Whole100 – Week Seven Recap

Today is DAY FIFTY!  The halfway mark! 

Overall feeling: well….before Friday afternoon I was feeling pretty good. Around 2pm, shit went down and I basically felt like crap all weekend, run down, stressed, exhausted. I also can now empirically say that I have a stress stomach….as in, stress comes and bloat/upset is right on its heels.

Change in plans: going forward into the second half of the Whole100, I’m going to stop daily logging a few things. Skin/Hair/Nails for starters, followed by Energy and Mood. I was logging those items because they were in a poor status when I started and I wanted to watch how that changed in relation to how my Whole30 progressed. But they are mostly in a good state now and suffer just normal fluctuations that can be attributed to weather, hormones, work etc. They aren’t food related anymore so tracking them is too microscopic for me. When I eventually get around to adding certain things back in, I will once again pay very close attention to all the markers so I can see how my body and mind both react.

Hardest aspect: I’m really, REALLY not feeling it and want to end it. However……..there is no end. Unfortunately. Ever. It might as well be called my WholeForever. You see, I want to end it and sit on my sofa under my electric blanket and binge eat halloween candy until I fall into a blissful sugar coma. I don’t want to end it so that I can have a nice glass of wine (although that would be lovely) or so that I can use ketchup again. I want to end it so I can comfort my emotions in a drunken coma of sugar. So ya….great.

CARBS!: my digestion and general wellness have brought to my attention that, while it is winter squash season which is GREAT, there is too much of a good thing. You see, I learned how to gently roast & caramalize delicata squash into something that is SO delicious, it is a major problem for me. Major. http://summertomato.com/better-than-butternut-roasted-delicata-squash-recipe/

They are chewy and caramelly and a bit crispy around the edges and you can eat them like french fries…dipped into Well Fed Mayo. As I said, huge problem. I ate two entire delicata squashes between Friday evening and Sunday morning….by myself. Not that they are huge squashes…but it was a bit much. So much in fact that after breakfast on Sunday morning I didn’t eat until dinner at 6pm and was not hungry in the slightest. So, while squash and beets and carrots and turnips and sweet potatoes are all healthy and delicious and nutritious foods, I need to claw them back about 300%. Might be contributing to my sleepiness/more lethargic-ness, too.

Skin, Hair, Nails: all good.

Energy: has been good, actually. Even on Sunday when I was stressing and bitchy and wishing to lay in bed napping, I didn’t. I did all our weekly food prep, walked to the farmer’s market, helped Ray close up the motorhome for the winter (which I never did get to go camping in this year), washed and then covered up Captain Jack and then I used all my excess cranky energy to blitz the house and tidy and chuck and vaccum and wipe and dust. So I’m kind of looking forward to going home this evening and battening down our hatches for the major storm that is being predicted for our area. They are predicting wide spread power outages and heavy wind and rain. Could be exciting!

Green Time: definitely didn’t win this week. Missed three days due to an unexpected appointment, wicked weather and my regular grocery day. Sleep/Sleep Habits: sleep has been alright. Definitely noticed a preference for staying in bed, not sure if that’s weather related or stress or just a normal fluctuation. I didn’t actually sleep in this weekend though and I didn’t nap.

Digestion/Headaches: all good on both fronts. Thought I was getting a headache on Sunday night but I think it was just tension.

Cycle Hormones: still some fluctuations there….which is irritating

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Whole 100 – Week 6 Recap

My daily logging is still going on along the top.  Or click here.

Overall feeling: this week felt long and the commitment that I bit off seems huge and kind of silly. Nearing the halfway mark and I feel like I’ve been doing this forever. I am torn between whether I’ll feel amazingly wonderful by 100…or if the magic happened in the first 30 and the rest was an exercise in redundancy. I’ll do it because I committed to it and I’ll do it because I think it’s the right way to live and I’ll do it because the sugar dragon isn’t dead yet. But I’m curious if where I find myself now is where I’ll find myself on Day 100.

