July 13: The Weekly Check-In

A bright & sunny HELLO to you my sexy friends! Today is a great day because I get to review the week and plan the next 🙂 Count my losses but also the wins.

Without further ado:

Stop drinking coffee

This one is definitely a “no-go”. I believe I was only able to stick to the plan for 3 weekdays, beyond that I would slip, especially whenever I’d feel lethargic from my workouts. My conclusion: this isn’t such a big deal to me right now, obviously I love my morning cuppa too much, so I’m going to put my energies elsewhere.

Start Weighing Myself

This is brilliant, I love this idea, I found out I gained 5 kilos from last December, I was really bothered about this but since starting to weigh myself last Monday, I’ve also been conscious about my food intake and managed to lose 1 kilo through some adjustments. Outstanding!

Additional buggers this week:

If there is anything the difficulties & heartaches of being an expat SAHM taught me that would definitely be having little to no tolerance for wallowing in problems. I just cannot indulge in it because I have no one to talk to, so I can’t very well work myself into a state of depression each time, can I? I have developed a very strong bias for action, believing that no matter the circumstances, there is always something you can do to improve your situation.

Vision improvement

I am now reading the book Vision for Life by Dr. Meir Schneider to educate myself some more on this topic.

Exercise Induced Lethargy

It’s mat Pilates exercises for now because my body perhaps is just not ready for anything more strenuous yet. What’s great about it too is that it’s perfect for posture improvement! 🙂

Open item

I managed to visit that gym I was talking about in a previous post. So there’s a check on that finally, even though I am now ambivalent about this after finding out a few more details.

Next week’s challenge

And finally, last but not the least ….

….. I’m very excited about next week’s challenge because, with the success of this, I am 100% certain that with you to hold me accountable, I will be able to complete yet another thing I’ve been procrastinating on ~

