No Excuses November - Update #11

How are we 11 months down in 2017? Doesn't it feel like April was 100 years long and November was 5 minutes long and now this year is almost done? That's the trouble with these goals some times - I have no concept of time. It feels like the more I do, the faster time goes and suddenly a month has passed.

Designated Date Time/ Family Time

Thanksgiving is obviously family time. With the passing of my mom, my family wanted to make sure we spent it together. We hosted a small dinner at my dad's house and made sure we all came into town to spend it together. It was definitely odd without her there. My mom was so opinionated, I kept wondering what she would say about the table cloth I picked out and wondered if I was doing it all the way she would have wanted. We had a little remembrance for her before dinner as well which definitely was emotional. 

The day after, my whole family went to the Cal vs. UCLA game. While I wish the football went better, it was fun to do something with all of us. I also got to catch up with some friends at a tailgate beforehand. I think one of the best things about being an adult is enjoying things like this with your family more than you did when you were a kid. Also, teaching your dad how to take selfies. 

Dan and I also started picking up family hikes again! Since we don't have a gym in LA, a pre-turkey hike seemed like a great workout. Too bad it was 90 degrees out.

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

Man, I tried so hard with this one, but it's been hard to get back in that rhythm. As part of No Excuses November, I tried to be really picky about what kept me out of the gym. Was I not going because I was lazy or did I have a good reason? Usually it was because I was sore or work ran away from me which felt fair. I also got the flu the last week and I feel safe saying NO ONE wants a sick contagious person at the gym with them.

There were still a couple of times where I probably could have gone but didn't so those times I made sure I was still being very productive by cleaning the whole house or tackling some other project I'd put off.

Dan and I did start bringing back the weekly hikes though. I also have been trying to do more runs. I got a PR in a 10k this month and it made me really want to get my time under an hour. I definitely have a lot of drive to keep this goal going so let's hope December is when I really nail it.

Meal Planning

At the end of the month, I started to try to clean up our eating. I was feeling super bloated after several big eating events around Thanksgiving. It's been fun to look through the Whole30 recipes and try to think of some new, fun, healthy dishes. We'll get to it later but except more of this next month!

Take an Annual Trip with My Husband

I was hoping we'd find some awesome Black Friday deal to kick off planning for next year but no luck yet. I think we'll just have to wait until our tax returns come and hope we find some awesome last minute deal. We're signed up for a lot of races next year and I'm hoping we can go on our trip after our last one as a reward for our hard work.

Read a Book a Week

I destroyed this goal. With EIGHT books in November, it was more like 2 a week. I've also surpassed my 52 books for the year and now everything is surplus (yes, I don't stop just because I hit my number - right now I'm at 54 books). P.S. Part of my secret is audio books. I listened to two of the eight this month which definitely helped.

It also set me up to be able to vote better for the Goodreads awards. I still got annoyed that many of the books that won were voted on because of the author or hype and not because people liked it. Example? Artemis won for sci-fi... it came out in the middle of the voting. Andy Weir is a great author but you know 52,000 people didn't read that book in the two weeks they had to vote after it came out. I'd love if they re-vamped it so voting was in early January for the year before. There were also some winners of books that weren't good... because again, the author has other good books. I wish people would just refrain from voting if they haven't read the book. Lower voter turnout might encourage Goodreads to fix the voting.

My favorites for the year so far are Little Fires Everywhere, Turtles All the Way Down, and All Our Wrong Todays. 

Me Time

I don't even know if I had free time last month. I feel like all of my free time was spent reading. I want to say I'm a little over books but so far I'm on my second book in December and both have been ones I don't want to put down.

While I like to argue that reading time and "me" time are separate, they definitely haven't been. I think that's the difference of reading before bed or while I'm waiting and reading because I'm really into a book. So anyways - I obviously carved out a lot of time for reading last month and that felt like my time when I liked the books. 

No Excuses November

So how about that month goal? For me, the hardest part was defining it. Obviously, I can't do EVERYTHING and excuses come into play when you're choosing between things to do. I decided that instead of the goal being "never make an excuse" it was to think about what I was choosing between. Was I not something because I didn't want to or was being lazy? Or was I doing something more important instead? It really made me focus more on the trade offs and what's possible with the limited amount of time we have.

I joked earlier that November was 5 minutes long. I really feel like 95% of the time, I made the most of my time this month and I still fell really short of being able to do everything I wanted to. It really helped me clear up some issues I've had with trying to do more than I possibly could and feeling deflated over it. Figuring that out and prioritizing the other things I'm more invested in, lifted a lot of burdens for me.

- Fitness! I still would like to put more time here. Dan and I are signed up for some really hard races next year and that's going to mean carving out more and more time to train. I definitely didn't put as much work here as I wanted to but I understand that it's a place I want and need to focus on so I can find success.

- Chores! This one went from zero attention to a lot. It was a good place for me to put my time when I was procrastinating. Didn't make the gym? Well, you better clean the house then! It helped me stayed ahead of chores, organize the house more, and tackle a lot of projects I've put off like cleaning my office or the garage. I saw that doing a little bit each day was way better than letting it pile up into a huge mess that was harder to do all at once.

- Real Estate and Etsy! These areas took a big hit. Even when I tried to carve out time, there was always something else coming up. Thinking about what my goals are for next year, I see these continuing to take a back seat.

- Friends! I don't feel like this month was particularly outgoing in terms of seeing friends like last month but I did host a party and saw people a lot. I think in the midst of November going by so fast, nothing really feels like I gave it enough time.

So that's how November went. It definitely sped by and I feel like I didn't accomplish nearly as much as I wanted to.

Detox December

This goal was so glaringly obvious to me coming out of November. The third week of this month is a big eating week for most people. As always, I took it a step too far. We had 5 days in a week period that revolved around excessive eating and by the end of it, it just felt really ridiculous. After the last day, I went to Costco and bought like 6 kinds of lettuce with the plan to go Whole30 4-5 days a week. I'd still be eating clean the other days but I'd allow myself a little more flexibility and some wine.

And then I got the flu. I just wanted easy food  because getting out of bed to cook felt impossible. It through this whole plan in the trash a few days after started. By the time I felt better, I had a fridge full of rotten lettuce.

