Pretty much feeling myself this morning. I spoke to my son this morning, and he's starting to get sick.
We're expecting nasty weather and big snow today, so I am planning for a weekend at home. I would like to do some reading. Laundry. Weights. The yoga studio is closed today, in anticipation of bad weather, so I would like to do some on my own using the app. I need to make that a priority, if I'm going to actually do it though. I won't get better unless I practice more.
Thursday's yoga class (Vin-Yin or fast-slow) was a surprise because another lady showed up! It completely changed the energy of the class. I don't think she'll be a regular, but I've practiced with her before, I think on the Sunday morning slow class. This lady was an inspiration to me: older than myself, with scoliosis in her spine, and although she had not attended THIS class before, she was able to do all of the positions and keep up with the routine quite well. (Meanwhile, there's Donkey, huffing and puffing, trying not to topple over...) So I figure that she has been practicing yoga for a lot longer than I have, which is why I said that the more I practice, the better I will get.
I *did* manage to remember to weigh in this morning. I confess that I was not as focused on eating less this week. Being sick throws off my sense of taste. Oh... I did have that one night where I kind of dipped into the sweets a bit. Male Co-Worker is back on keto, but for myself, this is not sustainable, as I really love fruit. My husband is trying to do Whole 30, which is very much like keto, except that you can have fruit. I'm catching little pieces of evidence that he's not sticking to it 100%, but even if he does it 85% of the time, it will be an improvement to how he usually eats.
Isn't that kind of how it is for all of us? If we ate properly 85% of the time, we ought to be doing alright?
I feel that I need to do an honest self-evaluation, because I do not know what else I can do to lose weight.
Progress as of today: 49.5 lbs lost so far, only 10 lbs to go!
Head cold is hanging on! Each day feels a little better, although I'm back to sneezing today, it would seem. I feel up up hard yoga tonight.
I'm beginning to think that my feelings about the hard yoga class have more to do with the teacher than the yoga. If there were others in the class besides me, that might help a lot. (So it might not be the teacher after all.)
I did not do weights last night, to keep up with my 2020 goal of 2x a week, because my shoulder is hurting. Strain or arthritis, I'm thinking. Yoga has shown me that I'm very tight in the shoulders. Not a lot of flexibility there. Perhaps I can YouTube some helpful stretches today at work.
One thing I am extremely proud of accomplishing already this year is FINALLY clearing out my pantry last night. Threw away everything expired, put together a small bag of food that can be donated. This was a HUGE step for me.
Progress as of today: 49 lbs lost so far, only 10.5 lbs to go!
Also good job sticking to your yoga goal. One of my goals is to get up on time or just change the time i do get up in the morning - either way, lots of wasted time occurs and some of it can be eliminated :)
my mom used to or maybe still does do shoulder stretches since she had a chip of bone come off her shoulder and it was very painful...she had to do some physical therapy for it and was doing it at home, i'm not sure if she still is.
https://drjohnrusin.com/5-exercises-to-instantly-improve-shoulder-mobility/
Dr. John Rusin is very knowledgeable in the fitness industry!
I've been struggling to get over this cold or sinus infection, whatever it is. The symptoms are manageable but the fatigue is just incredible. I went to bed last night at 8p and still had a very hard time getting up late at 6a.
Library Yin Yoga on Monday night was wonderful! I wish I could attend the daytime classes she offers. In March, I will leave work early so that I can go to her 5p session. (Her classes tend to be irregularly scheduled. )
This really is my favorite yoga class!
Progress as of today: 49 lbs lost so far, only 10.5 lbs to go!
If i could relate to you - i'll just say i have been sleeping TONS this winter and with it being dark in the mornings, I am also struggling to get up - AND I'M NOT SICK.
it's true to get over your cold you will need rest. Well, that's my opinion.
Hanging in there, and feeling OK about it. My cold seems to have plateaued, so this is probably the worst it will get, which is just a little congestion, and the occassional cough. It seems unlikely that this will develop into a serious cough or chest congestion. I opted to watch football playoffs (of which I have zero interest in) instead of riding my bike or walking on the treadmill. So while it wasn't a nap or sleep, it was more rest than what I would normally allow.
