AWOL

But I'm back! Sorry for the extended break. I kept thinking, "I need to blog. I need to blog." But, alas, that hasn't happened. Obviously. Things have been crazy here. In preparation for spring break, I've had a TON of stuff to do for my classes, plus the eight million tests I spoke of before. I was getting to the point that I had so much going on I was forgetting important things from time to time (even though they were on my calendar) so I thought I better step back from some of my obligations for a short while. Hence, the break.

I'm here now, though! This won't be a comprehensive check-in because I like to keep my weigh-in day consistent (Wednesday) and I didn't weigh in that day, but other than that I thought I'd give an update on my Perfect 10 goals since this is the final week. Can you believe we're 10 weeks into the new year?? I can't. Anyhoo, here they are:

1. Lose 15 pounds. Close, but not quite. Since I didn't weigh myself I don't have an "official" number, but I can say I was well on my way, but I let a little too much go these past two weeks so I sabotaged myself right at the end. How disappointing. I've lost MOST of it, though, so it's alright. I just need to get back to it and I'll be fine.

2. Walk/Jog 2+ hours per week. I've been trying, but I've been having some major issues with an old injury these past two weeks so things have been put on hold, more than I like. I'm actually not even sure I'll be able to participate in a 5k I was planning on doing tomorrow. :( It was suggested to me I break for a few days, though, and those days have ended, so once I finish this post I'm going to go see how my foot/ankle is feeling. Overall, though, I think I was pretty consistent about completing this goal.

3. Complete the first two phases of CLX. I'm sooo close. I started this a little later than I should have in order to finish on time (whoops!), but I am still working toward it and expect to be finished with the second phase shortly.

4. Learn about and apply nutrition to my life more fully. Overall, I think I kicked butt on this goal. This past week? Not so much.

5. Make a meal plan and stick to it. See #4. Overall good, lately not so much.

6. Log what I eat 5+ days per week. Same story.

7. Get to sleep by midnight 5+ days per week. Okay, this has probably been my biggest challenge the whole 10 weeks. But lately I really feel like I'm finally doing better! This is also the one thing I've really been excelling at this past week or two. Some days the time might be closer to 1 a.m., but that's still an earlier average than when I started (now it's midnight-1 a.m., and I was averaging about 4:30-6 a.m. as a bed time). It may be silly, but right now I think this is the one I'm most excited about! Especially because it's been fairly consistent lately, and I've actually been TIRED, I haven't had to force myself to sleep with pills. I'd still like to make it even earlier, but I'm now confident that will come with time!

Something about me: There is a reason I'm a procrastinator when it comes to writing papers for school or work. It's called being a perfectionist. This doesn't make sense to some people, but here's the story: I'm a major perfectionist when it comes to some things, such as when I'm designing something for someone (I will tweak and refine for hours after it appears to be good to a normal person), or when I'm writing (the stuff I get paid for or for school... this blog is my one place where I can write crap and not feel bad about it). The problem is that I would spend SO MUCH time redoing what I had written that I would basically drive myself crazy. I would lose sleep because I'd be up in the wee hours of the morning perfecting. I at one time put my relationship in a bind because I was always at work, perfecting. So, I started procrastinating. And a beautiful thing happened. I might plan beforehand and do my research and whatnot, but I wouldn't actually write until the last possible minute. Then, when I was done, I'd have time to do one quick read-through in order to fix any glaring errors, and that was it. I couldn't spend any more time on it because it was due (to my professor, to my editor, to whomever). Suddenly, I was spending less time freaking out, I was getting more sleep, and I wasn't obsessing. It was a lovely world. The down-side of this, of course, is that now I'll have weeks to finish something and I won't do it until the last possible minute which can carry its own stress if I don't give myself enough time at the last minute or if something else comes up. But, hey, it usually works out for me, so I deal. Maybe some day I'll be able to find a happy medium. (I actually consider this blog a good step toward that since I usually hit "publish post" without much editing. Sure, I'm not super proud of most of the stuff I write, it's not as entertaining as it could be, but I don't stress either. It's a step in the right direction!)


Let's see, other news? I had two people pass on the sunshine award to me, so I will definitely be passing those on soon! Not right now because I'm antsy to go work out before it gets any later (sorry!) but that will be my next post.

OH. AND. One of the other things I've been busy with has been acting as an assistant to my boyfriend for some of his side jobs. He used to have one of his friends help him but his friend is ungrateful, first of all, and second he's a pain in the ass because he doesn't have his own vehicle, so my boyfriend would have to go out of his way to pick the guy up, then drive him out to the job, then stop in the middle of his job to drive the guy to the other side of town to go to school (he takes a class on Saturdays, when 90% of my boyfriend's side jobs are), then drive all the way back to the job to finish. Then, he'd often be guilted into giving the guy a bigger cut of the money than he deserved. So, I finally told him "Hey, how about I help you (growing up, my dad owned a construction business and I often helped him, so I'm an experienced assistant). I don't have anything important to do, I won't require you to drive me anywhere out of the way, I can do anything he can do, you won't have to figure out what a fair cut of the money is (we share everything we make), and we'll be able to spend the time together." He realized I made a good point, so we had a marathon sidework session this Saturday and Sunday (holy cow was I tired).

A long lead-in to explain the best part: Yesterday I get home and what does he have waiting for me? My very own BOSU! And, he rocks way more than he even meant to, because he got the one with the videos I wanted (purely by accident--I never mentioned that part because I always planned on buying it myself). For those who are newer to my blog, I have wanted a BOSU for a while (I used to love using it when I had a gym membership), but talked myself into waiting till next fall when I'd need to work on balance (because nothing will stop me from snowboarding next season). I guess he noticed how much I really wanted one and he wanted to thank me for all the help this weekend, so... surprise BOSU! Very excited. That's actually why I'm so antsy to get to my workout. I was too tired last night to jump on it when I got home, so I plan on doing it right now. FUN!

Having said that, I'm off to use the BOSU. (Oh, btw, I learned something... apparently the ones at my gym were always underinflated. It's supposed to be inflated so that, when flipped upside down, the base is 10 inches up. Mine were NEVER that high. Good to know!) And run. And whatever else I have the energy for. :)