Week One: Oh Routine, Wherefore Art Thou?

After two weeks of vacation, lazing about the house and sleeping in, I was totally off my sleep schedule and workout routine. Went back to work on Wednesday the 2nd, and it was pretty painful.

This will be the first full week back to work. I'm still not quite back on the proper sleep schedule, I don't think, and I have not done any workouts. It was all I could do to drag myself into the office last week; once I got home I was done.

There are some things that I want to pay attention to diet-wise, and it came to me today that it would be a good idea to post more often. If I can manage to post once a week, it might keep me more focused. So that is my goal for January. Since I just published a post yesterday (this is Sunday pm), I'm not sure when the next will go up, but I figured I'd get this in writing so I can't back out (Like a draft can't be deleted. Ha!).

So, here goes...

Sunday, Jan 6, 2013
Feeling more prepared to get back to normal routine (not that I would say no to more vacation, but unfortunately that's not an option). Quinoa salad made for lunches this week. Have dry ingredients mixed together to make a microwave flax muffin for breakfast. New fitness studio schedule has Zumba classes Mon, Wed & Friday evening. The word is, noon time yoga classes will also be Monday & Wednesday; got word on Friday that I will be starting a new project, hoping I can get to the yoga class tomorrow to try it; have yoga outfit set aside to take with me. Leftovers ready for reheated dinner after Zumba tomorrow night. Kitchen is even tidied. A good start to the week.

Friday, Jan 11, 2013
A typical week for me - I start off Monday feeling rested, organized, ready...then as the week goes on I get tired, staying organized seems like too much effort and I'm just doing my best to make it to the weekend. Please tell me I am not the only one who experiences this.

My week:

• Yoga: Went on Monday, and it was a fairly mellow, stretch-type class. Went on Wednesday and it was a challenging, make-your-muscles-tremble-type-class. All good! The classes seem expensive to me - they charge more for 5 classes than the fitness studio charges for 10 classes. But. The class is at a convenient time & location, the instructor is really good (he used to teach yoga at the gym I belonged to), and it seems like a good way to get yoga back into my life on a regular basis. Will stick with it for the time being and see how things go.
• Zumba: Went on Monday, had intended to go Wednesday but that didn't work out. Since yoga on Wednesday at noon was pretty challenging, I didn't feel so bad about missing it. 
• Other workouts: I had good intentions, but that didn't work out either. Will try to get in at least one workout of some sort over the weekend.
 

 

• Food-wise: Feeling okay. No hard and fast rules or restrictions this week, but I seem to be in the zone I want to be in - eating reasonable meals & snacks, minimum treats, no mindless eating. I had a quinoa salad made to take for lunches, which helped. It felt easy and natural this week. I know from experience this will not necessarily last, but I will try to pay attention to shifts in how I feel. Also, while I have not cut out wheat, I have definitely been eating less than I was over the holidays, and the patches of eczema that were developing on my hands seem to be disappearing. Side note regarding alcohol: I don't generally consume large quantities of alcohol, but over the holidays while we were home visiting, I was having a glass or two of wine every day. Now I am back to almost none. Have no idea if this could be related, but it makes sense to pay attention.
• Other: I have been doing a bit more reading with regard to diet &Meniere's Disease. It's a bit frustrating, honestly. While I had read that some dietary changes might help with all symptoms, including hearing loss, the larger consensus seems to be that it doesn't make any difference. However, in a lot of what I was reading, people were looking to improve symptoms of vertigo & nausea, and hearing isn't mentioned as much. Most information that I can find seems to be focused on relieving vertigo and nausea. I am not sure if this is because those are the more common and debilitating symptoms, or if it is just accepted that nothing much can be done to improve hearing. I don't like reading/researching about this because it's all pretty discouraging. Being told that I had permanent hearing loss was upsetting. While I would be thrilled to find out that something could be done to fix it, over the years I have come to accept that this is the way it is. It is frustrating to live with. It does cause me stress. But it is what it is. I find that researching this is like being told over and over again that there is nothing to be done. It's more upsetting than just living with it. 
• Other Other: Our garage door opener quit on us Tuesday morning, and being winter we did not want to waste any time getting it fixed. Fortunately, we were able to get someone to come fix it the next day. One of those things that's been on our "Needs Work" list forever, so at least we can cross one thing off our list now.

Sunday, January 12, 2013
I keep thinking '2013' and typing '2012'. :)

For this week:

• Still working on that sleep schedule
• I know I'll only make it to 1 yoga class this week, so will aim for both Zumba classes and at least 1 full body strength training session
• I got lazy and bought a quinoa salad at Costco this weekend for my work lunches.
• Back in October, I challenged myself to stay out of the potato chips at work for the month. I don't think I ever posted the result, but I was successful. I want to stick to that again. For one thing, high sodium intake is one of those Meniere's triggers. Potato chips every day would definitely be a no-no.

The weather really warmed up this week, which we have been thoroughly enjoying. Not just Husband & I either, the cats are finally braving the snowy conditions now that the snow has melted down and compacted enough that they can walk on top of it. It's been a good week for all of us!