Finding Drive & Motivation

Well week 1 has passed.  I am not sure what happened this week where I found myself too busy to take care of me.  I can blame a lot of things, and make a lot of excuses, but the fact of the matter is that I did not put me, my goals, and my health first.  The winds have been blowing here like nobody's business.  As a result, my allergies are completely enraged.  I have actually avoided doing many things outside this past week because of allergy headaches, and having a scratchy throat.  It is my goal to find a way to motivate myself to either 1)join a gym to get in cardio when the weather is bad or 2) suck it up and go out and do it anyway.  For the 3 years 10 months (holy cow can't believe it will be 4 years in July!!), that I have lived here in Oklahoma, I have gotten my runs in 90% of the time regardless of weather conditions.  But, I really burned out of always training for something.  So when I decided I was going to take a training break, I let some of that determination go as well.

I have been really trying to work on my weight and healthy eating.  I am now 27 days without sugar, high fructose corn syrup, or "fake" sugars as much as possible.  I still have been eating bread products, and salad dressings and things that I know contain sugar, but have really been reading labels and becoming much more aware at how many products out there contain sugar.  I wish I could say that this change has resulted in a huge weight loss, but unfortunately it has not.  I believe I will only be down about 5 pounds for the entire month once it ends.  However, this does not make me want to jump back into eating all of these sugary foods.  People have asked me about my energy level and if I can tell a difference and things along those lines.  I think my energy level is about the same as anyone else.  There are 2 areas where I have noticed a difference and I am contributing it to sugar: sleep patterns & mood.  Of course the better and more consistent sleep pattern may actually be what is impacting my mood.  But I feel more "stable" in my mood.  I don't feel as responsive, or maybe reactive is a better word, to negative comments or people.  I am not as emotional.  I just feel more in control of my own head.  Of course that could also be due to the fact that I am not working this summer.  Don't get me wrong, I have tons of work I am doing on research related activities, and things that are required for me to keep my job, but since I am not paid to teach or advise or conduct research during the summer, I am avoiding my work office.  Students don't really get this, because every other faculty member in my department does get paid to be there over the summer, however I do not.  So I have done well trying to set my boundary of "no pay, no work".  It's really not that unreasonable, but it is indeed challenging with email and texting and everything else today.

I have decided to take on a June "house renovation" product.  It would seem I am going to be here in Tulsa for at least another 2 years, because of how promotion and tenure works in academia, and in actuality will more likely than not be 4 years.  In response to my working at home on research and writing, I am going to overhaul my home office.  It currently has real wood paneling, and brick, and some awful windows.  I have had some good friends give me tips and advice on what to do with the paneling to make it look great, so I am going to give it a go.  I am a little worried about how much window replacement will be, but definitely want to look into it.  The windows in the office are quite ugly.  I started moving all of the office stuff out to "Boca's" room, and will start by washing all of the walls.  I think it will give me some good cross-training.

So for this next week here are my personal goals:
1) cardio activities for at least 30 minutes 3 days
2) document what I eat
3) starting June 1, no fried foods for the month of June or sugar
4) empty the home office, vacuum and get the wood paneling washed

Have a great week everyone.