Hardest aspect: turns out the sugar dragon made a comeback…and with such little prompting! The emergency ration (crunchy fruit/coconut bar….basically a delicious cookie) that I had on the Saturday when we were in the bush woke the beast, eating a bowl full of defrosted strawberries got his motor churning and then munching on creamed coconut after dinner a couple nights in a row opened the floodgates. Especially since I wasn’t feeling tops for a couple days there, I think I was extra suseptible to an invasion. Nothing non-compliant…but the emotional aspect of eating when not hungry and eating sweet things to feel better actually made me feel awful. So now the creamed coconut is off limits for awhile and I am once again reminded of my issues surrounding sugar.

Change in Prep: I made one extra protein on the weekend (by accident) that was a Godsend for me in Week Six. Normally I make exactly what we are going to eat but having this extra buffer was an ass-saver in a couple situations. Going forward I’ll be doing that each weekend….cooking an extra protein that is not assigned to anything yet.

Favourite Finds: First, sugar pie pumpkins! OK…so all winter squash…but the roasted sugar pumpkin was awesome! Second, we figured out that we have the ability to smoke meat on our BBQ and boy-oh-boy is it ever GOOD!

Skin, Hair, Nails: hair and nails couldn’t be better, skin needs some work.

Energy: didn’t have a tonne all week, was totally in “rest” and “survival” mode. I did notice, rather resentfully, that although I was feeling like absolute garbage, there has not been one single day where I didn’t get a decent amount accomplished. Not one single day where I didn’t make meals, didn’t either walk the dog or go get groceries or do the laundry. Not one single day that I missed of work. So while I was a bit resentful of it when I noticed it, I think I have to say that even when I’m feeling awful, I still have enough energy to get things done. I have not needed to surrender. I’ve WANTED to…..desperately. But at no point have I felt like I simply couldn’t do what needed to be done. And now I know…if I ever experience a day where I simply have to surrender? It’ll be full on legit.

Mood: mood and energy are so intertwined that I sometimes have a hard time defining how my mood was. If you look it up online, many times a mood is actually an “energy” word (energetic, lethargic, lazy) which is not helpful at all, LOL! Overall in Week 6 I would say my moods were probably trending toward quiet, a bit mellow and basically just tired. I’m looking forward to an uptick next week.

Green Time: my original goal was to try for 30 minutes of outdoor time per day as a minimum. In 42 days I have a 79% success rate. I am very pleased with that!

Sleep/Sleep Habits: keeping with my sleep schedule and overall feeling pretty good. This week the overnight sleeping has not been great because I haven’t been feeling well…but I am confident that it will go back to being very good.

Digestion/Headaches: Not such wonderful news this week about the headaches. Got one on Day 37 that didn’t quit until Day 40. After a little research I fall into the category of Menstrual Migraine which is characterized by a one sided throbbing/pressure, sore skin, light & sound sensitivity and which comes normally 2 days before your period and lasts for the first 3 days. Yep. Menstrual migraines do not respond to migraine meds because they are hormonally triggered and they tend to last longer than other types of migraines. I am going to try epsom salt baths as magnesium deficiency can definitely contribute to increasing the severity of the pain. I think my previous almond butter addiction was unknowingly supplementing my body with magnesium and in the last 6-8 months since cutting out nuts altogether (food w/o brakes and stomach upset), the headaches have come back and been worse.

Cycle Hormones: Cramps/flow and PMS has been significantly less severe this round.

Whole 100 ~ Week Five Recap

Don’t forget, you can follow my daily log for my Whole 100 at the “Whole30 Logging” tab across the top…or just click here.

Overall feeling: I definitely had some sugar monster issues over the weekend and while I definitely did not venture into non-compliance territory, I felt a bit like the sugar monster was in more control than I was. Once I realized it and reined in my thoughts and feelings and drowned the little bastard in tea and water, things improved well. Other than that, this update will be short, not too much to report. Working early for the rest of the month of October which means getting off early also….so I’m dearly hoping to be able to do my dog-walking and then spend some time in the new gym before Ray gets home. Ah, the best laid plans…………………….

