Week three (after a one-week break)

Okay guys, I fell off the wagon, but I'm back. And I'm working with a significant negative start, so hopefully that can motivate me to do and be better. I did track stuff the whole week, so I'm giving myself a +1 for that. I'm pretty sure I drank the requisite water too, but that'd just be pushing it.

Current score: -5


This holiday weekend has a huge caveat though, in that I will be staying with people and do not want to be annoying/demanding about any of my requirements. So.. this may mean essentially a free pass I am giving myself on food through mid-Monday. Gotta make a good impression (if I can?).

A refresher on the rules for this week:

Water - 50 oz /day
Exercise - 15 minutes and/or 10k steps /day
Stretching - 5-10 min /day
Food - 7 meals can be eaten out.
No: deep fried food; bacon; artificial sweeteners; super-processed food; white bread, rice, pasta (if there is an alternative); red meat; candy; dessert; dairy; potatoes
Yes: 1 fruit and 1 veggie per day
Lifestyle - Get up and move! Don't spend more than two hours without standing, walking, and stretching a bit.
Reflection - write one daily
Track stuff.

May 23

• Water: 
• Exercise: 
• Food: 
• Lifestyle:
• Reflection: 
• Tracked? 

May 24

• Water: 
• Exercise: 
• Food: 
• Lifestyle:
• Reflection: 
• Tracked? 

May 25

• Water: 
• Exercise: 
• Food: 
• Lifestyle:
• Reflection: 
• Tracked? 

May 26

• Water: 
• Exercise: 
• Food: 
• Lifestyle:
• Reflection: 
• Tracked? 

May 27

• Water: 
• Exercise: 
• Food: 
• Lifestyle:
• Reflection: 
• Tracked? 

May 28

• Water: 
• Exercise: 
• Food: 
• Lifestyle:
• Reflection: 
• Tracked? 

May 29

• Water: 
• Exercise: 
• Food: 
• Lifestyle:
• Reflection: 
• Tracked? 

Help! I've fallen and I can't get up!

Apparently I am taking a break from all this stuff this week. Will get back to you next week with renewed vigor! (maybe)

Week 2

A refresher on the rules for this week:

Water - 50 oz /day
Exercise - 15 minutes and/or 10k steps /day
Stretching - 5-10 min /day
Food - 7 meals can be eaten out.
     No: deep fried food; bacon; artificial sweeteners; super-processed food; white bread, rice, pasta (if there is an alternative); alcohol; red meat
     Yes: 1 fruit and 1 veggie per day, honey
Lifestyle - Make a to-do list. One thing that MUST happen. Two things that should happen. Three things it'd be nice to accomplish.
Reflection - write one daily
Track stuff.

May 9

• Water: Mhmm
• Exercise: Hiked for 7 miles!
• Stretching: Nope :(
• Food: Ate pretty well, except that dinner was very rich pasta :/ Ate out once today.
• Lifestyle: made a list, completed most of the things
• Reflection: Volunteered all morning helping out at a charity 5K, ran by the local farmers' market, went on a hike, and then settled in for the evening with the Mr. 
• Tracked?: Yes

Overall: -1 :(

May 10

• Water: I think so
• Exercise: Hiked 8 miles. A bit was pretty uphill.  
• Stretching: Stretched on top of Iron Mountain!
• Food: I did okay! Pizza for the week, but because of the hike I consider it breaking even. Dinner was out. 
• Lifestyle: Did not make a list :(
• Reflection: I'm pretty damn proud that I managed to hike four days in a row. Time to cut back on restaurant eating again.
• Tracked? Yep

Overall: -1 :/

May 11

• Water: So much water today. And also a ridiculous amount of coffee. 
• Exercise: Did a tiny little FitStar training. I'm counting it, but barely. 
• Stretching: Yoga! Y-O-G-A, yoga
• Food: Ate a bunch of snacks of the pastry and cookie variety :/ Day-long meeting is long... Plus went out to dinner and broke a bunch of rules. No food points for me! Ate out AGAIN, so I'm 3 for 3 days this week. Ugh. 
• Lifestyle: Made a list! Sorted item #1. 
• Reflection: Between my long meeting and a friend's (essentially) going away dinner, I decided to not even try to do food correctly. But I did avoid alcohol, so that's good. 
• Tracked? Yes.

