monday: Legs - quad focused

Tuesday: Back & Biceps w/shoulder - goal is 1 unassisted pullup by Dec 31st

Wednesday: Chest & Triceps w/shoulder

Thursday: Les Mills Body Pump Class or cardio (rowing, running/walking)

Friday: Legs - booty, hips, hamstring focused

Daily walks (M,T,W,Th,F,Sa,Su) - outside with dogs when weather allows. Cold is not an excuse to stay in - bundle up, buttercup. [We are in central Texas, something’s very wrong if it gets too cold for the dogs, especially this time of year]

 

Macros: Coach-led but request to eat maintenance or build to surplus for muscle gain. TBD

Hit each macro within 10g of goal

30-35g fiber daily

Whole foods - minimize/avoid processed foods

Meal prep dinners for the Man and I. Discuss with him about meal prepping lunches as

well.

128oz water [1 US gallon/~3.8L]

 

Reading: Read a chapter a day of any book. This is typically my nighttime routine before bed to read. Maintain this habit. Include extra reading where possible and focus on non-fiction for additional reading. I have a pile of “self-help” books I need to read sitting on my desk waiting. 

 

Journaling: Continue my daily Witches Planner journal. Add in additional journaling as needed to assist with any mental health, non-fiction reading reflections, journal prompts, or just free-flow to release. 

 

Meditation: Re-introduce daily meditation. Use guided or timed meditations as needed. Focus on increasing time whenever possible

 

Spirituality: Maintain Greet the Day, Coffee Intentions w/ gratefulness, Full/New Moon Rituals, and improve Sabbat Rituals. Each week choose a daily spiritual ritual to practice to determine if it is worth incorporating long-term or not a good fit. Continue this until life is fully magical. 

Alchemy: Continue what the Man calls “Witchy Creations” by creating muscle balms and oils, skin care, and other health-focused alternative solutions as needed and to help transition from the chemical-laden commercialized products.

[Sovalis]

Hi Darling! This looks wonderful and I am here to cheer as ever! ❤️ 

[Darciana]

On 10/18/2024 at 5:17 PM, Sovalis said:

Hi Darling! This looks wonderful and I am here to cheer as ever! ❤️ 

Oh thank you, Dearheart! ❤️ 

 

 

So the servers being down and out of commission put a bit of a damper on this but all is well now. I managed to have more time this afternoon anyway while I wait for my teammates to get off of another project call. Perfect for checking in.

 

The Man is back at the gym this week to test how things go. He's been released from the surgeon's care and has one more physical therapy appointment pre-approved by insurance which will be Friday. That should give the PT a chance to get feedback on how the gym went this week and determine if additional sessions are needed (they get approved in 10-session blocks so it's at least 5 more weeks of his normal twice a week if they have to get additional).

With that, the Man and I did our own leg workouts yesterday and did mostly the same stuff today (I did do my assisted pullups without him but all else was the same). Tomorrow will potentially be similar workouts together (easier to rest while the other does their set) and improvise as needed depending on how he feels.

The gym this week has been crazy busy! It's like that pre-summer rush all over again out of nowhere. It was so quiet and empty when the Man wasn't going and now it's nearly tripled in the number of people in the gym at 530 when it opens. Craziness! I hope it dies down soon. And I have the lovely January 1st rush to look forward to still. Ugh. At least we started in February and that's only because we found out we could get a free membership due to our veteran and first responder status. It's a 20-25 minute drive one way to the gym so spending an outrageous amount on a membership wasn't worth it on top of the fuel and such. Free membership really offset things and made it worth the drive. It just happened to be that we learned this fact in February, not that we were setting resolutions haha Even if we were, we stuck to them through near the end of October so that's a pretty dang good resolution I'd say!

 

Food has been a bit iffy last week. I didn't quite stick to macros and had a lot of BLTs [bites, licks, tastes] that I didn't log which surely added up. Friday I only logged part of my lunch and my breakfast, nothing else. Saturday I didn't log a single thing. I attempted to get back on track Sunday but failed miserably. However, I went above and beyond to make myself homemade bread and a white chicken chili for lunches. The Man hates beans so he won't eat it so it worked well having it as a lunch since we do those separate anyway. Plus, he loves my homemade bread so I had an extra excuse to bake again. Trying out these new bread bags (with beeswax lining) to see if they'll keep my bread fresh for longer. So far, so good. Day 3 and my bread hasn't gotten so hard it is inedible which is a bonus. I still have one whole loaf that hasn't been cut into that I'm curious about.

My macros were increased this week:

Protein: 150 (maintained)

Carb: 200 (increased by 10g)

Fat: 75 (increased by 5g)

Coach offered to go into a small surplus after we find my maintenance and I'm on board! I wanted to bring it up to her anyway so it was absolutely perfect timing.

