Weekly Challenge 1/15- 1/21

This is from the last thread:

anybody think of a new challenge for the upcoming week. i thought of something: why not spend 15 min each day on just ourself's. like making time for a bubble bath or pedicure etc. what do you think?

took at bubble bath last night!
Candydp

Mon. Jan 14, 4:43pm

Hm...I need to think about how to adapt this one. I can remember a time in my life when it would have been a huge deal to schedule 15 minutes of guilt-free time for myself! But kids get older, life changes...I spent quite a bit of time today reading, in between housekeeping (15 minutes reading, 15 minutes working).

I'll think about what I'm neglecting, but in the meantime, I'll be here to cheer people on!

Monday, January 14, 2008, 6:17 PM

ok I have another thought.. besides taking 15 minutes which is good if you have a busy schedule.. take out a piece of paper and write your goals down..

than for each time you do something towards reaching those goals give yourself a star.

like if you exercised, or stayed on plan.. I think we need to give ourselves credit for the good things. we beat ourselves up for the wrong decisions we make, but where is the credit we should be giving to ourselves for the right choices we make..

just a thought for everyone

lynneta

Monday, January 14, 2008, 6:22 PM

i am down for this assignment. i have been meaning to incorporate more 'me' time - 15 minutes a day without disruption sounds lovely and calming. good suggestion.

i also like the goal/star idea. i will write some things down. i think it will be nice to sit for 15 minutes and pat myself on the back rather than constantly mentally beating myself up for not staying on task.

Monday, January 14, 2008, 7:02 PM

Like the double challenge too.....
So here goes...TODAY, I took a hot bath after shovelling heavy wet snow. Felt great to let my cold muscles warm up and relax. Felt really good afterward. Not even sure how long I was in the tub (probably not 15 minutes) BUT it sure felt good.
I'm putting on some great smelling lotion tonight while I watch a sitcom rerun I love....2 and a half men. Talk about free personal time....can't wait!
Been listing like crazy lately...even bought a new little notebook a few weeks ago and I am enjoying filling up the pages, crossing off things and ripping up the pages when I am done. Those ripped out pages feel like stars!
~H2

Monday, January 14, 2008, 8:59 PM

Okay...I will note in my pen-and-paper journal each night at least 3 positive things I did that day--3 good wellness choices (mental wellness included). More if I can. All that I can.

I love writing and don't always get to it, so taking a few minutes every night will feel very good.

mejaka

Monday, January 14, 2008, 11:53 PM

mandajo

Well, I took a long bath last night, probably more like 20 to 30 minutes. It was so relaxing!! I used one of the fizz balls that you put in a bath, it smelled so good and had these little flower petals in it, so once it dissolved I had flower petals in my bath. I'm so gonna have to find more of those. I also listened to my favorite singer while relaxing. Man it was great to just not think about stuff, even if it was for only 20 minutes!!!
I love these challenges/tasks!!! I feel like I have that little something to keep me going, Thank you so much!!!!!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 9:37 AM

Candydp

I watched the end og "raising helen" as I did stretches at the end of the day. Sent hubby to next room.
Oh and I did wall push-up in my cube when most people were off at lunch :)

Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 11:01 AM

Got a call to teach today, and when I arrived discovered I was teaching PE (usually the sub secretary lets me know!). So, during prep period, I ran home and changed--and worked out with the kids. :^ )

My 15 minutes today is going to be reading. I'm in the middle of a really good but somewhat challenging book. Right after dinner when everyone else heads downstairs, I'm going to curl up on the couch with my heating pad and my green afghan and read a couple of chapters.

Plus noting my good wellness choices in my journal.

mejaka

Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 7:57 PM

Reading too ...one of my biggest pleasures. Took a hot bath and I am in my PJ's at 8:30...soft pretty velour ones. Now where is my book!

What am I grateful for today? Got outside and walked back country road with trees heavy with snow. It was beautiful and quiet

Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 8:44 PM

this is my 15 min of me time and it's great time spent b/c I can log and then check in w/ all of you

Tuesday, January 15, 2008, 8:53 PM

Oh, sounds beautiful, 8:44! Roads slick and icy here, no walking outdoors.

However, I got called in to teach today, didn't know what, got there and it was PE. So on my prep period (with only two classes left to teach) I ran home and changed. Worked out with the kids--stair laps, flat laps, a lap every time my class was beaten in dodgeball by the other PE teacher's class...I also lifted weights during Biggest Loser.

