MAY 2020 WISH Challenge - Anything is Possible

[Oneanne]

As important as maintaining my weight and staying active is to me, my husband and I are in our sixties-so keeping him healthy motivates me as well! Luckily he is cooperative-he eats what I eat, enjoys walking/running on the trail, yard work. But I want to keep him healthy, so that motivates me to cook healthy meals, not keep junk food in the house and to get out for a walk every day.

I can’t believe it’s the end of May! We had such a nice day with the family yesterday. My grandson brought his bike, so we all walked on the trail while he zoomed ahead. Then it was nice enough to sit outside and eat our lunch. We’re cautiously optimistic about our Disney trip in August, but since it’s a DVC reservation we’ll just have to wait to see how things look this summer. But it’s something to look forward to.

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You've touched on my current life dream, to have someone to partner with... reading your motivation makes me motivated to get that partnership going in my life. I haven't changed my September trip yet and was going to take a wait-and-see approach, but with the timing of the new project I pretty much have to move it to late March/early April. Hopefully it will work out for you in August.

 

[Summer2018]

On Saturday, DH assembled our new gazebo on our pool patio. We have gone through many umbrellas and canopies over the years and decided that a permanent structure would be better. Plus, it has curtains to block out the sun and provide privacy and mosquito netting to cut down on all of the nasty insects that are so attracted to DD and I. We hate putting on all of that bug repellent only to have it not work 100%. One of my favorite summer activities is to watch the lightning bugs after dark. Now I can do it without being eaten alive.

 

[sjrec]

You've touched on my current life dream, to have someone to partner with... reading your motivation makes me motivated to get that partnership going in my life. I haven't changed my September trip yet and was going to take a wait-and-see approach, but with the timing of the new project I pretty much have to move it to late March/early April. Hopefully it will work out for you in August.

My sister in law met her husband ten years ago-and they were in their early sixties!

 

[Summer2018]

On Sunday, I finally planted my purple wave petunias in the deck boxes. They are really small. I normally pick out large hanging petunias that look great from day one. Unfortunately I had to send DH by himself, and the selection was very limited, and everything was picked over. I’m lucky that there were any plants at all according to my husband. Anyway, this is my back deck with the flowers I planted. He still hasn’t opened the pool. I can’t wait for that.

 

[sjrec]

I’m feeling very sluggish today. Yesterday the kids and I went over to my sisters to help do yardwork, while my husband stayed home to pressure wash our deck and siding. So today we’re all feeling a little tired, sore and slow. I’m hoping to get up the energy to finish pressure washing the deck and putting the furniture out. Then maybe go for a bike ride today.

I was definitely overzealous with my goal for the month. I’ll just be happy with any weight loss at this point. I did well with my eating/snacking for about 3 days. I hope to get it back under control this week. And I need to get back into a routine daily workout.

I am a snacker, for sure. What’s saving me right now are mini Kind bars with some grapes, or fresh salsa with sugar snap peas and a hand full of tortilla chips-I can limit those much better than regular chips. And I schedule a snack time-usually between 3:00 and 4:00 because if I know I have something to look forward to I can hold out.

And May was tough-managing a work schedule as well as family is not easy. Just going to the grocery store right now is surreal. No wonder we’re all a little unsettled.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I sort of flip-flopped Self-Care Sunday and Motivation Monday around here. I spent yesterday very motivated - getting the pool cover off and dried out and put away for the summer...then the entirety of this morning on the couch, binge-watching Stranger Things.

I did make apple pie and macaroni salad this afternoon. DH plans to grill (turkey) hot dogs tonight, so we'll be having "proper" picnic food, even though it's just us. It certainly doesn't feel like a normal memorial day, though.

 

[Summer2018]

I sort of flip-flopped Self-Care Sunday and Motivation Monday around here. I spent yesterday very motivated - getting the pool cover off and dried out and put away for the summer...then the entirety of this morning on the couch, binge-watching Stranger Things.

I did make apple pie and macaroni salad this afternoon. DH plans to grill (turkey) hot dogs tonight, so we'll be having "proper" picnic food, even though it's just us. It certainly doesn't feel like a normal memorial day, though.

No it doesn’t.

Normally it’s hot; we wear shorts and red, white, and blue; go to the parade; we cool off in the pool; and we bbq and eat outside.

It’s in the 50’s- 60’s and cloudy today. Not that we haven’t had lousy weather before on Memorial Day, but it’s usually warmer. I bought a patriotic Mickey Mouse shirt to wear today, but it’s too cold. No parade. No fireworks. Pool is not open yet.DH will bbq, but we are eating inside.

I hope that we have a vaccine by this time next year, and we can put all of this in the rear view mirror.

Happy Memorial Day.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I hope that we have a vaccine by this time next year, and we can put all of this in the rear view mirror.

Me too - I hope it's seven sooner!

