August Goals

 

I have initialized my goals for August. They are this... 

1. Drink 128oz of water. 

This is 4 refills of my 32oz water bottle. I still have to be somewhat deliberate in my drinking but I believe that I can make it happen nonetheless. I do try to live by the idea that the fewer the inhibitors the better which would fundamentally mean that utilizing a gallon water bottle would be more useful in achieving my goal. I do have one but it requires some deep cleaning after sitting unused for a couple of months. 

My "why" for this particular goal. 

You're supposed to get roughly .5 to 1 oz of water per pound of body weight. By doing so you will be less dehydrated and the extra water will help with feelings of fullness between meals. A lot of us who  are obese have a definite poor hand-to-mouth habit. This is why some people struggle with stopping smoking. Have you ever tried to stop using your phone so much? Have you ever struggled with the urge to pick it up 5 seconds after you told yourself that you're going to spend less time on the phone? That's kind of the psychological effect of constantly snacking and eating. If you're filling your time with popping chips when you're bored your hands are going to be looking for that same habit. You can replace that same habit with grabbing your water bottle. Don't like plain water? I'm sorry to be a little crass here but... only doing things you like is why you're morbidly obese in the first place. If we have eaten ourselves to such sad states of existence I think it is time that we take a moment and acknowledge that we are the reason we have gotten here and we are the answer to getting out. 

2. Wake up at 7:30am

This is fairly self explanatory. 

My "why" for this particular goal. 

I like to refer to myself as the Chief Operations Officer of my household. What this means is I am in charge of the execution of all tasks pertaining to my family. Grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, meal planning, meal prepping, home educating charles and implementing his "empowerment program", monitoring the family budget all fall under my purview. My husband and I are a little neurotic about how clean we like to keep our house. We really believe in the mental wellness that comes from having a clean home because you've eliminated unnecessary inhibitors of productivity. So getting up at 7:30 will ensure that I get the house set and everyone can run properly on their schedules. I have been slacking on this for a couple of weeks and it has only caused me more stress and frustration because I end up trying to fit in 3 hours of work in 1.5 to 2 hours. I end up losing my patience because I'm overwhelmed. I don't like feeling that way so I have to be more organized about my time. 

3. Track Calories

I've been doing this since March. This is just a continuation of what I have been doing. I am trying to build in habits, understand what I'm eating, understand how much I'm eating and what is my actual nutrition.  I give myself a window of 1600-1800 instead of a drop dead number. Why do I do that? Because if you give yourself a drop number you're going to live and die by that number and it WILL turn into self sabotage at a certain point. I'm a perfectionist (if you couldn't tell). I will literally get into a competition with myself about how few calories I can eat because I have this dead number I have to meet. Its weird but that's how I operate. I end up restricting WAY too much and then bingeing like a crazy person afterwards. It's a fruitless endeavor. 

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How do I come up with these goals?

I love the SMART goals methodology. 

Specific: be as specific about the goal as possible. Example: "I will walk 9,000 steps everyday." This is better than "I want to walk more."

Measureable: The goal must be something you can measure or quantify in some way. 

Example: "I will have 90g of protein" instead of "Eat more protein"

Attainable: The goal has to be something that is slightly out of your comfort zone but definitely something you can do. 

Example: "I'm going to walk 3 miles every other day." instead of "I'm going to hike Pikes Peak!" when you're a novice and just started walking after being sedentary for a long time. 

Realistic: The goal must be something where you are being completely honest with yourself and have eliminated delusion. 

Example: "I'm going to exercise for 20 minutes a day, after dinner." is better than "I'm going to get up at 5am and work out for two hours!" if you're the kind of person who struggles to get out of bed for even an important meeting. 

Time-bound: The goal has an end. This can mean you've seen if this is something you can maintain in a new lifestyle or it is unsustainable long-term. For me that was my goal from July which was 11k steps a day. Giving myself a set goal of steps everyday made me so miserable half the time that I wanted to just give up. That was too lofty a goal and it was not sustainable. I like being able to have some downtime in my day without feeling guilty about it. That was definitely doing the exact opposite. 

Example: "I will drink 90oz of water from Aug 1 to Aug 31." this is better than "I will drink more water."

Let me know what you think and if this method of making goals helps!

Peace!

Hannah

Lack of planning

 

To say I am running around like a chicken with their head chopped off is a generous understatement.  I am finally sitting down to write down a blog post for ya'll. 

So yesterday was apparently supposed to be my son's first day of 6th grade. Big deal! But mom was living on another planet and forgot that it was the first day of school. I'm embarrassed. I'm frustrated. How did I forget that we were starting the school year on Monday?! What a mess. 

