Week 12 of 15 Review

Welcome to Tuesday. 

You may have noticed this is a day late. The life of a grad student caught up to me. There were a few too many meetings and must do task. At 11:00 pm, after handing in an assignment and realizing I had been up for nineteen hours, I decided that it would be better for me to go to sleep than attempt to write a blog.

Even with the long hours, increased tasks, and tons of school reading, the past week has gone great. I am pleased with a lot of the progress and excited to share what has been happening.

What I Am Doing?

• NEW Wake Up by 6:00 am
• Begin morning with Lectio 365, Journal Writing, Thankfulness, and a devotional with Alex, XBX workout, Duolingo lesson and morning stretching
• Drink 4 "little mermaid" cups worth of water (about a half gallon)
• 8,000 Steps
• Meet the Noom food budget without going over the red foods
• Read the daily Noom articles
• Read ten pages from a physical book
• Ten minutes of dance
• Reflect on victories at the end of each day
• End day with Lectio 365
• On Mondays take a progress photo and post an update on this blog.

Week Twelve Review:

It was a lovely week. First, the parts for our treadmill came in. This was a blessing because even as the temperatures dropped and the snowbanks grew I could still get my steps in. After all the snow we got here yesterday, I don't think it will be safe to walk on the road for awhile. I've also been practicing "temptation bundling". This is something I've tried in the past but has really come alive through my Noom lessons. 

How it works is you make a list of  things you love to do. My list included watch a show, spend time in the hot tub, and enjoy an audiobook. Next you make a list of things you need/want to do or know you should do. My list was walking on the treadmill (it's not the same as being outdoors and is rather boring), getting through a dry, encyclopedia type textbook, and the XBX workouts. Last you match the love to do with the need to do. So this week I only watched TV if I was walking, enjoyed the hot tub while reading, and listened to my book while I worked out. Victories all around. It was a double benefit in the must do tasks got done, but I also didn't feel guilty doing things that often feel like "time wasters." I was feeling overwhelmed with my course load especially wondering how I would keep up with all the reading. I convinced myself there was no time for fun extras like watching a show. By bundling the things I enjoy with tasks I needed to do I was able to have the best of both worlds. It made for a better week.

I'm also waking much earlier than I even planned. My alarm goes off at 4:00 am. I do all the morning tasks, plan out my day, work on an assignment. Depending on the day I have a mid morning nap. Then have a fresh afternoon. Part of what made yesterday so challenging. The three windows I would normally grab a cat nap got filled with zoom meetings. 

Looking Ahead:

This is going to be another great week. I am settling into the groove of classes and school. I have some concerns still and there is a lot of reading. Overall, I am happy to be in the courses and looking forward to the term. My focus is maintaining my healthy habits while keeping up with all the weekly classes, readings, and assignment. 

I think my one of my biggest challenges is getting enough sleep. My favourite nights are when I can start getting ready for bed at nine. My days don't always work out that way. The other thing I've noticed is that my Noom budget has shrunk and I have been missing the calorie target. I haven't been beating myself up about it and celebrating other healthy changes. But it is discouraging not seeing the numbers go down. Or more bob up and down. I had hoped to lose 15 pounds during the 15 weeks. I'm on week thirteen and have only lost 7 pounds. I don't want to resort to wild diet plans. And the slow progress probably means habits are changing in a sustainable way. Right?