So we had an earthquake yesterday...first one I've felt in almost 20 years, and definitely a strange experience. And now it looks as though Hurricane Irene may be popping in for a visit this weekend. Kind of a bummer, since Dave and I were going to be in Wildwood for the Wild Half Marathon, which he's been training for like crazy. All indications currently point to a washed-out trip. The upside is that Dave's brother and his wife will be staying over for a few days, so we'll just hunker down, play some games, and enjoy the company! I suppose I should be doing something in the way of preparedness, so I guess that will be part of the agenda for tomorrow.
So as an update to my last post, I'm still waiting for my quote from the landscaper, but feeling happy that things are in motion. Knowing that I started the process has really helped! And I have an appointment at the salon for Wednesday, which also makes me feel better. Being that it's 1 am, I clearly haven't gotten total control of my sleep patterns yet, but I've been making great improvements. And one of the reasons I'm up so late is because I just finished the last load of Mount Laundry... today was a very productive day, so I'm giving myself a pass on being up so late! And I really wanted to write another post before too much more time passed.
I've taken a few more baby steps in terms of change - just finished registering for Water Aerobics at the Y this fall. This should give me a great opportunity to get in some exercise without undue strain on my knees, which will be a big help. And I did quite a bit of shopping around for new leaders for WW - I haven't completely decided which meeting will be my new home, but I really feel better for having found several really good options. I'm also in the process of purchasing an adult trike for myself... there are a few steps to be taken before I can make the buy, so I've laid out a plan that should have me out on the road within the next 2 weeks or so. That's gonna be an EPIC win!
For now, it's off to bed. There's a pretty substantial to-do list on deck for tomorrow and Friday. So good night all and I'll write again soon!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
How's That Working For You Part 2
I thought I would focus this post on the first couple of things I've started doing differently, and how they relate to my weight loss efforts. Stay with me on some of these - there's a link, I swear!
First: I quit playing most of my Facebook games. You know the ones - all the various "Villes" and such, that require large numbers of friends/time/money to maximize. I realized that whatever pleasure I was getting from playing them was overshadowed by the amount of time they were taking. They bordered on obsession, and so I stopped playing them, blocked the apps and "unliked" them.
The Benefit: Time to do other things. And to get my sleep cycle back on some sort of normal track. I stay up late playing, then get to sleep late, then wake up late feeling fuzzy headed and crabby. I was losing lots of time to be productive and focused, and there seem to be lots of studies linking successful weight loss with adequate restful sleep. I do miss some of the games, but now my online time is more focused on the other productive and enjoyable things I can do...like working on my photos from San Francisco, learning how to coupon more effectively, blogging (both reading and writing), recipe research, and finding weight loss support.
Second: I've started "meeting shopping" for Weight Watchers. The leader that took over my regular meeting just isn't doing it for me. I've started looking at the meetings as a waste of time, and they leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. I wasted a lot of weeks sort of marking time, because of the notion that this would only last through the summer and then a new leader would come in. But marking time is wasting time, and it seriously messed with my head. So I finally went to a different meeting last week, and will be attending two other meetings this week to shop around for leaders (although I REALLY liked the leader from last Saturday - she may be tough to beat, plus, it's the meeting time most convenient for my husband, who's at Lifetime but still attends weekly).
The Benefit: Obvious. I left the new Saturday meeting feeling much more energized, and like I'd really gotten something out of it. I felt that the leader was well prepared and had a plan, and she managed the member participation effectively. Frankly, I can't afford to feel demotivated and unhappy by my meeting - it's too important a part of my success.
Third: I finally called the landscaper about some overgrown shrubs that need to be removed and in some cases replaced.
The Benefit: Harder to see, but it relates to my state of mind. I do use a landscape service for lawn maintenance and such, but like to do a lot of the other outside work like small landscape projects and pruning myself. But the things that need to be done are beyond my capacity, and the overgrown state of things mirrors my own feelings of being overwhelmed and out of control. This is a project that has needed attention for over a year, and I've always come up with reasons not to get to it. So it nags at me as being just one more thing I'm not taking care of. I bit the bullet and picked up the phone (mostly because the power company can't get to the meter anymore and has started estimating my usage - never a good thing). Having the consult yesterday has helped me feel more focused and in control, much like my shrubs will soon be!
That's all for now... there's a couple of other small changes I'm working on. Mostly these involve some cleanup and organization projects that have been nagging at me for a while. Small steps so far, but I'm already feeling the effects. Now I'm off to cross off the next thing - calling the salon and getting my hair did! Much like my shrubs, there's some serious pruning needed!
First: I quit playing most of my Facebook games. You know the ones - all the various "Villes" and such, that require large numbers of friends/time/money to maximize. I realized that whatever pleasure I was getting from playing them was overshadowed by the amount of time they were taking. They bordered on obsession, and so I stopped playing them, blocked the apps and "unliked" them.
The Benefit: Time to do other things. And to get my sleep cycle back on some sort of normal track. I stay up late playing, then get to sleep late, then wake up late feeling fuzzy headed and crabby. I was losing lots of time to be productive and focused, and there seem to be lots of studies linking successful weight loss with adequate restful sleep. I do miss some of the games, but now my online time is more focused on the other productive and enjoyable things I can do...like working on my photos from San Francisco, learning how to coupon more effectively, blogging (both reading and writing), recipe research, and finding weight loss support.
