Freelance writer & editor. My mission is to help families get fit and stay healthy.
Hi everyone. Just posting a quickie today to let you know I’m still here. My kids & my professional responsibilities are taking priority over my “leisure” writing today. Getting a lot done, too. Last week was supposed to be the first full week of everyone back at school and work after Christmas vacation. (18 days) Then I woke up at 3 am for no reason on Thursday and couldn’t get back to sleep. Felt sluggish all day and finally submitted to a power nap in the afternoon, foregoing some work I’d planned to finish. I know this was the right call – I was falling asleep at my keyboard and would’ve had to rewrite anything I’d produced if I’d stayed awake and forced myself to finish. If you have to do something, do it right the first time, I always say. Then my husband came home early on Friday. So much for that full week of getting myself back to a regular, productive work schedule. I felt like I started a million things and hardly finished anything. Before Christmas, I planned a fancy new color-coded schedule for myself, trying to devote certain days to certain ongoing projects. I’m still testing it out and seeing how it works. But so far, not bad. I’m sure there will always be room for adjustments. It’s hard to predict how much work I’ll have and which clients will need attention each week. But at least it’s a plan I can deviate from, rather than just trying to work myself to death each day before my kids get home from school, and then burning myself out.
There is some good and bad to report since I last blogged. Here we go.
This wasn’t the best weekend for eating. We wound up going out to lunch on Friday when my husband came home early from work unplanned. Then on Saturday, we went out to lunch again. Not the best choices, especially two days in a row. But it is what it is. The positive is that I ordered water both days and watched everyone else drink soda and didn’t miss it.
I went 5 days in a row getting in 10,000 steps on my pedometer.
Everyone had to be out of the house early on Saturday so I skipped my gym workout. I felt pretty bad about that, but it would’ve meant getting up between 4 and 5 am on my one day of the week that I actually get to “sleep in,” which means 6:30 am if I’m lucky. I just wasn’t in the mood to get up that early and drive on icy roads, so I didn’t go. I tried to stay active during the day. Got in a lot of steps shopping with my daughter. Better than sitting on my ass all day, I guess.
Restaurant lunches aside, I’ve been eating pretty healthy. I’m a freak about menu planning. I’ll go on a kick and plan 5 weeks in advance. I planned lots of healthy meals, so this hasn’t been too hard. I’m definitely getting more veggies, which is always my downfall. Been trying to focus of protein & veggies, with fewer carbs at most meals. This is what has worked best for me in the past. Just need to get back into the habit. I’m slowly but surely getting there.
Professionally, one difficulty I’m having is the fact that I need to do a lot more reading for one of my clients. I don’t want to go into too many details about the subject matter yet, but it is really weird for me to think of sitting and reading as “work.” Of course, I didn’t think anything of sitting on my ass before and reading a million “news” stories for my entertainment each day. I guess it’s just different knowing that this is something that will be part of my job until I get into the groove and learn to write in a new (to me) format. As a result, I’ve been putting it off and that’s not doing me any favors. ( <—- Just admitting that is progress.) My big goal today is to sit and read this material for at least 45 minutes. Baby steps.
I guess that’s about it. I took some time to read blogs from my fellow “Sparkies” the other day and I’m really impressed with everyone’s goals and progress. This is a great support system, and I’m very blessed and proud to be a part of it.
You are really dong great don’t be so hard on yourself girl! Look at all the changes you have made in just a couple weeks. No soda is so HUGE that is why so many people try to get off it over and over. Balance is tough it is like an eternal search for all of us. You’re doing great!
5 days in a row with 10,000 steps is pretty awesome! You are one busy lady, so I think it sounds like you are doing a great job at working in some activity.
Just skimming through most of these posts, so I may have missed vital info, but it sounds a lot like sciatica. I injured my back last year with a twisting/lifting movement and was in agony as far down as my calf. The back pain itself seemed to ease a bit in the following days, but instead became concentrated in the butt. Getting on/off seats, bending down, even getting in/out of bed was awful. It lasted for weeks. There was only one position I found completely comfortable; lying with a small cushion and hot water bottle under my butt/back where the two meet. I think it must have supported the place where the nerve was trapped, temporarily relieving the pressure and thus also the pain. I was taking anti-inflammatory pain meds too, but they don’t take those sharp stabbing shocks away! I still get twinges of it if I’m sat in one place for ages, like on long bus journeys, or if I’ve had a couple of inactive days, but otherwise it’s okay. If it IS sciatica, make sure to never cross your legs over one another whilst sitting; it twists everything out of alignment and makes it more likely to reoccur! Also, if you get a jolt of pain as you go to move, only move on your in-breath; for some reason (oxygen levels?) it’s more bearable that way.
Thanks everyone. Shannon & June, you’re right. I know I’m making progress. I still occasionally fall into that all or nothing mentality so once I screw up, I feel like I’m done for. AND, I’m down a half-pound today, which was pretty surprising. But I’ll take it. This is the last number I got stuck on, and it’s been quite a while, so if I can move past this number, I’ll feel like I’m really making progress.
Michele, I had sciatica a few times while I was pregnant, but I don’t think that was it. Definitely the pinched nerve a few years ago, and then afterward, more likely everything was just out of whack from always being on the couch. So glad those days are behind me and I can really move again.
Thanks for stopping by!