But! Charles and I make a great team and we pulled it off seamlessly without much hiccups. He's definitely the yin to my yang and puts up with my scatter-brained-ness. He's a great kid. I'm thankful for him. I sat down last evening and put together his curriculum for the rest of the week and I can honestly say I don't think I've ever gone into a school year so organized and prepared. This is the first state we've lived in long enough to actually need to put together a portfolio for the state to review. I was daunted last month by having to get everything prepared for his evaluation but it all worked out. 

What all of this drama showed me... something that I've been learning as I go is... if you don't plan you plan to fail. However, planning is a skill set in and of itself. As I've mentioned before my life has been slowly improving and changing over the course of the last 2+ years. I've been implementing micro-habits to improve my life. While I do write out a to-do list everyday and I have been doing this for almost a year... I have been struggling lately with time management. I'm finding myself behind on chores, behind on writing blogs, behind on creating Instagram content.. behind on planning the next lesson plans for the following unit. It can lead me to feeling like I'm swimming in a big vat of "no thanks". 

If I want any of this to be successful I have to start being more deliberate with my plans and cleaning up my time and day. One way I've decided to try to make this weight loss endeavor more successful is to focus on new habits each month. I think in August I'll add in better meal planning to streamline meals and cooking for me and perhaps this will free up some mental space and/or time in the coming few weeks. By simplifying meal times I should be able to subtract some of the extra time being spent on compiling grocery lists, brainstorming on what to make for lunch, or getting distracted by elaborate new recipes that I've never made before. 

I go grocery shopping every Wednesday or Thursday. My meal plan for 7/27/2022 to 8/03/2022 is looking like this:

Now that I've taken all of the guesswork out of meal planning for the next week I am hopeful that it will help to get me into a better groove going forward. I know that if I can kind of eat the same foods more often I can lose weight more easily with less mental effort. That's my goal. That isn't really reflected in the current meal plan but after I get settled in with the new school year this coming week then I will sit down and plan out the rest of August and try to utilize as much of similarity to stable out my caloric intake and hopefully drop more pounds with less mental effort. 

Remember, removing as many barriers to success as possible will help you achieve your goals. 

Peace!

Hannah

Meal Planning

 

Meal planning feels like a chore more times than it feels like fun, but as I've learned time and time again on this journey is that a lot of the time life isn't about doing the things that you want to do but the things that you have to do. I started meal planning more often in 2019 when Rohit and I made a decision to bring me home full time and that meant losing our second income. We had to really knuckle down with our budget and tighten our belts to make things work on his salary alone. This included bringing our grocery bill down as much as humanly possible. A skill that I am still working on to this day. However, meal planning has gotten so much easier for me through the years. I was an early user of Pinterest. I joined way back in 2011. I have thousands of pins and close to 2000 recipe pins alone. What this has afforded me is flexibility with meal planning.

Here are my tips for meal planning..

Tip 1: Write it out

Don't try to keep information in your head. My hubris has for decades tried to keep me trapped in a over confident-forget-self loathing cycle for a really long time. I think to myself that I'm so super smart and I'm not going to forget! News flash. You forget. I forget. We all forget. It's okay. So make sure you write it down and use that list! I usually keep mine somewhere on either a Google Sheets or Google Doc that I can access from anywhere. I've also started posting my weekly dinner menu on my Instagram page once a week. 

Tip 2: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Silly)

Keep it simple! Don't put things on your meal plan that you can't make. Sometimes it is good to try something new but don't over complicate your life. If you only know how to make baked chicken and spaghetti then make that. Start small and work in new simple meals every week as you go. Don't go overhauling your entire recipe index. Work small. Work with what you have. 

Tip 3: Check it

Keep your menu somewhere you can find it and check it when you don't remember what you put on it because it was 7 days ago. Also, when you're compiling your grocery list make sure you check your list against what you already have in inventory in your house. This will save you money in the long run and will lower the risk of you missing something. 

Tip 4: Digitize your grocery list

I stopped writing down my grocery list about a year ago. I started making a shareable google doc that my whole family can access and add items to when they notice we are running low or are out. This way the list is always on my phone and I never accidentally forget it before leaving the house! It has been a game changer. I would always forget my grocery list on the counter when I would head to the store and then have to either turn around and go home and get it or just try to rely on my very unreliable memory to get all of my groceries. I would usually always forget almost everything for one meal. 

Tip 5: Give yourself a break.

