Small Victories, Week 1*

Weighing in tomorrow, which I'm kind of nervous and scared of, but really shouldn't be; I've done my best, & had some really good moments, made reasonable choices and the scale is only 1 measure.

So I'm going to blog my weekly 'small victories', that aren't about the scale.

I started out the 2020 New Year a little late, as I always have, because my fam celebrates multiple Xmas's (which I *LOVED* as a kid, double the gifts some years! & can get everything marked down, plus now that some of my fam lives either across the country or in Canada, and everyone's work schedules are different, we actually do several food & gift sessions)—both the standard & the Ukrainian Orthodox (the old calendar of the Church, a couple weeks later) (i.e. Jan 7, standard 'epiphany'); and I, personally, celebrate Solstice/Yule on the 21st. The tree is currently still up (doesn't get put up until week of Solstice—I like only the lights on it on Solstice so it gets ornaments the 22nd/23rd) until at least Ukrainian New Year, which is next Mon., though in Ukraine, traditional Jan 1 is the most important. Holidaze.

Anyway, so I (re)started my 'NewYearNewYou' Jan 1 still eating all the sweets that my sweets-crazed (including me) fam enjoys (& lately, as the folks have gotten older, lots of gifts of fancy chocolates, and other food gifts as it's something that still is easy and appreciated; used to be alcohol, but some of those actually got re-gifted to some of the fam this year, because they are simply not being consumed). So I tracked my food but didn't *really* start working my plan (healthier choices & movement daily) until a few days ago.

1) I tracked everyday since Jan 1 (I'm convinced this will be the key for me)

2) I'm doing h2whoa, not perfectly yet, but much better (takes gulp) and I have the added restriction that the bathroom is optimally used/available only at certain times, so I figured out that mostly I need to be done with my 8 glasses of water often within 8 hours of waking, and I'm a slow drinker, & have 1-2 1% lattes daily first

3) I'm sore. Just slightly, but I can definitely feel that I've worked out. The good kind of sore that re-engaging muscles that haven't been worked out in a while gives me. I went from almost zero (I had done a very little exercycling in Dec) to almost 90 (min, including up to half an hour of cardio house cleaning) this week. And I've done *some* movement every day. And I started working on push-ups & used the new 8 pound weights (once; mostly used the 5 pounders & yesterday no weights, just movements-didn't wanna be TOO sore) I holidaze gifted myself.

4) I'm following a better, healthier lifestyle. Haven't fit in everything I wanted, yet, but am being patient with myself (I usually want too much, too, lol; I'm a bit of an extremist vs. a 'moderate/moderation in all things', balanced kind of a person. I'm an Aquarius; we are the lightning bolts of the zodiac, so sudden change and going intensely comes with the territory. I get bored otherwise. It's actually kind of hard to keep the changes 'small'. In terms of food, as an ex-veg for a quarter of a century, I have NO problem getting in my freggies (spark nutrition report has chided me multiple times in the past that I was getting TOO much fiber! no so thing, imo, but...I'm somewhat of an extremist) anyway, portion control and just TOO MUCH, especially mindless eating, has been an issue.

5) While my sister was visiting, we went on several walks, but then my injury from this summer, an achilles heel issue, flared up, as she was leaving. I was limping as the week started, and huffing and puffing up the stairs. I worked out in a low impact manner, and was gentle and it went away, and yesterday I bounded up the stairs quickly!

6) I've been doing tidying and deep-cleaning to get aerobic benefit of housework about a half hour each day and the house, esp. the kitchen, is looking better.

7) I've been sparked and inspired, and have also realized that it's not just about food and moving, but about how the mind is connected to the body (& I've always been someone who 'lives in their head'; in high school I was considered one of the 'brains' & took honors & AP classes in every subject; I recall a specific sci-fi type assigned short story in jr. high where the society evolved that one could rent out different bodies to 'wear', and I was totally into that, whereas a friend thought that was very disconnected comparatively, and was thought it was horrid.) More on mind-body integration and mindfulness at another time.

So...regardless of what the scale says at my weigh-in, I've already had a week's worth of (small) victories, by working my program.
As one of the AlAnon meetings I used to go to (re: an alcoholic ex) used to say:

"Keep coming back. It works if you work it, and YOU'RE WORTH IT."

*I've done 'week1' before, many times, so had to caveat that title with an *

Member Comments About This Blog Post

v 1CRAZYDOG
Great job!
577 days ago
v LIFECHANGZ
awesome wk 1 nsv's and activities!! woot!
578 days ago
v MOMOFBOYS

579 days ago
vCD4994568
Those are not small victories - they are big ones!!!
580 days ago
v KPHEALTHY4LIFE
You are having great success! Keep it up :-)
581 days ago
v DEEGIRL50
I love that you're being patient with yourself and celebrating the small victories! They all add up.
581 days ago
v DEBIGENE
WOW you are def on a roll lady, keep at it and you will surprise even yourself. Remember getting and staying healthy is the ultimate goal and it takes time to change those old habits into new ones. Enjoy the journey.
581 days ago
vGRAMPIAN
Best of luck.
581 days ago
v FIT2BETHIN
Focusing on the positives is a win win in my book! WTG!
581 days ago
v TWIGBISKIT5
Excellent plan 👍. Good luck on your new journey 😁. Blessings for a wonderful week 🙏😇
581 days ago
v EOWYN2424
Good luck!
581 days ago
v LOF7203
Thanks for sharing
581 days ago