Becoming Better Monday Check In/Declarations 2/2

[cavewmninbrit]

Hey I know I missed this week but we were moving crap around the house and I finally got my new desktop sorted... so lots coming for you this Monday but just know this weekend.... I'll be watching you

[cavewmninbrit]

Alright ladies... its Monday again AND one month into the New Year so how have you been doing? (If you are new scroll to the bottom)
Previous threads
Jan 12- forums.thebump.com/discussion/12518904/becoming-better-monday-check-in
Jan 19- goodbyecb.proboards.com/thread/2097/monday-check-declarations

"a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" Laozi


Have you started walking towards your goals yet? Or are they so far off in the distance that you can't figure out which road to take? This week take stock of what you are spending your time doing (cleaning, cooking, tv, working at home, working out etc) and try to see where you can make time for yourself. Then plan a few small tasks (no more than 30 minutes or as short as 5 mintes) to do consistently a few times a week that will bring your forward to your goal. You can be as detailed as planing when you can fit these in your day or just add them to the mental check list. (If you want a real check list I suggest Carrot App)

NEWBIES-
What would you like to change and what are you going to do?Some of you may be focusing on one category others may have a few goals. I tend to set one in each category so when I become a struggle muffin with one and frustrated I can look at my success in other parts.

1-) Physically- this would be the exercise/fitness/nutrition (don't use the evil diet word if possible)... everything from breaking a diet coke addiction, cutting down on alcohol, removing processed food, actually going to that gym to pay for every month or being a crazy mofo who is training for a marathon... and everything in between

2) Mentally- Finding out what makes you sleep better at night, makes you think clearer, what makes you focus on that which you want most or really love to do. Some people call it mindfulness, or therapy, or mediation, or keeping a journal but what are you doing to make enable you to be your best self.

3) Organizationally- Lack a budget? Have a room in your house you dare not go? Are dust bunnies threatening to take over? What cats are you trying to herd?

[Ray]

I'm joining in this month

1) Physically - my long game is to get back into running once the weather is nicer/hit the gym 3x s week. My realistic starting goal is to get to the gym once a week and do a workout on my wii one a week as well.

2) Mentally - I would like to work towards coming to term with the fact that we are TTA now. I had another nightmare last night

SPOILER: Click to show

{Possible Trigger}that I had come almost to full term and then had a miscarriage. That's the third one in two weeks where I am losing a child in some way.

. I plan to do so my journaling my thoughts and getting involved with some other hobby/distraction to keep my mind off of it.

3) organizationally - by March break i would like to have my bedroom completely cleaned up and a reading nook established

[nuggetrn]

Somehow I missed this last week but I am still here! This check in just in the two weeks I have participated has really helped. Thanks cavewmninbrit !

1-) Physically- I have been doing a little better with food but I still have a long way to go. I need to go to the grocery store tomorrow and I am going to do a large amount of prepping and planning for the next week. I think I am going to take a little bit of time today to put down in writing what I want to accomplish tomorrow. I work better off of lists. As far as exercise goes, I have only gotten in about 4 days out of the last 14. Not great but not totally hateful either. I think that for now I am going to try to commit to an hour on our Xbox Kinect per day... not necessarily always a straight exercise game, but at least something that will keep me moving.

2) Mentally- In the last few weeks I have really been able to identify things that trigger me to sort of shut down. I get overwhelmed by the amount of things I have to accomplish and then a lot of times I just don't do them. When our house is a cluttered mess it causes my anxiety to skyrocket and I am unable to deal with it without a lot of willpower and determination which honestly I just don't always have. Often I will ask my husband to help me pick up things and he'll look around the house and say it looks fine but what he doesn't understand is that to me it doesn't look fine and I have a really hard time turning off that switch in my brain that tells me that. I had an open and honest conversation with him about it and he says he understands and will try to get better. We deep cleaned the house on Saturday and last night I had just a few things to pick up and put in order in the kitchen and living room and I did it happily and without a problem. Waking up to a clutter free kitchen this morning was such a wonderful feeling. I really hope we can continue this because it is a break my very tired brain needs very much.

3) Organizationally- I have been kicking butt on this one which seriously make me excited. The same clutter issue affecting the rest of my life has caused me to ignore a major mess in our office. I buckled down last week and decided I was going to get it taken care of. I went through our desk and our files and got rid of so much stuff that we did not need to be keeping. When I finished I had two trash bags full of shredded paper and two bags full of paper that I didn't need to shred. Now that I got rid of stuff I just need to go back in and tweak some folders and make sure things are where they need to be! Next I have a bookshelf of things I need to go through.

[cavewmninbrit]

nuggetrn I completely get the clutter causing more anxiety. I have been purging the house (soon to start again as its bin night). I find the cleaning theraputic and finally have given myself systems/places to prevent clutter from building up again. With so many things in my life I cant control (health/job/where are we going to live in a year/ttc) it gives me a small sense of satisfaction to have all clean laundry put away and kitchen surfaces sparking.