Yesterday, husband and I went to pick up a yoga mat someone was selling on Marketplace. It was new and about 50% off of what Amazon charges. Then we went to the store for some personal care items that I really needed, mainly moisterizers and hair conditioner - essential in these harsh midwest winters. I felt quite pampered. The new yoga mat is thinner and will help me with fast yoga. I still plan to use my thicker mat that I have, for Yin yoga, for extra cushioning on all the floor poses.
I would like to get my hair cut today, too. I'd like to keep it long, but I need the ends trimmed up and evened out. I'm not quite ready to color my hair again, but at the store, I did choose a beautiful warm dark brown color for when I am ready for a change. I'm working my way into accepting and embracing the gray. If I were fully gray, like Bear, then that would be OK. But I have just these spots that are gray, which, in my opinion, does not look as nice.
EDIT: Oh I forgot to mention that Associate Attorney posted on Facebook that his daughter does NOT have cancer - she had a virus - and that she came home from the hospital last night. And of course, now that his adult children are leaving go to back to their respective homes (California, Iowa, Ireland), he can get back to the office and actually do some work.
EVENING EDIT: Got a lot done today:
Now I'm cuddling with Sick Kitty, and I will be in bed at 9p.
Progress as of today: 49 lbs lost so far, only 10.5 lbs to go!
glad your coworker's daughter isn't sick.
seems in the Winter rest is more important than in the warmer months.
Oh this year has started off with a struggle. Still not getting enough sleep (6 hours or less). The problem is that I cuddle with Sick Kitty on the couch for an hour, because she loves that, and that delays getting ready for bed for an hour. She doesn't like coming to bed with me, so that's not an option. I thought about bringing her down into the basement on nights that I workout after dinner, but that's not the same as cuddling... although she does like to be with us.
Woke up late, got started very late with everything. I'm feeling this "cold" in my throat and sinuses. At least it's not the flu. I opted out of Warm Slow Yoga this morning, even though I really wanted to go, because of germs, the need for rest, and the lack of time to get ready. I am planning to miss tomorrow morning's yoga at the studio as well.
Monday night is Library Yin Yoga, which I especially like! This is the one with the yogini (teacher) who had weight loss surgery and used yoga as her physical activity. She keeps it real, and it's a nice small group.
Yesterday at work was a minefield. Not only was every file I touched in dire straights, but also, Associate Attorney said that his 19 year old daughter, home from college for the winter break, might have cancer. This would be awful, of course, except that there were just too many holes in his story to make me fully believe him. His main concern was that he had to leave the office ASAP so that he could be at the hospital when the doctor came to talk them in the afternoon. "Do you have an appointment?" No, it's whenever they come around. Later, I find out that he met up with his 3 adult children, who leave to go back home on Sunday, probably for lunch or something, before heading over to the hospital at around 3:45p. Hmm... So what happened to being at the hospital ASAP to speak with the doctor?
And then he seemed very surprised when I mentioned to him to call the Boss over the weekend (the Boss is in Florida until Feb. 15th) to let him know what's going on. Like, "Oh, Boss knows about this?" Well, YES, because if you're going to be out of the office to be with your daughter, we need to find an attorney that will actually BE here to cover closings.
I told husband at dinner that I cannot have 1.5 more months like the last 2 days have been.
I've done well with my reading goals, but finding the time to meditate - or to start meditating - has been difficult. Remember the Difficult Yoga Studio I went to back in September? (See Donkey's Yoga Disaster) They are offering a meditation series on Sunday evenings. 5 sessions, 1-1.5 hours, for $120. That seems a bit expensive to me. Maybe not, for one's time. Sunday evenings (late afternoons) though are not the best time for me. Not sure. I've got time to think about doing this if that's what I want.
Weight-loss goal is not going so well, either as it looks like I gained half a pound. WTHeck... When TOM is here, it's just complete chaos until I can have my own body back.
Progress as of today: 49 lbs lost so far, only 10.5 lbs to go!
Turns out that some of the yoga instructors are getting sick, so I'm really glad to be staying home this weekend. I do not think I will get any sicker than I am right now, this time around, and this is completely manageable.