Hardest aspect: nothing is overly difficult anymore, I mostly feel awesome and sane and it’s not any more work cooking this way than I was used to. What I am finding is that 100 days seems really long….like as I was approaching “30”, the numbers were getting really big (28 is REALLY close to 30) but as I have passed 30 and the next milestone is 100, the numbers still seem small and far away.

Easiest aspect: really glad with how Ray is starting to understand some of the “why” behind what I’ve chosen to do. And loving how he is thinking critically about ingredients and effects. We’ve settled nicely into the routine and while he doesn’t deny himself something he wants, he doesn’t offer to me anymore which is so much nicer! He gets it now.

Skin, Hair, Nails: had to finally break down and trim my claws. Usually they top out and don’t get any longer. Such is no longer the case.
Energy: consistent and edging into consistently high. Even in Alien Pre-week…I’m tired but not sacked.
Mood: overall, quite nice. Optimistic and happy. No big swings of highs and lows.
Green Time: 337 minutes! The wood-gathering on Saturday definitely boosted my total!
Sleep/Sleep Habits: have been sleeping very consistently and feeling rested and good to go.
Digestion/Headaches: I’m in Alien Week by 2 days now and have not had a single headache since Day 10 of Whole30. Historically I would have had a horrible headache for the entire week leading up to it. I’ve been extremely diligent about staying hydrated in case that makes a difference. I’m extremly overjoyed to not have had a headache in 26 days. TWENTY SIX DAYS! If sugar is what triggered hormonal headaches in me, we are officially broken up.
Cycle Hormones: so far so good, will know more next week.

Whole30 Summary

My first 30 days ended yesterday and I know I said I wasn’t going to post a summary but I couldn’t help it.   😉

Over the Last 30 Days
Eggs = 86
Bone Broth = 81 Litres
Water = 44 Litres
Kombucha = 23.5 Litres
Cups of Coffee (w/ coconut milk & gelatin) = 36
Decaf EG Tea Lattes (made w/ coconut milk) = 11
Mayo = 4 Cups
Sleep = 251.5 Hours
Green Time = 867 minutes (14.5 hours)

As far as what I gained while I was eating all that food and spending so much time sleeping? I gained clearing skin (FINALLY), revitalizing sleep, stronger hair and nails, a stable mood & happier disposition (even in the face of stress or upset), consistent energy, consistent outdoor time, interesting information about my relationship with food and a huge sense of accomplishment!

Me, on Day 30!

So what did I lose? Bloat, stomach upset, mild depression and hopelessness, anxiety, brain fog, eczema and a short temper.  I also lost a total of 4.5″ across my entire body which is not overly significant and which temporarily suspended my delight at completing my first 30 days.  Fortunately I then took my head out of my ass and celebrated the 4.5″ and all the other amazing markers that remind me that I am happier and healthier!

So, the next 30 days? So exciting! Daunting, a bit.  But exciting and challenging and I’m open to whatever might come, whatever I might learn about myself and whatever path this experiment takes me down.  I’m ready!

Whole 30 Week Four Recap

Don’t forget that I’m keeping a Whole30 log as a separate tab along the top.  Go here

Overall feeling: really awesome, actually. Level and stable and clean and firing on all cylinders!

Hardest aspect: feeling super nauseated and sick on Sunday (fuzznnaise incident) and not knowing what I could give myself to feel better.

Easiest aspect: I guess the fact that this is all starting to become “old hat” including having “happy hour” with kombucha and no potato chips and going out for a ride and drinking clear tea with no “treat”. I’ve been thinking a lot about moderation and if I could do it…and I still think no.

Suckiest thing this week: being reminded of what stress feels like. I can happily say that I generally live my life mostly stress free. That was certainly not the case a year ago and it floors me that I spent so many years living at such a high level of chronic stress, discomfort, upset and unhappiness. I had a couple stress-related events this past week and driving home one day I could actually TASTE my stress reaction and I was reminded of how that used to be the taste in my mouth and the feeling in my head/chest, every day. Some things you don’t notice until you eliminate them and then they make a reappearance…stress is one of them. I really thought, back then, that it was normal to live that sort of high octane life as long as you can “manage” or “handle” it…and it’s really not. This is not to say that I live each day on a cloud of spun gold and that I shower in sparkles and kitten kisses….not at all…..but that chronic physiologic stress reaction that I was in 24/7…that is gone.

