I love when I wake up and feel happy for no reason! It's so rare that it is noticeable--it's a physical sensation! I have a giddy feeling of energy and anticipation that is palpable as nervous energy. I feel a twinge of over-tiredness because I slept around 7 hours instead of my usual 8-8.5, but I don't feel the stark, blurred-grey of fatigue.
I know that it is connected to the exercises and yoga I did yesterday, as well as the last few days of pranayama and meditation. (There is plenty of science to back this up but it is 6:00am in the morning and I don't have time to do research for you because I'm going hiking with new friends! winkwinkwink.) I also feel relief from the pain in my lower back, which I strained on New Year's Eve. Although I haven't lost weight in the last 3 days, I do not feel discouraged: I ate clean yesterday and stuck to 800kcals, and know that as I continue my Nutrition Strategy and Intermittent Fasting, the weight will decrease! Plus, the last two nights, I didn't adhere, even though I was only over by 200-600kcals on those consecutive evenings. What matters is being back on and staying away from sugar and wine! This morning I am going on a short hike with some potential new friends, and I have some busy work to do. Those are good because it gets me out of the house and off my bum! I am grateful for all the above: feeling good physically, feeling happy for no reason, sticking to kthe Fast 800, IF (Intermittent Fasting), hiking, and getting out of the damn house!
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Successful day today! Very grateful for that! Started off with pranayama and meditation. Throughout the day, I took several movement breaks incorporating strength training and did some yoga poses targeting my back. I also made contact with a few companies that might offer a good opportunity for teaching online. Although I didn't get in a bike ride or walk, I stuck to my Fast800 plan, which qualifies for success. Tomorrow i look forward to a morning of hiking with the women's hiking group--I'm excited to make friends!
I am grateful I stuck to the fast today; the social aspect of group accountability on FB is really helpful. A successful day ending at 800 kcals! I'm grateful I didn't eat anything else after dinner! I'm also grateful I discovered the book on yoga for back pain; the info will help me mitigate the pain and heal. I'm grateful that I spent some time on the job hunt: I will soon have an income flow! Tomorrow I intend to have fun and make some new friends at the hiking group event. I'll also take a bike ride or long walk and do some more yoga for my back. When the hike is over, I might run some errands and get some necessaries completed. I'm grateful for a Good day! I am grateful that I did well on my fast plan all day until this evening. I also went on a nice bike ride with the dog and got to see some amazing birds that posed for photos. I did some more job hunting and applied for another remote job. I did some writing for my blog. I'm grateful that there are many jobs for which I am qualified and are open. I am grateful that my body is healthy and back okay enough for me to ride my bike. I'm grateful for all the amazing birds in Australia. I'm grateful that I am writing. I'm grateful that I signed up for flight lessons, because my first one is next week!
Tomorrow, I intend to do some yoga for my back, take frequent movement breaks to work on strength, get the forms printed and submitted for the hike, and walk or ride. I'll also go to bed earlier and try again not to eat at after 6pm, even if I'm hungry, and stick to my fast. I've been searching through old posts, looking for my Intertwining Wheel of Contentment post, and came across a full year of Gratitude Posts for 2016. Well over 300+ days of daily posts, even in the midst of severe depression! I was dedicated to write one post daily whether I felt grateful or not! Thus far this year, I've been trying to write at night about gratitude and intentions for the day following. I will make this more intentional and try to write a daily gratitude post for 2020. Can't hurt!
