February 2012

[Lightman]

February  2012. 
January was one of the "healthiest" months of my life, it had it's ups and downs. But it was mostly up! We all did great things this month, small steps to bring our real life selfs closer to our  DD personas. Great job girls! Roxanne: the "double" birthday and for sticking with it, Elizabeth :on find a charity that you want to devote your time to and your lovely wedding plans, Sasi: getting back in health mode after the holidays!  
Pat ourselves on the back an look forward! I really recommend reading this article....
http://www.forbes.com/sites/work-in-progress/2012/01/03/why-your-ne...

Clearly this will not be us! 


So looking forward, my targets for February are: 

Maintain current routine of:
3workouts/week,
8h of sleep,
only dd about the real me,
balanced eating,
keep my home clean and tidy. 

Additional goals: 
Get the fundamentals of touch typing down,
learn to read and write my mom's native language,
organize and sync computer/calendar/cellphone,
get proper apps for my phone,
work on my management conference homework,
research for my "team of experts" good dermatologist, skin technician, orthodontist, therapist... and set  appointments,
plan my summer holiday,
optimize my time management skills using Randy Pausch's lecture as a modell,
write and analyze a blog post summary of january,
look into an additional health care insurance plan,
make a budget plan for 2012.

[Lightman]

February 1. 
Work was ok, food wise a bad day! Today I left work a bit earlier to tend to my apartment. I've done 7 loads of laundry,  vacuumed my apartment  and cleaned my kitchen. It feels like a great way to start off a new month.

[Lightman]

February 2. 
Good day at work, 45 min of light cardio, chocolate cookies after dinner and folding laundry. After work I really felt like renting a movie and buying candy. But by doing a positive " ideal me in real life" DD I managed to stifle it and made it to the gym. Eating wasn't great, but it's all about the small victories...

[roxanne]

Sorry I've been so absent.  I got really scared by our elections & decided I had to get back on the campaign trail (for Obama.)  I turn into a total political junkie at this time.  I'm taping 2 shows right now that I'll go check out shortly.  In 2008 I visited 2000 houses over the course of about 10 months to talk to them about their preferences, problems, etc.  Also held "parties" and other stuff.  I had thought I would kind of take off somewhat this year, but it doesn't look like that will happen.

Light, you have really accomplished a ton.  You must be impressed yourself.

Eliz., how is wedding progressing?  It sounds so exciting & scary.

Sasi. how is your life going now?  You had so much going on.

[Lightman]

February 3-5 Im overall happy with the weekend... True I did spend way, way to much time on junk media and dd... But I ate well, slept fairly ok, spent quality time with friends and family, started syncing my summer plans with friends, got started on the apps for my phone and got seriously started on the touch typing. In. a way the dd+media dose had it's purpose, it relaxes me like few other things... And I really needed to unwind. Marathon, not a sprint. It's funny, now that I'm serious about managing my time and  am way more efficient than I was when I was in my DD haze... I constantly feel like the day doesn't have enough hours... Someone is playing with clocks. I never felt like that before, I'm truly realizing how precious my time is and the true meaning of the term "opportunity cost". Roxanne on behalf of the Swedish people I thank you for all your good work with the Obama campaign! We are rooting for you! 

[roxanne]

Thanks, I'm going to do my best.

Also on Day 3 of Dukan Diet.  Anyone else ever try it?  Feel like trying it now.  I joined on-line & have lots of french recipes to share.

[Lightman]

February 6-10. 

Let's start with the good things: 
1. Touch typing is going well, I now can find all the keys without looking... Still very slow though.
   
2. I've started on the first grade book, learning the alphabet, I've learned about a third. 

3. Had my annual check up at my dentist and a consult with an orthodontist.

4. Have started on my homework for the conference and presented portions of it to my work group. 

5. Have completed two longer cardio work outs. 

6. Talked to friend about summer plans, NYC is looking like the most likely destination.

7. I've analyzed my days time wise and discovered that I spent 1-2hours each day on WM and similar sites. In the spirit of time efficiency I decided to cut my updating down to once a week... First days I did okish... And then things just went worse. So. To the bad stuff. I've spent more and more time in dd, that has gotten stronger and stronger. Last night I came home from work at around  8:30. Went grocery shopping, bought chocolate and potato chips then dd to 2am! Today I just feel dazed and hungover. In my not so long ago tidy apartment dishes, laundry and junk are  piling up. Clearly time for an intervention! New game plan: I'm going back to daily updates, it  keeps me on track. But I'll keep my posts short and am putting a ban on other non productive sites.  I'm also going back to planning and scheduling my days in greater detail.  And I'll avoid my major dd triggers. Weekend plan:  today I'm having a quick sushi dinner and study session at the library, then I'm going to the theater with my mom. Tomorrow I'm getting apps for my phone, researching for my expert panel. A therapist being on the top of that list and finally getting my calendar in order. I'm also working on my typing and alphabet. And  will go for a longer walk outside. Sunday I will  clean, do dishes, empty my recycling bins, cook healthy meals and work out. This weekend I will also analyze January, I now more than ever need to remember and own my choices and actions.