Interesting observation: reduced congestion….as in….I can actually breathe freely more often than not! I meant to mention this in my week three update but I forgot…and it’s just as well, because after the accidental poisoning (assuming soy-based), my sinuses/nasal passages clammed up like they were under assault. A few days past Soy-gate and I’m breathing mostly freely and unencumbered again. I used to also have (excuse the TMI) a constantly running nose….disgusting, yes. Gone. Full stop. I look forward to even more improvement in the breathing regard as time goes by! I also think this will be one of my quickest “warning signs” when I eventually do come off the plan.

Weird Trigger: I made the Well Fed Pina Colada Chicken one night last week and it has the jerk seasoning (which contains a good dose of cinammon & nutmeg) as well as some vanilla powder and coconut milk. The combo of the coconut milk, vanilla and cinammon/nutmeg sparked a huge pudding-craving MONSTER that I had to beat back with a clear decaf tea and some bone broth. It was a savoury dish so I found it strange that it would incite pudding-cravings; I don’t even eat pudding in my normal life. Just a quick sign from the Whole30 fates that I am not wrong in continuing on past 30 days, I guess. 😉

Skin, Hair, Nails: nails and hair is awesome, skin is finally clearing up!
Energy: overall is very consistent! No big dips or spikes, just level from the moment I get up until my head hits the pillow
Mood: also really consistent, no stabby, no hangry, no depressive
Green Time: 217 minutes of outdoor enjoyment. Said I was going to improve on that over last week and I definitely did!
Sleep/Sleep Habits: pretty great! Deep and restful sleep. Until very late last week I was still sleeping right to my alarm but hopefully I can start waking up naturally soon.
Digestion/Headaches: obviously soy-gate rocked my little world, but aside from that, no digestive upset and no headaches to report!
Cycle Hormones: this is a new one I’m watching because I would love to see all my hormones become more regulated and consistent. I won’t be able to tell this for a couple weeks but fingers are crossed!

Other Thoughts: My ”thirty days” is up on Tuesday but, of course, this was never meant to be a 30 day plan, it was a Whole100 right from the beginning. I’ll keep on posting weekly recaps as I continue on. As far as posting into the Whole30 Logging page, I kind of like the idea of being able to read back on the whole thing so I’ll keep posting there for now. On Wednesday morning I’ll retake my measurements since you are technically allowed to measure after the 30 days. I think that there should be some change in the measurements because my clothes seem to be fitting better….but having a bit of body dysmorphia (which I’m certain every woman on the plant has to some degree), it’s hard for me to SEE it when I look in the mirror. So measurement day will hopefully be a happy surprise.

Whole30 Week Three Recap!

Overall feeling: Sunday not included, I was starting to feel really great. Even, balanced, well, healthy, sane. Slimmer and like my body was running more efficiently. Optimistic and energetic.

Suckiest thing this week: the out of town wedding…which was a disaster, chaotic and ridiculous in and of itself, but apparently the “safe” salmon was marinated in something that made me feel HORRIBLE. Flared up eczema, super stiff and sore joints, uncomfortable stomach/b’rooming. My guess is probably a soy-based something-or-other….which pisses me the HELL off! I’m not super worried about it because I’m Whole100’ing….but it was a grind to get to where I was on Saturday morning which was feeling pretty awesome…..and then to get pushed down the stairs in one stupid meal, not impressed.

