Myobi’s Ramblings

Fire Up For Fall: Week One!

September 19, 2011 at 1:40 pm (Fire Up For Fall!)

Well, here we go! I’m attempting to start blogging again. What better way than to make it a challenge? I’m somewhat excited. So, here we go!

THE EPIC FIVE GOALS FOR THE FIRE UP FOR FALL CHALLENGE.

1. Practice piano at least 1 hour each day.

2. Complete the 30 Day Shred, rotating 5lb and 3lb weights for each “circuit” with no breaks.

3. Read at least one book a week.

4. Write a blog post on each book read.

5. Focus on eating WELL, not LESS.

WHY HAVE I CHOSEN THESE GOALS?

Well, aside from them being epic, of course. You’re going to find a bit of a theme going on with each of these goals.

1. Practice piano at least 1 hour each day.

My first goal, playing piano for an hour a day, has two main reasons. One, I’m not going to get better without practicing. Two, I get incredibly grumpy if I don’t. Music is a release for me.  Generally, if it’s a happier piece, it will rub off on me. If it’s a sturm & drang piece, well, it’s probably a good thing I’m taking my emotions out on the keyboard instead of my husband, right? Right.

Currently, I am practicing on Mondays and Wednesdays at a local church (both organ and piano) because I will be substituting for them in October. At home, I have a 61-key keyboard that I hope to replace “soon” with a full-sized keyboard. I wish there was room in the apartment for an actual piano, but there is not. Nor are there really funds for that right now.

2. Complete the 30 Day Shred, rotating 5lb and 3lb weights for each “circuit” with no breaks.

I’ve just recently completed Ripped in 30. And by “completed” I mean “my schedule went completely nuts, and I did 3 days of Week 4, so that counts.” >.> Exercising at night has two benefits for me: I sleep better, & it improves my mood. I want to keep a variety going, so today starts the 30 Day Shred. However, I feel it’s about time to up the ante and increase the weights. All exercises will be unmodified. The first round of each circuit, I will use 5 lb hand weights, and during the repetition, I will use 3 lb weights. I’m very, very good at hurting myself, so I want to do this slowly.

I’m actually pretty happy with my weight right now (137 pounds), but I’d like to lose more fat. This will hopefully help with that. I’ll be taking measurements first thing in the morning tomorrow and posting them. Each level will be 10 days long. On the first day of each level (except for today  because I forgot), I will take measurements for progress. Hopefully they’ll go down!

3. Read at least one book a week.

I’ve chosen this as a goal because I want to read more. Sometimes I get lose myself in this apartment all by myself during the day. I’d prefer that to at least be while reading a book instead of staring at the computer screen. I’m currently reading the 3rd book in Patricia McKillip’s Riddle-Master trilogy, Harpist in the Wind.

4. Write a blog post on each book read.

This goal is completely selfish. It is something I have always wanted to do. However, I’ve never actually gotten around to it. No more of that. Simple as that.

5. Focus on eating WELL, not LESS.

This one’s kinda tough for me, as I’m sure it is for many people. With my thyroid issues, it can be very difficult to lose or maintain my weight. This is annoying when you’re trying to get your body fat % down. However, my usual reaction is to exercise, exercise, exercise and then eat maybe 1200 calories a day, gross.  This leads to me being tired, grumpy, and generally fails. So while I will continue to keep track of exercise and food over at myfitnesspal.com, I’m not going to focus on staying under my calories. I’m going to eat when I feel hungry. I’m just going to make sure that it isn’t like yesterday (cake, pizza, leftover chinese…you honestly would have thought I was pregnant the way I ate yesterday).

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE THIS WEEK THAT’S MADE YOU FEEL FABULOUS?

I would get to this question right after cleaning up cat vomit. The older cat gorged herself on food and hurked it up. On our comforter that is dry clean only (we did NOT realize this when we bought it, just fyi). Lovely.

I’d have to say that getting things taken care of for the apartment have made me feel fabulous. I convinced the hubby to get some items for the apartment. The guest bathroom is now a little more put together, and we have curtains for the guest bedroom and master bedroom now. I’ve also started arranging my desk in a way that makes it feel less like I’ve just shoved everything on it (which, to be fair, I had). So that’s really helped the apartment feel more homey, which is really nice.

If only the comforter didn’t have remnants of cat vomit on it. Le sigh. She’s 16. I’ll forgive her.

WHAT DO YOU THINK WILL BE YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGE WILL BE IN REACHING YOUR GOALS?

Easily it will be my tendency to let things slide. I’m hoping that the challenge itself will help me keep to these goals. It seems it is always harder to form good habits and break bad habits than it is to form bad habits and break good ones. Ah well. I shall fight!

WHERE IN THE WORLD DO YOU LIVE? WHAT’S AMAZING ABOUT IT?

I live in central Texas, on the outskirts of Austin. I love it because it is very close to the civilization and infrastructure that my husband wants, but it is also in a less developed area. I love seeing trees everywhere, and I especially love being able to see the stars at night.

My positive picture of the week:

I felt it should be fitting to have the picture be of Wookie and Alex, all things considered. Wookie is the black and white cat (4 year old male), and Alex is the Russian Blue (16 year old female). The comforter is the one that keeps getting puked on. We probably have to take it in for dry-cleaning because of Alex every other month. Ah well. Cats! What can you do?