I improved 1% over the last week, but it’s still within failing territory :( Despite my said moment of clarity —which, given its ephemerality, I can’t even remember it—, I see that my recent forced change of plans impacted negatively not only on the bootcamp but in my overall peace of mind as well.

The good news is that I see that drinking two liters of water a day has become an established habit at 99% (just plain water, and not counting other liquids such as tea or fruit water). So at least this is a small accomplishment that it’s worth acknowledging. Also, I’ve reached 87% effectiveness of avoiding junk food and soda.

Onto May… 3 years ago

It was my first month of doing Boothcamp and I must say it gave me great motivation to do things that I really didn’t feel like doing, especially is such a busy month. So progress:

PER DAY.
The objective of these were to form habits in my life. And that was successfully achieved. Well with the exception of the getting into bed before 2am. I’ve realized there’s no way I can accomplish that in the last month of school. So it will be back on my May list when I have more free time and I’m able to “control” my life a bit more.

1. Pray twice daily
2. Drink at least 2 glasses of water daily
3. Go to bed before 2am no less than 2 days a week

PER WEEK.
More habit forming. I’m ecstatic about the breakfast though!! I never used to eat breakfast….never! But now….I’m doing even more than I had hoped for in April. I can actually tell when I didn’t have breakfast. This is great. Need to work on the excercise part though….especially now that I’m eating more.

1. Eat breakfast at least 2 days a week
3. Exercise at least 2 times a week

PER MONTH.
This was my “things-to-do” list. Things that are just still on other lists I have in other places. And no, I didn’t make much progress on this. I did do my social events and I got A’s...which I’m also ecstatic about. The dance routines did not get done but it’s mainly because the program was pushed back…and well the procrastination list….aye!

1. Get 2 A’s on any 2 school projects in April
2. Choreograph 2 new dance routines in April
3. Complete 2 things on my procrastination list in April
4. Attend 2 social events in April

Generally I’m pleased with my outcome and I’m trying to applaud myself for small steps. If I continue this throughout the year I’ll be able to achieve lots of great things. On to May where I have more time and I’m excited to see the outcome! 3 years ago

have ill health derail my bootcamp, but I did go to the gym when I was well and prioritized sketching and doing self-portraits. I didn’t check in twice a day, which I want to start doing, and since I can’t remember what else I was trying to do, I imagine I didn’t do it. Onward to May! 3 years ago

My amazing bootcamp did slide, as predicted, the last six days of April. Not because of losing motivation, as it did in other months, but because I got sick and because I was absolutely absorbed in the process of finishing my thesis. Considering all I had going on, I think I did amazingly in April. Here’s the final summary of my progress.

TOTAL: 172/178 – 97 percent completion rate
6/9 goals were fully completed in April
World record! :)

1. Do yoga at least twice per week(7/10) Didn’t go at all in the last week, and missed the last three classes because I was sick. 70% overall but 100% for the healthy time in April.
2. Meditate twice per day(66/66) – Didn’t miss a beat. 100% for April.
3. Post to my yoga blog at least twice in April(2/2) DONE.
4. Cook twice a week(8/10) Did not cook at all in the final week. 80% overall and 100% for the first four weeks of bootcamp.
5. Have two fully vegan days a week(10/10) Fully vegan on Tuesday and Thursday. 100% for April.
6. Get back on track with marathon training by the end of the 2nd week in April(1/1) DONE. Up to 10 miles without injury; over 21 miles in the last week of bootcamp.
7. Check in twice a day on regular health maintenance routines: stretching, hydration, nutrition, training, quad exercises, etc.(66/66) – Done every day, 100% in April, and I believe this was the key to my success.
8. Do rehab exercises every two days from April 7- 30.(11/12) Just missed the very last day – I had a 7-mile run scheduled and also had to finish all my thesis edits by the end of the day. I opted for the run and pushed the rehab to today.
9. Email the doctor after a two-week trial period (by April 21) for further instructions(1/1) DONE. 3 years ago