 

I've gotten back into my coffee gratitude and intention setting. Not perfect, but I'm still working on my routine. Especially now that the Man is awake during that time rather than asleep still. I'll figure it out. Gua Sha has been consistent but dry brushing less so. I have done it a few times since getting back, but not as often as I'd like. I'd like to get to an every-other-day routine and maybe upgrade it to daily if my skin tolerates it well.

 

Meditation has been slacking a bit. The Man went on my morning dog walk with us this morning so I didn't listen to my normal walking meditation I started re-incorporating. I'll have to find a time to get that done today at some point. I've been fairly good about it when I include the walking guided prompts.

 

I found out when starting my research into replenishing my A5 binders with my planners - the Witches Planner I've been using the last 3 years is shut down. Boo! This makes my heart very sad because I absolutely loved it every year. Alas, I found a planner that isn't Witchy per-se, but it has room for gratitude, habit tracking, etc. I can adjust the space to make it more friendly to my needs. I also found a replacement for my work task binder that I think will be more beneficial to me as far as tracking work goes. I bought the daily inserts as well as a separate packet including the monthly planner (for big monthly tasks and goals), and then included 40 pages of "To Do List" with check boxes so I can try to keep track of my forever-ongoing list of things to do with work in one place. It was a larger purchase than I was hoping for, but I'd rather order it now and ensure I have it for the start of the new year (which I ran into those issues last year, particularly with the shipping delays due to Christmas). Plus, last year there were a lot of sold out inserts I really liked and wanted to consider but I knew they wouldn't restock until close to February and get to me by March so that wasn't going to work. I learned my lesson and now I have next year's planner inserts already in the works.

 

I'm so glad the forums are back and I can spend some time with each of you ❤️ 

 

 

 

 

[Darciana]

A very quick update as work is hectic and we are so so far behind that I'm beginning to feel the beginnings of helplessness seep in.

 

Workout was good - I adjusted my chest day a bit to accommodate the Man's return. It's not so much that it upsets my flow but doing barbell bench press versus my usual dumbbell bench and the order of things was slightly different. Not a bad thing at all.

Also started today with the goal of starting every workout with 10 pull ups. Right now I'm fully assisted but I managed to knock out 10 at 60lbs assist (that's 95lbs approx I pulled up 10 times) so this is good. If I drop assisted weight down and can't do the full 10, I'll do a drop weight style and keep added assisted weight until I get my 10 complete. I really want that at least 1 unassisted pull up by the end of the year.

 

Food was good yesterday and I was able to eat and enjoy fully. Today was a bit harder to plan as the pasta dinner tonight is very carb-heavy and limits the carbs I can eat the rest of the day (which also limits my non-fibrous carbs since I need to aim for 30-35g fiber). Alas, I have a plan in place for today that should get me nearly dead-on my macro targets as well as my fiber. This is good.

 

I did meditate before bed last night. I actually fell asleep during it since I didn't set a timer or anything so no clue how long but it was nice to do it that way. This morning while the Man took a quick post-breakfast nap (migraine hit him hard) I did my 5 minute breathing practice on my watch to reduce stress. It vibrates for breathing in and breathing out so I then I can clear my mind, focus on my breath and get a bit of both, a win-win! I count that as my daily meditation but I'll do another if I find a moment in time, realize I need it, or am settled enough at bed to pull off the same situation as last night.

 

Intentions are stirred in. It is 11:11 so a wish was just made. Greet the Day on the walk with the dogs and the Man. Tomorrow will be off as I'll have to skip the walk due to my doc appointment. I don't know if the Man will go for a walk but I'll try to aim for a lunch time one to make up for my missing morning one. I can't imagine my walk-loving dogs will be upset about a potential extra walk in hah

 

I have a call with coaches tonight (a live discussion over food and not making food the enemy - there's always something to learn!) and I may make more of the Man's "witch potion" that we got at the All Hallow's Eve Market I took him to while I listen in. Apparently it does help soothe his pain enough to fall asleep so I got the ingredients yesterday and will aim for that tonight if time allows. There's no major rush, but a general plan to do something productive but not stressful ❤️ I'll also need to make more of my day face serum here soon.

I did do my GuaSha today and I dry brushed before bed last night. Hoping to keep this a routine.

Reading before bed happened and it was good. The book is slow to start but it's beginning to prod at my curiosity so I'll keep reading to see if it manages to snag me and pull me in.

 

Alright, I best go be productive now. I hope today you smell something that brings back a wonderful memory and brightens your day ❤️ 

[Sovalis]

I am glad you are getting solid workouts and self care in! I hope those beeswax bags are as good as they seem to be!

[Snarkyfishguts]

Yes, I am very interested in the beeswax bags!

 

I love the vibe of this challenge. Vacation seems like it was good for you. I'm hoping the gym crowd dies down...Is it an annual membership? Maybe people are like "Oh no! we gotta get our money's worth!" lol  And BOO on discontinuing your witch planner that you loved!! A good planner is such a big thing. Edit: I'm glad you found a planner that works for you!

 

Additional edit: My mom recommends using a little almond flour in your bread recipes to make the bread softer for longer. As long as no one has a nut allergy