It made me realize that not only is eating tons of salad a little hard - it's really not what you feel like when it's colder outside and you're busy or not feeling well. So the new plan is a little different. I still want to try to eat mostly clean and fit in a lot of salads. There's just no structure or goal around it. It's still December after all and I think just going for a general 80/20 healthy eating plan is a good goal to end the year.

Obviously, the holidays are tough on healthy eating. There are too many goodies and parties. I'm a strong believer that turning down too many fun treats ends up being worse for your overall happiness and fitness goals. It's better to learn how to moderate, and this goal encompasses that.

It also sets me up for future goals. I'm definitely thinking about my plans for next year and I've realized that a lot of these monthly goals fit into my big one for next year. This just further puts in those building blocks to get ready for 2018.

Outgoing Octopus October - 2017 Update #10

This month was about getting back on track. The migraines and neck pain I experienced in September really threw me off my goals and all the progress I'd made in August. Luckily, I was able to get those under control by improving my posture while working and recognizing my migraine triggers. Good thing too - October had A LOT going on... so let's get to it.

Designated Date Time/ Family Time

So much of this month was spent with family. Traveling home for a wedding for each of our families meant a lot of time spent with those we love. There's also just something about weddings that brings out so much magic and joy.

I had such a great time getting to know Dan's family better as well. It's the first time we've seen them since our own wedding and now, a year later, it's really sunk in that this is my family too. It was also really great to meet a lot of the extended family that had liked our big life event Facebook posts. 

Lastly, it was our one year wedding anniversary! I can and can't believe it's been a year. It's somehow managed to be long and fast at the same time. I've had some big life hurdles this year and I'm so lucky to have someone like Dan by my side to get through them. It definitely would have been a much harder year than it was. On a lighter note... obviously that was a date night for us! Otherwise, we have been so busy it's been hard to have time for just the two of us. It's definitely something to work on as we close out the year. 

It's also cool enough now to bring back the family walks! There are so many hikes we didn't do before it got too hot. I'm hoping to knock some of those out before we end this year. 

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

my outdoor gym!

This one really peaked in August and hasn't gotten back to that level. I was averaging 7-10 workouts a week that month. Now it's like 3. I really hit a wall after my migraine in September. It took me two weeks to really bounce back from the after effects. I felt a couple of other migraines coming on in October but now that I could read the symptoms I was able to take some medicine and hide in darkness which stopped them from getting really bad. The break from my fitness schedule did it's damage though and it was hard to get into the same rhythm (the cold Dan brought home didn't help either)...

But no excuses! November is all about fixing that (we'll get there later). I always have an idea of my next goal at the end of the month before and knowing that I wanted to tackle this again in November helped me end October strong. Even though we were on the other side of the country the last week of the month, we managed to get into the gym one day and go on a long hike another. We probably could have done more but it was already more of an effort that we usually make on trips.

Meal Planning

Crock pot Gourmet

It's funny how this has actually started to feel more natural as I've made myself busier. Part of the month goal involved me inviting friends over a little more. Generally it was an extension of meeting them at the gym or something. I didn't want to get home from a workout and then have to worry about cooking and not getting to socialize so I planned out slow cooker meals that I could set up ahead of time. It meant food was ready after our workout AND I got to talk to my friends instead of hiding in the kitchen. It's definitely made me want to use that strategy more. It will also be nice now that it's getting cooler and a lot of soups can be made easily in the slow cooker.

Take an Annual Trip with My Husband

This month actually had us going on two mini trips - one to each of our families for weddings. While driving to LA is no big feat, going out to Ohio is something we really haven't done enough of. We've had a crazy couple of years since our last trip but part of the reason was also that the first trip wasn't great for me. I had been sick the whole week and paired with the 20 degree weather, I just always felt freezing and cooped up inside.

This past trip was much better. It was twice as warm and 40-50 degrees was something I could deal with a little better. We went on a long hike through some of the most gorgeous nature I'd ever seen. We were also there for his sister's wedding so I was able to meet a lot of the family members that weren't able to make the trip for our wedding. Lastly, it was just nice to spend more time with his family. With the loss of my mom, I ache for those connections more and getting to bond with them was something that felt really nice. I'm excited to have them come out to California again soon and it won't be another 3 years until we go out to Ohio again.

Read a Book a Week

I crushed it this month! While I did read 2 books just on the Ohio trip alone (so much airplane time!), I was already ahead for the month before that. It feels awesome to get a lead again. Focusing on fun, quick reads like I wanted to helped a lot. I also chipped away at an audiobook during my driving and I plan on continuing that habit. I was going to use this lead on my goal as an opportunity to start reading books that I've been interested in but were worried would take longer... and then I remembered it's my favorite book time of the year!

I use Goodreads to track all of my reading, make challenges, and create those cool little lists that I post here each month. One of my favorite things about the site though are their annual Goodreads awards. I always try to read as many of the books as possible which is pretty tough in the 4 weeks of voting. This year I tried keeping track of 2017 books as they were coming out. It means I've already read 5 of the books... which unfortunately is about how many I get anyways without trying.

Oh well! I've already made my library lists so now it's all about getting as many more read as possible so I can vote accurately! If I can hit 7 books again this month, I'll definitely feel good about my votes. 

Nominees!!!!! 

Me Time

Me time has always been an odd goal for me. I love being around people and working from home gets a little lonely sometimes but despite that I still feel like sometimes I just need me space. Even though I work from home, I'm still working so it's not it's time to just unwind from everything else I have going on.

This month was a lot about knowing when to push for the "Outgoing" goal and when to just say no because I need that break from everything. I think it went really well. I tried really hard to find a balance. I fit more friend time into week days so that I could save some weekend time for me. I tried to not book things on back to back days so that I could have a break if I needed.

I also used that free time a little more productively. Obviously I read a lot. I also worked on my Etsy shop so there are more listings. Lastly, I made some big strides on my cross stitch. I'd love to give it to Dan for our 2nd Anniversary (cotton) but it's FAR from done.

Outgoing Octopus October

My original plan was to make a list of 8 things I did to be more outgoing this month. I quickly realized that would be weird. I don't want people to think I'm doing things for a list or a little goal. The point was more about building habits that strengthen friendships and help me make new ones.

So instead, I'm going to generally talk about the types of things I did.

