Ahhh August

Happy First Day of August everyone!  In the UK there are several celebrations being had marking this as the first of the harvest festivals.  Summer play is replaced with hard work, processing, and preserving.  Oh how well this mirrors in my own life.

I felt fortunate that last week seemed to go by very quickly.  I wasn't as active as I would have liked, but I did have my ass handed to me in Zumba.  At $5 a class, I think I can make this a staple activity until...well...until La Bella Dance company stops offering it at such a convenient time!

The rest of my week was mostly leisurely and enjoyable.  In yoga class, I introduced my students to a modified version of Sun Salutations.  The sequence further lifted my day and my mood.  I think I floated through the rest of my day, which ended on a cooler note in a pool visiting with some old friends, including some from out of town who I don't see nearly often enough.  If I do get a new car, I hope I make more of an effort to travel once a month to visit my scattered friends. Although, that might have to coincide with my yoga teacher training once I can start...but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Food-wise, I think I did pretty well to stay on task and within my limits.  I splurged a bit on Friday night on sushi, but I kept lunch light, so I don't feel bad about it.  No fun splurging anyway if you're going to beat yourself into an emotional blackhole.  Through Cyn and Laura, I was turned onto MyFitnessPal as an alternative to SparkPeople.  I've been using the latter since January 2006, and I've enjoyed the format and the community, especially since the service was free.  However, the layout wasn't intuitive, the color schemes were obnoxious, and there seemed to always be time-out problems and slow post-backs.  MyFitnessPal is a bit cleaner and faster, but honestly, I love it most for its mobile app that is much faster than the website and more intuitive.  The daily diary (for food and exercise tracking) will estimate how your day's activities will impact your weight loss goals.  It's all very cool.  I'm a convert.

So pretty lazy week.  I hoped that I could get on track and get more serious about the fitness aspect of things, but we had a bit of a doozy at the office today.  Remember all that first harvest, hard work stuff I was rambling about earlier.  Looks like I'm going to have to "phone it in" as well (where the hell does that expression come from anyway?).  I've already had to rearrange a couple of social plans for the week to accommodate for necessary overtime and it is possible that my whole month will follow suit.  I don't mind the overtime.  I could certainly use the extra savings (I have my paycheck direct deposit arranged so all overtime goes straight to savings and retirement so I'm never tempted to use it for evil).  I need more time in the office anyway for some projects.  I'm just disappointed that some other projects will inevitably be pushed further back, and I hate making my clients feel second-class.  That's business, though.  I plan on hitting the office early to go over all my various projects and make sure all my notes are up-to-date so everything is accountable if I need to pick up something tabled.

The thing I am concerned about the most is how it will effect the yoga classes I am teaching on the side.  I had hoped to introduce a second Saturday class and a weeknight class.  These may have to be put on hold until September, but I should know more by next week.  The extra work should intensify my own personal practice, anyway, since I'll have a greater craving for the peace it always brings.  Note to self: if there are plans to travel, pack mat this time.

Whatever happens, I will take things as they come (just as long as they don't mess with my Disneyland plans!).  I'm not too stressed and the sky isn't falling.  I don't feel resigned either.  It's an opportunity to be intensely productive over a short period of time.  Looking back on my desire to be productive and creative the last few weeks, I definitely see those past actions as simple foreshadowing for the present.  And with Mercury stationing retrograde tomorrow, I'm sure the whole thing will be...an experience.

How do you handle disruptions to your life?

Glowing

I did nothing remotely like exercise all week last week!  Okay, well, I did do a very little bit of gardening on Sunday.  Oh, and I did some yoga classes Thursday and Saturday (not to mention the bits I do throughout the week when no one is looking).  I guess I also did a bit of lifting and running around while doing a major purge and household cleaning.

That's all a lot more than nothing, isn't it?  At least I enjoyed myself while getting some exercise.


This week I'm starting fresh.  Monday was my off day.  I mean, it's Monday!  Starting things on a Monday is just a terrible idea for me.  Okay, true story, I promised myself I would start busting my butt first thing Monday morning but I didn't.  I had a hard time getting up due to some soreness onset by Sunday's crazy time.  When I did get up, I remembered I was out of coffee and went straight to the floor...to do some yoga.  Proud moment there!  It was then that I decided that starting things on a Monday was dumb.  Also, moving in the mornings is difficult.  I plan on keeping my mornings quiet with yoga and meditation and some serious kitteh cuddle time.  Mind you, I have no choice in the last matter.  I have been in downward-facing dog before only to have an impatient cat climb up my shoulders and back to settle in.

Seriously, I wish someone snag a pic of what I have to put up with.