Today I am grateful for finding some yoga solutions for my whatever-I-did-to-my-back problem. Downloaded two books to address back problems with yoga. Also, I did several more hours of job research and applied for one remote job. I also got off my ass and me and the dog went for a bike ride! So fun and amazing Australain King Parrots posed upside-down for me! I am grateful for the bike ride, for so many remote jobs popping up, for the confidence that I have about gaining remote work, for finding yoga books for back pain, for delicious food, for sticking to my nutrition strategy today, and for finishing the ay at 866 kcals! Indian Thali Breakfast, plus an egg. Not feeling all the great today, but that is a result of sleeping issues and my back and not doing any exercise yesterday. On the other hand, I feel accomplished about yesterday because I found so many online tutoring jobs and other remote positions. Furthermore, I applied for two of them yesterday! In that, I feel gratitude. However, my back is causing me some worry, as it is not healing as it normally does. My massage therapist thinks I've injured a disc, although I usually strain my quadratus lumborum (lower back muscle), and this felt the same when I injured it and afterward. The horrible irony being that I whichever one is injured, it happened in yoga class--the first class I took at the new studio. No one's fault, not even mine, except perhaps there is fault in letting myself get out of shape and my stomach muscles progressively weakening. It rained all day yesterday, so no excursions for exercise. I'm afraid to do yoga because I am unsure what will help and what will cause further damage. Sitting all day is not helping! During the night, I tend to wake up when I shift positions, because I either feel a twinge, or can subconsciously remember to move slowly and carefully enough to prevent said twinge. Shifting all night and awakening had me feeling unrested this morning. Experiencing a strained back muscle is no big deal: it hurts but it heals. Having a strained disc is something else entirely, and scary. I am really sick of having all these injuries, especially right as I start getting my mojo back with exercise and eating healty! Aargh! Thali: sambar, chickpea something, potato salad something, spicy soup something, and raita. All from this new place I discovered near the train stop in Glenhuntly. There's a collection of Indian grocers and restaurants and a Chinese market! I will definitely be returning to Glenhuntly to explore those markets! And the food: delicious! I felt like I was back in Rishikesh! I ate 400 kcals. over yesterday, putting me 1200 instead of 800. I could not stave off hunger after lunch because I did not eat enough for my first meal. Lesson learned: eat a hearty first meal to feel sated for the day. I ate some of my Indian Thali, but could not accurately count the nutrient factors, so ate too little and guessed. But on the bright side, I munched on celery with peanut butter instead of anything full of sugar or simple carbs. That's great! Also--and I already know this!-- if I sit all day, I get really restless both mentally and physically, which makes me want to munch out of boredom. I gave into this last night and had two dark chocolate squares, very late at night, which is a big No-no! It's interesting to note that if I start out the day strong, it ends strong; however, starting out feeling challenged makes it harder to adhere to my Nourishment Strategy throughout the day--especially at night! I'm not going to beat myself up or be too hard on myself; after all, I accomplished quite a bit of self-care and several goals yesterday: I spent hours job-hunting, I completed my pranayama and meditation practice, I tracked food intake, scheduled a hike with the women's hiking group (Yay! Finally!), and ended the day with a self-care session of self-massage with lavender-infused coconut oil! So piss off 400 kcals., today I am back on! Because... ...I can do it!Happy to state that I have been doing my yoga practice in the mornings, sans asana! Khapalabhati, Bhastrika, and Nadi Shodanham, followed by short meditations and chanting. Feels great!
Wow! I feel so thrilled and excited and happy and relieved about being another pound down! And I know it's not all water at this point (or air LOL!)! I've been exercising and my energy level is good or even up! I'm on Day 2 of the actual Fast 800, because for the first three days, I followed a very low-calorie liquid fast to kickstart my weight loss and also because I was required to do a water only fast for blood tests on Friday. But since then I've been on the actual Fast 800 and loving it! To see such a quick loss is so motivating and exactly what I needed to create feelings of empowerment, which I have really needed! I have not been able to access a sense of self-control, of empowerment, of will power, or of determination in so long, so to be able to refrain from overeating and compulsive eating (what I like to call Zombie eating: brain-dead eating in front of the TV, for instance), even for a day seems miraculous! I am so grateful! Having a feeling of empowerment return in one area opens the floodgates for my Self Power to activate in other areas where it was diminished. I honestly feel as though... ...I can do it!Today, I'm going to a 4:30pm yoga class and I've got my Nutrition Strategy planned out for the day. I think I need to buy more vegetables!!! LOL I ate almost half a head of cauliflower with dinner last night--it was just over 2 cups steamed!