~~ drum roll please!!!

~~~~ making crochet earrings!!!

(Yaaaaay!)

I’ve allotted an entire week for this, so there should be no excuses, I shall have at least 3 pairs of earrings by next Saturday. End of story. 😀

See you on Monday beautiful people. Have a wonderful weekend up ahead! ❤

July 11: A Scatterbrained Day

Yesterday was such a scatterbrained day for me I preferred not to blog until my thoughts settled down. Do you ever have days like this when you just can’t seem to quiet down your thoughts? What finally worked to still the chatter was to lose myself in my headphones again, blasting loud dance music into my eardrums 🙂

I was bothered by a few things that really annoyed me: my deteriorating vision, my 11 lbs weight gain since December, and the fact that I really feel terrible 2 to 3 days after I do my cardio/weights exercises.

Okay fine, these changes come with middle-age (I am 44 y.o.). But I can’t let that label stop me from turning into a majestic swan. (Or a phoenix. I relate better to fire 🔥).

But seriously, this is what I know so far:

~  Contrary to mainstream knowledge our vision can improve instead of continue to deteriorate. I found this out accidentally when on vacation last December. I did some research afterwards and am truthfully happy to know that healing your eyesight is a possibility. I just need to look into this some more and decide what to do with this information.

~ I lost a hefty amount of weight last year on Keto & IF. But then it backfired. I was experiencing mid-cycle bleeding that was getting worse by the month, itchy skin rashes, and really bad insomnia. These symptoms disappeared right after I was no longer consistent with the protocol.

~  I really do not like the 2 to 3 days that come right after my cardio/weight exercises. I feel lethargic & down in the dumps. I’ve experienced this a few times already to conclude that, as far as movement and exercise go, I need to rethink my strategy.

Oh well, you win some you lose some. I guess it’s just one of those days when things are just a little less sexy. But that’s okay. The sun will come out tomorrow. It always does 🙂

I wish you all a sexy day and I’ll “see” you tomorrow.

 

July 8: Stop/Start Something

Good morning awesome friends! 🌞

It’s a brand new week and I’m excited to continue with my mini-assignments [of the ordinary kind]. I’ve been feeling more purposeful since I started this challenge and I love how blogging about it turns it into a lesson of sorts. The real goal here is to be blogging again, and this self-designed challenge is definitely helping me with that 📌

Today’s assignment is to start & stop something. Ideally it should be something permanent, perhaps a habit change, if not at least something I can do for a certain period of time.

I have chosen to:

Stop drinking coffee ☕️

This is a huge one for me as my morning cuppa is so ingrained into what makes my mornings magical. I look forward to it, I love the warm sensation, and without it my mornings just aren’t the same 💔 (Because yes, I tried this challenge a few times in the past already).

The reason why I’m “picking on” this wonderful elixir (again) is twofold. One is that I suspect it upsets my stomach, and therefor could be undermining my weight management efforts. And two is because it really does tinker with my energy levels throughout the day & even into the night.

This week I will observe what the absence of coffee does and we’ll see what happens next. (I don’t want to promise anything because my love for it is overwhelming 😆😆).

Start weighing myself daily ⏲

Just something small that I can use as a reminder to focus on my weight management efforts.

⏲ ☕️ ⏲ ☕️

So! Although I already did these two for today, I realize that the best time to report on this assignment will be on Saturday yet. So I’ll see you guys then.

Tomorrow’s assignment is to (finally) finish my emerald green crochet crop top. I’ll have pictures for you so I’d love it if you checked back in 🙂

This Is How A Perfectionist/Procrastinator Goes Back to Exercising

I probably had my mouth agape while sleeping last night. And I probably was snoring. And it seems like I was stuck in place like an immobile statue to the bed. And I am aching all over. It’s especially brutal when I go down the stairs.

Whatever!

I’ve put it off for long enough …

I am finally exercising again! (Squeal!)  🤗 🤗 🤗

I didn’t think it would be such a feat, but now that I think about it, my worrying about what to wear, where to exercise, how to exercise, how long to exercise, how often … that was just the perfectionist me procrastinating. I didn’t get it at first because I love to exercise. And I have no problem doing it at home. But I guess the body is a sneaky little thing, it likes to be lazy.

Well, lazy won’t get rid of my kangaroo pouch 😤 I’ve lost some post-baby weight already but, this pouch out front that’s just ruining my silhouette, it won’t go away without some deliberate physical activity.

First I had to get me a drill sergeant whose role was to tell me motivation started with getting off my fat ass 💥 (she actually said it like that!) and that, if it’s proving to be such a gargantuan effort to do something, that I should just start with blocking off the time. It didn’t matter if all I did was walk in place. Just honor that time as exercise time. Rinse and repeat until momentum builds up.

Well that’s what I did but the standing in place was a 5 min warm-up video by my favorite exercise team Daniel & Kelli, because as I stood there I thought “might as well”. And I followed that with a 5 minute cool down video because, having already warmed up I thought, “might as well”.

I allowed the first couple of days to not be perfect. To spend time tweaking stuff including creating a routine that would include feeding time for my baby. By Friday I had it down pat 👏 Which brings us to today’s glorious muscle soreness 🤩, proof that all I needed was to start where I was and improve from there.

So what’s the lesson here?

For fellow perfectionists/procrastinators it is this:

1. Get a coach/cheerleader/drill sergeant (whatever works) to motivate you because it really starts with your head. And if there’s nobody in your life that fits the bill (or you don’t want to spend the money) there are podcasts. I first had to sift through a few podcasts before I found Corinne, and her no-bs style of telling it like it is was just the kick in the arse I needed.
2. If necessary, start ridiculously small. So small that you tell yourself, “Oh what the heck, I can do more than that”.
3. Keep doing it and build on from there. You’re looking good, sexy thing! 🤩

It’s Never Too Early 🌞

Hello all! Happy Monday! 🌞🌞

What one good thing will you do/start today?

For me the answer is: delving into a topic of interest!

One of the perks of being a SAHM is the wonderful opportunity to indulge in the pursuit of knowledge 💖 And if you have internet connection, you have absolutely NO excuse to remain intellectually stagnant! 🙃