Second: I've started "meeting shopping" for Weight Watchers. The leader that took over my regular meeting just isn't doing it for me. I've started looking at the meetings as a waste of time, and they leave me with a bad taste in my mouth. I wasted a lot of weeks sort of marking time, because of the notion that this would only last through the summer and then a new leader would come in. But marking time is wasting time, and it seriously messed with my head. So I finally went to a different meeting last week, and will be attending two other meetings this week to shop around for leaders (although I REALLY liked the leader from last Saturday - she may be tough to beat, plus, it's the meeting time most convenient for my husband, who's at Lifetime but still attends weekly).
The Benefit: Obvious. I left the new Saturday meeting feeling much more energized, and like I'd really gotten something out of it. I felt that the leader was well prepared and had a plan, and she managed the member participation effectively. Frankly, I can't afford to feel demotivated and unhappy by my meeting - it's too important a part of my success.
Third: I finally called the landscaper about some overgrown shrubs that need to be removed and in some cases replaced.
The Benefit: Harder to see, but it relates to my state of mind. I do use a landscape service for lawn maintenance and such, but like to do a lot of the other outside work like small landscape projects and pruning myself. But the things that need to be done are beyond my capacity, and the overgrown state of things mirrors my own feelings of being overwhelmed and out of control. This is a project that has needed attention for over a year, and I've always come up with reasons not to get to it. So it nags at me as being just one more thing I'm not taking care of. I bit the bullet and picked up the phone (mostly because the power company can't get to the meter anymore and has started estimating my usage - never a good thing). Having the consult yesterday has helped me feel more focused and in control, much like my shrubs will soon be!
That's all for now... there's a couple of other small changes I'm working on. Mostly these involve some cleanup and organization projects that have been nagging at me for a while. Small steps so far, but I'm already feeling the effects. Now I'm off to cross off the next thing - calling the salon and getting my hair did! Much like my shrubs, there's some serious pruning needed!
Monday, August 15, 2011
How's that Working for You?
Well it's been a long time since I've blogged, or posted much on Facebook. It's been a long time since I've done pretty much anything. I've been in a pretty serious rut for the last few months. And although I've had some really good "rah-rah" moments of motivation (which have usually led to optimistic blogs and status updates), the truth is that I haven't been able to sustain them for any length of time. So now I've gained a few pounds back. Not too many, but any at all is too many if you catch my drift.
In general, I've been somewhat unhappy in all areas of my life - feeling very unsuccessful and unmotivated, but not really doing anything about it because it seems overwhelming and I don't know where to start.
So last week I had lunch with a friend and we talked about changing things that aren't working. And while our conversation was linked to one basic topic, I've been thinking about that good old Dr. Phil saying... "How's that working out for you?". And then I thought about how I would feel sometimes at my old job - inundated with work and feeling paralyzed by the sheer volume of things to be done. In that situation I always found it better to just pick something and start... usually something simple that I could knock out in a couple of minutes, even if it wasn't the highest priority item on the to-do list. Just to break the paralysis and get my head in the game. More often than not, taking care of some simple things helped energize and focus me so that I could successfully tackle the higher stakes things.
So in my introspection, I realize that there's lots of little things that aren't working for me right now. Things that are simple to change, but may have a big impact on my overall mental state. By focusing on a couple of easy things, I'm hoping that some of the mental clutter and clouds will clear away, letting some sunshine back in! One of those things was finally sitting down to write a blog post, so.... Mission Accomplished!
In the next post, I'll share some of the things that I've changed, and how they relate to my weight loss journey. Some are direct. Others may require a bit more explanation. But I already feel some of the metaphorical weight has lifted from my mind....and that will help me tackle losing the physical weight. That's going to work for me.
In general, I've been somewhat unhappy in all areas of my life - feeling very unsuccessful and unmotivated, but not really doing anything about it because it seems overwhelming and I don't know where to start.
So last week I had lunch with a friend and we talked about changing things that aren't working. And while our conversation was linked to one basic topic, I've been thinking about that good old Dr. Phil saying... "How's that working out for you?". And then I thought about how I would feel sometimes at my old job - inundated with work and feeling paralyzed by the sheer volume of things to be done. In that situation I always found it better to just pick something and start... usually something simple that I could knock out in a couple of minutes, even if it wasn't the highest priority item on the to-do list. Just to break the paralysis and get my head in the game. More often than not, taking care of some simple things helped energize and focus me so that I could successfully tackle the higher stakes things.
So in my introspection, I realize that there's lots of little things that aren't working for me right now. Things that are simple to change, but may have a big impact on my overall mental state. By focusing on a couple of easy things, I'm hoping that some of the mental clutter and clouds will clear away, letting some sunshine back in! One of those things was finally sitting down to write a blog post, so.... Mission Accomplished!
In the next post, I'll share some of the things that I've changed, and how they relate to my weight loss journey. Some are direct. Others may require a bit more explanation. But I already feel some of the metaphorical weight has lifted from my mind....and that will help me tackle losing the physical weight. That's going to work for me.
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