Overall: -1

May 12

• Water: Mhmm
• Exercise: To the gym! Taking it slow, though. Elliptical and slow running
• Stretching: Yup
• Food: Employee appreciation breakfast means I broke all the food rules AGAIN. I'm tempted to call it a special occasion, but maybe it's just negative points. All the more reason to focus more on the fitness part of this. 
• Lifestyle: Made a list, accomplished some stuff.
• Reflection: I managed to stretch even with some distractions, so that's good. Eating way too much and not good-for-me stuff! :( :(
• Tracked? Yes

-1

May 13

• Water: Squeaked by..
• Exercise: 6 AM Spin class! Oof. 
• Stretching: Integrated into spin. Did a little additional as well.
• Food: Turned down alcohol and got a delicious virgin margarita instead :) Ate a ton of cookies and nachos. So maybe food is just a complete loss this week. 
• Lifestyle: My #1 item was to get my oil changed, and I succeeded. Not thrilled with Jiffy Lube in town...
• Reflection: It's nice to get the stretching and exercise out of the way first thing in the morning. But then I find I eat more since I think I can justify it, and I get very little done the rest of the day.
• Tracked? Yes

-1

May 14

• Water: Chugged a pint at 11:45 to complete this
• Exercise: Got my steps, so I guess that counts for exercise. 
• Stretching: Stretched a bit right before midnight;barely made it. 
• Food: Celebratory pastries for a huge work deadline. Totally not even docking myself points for this. We earned it. Ate a ton of carrots in atonement. And.. then I was given a brownie as thanks for volunteering at the theater tonight. Eh...
• Lifestyle: I really like the listing! Another success
• Reflection: It was lovely to see Les Mis for free; I really enjoy ushering - although I've now gotten upgraded to concessions, which is even better. Walked to and from for exercise. 
• Tracked? Mhmm

-1

May 15

• Water: Did pretty good
• Exercise: Did a small structured FitStar drill first thing in the morning. Also got my steps
• Stretching: eh.. 
• Food: Ugh. Well, firstly I had cookies. But also it's a party tonight and I will drink. I just know it. So... there's more negative points.
• Lifestyle: I think I did?
• Reflection: Well, big party in Portland ruined some stuff. But it was fun, so I consider it worth it!
• Tracked? Yes

-3

Whoo..

-9?! Jesus.

Water = success. +1

Stretching =  one day missed :(
Exercise = Oh yeah. Definite +1 here.
Food, well.. I didn't eat out all that much, actually/ So there's that. +1
Lifestyle: I actually made lists and accomplished this, so that's pretty great. +1
Tracked? = +1

+5.

Total.. -4, plus the -2 from the week before brings us to -6. :/ :/

Week One: A Log

A refresher on the rules for this week:

Water - 50 oz /day
Exercise - 15 minutes and/or 10k steps /day
Stretching - 5-10 min /day
Food - 7 meals can be eaten out.
     No: deep fried food; bacon; artificial sweeteners; super-processed food; white bread, rice, pasta (if there is an alternative)
     Yes: 1 fruit and 1 veggie per day, honey
Lifestyle - meditate 10 min /day
Reflection - write one daily
Track stuff.


May 2nd

• Water: Success
• Exercise: 6 mile hike! ~ 17,500 steps for the day
• Stretching: 5 minutes
• Food: fruit and veggie accomplished! No meals out. Pad thai for dinner, but it was made for me, so I decided not to try to request whole grain noodles or anything crazy. While I did nothing that was technically wrong, I feel like I should dock myself points for moderation. I'll let it slide since it is day one.  Starting next week no sweets!
• Lifestyle: calm.com meditation
• Reflection: It was excellent to spend the day with friends! Small hike followed by homemade dinner and a craft night. I bought pan dulce, because this week marks the end of desserts for the next two months. Not sure if it is productive if I overindulge in the face of future restrictions. Ah well. Not a bad first day. 
• Tracked? Yessir

Total: neutral

May 3rd

• Water: Success
• Exercise: 5K plus 20 minutes of FitStar. Short hike behind the apartment complex. 14,687 steps.
• Stretching: Sat on the floor while reading and stretched out some.  
• Food: Some iffiness with the free food post-race, but I'm giving myself the benefit of the doubt here. 1.5 bananas, carrots. Finished up the chocolate, so at least that won't tempt :/
• Lifestyle: Found a tree fort and set up a 10-minute "self compassion' meditation video.
• Reflection: It was good to have an excuse to go out running on a nice day. Took way more out of me than I'd have liked. 
• Tracked? Yeah. 