April Bootcamp has been a bit of a failure. I took on too much, couldn’t stay focused, felt defeated, and ultimately gave up. I am, however, going to take a last look at my goals to see where I stand:

2X
-2 fruits and 2 veggies a day. This was a miserable failure. And I’ve been feeling like crap because of it. So…lesson learned, I hope!
-2 Zumba classes in April. Did one!
-2 yoga classes a week. I only missed one week of yoga. Some weeks did 2 sessions, some weeks did 1.
-2 workouts at the gym a week. Did get to the gym (or did some form of exercise) multiple times each week.
-2 walks a week. Nope.
-2 “15 minute tidy up sessions” a day, both morning and evening. Most mornings, but very few evenings.

5X
-5 annoying jobs done in April. Didn’t really get any annoying jobs done. I find it overwhelming just to cope with the everyday things. Oh well…the world isn’t going to stop revolving if my closet isn’t cleaned out.
-5 points journalled each day (point-form is my new journal strategy for April).I actually did this for most of the month. Still need to transfer the rough notes into my journal.
-5 lbs lost in April. Ironically, I am the exact (to the ounce) weight that I was on the 1st of January!!! WTF? Anyhow, I’ll reflect more on this in my Lose 5 Lbs goal debrief.
-5 days a week of food tracking. Uh..yeah, NO!
-5 weigh ins, beginning April 1st. Did this, but it just depressed me.
-5 minutes spent each morning and evening, reflecting on the diet/exercise plan for the day. Started off strong, but got frustrated so I gave it up.
-5 Sun Salutations, 5 mornings a week Not so much, though I have done lots of yoga.

Well…I have made some strides since January 1st. I’m working out regularly, I’m building muscle, I’m feeling emotionally strong, I’m doing yoga, and I’m (maybe?) getting messages about some inner work that I need to do surrounding weight.

Now…time for May Bootcamp: Mindfulness and Simplicity! 3 years ago

Things were accomplished in April.

Nutrition, exercise, and other healthy stuff:
I walked more than half a million steps, ate less and better, joined the Wii Fit junkies and have been working daily on balance, aerobic exercise, strength, and yoga, lost several pounds (hit the 140’s for the first time in years) and am slowly smoothing out and tightening up, there were lots of outside adventures, less TV, I drank whole waterfalls by the glassful, broke a sweat daily and slept well at night. Physically I’m feeling great, and definitely motivated to continue that push.


Cleaning & decluttering:
I jumped into this one in fits and spurts but managed to get a lot accomplished, both tangible and virtual. The place was fit enough for company and we took carloads of things away (like the stagnant computer and VHS tapes), the storage room is tidier, more boxes are empty or consolidated, there were trips to the recycling depot, and the great closet weed-out is still underway. Noticeable progress, but still a long way to go.


Frogs:
Although I didn’t list everything, I pushed myself to do at least a couple of things daily that I needed to do (and sometimes didn’t want to face), whether it was dealing with doctors appointments, exercising or cleaning when I didn’t feel like it, starting the taxes (groan!), dealing with difficult situations and contacts, offering up my veins, ironing out long time put off household matters, looking into (and getting) a part time job, and asking for help when I needed it, which is not always my forte.


I pushed myself harder than usual in April, and look forward to starting May bootcamp with a focused and mindful pursuit of my goals. Motivated simplicity. I’ll bring my bag of frogs with me.

Cheers to all! Time to check this one off and launch ourselves into the next month! 3 years ago

And perhaps jumping in on two-a-day month was a bit over ambitious of me. Especially given that we moved in the middle of it, too!

Oh well. Time to let it go. New month, fresh start. The last couple of mornings when I woke up, I found myself thinking “today is the beginning of tomorrow” i.e. that all the things I had told myself the night before that I would do “tomorrow” were now fresh on my agenda again. Not really sure whether that’s an encouraging message or not, though. 3 years ago

I wasn’t able to keep up with my goals everyday. Of course I didn’t in the first week or two after my dad’s death. Since then I’ve been easing back into exercise—first cardio, then strength training. But I’m afraid the sugary-food agreement with myself has simply gone by the wayside.

