Sunday Funday: Week 30 Review

So.

Um, yea.  It’s been awhile, hasn’t it?

No good excuses, though I’ve been struggling (and losing) to keep forward momentum going.  

About 2 weeks ago, I finally made an appointment with a doctor to see about the pain that I’ve had in my foot since, oh, the summer or so.  The pain had never been bad, but it also never went away, and within the past month or two, it had gotten worse.  The doctor confirmed what I already suspected:  I had a stress fracture.  So, I’m in a walking boot with orders to not do much of anything.  And yes – of course I can still work out – upper body and core don’t require me to use my legs – but have I?  Nope.

Stylish, eh?

And remember me talking about that long-ass Microsoft class that I had taken?  Nine days, 12 hours a day?  Well, the class is done but the exams are not.  I’ve taken the first one, and passed (just barely!), but still have the next two ahead of me.  One thing that’s messing with my brain a bit is that I thought the first exam would be the easiest, but it was much more difficult than I thought it would be, which makes me really stress out about the next two.  I’ve been studying every night, and yes, I can’t seem to manage to not snack while I’m doing it.  I’m usually okay with being hungry, but it’s almost like when I need to focus on something, I can’t also deal with a rumbling stomach — I need to be comfortable in any way possible to facilitate the studying.  Which is really, really bad for me eating healthy.  Because along with that, no, vegetables don’t count as a snack that scratches that itch.

I’ve got my next exam this coming weekend, and then — assuming I pass — the one after that is in two weeks.  Enough time to study, but not enough time to overly worry about it.

So everything health-wise is going in the wrong direction:  weight, measurements, appetite, food choices, foot, sleep and stress level.  I need to rein things in and get back on track (though I’ve been telling myself that for two weeks now).  Somehow I need to start small and work my way back since I seem incapable of simply returning to the habits that I held just two weeks ago.

Along with that, I need a good dose of forgiveness as well.  I can’t constantly berate myself on my mistakes — that’s counter-productive when what I really need is a genuine, heart-felt, “You’re okay! You can do it!” from my head.

It’s funny because things were going so well.  And then, not so well.  This is a pattern — whenever my weight starts consistently going down (and I’m using weight simply as an easily quantified measure of progress), something happens and it rockets back up.  Of course, this is life — never the same, never easy, always challenging.  I think that if you look at the graph of anyone’s journey, you’ll see the same thing — periods of good with spikes of bad.  But the thing that I have to keep in mind:  I want the trend to be downward.  There are always going to be the bubbles of not-so-good, but the important part is recognizing and moving past it.  I can’t do anything about yesterday, and I can’t do anything about tomorrow, but I can certainly do something about today.

So – a very short review of the past (two) week(s):

Measurements
All up.  That’s what happens when you eat everything in sight and don’t workout.  I’ve said it before, but is amazes me how quickly the weight goes on and how slowly the weight comes off.

Workouts
Since I got the walking boot, I’ve done exactly one workout.  It was frustrating and annoying and I kind of hated it. Of course, that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t be doing it.

Habits
Another New Habit Monday has passed by — this time it’s revisiting the eating to 80% full habit.  This is definitely a foundational habit that I need to be paying more attention to. For the first time in awhile, I did that yesterday and not-so-remarkably felt better. Go figure.

Intermittent Fasting
Another thing I haven’t been doing. Add it to the list.

Habit Log
Weeks 1-2: Fish oil and probiotic
Weeks 3-4: Eating slowly
Weeks 5-6: Stop eating at 80% full
Weeks 7-8: Lean protein with every meal
Weeks 9-10: 5 servings of vegetables a day
Weeks 11-12: Make smart carb choices
Weeks 13-14: Plan Meals
Weeks 15-16: Log all food
Weeks 17-18: Create a sleep ritual
Weeks 19-20: Drink only zero calorie beverages
Weeks 21-22: Use targeted recovery strategies
Weeks 23-24: Eat only whole foods
Week 25: No new habits (work on the previous ones)
Weeks 26-27: A little more, a little better
Weeks 28-29: Lean protein and vegetables with every meal