For starters, I made an effort to be there more. I think we've all been in situations where we're casually invited to things. Little things like "Who wants to grab a drink tonight?" I said yes more to those... and it made me realize how many times I don't show up. It feels little but it adds up to missing out on a lot. While it was only a couple more instances of saying yes... they were really fun times that I would have missed out on because it was too far of a drive or I wanted to stay in.

I also tried to make more of my communities. I'm in some group chats. I went to a big college and small high school that have a lot of alumni in San Diego. I'm a member of 3 gyms. I have a whole additional family in law that I acquired a year ago. I used these connections more to socialize whether it was going to alumni events, gym events, or just being friendlier and joking around more with all of the above.

Lastly, it was a lot about just deepening relationships I already have. Sometimes when I'm feeling sad or left out I think "maybe I just need to make new friends." That's a horrible attitude. Friendships go both ways and while I hate feeling like I'm always the one to instigate plans, I know I need to sometimes. I invited friends out and over more than I had been. It reminded me that this is something I used to do ALL THE TIME. And then I stopped. I forgot how much I liked doing it. It reminded me that it's important for me to make the effort to maintain my friendships as well.

This was all exactly what I needed this month. I think it was the perfect timing too. I had a lot of hurt and heartbreak in the past year and it really affected me. In hindsight, I was probably a little depressed about all of it. Because I'm generally really positive, it was hard to see that I wasn't being as friendly or making the same kind of effort to show up and make plans because I was hurt. I was afraid of rejection. I had all these walls up that are so unlike me. If I had tried this  6 months ago, it would have been hard to overcome all of that doubt. This timing was better though because I'd built up my confidence more through my exercise, my goals, my amazingly supportive husband, and those great friends that always reached out to me even if I wasn't making the effort.

It feels good to feel like I'm more myself and I'm happy I was in a place to even start this month's goal. The fact that it went so well puts me in a good spot to keep it up and stay in a great place.

No Excuses November

Part of the delay in posting this, was figuring out the best way to wrap my head around this goal. It's a combination of things and it's not entirely clear to me either.

So... I think the best way to sum it up is that this month is about doing things when you're able to instead of putting them off. It's kind of a combination of several of the past months goals. There's a few specific areas I want to focus on:

- Fitness! Of course. It's not a total coincidence that our new gym is called No Excuses PT. The last two months have been very excuse filled for me. I had migraines, a cold, and traveling. While I take my health seriously, I definitley milked those excuses for what they were worth. Not ok. Even if I'm not feeling great I still should do something small like take the dog for a walk or doing a home workout.

- Chores! I'm the worst at chores that aren't cooking. I want to get better at just doing them before they get worse and take longer.

- Real Estate and Etsy! Making more of an effort to do outreach and build my businesses.

- Friends! Keeping up with last month, I don't want to just make excuses for not doing things. I know I can't do everything but I want to try to be there when I can.

The point is... I can always find a reason to not do something so maybe it's time to find reasons TO do them instead. This week, for example, I've been feeling sluggish. While I still made time for climbing and walking the dog, I thought about not going to the bootcamp gym. My excuse was resting for a 10k I'm doing this weekend.... but that's not a great reason. It's not like I've been training for this race anyways and today's workout had very little leg in it. I decided to just go and in the end, it gave me that energy boost I'd been missing most of the week.

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That's it for this month! November is looking to be as busy as October was but I'm not going to let that distract me from goals and getting things done. One week in, I've already managed to knock out a lot in terms of my fitness, cooking experiments, and making time for friends. Now if I can round out the business side of things, this will be an awesome month.

Steady September 2017 - Update #9

Wow, I feel like I totally lost track of this month. I was looking at my browser and saw the Blogger tab and thought, "I should probably start writing the September post even though the month ends in... 2 DAYS? Wait, really? How are there only two days left??" Crazy fast month.

Anyways, this post is a little late. I've been dealing with some neck issues that have really affected all the areas of my life below and blog writing. This post is going to be a little shorter because of it but hopefully I'll bounce back this month.

Designated Date Time/ Family Time

We luckily started the month with a long weekend out of town. We got to spend a lot of time eating out together (which is something we don't do much) and also got to see a lot of friends. It was awesome to spend the weekend on a relaxing note.

We've also been trying to go to the gym together more. Normally, I like to go when it's less busy but my schedule didn't allow that this week. The plus side was getting to go at the same time as Dan. I've heard that working out together is a great way to strengthen a relationship and I'm happy we get to do that.

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

This started out so well - coming out of Athletic August into a new month, I had great habits set up. Even when I didn't really want to work out, I knew I'd feel good afterwards so went anyways. It was great!

Around the 3rd week of the month though, I hit a wall. Between work stress and other plans, I missed the gym a few days. All in all, I think I just needed the break. I started the following week with yoga. The next day, I went climbing and was just crushing it. I felt so much more confident and was trying harder climbs. The third day, I had a super busy day at work and was so excited to sweat it out at the gym and that workout was awesome too. I left feeling like my light week was the perfect way to rest my body and come back stronger... and then I got hit with a migraine. I honestly don't think I've ever had one before because I always thought they were just a bad headache. It's so much more than that. I was left with a stiff neck for several days after which also kept me from doing any more exercise.

It's hard when you miss the gym because you're busy or stressed.... it's even harder when you want to go and physically can't. It's crazy because I workout and eat healthy so that my body is always in tip top shape and going through something like a migraine where your body really turns against you - it's a little scary. I hope it's just something that was triggered by an especially stressful day and not a regular occurrence.

Meal Planning

Since this was a busy month for me, I was more dependent on organizing our meals for the week and also using the slow cooker. People also ask how I can manage working two jobs, exercise, and cooking. Meal planning is a huge part of that.

I have two other tricks that I've mentioned before. The first is the slow cooker/ instant pot. It's so nice to be able to prep a meal and have it cook while I'm working or running errands. The second is to just do really easy meals. One of my favorites is to make something that is 100% in the oven. That way I can take a shower or take care of other things while dinner is cooking instead of tending to something on the stove.

I really love this particular habit because it's a big "do it all" habit. I don't want to sacrifice eating well in order to work on other things. Just a little bit of prep goes a long way in making that possible. 