I still want my own body back from TOM though, and I should feel more myself on Monday. Oh great, just in time to go back to work.
But doing more walking would definitely be a welcomed change.
I find myself sleeping tons also on the weekend. i do think that your extra sleep will have you feeling better sooner than anything else will.
plus, your upcoming yoga on Monday sounds wonderful
Having a hard time getting enough sleep, which is interfering with working on all my other goals! In fact, I'm writing now, on my phone, because this may be the only chance I get today!
I've been fighting something for about 2 weeks, which I'm sure is not helping. I had a breakout of painful sores on my lips last week. The sores are mostly gone, but now I'm battling a sore throat. I wake up congested, which is part of the problem. AND - There are people around me who have family members with contagious flu!
It was good to get back into the studio for Vin-Yin yoga. It is very much the same vigorous yoga at the beginning, but then it transitions into the slower, Yin yoga. I felt invigorated and yet relaxed, at the same time, if that's possible.
Tonight is Veterans Chair Yoga with the husband. Looking forward to this a lot.
Progress as of today: 49.5 lbs lost so far, only 10 lbs to go!
Lately, I've been using the studio's mats, because they are thinner and provide a better balance for one-legged poses. Good point that this could be a source of germs. I'm working on getting a thinner mat.
The sores were cold sores. See, that's what I get for kissing Danny Witten when I was 8. They usually flare up right around TOM. The sores are gone, TOM is here this week. It's usually not this many sores though. This was a particularly bad breakout.
I'm staying home as much as I can this weekend.
in fact, all of your yoga sounds incredible. maybe one day...i'll be doing yoga :)
i hope you can work thru into feeling better xoxo and to getting more sleep this weekend! :)
Son left this morning to go back to Texas and has left a sadness behind.
The hard yoga class has been changed to fast- slow "vin-yin" style. I'm checking the new format.
Progress as of today: 49.5 lbs lost so far, only 10 lbs to go!
Happy New Year 2020, everyone!
I have not been as pro-active as I might have been this morning. Slept in, because I stayed up too late, and haven't done anything too ambitious so far. If I may be frank, the sadness that my son will be leaving tomorrow morning is starting to creep up. It's odd - I can almost feel this sadness in my shoulders. BUT I do not want our last hours together to be sad, so we'll just enjoy the time that we do have remaining.
I weighed in this morning, and I do not believe the numbers I saw - have to weigh in 3 times, you know. Each time the number was different, but they averaged out to be 137 (137, 138, 136 - go figure!), so that's what I'll go with. I sure felt a lot heavier than that, from the carbs that I had last night. Maybe this scale is finally dying, I don't know. I did not have the time to weigh in on the better scale (the Ironman scale that weighs to the 0.2 and measures body fat %). I wish I had done so.
As promised, I will share my goals for 2020 - but this morning, I was watching a video on a yoga group that someone shared, who said that setting intentions is better than setting goals, because so many times, we set unrealistic goals for ourselves. Well that's just great - why wasn't this video available a week ago????
My theme this year is CHANGE. Making changes, not being afraid to make changes, embracing the opportunity to change as a chance to grow, learn, improve, experience more in life.
Changes to improve habits
Changes to nuture myself:
Changes to my health:
Changes to my yoga practice:
It's an ambitious plan, but it's more about doing better for myself, which in turn, will help be a better person to everyone around me.
Progress as of today: 49.5 lbs lost so far, only 10 lbs to go!
I really love your goals. They all sound so healthy. Your yoga goals are simply amazing, 3x a week, and i know you can pull it off as the sessions do't have to be that long at home - how long at home would you practice for in a session?
You inspire me to try harder and reach further in my goals. I hope to cook even more, maybe this year i will finally cook fish and meat and chicken and buy less pre-made in that category.
So i see your goals are health / happiness oriented. Thank you for sharing that goals do not have to be career oriented or just for learning purposes. i needed to see that i'm not the only one that enjoys the more "basic" nurturing things in life, if you know what i mean.
sometimes i feel like everyone around me is so technologically orientated...
i have a goal to start being more active cardiovascularly...at least on my exercise bike. i have actually sort of fallen off the wagon in terms of cardio. and my weights ...are easy to maintain as i've limited the exercises to just 3: pushups, chest flies, curls, and triceps.
good job being specific on your goals.
and i'm glad your son is headed back to better himself, too.
