I saw this on the Nanowrimo forums and I thought I would make one of my own here, so I have a place to keep it. My BIG, FUN, SCARY List of thing to do. Now, I know it's getting on towards 2014, but I don't want this to be a list of resolutions. I don't want this to be just one more list of things that I will "try" to do, but a list of things I plan on actually doing, things I can set in motion, make plans for, make a goal for and just.. you know.. be awesome at! Nanowrimo is sort of the end of the year for me and the beginning of being motivated. If I can write 50,000 words in one month on one story (and not even finish it, but it is there, in a file, waiting to be opened on Martin Luther King Jr. Day where my Writing Monster can cry out "Free at Last" since I have put her away for 6 weeks to let my writing ideas simmer and see what comes to fruition), I can do just about anything I really set my mind to, as long as I break it into smaller chunks.
See, that's the nice thing about Nanowrimo. I took it day by day. I didn't look at 50,000 words and have a panic attack. I looked at 1667 words a day for 30 days. So I can't look at the nearly 200 pounds I have to lose as 200 pounds (and believe me, that's a lot of butter!), I can just take it a pound at a time (probably by not eating pounds of butter).
However, this list, this BFS list, is the beginning of the lists, the start, the "Where do I go from here" of lists that may look BIG and SCARY, but will also, ultimately be FUN too! So, while this list may be a list of BIG things, (though maybe not quite yet a BIG list, I do plan on adding stuff to it), all of these can be broken into smaller, achievable, day by day every day I try this and it works for me goal list. A list of "I can do it" not.. "I want to do it!"
So, here's my list (in no particular order)
1. Finish my pink and brown quilt that I've been working on since before my divorce.
2. Track my calories and exercise daily.
3. Exercise daily.
4. Record weight, blood pressure, blood sugar and exercise in a chart so I can see my progress.
5. Write an outline for each of the three (so far) books that are in my San Francisco Friends novels.
6. Rewrite/Edit one novel into a publishable draft by August.
7. Work hard and be an awesome teacher!
8. Help my district and my school transition to Common Core Standards and be a great on-campus leader!
9. Help my adorable, loving, wonderful husband get through the next year of college!
10. Complete the next 12 weeks cycle of Julia Cameron's 'The Artist's Way'.
11. Meditate every day.
So, those are things I can do! Let's get crackin'!
Love and Lollipops,
ToryLynn
Showing posts with label changes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label changes. Show all posts
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Episode 71: Challenge accepted
I post this picture for a few reasons. One, to motivate me to get my ass moving, and off the couch. I look awful and I look fat and I have bingo curtains. I mean really!! BINGO CURTAINS!! I cannot believe I let myself get this big. I post this picture because I am ashamed of the way that I look. I am ashamed of who and what I have become over the years through unhealthy eating, lack of movement and a great deal of depression that I haven't been willing or able to accept over the years.
Another reason I post this picture is because it is real. I am not hiding behind a gorgeous, thin avatar. I am not trying to be someone I am not and I am not trying to fool myself any longer. In my head, I am a much much thinner person, but I have to honest with myself about who I am and what I look like if I want to start to lose the weight. I can't fool myself and eat another doughnut or have another soda thinking "oh, I can work this off later." It's not going to happen. I have to put down the carbs and be realistic about how I got here in the first place and how I am going to get myself out of it. I packed on this weight, this fat, this body and it took me years to do it. It is going to take me a long time to get it off, but putting it on took a lot of work too.
The last reason I post this picture now is that it will be different in a month's time. When I weigh in again in 31 days, at the end of the challenge, my friend, TechnoDude (henceforth referred to as TD) will take another picture of me and I will post that one too and I will be able to see the awesomeness shining through under a much thinner layer of fat. I don't expect it all to go away in a month, but a month is a good start for starting new habits.
Look out world, here I come!
Love and Lollipops,
ToryLynn
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Episode 51: Ugh!
Holidays are over! Officially. I'm back at work, life is... going... and I have nearly finished unpacking what I'm going to unpack for now. It's nice to finally be in a place of my own, but it's also very hard to be alone in a place of my own. Fortunately... I have things keeping me from feeling TOO lonely. (Oh, and I started to watch "How I Met Your Mother". Cute show!
So.. yeah.. the Holidays are over, which means that it is time for me to stop eating like an idiot. I admit, during the move, I kind of became addicted to fast food, as I couldn't really find much of my dishware. Now, most of it unpacked (I have about 2 boxes of kitchen stuff left to unpack) and then I'm done with that. All of my cooking gear is out. Not living with a dishwasher is an interesting thing, but it means that I can do dishes and have them put away in 20 minutes instead of the 2 hour dishwashing cycle. So... yay!