Take an Annual Trip with My Husband

I loved having the time at the beginning of the month for our long weekend. With how busy work has been this month, it's got me itching for another trip. I definitely wouldn't mind starting to think about where we can go next year. As homeowners, we have some tax benefits that will hopefully lead to a good refund. That should pad our savings enough to help us meet this goal next year!

Read a Book a Week

Right on track here! It felt like I was on a roll at the beginning of the month and then I hit a book that was a slower but interesting read. I'm trying to avoid those for now but it's still hard when I come across something that looks good.

I'm also trying to listen to more audiobooks. I'm in my car a lot more now and audiobooks are such a great way to kill that time while getting some reading done as well. I'm always a little hesitant about them because some books work better than others for it. That's where learning how to put a book down comes in handy. I started one audiobook and could not follow it from the get go so I ended up turning it off and listening to This American Life instead.

Me Time

My neck injury had one upside - a lot of me time! I spent the last day of the month in bed with Netflix. Healing from a migraine or concussion or whatever happened means a lot of rest of darkness and quiet. So I messed up on the quiet but staying in and taking it easy was a great way to help that healing.

I also seem to keep having a day a month where Dan is busy - either working or with his own plans. I know I could take that time and catch up with my friends but I've been choosing to take that time to relax and read and catch up on my own projects... and it's been so nice. It's really been the definition of what I meant by this goal and I love it. I hope I keep being able to have a day or two just to take care of me. 

Steady September

This was a really tough one for me. It was about balance and bringing everything together. The month started really well... and then it fell apart. I don't want this to be about excuses so we'll avoid those. I think sometimes doing it all requires some things to fall into place more out of luck than anything. It was already piling on but then my migraine and subsequent head and neck ache really just blew it open. The last week of the month was just totally useless for me and I hate ending on a fail. I definitely want to keep this goal in front of me because it really is THE GOAL but it didn't happen this month because of forces out of my control. 

Outgoing Octopus October

This totally sounds weird. Early last month I said to Dan, "Hey - I thought of the goal for next month!" and he said "Octopus October????" so I gave him a "really???" face and never told him what it was because he didn't ask. When it came up later in another conversation he asked what happened to Octopus October. I told him that doesn't even make sense and he explained that I could try to do 8 new things. Ok, that's not so bad, but I still liked the Outgoing October idea... so why not combine them? Do 8 new things with the goal of lowering inhibitions and fears. 

If you know me, this might seem like a weird one. I'm not super shy. I don't have a hard time talking to strangers or public speaking or anything like that. I know how to be polite and friendly. However, it just hasn't all felt like it's clicked lately.

Honestly, I've felt a little not like myself for a while. I've had a tough year and I think it's really shaken the core of who I am. I lost my mom, I had troubles with close friendships, and frankly, Dan and I still are fairly new to San Diego which can be a lonely feeling all on it's own. At the end of the day, all of that has left me feeling like a more subdued and self conscious version of myself.

Pair that with real estate, a career that requires confidence and a huge personality, and it becomes a big issue. I go to all of the real estate training that I can and I come out of them with a list of ideas and plans to build my business - and then I freeze. 

So this goal is really two fold. The first, and most obvious is to make that real estate push. It's to connect with strangers and bring up real estate more. It's to call people and do things that are a little outside my comfort zone. The worst thing that can happen is that someone says no or doesn't want to talk to you but it's still a tough one.The second goal is to keep trying to build my San Diego community. I love being surrounded by many different types of people. I think I've made a lot of good friends so far and then stopped trying to keep building that community.

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That's it for September! I'm happy to report that after a week+, my neck is finally feeling much better. I'm definitely still feeling cautious and plan on taking it easy for a few more days just to be sure but I'm really feeling antsy to get back to the gym and feeling normal.

Athletic August 2017 - Monthly Update #8

Hmm.. this feels confusing. I probably should have had a better title for my weekly updates so that the monthly one stood out.. Oh well!

Designated Date Time/ Family Time

Oh look I changed the name again! Actually, this month, I spent more time with the rest of my family as well. Dan and I had a race in LA. I invited my dad to come watch and afterwards we all got dinner. We all had breakfast together as well. That may not seem like much but we spent hours talking. My dad has been in real estate forever so it was great to bounce some questions and frustrations off of him. He's also been talking more about his life experience and it's been really interesting. I know how important this time together is and I feel like we've connected more on these visits since my mom passed away.

I also have a brother who lives in San Diego and we've made some more time for each other this month. Despite my races and his travel, we managed to have a day we were both in San Diego and he invited me boating with him. It's nice spending more time with him and I like that we can get along as friends as well as siblings.


Lastly, of course, I still needed time with Dan. We're still trying to do nighttime family walks with the dog whenever we can and that time is always nice just to chat about our days. I felt like the race weekend was the most connected though. The day after the race, we stopped on the way home for a nice lunch date and some shopping around Downtown Disney. We were still sore and tired so to have just a nice, lazy Sunday together was so nice. Since the dog was at home with the dog sitter, it kind of felt like we didn't have "the kids" for the weekend and it was really pleasant.

Stick to a Regular Fitness Schedule

This was totally THE goal for the month. Of all my monthly habits, this is the one that I always felt like I was failing at. I had my climbing schedule and semi-regular body pump but that was only 3 things a week. My goal was way more than that. I feel like I finally hit it and have set up some ways to make sure I continue to keep it up in the future... but you'll read more on that later.

Meal Planning

This goal has been a slow improvement month over month. Since I spent so much of August running to and from gyms, I really needed to set up dinners that would be easy for me to make and would last a few days.


Luckily, I had just received a new cookbook that focused on this kind of meal planning. One of the first recipes I made from it, was called Sunday Gravy. It's a tomato sauce full of vegetables and different meats. I made a ton of it and we were able to make a lot of meals out of it and freeze some too. I also did this with soups and pulled pork and other things that can be made in large quantities. Our dinners were a little less exciting this past month but it happens.

I've also gotten so much better at doggy dinners. I had started making 2-3 dinners for Harley at a time so she wouldn't need cooking every night. If I had more than 2 made, I would freeze the extras. That way, when we went out of town, I could just pull her meals out of the freezer for the sitter. 

Take an Annual Trip with My Husband

Not even on our radar but we finally finalized all the travel for the 3 weddings in 2 months that we have coming up! It's going to be a busy Fall, but it's nice to have a good reason to use our Southwest points and see friends and family.

