Hello, Dearies!
This website lags *SO* badly for me most of the time, which is so frustrating. But last night, it was honestly a good thing, because I was in a rotten place emotionally. Ya know those psycho, freaked-out, losing-their-minds parents you see at Magic Kingdom around 4 in the afternoon? They’ve spent months of planning and income hoping to give their kids a great memory, and they are overwhelmed and overstressed and it’s not working out and the kids are whining and everybody is a mess?
Yeah, that was me yesterday, minus the “Magic Kingdom” part. But it *WAS* trip-related (somebody got into the clearly labelled “treats for the trip” box and gorged on cookies that are special and rather hard to find around here.) So it’s a good thing the site was being bad so I didn’t vent all over the place. Instead I went for my walk.
But now I’m days and days behind on the questions, but hopefully in a better mental state to answer without sounding like a flaming ball of “screw this.”
So…
Tell us about your short term (monthly) goals.
Give yourself long term vision!
Focus on what you want!
I already mentioned wanting to get to a 40lb loss before we leave for vacation at the end of the month… so that’s the shortest of short-term goals. I’d like to reach “normal” BMI by the end of this year, which is lofty, but possible, and a longer-short-term goal. Of course after that there will be the challenge of figuring out, as Happy Grape said above the “best weight” that I am happiest at, which is Long-ish term, and for the rest of my life, I suppose. LONG-long term, I’d like to be strong and healthy for my NEXT big trip, going to Australia in 8 years. That’s for my 50th birthday, and something I’ve been wanting forever and ever… so I’ll need to be healthy enough to travel, strong enough to explore, and well enough in the meantime to work and save money to pay for it all.
Question of the day: When, in your previous experience you felt that it was easy for you to stick to the diet/way of eating plan? What can you do to make it easy for yourself this month? When is it hard? Is it anything you can do to not be hard for you to stick to the plan this month?
Ya know how people say “don’t sweat the small stuff?” I disagree. I find that focusing on the small stuff works best for me. It’s like if you’re coloring a mandala and you focus on this box, then the next… pretty soon the whole picture is done and you’re like “how did that happen???” (literally, it’s a form of hyperfocus/meditation.) Like all the 12-step groups say, “One Day at a Time.”
I tend to have the best results when I just focus on getting my macros for the day, staying in my range for the day, getting in my time and calories of exercise for the week (ok, I suck at that one…) and when I do all that, the scale tends to take care of itself. And I’m always surprised!
What makes it hard (and this is this month straight through to September) is the family being around. I have *NO* problem eating a whole can of (no salt added) spinach if that’s what I need to get my calcium, fiber, and potassium and still make my calorie range. (Seriously, Popeye called and told me I need to join a support group.) Needless to say, the kids aren’t on board with “canned spinach for dinner.” I do well with planning, they are walking, talking chaos. Seriously, you now that “Mayhem” guy on the insurance commercials? I don’t remember sleeping with him, but these kids are definitely his offspring!
So, this month, July, and August will be the most challenging of the year. I have 2 more days of freedom, then Wednesday and Thursday they have half-days… then it begins. Offspring underfoot 24/7… DD13 is on a new medication that is infamous for causing weight gain, and it’s happening to her, so focusing on helping her with HER moderation may help ME focus on MINE. Or not, time will tell. And I don’t plan on tracking, resisting, or doing anything at all “good” from June 23-July 8th. Not happening. My only exercise will be walking around the parks and “4 ounce curls” (which means picking up a cocktail and putting it in my face!)
Question of the day - have you made specific daily commitments to your health? Minimums, base line that you stick to even when life gets crazy? Motivation is so unreliable and often comes after we start doing what we have to do. If not, would you like to think about what are the minimums you are willing to set yourself as standards for yourself day after day, even if you don't really feel like it?
I’d love to say “yes, I have great habits…” but that is only true for the past 5 months. Once I reach my goal, maintenance is going to be a big challenge for me… but I *AM* enjoying the gif of Chris Evans and his lovely muscles… I could just sit here and watch that allllllll day. (Probably NOT the healthiest of habits to start.)