Goals on Hold

We are halfway through 2016 and already deep into Summer, so I thought I'd give an update on the items from my "resolution" post so that I can spend the second half of the year catching up!

It has been a busy six months, so much so that I am struggling to remember most of it.  At the beginning of 2016, I was still nursing, which is hard for me to believe since that felt so long ago.  Tuesday (no longer a baby) has no recollection of nursing of course, since he won't even let me hold him that way for even a second, nor does he acknowledge that part of my body anymore.  He also learned how to walk and is now a total expert. 

The year, so far, has brought a lot of learning at work and cooking toddler meals at home.  It has brought on more sleep, thank goodness, since at the beginning of the year, it was still pretty choppy... and then it took me significant time to adjust once Tuesday started sleeping like a champ.  It has also involved shocking changes with "The Ukrainian"'s work, so we expect the second half of the year will be filled with even more transitions.

Anyway, onto the list:

1. Give more compliments

I don't feel like I've been doing as well at this as I should, mainly because I'm not always in the office, and social interactions outside of this are kind of limited.  (Maybe that should be another goal of mine... but alas.)  I will focus on this more regardless -- I think I said 5 per week, which is really not hard at all, and maybe I'm already hitting this target but need to be more aware of it.

2. Complete a round of Focus T-25

I'm currently on Month 2, Week 2, Day 2 of Insanity Max 30, which ain't T-25 (I guess I just got distracted by an infomercial or something), but the intention behind it is the same as my goal.  I'm doing the workouts in sequence, just not on the schedule since I have other workouts interspersed in there, so I can't really say I'm doing "the program," either.  However, I enjoy getting a great workout in 30 minutes and will likely start T-25 sometime after I'm done.

3. Clean up closet/wardrobe

I sold/got rid of some of my older stuff earlier this year, but somehow my closet still feels wayyy underutilized and still full of things I don't wear, but I think that's partly because I'm still feeling self-conscious about some items and am a creature of habit wearing the same few things over and over again.  I have not been buying clothing lately, so that should help the cause, but I do plan on doing one more clean-out this year.

4. Donate blood

I haven't been able to commit to this yet because I am still carrying my 25-30 lb toddler very regularly (hey, he's only little once, right!), though I'm hoping sometime toward the end of the year, I will feel up to it.

5. Read 1+ book a month

I have read 4 books and 6 (big) study books this year, so that technically puts me behind where I want to be.  I've been focused on an exam I'm taking next month, so after that's done, I hope to catch up.  I miss reading for fun.  One of the books I read so far is Orange is the New Black, which is on Netflix, though I don't really have time to watch... so I read the O-G version.  At some point, I hope to catch some of the episodes to see how it compares with the book, which was very interesting since I don't think I've read any other realistic works on female prison life.

6. Weight

This has been a struggle.  After weaning, I gained five pounds in a month, added on top of what was already an out-of-shape postpartum me, even though I was working out regularly.  I've been bouncing (hah!) back-and-forth over a few pounds, and I'm not getting any closer to my pre-baby weight.  For the past couple of months, I have overhauled my eating and started lifting weights again, so I am definitely better off than I was in terms of body composition (fat/muscle ratio), just not where I want to be yet. 

At the moment, I have been able to work out just a little bit more than before (I'm talking 40 min on the weekdays vs. 30, so nothing huge), though that can change with aforementioned transitions later on this year though with Tuesday up-and-about, I know there will always be activity.  However, I also know that this is the smaller part of the equation -- my diet is so much better than before, and I think it's because I can make better decisions with more rest.  Will I hit the "magic number" by year-end?

7. Focus on relationship with husband

They say that every cloud comes with a silver lining, and let's just say that the silver lining of the aforementioned circumstances has given us more time together.  We've been going out for lunch more, and since I don't have to sleep as early (though I should) as before since I can mostly get a reliable stretch of sleep at night, we've gained that time back even if I'm generally studying or working during it.  With more sleep also comes more patience on my part, so I'm hoping that this helps us ride through the next part of the year smoothly.  Maybe we'll even do a night outing.


Other:

As the year started, I decided to pursue running 366 miles this year, an average of one for every day of the year.  This did not make it onto my original list, but I've been hacking away at this goal for the past six months, so I'm putting it here.  As of now, I hit 256 of those miles, so I think I'm pretty well on my way to this goal.  This is not a lot of mileage, but I haven't really been motivated to run a lot, so in a way, it is. 

I had registered for a half-marathon, so that training did add to the mileage.  I did long runs of 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, but as the race approached, I was feeling tired of running, probably due to Summer kicking in and the heat.  Well, the Monday before the race was scheduled, a few wildfires broke out, and ultimately, the race was postponed (supposedly until Fall).  I saw this coming because I had the same experience in 2008, and it's all for good reasons.  A part of me says I will train again and race in what will hopefully be much cooler conditions, but another part of me is disappointed that I will need to ramp up again, especially when I don't have as much motivation and time as I had before.  But until I see the new race date, I'll try not to worry about it and trrrryyyyy to stay in *just* enough shape to do the ramp-up again as needed.