Read a Book a Week

This went so much better this month. I still felt like I was reading a lot of heavier, slower books, but I finished Alexander Hamilton which was a huge win.

Near the end of the month, I also had a huge realization. I let my books be governed heavily by what I get from the library. I was getting really burnt out on non-fiction and heavy, dense books. I really wanted to read something light or suspenseful - quick reads. However, I got another historical fiction from the library. It's been renowned as one of the best books of the year and I'd been waiting for it for a while. I really wanted to read it... just not now. I needed a break from this type of book. I didn't want to get back in the hold line, but then I thought "...why not?" It's got a little bit of a wait but it's not crazy. The book is being made into a movie next year anyways so reading it closer to that makes more sense for me. Lastly, why keep pushing myself to read books that I'm not feeling at that moment. I would enjoy the book so much more if I could read it in a couple of months when I've taken some distance from this genre so that's what I decided to do! Such a relief.

After coming to that conclusion, I stuck to reading what I wanted: quick reads! Whether they are suspense or chick lit, I'm heading into October with a pile of fun reads.

Me Time

There's something really interesting about adding more to your schedule. I knew focusing so much more time on exercise had the potential to overwhelm my schedule. It actually had the opposite effect. 

I found myself choosing quiet, me time over going out a lot. The first weekend of the year, Dan was out of town for a bachelor party. I was worried about being really lonely and had thought about making a lot of plans with girlfriends. That Saturday, my friend group had made plans to go to a cheap concert. I wanted to spend time with them but I wasn't excited about the concert itself or driving a long distance at night, in a situation where there was drinking. I was torn over my options and in the end, decided to just stay home. I caught up on work, made an amazing dinner, read, drank a bottle of champagne, and played video games. It felt amazing and it made me realize I don't do it enough. It set a standard for the month of doing less sometimes and really helped me remember why this goal was so important. 

Athletic August 

This is going to be more of an overall summary of how this month went. The picture above are my pre and post fitness test results and it makes me so happy to see so much improvement. The rest of this post is going to get into some more of the summary and how the month went for me overall. If you want more of a day to day feeling for what I did and how it felt as I was going through it, I also have weekly posts:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

• 30 burpees a day - I definitely skimped on this after my race. I think doing a little bit of an exercise doesn't make as much of an impact as doing a whole lot all at once. While my burpees got better, it feels like a side effect more of the boot camp gym. With that said, this might be a good goal to continue in a different vein. Maybe doing 100 burpees every Sunday so it's one big focused push.
• Pull-ups - .You know, I never really attempted an unassisted pull up. I'm sure I could do one now though. With all of the rock climbing, and rope climbing, and assisted pull ups, that area is so much stronger. I did see my assisted pull-up number go up a lot so this is on the right track.
• No days off - I skipped maybe 3 days total and had another 3 where I did something really light that's hardly a work out. I think that's awesome. It's not perfect and I would have preferred 6 light days instead of doing nothing but it's still a solid effort. 
• Level up - This one makes me so happy. I definitely was doing harder climbs by the end of the month and I had several AHA moments of using a technique that I'd seen but didn't know how to implement. If you look at the chart above, my fitness test results totally improved across the board too. Except running. I still hate running. 
• Kick it! I've been really loving kickball. I've felt my athleticism improve because of my other fitness pushes. I'm still not amazing. I started kicking fly balls instead of foul balls though. I learned that I can catch the ball. I'm really fast the rare times I get on base. It's cool to feel ok at sports. 
• 31 days of fitness - We totally loved going to the boot camp gym (Which is called NXPT btw). I'm not going to lie, I could have done a trial there 100 other times, but I was afraid. I've seen their team at races and I was intimidated that I would be the worst in the class. 1) I wasn't. 2) It wouldn't have mattered if I was. The gym isn't about competing with your class. It's about competing with yourself. I think the trainers do a good job of knowing when you can push harder and when you're trying your best and motivate you appropriately. I'm excited that we have another 6 months there and ever since we extended our membership I've been trying to make it more of a community. 

I also feel like I learned a lot about myself through this goal. Prioritizing fitness and exercise rippled through so many other areas of my life:

• Drinking Less - I love a good of wine. A lot. Sometimes this has been a reward for getting through a tough day of work or another challenging situation. Through this goal, I was going to the gym after work. Even after a workout or my race, I felt so tired and dehydrated that I just wanted a lot of water before anything. After other races, I'd go get bottomless mimosas. This time I had one light beer and then just wanted all the water. I definitely still had a few fun weekend days but I can see my focus changing and that's big.
• Less Stress - The first two weeks of the month, my boss was in Europe so I had many more responsibilities in his absence. I was still juggling this with my exercise, real estate job, and all of the above goals. Things that would have normally stressed me out, just really disapated. Even when I dealt with some drama, it just didn't bother me as much as it would have. I think when you're physically tired, you don't really have enough energy to be emotionally tired as well. The only thing I'd have capacity for were mental challenges which is way better.
• Weight - I ended up gaining about 6-8 pounds this month. It's definitely due to muscle tone. I'm pretty much the same size but you can see my ab and arm muscles much more clearly. It's definitely conflicting seeing a higher number but I know that it's a good change. Do I still have areas that I'm sensitive about and would like to tone up? Totally. However, you can't target specific areas of your body to shrink through fitness. You need to do that through diet. I eat super clean already and there's not a lot left to cut out. The changes I would need to make in my lifestyle aren't really worth the tiny change in my thighs so I think weight gain is going to continue as long as I keep building muscle. 
• Laundry - omg, when you work out like this, you are changing clothes and showering several times a day. We had to do laundry so much more often. It wasn't even about going through the clothes - Dan was just worried about the smell building up in our laundry basket. Definitely an unexpected side effect. 
• Sleep & Time Management - I'm not a great sleeper. Now that it's been a month, I'm noticing that I'm so tired by the end of the day, that I fall asleep quickly and sleep through the night. That also means that I'm naturally waking up earlier and with more energy. What that also means is that the time I'm getting in the morning from sleeping better makes up for the gym time. I also just feel more focused through out the day and I'm going into September with a better mindset. 