During May I’m going to keep focusing on exercise & sleep. 3 years ago

I think this month could have been better but I did the best I could. And actually looking back with reflection, I actually did more than I think and give myself credit for…. (what a surprise)

Have a Juice-only-day I’ve had 5 of these in April, so thats good. I’m glad I finally am doing the programme of 7 day juicing properly.
Read for an hour I have read quite alot, mainly juicing book and Louise Hay but it’s better than nothing!
Work on folio / appointments / Go-see’s for two hours I’ve had 3 separate appointments and then a crit with 6 agents one night… so did really good on this… I broke my cherry, now I just need to keep going.
Full body pamper timeGo for a run (think Triathlon!) I did 2 days of this and then my back started really hurting. I think I need to loose some weight and get that core strength up more before I put my body through this
Work for 4 hours uninterrupted – switch phone / emails off! I have done this a number of times this month – check out the person who stopped keeping track! – but only once where I consciously remember turning off the phone and emails.
Drink 1.5lt of Water I have been drinking more but again not recording it and being conscious of it
Deep Clean the house for two hours – 2 times…. and boy did it need it!

• Have a Juice-Soup-Salad day
• Go for a swim (think Triathlon!)
• Go for a bike ride (think Triathlon!)
• Attend a Zumba class

All in all ok…. It was a good idea and I might try and apply it in another form some time. I am looking forward to May bootcamp and keeping it simple… and this month was a little too much for me and I just spent alot of time telling myself I was rubbish for not doing the things I said I would. 3 years ago

Here’s my report:

not enough work on the physical side. Had dog in heat and had to alter my days to look after her. There is no penning her up as she is an escape artist. So I spent hours on end with her, and she did love it. She’s feeling extra special now.

the attitude : major shift. I will not go into detail for all the usual reasons. Tally this on the plus side. 3 years ago

But at least I’m trying. The walking outside as gone the way of more intense desk work. I am wearing a pedometer starting tomorrow so between the running up and down stairs and the running back and forth between houses when I’m cooking, I think that I still put in the 2 miles a day.
The EFT was more sporadic than I wanted, but will continue working on it. It does make a difference.
Clean-up, got a long done, more doing. Spent more time outside when it was nice, cold and rainy again, so back to the house.
I think that being in the group and working together, cheering it each other on will be very helpful. I’m eager to start on May. 3 years ago

Don’t feel I really tuned into this goal. After coming down with strep throat, I fell out of my groove. This week has been productive though. On to May… 3 years ago

I was not as successful as I had hoped! But I will keep trying… next month Simplicity! Should be more doable! 3 years ago

8am Spin class
Teacher: OKAY, let’s see how much DAMAGE WE CAN DO !!!
Me: ha ha ha!
Rest of the class: silence
Teacher: What, only one person wants a piece of the damage?!

So on this last day of April, I leave you all with this thought:

Want it. Want a piece of the damage.

_{no idea what that means really}

Barracuda! 3 years ago

In April I wanted to do yoga twice a day morning/night, vitamins twice a day morning/night, meditation twice a day morning/night and pick my room twice a day morning/night. Then I also wanted to read two books within this month.

I did not always do a full yoga routine twice a day but I can say I did stretch nearly every day, twice a day the entire month. The vitamins were hit and miss. I really need to make a morning routine and night routine that is easy figure out what to do with my routine when I stay over at other people’s houses. And I did a really good job with picking up my room in the morning before class and at night before bed. Of course when I stayed over at friends houses I could not do it and there were periods of time I was just in such a horrible mind set I could not do it but for the most part that was a success.