Day 100: It's been real.
It's almost midnight here in Chicago, but I wanted to write a recap today, before I start next year. Today, I did celebrate a bit with food and was not as strict. I'm OK with that, because I know that tomorrow, I will get back on track. Life goes on, and I'm rolling with the waves.
The main reason for writing TODAY - specifically TODAY, the end of this decade - is that when I started this decade, I was just starting to get out of a very dark place. I had lost all hope. I was drowning in shame. I lost my job. I lost my friends. I was publically humiliated. I almost lost my kids. I almost lost my freedom. I lost my savings. I lost my credit score. I could have lost my husband, but thank the Good Lord that he (and He) stuck with me throughout this entire ordeal. I didn't want to leave the house, I didn't want to live any more.
Sometimes in one's life, something happens that changes one's life so significantly that it divides one's life. I never thought something so major would happen to me like that, but it did. My life became divided into "Before" and "After", and has been defined in those terms ever since.
However, last week, I had another light bulb moment 
where it really HIT me that this is the end of a decade. And realizing this, I thought back to where I WAS, and looked at where I'm at NOW - and realized that I had actually managed to rebuild a life that I now call mine, in the past 10 years. It's not the same life that I had before, but in some ways, it's a better life, an authentic life.
Believe me when I say that I would never EVER want to go through what I went through in order to have gotten to this point, nor would I wish it on anyone else - even if it meant ending up in a better place. (No, some things should NOT ever happen, if they can at all be avoided.) Maybe that's why this event happened - so that I could get to this "better place" - or maybe not. What I DO know is I'm done trying to figure out or understand why things happened the way that they did, and have just accepted what happened, has happened.
My point is that, in looking back, I realized that I've managed - ALMOST - to move forward freely. When I took the Self-Love yoga series, that was the first time in 10-11 years that I was finally able to even think about being able to forgive myself, and even that tiny first step is HUGE to me.
Although this entry COULD be about how we should never give up, that's not what this is. This is an acknowledgment of how far I've come in this decade, and that I'm able to be that friend to myself to say, You did it, Donkey, and I'm really proud of you.
Progress as of today: 50 lbs lost so far, only 0 lbs to go!
Day 99: I am open to change.
This is what I repeated to myself on Saturday during the impromptu, "pop-up" yoga class. It helped!
It was startling to me to see that after a week of no yoga, that I felt a little decrease in balance & stability in holding certain poses. Just an interesting observation and motivation for practicing more often.
As I left my goals list at work, I didn't work on it much. I plan to do that today. For my yoga goals, there are a few poses that I would like to improve on. (My initial thought was to "master" these poses, but then realized that's not really the point of a practice. ) So, I have a short list of poses to hold for a minute. It will be fun to challenge myself in this way.
Some of my goals are habits to establish (e.g. using my waterpik daily) and others have a more progressive intention, e.g. weight-training.
So the list is rather long, and I'm wondering if I should pare it down, thanks to insights from Bear and Happy.
Progress as of today: 50 lbs lost so far, only 0 lbs to go!
You motivate me with your progress and goals...i haven't come up with anything yet!
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Glad to hear you are feeling better and that you had some company at yoga. I agree...85% makes a lot of sense.....enjoying life counts for something too!!! We shouldn't have to be a slave to any choice....as long as we lean in that direction and work on it most of the time...thankfully...we aren't robots!!! ;>)
happy-1 on 01/13/2020:
I think you will lose weight if you stick to the 80/20 rule of life. If you stop beating yourself up so much, your stress level will drop and your cortisol levels will drop... allowing your body to lose weight.
Horn_Of_Plenty on 01/13/2020:
yup, 85% of the time in the right direction would be great for most people out here indeed!
i love your idea of rededicating yourself to practicing yoga.
after all, for how long can we only want to lose weight (only goal i mean)... for myself i also need redirection that i'm sorta bored with my routine but don't wanna stop either because i like the heaviness factor of the weights that i can lift. so, i just need to add more cardio again - i think?