Practice makes habit?

If you practice enough, it becomes a habit. So I'm going to practice trying again.

Day	A.M.	Y/N	Noon	Y/N	P.M.	Y/N
Monday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	y	60 minutes gardening	y
Tuesday	15 minutes cleaning	y	15 minutes gardening	y	60 minutes gardening	n
Wednesday	15 minutes cleaning	y	15 minutes gardening	n	60 minutes gardening	n
Thursday	15 minutes cleaning	y	15 minutes gardening	y	60 minutes gardening	y
Friday	15 minutes cleaning		15 minutes gardening		60 minutes gardening

• Finally got the hour of exercising (not gardening, but still burning calories). I had to work late, so I exercised late, but it got done.
• Yes! Finally got in a proper day's exercise :)

Back into the swing of things

Okay. A new week, a new start. I am going to try to go back to a more regular schedule. If I sound doubtful, it's because I'm not caught up on sleep and inconsequential details like that. But perhaps habit will get me back into the swing of things. Once I start exercising, it's easier to keep going.
I hope your week is going to go swingingly!

Day	A.M.	Y/N	Noon	Y/N	P.M.	Y/N
Monday	15 minutes cleaning	y	15 minutes gardening	y	60 minutes gardening	n
Tuesday	15 minutes cleaning	n	15 minutes gardening	y	60 minutes gardening	n
Wednesday	15 minutes cleaning	y	15 minutes gardening	y	60 minutes gardening	n
Thursday	15 minutes cleaning	n	15 minutes gardening	y	60 minutes gardening	n
Friday	15 minutes cleaning	n	15 minutes gardening	n	60 minutes gardening	n

Not so good. Lots of pressure to Get Work Done! Now! We Have Deadlines! The trouble with that is that this is the third project in a row that's used that line and it's getting old. Or I'm getting old. Or both. Fighting back.

Holy Week, a.k.a. Wholly Overloaded Week

Things look ominous. I'm scheduled to work a series of 15+ hours days this week. The database I'm working in at the moment has to be accessed through a wired network. I cannot use my laptop via a wireless connection. And I have a two bedroom house, the second "bedroom" is my office. It's where my computer network is set up. Everywhere else in the house, the Internet is accessible only through wireless.
And my niece just texted me to ask if she and her family could come stay this week.
On the plus side, I was honest with her. On the negative side, I think I've hurt her feelings. (She's never seen my house. I did try to describe it, but I'm not sure she quite believed me.) I temporized by saying that work would probably ease up by the end of the week, if she wanted to come by then.
So I might have to play hostess at the end of the week, when hopefully things will be less hectic. Which means I have to take time to clean the house, get in groceries, mow the lawn, trim the borders, and still work 15+ hours... oh all right. I'm whining. I know I'm whining. I should get a more reasonable job or find a way to explain things more clearly to my family in a way that does not hurt their feelings. Or become a tougher person.
Somehow, I will get through this week.

Day	A.M.	Y/N	Noon	Y/N	P.M.	Y/N
Monday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	y	15 minutes gardening	Y
Tuesday	15 minutes cleaning	N	15 minutes gardening	N	15 minutes gardening	N
Wednesday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	N	15 minutes gardening	N
Thursday	15 minutes cleaning	N	15 minutes gardening	Y	15 minutes gardening	N
Friday	15 minutes cleaning	N	15 minutes gardening	N	15 minutes gardening	N

Well, I knew it would be brutal. But at least it's over. Next week will surely be easier. I hope.

I could get so much done if I didn't have to work

I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.
- E. B. White

I could get so much done if people didn't insist upon asking me to get work done. Okay, whine over. (For now. You know I'm not really done.)