I try to pick at least one meal per week that is almost mindless to make. This used to be something frozen and processed but as I've moved away from processed foods this has become something I can pop in the airfryer for 30 minutes and then have a meal like my favorite air fried chicken wings. There's little to no hassle and they always come out delicious. This gives me a break as I cook breakfast, lunch, and dinner for three people three times a day (dog not included). 

So these are my 5 tips for meal planning. 

For the rest of this week we are having:

Saturday: Curry Grilled Chicken Legs

Sunday: Taco Pie

Monday: Taco Salad

Tuesday: Cajun Chicken Legs

Wednesday: Beef Kofta with mediterranean salad

Thanks for reading!

Peace,

Hannah

It's all in the mind

 

Are you taking time to find peace everyday? I know that I struggle a lot with this. I am super busy most of the time with my son's homeschooling, cooking 9 meals a day, cleaning up after three people, and caring for our labrador puppy. This means I have a lot of days that I allow my temper to get away from me. I do not prefer to be that person but she still comes out. Often more than I would prefer. Have you found the secret to not losing your temper? Because I haven't. According to an interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita by Atul Krishna Das, purpose, happiness comes by serving others and this is true happiness. I want to be the best version of myself at all times to all people. I don't buy into this notion of positive selfishness that is perpetuated by society today. I don't think that we should always prioritize the self over the group. Yes, there are times that is necessary but true happiness comes through altruism. Doing for others. Serving others. Even successful and the most transformational leaders in this world have had a level of selflessness to them. In pursuit of radical selflessness I have found deep fulfillment.   

Idle hands are the devil's workshop 

I have never felt better after doing nothing. Society today glamorizes idleness. However, we were not made to do nothing. Humans need purpose, they need movement. I often have this argument with myself around exercise. It usually goes something like this:

self: I really don't want to do ANYTHING today. I would rather sit on my butt and stare at a wall for 17 hours straight than use my brain for one more decision today. AND it's only 8am. UGH. This is going to be a LONG day. 

Rational Hannah: Name one time where you did absolutely nothing and you felt good at the end of the day? Seriously. Do it. I bet you can't. 

Self: I know but it feels so dreadful to get up and do this right now. It requires....EFFORT. *gasp*

Rational Hannah: I know but I promise when you get up you'll feel better. Remember last week when we had the same conversation? I was right last time and I'm right again and you know it. 

Self: FINE. 

Somedays... like today... I wake up with this feeling of existential dread. I don't want to do the same routine today. I want to shake it up. I want to avoid, but I get up. I get up because my son is watching me. I get up because I love my family so much that I care that my husband has a healthy lunch, my kitchen is clean,  my son is educated, the dog is walked, and the laundry is folded and put away. I put them before myself. Radical selflessness. I put them before my desires to do nothing. My innate human desire to conserve energy. We're all constantly fighting against the animal within the man. It's your decision who wins that fight. 

Today I found that Grow With Jo on YouTube has a lower body dumbell workout and now I'm excited to try it out this afternoon. Little glimmers of excitement and newness will keep you going. Thanks, Jo. You helped this mom get over her "blahs" today. 

Link below if you're interested in also checking it out. 

Grow With Jo Leg Workout

Thanks for reading again. I'm working on being a bit more organized with my thoughts but you have to just start the damn thing. Now I'm going to go prepare lunch for my husband and I. 

Peace, Love and Parachutes!

Hannah

An image is an overview of a million parts.

 Have you ever seen the A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by George Seurat?

This piece was created using a method called pointillism. Pointillism is the method of using many small different colored dots to create an image. This painting (or a version of it) hung in the Indianapolis Museum of Art when I was a child. I remember getting as close as permissible to see the thousands if not millions of tiny dots that made up this incredible painting when you backed up. 

Okay, Hannah. That's nice. 

I'm sure you're wondering where I'm going with this. Don't worry I'll explain. 

I have successfully lost 30lbs since January 20, 2022. However, I have lost 64lbs since February 2016. I will explain why I feel like this is so hard to hand someone a pill sized form of what I've done, what I've changed, how this is different. 

In 2019 I had one of the most stressful years of my life. I knew my son had autism but I didn't understand the depth, the gravity of the situation. When I received his diagnosis two years prior I had not been given any amount of direction. I was given a pamphlet and told to have a nice day. Fast forward two years and he is in the first grade and having an absolute mental breakdown. It was terrifying. His behavior had reached a boiling point. We pulled him out and began homeschooling him. I also quit my job to do so. I was scared. I was worried. My hair had fallen out from stress. I quite literally burst a retina. It wasn't a good time. I was also in massive amounts of student loan debt from my Bachelor's in Philosophy and Massage Therapy Certification programmes. 

