I’m already falling behind and typing a 4-days-at-once post!
I need to focus my time on the weekend, when I’m at work for much longer hours
and my boyfriend is home.
Today, let’s talk about the all-or-something rule. I (and I
suspect many other people) tend to decide to do something to the extreme! No
more unhealthy food! Exercise 10 times a week! Draw for 6 hours a day! Never
spend money again! When that idea inevitably falls apart immediately, there’s
always that idea of ‘eh, fuck it.’ And ‘eh, fuck it’ is a dangerous thing. I
only exercised 5 of my proposed 9 times this week? Eh, fuck it, I won’t
exercise. I ate one unhealthy meal after 4 days of healthy eating? Eh, fuck it,
bring on the junk. The all-or-nothing idea is the worst because it means when
you slip, you give up. And everyone slips. I’ve been trying to keep this in
mind. I want to be getting a lot done and making good decisions but when I
realize I’ve done something I’m unhappy with, I try to just start over. If I
can’t do it all, I do something.
On Thursday, I was off from work and I made sure to eat
carefully, I got plenty of fruits and vegetables, and I went on a long walk. I
wanted to get some art in but by the time I was done with other things, it was
late afternoon and my boyfriend came home. We rarely see each other and with
his demanding school schedule, we don’t get to spend much time together even
when he is home. But Thursday is the end of his summer class week, I was off,
and it was one of the few nights we both get a home-cooked meal at a normal
time. We enjoyed dinner and then watched a few movies. I wish I could have
gotten some art in, but I’m not going to feel bad that I had a nice night,
especially after doing a good job with my other goals during the day.
Friday was a bit of a rough day. We got up and had to go
into the city to buy some art supplies, an errand that eats up several hours.
On the way back, we decided to stop for lunch at Quaker Steak & Lube, a
restaurant that I’ve seen featured on food shows for its famous wings. I knew
going in that it was probably a bad idea, but I’ve wanted to try it for a
while. The décor was a bit of a sensory overload and my boyfriend found the car
lingo in the names of the items confusing. (“What the hell are stick shifters?”)
They offered a wing and side dish meal, and all the sides were ridiculous.
Fried pickles, nachos, mozzarella sticks (aka stick shifters!), cheese fries,
soft pretzels. Even though there’s a part of me that wants to eat ALL THE
SHITTY FOOD, I’ve matured to the point where I care about getting nutrition and
know I feel better when I eat better. We each had one of these meals anyway,
and everything kinda sucked and totally wasn’t worth the calories or the money.
Even worse, I wanted to take my lumps and make note of the nutrition, but they
totally don’t have the info on their website, so I had to estimate. However, I
decided not to say ‘eh, fuck it.’ I had a moment later in the night when I was
going to eat whatever for dinner since I already overdid it and I thought about
it and decided I should keep it light to offset the earlier overindulgence.
After we got back, I had to go to work. I got home around 1am, but I took a
couple minutes to make a drawing so I could feel like I made something.
Saturday is always a long work day for me. Not too much to report.
I kept track of my eating and I got activity in by walking around all day at
work. I always hear that people should be aiming for 10,000 steps a day and on
a Saturday when I work, I can easily get 15-17000 steps in. I still want to be
doing more actual exercise, but wearing the pedometer has been an interesting
experiment for me.
Yesterday was Sunday and I did a favor for a coworker and
ended up going in 3 hours earlier than planned. Obviously, that killed my
morning plans! I did make it to the gym after work, though, which was big. I
haven’t been there in a few weeks and I’m trying to get back in the habit
because strength training has made a big difference in my body over the last
couple years. My goal on this is 3-4 times a week!
Alright, I’m writing this on Memorial Day, day 6 of my
challenge, and things are going pretty well. More info tomorrow, it’s time to
get away from the computer!
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