Day	A.M.	Y/N	Noon	Y/N	P.M.	Y/N
Monday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	Y	60 minutes gardening	Y
Tuesday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	Y	60 minutes gardening	Y
Wednesday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	Y	60 minutes gardening	Y
Thursday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	y	60 minutes gardening	y
Friday	15 minutes cleaning	N	15 minutes gardening	Y	60 minutes gardening	N

Seeing progress again

An update. For the past few months, I've been following the Pretty Good Diet (TM). 100% alcohol free, 90% meat free, 80% caffeine free, 57.0002% sugar free. All the green leafies I can swallow.
It worked for a while. And by "a while" I mean a month.

The weight loss stats:
January: 9 pounds
February: 1 pound

Don't know about you, but to me that signifies a wee bit of a slow down. Something was off. So in March I started the part I was hoping to avoid. Yes, I started Writing It All Down. Everything calorie I ate. Every calorie I exercised. The lot. Plus, March being the start of Lent, I went 100% meat free and started fasting on Fridays.

(Word to the wise: do not attempt to engage me in civil discourse on Fridays.)

Me when I'm fasting

It ain't pretty, but intermittent fasting has definitely had an effect. So far, for March I'm down 8 pounds. (Yes, I know. Keeping it off is another matter. That is a problem for Future Merry.)

This week, I HAVE to focus on getting the garden into shape. So I'm upping the gardening to every day, as much as I can fit in. Even though that means gardening in the rain. I am acting on faith that eventually, one day, if I'm very, very good, it WILL stop raining.

Day	A.M.	Y/N	Noon	Y/N	P.M.	Y/N
Monday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	Y	60 minutes gardening	Y
Tuesday	15 minutes cleaning	N	15 minutes gardening	Y	60 minutes gardening	Y
Wednesday	15 minutes cleaning	Y	15 minutes gardening	Y	60 minutes gardening	Y
Thursday	15 minutes cleaning	n	15 minutes gardening	n	60 minutes gardening	n
Friday	15 minutes cleaning	n	15 minutes gardening	n	60 minutes gardening	y

Argh. A pox and a plague upon people who insist on back-to-back-to-back meetings. I should go back to trying to fit in exercise in the a.m., except that would defeat the goal of getting up from the desk every few hours.

Work, work, work. No matter how much I do, there's always more. I let it get the best of me toward the end of the week, but that's okay. I'll try again next week.

Just give me the coffee and no one will get hurt

Mondays would be all right if it weren't for the fact that people expect me to get up out of bed. And then to top it off, they expect me to work. Really. What were they thinking?

So I've been lax about blogging. I've actually managed to keep up with the exercising, more or less, but the cleaning/organizing has been neglected. The dust bunnies are gathering in the corner, waiting their moment to jump in and take over.

Okay, I'll try this a bit differently.

Schedule for the week:

15 minutes cleaning
Yep

Day	A.M.	Y/N	Noon	Y/N	P.M.	Y/N
Monday	15 minutes cleaning	Yes!	15 minutes organizing	Yes!	60 minutes gardening	Yes!
Tuesday	15 minutes cleaning	Yes	15 minutes organizing	Yes!	60 minutes DVD	Yes
Wednesday	15 minutes cleaning	Yes!	15 minutes organizing	Yes	60 minutes gardening	Yes
Thursday	15 minutes cleaning	Yes	15 minutes organizing	Yes	60 minutes DVD	Semi-fail. 30 minutes
Friday	15 minutes cleaning	Yep	15 minutes organizing		60 minutes gardening	Well... 45 minutes. Game called due to rain.

Finally Friday

• early am: 30 minutes exercise DVD, arms and abs
• am: Get up from the desk and clean something
• noon:Get up from the desk and prune something
• pm: 30 minutes gardening, 30 minutes walking
• late pm:30 minutes yoga

Almost-there Thursday

• early am: 30 minutes exercise DVD, legs, butt, hips
• am: Get up from the desk and clean something
• noon:Get up from the desk and prune something
• pm: 30 minutes gardening, 30 minutes cycling
• late pm:30 minutes yoga

Wonderful Wednesday

More evidence that breaking up exercise throughout the day, even if it's just getting up, is helpful:

In a 2012 study by Dr. Gaesser, three 10-minute walks spread throughout the day were better at preventing subsequent spikes in blood pressure — which can indicate worsening blood pressure control — than one 30-minute walk. And if even a 10-minute walk sounds daunting, try standing more often. In another study led by Dr. Gaesser and published in August, overweight volunteers with blood pressure problems were asked to sit continuously during an eight-hour workday while their blood pressure was monitored. The readings were, as expected, unhealthy. But when, during another workday, those volunteers stood up every hour for at least 10 minutes, their blood pressure readings improved substantially.