Read a couple chapters as planned, too!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 1:09 AM

I'm down for the 15 minutes a day. This is really good for me because classes begin on Tuesday of next week AND I am researching graduate schools and things I need to do to get into them. It will probably help me out a lot if I just calm down for 15 minutes a day, because the grad. school idea is kind of stressing me out right now!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 7:43 AM

Candydp

I am so glad I went to grad school! I loved it! I miss it! But now I have my dream job. It is so worth it. BTW- I owe close to 60k in student loans... but SO worth it!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 10:00 AM

i missed out on sweet serenity last night and i am sooo disappointed. i ended up getting wasted with a friend instead. i think this challenge is interesting. i realized that as much as i wanted to go out, i really didn't need it. it is great to talk with friends and to be there for them when they call, but i now realize it didn't benefit me in any way. i didn't lose as much as i wanted this week, my eyes are swollen, and i didn't get the chance to unwind and reflect.

i think this challenge is helping me realize how i really drop myself in order to help others. instead of saying, "i can't, i am really trying to take better care of myself..." i just said, "see you in two minutes!" and dropped all of my personal goals. i can't not have a life here, but the way i am handling these situations is not okay. i am beginning to realize how i gained this weight.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 11:52 AM

next week's challenge

Hey all,
I know it's only wednesday but I have an idea for the next challenge. What about if for one week we have to refuse offered food. I just had a co-worker insist jellybeans on me and yesterday it was "take the whole thing" I didn't. I don't mean being at a friend's house and refusing dinner they made but getting used to turning down the "extra temptations" that come when we're trying to stay good.
tidyed

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 12:16 PM

dropping everything .. except weight

Hey 11:52 I so relate. I'm working on the idea that it's ok to say no to friends and family once in a while. Or to only be a couple for an evening. I think it is all related you give in to people for what they want such as going out for dinner and eating badly. Last night I organised my kitchen with little baskets and it may not seem like metime but I liked it and felt good after.
Tidyed

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 12:20 PM

count me in

I think I will make mine 15 minutes of absolute quiet, do nothing time. heavenly!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 12:22 PM

12:22 your post reminded me of something. I used to work in a place that pushed all my stress buttons. I put on a ton of weight and felt like a mess a lot of the time...THEN I hit on the lunchtime nap (noticed that tons of people were parking and sleeping in a shady parking lot in up-scale shopping center near Boston. I started taking 15 minute lunch time naps. Found out one of my co-workers was doing the same and we used to vow to do "wake up calls" if someone didn't show up after lunch! She actually had an alarm cock in her car (I had a pillow)! I woke up after 15 minutes.... It made my afternoons go a lot better. They aren't kidding when they are talking about power napping. It made a lot of difference for me.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 2:29 PM

12:16, interesting challenge--post it again on Monday if you can!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 7:06 PM

mandajo

Well, my me time today was a yoga class. I went there for a workout, and the first 45 minutes really did kick my butt. I didn't realize how hard it is to focus on certain movements, and obviously the extra 100 lbs makes it even more of a challenge. Heck, the lady kept saying you should see your toes, but I couldn't!! My boobs were in the way! Well, it got me to laugh a little bit, yet I still felt bad about the moves I couldn't do. I was just dissapointed, because I used to be on the dance team. I had good balance and was pretty flexible. Oh well, maybe in a few months I'll be able to do all the poses. Back to the me time part though. The lady leading the class closed it with this 15 minute relaxation exercise where we were on a beach and stress and all the to do lists didn't matter, etc.
It was so relaxing. I never realized how much my brain is constantly on go. I literally had to tell my brain to shut up during the exercise because I kept thinking about stupid stuff. Well it was a good time, I'd recomend giving yoga a try to anyone, and that the moves will come at somepoint.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 7:11 PM

Mandago, if you just aren't there yet with yoga poses on a physical level, picture yourself doing them as the class does...each class it will get a little easier. Your mind will make up the difference and the motor skills and flexibility will come as you get more practiced. Also picturing yourself in the pose (doing what you can at the same time) will help take care of monkey mind. It will all come together...you are just in a learning phase. It's a good place to be...and actually anyone who does yoga is on some kind of learning curve...there is always room for improvement.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008, 9:27 PM

mandajo

Thanks for the encouragement. It's something I needed. I know I'll get to a point where I can do them. I just gotta keep remembering why I'm doing this whole losing weight thing and take each challenge as it comes. To all, if you want 15 minutes of "me time" the visualization thing was super cool. I came out of it quite refreshed.