Holidays being over means that I also need to start getting back into my routines. I need to start going for walks again, need to start doing yoga again (I got to day 12, and stalled for 2 weeks. I think I'm going to start over) and start just moving around more. My Wii is for more than just watching Netflix! :) I have Wii Sports (who doesn't?) and Wii Fit Plus.. and both of those are going in my "let's have fun and not just sit around and do nothing in your new apartment" regime.
Now, I'm not saying that any of these is a resolution. I don't do that.. I don't make resolutions, especially when it comes to life changing things because resolutions NEVER work! I have made many many resolutions in the past and I have resolved to make myself better looking, take better care of myself (and those around me) and be a better teacher. Each year, I will do pretty well, until the middle of January and then I fall back on old stupid habits. Well NOT THIS YEAR!!
I am not resolving to lose weight. I am not resolving to cook better. I am not resolving to work out more. I am just going to do it, and make myself a better lifestyle than the one I had, because the one I had had me dying at an early age of some sort of heart or lung condition.
Oh, while I'm talking about food.. and other great stuff.. Check out what I got for Christmas! http://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-Electrics-PIE-400-Electric-Bakery/dp/B005QSI5JO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325774741&sr=8-1 Now, when I want pie, it will take me 10 minutes, and I won't have the *entire* pie sitting there waiting for me to eat it... I can make tiny little mini pies of low point goodness. Yay for healthy little pies!
Anyway.. work beckons. I hope you all have a wonderful everything, and I promise to post here more often. I don't resolve to.. I just will!
Hugs and love...
ToryLynn
So.. yeah.. the Holidays are over, which means that it is time for me to stop eating like an idiot. I admit, during the move, I kind of became addicted to fast food, as I couldn't really find much of my dishware. Now, most of it unpacked (I have about 2 boxes of kitchen stuff left to unpack) and then I'm done with that. All of my cooking gear is out. Not living with a dishwasher is an interesting thing, but it means that I can do dishes and have them put away in 20 minutes instead of the 2 hour dishwashing cycle. So... yay!
Holidays being over means that I also need to start getting back into my routines. I need to start going for walks again, need to start doing yoga again (I got to day 12, and stalled for 2 weeks. I think I'm going to start over) and start just moving around more. My Wii is for more than just watching Netflix! :) I have Wii Sports (who doesn't?) and Wii Fit Plus.. and both of those are going in my "let's have fun and not just sit around and do nothing in your new apartment" regime.
Now, I'm not saying that any of these is a resolution. I don't do that.. I don't make resolutions, especially when it comes to life changing things because resolutions NEVER work! I have made many many resolutions in the past and I have resolved to make myself better looking, take better care of myself (and those around me) and be a better teacher. Each year, I will do pretty well, until the middle of January and then I fall back on old stupid habits. Well NOT THIS YEAR!!
I am not resolving to lose weight. I am not resolving to cook better. I am not resolving to work out more. I am just going to do it, and make myself a better lifestyle than the one I had, because the one I had had me dying at an early age of some sort of heart or lung condition.
Oh, while I'm talking about food.. and other great stuff.. Check out what I got for Christmas! http://www.amazon.com/Nostalgia-Electrics-PIE-400-Electric-Bakery/dp/B005QSI5JO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1325774741&sr=8-1 Now, when I want pie, it will take me 10 minutes, and I won't have the *entire* pie sitting there waiting for me to eat it... I can make tiny little mini pies of low point goodness. Yay for healthy little pies!
Anyway.. work beckons. I hope you all have a wonderful everything, and I promise to post here more often. I don't resolve to.. I just will!
Hugs and love...
ToryLynn
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Episode 50: A Review
Wow.. has it been 50 posts so far? Ok. I admit, I have been really lax at posting for the last week or so, mostly because of my complete lack of internet connection. I am currently sitting and soaking up the warmth, the coffee and the ambiance of Noah's bagels... and stealing their internet. I won't get mine back until the seventh.
I didn't weigh in this week (mostly because they were closed on Christmas day), so I don't know my current weight loss situation, but I have lost over 15 pounds so far, but that isn't far enough, and I'm pretty sure with the holiday gluttony I have probably gained some back. I have to get back on track for a few reasons. I may have a fairly strong heart, but I want to give it as much of a chance as I can to live and be strong. I want to be the girl that I see when think of myself in fantasy. I also just want to be healthier. So, that is what I'm going to do.
When I think of 15 pounds in the grand scheme of how much I have to lose, it doesn't seem like a whole lot, but at least it's a step in the right direction. If I put three bags of sugar together, that's how much weight I've lost. I've lost 15 packs of butter from my body. I've lost 32 8oz filet mignons.. and I'm only bound to lose more. When I put it like that.. it makes me feel like I can do anything!