• early am: 30 minutes exercise DVD, arms and abs
• am: Get up from the desk and clean something
• noon:Get up from the desk and prune something
• pm: 30 minutes gardening, 30 minutes walking
• late pm:30 minutes yoga

Trying Tuesday

Another try today. I'm going to try cycling. Ever heard of rollers? I wrote a post about them for Cranky Fitness.
Again, I don't know if I can do this. I might end up looking like a fool, or falling over. But life is supposed to be an adventure, right? (Or something like that.

• early am: 30 minutes exercise DVD, legs, butt, hips
• am: Get up from the desk and clean something
• noon:Get up from the desk and prune something
• pm: 30 minutes gardening, 30 minutes cycling
• late pm:30 minutes yoga

And now for something completely different. Well, at least a little different

Okay, I managed to exercise for the last three days without logging it here. I got up from my desk twice over the course of an 8-hour day, and then I exercised aerobically at the end of the day.
Does this mean I can exercise without posting it first and shamelessly using you (yes, you sitting there) to make myself feel guilty enough to follow through? Too soon to tell.
But I want to see if I can take it up a notch. So I'm adding an additional exercise session first thing in the morning.
Now, this is not something I am positive that I can do. I like to sleep, but I have a hard time falling asleep. Once I managed to shut my eyes, though, I like to keep sleeping until the sun has risen. So getting up early in February is going against nature. But I tried it on Sunday and felt unbelievably smug throughout the rest of the day. I felt as if I'd gotten ahead of the To Do list, and that was a nice change. I want to see if I can continue.
To see if it helps me fall asleep, I'm trying an evening yoga session as well.

• early am: 30 minutes exercise DVD, arms and abs -done
• am: Get up from the desk and clean something -done
• noon:Get up from the desk and prune something-done
• pm: 30 minutes gardening, 30 minutes walking-done
• late pm:30 minutes yoga-fail. On the other hand, failed because I fell asleep, which is kinda a win

Whatever happened to Wednesday?

Argh!
Worked 13+ hours yesterday. Barely managed a 15 minute workout. "Wednesday will be better," I said, foolishly jinxing myself.
Even so, with people coming at me from all angles, I managed to take a couple of 15 minute breaks. I resisted the urge to "be nice" and "show I'm a team player by working without a break." I can play on the team without sacrificing my health. Or that's my story, anyway.
Maybe I am making this schedule a habit after all.

• AM - 15 minutes cleaning - done
• Noon - 15 minutes organizing - done
• PM 45 minutes exercising - well, here goes. -Done! That actually went by fairly quickly!

Tuesday do-over

All right. Maybe I'm not going to get exercise done every day. But I am going to try every day. If nothing else, I will strengthen the muscle of habit. (It's an analogy. Pretend it works, 'k?) I will not get discouraged if I don't succeed. I will reinforce my determination to get up and try again.
Today.

• AM: Get up, back away from the desk, clean things. It doesn't matter what, so long as I move for 15 minutes -- away from my desk -done. Hated to come back :(
• Noon: Get up, back away from the desk. Organize things. Again, it doesn't matter what, so long as I'm up and moving and not staring at work -fail. All I've done for hours is stare at my computer screen or deal with phone calls from irate clients. Argh.
• PM: Get up, back away from the desk. This is the tricky one. I feel guilty leaving work. But I want to spend an hour doing yardwork, attacking blackberries, pulling weeds. Then tonight I will try that exercise DVD again. This time I will get SOMEthing done exercise wise. -Well, I did get SOME exercise done. After a 13-hour work day, I got 15 minutes of exercise. I'm calling that a win.