Interesting observation: it has been interesting to me to observe when and where I actually want to eat food (or beverage) outside of meal times and why. Especially interesting because I was positive when starting this, that I would not discover anything new about my mental relationship with food. So far I have desired “something” when out riding on a sunny afternoon and arriving at a coffee shop and then this week realized that I really want “something” on a rainy, dark evening while snuggled up on the sofa watching television. As a seasoned emotional eater, I am surprised to find that I haven’t gravitated towards wanting food when sad or stressed (both of which have happened at least once in rather high intesity in the past three week), but that I gravitate towards wanting to “celebrate” and give myself “comfort” in situations where I’m ALREADY happy or comfortable. So odd. I have avoided snacking altogether with two exceptions which were due to not packing enough food…not due to psychological reasons (and the snacks were mini-template-meals). One night last week while comfy on the sofa sipping a decaf tea with coconut milk, I could have “legally” eaten an apple with almond butter….but in the effort to figure out and understand my psychological connections with food, I chose not to go down that path. I hope that during the duration that I am doing this, that I can suss out further what those triggers are (and if there are others) and how to best handle them. I will say that the horror show of adapting to this more balanced way of eating over the first 12-15 days was (I hope) enough incentive to make sure that the content and frequency of future off-roading better be really, really worth it.
          UPDATE: after that was written we went on a Sunday afternoon ride for coffee…I ordered a decaf tea, sat on the patio with my hubby and enjoyed the time…while he ate an almond croissant, I had just my tea…and felt perfectly happy about it.

Volume: I cannot believe the volume of vegetables that we are going through. I mean…yes, we’ve always eaten a lot of veggies….I have always said that our diet is vegetable based and includes meats and fats. But I replenished our veggie stash at Costco on Thursday and it included:

• 2 bags (2lb each) fresh green beans
• 1 large bag baby kale
• 1 large bag spinach
• 2 cauliflowers
• 3 cucumbers
• 2 lbs cherry tomatoes
• 6 large bell peppers
• 5 lb sweet onions
• 5 lb bag apples
• 1 head each green and red cabbage

I want to say that some of this will last us into the next week….but the percentage of that is quite small. When really concentrating on balancing the right amount of veggies over three meals and trying to get variety, the volume adds up! Out of interest, the rest of my cart included:

• 2 pkg (6# each) ground pork
• 1 tray chicken thighs (25 thighs)
• 5 lbs ground beef
• 1 tray of wild pacific cod
• 1 large jar stuffed olives & pickled onions (YUM!)
• Avocado oil
• Olive oil
• 3 dozen eggs
• Lemon juice

In fairness, the meat/olives/oils portion of the cart will last us much longer than one week.

Skin, Hair, Nails: my nails are ah-MAY-zing! Hair is pretty good also! My skin needs more consistent attention and then I think it would be awesome also.

Energy: building….staying consistent and even through the day.

Mood: was in a good mood all week. Except Sunday. Sunday I felt like pewp.

Green Time: 174 minutes. Dropped the ball a bit this week….but am picking it back up for Week Four

Sleep/Sleep Habits: overall really solid. Not sure about sleeping right to my alarm though. Pre-Whole30, I woke up before my alarm….about every 3 minutes…for an hour. Not sure if sleeping solid TO my alarm is better (ie, more sleep, deeper and consistent) or if it’s because of a lack of energy that I am not waking up early?

Digestion/Headaches: Monday and half of Tuesday (Day 15 & 16) I had a wicked headache, AGAIN. But by Tuesday afternoon it was gone and hasn’t been heard from since! Digestion has been great also…until this weekend.

Other Thoughts: I’ve really come to value my Green Time and am so glad that I bit the bullet and wrote that into my expectations of this 30 days. Admittedly, sometimes I would rather just get home, make dinner and put my pajamas on…but then I get out into the fresh air and away from my phone and my house and away from multi-tasking and my chores. The only thing I can do when I’m out walking around…..is walk around. My thoughts slow down, my heart rate increases a bit (or a lot if I have tonnes of energy) and everything else takes a back seat. It’s lovely. I’m grateful to myself for assigning a duration rather than a distance or speed because it feels more natural and self-respectful and because it can then be whatever I need or want it to be that day.