But! There was a glimmer of hope. I was able to find a remote job that was flexible enough for me to homeschool AND work. So the focus was to take every dime I made to pay down on my $60k of federal student loans. But then the 'Rona happened. I lost my job and my husband's pay was cut by 25%. We were looking at each other trying to not spiral. He had been sent to work from home indefinitely in March of 2020 and that's when we started cleaning everyday to keep ourselves from completely losing it. 

I have always been messy. I am a creative type. I am "right brained" my husband is my exact opposite. While I was playing cello professionally to make ends meet; he was studying engineering on the other side of the world. While I am the emotional "glue" of the family he's the pillars of order and strength. I believe we compliment each other very well. Since we met he has always pushed me to be the better version of myself. Now it came that my messy habits needed curtailed or we can't function as three people in an 800 sq ft apartment without losing our minds. 

That's when it occurred to us that we should start in one small part of the house and work outwards. We ALWAYS had dirty dishes. I cook three times a day for three different people. The amount of dishes we had was overwhelming at times. I was also making a lot of South Asian dishes which included three-four different pans, bowls, spoons being used at any given time. This made for an overwhelming task of dishes once daily if not twice. After a few weeks I realized how AMAZING it was to wake up to a clean kitchen every morning. That morphed into making sure the trash was taken out every time it was full instead of allowing there to be a bag sitting next to the bin. I am ashamed in hindsight by how lazy we were. After the trash was taken out consistently and dishes were done nightly... the counters were wiped down everyday, the carpets were vacuumed everyday, the bed was made everyday, the bathroom was wiped down everyday. We became clean fanatics. 

Among all of this my husband took a new position with a different company in Pittsburgh, PA. So in July 2020 we packed up and moved two hours from North East Ohio to Pittsburgh. This ended up being just and all around crazy experience. I was luckily receiving enhanced unemployment and I was getting unemployment checks from the state of Ohio. I was able to still save to pay off my student loans! Yay. 

By September 2020 I was re-employed with the same remote company but at a pay cut. I was still able to homeschool Charles and save up money to pay off my student loans. But this time I was going to go back to school to study something useful. I chose a bachelor's in Accounting with Western Governors University. My credits from my Philosophy degree would transfer and I would be able to study at my own pace. Because we had implemented all of these positive habits of cleaning, organizing, minimizing junk since the previous March I was able to knuckle down and I ended up beginning the course in November 2020 and completing my degree in February 2022. This was including a second move to a different apartment in Pittsburgh and a cross country move to Colorado Springs in October of 2021. By November of 2021 I had saved enough money to pay off my student loans + my second bachelor's degree a total of about $70k. I was elated. I did it. 

That's when it occurred to me. In 2013 I saw a billboard for WGU's accounting program and told myself I wasn't "good enough" to do it. In 2019 I thought I wouldn't ever have the money to pay off my student loans. In 2021 I thought about dropping out of school because it was all too much. But I didn't. I did the INCREDIBLY hard things that I thought I would never be able to do. I could celebrate and move on. Or I could do what my husband does and question and analyze EVERYTHING. That's exactly what we did. 

How did we get here? How did I pay off my student loans while being partially unemployed? How did I get a second bachelor's degree in 15 months? 

The answer? Micro habits. 

Much like the George Seurat painting I mentioned above...I changed a MILLION different little things and now I've positioned myself to charge head-on to arguably my most overwhelming challenge to date. My weight. 

I've done things like make micro alterations to what I eat for lunch, breakfast, dinner. I've changed how I engage with social media. I've changed what kind of news I read. I've learned how to have boundaries. Blocking out the haters as they say. 

In January of 2022 I noticed that my resting heart rate was too high and I was only getting 6000 steps on a good day. I was tired even going grocery shopping. Even though I wasn't done with my education yet I decided to factor into my day 15 minutes of exercise everyday.  This was with the goal to make a new micro-habit. after a few weeks I increased this to 20 minutes and now I hover somewhere between 25-40min of deliberate exercise daily with the rest of my movement being N.E.A.T (non-exercise activity thermogenesis). Things like walking the dog, mopping my floors, folding laundry, or other chores. This has been revolutionary for me. I was then listening to a fitness podcaster when I they said "You can't out run a bad diet." and it hit me. I've heard this phrase at least 100x in my life but for the first time something clicked. I realized that I can't just exercise the weight off. I actually have to improve my diet.  Imagine that.... 👀

So in March I started counting my calories (incorporating more protein) and the weight has started coming off more consistently and I am losing inches!

So thank you for listening to my rant for forever. 

I will continue to update here and ramble and share recipes, tips, or any other content I find helpful. 

Peace, love, and parachutes!

Hannah