Monday workout

“So your desire is to do nothing? Well, you shall not have a week, a day, an hour, free from oppression. You shall not be able to lift anything without agony. Every passing minute will make your muscles crack. What is feather to others will be a rock to you. The simplest things will become difficult. Life will become monstrous about you. To come, to go, to breathe, will be so many terrible tasks for you. Your lungs will feel like a hundred-pound weight.” ― Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

I put that quote up there to remind me not to slack off. Just try something different.
I finished the six week walking program. My usual pace is not noticeably faster, but when I put my mind to it I can move quickly, so I'm calling it a win. Last week, I tried an old DVD that I haven't looked at in a while, and found myself challenged by some of the floor exercises. So that's what I'm going to focus on this week: I am going to do this dang DVD three times this week. See what my body thinks of that.

• AM: Get up, back away from the desk, clean things. It doesn't matter what, so long as I move for 15 minutes -- away from my desk-done
• Noon: Get up, back away from the desk. Organize things. Again, it doesn't matter what, so long as I'm up and moving and not staring at work-done
• PM: Get up, back away from the desk. This is the tricky one. I feel guilty leaving work. But I want to spend an hour doing yardwork, attacking blackberries, pulling weeds. Then tonight I will try that exercise DVD again.-fail. I had to choose between work and exercise. Argh!

One hour at a time

Sometimes the idea of planning out a whole day's worth of exercise, even if the exercise consists of getting up from the desk and doing something useful like cleaning, sometimes the idea of planning all that out seems like a lot of effort. It's mental effort, but it's still effort. After all this time, I would have expected this to feel more like habit. Maybe it is just because I am typing this early in the morning while I'm still trying to wake up, but today exercise feels like a lot of work. Rather than taking it one day at a time, I'm going to take it one hour at a time.

• a.m.: 15 minutes cleaning -done
• noon: 15 minutes organizing. Planting indoor seeds in preparation for the spring garden
• p.m.: Walking and strengthening exercises. Last day of this program.

Soggy Thursday

It is a dark and stormy day. A good day to light a fire in the fireplace and curl up under a warm comforter.
Unfortunately, I have to sit at my desk and get work done. But at least I can exercise indoors, which is a win.

• a.m.: 15 minutes cleaning -done
• noon: 15 minutes organizing -done
• p.m.: 45 minutes exercise DVD. -fail. I felt guilty and worked late. Now I feel guilty about not exercising. Can't win.

Walking Wednesday

“All truly great thoughts are conceived while walking.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

• a.m.: 15 minutes cleaning -done
• noon: 15 minutes organizing -done
• p.m.: Walking and strengthening exercises. Last week of this program. -done! A bit soggy, thanks to the ever-present drizzle, but done

Testy Tuesday

Feeling cranky today for some reason. Taking life way too seriously. Maybe yoga will help with that.

• a.m.: 15 minutes cleaning -done
• noon: 15 minutes organizing -done
• p.m.: 45 minutes exercise DVD, done 15 minutes yoga fail. Just went to bed early, which is sometimes the better option.

Slothful Monday

Spent way too much time over the weekend cleaning. Still have a long way to go, but there is a noticeable improvement. Feel like I've turned a corner, anyway.
Of course, I woke up still worn out. I'm going to pretend that I'm a person who exercises. Fake it until I make it, yada yada.

• a.m.: 15 minutes cleaning -done
• noon: 15 minutes organizing -done
• p.m.: Walking and strengthening exercises. Last week of this program. -done

Doing is believing

You need to put what you learn into practice and do it over and over again until it's a habit. I always say, 'Seeing is not believing. Doing is believing.' There is a lot to learn about fitness, nutrition and emotions, but once you do, you can master them instead of them mastering you.
-Brett Hoebel

• a.m.: 15 minutes cleaning -done
• noon: 15 minutes organizing -done
• p.m.: exercise DVD caught up on yesterday's walking, late in the day but even so -done