Jan 18th Weight Update

Whoops, I missed posting this:

weight: 232.6
fat percentage: 53.7
hydration: 31.8
muscle: 22.7
bone: 10.5
cal: 2425

It's very comparable to my weight on the 12th.

I haven't done another weight because my period ended up starting a little earlier than I expected. I'll see how things are going once it's over. :)

January Goal Update 3

I'm really excited - today I completed my second goal for the month (making plans for when I am prone to falling off track with food and exercise, or what I am now calling my "coping strategies")! I came up with a list of 9 common times that I am prone to stop thinking about my health (when vertigo flairs, during my period, times when grief is bad, holidays, feeling overwhelmed/too busy, when it's too cold or icy to be outside, when I'm sick, when I'm super tired, and times when I'm incredibly angry), and tried to brainstorm things I can do to try to stay active and eat more healthily. These initial plans are all works in progress - if I find something in them doesn't really work, I can adapt them to something better. But at least I have something in place to work with. :)

I also, as I mentioned in my first update for these goals, I've also added to my list of possible rewards. I tried to focus on some non-monetary ones, since my original list had all monetary rewards (and I found that I didn't actually go through with some of them - for example, I was supposed to buy myself a new Solitudes album last summer, but I didn't bother until about a week ago! It wasn't really a reward at this point). So hopefully I'll have some good ideas for how to motivate me to achieve my goals. :)

In terms of Yoga, since starting Karin Dmitrova's Beyond Flexibility program, I've stayed pretty consistent with it. I'm on track to finish the month having done something yoga-like at least twice a week. :)

January Goal Update 2

We're a little past the halfway mark for the month, so I thought it was a good time to look at how things are progressing.

In terms of Yoga twice a week, I actually decided to start Karin Dimitrova's Beyond Flexibility program last Saturday. I've had the program for a long time (since January 2021!) but never really used it (I did both the Full Body Mobility and the Destress Yoga once, but that was it). To start this time around, I chose to stick with the program three times a week since I wasn't sure I'd be able to fit it in consistently more than that (there was a three times a week or five times a week option). I'm also doing the "I'm a Complete Beginner" option because I haven't been doing much consistent mobility work in the last few years outside of the yoga for my back routine, and so wanted to build a good foundation. I'm proud to say that I successfully completed the first week's worth of routines, so hopefully I can keep it up!

My partner took some pictures of my current mobility in touching my toes, squatting, and downward dog; I'll get him to take the same pictures in a couple of months to see if there's much change. :)

For my second goal, I haven't written up any more coping strategies since last week, but I did start brainstorming some things for when I am sick. I'm going to write that up tonight along with a few other ideas I've had through the week, and hopefully one or two more once that's finished.

Weight Update for Jan 12

This is a little late, but here's my weight update from the weekend:

weight: 232.6
fat percentage: 53.8
hydration: 31.7
muscle: 22.7
bone: 10.5
cal: 2425

A little bit better than my Jan 5th weight, but still fairly comparable.

January Goal Update 1

I just wanted to write a quick update on my main January goal (making plans for all the times I'm prone to falling off track). We're a week into January, and I've already come up with a couple of plans (or what I am now calling "coping strategies")! So far I've got one for when vertigo strikes, one for exercising during my period, and one with ideas for what to do when it's too cold and icy to be outside in the winter. I've also updated my list of possible healthy rewards, adding a bunch of non-monetary ideas, as well as adding a list of certain things that I am never going to use as a reward. I'm very excited with my progress!

Unfortunately the yoga goal hasn't been going well so far....I probably should tie a reward to it to help me out!

First Weight Update of 2025

This morning I weighed myself to see how things are going after the holiday season:

weight: 233.4
fat percentage: 54.1
hydration: 31.5
muscle: 22.5
bone: 10.5
cal: 2430

So definitely not great. This isn't quite the largest weight I've seen (that was in July 2024), but it's up there. :/

Intentions

In the lead-up to January 1st of this year, I kept coming across people talking about "Intentions." Most specifically, Intelligent Change has been talking up intentions instead of resolutions. They argue that resolutions focus on outcomes (I want to do x by y), and that you set yourself up for failure when life inevitable throws you a curve ball. But intentions focus on meeting yourself where you are now and helping you become a better person by focusing on the who and how.

I will admit though, this whole "who and how" thing doesn't quite make sense to me. Isn't it still kind of a "what"? 