Thursday, January 17, 2008, 12:37 AM

mejaka here. I read yesterday and I wrote in my journal, but the relaxation thing sounds like something I need. My efforts to do this kind of thing on my own haven't been good, though I've been led through it by a friend a few times during her fitness class and really felt it.

I'm not a super-efficient, always-on-the-go type of person, but actual calm relaxation is sometimes hard for me.

I have had a short nap nearly every day--because after a couple of chapters of the book I'm reading, my brain just shuts off. It's not a complex book, but the language is high-density.

I walked past a tray of valentine cookies in the staff lounge yesterday and it reminded me that I wanted to add my say to the prematurely posted challenge for next week. I think that's a really excellent one. It really addresses one of the issues at the center of the overweight struggle for so many...I hate to see the challenges coming too early, because it sets a precedent that can derail the whole thread (as challenges come earlier and earlier until there is actually a confusing backlog of them--I've seen it happen). But it's an excellent challenge. One of the things many of us struggle with is the idea that its okay and even desireable to pass up food. We either take it mindlessly (Oh, sure, I'll take one) or we feel like we'll miss out. I've had to train myself to say, "There are bags and bags of those at the grocery store if I really want one..." or something of that nature sometimes, because I feel like my husband and the kids are going to eat them all and I won't get any.

So turning down everything we're offered for a week might be a really, really good exercise for many of us, helping us see that we can do that and it really will be okay. It'd be enlightening, too, to find out the caloric content of everything we passed up!

Okay, back to this week's challenge...and me trying to figure out how to really get a little bit of extra from the time I take for myself...

Thursday, January 17, 2008, 10:06 AM

Took a 15 minute nap today...I was wiped out and feeling a little low. Did the trick...was really active for the rest of the day...and feeling good. Took a hot bath tonight...felt so good!

Thursday, January 17, 2008, 9:40 PM

mandajo

No real me time yesterday/today. I work mids so the days get a little jumbled. I was also super sore from doing the BL work out. I kinda just slept all day until I had to get up for work. I'm thinking bubble bath after my workout this morning though. Especially since the temperature here is getting ridiculously low. Good luck to all on the 15 minutes. :)

Friday, January 18, 2008, 1:15 AM

mejaka here--I'm sticking to the three bites challenge and still trying not to avoid extraneous activity (today I walked from the portable I was teaching in back into the building and allllll the way to the other side where the office is, and back, four times--could have done it all in two if I'd waited on a couple of things until the end of the day, but I didn't). I've been bouncing below 180 on occasion for three weeks now, and finally have met my goal of being below 180 on first weigh-in for three days in a row. This morning, 178.5.

Friday, January 18, 2008, 4:33 PM

I love reading these threads! We are doing good stuff here!

Inadvertent exercise report. I went shopping and stopped at one store and walked all the way across the shopping center to the second store and back.

Loving self care report. I am reading tonight. Sitting with my feet up under a blanket on the sofa and continuing a book I love. OK...I know it is Friday night....but it is winter and that is exactly what I want to do.

Friday, January 18, 2008, 8:16 PM

woohoo victory over dinner

hey fellow challengers! I went out for dinner tonight to a very good restaurant and I only had one piece of bread a salad and tastes of other's dessert no dessert! I feel victorious!

Friday, January 18, 2008, 9:19 PM

mandajo

Well, I didn't really have a me time so to say, but I went grocery shopping for hubby and I. I got a lot of healthy food so that I can try to keep the weightloss coming off, so that is kinda for me anyway. I'm a day behind on my local paper though, so maybe I'll read that now and make up for lost 15 minutes. I do enjoy knowing what is going on in my community. Good job to you all that are doing the challenge. Now it's just time to keep going!! We can do it!!!

Saturday, January 19, 2008, 10:38 AM

I was occupied for 14 hours in judging a high school forensics tournament. No time for myself today! But--I walked the halls for a half hour (perimeter halls plus up or down stairs at each corner) and I avoided all the junky food that was brought in to thank the judges for giving up a Saturday. I had a single, small cookie.

Cheers to everyone! Victories over dinner! Lovely reading with feet up! Long walks between stores!

Sunday, January 20, 2008, 12:31 AM

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