Update on Goals 2015
So how are those resolutions going?
1. Facebook only on weekends. Results are mixed. I'm definitely not posting on weekdays. I do go entire days without hitting the site, but the problem is that for many of my friends I have no other way to contact them. If I'm discussing my upcoming vacation with any of the people I'm visiting, I have to get on FB to see if I got a message back from them. When that happens I sometimes end up scrolling through the feed even if I don't have a message from them. However, I'm definitely spending less total time on FB (see #4), so in general this has been successful.
2. BMI Waiver / Blood Sugar. BMI is measured by taking a ratio of a measurement of your waist to your height, which means you can improve BMI by reducing the waist measurement or increasing your height. Alas, attempts to get taller have not panned out, so reducing the waist is the way to go. I'm attempting this via two primary methods: eating less junk at work and working out via Crossfit.
From the junk food at work perspective, I'm back on the "only eat food I bring or pay for diet." In 59 days at work so far, I've broken that guideline ten times. Three of those were special occasions: my coworker Adam brought in homemade venison jerky (delicious). As is his long time tradition, my coworker Rob brought in homemade cookies for Casimir Pulaski Day, although I admit that I probably shouldn't have eaten quite so many of them. And as is his longtime tradition, my coworker Phil brought in Pączki for Fat Tuesday. I don't feel guilty about any of these. The other seven times were more of a breakdown. So this could be better, but has definitely been far worse in the past.
From a workout perspective, Crossfit continues. From December 8 to today I've only missed two classes on days when I was in town. The variety in the workouts means that relatively few are "easy" but on some days I don't even die of exhaustion. I haven't measured my waist, but it certainly seems smaller. My hips have definitely gotten smaller, as some of my pants are rather loose. My upper body is getting nicely toned, which is one thing biking hadn't done. Hopefully these newly improved muscles are burning sugar at a more rapid rate!
Without doing a formal measurement, it's hard to say for sure that I'm succeeding, but certainly I'm trying hard. Bike season is coming, so that will help.
3. Donate platelets at least 6 times. I went to donate once. Something went wrong, and I experienced intense pain, which had not previously happened. They unhooked me. I went a second time, and this time my iron was too low, which hasn't happened in years. I'm going to try again in May.
4. Read three Shakespeare plays this year. I've read 25 books so far this year, but none of them were by Shakespeare. I will say that getting off of Facebook has freed up reading time, but I keep finding interesting books that are easier to pick up.
5. In by 9:30am 80% of work days. This has been massively successful. In 59 days at work I was in later than 9:30 only four times, and one of those was because the gas company had to inspect my meter, and it's not my fault they didn't arrive until 11:30. Even better, aside from the gas company none of those times were in the past seven weeks. This has had the immediate benefit that I'm making more money. I've managed to get in before 9:30, but I'm still staying to the same time, which has increased my average overtime by a few hours. In my mind this means I have to leave earlier, but it's not a terrible problem to have.
6. Stop chewing nails. No luck so far.
1. Facebook only on weekends. Results are mixed. I'm definitely not posting on weekdays. I do go entire days without hitting the site, but the problem is that for many of my friends I have no other way to contact them. If I'm discussing my upcoming vacation with any of the people I'm visiting, I have to get on FB to see if I got a message back from them. When that happens I sometimes end up scrolling through the feed even if I don't have a message from them. However, I'm definitely spending less total time on FB (see #4), so in general this has been successful.
2. BMI Waiver / Blood Sugar. BMI is measured by taking a ratio of a measurement of your waist to your height, which means you can improve BMI by reducing the waist measurement or increasing your height. Alas, attempts to get taller have not panned out, so reducing the waist is the way to go. I'm attempting this via two primary methods: eating less junk at work and working out via Crossfit.
From the junk food at work perspective, I'm back on the "only eat food I bring or pay for diet." In 59 days at work so far, I've broken that guideline ten times. Three of those were special occasions: my coworker Adam brought in homemade venison jerky (delicious). As is his long time tradition, my coworker Rob brought in homemade cookies for Casimir Pulaski Day, although I admit that I probably shouldn't have eaten quite so many of them. And as is his longtime tradition, my coworker Phil brought in Pączki for Fat Tuesday. I don't feel guilty about any of these. The other seven times were more of a breakdown. So this could be better, but has definitely been far worse in the past.
From a workout perspective, Crossfit continues. From December 8 to today I've only missed two classes on days when I was in town. The variety in the workouts means that relatively few are "easy" but on some days I don't even die of exhaustion. I haven't measured my waist, but it certainly seems smaller. My hips have definitely gotten smaller, as some of my pants are rather loose. My upper body is getting nicely toned, which is one thing biking hadn't done. Hopefully these newly improved muscles are burning sugar at a more rapid rate!
Without doing a formal measurement, it's hard to say for sure that I'm succeeding, but certainly I'm trying hard. Bike season is coming, so that will help.
3. Donate platelets at least 6 times. I went to donate once. Something went wrong, and I experienced intense pain, which had not previously happened. They unhooked me. I went a second time, and this time my iron was too low, which hasn't happened in years. I'm going to try again in May.
4. Read three Shakespeare plays this year. I've read 25 books so far this year, but none of them were by Shakespeare. I will say that getting off of Facebook has freed up reading time, but I keep finding interesting books that are easier to pick up.
5. In by 9:30am 80% of work days. This has been massively successful. In 59 days at work I was in later than 9:30 only four times, and one of those was because the gas company had to inspect my meter, and it's not my fault they didn't arrive until 11:30. Even better, aside from the gas company none of those times were in the past seven weeks. This has had the immediate benefit that I'm making more money. I've managed to get in before 9:30, but I'm still staying to the same time, which has increased my average overtime by a few hours. In my mind this means I have to leave earlier, but it's not a terrible problem to have.
6. Stop chewing nails. No luck so far.