In the week without internet, I have moved into a new apartment and started a new life. I'm spending today finishing cleaning out the old apartment and getting everything out of it, even if it kills me. I know I can do this. I am strong enough to do this. It requires that I clean out my car first, and throw away some of the boxes that I have in my current apartment to make room for the stuff coming in. I'm almost done packing and I'm only going to give the old place a sort of cursory cleaning, hoping to get my deposit back. As I have my rent paid up for next month, and a few other things, I may take a small part of that deposit and get my bass guitar kit and then put the rest on the credit card to pay back the exorbitant amount of money that I put on it in the moving expenses.
This new year will be a new start for me. I think back on my last few years, and I think about EH and AM and everything that has come and gone from my life this year. My family and my friends all say that the divorce was a long time coming and probably should have been done sooner. I guess I just needed a catalyst. I regret hurting my husband, who has taken care of me in the past, but in taking care of me, he stunted me as well. I am 35 and I'm just learning how to balance a check book, how to pay attention and pay my bills and how to eat correctly and healthfully. These are all things I should have been doing my entire adult life, but that I have neglected because I thought that someone else would take care of me.
Now, as I begin to grow up, I eat my vegetables (Brussel sprouts ARE palatable when roasted with garlic and olive oil!), I pay my bills, I have my own place and I am rediscovering my creativity again. I am rededicating myself to The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and I am hoping to rediscover my creative self and finish a damned novel. I only have 283 days left to get it finished and I hope.. publishable. I start on Sunday... a new year.. a finished novel... a new love.. a new life... all in my new apartment.
I have to become a better teacher too, but with living on my own and everything, I think I will have plenty of time to work on grading and lesson planning and being the best teacher and writer and poet and singer and artist (and bass player) that I can be.
Anyway, I have about a mile to walk back home (it's .91 miles from home to Noah's), and then unpack and clean out my car and go move everything in my old life in order to start my new. I hate moving. I hate looking at the old memories. I think back to the good times, and I know that I will miss them, but I also know that I am making the right choice for myself. I can't go on living like I did, because I just kept getting more and more miserable. I have been posting my emocubes (or emorbs as the case may be) on Facebook. I've been tracking those for about six months now. My little emo chart had been going steadily down, with a few up spikes every once in a while for a while. Once I made the decision to change my life.. the line on the chart has been going steadily up, with a few little dips here and there.
I know that I can make it on my own. I know that I am strong enough to do this, and that my life can be anything I want it to be. Life is what you make of it. Today, I am making it my own.
Love, hugs.. and Chiiiii
ToryLynn
I didn't weigh in this week (mostly because they were closed on Christmas day), so I don't know my current weight loss situation, but I have lost over 15 pounds so far, but that isn't far enough, and I'm pretty sure with the holiday gluttony I have probably gained some back. I have to get back on track for a few reasons. I may have a fairly strong heart, but I want to give it as much of a chance as I can to live and be strong. I want to be the girl that I see when think of myself in fantasy. I also just want to be healthier. So, that is what I'm going to do.
When I think of 15 pounds in the grand scheme of how much I have to lose, it doesn't seem like a whole lot, but at least it's a step in the right direction. If I put three bags of sugar together, that's how much weight I've lost. I've lost 15 packs of butter from my body. I've lost 32 8oz filet mignons.. and I'm only bound to lose more. When I put it like that.. it makes me feel like I can do anything!
In the week without internet, I have moved into a new apartment and started a new life. I'm spending today finishing cleaning out the old apartment and getting everything out of it, even if it kills me. I know I can do this. I am strong enough to do this. It requires that I clean out my car first, and throw away some of the boxes that I have in my current apartment to make room for the stuff coming in. I'm almost done packing and I'm only going to give the old place a sort of cursory cleaning, hoping to get my deposit back. As I have my rent paid up for next month, and a few other things, I may take a small part of that deposit and get my bass guitar kit and then put the rest on the credit card to pay back the exorbitant amount of money that I put on it in the moving expenses.
This new year will be a new start for me. I think back on my last few years, and I think about EH and AM and everything that has come and gone from my life this year. My family and my friends all say that the divorce was a long time coming and probably should have been done sooner. I guess I just needed a catalyst. I regret hurting my husband, who has taken care of me in the past, but in taking care of me, he stunted me as well. I am 35 and I'm just learning how to balance a check book, how to pay attention and pay my bills and how to eat correctly and healthfully. These are all things I should have been doing my entire adult life, but that I have neglected because I thought that someone else would take care of me.