Total neutral. Ran and did a structured exercise, so that's 1 and 1 for the week. 2 more of each for my bonus point.

May 4th

• Water: I think I actually passed this one. 
• Exercise: Abject failure. Less than 5,000 steps (4,969). 
• Stretching: Nope
• Food: I'm giving myself a pass on this one, because it was a birthday dinner that ruined my eating for the day. I still didn't have any fruit though, other than a maraschino cherry. :(
• Lifestyle: Did not practice any mindfulness
• Reflection: Well, I fell off the wagon in a big way. Rushed off to a birthday dinner after work and didn't get home until 12:30. Boys are always my downfall. I should have woken up early to take care of stuff. Oh well, I can still earn some bonus points and get back to even again, so long as I don't mess up again. 
• Tracked? Belatedly...

Total: -3, and that's being generous. Heck, let's just go ahead and give me -4. First time eating out this week. I think I'll need to make that clause tougher, but for this week I'm spending two days on the road, guaranteeing I will hit the max if I eat three meals a day...

May 5th

• Water: Mhmm
• Exercise: 40 minutes on a treadmill :) 10,306 steps for the day.
• Stretching: 5 minutes, bare minimum..
• Food: Eh. Fruit and veggies happened. Also limited intake to one tequila shot and one jello shot, which is pretty decent for a party. 
• Lifestyle: I went with corpse pose in bed at 11:45. Barely snuck in with meditation, and feeling like I need to work harder on this. 
• Reflection: Managed a full workday, a trip to the gym, and a party. Didn't make awful eating choices, considering the whole Cinco de Mayo thing. If I only got more sleep, I'd be good! 
• Tracked? Got a bit iffy on the party food, but otherwise yep.

I'm going neutral points here. Second time running this week, so that's on track. Still need one more running session and two more strengthy things to get my points back! 

May 6th

Water: It made my 4 hour drive a little more difficult, but I stuck with the water requirement.
Exercise: 6 AM spin class was remarkably enjoyable! (For 4 bucks a pop, I should do this weekly. Every Wednesday?) I also spent 20 minutes on the treadmill. (10,062 steps)
Stretching: There was some stretching in the last 5 minutes of spin class :)
Food: Ate stuff that was pretty healthy, albeit too much of it (I blame the early wake up and exercise?)
Lifestyle: I listened to a short guide on car mindfulness, and attempted it on my drive. It was actually pretty neat. Three anchors keep you in the present: the sound of the car on the road, the feel of the ride (bumps, vibrations), and your hands on the steering wheel. I'd like to try this again some time when it isn't late, because being tired makes it difficult to be present without some sort of distraction (music, book on tape) to ground you and keep you alert.
Reflection: I made it by on all counts, but only barely. Getting in at 12:30 was not great, and it interfered with my plans. I need to get more sleep. This week has been abysmal.  

Tracked? Yes'm.
Total, neutral. Ran as much as I need to. I may count Spin as my structured exercise, which means I only need one more this week!


May 7th

Water: Yup.
Exercise: Hiked around Hat Rock and got my steps (13,837).
Stretching: Nope :(
Food: Coconut latte for breakfast, surprisingly home-made sandwiches and salad for lunch. My friend made me a very healthy dinner! Success on all counts and I don't know if any of those count as meals eaten out, really.
Lifestyle: Nope :(
Reflection: Hat Rock is not worth it. Don't drive 30 minutes out of your way for it.

Tracked: Yes.
-2 :(

May 8th

Water: Yep
Exercise: So much hiking! Also did a tiny little FitStar, so there.
Stretching: While watching TV tonight
Food: Snacks all day then a pretty balanced dinner.
Lifestyle: I'm counting the massage I got today as mindful. Very peaceful.
Reflection: I am so tired. I hiked 13 miles. So that's pretty neat. 