[roxanne]

Your accomplishments seem very impressive to me.  The worst part is feeling hung over, but that might be from the chips & chocolate, not the DD'ing.   Be proud of yourself; you are quite amazing.

I am just finishing my first week on Dukan Diet.  I have lost 6 pounds, which I'm thrilled about.  But even more amazing is the decrease in pain I have.  I have had constant, often intense, pain in back & hips for over a year.  I read last week that people with an auto-immune form of hypothyroidism can continue to have symptoms, even though lab work comes out normal.  They said the most important thing was to go gluten-free.  So I decided to try Dukan, as that is virtually gluten-free - no grains, just meat, fish, eggs, tofu, fat-free dairy, fruit & oat bran.  I signed up for on-line version, so I get motivational talk every morning, then fabulous french recipes for the day, my list of exercises.  I can e-mail my diet coaches about anything and they get back to you that day.  They have a live chat every day with coaches & once a week with Dr. Dukan himself.  Then at night you report in any trouble or frustation you are having & they try to help you work around it.  I love all this order & planning & team work, so it is tailor-made for me.  Plus, I am now a real believer in going gluten-free, as the morning of 5th day, I woke up almost pain-free.  Will keep you updated.  

Am continuing with my political canvassing & am hooked on polit. shows at night.  So I watch them while doing sudoku on i-pad.  Good way to not eat in eve.  DD'ing about the same, which is fine with me.  I just ran across a poem I wrote when I was 16 about a man whose life was a dream - allowing him all the things of life he wanted - and died as soon as his dream was done.  I had no concept of MD at the time; in fact, assumed everyone did this and in no way thought I was abnormal.  It was just something that - like sexual thoughts - people didn't talk about.

[roxanne]

I had omelet with roasted asparagus & Dukan hollandaise for breakfast.

Lunch was sliced turkey breast sauteed with diced onions, carrots & celery and an asparagus souffle.

Dinner will be chicken & shrimp (pic to follow), fresh spinach with black pepper & nutmeg and coconut pudding.

E

Chicken with Shrimp

Preparation time : 30 min , Cooking time :30 min , For 6 people Cruise phase Proteins vegetables

Ingredients:

4 jumbo shrimp
1 organic chicken, cut into bite-size pieces
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 teaspoon of paprika
1 teaspoon of turmeric
2 teaspoons fish stock,
1 small can of tomato puree
broccoli (or fennel)
5 drops of almond essence or cognac flavoring (optional)
Olive oil

Evening snack will be almond cookies made with oat bran.

We get 3 sets of new recipes every day.

[Lightman]

February 11.

Overall ok day,
took a long walk in the afternoon,
Got the majority of the apps i need for my phone,
The calendar/to do list is still not done... but I’m searching for good options.
Found two highly renowned psychologist and contacted them via email.
R and EMF, thank you for the support, it really helps me to have others point out that I’m doing well. I am rarely satisfied with my efforts, because I’ll always think I should have done better... This will be one of the topics for therapy.

Rox, great job on the Dukan diet and on campaigning! I hope you are proud. 

Ps. that looks so good!

[Lightman]

February 12. Got home at around 5pm, much later than planned. So I changed the plan, cancelled taking out the recycling bins and working out. Instead I cooked for the week, scrubbed my bathroom, cleaned the kitchen, picked up laundry and junk and did some grooming. I did all of this while listening to the hunger games on audiobook... And I am hooked, this book is sooo good! Love it! Am however a bit nervous because it's prime material for catapulting me into a MD haze (that with Harry Potter lasted for 8months and with twilight 13months!). Otherwise the touch typing is going a bit slow, but I've made it halfway through the alphabet book! I also FINALLY found the calendar app I'll use, calengoo! From the look of it, It should be a good fit! 
February 13. I went to work grumpy, because I'd much rather stay at home with my book! Thankfully it was a great day, lots of action :) so I cheered up and enjoyed the real world for a bit. I got the therapist I wanted, he comes with great recommendations and I have my first appointment this Friday. After work I went to the gym for some light cardio, grocery shopped, had dinner and got back to listening to the hunger games while sitting and lazily doing a bit of typing. Muscle memory! That's the angle I'm working! 

[roxanne]

What is the hunger games?  A new book?  What's the gist?

Did you see Grammy's last night?  I was so upset about Whitney - have pretty much all her music - but was blown away by Adele.

[Lightman]

February  14-16. The last days has been BRUTAL as far as MD goes... Food, sleep, exercise, cleanliness, routine,  self preservation  out the window! the only thing that has really kept me floating is my job, thank god I have a good job I love, that I do well! Tomorrow I have my first session with my new psychologist.  just in the nick of time...