Progress Update #1- Stretching 2016
2016 and my stretching theme have been equally wonderful and hellish over the past couple of weeks. I have made progress in some areas and not in others. Work has been very hectic and quite frustrating personally, but I have also watched my team stretch and blossom in some very positive ways.
Physical: Stretching my body and endurance
1. Yoga- 6 sessions in the past two weeks. I really like the beginner DVDs I bought.
2. Weight loss: I have had a bit of setback this past week, especially over the past 3 days. I am sticking to plan again starting today.
3. Transition to maintenance and maintain weight- pending
4. Jogging: I have been doing the treadmill and played volleyball and tennis the past few weeks, all of which will help my endurance when I start training.
Financial: Stopping my budget stretch
1. Pay off carpet debt- one payment made
2. Pay for cabinets
3. Pay down extra on my mortgages
4. Build net worth
5. Follow YNAB techniques
Relationship: Stretching out to connect
1. Write cards/letters to friends weekly- writing at breakfast time has been a good way to fit this in. This is my most successful area thus far.
2. Talk to at least one friend weekly on the phone- I have managed to tackle this too, but have not yet been consistent about scheduling one weekly.
3. Talk to at least one family member weekly on the phone- I have been good in this effort.
4. Attend or host at least one social event weekly- I have been very good in this effort
Professional/Intellectual: Stretching my brain
1. Read at least one ESTH article each week- I received my new magazines and have started this.
2. Do at least one thing per week that makes me worthy of the award I want- good progress at the office
3. Study at least 22 kanji per day, with goal to completing 4000 common words by July 1, 2016- behind schedule by about 100 kanji
4. Be kind, be flexible, have an open mind, find the win-win. A challenge, but I have been working at crafting my message more effectively.
5. Praise people and say thank you. I have been trying to do this.
6. Listen to 30 mins of podcasts each day. Working great on my commute
7. Use luminosity each day. Every day done so far.
Stuff: Stopping my belongings from stretching
1. Downsize the items that stretch my home and patience- good progress in some areas
2. Organize into stuff for storage, give away, use up, sell, UAB to US and HHE to Yokohama- progress made
2016- the year of stretching!
I can't believe it has been more than a year since my last post. There have been so many amazing and healthy things that have happened in that time, and some scary and sad things too. I have lost 78 pounds through nutrition, Take Shape for Life and exercise. I have been through a health scare. I got promoted. I got the onward assignment at the top of my list. I had a wonderful relationship with a really sweet man. So it will be tough to top the outcomes of my 2015 theme, Engage and Stimulate. Yet I am quite sure that 2016 will be equally phenomenal under my new theme "Stretching.
I am beginning the year with a solid plan that I am going to share. And hopefully report on regularly on this blog. Fingers crossed.
Physical: Stretching my body and endurance
1. Yoga- build flexibility through regular yoga and
stretching sessions
2. Weight loss: Reach my goal (minus 31 lbs from today) and evaluate
if I should stretch to a lower weight or if I should go into maintenance
3. Transition to maintenance and maintain weight
4. Jogging: Build a run-walk habit so that I can
run a half marathon or marathon in December
Financial: Stopping my budget stretch
1.
Pay off carpet debt
2.
Pay for cabinets
3. Pay down extra on my mortgages
4. Build net worth
5. Follow YNAB techniques
Relationship: Stretching out to connect
1.
Write cards/letters to friends weekly
2.
Talk to at least one friend weekly on the phone
3.
Talk to at least one family member weekly on the
phone
4.
Attend or host at least one social event weekly
Professional/Intellectual: Stretching my brain
1.
Read at least one ESTH article each week
2.
Do at least one thing per week that makes me
worthy of the award I want
3.
Study at least 22 kanji per day, with goal to
completing 4000 common words by July 1, 2016
4.
Be kind, be flexible, have an open mind, find
the win-win.
5.
Praise people and say thank you.
6.
Listen to 30 mins of podcasts each day.
7.
Use luminosity each day.
Stuff: Stopping my belongings from stretching
1.
Downsize the items that stretch my home and
patience
2.