 

[Oneanne]

I sort of flip-flopped Self-Care Sunday and Motivation Monday around here. I spent yesterday very motivated - getting the pool cover off and dried out and put away for the summer...then the entirety of this morning on the couch, binge-watching Stranger Things.

I did make apple pie and macaroni salad this afternoon. DH plans to grill (turkey) hot dogs tonight, so we'll be having "proper" picnic food, even though it's just us. It certainly doesn't feel like a normal memorial day, though.

I think this is going to be a year of doing holidays differently... finding new ways to celebrate. Hot dogs, apple pie and macaroni salad sound great!

 

[sjrec]

On Sunday, I finally planted my purple wave petunias in the deck boxes. They are really small. I normally pick out large hanging petunias that look great from day one. Unfortunately I had to send DH by himself, and the selection was very limited, and everything was picked over. I’m lucky that there were any plants at all according to my husband. Anyway, this is my back deck with the flowers I planted. He still hasn’t opened the pool. I can’t wait for that. View attachment 496949

Beautiful! It looks like a resort!

 

[Oneanne]

TOPIC TUESDAY



What are a few subtle shifts that you've made in the last few months that you'll continue past the covid crisis and what radical change are you seeing from them - or do you hope to see from them?

 

[PollyannaMom]

What are a few subtle shifts that you've made in the last few months that you'll continue past the covid crisis and what radical change are you seeing from them - or do you hope to see from them?

I've been more disciplined about exercise. I haven't really increased the length of time I exercise in a day, but I've decreased the skip days, since I can't really say "I've had a long day" or "I need to use the time for this instead". (And I've gradually upped the treadmill settings a bit.) I've seen results, so I hope to keep that discipline going.

I've been calling my Dad every week. I was pretty lazy before - I would call, but randomly. I think he kind of enjoys that I've been calling at a fairly consistent day/time, though. So I plan to keep that up.

I've gotten way more organized about grocery shopping. I was just sort of stopping on the way home a couple of times a week, but now I'm planning ahead. I've also finally tried some new recipes, and I want to continue making some things from scratch that I was previously taking shortcuts on.

 

[MickeyMom76]

This is a hard one for me. I was so good prior to all of this with exercise routine, meal planning & prep. But I think my biggest thing to take away is to try to live in the moment more. I’m such a planner that I’m always thinking ahead and forget to take time to enjoy the now. I’ve been enjoying bike rides & conversations with my son. My daughter gets the giggles almost every day at dinner (and we’re all sitting together, not rushing through the meal). My husband & I have sat out back just enjoying the sun & nature. I almost never did that in the past because there was always something else to do, something that had to get done! So I’m enjoying slowing down a little (but I still miss my old routine and it’s hard to get into a new one).

 

[4Mickeys]

Hmmm

I also have been putting more thought into meal planning and shopping. I bought a freezer when this all started and loaded it with some pre-cooked meals but also some frozen food and some bread etc. in case we had to quarantine or someone got sick and it would make life a little easier. We have been making our way through the frozen stuff as I know I need to 'turn it over' - I want to really get into the habit of restocking the freezer - it has been handy to have and not have to cook from scratch every night - sometimes its just been cooking rice or some extra veggies to go with the pre-cooked stuff. Like tonight it was lasagna from the freezer and some freshly steamed zucchini and broccoli. I want to find a way to maintain some of the balance of increasing work from home - I can't do it all from here as I have to see kids in schools - but I want to do some of the paperwork from here.

Okay - sharing my shameful moment this morning - I had to go out to have my fasting blood test done - it was a little cooler so put on my jeans - these jeans I bought last winter - and have elastic in the waistband (I think you see where I am going ...) I had to fight my way into them and then as soon as I got home off they came as they were uncomfortable! Ummm going back to work is going to be an issue - I don't think most of my work pants are going to fit!!! I know there have been many things about being inactive this year that I couldn't control when I was so dizzy - but now with coronavirus stay at home - I am in a really bad way Ahhh self-control where are you??

 

[Oneanne]

One thing

I've been more disciplined about exercise. I haven't really increased the length of time I exercise in a day, but I've decreased the skip days, since I can't really say "I've had a long day" or "I need to use the time for this instead". (And I've gradually upped the treadmill settings a bit.) I've seen results, so I hope to keep that discipline going.

I've been calling my Dad every week. I was pretty lazy before - I would call, but randomly. I think he kind of enjoys that I've been calling at a fairly consistent day/time, though. So I plan to keep that up.

I've gotten way more organized about grocery shopping. I was just sort of stopping on the way home a couple of times a week, but now I'm planning ahead. I've also finally tried some new recipes, and I want to continue making some things from scratch that I was previously taking shortcuts on.

These are all things that can make a significant change in daily life!