Going into Week Four I’m bringing in morning gym time. I’ve got the basic W30 plan down, I have and continue to dial in my portions and now it’s time to make another big step and work in consistent morning gym time. I’m going to assign time to this as well and go for 45 minutes of any combination of stretching/yoga, cardio/rowing, bodyweight and heavy lifting…and I’m going to assign it as 3 days per week for the first week. There’s no reason that I cannot get some morning exercise 3 days out of the next 7 because it can be ANY combination I feel like doing. Plus the gym we built is beautiful!

Whole 30, Week One Recap

Week One Recap
I’m keeping my daily Whole30 log on the “Whole 30 Logging” tab above…or just click here:  https://fittyvsfatty.wordpress.com/whole-logging/

1 week down, overall feeling: not as awesome as I had hoped to be. Having done 6 days of Whole30 compliance near the end of August as a trial run, and had started to feel awesome (energy, sleep, mood) I was hoping for the same when I took on the real deal. Unfortunately I’ve had headaches, nausea, shitty sleep, low energy, bloating and fluctuating moods. I refuse to get discouraged because it’s only been the first week and that was a week coming off of holidays and heading into my period. So maybe, all things considered, it was alright!

Hardest aspect: I guess the hardest part right now is trying to stay in the moment and trust the process rather than projecting myself ahead and then getting upset that the changes that I want to see haven’t occurred yet.

Easiest aspect: completely surprising to me, but not snacking between meals has been the easiest thing and something I was pretty worried about going into this. If I stick to a proper template meal and drink a reasonable amount of water I don’t get hungry until the next meal. That has been really nice! I’ve had a couple days where I’ve chose to have a “mini-meal” that still fit the Whole30 template (Day 2 because my lunch wasn’t big enough and Day 7 where I probably could have just had some tea or water instead).

Most surprising discovery: I have been shocked in the last 7 days to find out how many times, when not on Whole30, that I would have put food or drink in my mouth mindlessly. It’s been a real awakening just how often I was using food as something other than fuel or nourishment. Boredom and wanting to distract myself or change my mood are the two main ones. I really, truly did not think that I would learn anything new about my psychological relationship with food during this process….and I’ve learned a big one in the first 7 days!

Food Summary
Eggs – 20
Bone Broth – 5.5L
Water – 9.5L
Veggies – cabbage, green beans, cucumbers, bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, mixed greens, swiss chard, beets, potatoes, carrots, onions, yellow beans, zucchini, sweet potato, mushrooms, fennel
Fruit – 7 prune plums, 5 apples, ½ peach
Fat – black olives, green olives, lard, mayo, olive oil
Protein – ground turkey, ground pork, chicken thighs, sockeye salmon fresh, salmon canned, eggs, ground beef

Skin, Hair, Nails: nails are awesome, skin is normal (for me) and hair is also awesome!
Energy: as noted above, not the gangbusters I was hoping for….but not hooooorible, either.
Mood: I would say over the last 7 days that my mood has fluctuated between irritable and kind of quiet. I won’t use the words “depressed”, “blue” or “bummed” because I wasn’t. Just….quiet.
Green Time: 238 minutes over 7 days…an average of 34 minutes/day. It’s mostly felt really good and I will continue that as we go. Fortunately it was gorgeous weather and that is about to end….but it’s fresh air even when it’s raining, so I’ll give it my best shot. I’ve really listened to myself for this green time as well….on lower energy days we go for a stroll and when I’ve got lots of energy we burn up the trails! The only requirement is to be outside moving around for 30 minutes or more.
Sleep/Sleep Habits: I’m patiently waiting for solid uninterrupted sleep followed by bushy-tailed wakeup. Hasn’t happened yet but I’m hopeful!
Digestion/Headaches: Blergh, I’ve had a couple headaches and a couple digestive horror shows. Hopefully this is coming to a close though!

Other Thoughts: Because I knew that my period was coming, I chose to include starchy carbs (beets, potatoes, yams) at least one meal per day in the first week. This might be why I haven’t had any huge cravings even though it’s pre-Alien week. I am going to scale those carbs back a wee bit though because past history has told me that I feel better with less of the roots. I’ll keep watch on my mood and energy though and will not feel badly about adding them back if needed. Plus, I finally figured out how to BAKE crispy yam fries this weekend and they were deeeelicious….so I definitely forsee those in our future!