Organize into stuff for storage, give away, use
up, sell, UAB to US and HHE to Yokohama
New Post, New Plan
I arrived at my new assignment earlier this week and, as I usually do, I thought about how I want my life here to be the same or different from prior assignments. One of the benefits of this lifestyle is that you can use the location change to make other changes in your life. There are some things I really need to change in this assignment, and I am starting out the way I plan to continue.
1. Change 1- Regular exercise and weight loss. My sister and her husband and a couple of dear friends have all inspired me to become healthier and try really hard to lose some weight. I hate struggling with travel, health, aches and pains, poor sleep patterns and snoring and many other things which are all connected to being heavy. I want to be light! I want to have lots of energy! I want to live long and prosper! I want to be healthy! I am making a plan for how to accomplish this over the next two years here, and working the plan. The first step is to get up and work out. This is relatively easy while living on compound, since the gym is easily accessible no matter what time jet lag rousts me. It will get harder once I move off compound, but I am confident I can figure out how to make it work, either through home workouts or early arrivals. Things that will help- my fitbit for feedback, my family and friends for continued motivation, this journal for tracking my struggles and successes, and my boss, colleagues and team for their understanding when I "pay myself first" and encourage them to do the same.
Mini Habit Day 48 and 49
1. I am thankful for friends who will take me to the out of the way places that I would not find on my own and friends who will go with me to random but interesting essential oil sessions. I am lucky.
2. I enjoyed 45 minutes total on the elliptical machine in these two days. I also did my required sun salutations.
3. When I got home on Friday evening, I was surprised to see a young, small monitor lizard sitting on my driveway. I figured that as I got closer to it with my car it would get scared and move away, but it did not. I sat there in my car watching it, thinking I did not want to get out of the car with it sitting so close. It sat there watching me, taunting me, I think. So I thought "let me take a photo." While I averted my eyes to get my camera out of my purse it disappeared. Of course, that made me happy, but also nervous. I had not seen which direction it had gone, and for all I knew it was sitting under my car waiting for me to get out so it could lunge at me. I sat there for a while, looking around to see where it might have gone. Finally I honked the horn a few times, thinking that if it was sitting under my car it would be scared by the sound of the horn. After a few minutes in the car and a few honks, I finally got the courage to open the door and get out. I was relieved that I was not attacked by the lizard. One can only wonder what the lizard thought as it watched me be scared of it, and what my neighbors thought of my antics :)
Mini Habit Day 47
1. I am thankful for the stash of photos I found from A100 and how young and innocent and excited we all looked!
2. I did one sun salutation.
3. I can't believe it is almost 10 years since I joined my current profession. In some ways the 10 years has flown by and in some ways it feels like I have never done anything else. However every single day I am still learning something new and wishing I knew more about everything. I am grateful for a career that supports my short attention span and interest in wandering the world.
Mini Habits Day 46
1. I am thankful that advil is able to take the worst of the pain away in this painful time of the month. So much better than when it used to require a couple of bottles of wine and really hard pain meds.
2. I worked out for 20 minutes on the elliptical this morning. I also did my one sun salutation.
3. As I go through many farewells and conversations about farewells, I am grateful that I have had these two years in Brunei to meet such wonderful people. Whether it is joking about various world religious habits with people from 5-6 different religions at a lunch or talking about mutual postings served or about to be served or waiting for guests of honor to depart a reception so we can depart within protocol and comparing notes about meetings or conversations or news events, all of these things have made me a better informed person. I appreciate all that I learn from my friends.
Mini Habits Day 40-45
1. Each day I have thought about something that I have been thankful for before going to sleep.
2. I have worked out at least one minute, and usually 30-40 minutes each day, and I have started a new mini habit of at least one sun salutation each day while I try to limber myself up for more yoga poses.
3. I have been writing a lot at work and posting on facebook so I have not had anything specific to blog about. I am pondering switching this mini habit to something a bit more productive and important for me at this time. The reality is that I cannot blog about the more important parts of my life because of professional obligations and limitations, so perhaps journaling or another form a writing would be a better mini habit for me at this time in my life. I will ponder this for a while before I decide though.
