Whole-of-Life Challenge

Too much sugar...everyone thought it would be a good idea to "gift" me with tons of candy this year. Yikes! I need to pace myself!

I have been MIA for a while during the holiday but getting back on track. This is an important challenge for me personally. I will be back to reevaluate and repost my goals again. Wishing everyone the best!

Orphia wrote: »

@Runaroundafieldx2 How's the relaxation going? Any time off now?

@znaoiec How is your mother?

@lporter229 How's your swimming?

@htimpaired What are you reading at the moment?

@jenilla1 Hope you're having a chilled Chrimbo!

Sorry, I missed this. I was mostly MIA through much of December due to being busy at work and a few stressful situations with family things. I am glad this thread popped up on my feed today, as I had forgotten about it. Even though it was only 6 weeks ago, it was fun to go back and see my goals. Still trying to do my best with all of them.

As far as swimming, I went once in December and decided that I am just not enjoying it. I think I put too much pressure on myself to have proper form and technique, which I know I don't. If I do continue to swim in the future, I will probably look into getting a coach, or else just stick to water walking or casual swimming.

I have started running again, training for the Boston marathon in April. I realized just how much I rely on running to keep me calm and at ease. December was a really stressful month! I have been working to de-clutter my office at work and get my crap in order so that I can stay more focused. Losing focus at work is something I haven't dealt with in the past and it has been a struggle for me recently. I usually take pride in my work and I have not been able to do that lately, which has only compounded the stress. There have been many changes in the past year or so here and I haven't dealt well with that, even though I know that adaptation is key to survival. Time to get serious about this or think about future alternatives.

TL;DR - derailed by sugar during the holidays, but back on track now!


During that space between Christmas and the New Year my diet somehow shifted to become primarily candy-based. I've never eaten so much candy in my life. (Literally everyone I know gave me candy for Christmas this year, so it was in my face and all over the place.) Holidays are usually no big deal for me in terms of diet and fitness challenges. I've never had a problem with candy, so I was totally blindsided by the crazy candy binge of 2018. What happened?!?

For some reason, once I started eating it, I really, really craved it and during that period I ate about 800-1000 calories of sugary treats every day - over half my calories! Didn't really go over calories very much (which tells you my other nutrition suffered since the quality foods were eliminated to make room for the sweet stuff.) So I didn't gain any weight, but I sure felt like crap eating all that garbage. It felt amazing while I was eating it, though. Kind of like a high. I usually have a little bit of a treat built into every day, but never anything like this! Highly unusual for me. Needless to say, I was blowing my sugar goals. And I was lacking the energy and motivation to maintain my normal activity level. I was becoming a slug. If it wasn't for dog walks, I'd be sedentary.

I'm the type of person who puts their mind to something and then does it. So I decided that starting on the 1st, I was going to go back to reasonable levels of sugar. So I just let myself have those last few days of chocolate and caramel bliss and stopped stressing about it. I managed to plow through most of it. The clock struck midnight, I had my glass of sparkling, fizzy booze, and went right back to my normal eating habits. (I feared it would be more difficult to do, since the 24/7 cravings for candy seemed insatiable. I was legitimately scared.)

But it totally worked! I've been well below my sugar goals every day so far. Seems almost too easy... But I think I know why. As long as I don't start out my day with a bunch of sugar, I don't feel the need to keep eating it all day. As soon as I consume excessive amounts of sugar, I have to keep adding more in intervals to feed the cravings. So I just have to resist that first morning candy (yes, I was eating candy for breakfast for almost two weeks) and I'm good for the rest of the day! I save a little sugar for the end of the night and then I'm out. Success! Back to my normal routine and normal craving levels!

Now I just need to get back into my normal exercise pattern...that's my next challenge. Although I did just go for a run, and haven't seemed to have lost my fitness yet. So that's a good sign.

Relaxation - need to work on this...I resist it - I think because I’ve worked so hard to become more active throughout my day & to exercise daily...

Exercise - Great. Daily. Can feel the increased strength.

Creativity - making progress, but want to do this daily...hard to find the time - I may have to do it first thing each day or make it my top priority...

Home - Really becoming quite organized, beautiful, spacious after much decluttering! I’ve never lived it so much before!

Work - a new daily habit to create a to do list each morning is helping me to get much more done!

Eating in moderation - Going well, but must get back to not eating out!

Learning - Signed up for a mixed media class - now to find/make the time to do it!!

Life! Is Lovely! I’m very grateful to be healthy & alive!

Orphia wrote: »

@MadisonMolly2017 We are so much alike!

