Tri's Journal

:D Sounds like the kind of calculations I used to use to get time to pass when I was on the elliptical. Small goals can be very helpful!
 
Day 134:
91.2 kg (new record low).
While I am not asking myself to build new habits, I am spontaneously making one improvement to my lifestyle: I am having breakfast (which I used to skip) and preparing my own lunch now. I don't buy the cheapest bread/stuff to put on my bread (in Dutch we have a word for that, "broodbeleg"; there does not seem to be a word for it in English :)), because not it is still cheaper than getting my lunch elsewhere (50-70% cheaper).

@LaMaria - Good to know that I am no the only numberphile around here! ;)
 
It's ridiculous sometimes how much you pay for other people to assemble your sandwich; prepping is definitely your wallet's friend.
About Numberphiles: do you know the Youtube channel by the same name? I have a secret crush on Dr Grime :D
 
Day 136:
92.0 kg. My habits are still going well, expecting a new record low weight this year soon. I realize that I am not that far from my lowest weight in the last 5 years... which is around 85 kg. I expect to reach that before the end of the year.

Yesterday I wanted to donate blood, but they checked my hemoglobin levels, and they were too low (7.8). The nurse adviced me to do something about it. To me, it's not new that I am on the lower end, but this is the first time that it was low enough to not allow me to donate blood. I told her the probable reasons for my low iron levels (losing weight, exercise, not eating a lot of meat). See said that she would normally advice people in this situation to go to the doctor, but she said that I could probably handle it on my own. So, that is what I will do now. I will make sure that I eat enough iron every day to raise my hb levels.

@LaMaria - It's really crazy how much you can pay for a sandwich. I figured that if I make my own lunch it is much cheaper, and not only that, if I make it with luxury ingredients it is still at least 50% cheaper.

Haha... yeah I know that channel, I have seen quite a lot of their videos. Great content! Haha, Dr Grime is awesome indeed! ;)
 
A definite advantage of giving blood: you can catch that kind of stuff before you actually feel the effects. I'm rarely able to donate because of my blood iron (we use a different marker, I guess, as I seem to remember 12 as the cut-off point). If you want to boost your iron remember to have something containing vit C with your iron source for better absorbtion.
 
We eat lots of spinach as it has the same amount of iron as red meat, but, as LaMa said, it should be eaten with something containing Vitamin C (tomatoes, peppers....) . Well done Tru on reaching 92kg!
 
Day 141 - My weight this morning was 91.8 kg. Around the same as last week. I did not really exercise in the last week, but I was reasonably active in the last days, walking and biking to work, to the city center, etc. I also didn't overeat; I don't really have issues with that anymore.

@LaMaria - Being able to catch medical issues in advance is indeed a nice benefit from donating; now I have made some changes to my diet, and I am sure that my iron levels are rising again. They measure hemaglobin content in mmol/liter; I think the cut-off point is 8.5 (for men; a bit lower for women). Good advice on eating iron containing foods with vitamin c, I will do that! :)

@cate - Thanks for the advice, I will follow it... today I'll eat some spinach! ;)
 
Sounds like your "new" habits have ingrained themselves properly and will help keep you fit&lean for years to come! I just checked and in Austria they don't measure hemoglobin but ferritin levels (for longer term iron storage). Hence the difference.
 
Spinach & snow peas are a staple in our diet. G will have to watch that his iron levels don't go too high now that they are not accepting his blood. His 2 brothers & one sister have haemochromatosis (inherited iron overload disorder).
 
Day 142: After having no calorie deficit (or surplus) for a week, I will start losing again. The key is to start exercising again, last run was 8 days ago. This is not a problem, taking a week off is ok every now and then, but I should not postpone it any longer, so I will go for a run this evening.

I feel a bit stressed and tired. I only slept 4 hours, and I had quite an intense nightmare (fortunately that is very rare), so I woke up stressed. The cause of my stress is a Java exam that I have to make, and I should have made an appointment for this week, but I didn't. I will do it next week, and I guess it will not really be much of a problem, but I know that my employer would really like me to do it, because I have already taken quite long.
The thing is, I get a lot of freedom at work; the goal of this first year is to get me prepared for the real job. My employer allows me to make my own schedule, and to set some of my own goals. He gave me a few goals, such as making that Java exam, and to work on a few projects. Because of the lack of structure, I often find myself working on a lot of side-projects, from which I learn a lot (I don't think they are a waste of time), but I should not forget about his goals. I don't think that I am doing poorly; I am actually really happy that I am able to learn this much on my own, I think many people would not be able to do that, but I am worried that he does not like it that I procrastinate his goals so much. This week I felt quite guilty/ashamed because of that, and that never helps, because then I freeze and I only procrastinate more. So, it is time to break that cycle. I will register for the exam, finish learning for it and make it next week.

I think I learned a lot in the past 4.5 months since I have been employed here, not only for my work, but almost every area of my life has improved. I don't think that I am doing it really badly. However, I do feel like I am not doing well. Another reason to get that exam out of the way. If I pass, I am sure that he will be very happy, and more importantly, I think it will be very good for my career if I have that certification, and then I have can work on my other goals (and his next goal, another certification).
 
