Off the Beaten Plan

plan: to devise or project the realization or achievement of

Exercise…FAIL

So I didn’t get up to exercise early yesterday. And I almost made it today, but a super sore, hurts-to-swallow throat last night sent me to bed early and kept me in bed as long as possible.

Why do I find it so hard to get up early in the morning to exercise? I know I’m not a morning person, but I should be able to overcome that, right?

It crossed my mind that perhaps it would be a good idea to simply establish the habit at the time of day at which I am at my best, or when it is easiest to get a workout in my routine, which is in the evenings. Then once I have the habit strong, I could attempt to move it to a more productive (metabolism-wise) time of the day – first thing in the morning after hopping out of bed.

I don’t have any research to support my theory, but I’m going to have to hope it’s right for now. Because yesterday and today were massive exercise FAILs, and I can’t afford to have any more of those.

Exercise…FAIL was published on January 22nd, 2010, with the tags , , , under the Editorial, Planning category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Getting Back on Track

to do...done!I haven’t done much reading lately due to my November commitment. I also did absolutely no web design, nor did I do anything, actually, to help support my family. December is also a rocky month, and so my goals are not too high, but I here is a quick list of things that I would like to accomplish and work back into my daily routine.

  • Regular reading of actual books currently purchased and on my bookshelf.
  • Design of real estate website templates for my coworker who then creates the actual sites.
  • Wii Fit exercise – at least 30 minutes/credits per day.
  • Walking – a few times a week with a friend who could use the company, I think.
  • Publication of new Squidoo Lenses. I’ve been nominated for Giant Squidhood, I just need another 40 lenses or so, and could write about…
    • The books I’m going to read.
    • Things I’m learning in my design travels.
    • Life experiences I’ve had and how I’ve dealt with them.
    • My favorite things.
    • My vacation to Prague two years ago.
    • My father’s disease.
    • The tattoo I recently started planning. (Excitement!!)

If I could get a schedule going, where I do X on Monday, and YY on Tuesday, etc, that would be the bomb. Having a schedule is, in my experience, the single best way for me to get things done.

When I went back to school in 2000, I began working the night shift at my job. I had the absolute best job, because I got to work for two hours, and study or read or whatever for the remaining six. My schedule was strict. Beginning at 11 p.m., I would work until midnight, where I would then take one hour to surf the Internet, chat, play games or read. Then from 1 a.m. until I was either done with my homework, or if it was a project I couldn’t complete in one night, until 4 a.m., I would study my ass off. Then from 4 a.m. until my shift was over, I would get to do whatever again – work, play, read, chat, whatever. Do you know what happened to my grades when I started that schedule?

I got A’s everywhere. Absolutely everywhere. It was a wonderous thing, especially since I had never considered myself anything more than a B average student.

So that’s the deal. As I work through December, I’ll keep giving updates. Maybe Monday mornings will be my update days, as Sunday evenings are usually the evenings when I have the least time. :)

Getting Back on Track was published on December 3rd, 2009, with the tags , , , , , , , , , , under the Organization, Planning category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.

Feeling the Sick Coming On

I’ve caught a cold on the eve of my wedding anniversary, and I couldn’t be more bummed about it. I actually felt the cold coming last night. It was just a sensation in my head – nothing full blown, and really indescribably. But I knew it, so I started drinking water and orange juice during the day today to try to hold things off.

No go. I’m dripping and sneezing, and I think my daughter is, too.

It occurs to me that I could have planned for this. I mean, you can’t really control when a cold comes, but there are things you can do in your daily life to avoid being as exposed to them. I could have been exercising regularly. I could have been eating more balanced meals instead of all the junk I usually consume. And the soda. Even last night when I first felt the cold, I grabbed another diet soda even though I knew it wasn’t going to do me any favors.

So in the Personal Wellness category, I have some things to think about.

My lousy eating habits

These are affecting my family, too, since about half the time I’m cooking for them as well as myself. Easy meals like Dirt and Worms (code for Chef Boyardee – long story) and Hot Pockets are attractive because they’re, well, easy. Fast. Quick cleanup. Not so much on healthy – at least not as much as spaghetti with beans would be, and a nice tall glass of milk. Nearly as easy, much better choice.

My lousy exercise habits

Once again, affecting the family. We’re trying to get settled in our new house, and when I get winded just going up the stairs (seriously, that happens), I can’t do as much as if I hadn’t just spent all my energy getting to the second floor. And then there’s the whole example to my kids bit. Yes, we take them to the park and they get a chance to run like wild childs and wear themselves out, but they aren’t seeing me do anything. So when they get older and the park no longer holds any appeal, what are they going to do? Park on the couch and watch TV, just like Mommy.

My love for diet carbonated beverages and energy drinks

This might just be the worst. Diet soda implies nothing bad, but when it’s replacing goods like skim milk, water, occasional juice, well, there’s nothing good about that. The energy drinks are worse, because not only do I get the immediate perk of all that caffeine, I also get a more immediate crash – usually right around 2 or 3 p.m. when I’m at work. That’s bad, because that’s usually when I need to push the hardest. And the calories in those suckers! (Because you know I’m not drinking the diet energy drinks, no siree.)

So what’s the plan, Stan?

Name’s Nicki, not Stan, but whatever. My plan? I don’t have a plan. “What? A planning blog without a plan?” Well, I’m actually just learning to plan. I’m very good at Laissez-faire, and not so good at getting things done. Although I am improving, I think. And in the spirit of improving…

My (rough draft) plan:

  1. Get over the sick – lots of rest (I’m going to bed soon), no more than one soda until I’m healed, lots of liquids, and find an OTC medicine that will hack it for me to get me on the road to recovery.
  2. Get drinking – water, that is. And more milk. DH drinks it like it’s going out of style (2 gallons a week), and I barely finish one.
  3. Get moving – this will be hardest. It’s a new neighborhood, I don’t know how safe it is at night, when I have the best chance to move. Perhaps I can scope things out and set a route during the day as I do some shopping tomorrow.

This isn’t a scientific plan, but I also don’t think all plans need to be. This is basic, and something I think I can handle. I’ll challenge the food switch after I master the drinking. Hopefully these will be the tools I need to get going on the right path.

Feeling the Sick Coming On was published on September 6th, 2009, with the tags , , , , under the Personal Enrichment, Planning category. There are currently no comments on this article so far.