@Orphia
Yes, we are! ♥️ back atcha!

I just got caught up on this thread, seems like people have lots of great things they want to work on. I personally am focusing on a few things this year, all of which are about making ME the priority.
I'm doing a dry January with hopes that I'll keep going. I gained weight and I know alcohol is a contributor.
I am starting a new business venture. It's overwhelming and scary but I'm so ready for this step in my career.
I am taking the final step to wrap up all things left over from my divorce a few years ago.
I'm reading books that are both in a genre I love (fantasy and sci-fi) and self help. I just downloaded The Naked Mind to see if I can modify my thinking about drinking. I don't want to abstain forever-I love the occasional mixed drink at a restaurant and LOVE cider, which has really become a big thing in my region.

Positive juju to all of you.

Runaroundafieldx2 wrote: »

I like the sound of this challenge.

1, Alcohol a maximum of two days a week except Christmas week
2, Run half marathon distance for the first time since my surgery
3, Log every day not just when I can be bothered
4. Finish off all the DIY jobs around the house
5. Keep in touch with family at least once a month

I've been alcohol free since new year but might have a couple tonight as I got my dream job today

Jan 10 Update:

Relaxation - need to work on this...I resist it - I think because I’ve worked so hard to become more active throughout my day & to exercise daily...
✅Did this today!!🎉

Exercise - Great. Daily. Can feel the increased strength.
✅Daily, some very fast walks, HIIT, definitely feeling more muscles!

Creativity - making progress, but want to do this daily...hard to find the time - I may have to do it first thing each day or make it my top priority...
✅Did this today & 2 days ago. Improving 🎨

Home - Really becoming quite organized, beautiful, spacious after much decluttering! I’ve never lived it so much before!
✅Home is going really well. In fact, now doing some lite decorating.

Work - a new daily habit to create a to do list each morning is helping me to get much more done!
✅I do get a lot more done, but I also feel the to do items hanging over me. Thinking about how to manage this.

Eating in moderation - Going well, but must get back to not eating out!
✅Didn’t eat out yesterday & today FINALLY!!! 🎉White-knuckling it, but I know it will get easier & is Definitely healthier for me.

Learning - Signed up for a mixed media class - now to find/make the time to do it!!
✅Making more time for this. In-process

Life! Is Lovely! I’m very grateful to be healthy & alive!

Orphia wrote: »

Sometimes I get a sense in the challenge threads that people are struggling to get by by only managing one aspect of progress in their lives.

Other times, I see familiar faces in multiple threads, and feel there are a lot of us trying to thrive overall.

It’s good to work on making small changes one day at a time.

I’ve found that small changes in one area can lead to changes in many things over time.

Let’s discuss how we’re working on:

Relaxation
Exercise
Alcohol usage
Creativity
Home
Work
Eating in moderation
Learning
Life!

REACHWELL!

Hmm ... well ...

Let’s discuss how we’re working on:

Relaxation: haven't done much of that in the past year
Exercise: building up again
Alcohol usage: haven't touched it since about April 2018 ... rarely drank before that
Creativity: been playing with photography in the past week ... not much of that over the past year
Home:
Work: doing more and more
Eating in moderation: not bad, could be better and will be
Learning: I did 4 Master's level uni courses this past year
Life!

Home and life ... yes, well ... of course most of my focus has been on my husband.

Over my life I've collected a bunch of exercise equipment.
It's mostly cardio equipment, with a small variety of bars, plates, and kettlebells for lifting.

I'm recovering from surgery right now, and I hate it. It's actually becoming depressing. It's supposed to be a long, gradual recovery. And that's exactly the way it's been going so far. Not sure I can handle weeks and weeks more of this being trapped on the couch, doing next to nothing. Ugh. I just need to suck it up and be patient. And grateful that I'm doing as well as I am.

Two weeks since my surgery! I'm allowed to drive again and will start walking daily. So sick of laying around on the couch. Longest 2 weeks of my life is over! Still have to wait several weeks to start running, strength training and mountain biking again. That's depressing. But at least I can move more now...the struggle will be trying not to overdo it!

Just prior to my surgery, I had proudly achieved my fastest ever running pace (8:44 minute mile) which is pretty freaking amazing for me (even though I've been running for decades, I have struggled with asthma, which has slowed me down).

Almost 3 weeks after surgery, I'm not so proud of the 32 minute mile I just completed on the treadmill at the gym. I was literally the slowest person there, and I was exhausted going turtle pace at 2 mph. But I'm not ashamed, either. I'm recovering and it's a step forward. I'll get back to greatness...and I won't ever take my fitness for granted again!