However, afternoons will be for serious workout time.  Tuesdays, for the next four weeks, will include Zumba (thanks to a $10 Groupon) at La Bella Dance Company in Clovis.  Two hundred and five people purchased this Groupon, and it's only good through the end of August on Tuesdays.  This is going to be insane!

Wednesdays, Fridays will be whatever night.  Running, jumping, climbing trees...sorry, started channeling Eddie Izzard.  Running, Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred, dancing (including dance games), whatever gets my heart rate up (sorry, yoga!) and gets me sweating.

Thursdays, for the next two weeks, I'll be working on the intro to yoga class in the evening.  This will get rotated through the week once the intro class is over depending on funds and my availability.

Weekends will be preoccupied with gardening, hiking, swimming and whatever else I can fit in.  I'm considering getting one of those beach cruisers so I can do some bicycling, but we'll see.  

Hopefully I can keep things fresh and fun and get out of my funk.  I've been holding strong since July 5 at 188.  I'm feeling the standard disenchantment I usually do at this stage.  To boot, my birthday is two months away, and I want to looking fucking amazing in my birthday pictures.  At least, as amazing as one not-so-photogenic person can be.  This is going to require some hard work.  It's going to be an uphill battle.

All that said, I haven't gained weight and I've been feeling pretty good.  In fact, I've been getting a few compliments about how I'm looking good, glowing, more energetic, sexy, and so on.  These are all good things (read: friends, please keep it coming!).  I wish that were enough, but it isn't.  The vanity is just...too...strong.  I have an ambitious goal for my birthday (the little 3-0, "Because I am so dwarfish and so low?").  Wish me luck!

Here's a glowing tiger because it's pretty.

Reboot Frugality

In May I made some huge changes in my spending habits in order to curb overspending and work towards some hard core saving.  Well, I should say that I tried.  I did take a huge step by making my finances a little more transparent, something I would have never done before.

Some crazy things happened though.  The least crazy being some medical bills that had been piling up due to the past year's illnesses.  Then my poor Honey-cat needed an emergency vet visit to fix a portion of her tail that I caught in the front door after coming home from a doctor visit in Sacramento (she's healed up perfectly, no permanent damage!).  Oh and my best friend got married (while I helped her setup and maintain a budget for her own wedding, I didn't make a budget for me or if I did I didn't stick to it...at all).  That was all in just the first couple weeks of June.  Ouch!  Obviously, July needs more discipline.

The second to last week of June, Jeff's temp assignment ended.  To date, he's still looking for work. So far it's only been a week and a half, and I'm honestly not as stressed about it  now as I was the two weeks leading up to his last day.  He's a hard worker, he can learn just about anything, and he has a really likable personality.  I'm just hoping whatever he finds next is even more enjoyable and longer term (read: permanent) than what he's done so far.  His happiness is most important.  Money will follow.  Eventually.  Right?

My work front is apparently stable.  I have a weird feeling about things though.  Nothing in particular.  Call it intuition, but it makes me antsy.  Most days I don't let it get to me.  I try to do my best (although that's admittedly difficult while being packed into a sardine, being constantly interrupted or distracted by office noise from the cramped conditions) work and just focus on my projects.

But with that latent anxiety, I would be STUPID not to have a backup plan.  I've been watching job sites for the last week just to see what skill sets are in demand so I can continue to challenge myself to stay relevant.  I'm honestly not interested in changing jobs.  Despite my uncomfortable seating arrangement, I love my job and the people I work with.  But still, the best time to look is while you are employed.

However, I am primarily looking to supplement my income through other projects.  I don't want to spend the rest of my life in a cubicle, in front of a computer, coding.  I want to have a flexible schedule doing more creative ventures, like YOGA!  Last Saturday I kicked off my first yoga class in my living room for friends.  I won't spend a lot of time talking about it since I have another blog I've dedicated to that project (and a hopeful future project in simple living/personal organization).  I also have a Facebook page you should totally "Like"!  This is something I have wanted to do for a long time.  I'm using the small class fee I am collecting to help subsidize getting my certification so I can work with a studio and a more diverse client base.

I also have other ideas I may or may not experiment with to help bring in extra income.

Why all the income supplementation?

Why not?

I'm celebrating 30 years of life come September.  While I have done a number of amazing things I am very proud of, I want more.  I'd like to spend a few days at Disneyland to celebrate my birthday (including pictures will all the Disney princesses, of course) and we're planning a tour of Europe in December.  It's possible to do this with one income, but just barely.

Maybe I want too much.  Maybe I'm just being a ridiculous little girl chasing after unrealistic dreams.  Maybe everyone will laugh at me.

You know, I'll be laughing too when I'm having lunch with Ariel or sitting with my friends in a cafe in Amsterdam or stretching into Pigeon pose among the sheep in Wales.