 

[Oneanne]

This is a hard one for me. I was so good prior to all of this with exercise routine, meal planning & prep. But I think my biggest thing to take away is to try to live in the moment more. I’m such a planner that I’m always thinking ahead and forget to take time to enjoy the now. I’ve been enjoying bike rides & conversations with my son. My daughter gets the giggles almost every day at dinner (and we’re all sitting together, not rushing through the meal). My husband & I have sat out back just enjoying the sun & nature. I almost never did that in the past because there was always something else to do, something that had to get done! So I’m enjoying slowing down a little (but I still miss my old routine and it’s hard to get into a new one).

Slowing down is such a healing thing to do. As hard as this period of time is, it is kind of amazing to think about the impact these changes will have on your kids long term.

 

[Oneanne]

Hmmm

I also have been putting more thought into meal planning and shopping. I bought a freezer when this all started and loaded it with some pre-cooked meals but also some frozen food and some bread etc. in case we had to quarantine or someone got sick and it would make life a little easier. We have been making our way through the frozen stuff as I know I need to 'turn it over' - I want to really get into the habit of restocking the freezer - it has been handy to have and not have to cook from scratch every night - sometimes its just been cooking rice or some extra veggies to go with the pre-cooked stuff. Like tonight it was lasagna from the freezer and some freshly steamed zucchini and broccoli. I want to find a way to maintain some of the balance of increasing work from home - I can't do it all from here as I have to see kids in schools - but I want to do some of the paperwork from here.

Okay - sharing my shameful moment this morning - I had to go out to have my fasting blood test done - it was a little cooler so put on my jeans - these jeans I bought last winter - and have elastic in the waistband (I think you see where I am going ...) I had to fight my way into them and then as soon as I got home off they came as they were uncomfortable! Ummm going back to work is going to be an issue - I don't think most of my work pants are going to fit!!! I know there have been many things about being inactive this year that I couldn't control when I was so dizzy - but now with coronavirus stay at home - I am in a really bad way Ahhh self-control where are you??

I wish I could find it and post it here, a couple days ago I saw a post about thanking our bodies for carrying us thru this crisis, and if they needed to beef up to carry the load, so be it. There's no reason to feel shame!

 

[sjrec]

I rarely miss a day walking-I have walked in a light rain, cold weather and even most weekends. It’s so good for me mentally and now it really feels like a habit. So I think that will stick.
Before the stay at home order I was in the grocery store a couple times a week. I am much better at planning a week to ten days of meals since we shop so infrequently. I have made a couple new recipes that we like and will keep in the rotation.

I have to tellll you about a fun afternoon last week-a good friend and I packed our folding chairs and lunches and met in a church parking lot where we could sit apart but visit with each other. We also exchanged (sanitized) library books. We sat and talked for over 2 hours! So getting together more often when this is over is going to be a priority.

 

[Oneanne]

One of the small changes is paying attention to what I have in the house and keeping stocked up on the basics. At the beginning of the quatanteen I stocked up on shampoo/conditioner then while sorting thru products in the bathroom I found 6 partially used bottles of different shampoos that I already had. Things like tuna fish and jello I'm buying three or four at a time, instead of just one, so that the cupboard is always stocked.

Another change is fixing meals at home. I've come to realize that "dinner" can be a protein and a veggie, it doesn't have to be a big production. Now that things have settled a bit, it looks like my weekly grocery bill is around $80... I used to go out for lunch Sat and Sun at $20-$25 a pop, so that added $40-$50 to my weekly food expenses. Then Starbuck's was about $8 x 5 = $45 a week, so by cutting just those two things out I can save $85-$90 a week x 4 = $340-$360 a month. I was shocked when I figured that out. I'm back to thinking about getting a car again because to raise my credit score I need something other than just revolving credit... that subtle shift can cover a car payment and not take away from what I am trying to save for the house.

It used to be when I was home I wanted to stay home, and even if I had the idea to do something when the time came I would talk myself out of it, and just sit around the house. Now with working from home, I have to get out of here during any personal time. And I've loved doing these little road trips, going out and exploring. We used to do that when I was a kid, and my Brother was really in to doing it, so it is very nostalgic and comforting as well as being interesting. So I will continue to do road trips (hopefully with my future BF), and look forward to the time when it will be OK to actually get out of the car!

One last thing... I've managed to reduce tv time by about 80%, including just having it on for the background noise and have gotten back to reading instead.

 

[Oneanne]

I rarely miss a day walking-I have walked in a light rain, cold weather and even most weekends. It’s so good for me mentally and now it really feels like a habit. So I think that will stick.
Before the stay at home order I was in the grocery store a couple times a week. I am much better at planning a week to ten days of meals since we shop so infrequently. I have made a couple new recipes that we like and will keep in the rotation.

I have totell you about a fun afternoon last week-a good friend and I packed our folding chairs and lunches and met in a church parking lot where we could sit apart but visit with each other. We also exchanged (sanitized) library books. We sat a talked for over 2 hours! So getting together more often when this is over is going to be a priority.

I think taking intentional actions, like meeting up in the church parking lot, is going to be one of the most powerful social changes that comes out of this period... it sounds lovely!