• Like the example they give in that article I linked to above is:

Resolutions focus on the what. Example: “I’ll get a promotion.”

Intentions focus on the who and how. Example: “I’ll approach my work with curiosity, dedication, and purpose.”

The way I read that, you're still "approaching your work" - or looking at the what. I also don't really see how this shifts your mindset to the present moment - you're still looking to the future, just in a less vague way than when you make a resolution.

Needless to say, I did fill out the Intelligent Change Reflections and Intentions sheet that came with their Habit Tracker bundle that I picked up out of curiosity. And I set the intention "I want to be the healthiest version of myself that I can be." So I'm going to use that as my intention for 2025, and see how it goes. Maybe it will help direct me to make healthier choices throughout the year?

January Goal

So as I said in my 2024 Year in Review, for 2025, I think I need to stick to monthly goals. So for January, I'm going to set two goals:

1. Aim to do yoga twice a week - I want to get back into the habit I had started last summer.
2. Make plans for all the times that I am prone to falling off track, such as when vertigo strikes, when I hit sad anniversaries, etc.

The more I was thinking about it, the more I realized how important getting some plans in place is going to be for me, especially now that I seem to have a seasonal patterns of vertigo. I'm also going to sit down and plan out some good rewards (preferably non-monetary) to use for meeting goals.

Weight Updates Galore!

As I mentioned in my Year in Review post, I forgot to post the last several weight updates. So here they are:

Nov 18 (My schedule changed, so this was taken at a different time of day from normal):

weight: 231.6
fat percentage: 56.3
hydration: 30.0
muscle: 21.4
bone: 10.5
cal: 2420

*I made a note that this one may not have been accurate as well

Dec 5:

weight: 229.0
fat percentage: 54.1
hydration: 31.5
muscle: 22.5
bone: 10.5
cal: 2405

Dec 12:

weight: 227.6
fat percentage: 52.8
hydration: 32.4
muscle: 23.1
bone: 10.5
cal: 2397

Dec 19:

weight: 231.2
fat percentage: 54.0
hydration: 31.6
muscle: 22.6
bone: 10.5
cal: 2418

*another note that this one may not have been accurate either

Hopefully I'll remember to post my weight updates a little more often in 2025!

2024 Year in Review

Happy New Year! I'm a little late getting to this review post this year. I usually like to have it done for the end of the year, but life was particularly crazy over the last month and I just never got to it. (Oh crap, I also just realized I never posted the last several weight updates, so I'll have to get on that as well!)

I tried different methods of goal setting for the year. I started 2024 off with trying some quarterly goals:

• From January to March, I wanted to lose 5 lbs, which, at the time, would have brought my weight down to 219.8 lbs. This was failed - at the end, I had actually gained a bit of weight from my starting goal and was up to 228.2 lbs.
• Then from April to June, I focused on healing my back - I wanted to be going to see the chiropractor every four weeks, rather than every two or three. This was a success! I consistently was doing yoga for my back weekly, which seemed to help!

From there, I decided to set a six month goal, then monthly goals:

• The six month goal was to lose 18lbs by Dec 31st. The plan was to lose 3lbs a month to the end of the year; I laid out all the monthly goal weights, and came up with some rewards to help me achieve them. Unfortunately, I failed to make any of those goal weights, and completely failed this goal. :(
• For July, the monthly goal was to do yoga for my back twice a week. I succeeded. :)
• For August, the monthly goal was walk once a week, with a bonus goal of continuing to do yoga for my back twice a week. This was also a success (in both parts!) I was very happy, as this month I managed to build on the previous month's success.
• For September, my goal was simply to continue doing yoga for my back twice a week, and walking once a week. Unfortunately, this is where everything fell apart. Between vertigo flare-ups and the anniversary of losing a loved one, I wasn't able to keep going with the successes I'd had in July and August. I stopped setting goals for the remainder of the year. :(

Based off of what happened, I think I need to try to stick with monthly goals (specifically with rewards built in). I seemed to have a lot of luck with those when I was setting them. Though I also need plans in place for when I may fall off-track (specifically when vertigo flares, or around certain times of the year that are significant for my lost loved one). I don't seem to do well with long-term goals, and, right now at least, I haven't been doing well with weight-loss goals that work towards a particular number. I'll probably be better off setting goals towards starting and maintaining healthy habits.

However, I am really pleased to see the successes I had in July and August of this year. In face, 2024 is the year that I've actually had the most successes with the goals I've set for the year, so that's super encouraging. :)