2005 Logs: January February March June August November Writings		Janie's January 2005 Journal Saturday 1/1 - Results of Dr. D.'s last 90 days of year challenge: Okay, well I was a bit ambitious with my goals for the last 90 days, so I didn't meet all of them - however I believe I met more than I would have without the goals to begin with, so I consider it a success. :-) How about you? How did you do? Here's a more detailed update of my results (I copied and pasted from my previous post of goals & said how it went after each): Extra Time Off From Work Take 3+ days a week off, instead of just one. Take a 9 day vacation. (Together this makes about a month of extra time off in the next 3 months – compared to what I was doing before, wow). Yes! I did do this! The first couple of 5-day off stints I ended up working part days as my scheduling wasn't quite worked out for it yet. Everyone has the hang of it by now though, so it's smooth sailing on my days off. I am still available if they need me when I'm online at home, but we mainly chat for fun instead on my days off. In fact the last few sets I haven't had to do any work for the store. It's been nice. Relaxation Get enough sleep every day Cash in the 5 massages I have accrued credit for from tutoring and design work but haven’t had time to collect on yet. Er, um... well... I got 1 of the massages so far, not all 5. It was nice enough to last for a while. I have been getting much more sleep overall and definitely lots on my days off, but I can't honestly say I'm getting enough sleep every single day. I am getting more than I used to on a regular basis though. I think I'm still re-filling my defict actually. It's re-filling quicker since my birthday though, as my hubby set up one of our old hammocks in our bedroom for me. Yay! I just love sleeping in a hammock! I've been sleeping sooo much deeper ever since - and I feel glee every time I think about it, get into it or wake up in it. :-) Recreation Visit friends I haven’t been able to spend time with since working too much at least 6 times. Continue to go to the beach with my hubby at least 1 time a week, spending quality time with him and my son daily. Spend at least 30 hours with my companion animals. I did visit with friends of mine that I could arrange time with, heh. They're all really busy too and haven't started to take time off like I have, so it's still fairly hard to work out. I did go out dancing a few times during this time - fun, fun, fun. I saw some of my friends there too. I did continue to go to the beach with my hubby when it wasn't too stormy or rainy. We have had more quality time too, so that's good. I have spent more time with my companion animals, not sure how much though. I think it was a bit less than 30.. but more than 15. Sunshine & Air Go to the beach every day I have off if it’s not raining & swim too. Hike with my hubby on our mutual day off – once a week (when not raining). Yes! I did do this - exactly. Yay! It was great! I was able to go to the beach almost all of my days off until recently due to storms. I just loved that - felt so natural, and spoiled. :-) Maybe I will end up with a tan after all, heh. Gonna' take a while it seems though, as I was so pale to begin with. Guess it's sort of a blessing in a way too, as I can get my Vitamin D quicker than if I had darker skin... Still, I'd like more of a tan anyway. No problem working on it though - not work, just play! :-) I collect shells when I'm there most of the time and sometimes run on the sand & stretch out while collecting shells - just out of reach. ;-) I made some new friends with some of the other regular naturists there too. Funny how much of a small town this island is in many ways. Exercise Flexibility: Put in at least 20 hours of stretching and limberness development. ;-) I will be doing a variety of stretches at home and taking at least the 3 Yoga classes I’ve had credit for from doing graphic arts for the owner. Well, I'm fairly certain I fell short on the amount of hours spent working on my flexibility. I did do some, but not really any more than I had been doing before. I didn't go to the Yoga classes either - just wanted to go to the beach, sleep and relax at home... The credit has expired now, so guess I'm not doing that. I would have gone for sure if it was Ashtanga, 'cause I really want to do that. They stopped their Ashtanga classes though & only had Bikram ones. It didn't appeal to me enough to go in for it (sorry any Bikram lovers out there - just not my thing I guess). Strength: At least 40 weight lifting sessions – focusing on all muscle groups fairly evenly Yeah, um - this one I definitely fell short on - primarily the focusing part. I did do some weights here and there (the same as I was doing before) & have been working on pull-ups, chin-ups, etc. with my nifty new Door Gym and a step ladder (for that extra help on the way up). I worked my muscles more than I had been at the time of this challenge, but not as much as I have in the past or had planned. I did work out a plan to get it going better in the future though, so I think I'll get that (5-20 lbs) extra muscle I want in this next year. Balance/Strength: 25 handstand