Mini Habits Day 39
1. I am thankful for a boss who is allowing me to take care of my health.
2. I did 20 minutes on the elliptical this morning.
3. Thanks to the three hour nap I had this afternoon, I have been unable to get to sleep yet. I used the time productively though, by working on the 1000 piece puzzle that needs to be completed over this weekend. It is a puzzle of Historic DC and quite cool to do, forcing me to remember where everything is in the city and how much I should have explored more when I lived there. Next time.
Mini Habits Day 37 and 38
1. I am thankful for my ability to do conference calls from home and for the opportunity to watch The Paradise, a really entrancing TV show from the BBC.
2. I did a 15 minute elliptical workout yesterday and 30 minutes today.
3. I had a late night last night thanks to my webinar, and so I shut down my computer and could not be bothered to open it up again to document my mini habits yesterday. However, I stopped and thought about it as I was falling asleep and remembered that I am empowered to make my own rules and it is completely within my purview to decide I am going to document two days at one time. Happy 95th anniversary of the right to vote American women! That is all I have to say for two days :)
Mini Habits Day 36
1. I am thankful for functioning internet.
2. I enjoyed 20 mins of the elliptical this morning.
3. I don't know what to write about tonight. So many things I could blog on. The great organizational meeting today for the new Brunei-US Association. The good information I learned in the webchat tonight. My frustration about why it is so hard to do common sense, required things like shift from one post to another. The fascinating storylines of the TV show Paradise that I have just started watching. I guess I have too much to write about and therefore am feeling overwhelmed.
Mini Habits Day 35
1. I am thankful that I was able to make it through a very long, sleepy day and be as productive as I was.
2. I came home and did a 30 min elliptical workout and it helped me energize, in time for my webinar.
3. However there was
no internet on an evening in which I was supposed to attend a 2 hour webinar. The internet seems to have come back on at exactly when the webinar is finishing. Is it fate telling me that it would have been a waste of time?
Mini Habits Day 34
1. I am thankful to have had so many fun friends stop by for games tonight.
2. I worked out 30 min on the elliptical and 15 mins of weight lifting today.
3. Making summer and packout and everything plans is becoming a bit of a full-time job. It is going to be great, but also an incredibly busy time. I am looking forward to seeing everyone and catchup on what is new. Only about 6 more weeks before it all begins!
Mini Habits Day 33
1. I am grateful for the help of my housekeeper today to clean up after me while I cooked most of the day.
2. I worked out for 30 mins on the elliptical, then 15 minutes of weightlifting, then 6 hours of cooking. Tired but productive!
3. I spent quite a bit of the day preparing for the party I am hosting tomorrow and planning for my upcoming move to Pakistan. It was an exceptionally productive day, capped off by writing award nominations, editing documents to help friends, making lists of the things I need to do before I arrive in Pakistan, choosing t-shirts for my t-shirt quilt, talking to my sister and niece in Japan and grocery shopping. After that list, I am impressed I am still awake :)
Mini Habits Day 32
1. I am grateful that my wonderful friend introduced me to Ms. Fischer's Mysteries and that I had some time tonight to enjoy an episode or two.
2. I woke up early this morning and did my 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.
3. I read a news article today about a school where the yearbook photos were altered to put more clothing on some of the female students. The article made me exceptionally angry- unless the girls were actually naked in the photos, what right did the school have to make changes to their appearance in the book that is supposed to be their memory of their school days? While I wish, when I look at my yearbook photos, that I had made different clothing choices when I was having school photos, it is a documentation of who I was at the time and that has shaped who I am now. To have someone make the decision to change my history without consulting me would really anger me and I can understand why these young ladies are upset.
Mini Habits Day 31
1. I am grateful for excellent Pakistani food and friendship this evening.
2. I typed for hours today. If that does not count as a workout, it should.
3. I need some sleep tonight. Four hours of sleep last night was not enough to make me really productive, and I will be a crabby nightmare if I have another bad night of sleep in a row. Especially because I will have to work most of the weekend in order to just catch up on the many projects overwhelming me at work. Sigh.