I've been engaged in busy work all morning, so now it's time to start the day! And I'm a bit hungry! Off to practice pranayama and meditation, then cook up a veggie-packed 2-egg omelette to accompany an apple for brekkie! Yum! I am grateful for:
Tomorrow, I intend to:
I don't know why I stopped eating like this; it's delicious, filling, nourishing, and I actually love eating foods like this! Living in China with little access to a healthy variety of food (and food where I trusted the source enough to eat it), is one reason. The only other I can think of is that stress, trauma, and bad habits overtook my diligence. The irony is that when I am eating healthy, I exercise more. And when I exercise more often, I naturally eat a nutritious, moderate diet. Interesting how these are all connected: emotional well-being and resilience, stress and trauma, regular exercise. Of course, NONE OF THIS is new information for me--I've known it for years, but somewhere along the way... anyway, it doesn't matter about THEN, what matters is what I am doing RIGHT NOW! I can do it!Seared Tasmanian Salmon, accompanied by steamed cauli topped with a generous portion of butter! OMGYUM! I can't help but harken back though, to times when I was seriously athletic yet managed to eat what I enjoyed in moderation, indulging now and then (of course!), but managing to stay thin and fit and strong! My strategy was pretty simple: I usually monitored what I ate with a calorie counter like My FItness Pal, exercised 3-5 days per week (intensively!), was not overwhelmed by stress, and countered days when I indulged with days where I ate less. Sounds infinitely simple! I was running between 6-20 miles each week, cycling, doing strength exercises, doing yoga, climbing... and being mindful how much went into my mouth. I still had a crippling sweet-tooth, so I'd have dessert every now and again, and almost always have a low-cal, low-sugar sweet after meals; such as homemade sorbet, stevia-sweetened ricotta, or a couple of 100% cocoa squares. I remember for a while being addicted to Vietnamese Coffee. Every afternoon after lunch, I'd indulge in a cup of coffee with a tablespoon or so of sweetened condensed milk. But keep in mind, that morning, I had run 3-5 miles and ate in the same way I am eating today: veggies with protein (usually fish or tofu) and a touch of fat. Although I appreciate the nostalgia of all those positive and nourishing actions, I know I can do them again, and will! Because I just finished that delicious meal above, of a small portion of Tasmanian salmon, 2 cups of cauliflower with a spoonful of butter, and I am jam-packed full! OMG! And I haven't had my chocolate square yet! I am supercalifragilistically-grateful that I started my new Nutrition Strategy with a 2-day juice/broth fast (and a forced water-only fast for the final, third day)! Because of the drastic reduction in calories, now a full meal of food, even only 350 kcals. causes my tummy to puff and for me to full excessively full! Additionally, I only had two meals today, and have remained right around 800 calories, finishing the day at 866 kcals! Whoo Hoo! I did it!I've been eating this for years and it is delicious! I never tire of Doenjjang jiggae because not only is it nutritious and filling, it is easy to make! Doenjang is fermented soybean paste, similar to what Japanese call "miso". Adding dried seaweek (Korean miyeok), green onion, and gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste- optional) to water and boiling for 5 minutes until the seaweed rehydrates and softens and voila! The perfect in-between meal snack. I add an uncooked egg while it's boiling when I want more calories. Deonjang is an excellent source of protein, isoflavones (antioxidants) , and iron; also a great meat alternative for vegans and vegetarians! Seaweed (dried kelp, seagrass, miyeok) has large amounts of iodine, potassium, and B6, antioxidants, and many other minerals and vitamins! Many studies show how good doenjang paste is for you!
For example: "Obesity is considered a risk factor for neurodegeneration. Because fermentation of soybean increases contents of various bioactive compounds with anti-obesity and anti-diabetic activities, we investigated the protective effect of doenjang, a Korean traditional fermented soybean paste, against neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration in the cortex and hippocampus of mice fed a high-fat (HF) diet." https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/11/8/1702/htm |
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