All in all, this whole month felt like such a win for me. Of all the goals I've had, this was the most quantifiable. You can't look at me or the numbers and not know that it went really really well. I feel great and I have so much enthusiasm to keep this up. I love it.

This month also really felt like my Whole30 month. It was a similar idea - 30ish days of a personal challenge that required hard work and sacrifices everyday. Some days were hard. Even though it was a win at the end of the month, many times along the way I felt like giving up or that I just didn't want to do it. I think that's a very normal part of any long term, consistent goal. It takes time for you to mentally and physically adjust to a change, even if it's positive. A lot of the beneficial feelings I had, didn't really start to come about until the very end of the month. The point is - be patient and believe in yourself whenever you're trying to build a new habit. Push through the hard days to get to the good ones.

Steady September

Now that I finally feel like I've had a month where I nailed the monthly habits, I don't really feel the need to build on it. Athletic August went so great. I did well in my other goals, but really nailing the workout habit took from other areas. Now that regular gym time is a solid part of my life, I want to make sure everything else with work and family and life is fitting in together well. It's not about adding any new goals, it's just about making things work.

The beginning of the month has already been filled with some wins and losses. We started September off with a weekend out of town for a friend's wedding. We got to see a lot of people and do a lot of fun things. We then came home to an extremely full schedule where we had plans just about every waking hour. We had to take a step back and realize that's not manageable. I remember how much I liked having that day off to myself in August and I'd like to make sure I have some of those this month as well.

So yea, September is all about finding balance. It's about making real estate and exercise and time off all work together. It's about doing it all and then taking some time to breathe.

Athletic August - Week #5

It's the end!!! We managed to get 5 full weeks out of this somehow. Oh August, you're so full of tricks.

Sunday

I took another day off. I don't even have a reason. I just didn't do anything. It's definitely not how I wanted to start my last week of Athletic August. All I can do is accept it and try to do better.

Monday

Well, definitely no excuses now - it's time to finish strong! It was time to go back to the boot camp gym because this week, we are back to the fitness testing we did at the beginning of the month! For me, this month was all about a big push to increase my stats and build better habits. Joining a gym with a fitness test this month was an amazing way to track actual results.

Today, we were testing squats, deadlifts, and the half mile run. I improved all across the board but for specific numbers you'll have to wait until the month end post.

I ended my circuit on the rope climb. It was the last thing I did and after the deadlifts, my hands were torn up. I made an attempt to climb but I decided that I wasn't going to push it and not be able to go to the climbing gym.

While I felt like my grip was a little beat up from the bootcamp and I was kind of tired. You know what though? I still showed up to the climbing gym and I didn't take it easy. I still pushed myself to try the harder climbs. My partner and I tried an 11a (which is just about the level we still have a lot of trouble and don't always finish). We definitely struggled on one part but we tried and tried until we got it. Later in the climb, I tried a move that I'm familiar with but never know when to use. I had a total "AHA" moment when the way I used it made the move so much easier. It was so cool to feel like I made a breakthrough. And for those that climb, it was a heel hook.

Tuesday

The second day of testing involved the mile run. At the beginning of the month, I did it in the noon class. I remember it being hot and terrible and making it hard to do the thrusters after. It was supposed to be even hotter this time around so I decided to help myself... by waking up early and doing the test at 7am when it was cooler out. Waking up early to exercise is not my thing. But... all of my running races are early so obviously I can do it. This seemed like a good time to play that card. Also, it meant Dan and I could attend together since he usually can only go in the morning.

Thruster!!!

The first time around, we started with the run. While this makes the run way easier, it definitely affected my thrusters (this is basically a squat that thrusts you into a push press. The first time around, my legs were jellos from the previous days' squats and the run. Starting with them, didn't seem like a terrible idea. And that's what I did - we could pick where we started our testing and I went to the station that gave me the most trouble first. I went from 2 thrusters to 14. I truly felt like I couldn't do another one after too. No really, I had Dan take a picture of me doing one after the class and it was a struggle.

I also went from 20 pull-ups to 27 (with the resistance band). My mile increased 7 seconds though. While that probably counts as breaking even, getting even 1 second faster would have felt like an improvement.

Working out in the morning also felt like victory. This was the second time I made it to the 7am class and... it wasn't that bad. It definitely gives me a burst of energy to make it through the day.

Wednesday

Push ups, burpees, and sit-ups oh my! If you've read my other posts, you know I hate push ups and burpees. I didn't even do the initial testing day because 1) I hate them and 2) I was so sore and wiped out from the other two days of testing. While I had some soreness, it wasn't enough to stop me from seeing what I could do. It's crazy how I went from avoiding these exercises to really embracing them and trying to improve. Big steps!

What about the sit ups? So these were smack and taps - meaning you fully extend your arms over head and fully sit up and slap the ground in front of you. I'm not sure that description makes a difference to most of you - they're sit ups! I actually love sit ups. I know a strong core is important to all of fitness and... I can do a bunch without feeling tired! But I got there by making myself do a whole lot all of the time. I used to hate sit ups the most. Maybe push ups and burpees will get there too. Who knows.

Anyways, I had to wear my T-Rex Hates Push Ups shirt and it was a huge hit in the class. I also was really happy that I fit in 30 burpees in the 3 minutes. I didn't test it but I was trying to do 30 burpees a day and I had to break them into little groups to do this. This was definitely an improvement. I had just read about how burpees are a great way to improve overall athleticism and it made it even more poignant that they were a big piece of Athletic August.

Thursday

I finished of the month with one last climb! My original plan was to try to work out later too but I have a lot of chores to take care of so it was nice to just end on this.

My partner and I did a variety of levels and frankly, we struggled on some of them. It stinks when you're trying to get better and you get stuck on some really hard climbs. We had to just give up on those this time but luckily, we were able to power through some other hard ones and finish on a good note.

It was really a good metaphor for this month. I had my struggles and days where I didn't meet my goals but I finished strong. Monday-Thursday of this week have been shining examples of what you can do when you work hard. I've gotten so much better in different areas of fitness and even my climbing is looking stronger.

This may be the end of Athletic August but I'm excited to keep these habits going!

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So no end of the week summary since it ended on Thursday and I have the free version of the app so I can't customize things. Oh well! The good news is, it's the end of the month! There are a whole lot of thoughts and summaries and stats.... that will be in my monthly report. Yup! You have to read another whole blog post! Or just scroll to the bottom for pictures! I'll never know!

