Wellness Wednesday #3

I’ve reached the point now where I’m basically just tired of my own bullshit. I have so little self-control, and it frustrates me to no end. Slow and steady is a great idea, and I think it is what will work for me, but it also involves actually moving toward a goal.

Basically, I’m having a hard time, but I’m going to keep going. I’m going to challenge myself harder with my goals this week.

1. What am I proud of this week?

You might think nothing, after my opening paragraphs. But I have been doing a decent job of keeping up with what I’m eating, and it’s making me more conscious of it. I’ve had salad for lunch the past two days and have one packed for today. I’ve also been working on cutting back on dairy, because I think drinking large amounts of it makes me feel gross.

2. What can I do better next week?

I’m going to make a concerted effort not just to track what I’m eating but to actually stay in the calorie range suggested by MyFitnessPal. And I’m going to make more of an effort to get to the gym, even though it’s a massive challenge for me in the evenings after I get home from work. Basically, I’m going to try harder.

3. How did I engage in spiritual/emotional self-care this week?

I was off work Monday, and it was definitely something I needed. I had a day to myself. I went to the gym, took coffee to Bobby (and had coffee myself!), ran errands, bought myself some new shoes, had a picnic lunch with Bobby, took a nap and then picked B up from work to play ping pong before we picked up the kids together. We had this practice of playing ping-pong in the afternoons before I started my new job, so it was really fun to be able to do it again. And it was good for my heart to be able to drop off/pick up the kids.

We also took the boys to a local pumpkin patch on Sunday. Stuff like that — family activities where we all just have a good time together — is really good for me emotionally, too.

4. How did I do on my goals for last week?

Track my calories honestly every day: Eeeehhhhhh … mostly. I had a couple of episodes of emotional eating that I just didn’t even bother with.

Work out at least three times for 30 minutes each: I worked out twice, and I spent a couple of hours being active with my family on Sunday afternoon, so I did pretty well on this one. Didn’t technically work out three times, but it’s an improvement.

Finish Daring Greatly: I haven’t been in a reading mood, so hopefully I will pick this back up this week.

5. What are three goals for the coming week?

Track my daily calories and stay under the amount MFP suggests. It’s not a crazy-low amount, and especially if I exercise, I should not have a problem with this as long as I eat reasonably healthy.

Work out at least three times for 30 minutes each. This one again. Still working on this one. I’m going to continue focusing on making it to the gym and getting that 30 minutes in. If I push myself? Added bonus.

Have a night out of the house for myself. Honest confession: I already did this last night. Since this post is a day late, it totally counts for this week.

Wellness Wednesday #2

This week I’m having to remind myself that slow and steady wins the race. I have established some really heinous wellness habits in the recent months, and it is going to take time to undo those. Rather than rapidly dropping a bunch of weight, I want to focus on creating new habits that I can keep up long term.

At the same time, I don’t want to use that as an excuse not to challenge myself.

1. What am I proud of this week?

This wasn’t an easy week. I was sick, and I had a weekend-long work trip. But I made a sincere effort to put more thought into what I was doing and eating. I’m paying more attention, and I think it will pay off in the long run.

2. What can I do better next week?

Part of “paying more attention” is realizing just how bad my eating habits have become. I love dessert and high-calorie coffee drinks. Loving them isn’t the problem — it’s having large servings of them multiple times per day. I am realizing that I crave sugar, and it’s because I’ve been letting myself eat it without any effort to be reasonable in my consumption.

3. How did I engage in spiritual/emotional self-care this week?

Physical and spiritual/emotional well-being go hand in hand, and this week was full of paying attention to a pretty specific physical need. Near the end of last week, I was exhausted, and I sensed that I was probably coming down with some seasonal crud. I wanted to go to the gym, clean the house, etc., but I chose to rest instead. I did end up coming down with the crud, but (*fingers crossed*) I’m feeling mostly better this week.

4. How did I do on my goals for last week?

Track my calories honestly every day: I did pretty well with this one. Because I traveled over the weekend, I had a little bit of a hard time keeping up with some of the things I ate, and I actually gave up on dealing with it Saturday when I had an all-day work event. But for the most part I entered things into MyFitnessPal. I wasn’t crazed over it, and I went over my “limit” several days, but I have a better idea of what I’m consuming, and even just tracking it made me think more about my choices.

Work out at least three times for 30 minutes each: Nope. I worked out once. I took a few nights off because I wasn’t feeling well, and while I had good intentions of working out at the hotel in Houston (I brought workout clothes), it just didn’t happen because I was worn slap out. I’m having a hard time finding motivation to go to the gym in the evenings after the kids are in bed, but I’m just going to have to suck it up and do it.

Finish Daring Greatly: I didn’t finish it, but I read a huge portion of it!

5. What are three goals for the coming week?

I’m going to stick with my three goals from last week and see how I do.