The books was not a success with really makes me sad because I absolutely love books and I just got a good two dozen more books for free. I started a bunch of new books and I did finish one but I really just did not find the time to get through the second one and I really need to work on finding more time to read books. 3 years ago

Yesterday was another success day, with all of my intentions met. The workout I’m doing are seriously tough, and I can feel myself getting a little bit stronger each week. This morning was my weekly weigh-in, and it showed 2 pounds lost in the past week! Yay! It is still a little disappointing that I’m not going to lose the 8-13 pounds promised in the South Beach Diet book, but I think it may be that a lot of that weight is water weight, and I didn’t have water weight to lose in the first place.

Anyway, on to Friday! My intentions for today are:
1) Mindfully and carefully follow the South Beach eating plan
2) give my all to my daily weight training program
3) continue using conscious breathing to deal with emotions and stay with my eating plan.

A final note: April bootcamp was a big success for me! I was able to find an eating plan that seems to be working for me. Aside from helping me get off a lengthy weight loss plateau, I also haven’t eaten sugar or refined carbs in almost two weeks. This does seem to make a difference in how I feel. I’ve also made great improvements in strength training. I’ve been focusing a lot in therapy on the long-standing issues that are tied in with my eating and body image problems, and, while progress is slow, at least I am moving in the right direction.

I am totally ready for May Bootcamp. Rawrrrrr! 3 years ago

Posting on this goal kind of fell apart, as did action on some parts of it, but not to worry, I’ve made some progress in many areas.

• water – managed at least a litre more days, often more, even though I’m at home all day at the moment.
• heel – I did sporadic exercises in dribs and drabs, though to be honest because of the increase in walking when my car died my heel was so painful this month that even doing the physio was hard. But I’ve certainly done them more often than I was before, and I’m remembering to wear my insole supports more often, trainers in the house etc.
• EFT – went down the plughole after a couple of weeks. But again, I still did more this month than I would normally.
• Fruit – I have made major increases in my fruit intake this month, so I’m proud of that. Acheived the two-a-day goal about half the time, and one-a-day almost every day.
• meds – not every day (in fact my doc has told me to stop taking one of them once I run out) but again, major improvement. My old-lady pill organiser helps. I think perhaps I should keep it somewhere more visible to remind me.
• hunger rating – meh. Statistically I’ve not done great, but I’m maintained awareness of hunger and fullness (even if I’ve not always eaten accordingly_
• gratitudes – began recording my “best thing today” on Twitter using the hashtag #bestthingtoday so I’m counting that as a win.

• two jobs a week – ugh. I did land a part-time job but I otherwise failed on this goal. There is so little out there that I want to do, and my motivation to apply (and then face multiple rejections for jobs that I’d be brilliant at) is low.
• two LC marketing activities – brilliant win, since this is now my (part-time) job.
• sell two things a week – er, I sold two things this month?! I tried to sell a lot more, but no one bit.
• exercise – oof, well, not really. I did a lot of walking which fucked up my heel, but other than that, no.

• 3 years ago

didn’t post here very much. Was outdoors a lot of the month and walked a lot. Work was, as usual, a good workout. Spent a lot of April in a reverie and wrote a lot of poems about Spring. 3 years ago

Well – I think April was a success! I managed about 1 litre of water each day on average… which seems to work for me at the moment, so I might stick to just the one! I’ve kept fruit to one or two serves a day (was eating too much fruit before for my insulin resistance issue) but could still work on my veg intake. And moisturising my face… well, it’s better than it was, but not quite daily!

Now… exercise – I am quite proud of! I’ve done my 25 minutes on 23 of the 30 days, which is pretty good I think! I’m “upping” my time to 30 minutes in May, see how I go with that! I average about 9 kilometres in 25 minutes… so should be able to do 10-11 kms in 30 mins.

I didn’t start Bootcamp to lose weight as such – but seeing as my weight is a big health problem, I DO need to get it down. I haven’t been weighing myself (am toying with the idea of doing so for the May bootcamp though) but I DID measure my waist and bust in the beginning of April to see if they changed at all in a month.