Sometimes achieving something you have been putting off can help you just move forward at a rate much greater than seems proportionate. It is a hurdle & one you & he will feel better about jumping over. Procrastination can be very frustrating. Your boss sounds like a good man tri.
 
Anything you can learn or get certified in I.T. will help with your career. It looks like things are coming together for you which is nice to see. It is always nice to set goals in all aspects of your life. Even better when you achieve or exceed them. Good luck on the exam! You are going to do great!
 
Day 147. My weight has not dropped, nor has it decreased. I am happy to plateau for a while, as my main focus is on my work right now. Starting this weekend I can start working on this again, which means that I will be further improving my eating/exercising habits. I am happy to see that my current habits are good enough to keep my weight stable.

Thanks cate! My boss is an awesome person indeed, I am really lucky with that! I feel like I owe it to him to pass this exam now. I have scheduled it on Friday, and I don't almost can spend all my time preparing for it. I am going for it 100%, and I expect that I can do it. You are right, overcoming this particular obstacle will move me forward at a rate that is much greater than seems proportionate. It will boost my confidence a lot, and also that of my boss and my colleagues.

Also thanks cowaboy48. I am sure that this certification will be very helpful indeed! I love it too that my life is going well now... it has sucked for long enough... no more of that! :)
I will keep working hard on further improving every area of my life. I notice that, as I improve some things, I can use this momentum to overcome more obstacles, and it seems that I am accelerating, because I get more confidence in my ability to be in control over my life, and I learn more about how I can change my habits.
 
Day 149. I weighed myself yesterday morning, and I was 91.8 kg. So, I really haven't gained or lost any weight in the last weeks (as planned/expected).

I have not drunk any alcohol for 54 days now, so I am over halfway of my 100-day no alcohol challenge. I hardly miss it, so I may continue after the hundred days.
 
Thanks Sunflower and Trusylver! :)

Another victory: I finished organizing my home. All of the things have been organized, put in a place where they should be. So, if I have to look for something, I know where to find it!

I have been working on this for 2 weeks, and I had already organized 80% by last weekend, leaving me with only 4 big drawers (stuffed to the rim) with random stuff. So, my room already looked organized, and I noticed that it was much easier relax and be productive at home. Throughout this week, I have spent 5 hours or so to get these drawers sorted. Even though this mess was not visible, it was important for me to get this done, because I wanted to give everything it's own place, and I wanted to see every item, just in case there is something that needs my attention. For example, there might have been an unpaid bill in there, or something else that may lead to trouble, and that idea gave me stress (fortunately there wasn't anything of the sorts :)). Now that everything has been sorted, I no longer have that source of stress.

Now my next step is to teach myself the habit of organizing my room for at least 10 minutes per day, right after coming home from work. I have already been organizing every day this week, spending 30-180 minutes per day (because I was still sorting my drawers), so doing 10 minutes per day will be easy. My goal is to get a 30-day streak (of course not counting days that I am not at home), so that I can really build this habit. I expect this to be quite easy; it's much easier to keep an organized home organized, than to organize a cluttered home.

After that, I will pursue other goals. I have made a list of 40 goals or so, that I hope to work on over the coming months; things like "repair my road bike", "organize my computer", "organize my finance", "improve evening routine", "improve morning routine" and, of course, "lose weight". I have written all of these goals in my "Getting Things Done" system (using the Wunderlist web app) and I plan to tackle these step-by-step. So, I don't demand of myself to do all of those goals now, I basically put them in the "Someday" folder, which I check once I have completed another goal.

Now that I have completed this first goal, I have freed some of my time (that I spent working on that goal) that I can spend working on my next goals. My highest priority goals is to organize my finance (developing a system to track my spendings/income, making a saving plan, cutting unnecessary expenses, doing my taxes, etc). I plan to finish this by the end of next month. Also, I have already started repairing my road bike, which will be done by early December. Losing weight also has a high priority, and I will continue improving my eating/exercising habits in the next months; I haven't set a deadline for reaching my goal weight, because I don't want to focus on the numbers; I want to care most about developing healthy habits, and I trust that these will lead to good results; I find focusing too much on my weight (the numbers) just distracting. However, if I would have to do an estimation, I would say that I expect to reach my goal weight somewhere in the Spring of 2017.

By the way, having this long list of 40 future goals (which keeps growing) does not make me feel depressed, quite the opposite, it makes me feel excited that there are so many ways that I can improve my life! I feel that I definitely can do them all, but I do demand myself to be patient and methodical, and not pick up to many goals at the same time, because it is the only way to be successful.
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I'm really impressed tri with the steps you are making to improve your life. De-cluttering is a biggie. It's time I turned around & did a massive tidy up of all the things I have put away out of sight.
 
I'm one of those people who never has a 'cleaning day' and picks up for 5 minutes here and there every day. I find it much less stressful to have to carve out time, but I also have 2 small children so nothing stays where it's supposed to for very long.

I also get random compulsions to throw out excessive stuff as I find the more possessions I own, the more I feel like my possessions own me.
 
:( Decluttering used to be a no-brainer for me and I really would prefer having a clutter-free home again... but I´m afraid there are some other goals to check off my list before I have the energy for to get it done.
 
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