Challenge Update: Week 2

Oh!  Before I forget!

When I said "without exception" I totally lied.  Last week some anxiety got the better of me and I took a break for a couple days.  I'm not proud of myself, but sometimes the body needs rest.  Also, our computer was down so instead of monopolizing the DVD player for my work out video, I had to restart it every morning.  The player is slow, the intro is slow, and it takes over 10 minutes for me to get my work out started.  Sadly, the longer I have to wait for my workout to start, the more time I have to negative self-talk myself.  By the time my work out begins, I'm too unmotivated to put my heart into it and I do half-assed work outs.

Since the beginning of June, I've lost 9 pounds, but only three since I began the 30 Day Shred (which boasts losing up to 20 pounds). Last time I officially weighed myself I was down to 188.  I keep trying the measurements, but I'm physically incapable of measuring the same place twice.  It's typical for me to gain lots of muscle when I begin a new workout program (which I can see it true, I'm toning up quite a bit), which translates usually to about a 10 pound gain for the first 6 weeks of a routine.  The fact that I have lost 3 pounds in two weeks is a HUGE deal.  By late July when I progress to the next, more difficult, 30 day routine I anticipate will begin the melt zone.  That's when my body acclimates and I'll drop some dramatic pounds, often five pounds per week for about a month before I plateau.  But that will ONLY work if I'm consistent.  Too many breaks or binges, and it's all for nothing.

This week I have a couple challenges for myself.

Try to jog one to two days this week.


I love to run.  I haven't been really consistent about it since I hurt my ankle in March, but I miss it.  Doing it every day or every other day was too daunting.  Now that I'm doing this 30 day challenge, trying to do it so often will probably just set me up for failure.  Instead of setting a schedule or making up a routine (like Couch to 5K), I'm just going to run when the mood strikes me for however long feels right.  I just want to enjoy it, I don't want the effort of some program to weigh me down.  I promise to be careful and warm up and stretch properly.

Get at least one hour of yoga every day including one pose I suck at.


Now that I'm officially on the path to teach yoga and get my teaching certification, I need to start challenging myself more.  An hour every day is more than doable, and I'm going to permit myself to get that hour however I can, if it's 20 minutes in the morning and 40 minutes at night I'll consider that a success.  And I need to work on a pose I'm not good at.  Right now I'm debating between Dolphin pose which requires I strengthen my upper back and shoulders or Boat pose which requires I strengthen my core (both very weak areas for me).  Maybe I'll go crazy and do both.

Good Times

It is with great elation that my first venture teaching yoga to a room full of friends was a HUGE success. Four friends came out to get bendy with me (I was expecting three more, but I'm glad they didn't come because we were kind of packed in my living room).  We started a little late, but everything flowed really nicely.  I chose a restorative sequence, but that didn't mean we didn't sweat!  There were lots of frustrated giggles, but everyone expressed how comfortable they felt during the hour session.  I felt so relaxed myself.  There was obviously no reason for me to be anxious or scared at all.  Already I have had several more friends express an interest in attending sessions.  In fact, I have so many people wanting to come next Saturday that I'm not sure where to put everyone.  I'll have to cap it to a few and invite everyone to the following week's class when I can find a bigger space.

The rest of Saturday was relaxing, rewatching episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation on Netflix streaming. Gods I love that show!  Fortunately the boys really enjoyed it too.

Sunday we cleaned up the front yard.  I really wish I took before and after photos.  It looks so much nicer!  The remainder of the day was occupied by the boy playing video games while I flipped lazily through magazines, and then later more Star Trek.  It all made the weekend go by so quickly.

Monday, being Independence Day, was spent at Chez Malm swimming, eating, and enjoying good company. By the time evening set in I was so tired from all the water and sun that I had to call it a night early.  We didn't get to see the fireworks, but that wasn't a big deal.  We spent the evening at home, cuddling the furry babies, and watching America's Got Talent.

30 Day Shred Challenge

My best friend Cynthia and I started Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred on Tuesday (I got excited and technically started on Monday, but we're counting from Tuesday because that's when she got her copy of the DVD).

Before her wedding, we promised each other we'd help one another get fit this summer.  Since we live on opposite ends of the town and Fresno summers are too hot to walk on our lunch and breaks, we agreed that following a DVD on our own would be the best course of action.  Whoever wins is treated by the other to a mani/pedi!

For the next 30 days, without exception, I will be busting my butt!