Well, the results are in…

I’ve lost 8 cms (3.15 inches) from my waist and 5 cms (1.97 inches) from my bust! Wow! I could feel my clothes were fitting a bit differently, but I had NO idea it was so significant!

Bootcamp ROCKS!! :-) 3 years ago

Last day!

• 25 mins on bike

• 1 litre of water

• 1 fruit and 2 veg

• moisturised once

I am grateful for…

• my lovely, supportive man

• BOOTCAMP!!!3 years ago

• exercise – no… didn’t do the bike today :-(

• again… maybe a litre of water

• 1 fruit and 4 veg

• didn’t moisturise

I am grateful for…

• 2 more nights to go!

• the beautiful full moon 3 years ago

That’s all I have to say about that.
_{ok not really…you know me}

Today’s leg workout:

adductors: 115-120, abductors: 115-120 (3 sets of 15, feet flat)
hamstrings: 35, quads: 30 (could barely do 10 ! 3 sets)
calf raises: 6 sets, 3 at 25, 3 at 30, 1 at 37.5
_{not sure about these…my feet get tired/sore before my calves do, and the weight bar hurts my shoulders…maybe I should just do millions of releves holding some free weights instead of using the machine?)}
glutes: 3 sets of 10 @ 60, I think… _{should have done this one first because I was really tired when I got to it & half the time it felt as if my quads were doing all the work, which is weird!}

Legs officially sore for days. :P 3 years ago

Yesterday started out with a demoralizing weigh-in, in which the scale showed that I’d lost zero pounds since switching over to South Beach eating. Therefore, I’m counting it as a huge victory that I did not throw in the towel and kept at it. This morning, the scale shows all the weight loss back plus another pound, for a grand total of four pound lost in the last eleven days.

I do believe that focusing on slow, deep breathing helped a lot in dealing with emotions that had the potential to undermine my success. Of course, I also exercise and ate exactly as intended. Yay!

My intentions for today are right here:
1) Scrupulously follow the South Beach plan.
2) Gratefully enjoy 45 minutes of aerobic exercise
3) Breathe slowly & deeply often, especially before meals. 3 years ago

went with loads of emotional clatter…
some changes made..

• done with :
  drink more water..
  work & study..

• not happy with:
  meditation & tapes… wasn’t regular & disciplined..
  exercise & yoga.. this was OK.. but not as per plan.. 3 years ago

• 25 mins on bike

• probably only a litre again – seems to be all that I can manage lately!

• 2 fruit and 2 veg

• didn’t moisturise – oops!

I am grateful for…

• getting through 2 days of accreditation and doing really well!

• finally noticing a change in my body – feeling healthier and even a little slimmer :-) 3 years ago

I’m definitely feeling the morning sickness lately :( Haven’t really been keeping up on here, but so far I haven’t been doing too bad. Eating a lot of fruits and veggies, taking, prenatal vitamins, going for walks, and getting 8+ hours of sleep (I can’t believe how tired I am!!). I can’t wait to start May Bootcamp :) 3 years ago

To recap yesterday, I didn’t exercise because it was a planned rest day. I think planned rest days are good. It helps me from feeling sore all the time. I was impeccable with my eating program. For the first time since starting South Beach eating, I was hungry most of the day. I also had sugar cravings, which was unexpected, since by now the cravings should be gone. Oh, well, I stuck with it anyway.

Today’s intentions:
1) Continue carefully eating the South Beach way
2) Lift weights with vigor!
3) Remember to use deep breathing as an aid to meeting all my goals, especially eating-related ones 3 years ago

Looks like I overfaced myself, because I’m not getting these things done every day and I’ve stopped recording them! I have definitely made improvements in all these areas though, and although I’m not hitting my targets every day I’m definitely more mindful of them. Which is handy, as next month’s bootcamp is all about mindfulness. 3 years ago