Now, as I begin to grow up, I eat my vegetables (Brussel sprouts ARE palatable when roasted with garlic and olive oil!), I pay my bills, I have my own place and I am rediscovering my creativity again. I am rededicating myself to The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron and I am hoping to rediscover my creative self and finish a damned novel. I only have 283 days left to get it finished and I hope.. publishable. I start on Sunday... a new year.. a finished novel... a new love.. a new life... all in my new apartment.
I have to become a better teacher too, but with living on my own and everything, I think I will have plenty of time to work on grading and lesson planning and being the best teacher and writer and poet and singer and artist (and bass player) that I can be.
Anyway, I have about a mile to walk back home (it's .91 miles from home to Noah's), and then unpack and clean out my car and go move everything in my old life in order to start my new. I hate moving. I hate looking at the old memories. I think back to the good times, and I know that I will miss them, but I also know that I am making the right choice for myself. I can't go on living like I did, because I just kept getting more and more miserable. I have been posting my emocubes (or emorbs as the case may be) on Facebook. I've been tracking those for about six months now. My little emo chart had been going steadily down, with a few up spikes every once in a while for a while. Once I made the decision to change my life.. the line on the chart has been going steadily up, with a few little dips here and there.
I know that I can make it on my own. I know that I am strong enough to do this, and that my life can be anything I want it to be. Life is what you make of it. Today, I am making it my own.
Love, hugs.. and Chiiiii
ToryLynn
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Episode 35: Separated but equal
A lot of stuff going in my life right now. Too much to post, and I'm not in the mood to talk about it. Suffice it to say, I've sort of fallen off the bandwagon here lately, though I am getting all my fruits and veggies and trying to stick, at least, to the basics of eating right.
I live in fantasy too often. My life is about to get real in a lot of different ways. I'm scared, but I know that I can make it through.
You have to get rid of the old to make way for the new. That is just the way life is. I guess I should stop being a hoarder.
Love is a strange, weird thing sometimes.
It is time to be strong.
I live in fantasy too often. My life is about to get real in a lot of different ways. I'm scared, but I know that I can make it through.
You have to get rid of the old to make way for the new. That is just the way life is. I guess I should stop being a hoarder.
Love is a strange, weird thing sometimes.
It is time to be strong.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Episode 31: Changes
A lot is changing in my life. My friends tell me that I am looking thinner. My body feels better. I feel more confident and more alive than I have in a long time. I am even noticing the change in a place that I never thought to look for change before... My Google Chrome splash page.
For those of you who don't use Google Chrome, it is my favorite browser and I highly recommend it. It opens up with the tab that has your home page, but if you click on the "new tab" button, it opens up a screen with your most visited pages. I find this incredibly helpful as I, like probably 90% of the population, have about 5 to 6 websites I visit nearly daily, just to check up on things. The standards are all there: school website, email, facebook. But things are changing...
Where I previously had websites of my favorite web comics, pages I would try to visit whenever they posted an update, now my Google Chrome tells me that I am on the Weight Watcher's site more often than xkcd. In addition to Giant in the Playground, Blogger shows up instantly to remind me that I have a blog post for the day. If you asked me which websites have been replaced, I probably couldn't tell you, which means they probably didn't matter much to begin with.
I need to start finding foods that I enjoy cooking, healthy meals that make me want to prepare them every night. I need to stop stopping at Burger King or McDonald's on the way home from work, but have a solid plan for dinner that I can cook and enjoy and have enough left overs that maybe I would have the same thing for lunch the next day. I would love to add some foodie pages to my Chrome splash page.. or an exercise website that has Yoga videos. All of these would be wonderful right now.
Anyway, work beckons. I hope you are all well and wonderful!
ToryLynn
For those of you who don't use Google Chrome, it is my favorite browser and I highly recommend it. It opens up with the tab that has your home page, but if you click on the "new tab" button, it opens up a screen with your most visited pages. I find this incredibly helpful as I, like probably 90% of the population, have about 5 to 6 websites I visit nearly daily, just to check up on things. The standards are all there: school website, email, facebook. But things are changing...
Where I previously had websites of my favorite web comics, pages I would try to visit whenever they posted an update, now my Google Chrome tells me that I am on the Weight Watcher's site more often than xkcd. In addition to Giant in the Playground, Blogger shows up instantly to remind me that I have a blog post for the day. If you asked me which websites have been replaced, I probably couldn't tell you, which means they probably didn't matter much to begin with.
I need to start finding foods that I enjoy cooking, healthy meals that make me want to prepare them every night. I need to stop stopping at Burger King or McDonald's on the way home from work, but have a solid plan for dinner that I can cook and enjoy and have enough left overs that maybe I would have the same thing for lunch the next day. I would love to add some foodie pages to my Chrome splash page.. or an exercise website that has Yoga videos. All of these would be wonderful right now.
Anyway, work beckons. I hope you are all well and wonderful!
ToryLynn
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