Today is Day 3 of the challenge (day 4 for me).  Jillian Michaels - 30 Day Shred contains three different workouts each increasing in difficultly.  Although if you know anything about Jillian Michaels, she is never not difficult.  In fact, I'm pretty sure she must hate me.  Or maybe I hate myself for letting her beat me up everyday.  Each 20 minute workout includes a warmup, three circuits of strength/cardio/abs, and then a cool down.

You think, "Sure!  Twenty minutes is EASY!"  You would be mistaken.

Did I mention that I think Jillian hates me?  My body is sore!  But I'm enjoying it.  I started on the "easiest" workout.  Cynthia is doing a 14 week challenge for the duration of the summer and I might cover that 14 weeks by doing 30 days of each workout.  Initially I just wanted to start with the 30 days and go from there.  For me, a lot changes in a month, and I know I'm going to have some big personal challenges throughout the summer so it's all about baby steps for me.

I'm hoping by the time this 30 days is over I'll have lost a dress size or two, and roughly 10 pounds or so (I'm very short so a couple pounds is all is takes for me to switch sizes normally).

Being stronger I guess is nice, too.  Honestly, I'm enjoying the extra physical activity.  It makes me happy and likely to do even more.  For example, I spent at least one evening this week doing bellydancing drills for 30 minutes and I've done about 30 minutes of yoga every day.  It's like one physical activity just lends itself to more.  And I love that.

Manic Monday: March 14, 2011

First a recap on last week:

I about managed on average an hour of yarn time each day. I think I missed one or two days in the week, but more than made for the lack on other days.  I even managed to finish a very important personal project that has helped me bring some closure after a recent jarring event.  Now to focus on commissioned projects.  One is almost done, the other requires more focus than a few minutes here or there.

On the running front, I only managed to get out for one day.  So this week, I will continue working on the Week 1 program of the Couch to 5K program.  I felt amazing all day Thursday after running.  Friday and Saturday I was incredibly sore.  I either am not drinking enough water or not stretching enough.  Possibly and highly likely both.

So this week, I plan on continuing to find an hour to knit every day, drink 8 glasses of water every day AND at least 5 minutes of yoga everyday in the morning and evening (both of which I can track on SparkPeople).  The stretching isn't a lot of time, and I'll likely do more but I just want to start with something small to make it a habit...eventually.  Hopefully, this time it will stick, especially since my fibromyalgia has been flaring again and taking some time for yoga, even just a couple minutes, always helps improve the flare ups a little.

So, that's what I'll be doing this week.  How are you spending your week?

January Goals

I know!  I know!  It's kind of silly posting goals half-way through the month.  Things have been super, super crazy around here since Christmas and I haven't made blogging a very serious part of that.  I'm regretting that a bit now, but all I can do is try to be better moving forward.

First a recap on December: I totally failed!  No, seriously, I gained some weight and I was so over-stretched on last-minute holiday crafting that I didn't get to make any progress on my Etsy store.  I had hoped that after Christmas I'd get on the ball in overdrive or something, but it never happened.  I did finally post my first item today though and I'm super excited to see where I can go with it.

While I did not post my goals here, I had them written out before December was over.

Goal One: Get back into bellydancing.

I'm already half-way on this one.  I enrolled after the 1st of the year at California Arts Academy for tribal bellydancing lessons with Lydia of Tanjora.  My first class is this evening and I'm a little nervous.  It has been so many years since I've been in a bellydancing class.  I just hope I can keep up with the more spry girls.

Goal Two: Start eating better, goddammit!

It's really essential now.  Really, really essential.  I've written up some guidelines on this I'll save for a future blog post.

Goal Three: Post one item on my Etsy store front per week.

I know, I failed at two last month, why the heck am I adding a third?  Well, I know that the time it takes me to knit accessories is not so considerate that I cannot meet this goal.

Goal Four: Work up to include10 minutes of meditation and 10 minutes of yoga every day.

Wait, four goals this month?  Yeah, four goals.  Twenty minutes a day towards my well-being is not an unreasonable thing to ask of my time.  So that means 20 minutes less wasting my time watching television shows.  Big whoop.  While I haven't been consistent every day, I am up to five minutes of yoga most mornings and taking five minutes in the shower meditating.  It's relaxing and steamy and warm.  More importantly, the cats don't try to walk all over me when I have hot water pouring on me. I'm already experiencing tremendous benefits just doing that small amount of yoga everyday.  I hope in the next year I can resume formal classes (maybe after my bellydance classes are over in late May) or take a couple private lessons when I have the extra cash from my Etsy store so I can continue to be challenged.

No New Years Resolutions.  Frankly, I don't see the point.  This system of setting goals has been a mostly successful venture for me.  I know what I want to accomplish with my life right now.  I don't need a resolution to feel guilty about.  Plus I have lots of exciting things coming up, why feel derailed later?