attempts per day (as Dr. D. suggested for Lisa O) ‘cause it sounds like fun & I’d like to be able to do them on my own, without the wall; At least 45 sessions of my leg lifting, rotate around while lifted and back again, sweeping thingy – works all of my buns and thighs real well as well as balance. At least 400 switching jump lunges. I really got into the handstand thing. Expecially when I discovered that it was harder to do that many at once than I thought. I alternated 25 teapots and 25 handstands per day at first, but found I was working out muscles I hadn't used in a while more than I thought & needed to take some days off in-between - like a weight workout and all. After a while I was able to do 25 a day without skipping. I was progressing very well. I was actually feeling the point of balance & hovering there a bit, being able to correct a tad too. I haven't been doing them daily lately - my hall got too crowded. I discovered a way to do them at the store last week though and have been doing them there as well. Our hall is clear again in that spot so I'm back to doing them again. Yay! I think I may do them every other day though, maybe daily, we'll see. Heh, I think I only did about 10-15 sessions of the leg lift thingy. I did about 10-20 more sessions of part of it though... I'm not sure how many jump lunges I did.. don't think it was that many. Possibly about half of what I planned, so about 200 I'd say... Neuro: At least 400 clapping pushups from various inclines, lowering incline as I go – hopefully doing them without incline by the New Year! (I can do one now, but am not coordinated enough to do more than that in a row & figure if I do it from an incline gradually moving down I’ll get the hang of it easier – can already do 12 hopping ones in a row – where whole body goes airborne on each upwards push, so I think I have the strength for it, just not the coordination). Oops! I forgot about these... didn't do them. I did do some regular push-ups and some hopping ones & some incline pushups anyway. I forgot I was going to work on them specifically though... Oh well. Aerobics: More than 40 hours of various aerobic workouts Nope basically. I wasn't able to do the cardio workouts I planned as our living room is just too crowded for them. I did some rebounding & running on the beach though. I wanted to jump rope, but that isn't to be seen right now - kinda' buried in the stuff we're getting rid of temporarily... I'd say I did maybe about 20 hours. Guess still a weak area. Surroundings Get rid of at least one box full of stuff from my house every week, clearing it out for a more simple, less cluttered life. Yes! I have been doing this and my hubby's been working a lot on our garage so that we can have more room in the living room as the stuff we're going through can go in the garage instead... It's going well, but slow. Too much stuff! It has resulted in some cool organizational changes so far though. We have a nifty shelf unit just outside our kitchen/garage door that I can put bananas that are ripening & extra citrus, etc. onto instead of using up all the space in the kitchen. We can get to the punching/kicking bag in the garage again so our son's been using it (which is great 'cause he needs the exercise). Water Open and drink at least two coconuts daily. I did do this for quite some time, then my machete was left in my hubby's truck (from a trip to the beach) and I couldn't find it for the longest time. Humph! After that, I wasn't as into them anymore for some reason. I'm starting to get into them again lately though. I think it's a good thing 'cause I think I wasn't getting enough water when skipping them. Okay, that's everything! I guess I didn't do so badly with it after all. I can definitely see my weak links though, heh. I'll work on them... Thursday 1/6: Well, I went and got my usual bowl-full of lettuce and assorted veggies today. I gathered quite a few comments, so I figured I'd share them. ;-) As I was getting the lettuce a guy I kind of know, said something about it being a lot of salad. I said something like, "Yeah, it's dinner." He said, "You're going to eat all that? That's more than I eat!" Heh. I said, "Yep." BTW - He's a tall heavy-set dude too. He went on, "Really? You are going to eat all that - and you're so little?" I said, "Yeah. It's only lettuce, there's hardly anything to it." He thought about it and agreed. I then told him what else I was going to have in it. I also said, "You should see how many bananas I eat," while chuckling. Then he said, "That must be how you stay in such good shape." I said it was definitely part of it. He then asked me about my salad dressing again. I told him today it was going to be just tangelo juice, but sometimes I make other stuff. He said, "Oh, orange juice, is good for dressing?" I said, "Yeah, it's great! One of my favorites, actually." I think he got more lettuce than he would have otherwise after I left, heh. I noticed that the guy from the deli that had talked about getting salad at the produce department yesterday looked up and was watching our conversation from that first comment about how much salad it was, heh. I suppose he was starting to think that I