Athletic August Week #4

So close to the end! Somehow August has like 100 days though and this is going to spill over to a 5th week so you get some extra updates.

This week has been night and day from last week. I think last week was really my hurdle to get over. Seeing how I did after my Spartan race and getting into more of a stride were really what I needed to keep going.

Sunday

Treat Yo'self

The day after a race, I'm never going to go big. It doesn't make sense. If I have then energy to do a big workout, I didn't try as hard as I could during my race. Dan and I both fell asleep really early Saturday night and were super sore on Sunday. We still had to drive all the way home to San Diego so we decided to just to have an enjoyable, easy day. We spent the morning eating breakfast and talking with my dad. We then drove to Orange County and took a pit stop near Disneyland for some lunch and shopping. I'm sure you could count that as "walking" and it probably was more distance than I walked last Sunday but I wasn't tracking it and I'm really not that concerned with it. Today wasn't about working out - it was about recovering and celebrating a race well done.

I also decided this was a good time to suspend the burpees challenge. After the race, their usefulness was gone for now and fitting them in late at night or on days I was really tired wasn't very enjoyable.

Monday

Back at it! My climbing partner asked if I'd still be up for climbing since it was only a couple of days post race. In the past, I'd still be too sore a couple of days after a race, but I was already feeling better. Knowing that all my hard work had shortened by recovery time was a big added bonus. Being sore stinks so being able to get back to something I love a couple of days after a race was awesome.

We also had a great day climbing. I didn't go nuts but we tried a couple of higher level climbs and were able to do pretty well at them which was a great feeling. We also planned out what we would tackle on Wednesday when I'd had even more time to recover from the race.

Tuesday

Now that I was fully better, it was time to head back to the bootcamp gym! It was crazy to think I took a week and a half off. Even though we've only been going for a few weeks, I've already grown really attached to the gym and the challenging workouts. They really kick my butt but each day is different enough that I don't get bored with it. I always look like I jumped in a pool after class which makes me feel a little guilty that I usually go grocery shopping after. Sorry other shoppers!!!

It also was pull up day! I tried to challenge myself but using less resistance than last time but I actually struggled a lot more than the testing week - even when I used more assisstance. I think there was still some soreness from the race and climbing holding me back. Hopefully there's still some improvement before next week.

Wednesday

Since Wednesday is a climbing day but I was loving the feeling of going back to boot camp, I decided to do their 30 min lunch time class... and it was shoulders. Perfect from a pre-climb workout (sarcasm). We started the class with a ton of burpees as a birthday gift to one of the other members. Our stations then involved a lot of core and shoulder work including pushups, push presses, and more burpees. It was a tough 30 minutes.

Luckily for the gym, Dan and I decided before that class that we would sign up for another 6 months at the gym! We've both really enjoyed it were feeling sad that our month trial was coming to an end. We worked a way to make the cost more manageable so we could justify signing up for more time.

I still had climbing to go to though and on Monday we had picked out a bunch of hard climbs to try. One of them totally kicked my butt. I pushed through one move and felt my back totally tighten and I just couldn't get through more than 75% of the climb. Even though I had a huge knot in my back, I didn't want to end on that note. I chose a few more physically easy but mentally challenging climbs. I love that climbing involves so much more thinking than normal exercise and being able to make that shift when I'm tired is a great way to change up the challenge.

Oh - and if you're worried about my back, I'm ok. It felt tight all night but I got Dan to massage out some of the knots. I'm going to pull through!

Thursday

Dan woke up and went to the 7am bootcamp class and reported that it was back, biceps, and squats - the three places I really need to recover. I definitely have to take the day off from the gym which stinks because one of the exercises was rope climb. I really want to keep practicing there but I do feel better knowing that we have 6 more months at the gym instead of 1 week. If we hadn't extended our membership, I would have felt compelled to go in and work the muscles that sorely needed a day off.

We ended up doing a family walk after dinner and it just reminds me how much I love those. No matter how I love them... Harley loves them more. It's adorable how excited she gets about going on a walk with both of us.

Friday

Back to boot camp! Friday's are always "best of" and you do the hardest workout from each day.  That meant another chance to try things I struggle with like pull-ups, thrusters, and the rope climb. Even better? I got to the top of the rope! The gym owner held it down for me and gave me some tips but the climbing was all me. It's nice to have checked that off my list and hopefully I get some more chances to try it before the month is up!

Saturday

Nothing to report here - Saturday was a really busy day for me. Dan woke up early to go to a special boot camp on the beach but I just didn't want to. I also had plans at 10 and knew it would be stressful to fit both in. Instead I had an easygoing morning before meeting up with friends. From there, I ran some errands, made lunch, spent time with Dan and then it was time to head out again. I was hoping to fit a workout video or something in there but by the time I could, it was time to shower and head back out again. I didn't want to keep skipping days but it would have been way more stressful to fit another day in and honestly, my body appreciated the rest.

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It was so nice to bounce back after the week before. It's not surprising that I hit a rut in this - it seems pretty normal when you're trying to build a habit. The key is being about to push over and get to the other side. It's so crazy that I'm coming into the last week of this.

Athletic August Week #3

RACE WEEK!!!! Everyone treats race week differently. For me, I spent a lot of the week recovering mentally and physically from over training the week before. I learned in track that it's good to relax your training right before a race. While this could have been limited to a day or two, I decided it was better to take it easy all of week 3 than risk injury or burn out from pushing harder than I should.

Sunday

Sunday Funday! Since I went a whole week without any rests or light days, Sunday was the perfect time for it. I was going on a boat ride around the bay all day with my brother so I also had to think about what my workout would be. I figured just a dog walk would be great - I'd do my 20 burpees and take Harley for a stroll and then go on the boat ride. I knew doing it in the morning was key because I'd be tired from being in the sun all day.

...the morning got away from me. I got home and was tired as expected. I showered and ate and then it was almost time to pick up Dan from the airport. I decided I'd grab the dog and we could walk along the bay while we waited for him. It was a short walk, but at least we did it. I had to bail on my burpees though. By the time I got home, I was just beat. Double burpees Monday!