My Passion Experiment – One Month Summary

A month ago I scratched a list onto a piece of paper of a bunch of things that I could do that would help to recharge me and keep me balanced and centered. Here’s the list. The items in blue were done at least once over the month and the items in green did not get done in March.

 

• Make bone broth
• Paint nails
• Wax legs (I had this done professionally…will NEVER go back to doing it myself!)
• Make salt scrub
• Make shampoo
• Do Coquitlam Crunch
• Exercise 3/week
• Go on an evening mid-week coffee date
• Do Sunday mall
• Go on road trip
• Get haircut
• Wax underarms
• Read before bed
• Enjoy couch time
• Make kombucha
• Go tanning

 

I did not make kombucha or bone broth although I did go so far as to buy jars for it…..but I decided against it due to cost at the moment. The cost of all those jars I would need add up! I did not make salt scrub because I totally forgot about that one. I did not hit the Coquitlam Crunch because, quite honestly, the weather has been so shitty that it wasn’t feasible. The nice days we did have, I rode my bicycle to work…climbing up the side of a mountain after that just seemed foolish!

 

Overall I’m pretty pleased with how the “experiment” has been going. Admittedly last week wasn’t tops for me, I had (& continue to have) horrible seasonal allergies and have been wasted on allergy medication for three weeks now. Add some ongoing difficult family issues to getting some very bad news about a good friend’s health and the final week of March sort of sucked. I felt out of sorts and blue and a bit off my game. Ray and I were bickering a bit (which is, honestly, completely out of character for us) and I was also recovering from riding nearly 65 kilometers (40 miles) over 7 days. Many of those kilometers were uphill. My body was also recovering from falling off of my bike and onto the road and/or trail and/or curb more times than I would like to admit. That definitely took a toll on me mentally as well as physically. Made me seriously question my crazy idea of riding my bike as a method of commuting!

 

Anyway, I don’t want to paint all of March with the same brush because most of it was really good. We did a lot of eating at the table, we did some after dinner dog walking, we conserved our money, we only ate out twice in the month. My social media usage has gone WAY DOWN during my at home hours (that is a huge one for me!).

 

I’m going to continue My Passion Experiment in April with a focus again on self-respect and awareness. I would like to see April contain more bicycle commuting, more weekend gym rowing, more tanning, a haircut, painted nails, dedicated couch time, our Sunday mall date, a massage (this is booked!), coffee with a friend (this is booked too, right Tara?), a family dinner, a blood donor appt and maybe depending on the weather, a motorcycle ride. I especially want to practice turning negative thoughts and feelings over to positive and, eventually, having a positive (or at least neutrally optimistic) attitude as my default. I want the majority of the things that I do (if not all of them) to be things that are done with the intent of adding passion to my inner self and value to my life overall.

 

As I enter April, I do not have a goals list ready to “guide me” along the way. Maybe that’s a mistake and if it is, I’ll be the first to admit it. I mostly want to go through April happy, healthy and active. If I can pull that off then everything else will fall into place!

February In Review

Another month has come to a close.  This month had a few bumps and bruises in it that were entirely unexpected and which did some damage to my momentum but since I can’t change the past, I am just going to keep moving forward.  Although I didn’t come in as successfully as I would have liked to (or as I had expected to), if I ask myself the question “Are you further ahead now than you were on February 1?”, I would have to answer yes.  I feel good and balanced and steady.  I haven’t thrown the map in the garbage just because the car got a flat tire.  The tire is fixed and the map is crisply refolded and I’m going again.

Let’s take a look at February.

MONEY

Spending (groceries):  the goal was to come in at $740 for the month of groceries.  We came in over the line at $853 for the month.  Two weeks we came in on target and two weeks we were over.