AS FOR ME:

1) Physically- getting there although still sore and exhausted... I did play a legitimate 25min of rugby this weekend and feel better for it.  I am on a 3 week plan to get myself back to full training, crossfit and more.  Right now I am focusing on an hour walk/jog with the dog in the AM and 45 min of yoga and meditiation at night to help me sleep better.  Oh and sleeping.. like being in bed by 10pm.  I have nailed my nutrition and lost over 5lbs in three weeks.... although I need to make sure I am getting enough cal and carbs now that my activity is increasing

2) Mentally- I am really struggling with the stress of being back at work and being stuck in a position where I have to stick it out for a bit longer before I can leave.  However I now have a 5 year plan and I am sorting myself out steps to get there which include a lot of work on the website and setting myself up for consultation services.  I have looked into going back to school for another degree but the cost is prohibitive at the moment and I don't need it really.  So instead I have signed up for some classes on Coursera and EdX. I have a template for a business plan that I need to start working on to keep me focused.

3) Organisationally: House is getting better and better with some DIY help from hubby.  We are very tight on money but not being able to drink much has helped.  I have been completely avoiding doing a proper budget to increase our savings and pay off the credit card bills and I also have been dodging calls from student loans bc I haven't gotten my shit together for taxes to see how much I would actually owe each month.  By the end of Feb I want both of these completed.  I am starting a jar for £5 notes each time I really want to buy a bottle of wine but don't.  Just so I can see how much money was going there that could have been going to other things.

[ohinvrtedworld]

Physical: starting a 2 week yoga challenge with H this week! Starting today, we're going to try it for two weeks M-F and see if it's something we like and want to incorporate into our regular routine. I am so out of shape that I like the idea of this being a gateway into really working out again like I used to. I look at my wedding pics and I was SO fit. I'm by no means unrecognizable now, but it just feels better to go back to normal. We've been having smoothies daily to incorporate more fruits & veggies and love them, need to hit up the store for more produce once the roads are a little less horrible!

Mental: I am fortunate enough to work for an organization that is really concerned with your own growth and mental/emotional health, and I had a really good chat with one of my bosses. She kind of helped me realize that I have a tendency to categorize things & people in my life as either good or bad, and not reconciling that they are usually a little of both in reality. I spend a lot of time analyzing pretty much everything. It is freeing to accept that it's good to make judgment calls about things in my life to decide who I should spend time with or what are good and bad ideas, but that I need to recognize that the world isn't totally black and white. I know this probably doesn't sound super coherent, but it was a good chat and gave me a lot to ponder!

Organizational: We've done a great job keeping the house clean and organized for the past few weeks! H went on a total spree over a week ago and really knocked out some heavy duty organizing. We're doing a better job of looking around before going to bed & checking that the dishes are done and put away, no clothes are lying around, etc. We hold each other accountable to make that a priority.

ETA: Holy TL;DR. I am doing yoga, keeping organized, and not analyzing everything so much.

[becwheat]

I am jumping into this! I may have done it once before...

Physically - I am just trying to get back to my happy weight. Control my portion sizes and focus on not eat when I am bored... and not being bored by moving more.

Mentally - Taking time to be in silence. M brain is always thinking about the next thing I need to do. I am trying to spend some time each day just relaxing my mind. I have found crocheting helps, listening to calming music and exercise.

Organize - I need to downsize My wardrobe and DD's. I will be going through a lot today since I am home. This will cut down on laundry and free up a lot of space.

[abc531]

I'm going to join in this week. I always have lots of good intentions but I lack accountability.

Physical: I'm aiming to eat more fruits and vegetables, they've been severely lacking in my diet lately. I also plan to get back into working out. I'd like to start doing Pilates again, and running on a regular basis with the dog because he needs it. My biggest issue with doing all of this is that I tend to think I have to do everything or I won't do any of it, so I need to allow myself to start small.

Mental: I'm currently not working in a field where I use my degrees/passion but I'm trying to make an effort to not let all that work and knowledge fall to the wayside. Especially while I'm still looking for a job I am going to try to practice my instruments a minimum of three times a week, doesn't matter how long as long as I do it three times. I'm also going to make a goal of reading something in my field each week. Again, this can be small, like a chapter in a dense book or it can be the magazine I get from the national organization, just something to better my mind.

Organizational: One room at a time I would like to declutter my house and then come up with a system to keep it that way. This is my biggest weakness and will take the most discipline to uphold.

I've actually been planning to pick up a calendar and use it as a sticker chart to hold myself to my goals. It seems a little childish but I think that if I have something cute that will be staring at me from the wall letting me know how I'm doing on my goals I'll be more likely to actually do everything.

ETA: I apologize for this being a bit rambling, I hope it makes sense.

[empireceo]

I want to play.

Physical: I've actually been doing really well since the New Year. I lost 6 lbs in January, and I've been pretty disciplined about working out 5 days a week. I just want to keep that pace up. I am about 4 lbs from my pre pregnancy weight, and once I am there, we will actually start with the TTCing.

