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New Year
Despite always and perpetually struggling with work, I feel like the past few months have been really transformative in feeling more present and happy.
I've mentioned to a few of you who have posted about diets that I decided to try to lose a few pounds last month (too cheap to buy new clothes and I like the ones I have!) and that has gone really well (I've lost 9 pounds thus far, despite traveling and being sick making exercise difficult). Mostly I've been using the MyFitnessPal app to track food and exercise (if you are on there feel free to friend me!). It's amazing how not wanting to bother looking up how many calories 4 chips are can be motivation to just not eat the damn chips.
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antarcticlust suggested I join Fitocracy, but I am not finding it useful or fun. The points earned seem arbitrary and you are rewarded for doing certain types of social interactions and certain types of exercises, rather than encouraging you to do the activities you love. Are any of you on there? Am I missing something?
All of this coincided with trying to get on a better sleep and self care regimen and drinking less (counting the calories of alcohol certainly helped in that regard!). I've invested some research and money into some nice skin care products, my teeth are getting whiter, and I'm sure my doctor will be happy with my vitamin taking.
So far these changes have definitely left me feeling happier overall and grounded. I would like to also translate them into being productive, both in my hobbies and work, so that is the next step. How convenient it is New Years Resolution time!
Hobbies:
-Get back to knitting and, in particular, use up stash and make Holiday gifts for next year - now, not in November.
-Get back to reading the Modern Library Top 100 novels. Last year I only read Angle of Repose and that was by accident (although it was wonderful). So, this year I'm going to devote my Kindle reading to Modern Library books (I usually keep one book by the side of the bed and keep another on the Kindle for commute/travel reading). Right now I'm enjoying Sister Carrie (I've read 32 of the 100 and all of the top 10!)
Work:
-I *need* to have three chapters done by Fall. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Relationships:
-Lots of friends have moved away, are similarly busy, or also hibernating this winter, but I want to try to plan some sort of social activity at least once a month - a girl's night out, a movie with friends, or some outdoor activity.
-One thing I have really come a long way on is stressing about the future and what I can't control. Nick and I have no idea where we will be this Fall, but there is nothing we can do about that right now. We secure in knowing we will be together and that really is all we need.
-At some point we *will* be planning a move, a wedding, and all that fun stuff, which I do allow myself to daydream over, but not take over my brain.
Speaking of which, one of our friends, Kaja, just uploaded a ton of pictures from her camera from the past few years and she posted this great picture of Nick and I at our friends Greg and Ila's wedding two and half years ago - that couple is in the hospital right now having their first baby!!
I've mentioned to a few of you who have posted about diets that I decided to try to lose a few pounds last month (too cheap to buy new clothes and I like the ones I have!) and that has gone really well (I've lost 9 pounds thus far, despite traveling and being sick making exercise difficult). Mostly I've been using the MyFitnessPal app to track food and exercise (if you are on there feel free to friend me!). It's amazing how not wanting to bother looking up how many calories 4 chips are can be motivation to just not eat the damn chips.
antarcticlust suggested I join Fitocracy, but I am not finding it useful or fun. The points earned seem arbitrary and you are rewarded for doing certain types of social interactions and certain types of exercises, rather than encouraging you to do the activities you love. Are any of you on there? Am I missing something?All of this coincided with trying to get on a better sleep and self care regimen and drinking less (counting the calories of alcohol certainly helped in that regard!). I've invested some research and money into some nice skin care products, my teeth are getting whiter, and I'm sure my doctor will be happy with my vitamin taking.
So far these changes have definitely left me feeling happier overall and grounded. I would like to also translate them into being productive, both in my hobbies and work, so that is the next step. How convenient it is New Years Resolution time!
Hobbies:
-Get back to knitting and, in particular, use up stash and make Holiday gifts for next year - now, not in November.
-Get back to reading the Modern Library Top 100 novels. Last year I only read Angle of Repose and that was by accident (although it was wonderful). So, this year I'm going to devote my Kindle reading to Modern Library books (I usually keep one book by the side of the bed and keep another on the Kindle for commute/travel reading). Right now I'm enjoying Sister Carrie (I've read 32 of the 100 and all of the top 10!)
Work:
-I *need* to have three chapters done by Fall. No ifs, ands, or buts.
Relationships:
-Lots of friends have moved away, are similarly busy, or also hibernating this winter, but I want to try to plan some sort of social activity at least once a month - a girl's night out, a movie with friends, or some outdoor activity.
-One thing I have really come a long way on is stressing about the future and what I can't control. Nick and I have no idea where we will be this Fall, but there is nothing we can do about that right now. We secure in knowing we will be together and that really is all we need.
-At some point we *will* be planning a move, a wedding, and all that fun stuff, which I do allow myself to daydream over, but not take over my brain.
Speaking of which, one of our friends, Kaja, just uploaded a ton of pictures from her camera from the past few years and she posted this great picture of Nick and I at our friends Greg and Ila's wedding two and half years ago - that couple is in the hospital right now having their first baby!!
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I totally feel you on the not-eating-chips-to-avoid-looking-them-up. For me at least, the benefit of tracking calories is that it makes it harder to eat unhealthy foods than healthy ones!
I'm also trying to get back into knitting -- must be something in the air! Look forward to seeing posts from you about both goals to inspire me. (And to inspire me to post.)
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Thinking about having to move this summer has me extra motivated to work on that yarn stash!
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I need to get back into more exercise, but then, I've been saying that for A YEAR. I use loseit but it doesn't really focus on the exercise part (other than putting in calories). I've used dailymile in the past to track exercise too, which I like especially for running, but I'm not sold on the incentive-points-based tracking kind of thing.
AND HOW ADORABLES are you both in that lovely photo?
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