Monday

Ready for excuses? Great! I was totally thinking I'd wake up and be ready to go. NOPE! I slept horribly. Our smoke detector beeped randomly at 1 am and I could not fall back asleep after. I don't know what I thought it was but I started getting the crazy dreams and I had such terrible sleep.

Despite that, I had big plans for the day. I was going to buckle down on work, take care of some other errrands, get an early start on dinner, and go climbing. Well, around 2pm I realized I didn't get that start on dinner which meant I wouldn't finish it before gym time. I could have put it off but I'd bought the ingredients Friday and wasn't sure it should wait another day. My climbing partner was cool with pushing it back a day and I decided I could just do a workout video at home.

I put that off too and when I finally went to do it, I realized I still needed to do Sunday and Monday's burpees. I got to 50 and I just felt terrible. My muscles were tired, I felt out of it, and frankly I just didn't want to do it anymore. I decided to bank the last ten and give myself a day off. Maybe I needed more rest days the week before? Maybe it was the crappy sleep? Maybe I'm dehydrated from all the sun? I don't know. The point is, I listen to my body and it wasn't feeling it today. My plan is an earlier night tonight and getting back in the saddle tomorrow.

Tuesday

After the last couple of days, I was in a rut. I was going to go to bootcamp for lunch but didn't get my work finished in time. Luckily, I had my make up climbing that afternoon but man, I just wasn't excited about exercising.

I tried to figure it out - was it from two days off? did I overdo the week before? was I distracted? burnt out?

I don't know - but I felt much better after climbing so probably option 1. We didn't climb a ton but we did a lot of routes that were more technical and logical so it was a really fulfilling day at the gym. We didn't stay long because we had plans later but something is better than nothing.

AND I came home and did my 40 burpees so I'm all caught up. Doing more than 30 really sucks so I hope I don't do anymore make up days. I also felt really good about just doing it. I need to remember that even if I'm in a rut or distracted or want to take the lazy option, I feel much better and more productive after exercising.

Wednesday

At some point today I was like "Yay Thursday, week is almost CRAP IT'S WEDNESDAY." That's where I am this week. After crushing it last week and being in a lull this week, I think I've found that I have more energy the more I work out. I was crashing hard by the end of the work day which hadn't happened at all the week before.

I hustled though and made it to the climbing gym. As soon as we were strapped in, I saw a pretty hard climb and decided we should just go for it. It was tough and our forearms were aching by the end but it got me warmed up fast. For some reason, many of our climbs felt really challenging today and it felt great to push the envelope and come in fresh.

We had a friend over for dinner and traffic had me running late so I had to put off my burpees until he left but the endorphins from a great workout and catching up with an amazing friend made them no problem for me.

So I'm still trying to get to the bottom of my rut. I feel better the more I workout for sure. I can get exercise before the afternoon, I get an energy rush that gets me through the day and it's incredible. On the flip side, my upper back is starting to pinch during my burpees. My climbs have been better this week when that's been my only workout (instead of coming second to a lunchtime bootcamp) but still have felt strained (probably due to that pinch). I'm not sure if pushing hard is helping or hurting more.

Thursday

Two days before race day, I definitely did not want to push too hard. Dan thought I could still make it to boot camp but luckily he took my car to work so OH WELL WON'T MAKE IT.


BUT - he took my car to work so that I would be forced to ride my bike down to the beach to meet up with him later. This is one of my favorite workouts and I love when we can coordinate to make it happen. The path from our house to Dan's work near the beach is mostly flat and downhill. It's almost completely bike path and about half of is through parks and adjacent to the San Diego river. It's incredibly pleasant, but at 9-10 miles, it's still a considerable workout. I love it.

The point of riding to the beach, was so that we wouldn't have to get too vehicles home after drinking. Responsibility first! However, in all of my fun, I forgot to do my burpees.

Friday

Kickball day! I was excited to have a really easy going workout the night before race day and kickball was perfect. The game was cancelled but a handful of us decided to stay around and practice. Normally I play catcher but I went into the outfield to help out since we had so few people. I actually ended up catching the ball a few times which is something I though I wasn't able to do. I'm not sure if it's related to fitness or confidence or the rum drink I had before but I was really happy about it.

Afterwards, we met up with some friends but I made sure to do all 60 of my burpees before going to bed.

Saturday

Race day!!! Spartan races make me nervous. I definitely did not eat enough for a 2pm start time race because of it but oh well.

So this race was a stadium sprint - that means the course wraps around the stands of a professional sports stadium. This one was at Dodger Stadium and  FUN FACT my first Spartan race was also a stadium sprint, but at SF Giants AT&T Park. While the stadium of the first was much nicer, my athletic performance was much better this time around.

2014 AT&T Sprint

2017 Dodgers Sprint

I love looking at side by side results like this. It's clear that everything was better - my pace and my rankings in all categories. I also like that it has some other statistics though. It was 10 degrees hotter in the middle of the day during today's race. Racing with hot sun overhead is hard. All of my running races are in the morning and the majority of my obstacle races are before noon as well so this was a real challenge. Despite that - I improved.

However, that heat and sun were my biggest obstacles for sure. I was definitely feeling physically ill from it by the end of the race and it was a real struggle to get through the last bit of it. I avoid training in conditions I don't find ideal and it really showed during the race. It's a good lesson that I need to push myself to run even if it's hot and gross and I hate running.

On the plus side though, many of the obstacles were the same as they were 3 years ago. I remember some of them being impossible for me to do without help or a lot of struggle. Many of those like the wall climbs, Hercules hoist, and giant jump rope - were much easier. I still had trouble with the rope climb, monkey rings, and spear throw - but I'm happy to have at least mastered some of the things I struggled with before.

Oh and the burpees... well, I definitely got at least 30 in yesterday! I think it's time to retire that goal though. It's purpose was to prepare for this race and that's done now. I do think I'll pick it up leading up to other obstacle races though because I hate them but they're so helpful.

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This week was so different from last week. I spent a lot of it really feeling unmotivated to exercise. I'm not sure if it was over-working the week before, stress, muscle tweaks, or the solar eclipse but something was off. Despite that - I had some good progress in climbing and my race was a huge improvement. Fitness can be such a slow progess and that comes with the occasional setbacks or bad days. It's important to do things that will allow you to see marked improvement because seeing how far you've come is the best way to get out of a slump.