Spending (personal):   I had a $50 budget for the month.  I came in at $50.14 which included a cup of tea each weekend, a discounted Christmas decoration and face wash.  The face wash I’m not totally convinced should count towards my spending total since it is more of a “need” than a “want”.  If I don’t include it, I came in at $16.59 for the month.  YAY for no spending!  It is amazing to me what a habit “buying” had become.  In January I struggled with “wanting” things….in February, definitely less struggle!  So far I haven’t missed out on anything or kicked myself for not purchasing something.  This is Great!

Spending (eating out):  the goal was to only eat out twice this month, one breakfast and one dinner. I completely succeeded…..Ray mostly succeeded but he is known for a donut or a muffin in our travels.  But as far as meals eaten we were successful.

FOOD

Eat at Dinner Table:  the goal was at least three dinners each week.  We did not succeed.  I fully admit to being the one who dropped the ball on it and in some cases Ray was starting to get the placemats out and I asked if we could just curl up on the sofa instead.  It was a complete cop out in most cases and was the result of needing mindless time and some physical comfort (after having been hurt and then heading back to work).  For complete success we should have had 12 dinners at the table and we ended up with 8.  Not awful but it definitely could have been better.

Completely exclude dairy, grains, sugar: I will only abide by 100% compliance in order to call this one successful.  I was not.  Chocolate almonds when I was laid up on the sofa.  Deep fried pickle at pub night fundraiser dinner.  A Dark Chocolate Himalayan Salt Caramel yesterday.  Maple syrup on the Oven Pancake.  It’s not HOOOOORRIBLE….but it is a fail.

Limit alcohol to only Friday and/or Saturday:  Success!  Two weekends were completely dry, two weren’t.  One had the “Chardonnay Incident” and the other I had two glasses of decent red wine….which may have actually fueled the fried pickle issue from above.  Meh.

FITNESS

Gym, 3/week:  Complete fail.  I don’t even want to talk about this.  February was a disaster for fitness.

Outdoor jogging, 4 times around Perimeter Trail:  as per above

Do Coquitlam Crunch: again….no. However…on the two weekends that I actually did line up time to do this….the weather was horrid.  Torrential rain or heavy snow.

Bicycle to work:  Nope.  As above…I slotted in time on two different weekends to take care of this and it was miserable both times.

NOTE: I will be planning in a HUGE turnaround in March…February was simply unacceptable.

 

PERSONAL

Sort spice cabinet:  this is quasi sorted and will stay this way for a while. It’s mostly functional and I don’t want to spend money on it right now.

Finish organizing cookbook:  ya…no….this is still an enormous pain in my ass.  All the recipes are in a binder and in page protectors with page numbers on them…..my sticking point is in developing some sort of index/order.

No handheld technology after 6pm:  I wouldn’t call this a complete success…..but an enormous improvement!

Claim Wednesday nights:  YES!  I look forward to my evening to do whatever.

Get a haircut:  Yep and I love it!

Paint nails once/week:  Err…nope….not even once.  Told myself to get after it a couple of times…but ultimately didn’t even consider doing it.

Maintain both dining room tables free of clutter:  complete success! They both look GREAT!

 

RELATIONSHIP

Three “location” walks:  we did two….and they were fun.  Our third long walk ended up being at our regular park by our house…but it was REALLY snowy so it was like being somewhere different.  The purpose of this one was to get out of our same-old and go somewhere new, hold hands and just be with each other.  Success!

“No TV” Friday evening:  this happened on a Saturday, not a Friday but it happened.

I’ve gone on long enough now , so in summary…..I didn’t do as well in Feburary as I had planned…..but I still had the map and I kept referring to it.  I kept my goals in mind all month and whether I chose to do things that would achieve them or not….I went through the month awake and cognizant of what was happening.  As mentioned, March’s list is pared down significantly to include only spending, eating and exercise goals.  I feel that some of the habits I’ve been trying to form (eating at the table, no tech after 6pm) are fledged enough that I can keep them going without putting them on the list.

We have a weekend away trip booked for the end of March and I want to hit that trip at the end of the month on an upswing, going strong and feeling good.  I can totally achieve that!  I see March as an opportunity and I’m not missing it!