Let's Do this! - 2019 Challenge - Be the best you can be!

mynacha73 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
So some goods and not-so-goods. I'm thrilled that despite not being able to walk for half the month, I still lost 9.3 pounds which is just under 3% of my body weight. I took a mental health day and skipped work today. I just went for a 3 mile walk - the first real walk in a month. It was great! On the not-so-good side, I'm sinking into another depression. I'm trying to do the things I need to do: exercise (back to it!), eat healthy (check), sleep (check), I'm working on getting out of a job situation that's really rough, I'm doing my weekly therapy, etc. But I'm sinking. I'm going to work on creating a morning checklist that focuses on my well-being goals. I think if I start the day thinking about my physical health, reaching out to 1-2 friends not connected to work, and do 1-2 job search things, I might feel a little more in control and positive. I'm also going to pretend to be a tourist for 1 day each weekend and go explore something in my neighborhood that I haven't seen before. I mean, seriously ... I've lived in the SF Bay Area for nearly 30 years and never been to Alcatraz....
Happy February - we got this!

Glad to see you are creating a plan to combat your depression. Good luck on the new job search.

mynacha73 wrote: »

Hi Everyone,
On the not-so-good side, I'm sinking into another depression.

My daughter suffers from bipolar disorder and whenever she gets depressed, her doctor recommends that she eats more chicken and also bananas along with pushing herself to exercise. There is some chemical in those foods that are a natural antidepressant that works for her.

I love your plan. I don't think many people play "tourist" enough in their home area. I hope you post pictures somewhere and share them with us!

Hello everyone.... Sounds like you all have busy.

January is gone and good riddance to that one. I'm hoping that the rest of 2019 is better. Emotionally it's been a rough one. On the health side not a complete loss. This months success is logging if it isn't here in MFP it's in my journal. Small steps!

**New Goal for this month**
~ movement ~

@kimmie373
@loonyhiker I've never heard that - I have some chicken I made with baharat and lemon in the freezer. I'll pull that out for the week. Thanks for the advice. I also love the idea of posting photos - good inspiration!
@tiff0277 have you seen the memes that January has been a long year? I feel ya

So far I'm off to a good start to the day. I woke to the cat giving me a back massage then sticking her paw in my face to get me out of bed. Went out for a healthy breakfast with a friend, followed by a good shop at a local Asian market (99 Ranch - best produce selection around) for the week's meals. I closed all the rings on my apple watch yesterday, and I'm planning to do the same today! I think I'll try the rowing machine at the fitness center this afternoon.
Have a great Saturday!

@mynacha73 This was beautiful! Thank you for putting a smile on my face!

Happy February everyone! I have to vote today. Enjoyed reading all of your posts before posting myself. I am hoping the February isn't as intense as January. Last week was even worse. I also had issues with a co-worker who is intimidated and envious of me. My daughter's usual 2 days at school became 4 with meetings with professors and her adviser. One was really upsetting and she basically only got a bit of what she needed. However now she has a plan for next quarter and she knows how she stands.

I am going to post goals for February with progress notes. It is already going better than January if this weekend is any indication:

3 days of Aquafit and add walking on other days as can - did the Aquafit except for unavoidable conflicts, will have a night meeting on the 13th, also was able to fit in some walks
increase water intak -e did better with this but still room to improve
keep making more healthy meals at home - this is where I did the best. I planned and cooked more meals and we sometimes had choices on which leftover meals to eat
stick to calorie goal - generallyy do well with this but had days that I had trouble with snacking waiting for dinner after long days
keep up with my logging and spreadsheet - doing better but need to do some catch up on the weekends

I did well over the Holidays and started to get organized for the new year early with some help from this challenge. However this past month was more than I expected. I was so busy I gained then couldn't get rid of it until this weekend. I seem to be coming down to close to where I was this fall. One thing that is helping is logging a pound below my scale which I found out weighs heavy about a pound. I am down 3 pounds from my highest weight this month (not including the pound deducted from the scale reading).

@mynacha73 I hope you start feeling better soon. I think you have a good plan to address it. Enjoy being a tourist and San Francisco is a good place for that.

My daughter went from working hard to starting back to school and is showing signs of needing a vacation. She didn't go with my husband and I on the cruise our son sent us on in September. We don't have time now to take a weekend off. We are going to finally fix and remodel our bathroom. So we decided to go to high tea next weekend. It is also Chinese New Year next weekend so we will go out with family for Dim Sum or yum cha. So will have both an English and Chinese tea party next weekend.

Hope we all have a great week to start February right.

Hi, bit late to the party but I hope I can join this!
I'd like to lose 80lbs this year!

@loonyhiker - that sounds like the no-good-miserable weekend. I'm sorry to hear about the treadmill, but it seems like you have a great plan AND you flexed with it immediately. Way to go!

@13ecca4 - hi! nice to e-meet you

I had a meeting in the city today, so I took advantage of the local tourist opportunity and walked over to the Ferry Building for a nice dinner in a San Francisco classic while overlooking Treasure Island. It was the perfect way to end the work day. I didn't have a chance to get to the gym, so I walked 2 or 3 BART stops before getting on the train to get my exercise. The Apple Watch cooperated today. I am happy to say I got to close all my circles. (Hallelujah!!) My food is good. I'm reaching out to people when I'm feeling anxious or depressed. The meeting today was about working with teenagers. One of the techniques that was suggested for working with students with anxiety is fantastic. To jostle them out of a rut, ask them to identify and name 7 different colors they see in their space. It totally works. Try it. Find seven colors in the space you're in, and it will totally change how you're thinking about the environment. So, even if you're not having anxiety, it can switch up how you interact with a creative challenge or solve a problem with a colleague. It was a really cool suggestion. And it's a little creepy just how much chartreuse there is in San Francisco. Just sayin'.

Had a bad start on the NROL4Abs routine during the warm up, heard a pop in my back, then excruciating pain. Took a hot shower then the heated seat on the way to work. Took ibuprofen 2x yesterday. Better today, but not going back to the program for a couple of days. Not a good way to start the month. I was hoping to change up the exercise this month.

Motivational quote for today:

Only I Can Change My Life, No One Can Do It For Me

@msarobix I had one service guy tell me to call in once a year and claim a rattle and squeak (which it really did by the end of the year) so someone could come out and do maintenance on it, especially since I had a service contract. This guy that came out to check out my rattle and squeak is the one who found out that there was also a problem with the motor! Glad he noticed it. It has been well worth paying for this service contract every 3 years!

I’m in!

I would love to lose some weight this year.

I had a really bad day yesterday. We went to a Chinese buffet (we haven't been to it in 3 months!) and there must have been a lot of msg in the food which usually makes me swell. Then we went out to dinner last night to a nice steak restaurant. I only ate a salad and half of my ribeye and no dessert. Sure enough, this morning I got on the scales and I'm up 2 lbs. in 1 day! I know that beef makes you retain water too so I'm hoping to flush my system this weekend with lots of water. Hopefully by Monday I will be back down to my real weight.

I continue to do the walk videos every day and I'm pleased that I can get my step goal in every day. In fact, it seems like I'm getting more than when I walk on the treadmill!