Neutral


Weekly Bonus/Indulgence Count: Will calculate soon

+, -, neutral

-6 :/

Water was always successful
Exercise point!
Didn't stretch every day
Didn't eat out a lot, so there's a point.
Didn't meditate every day.
Tracked my food intake/exercise!!

+4

Overall: -2

I did a great job exercising this week but otherwise was still slacking. Need to buckle down on my eating habits and commit to taking time each day to stretch out, organize myelf, and keep my priorities despite distractions.

Next week I cut out red meat and alcohol and candy/dessert, so that should be a little more difficult.

A (wo)man, a plan, a canal: Panam(ow)a? Crazy talk.

Okay, boys and girls.  I talked about my Whole Life Challenge experience, briefly. The next cycle starts tomorrow. I am not participating. The rest of my family is.

I want to do something, but I'm not sure what exactly is sustainable. So here is a place to try to outline my personal challenge. Let's see if I can do it without the overarching structure.

So here are things that will happen throughout the entire time:

Water - let's try to do 50 ounces of water a day. The proxy for this will be 4-5 glasses of water daily (no need to measure this out.. do what feels right). Other drinks don't count. One week of success = one bonus point.

Exercise - at least 15 minutes daily. At least 10,000 steps. I can pick one or the other, but both are better. Three times a week should be a structured workout (Class? FitStar? Anything that isn't running). Three times a week I should 5K train (any sort of running). Serious hikes can stand in for structure or running exp. Sports and similar outdoor activities count for strength? One week with 3 and 3 is a bonus point.

Stretching - 5-10 minutes daily. Yoga counts here.  One week of success = one bonus point.

Food

I can eat out a total of 7 times per week (once a day seems fair). Other meals must be homemade. If I can get it down to 5, then I get an extra point for that week. Coop fresh-made food totally doesn't count as eating out. If someone makes/brings me food, that's "homemade" too.  I may readjust this to make it harder for the 2nd half.

Here are the food-type rules:

• Replace potato products with an alternative (starting week 3)
• Replace white bread, rice, and pasta with a brown alternative. 
• Nothing deep-fried (pan fried is A-OK)
• No bacon. 
• No red meat (starting week 2)
• No candy or desserts (starting week 2).
• No alcohol on even weeks (steer towards wine and away from other alcohol?). 
• No dairy on odd weeks (starting week 3. Plain yogurt doesn't count).
• Stay away from artificial sweeteners. 
• Stay away from super-processed stuff. 
• Eat something fruit-ish and something veggie-ish each day. 
• Drinks allowed = coffee, tea, coconut water (alcohol being the exception...)
• The only tea or coffee sweetener allowed is honey. 

Indulgences that are built in:

• One morning pastry per week. 
• If someone else makes me food, I don't get all weird about it and make do with whatever it is, trying my best to conform without being annoying. 
• One coconut milk latte per week.
• One dessert per week IF it's a special occasion.
• Pizza up to once a week.

If I don't miss any points on food, I definitely get a bonus point.

Track it! Food and exercise should make it into the MyFitnessPal/Fitbit complex. I don't lose points for this, but, if I do this for a week straight without messing up, I get an extra point.

Weekly Lifestyle Challenges (here's where I'm most likely to lose points)

Week 1: 10 daily minutes of meditation/mindfulness
Week 2: Daily to-do listing (1 thing you must accomplish, 2 that you should accomplish, 3 that it'd be nice to accomplish)
Week 3: Get up! (Don't sit for more than two hours without a brisk walk or at least a good stretch)
Week 4: Be a vegetarian! (Suck it up and try it for one whole week)
Week 5: Clean up (10 daily minutes devoted to cleaning some aspect of my home/car/desk/self)
Week 6: Sleep at least 7 hours each night. (can be accomplished via napping)
Week 7: List three good things per day/
Week 8: Don't complain. (If I complain, I need to immediately restructure my words so that they are positive)

I can get a point back for never messing this up.

Daily Reflection - Since I don't have anywhere else to record my progress, a daily reflection on this blog will include my progress on the other metrics and a short recap of my day. No bonus points here, because that'd be too easy.

I'm gonna start myself at a completely random 100 points, and then count down/up from there. So I'm aiming at ending with 100.

Ho-boy. It's a lot. Let's see how it goes?