actually wasn't lying yesterday. Then when I was in line the woman in front of me commented on how large the salad was, "That's a rather large salad." I said, "Yeah, yum! It's dinner." She expressed her surprise and the checker said, "yeah, she comes here and gets big salads like that a lot" as an explaination, heh. Then, after that woman left & I was checking out, the woman behind me noticed my salad as she was unpacking her cart and said, "That looks like the kind of salad I make. I like a big salad." I said, "Cool!" and then told her what else I planned to put in it. After I got back to my store & put the salad fixings together (it was lettuce with a touch of grated carrots that I shouldn't have gotten as they don't combine all that well with the rest - oh well... added two tangelos to it (squeezed the juice first then put in the sections), about 5 tomatoes and a tiny bit of pinenuts) I sat down to mix and eat it. I had a customer ask me if I was going to eat all that salad to which I replied that I was and that it was my dinner. He then asked if I ate sushi. I said I didn't, that I ate mostly fruits and veggies. Later I had a regular customer come in to talk to me about something and comment on how big my salads always are to which I replied, "Yeah, I do eat volume" while happily smiling and helping another customer in-between. I wonder how many more comments on it I'm going to get before I finish, heh. Friday 1/7: People have been asking for a picture of my salad from last night. Heh, I actually took one too. You know, I thought of posting a pic of the salad, but the one I took before I ate it (well, after I had a few bites, okay?, heh) didn't seem to turn out all that well so I skipped it. So, I'm gonna' post one of it right now too, before I finish as I'm just finishing it up now. ;-) The bowl's 12" in diameter at the top and 8" at the bottom, and almost 6" tall. Today's lettuce and carrots weighed less than yesterday - a bit over half pound. Perhaps it was the omission of the sprouts and less carrots, or perhaps the checkout person did their math wrong. I actually think it's the latter, but wasn't paying enough attention to know as I was busy talking to people in line about it, heh. Yes, I do bring the same bowl each time - unless I forget it or it breaks. I used to have an orange one, but it broke. This one serves the purpose. I use plastic 'cause it's lighter weight & easier to handle, but perhaps I should use one of the glass or wooden ones from home... We'll see. Anyway, it weighs .45 pounds & most of the regular checkout people have it memorized, however there has been quite a turnover in the deli so I usually end up training them how to use the scale, heh. Telling them how to set the tare properly and all. They seemed understaffed tonight so I just went to the checkout instead. They have to manually subtract the tare weight and enter that into the cash register there, which is why I think it was a math error that it weighed so little. It's usually close to a pound. Anyway, on to the pics! Enjoy! :-) and Tuesday 1/18 - Great Tomato-less Challenge Report (yeah, it's late): Okay, when I was looking at some old posts on the discussion board, some of the URLs were recycled & one of them went to the post that led me to try out a month of no nightshades (which, for me was no tomatoes 'cause I didn't eat the others - well, red bell peppers rarely). There was a link to an article at nopotatoe.com about the supposed problems with nightshades & a test of not eating them for a month & then making a meal of them at the end. I have never experienced any problems in relation to tomatoes or nightshades that I've noticed before (except occasional gas with bell peppers, even the red ones), so I was skeptical but up for the challenge as I had never taken low fat seriously before 811rv either - and 811rv worked wonders... so I did the challenge, then forgot to post the results. Well, not exactly forgot - I just was quite busy & wanted to look up the original post in order to compare & consider the supposed symptoms and all to give it a fair test... It wasn't 'till now that I found it, heh. So, without further delay - my results. Zip. Nada. Nothing. At least nothing that I noticed. I didn't notice any improvements during the month and had no problems during or after my meal of them at the end. I do have to admit that I was a bit apprehensive about having a whole meal of them after not eating them for a month and all... scared something might bad might happen as my body may not be used to it anymore and all. It turned out to be fine. I'm glad. I love tomatoes, well, at least right now. I go through fazes. Most of the time I do love them though & it's rare that I'm indifferent about them. I haven't had a time when I didn't like them though. I found it not that difficult to go without them though, but I prefer not to go without anyway. I did have one slip-up during the month early on where I munched a red bell pepper slice absent-mindedly, as it wasn't a tomato and I wasn't thinking of it and all... I doubt that affected my results though. So, I'm eating tomatoes like usual by now. Sorry it took so long to report back. ;-) Next -- >>>