Mental: I am going home for two weeks because my dad is having surgery for his colon cancer. I have been in complete denial about this, and processing it through anger at my dad for not taking better care of himself. I need work that shit out before I get home, which gives me about a week to talk it through with DH/journal. I love my Dad and I want him to be okay.

Organizational: I'm a hot mess. I need to organize my plan to organize, but I can't do that this week.

[teraiin]

I tried getting involved in this before and sort of lost my focus, but now I'm in for realz!

1) Physically - See the mental section for more info. Anyway, I've been doing p90x almost every day and zumba once a week. I'm kicking it up a notch and adding at least 20 mins of the elliptical a day. I have 28 pounds in total I'd like to lose. I hope I can do it.

2) Mentally - Long story short, MH and I got into an argument about my weight a few weeks ago. He is absolutely terrified that I will continue gaining weight and end up having health issues because of it. I'm technically considered slightly overweight at this point, but he has watched his family members struggle with weight and face some serious health complications. I was very angry at first, but he made me weigh myself and what I saw didn't make me happy. I had gained nearly 35 pounds from where I was which had still been above my goal weight. Since then I've lost 12 pounds and hope to keep going.

3) organizationally - We re-organized the kitchen, living room, and master bedroom in the past few weeks which makes me happy. I also organized most of my closet. My next two goals are to fix the spare bedroom and organize the counter in my closet.

[pismoduo]

Feeling better this week than last week. Makin' progress.

Physically: Didn't get any runs in, but I did manage to get above 5k steps every day except yesterday, and above 10k twice in the week.

Mentally: Have finished 2 books so far this year and am halfway through a third, so that's going well. Starting to look at trainings to take for work to expand my skill set and get some career growth going. Also continuing to get more involved with my HOA Board and volunteering for more philanthropic stuff at work.

Organizationally: Fell to shit this week. I kept up on the laundry, and for about two days I had the kitchen spotless, and then I had too much going on at the end of the week. My mental goals may be getting in the way of my organizational goals... :/

[icequeen]

nuggetrn, it's great that you are talking to DH and letting him know ways that he can help curb your anxiety. I'm sure he doesn't like to see you unhappy and the two of you can work together. I understand about the clutter, too. I try to clean everything out all the time and DH just messes it up again. Argh!!
teraiin, EXCELLENT job with working towards your goal weight. I know it must have been hard for you and YH to have that convo but it seems like a lot of good has come out of it and you are tackling the problems head on. Keep it up, girl!
empireceo, I will keep your dad in my prayers.

Physically- I'm giving up on yoga for right now. I have to work on my eating habits first before I do more "exercise" in hopes to keep my weight down. I just want to be doing it for the right reasons.

Mentally- I'm a fucking mess today. I started spotting and CD 1 is imminent. I literally felt like I couldn't go on this morning. I just don't know how much more of this TTC disappointment I can tolerate. I completely ugly cried over the phone to DH and took him away from his job for almost 30 minutes because I was so distraught about everything. I had my therapy appointment this morning and then straight to the RE and I was dreading all of it. On a more positive note, I said that I would try for 2 non-ED days during the week last week and I did it! This week I was going to go for 3 non-ED days, but I am not so hopeful anymore. I think I need to take it one day at time, one meal at a time. I wish I was feeling more in control and optimistic that I CAN get better, but having this additional blow today does not help me at all.

Organizationally- Junk is still in the junk drawers. Although I am a SAHM, I always have a never ending to do list and that just seems to fall to the bottom all the time.

[morwen]

Eating - I've been really good about generally cutting out processed foods, and even though we were visiting family still ate fairly healthy so I'm pretty happy about that. Even when I had a cookie I went back to eating fruit cause it tasted better.

Yoga- yeah that didn't happen last week

Meditation - only did 1x last week, still working on that one.

[nuggetrn]

icequeen Yes, talking to DH was good. He knows clutter stresses me but but I don't think he realized how much more than just a little stress it is.

Sorry about CD1 for you today, that sucks that it was so hard. Did going to your therapy appt this morning help at all? Congrats on your two nonED days this week! Hopefully you are able to add in a third one this next week, small steps! ((hugs))

[icequeen]

Feb 2, 2015 21:29:39 GMT -5 nuggetrn said:

icequeen Yes, talking to DH was good. He knows clutter stresses me but but I don't think he realized how much more than just a little stress it is.

Sorry about CD1 for you today, that sucks that it was so hard. Did going to your therapy appt this morning help at all? Congrats on your two nonED days this week! Hopefully you are able to add in a third one this next week, small steps! ((hugs))

nuggetrn, the therapy appointment was ok. I was admittedly more nervous about going to the RE so I had some trouble focusing. I feel like TTC has become my end all/be all, when it could very well be my physical health that is preventing me from having another baby. My therapist did say that I need to take it one day at a time this week to avoid being overwhelmed by both my fertility and ED treatment. I thought that was helpful, and although I still want to make steps forward and "plan", I think I'll pace myself a bit more. Hugs back at you, too.