One of my areas of interest is ageing well and, although I’m still a long way off from being physically old, I believe it’s never too early to start establishing some solid habits that will help one age sexily 😉

So the other week I received information about a free online course on Strategies For Successful Ageing.  It is a 5-week course given by the Trinity College Dublin and is but one of the many free online courses facilitated by Futurelearn.

Here’s an overview of the 5-week course:

• Week 1: Being Older In this first week, we look at how perceptions of ageing can influence ageing, and explore our own understanding of what ‘old’ is.
• Week 2: Being Well In the second week, we investigate strategies for improving mental health, including depression, anxiety and brain ageing. We also discuss what ‘quality of life’ means, and delve into other key areas for successful ageing including intimacy, how to talk to your doctor, and family solidarity.
• Week 3: Being Healthy In the third week of our course, we will give strategies for better nutrition, increasing physical fitness through exercise, and improving your brain health.
• Week 4: Being Engaged The fourth week of the course looks at another important area for successful ageing: social engagement and participation. You will have a chance to perform a life audit and learn strategies for how to plan for the future.
• Week 5: Being Creative In the final week of the course, we will explore creative ageing, what this means, and why it is important. We will showcase individual creativity and provide you with tips to explore your own creativity.

Fascinating isn’t it? 😀 And you can be sure I immediately signed up!

I just finished week one (which is mostly introductory) and am excited to move into week 2. The course is self-paced so you can breeze through it as fast as you want or take all the time you need, the 5 week time frame is just a recommendation.

Aside from expanding my horizons, I’m definitely looking forward to learning a few practical tips on ageing well after taking this course.

I’ll keep you posted and, you keep me accountable, ok? 😉

New House New Strategy

Nothing like a new environment to upset the old and bring in the new! 😃 I’m talking about my diet-n-fitness regime here which went through some sort of upheaval last week when I decided to do intermittent fasting, quitting ALL sugar and carbs cold turkey and … hoping that the seas would part for me as it did for Moses 😵😁

Oh and, I also tried butter in my [black] coffee 😬😬😬

Now I’ve NEVER even tried black coffee before. My coffee has always had cream and enough sugar to take most of the bitterness out. But nope, I had to be the madwoman that I (sometimes) am and do everything at the same time! Including buttered coffee

So OF COURSE I had almost zero energy and couldn’t even make it halfway through a Fitness Marshall dance video without feeling totally deflated 😩

(I think the absence of my bats, rats and roaches has gone to my coconut! 🙃)

Fortunately I’ve since gathered my marbles 😁 and decided to just focus on ONE thing this week and up until that ONE thing becomes second nature. I’ve decided to focus on intermittent fasting (IF), which for me is until 11AM (the equiv of a 16h fast).

Since this week is already my second week of IF, the struggle is a bit less and black coffee (sans the butter, thank you!) is optional. I just make sure to drink plenty of water and keep myself mentally engaged.

I’m still doing my workouts but I’ve scaled down the intensity and make sure to just do about 30 mins per day.

Why am I doing this, you ask? Good question! 😁

As the title of this blog implies I’m also a vain creature. My vanity is mostly expressed through weight management, looking good in my birthday suit and enhancing the natural. (Nurturing great skin as opposed to wearing lots of make-up, for example).

IF falls into the weight management category obviously. Not that I need to lose weight – although there’s always those pesky last 5 pounds 😒😒 Just that anything that I think will simplify weight management for me is worth the exploration.

And there you have it, my little adventure of the week (or maybe month).

Have any of you guys tried IF (intermittent fasting)? What is/has been your experience of it?

Lessons From A Breather

Howdy y’all! 😉

I’m fresh back from a well-appreciated, 1 1/2 week holiday – which effectively gave me a break from everything 😀 I love it when this happens because I always come back with a handful of mini resolutions or mini challenges for better living 👍🏻 Like …

… increasing fiber intake:

Most often while on a holiday I allow myself to completely slack off on any fitness & nutrition guidelines I have set for myself. I’m not active & I eat everything I want.

I then get bloated and constipated and then become hyper-critical about my “self-consciously gigantic” midsection each time I catch a glimpse of it on any type of reflective surface. 😶 😶 (Come now, don’t tell me you haven’t done this yourself! 😊 😊)

Instead of countering this with mad eye-make up skills to bring everyone’s (imagined) focus up instead of on my midsection, of course all that’s really required (once I stop the exaggerated reaction) is to be mindful of my fiber and water intake.

Challenge #1: add more fiber to my life (interpret in more ways than one 😉)

~

As usual, I buy a couple of books from an airport bookstore because, although I have a Kindle, nothing beats the high of burying my nose amongst the pages of an actual, physical book. (Yes, I don’t read it I just smell it!😆 😆). One of these books had this reminder/challenge #2 for me:

Increase movement throughout the day.

Also to be read as: beware sitting on your bum for long, uninterrupted stretches of time. (Calling out all fellow yarnies! 😆)

Because apparently, doing so significantly decreases our lifetime. In fact, uninterrupted bum time is more lethal than an addiction to smoking. Think about that!

~

Coconut Oil-Will-Save-the-World

My mom is 69 years old. The last time I saw her was during the Christmas holidays, on this visit however, I was amazed. Her face was brighter, even toned with a hint of pinkish glow, and somehow less wrinkly (if that is at all possible) 💁

She truthfully looked younger than last I saw her, we all noticed! When I complimented her on it, she said she started using extra virgin coconut oil (EVCO) on her face upon advise from her sister.

I also had coffee with a good friend who, as it happens, carries a vial of EVCO in her bag wherever she goes. She poured a tablespoon of the liquid into her coffee without batting an eyelash and, at my surprise, rattled off the billion and one uses for EVCO, and credits it for her beautiful & abundant mane and flawless complexion.

Conclusion: the coconut universe is conspiring for me! 😄 😄 I’m reading up on the billion and one usages for EVCO right now and …

Challenge #3: … will use it to replace my 4-step nightly face cleansing ritual.

I want to see if it will work for me too 😀 I’ll let you know how it goes after a month or so.

~

And that is all for now. (Yay!)

How about you, any healthy resolutions you’ve taken up recently? Let me know! 😀 😀