WEEKLY HEALTHY LIVING CHECK-IN OCTOBER 5TH, 2019

**This past week has been pretty much the usual... stayed on track with food, water, activity... (up and down with sleep goals)~... My mom has been out of town so haven't walked as much in the morning the entire week. (She just got back Friday, so we are planning a morning walk first thing Saturday morning.) I taught my usual weekly classes as well as picked up a few to sub, and tried a few others to "fill in the gaps" of missing out on my walks, as well as Walks at the lake with my dog~

**I got invited to to do the 'WORK-WEEK HUSTLE" Challenge on FITBIT by another user that I'm friends with.. theres 10 in the group, and I actually won the challenge!.. It ran Mon-Fri only (typical work-week)...I hate to say it but it wasn't much of a challenge when you can see the amount of steps everyone is doing each day. I was in the lead from the Get-go and typically ahead each day by 20,000 to 30,000 steps above the other participants. BUT.... it kept me "more" motivated this week to do what I knew I was capable of. Especially since I wasn't getting the activity that I normally would first thing with my mom being gone.....

**I thought I would actually get to sleep in this past week with not having to get up as early to walk, but... was dealing with some "minor" stressors that probably affected my sleep pattern. The sad part is, is that those "stressors" weren't really even 'mine' ... But something a friend of mine was dealing with, and I was "close" to the situation and felt that i needed to help and intervene on her behalf for possible resolution~

**Today is my Free Day, so I'm happy about that. Intentions are to get up and walk early with my mom and get some steps in since she is finally back and we get to see one another...and, then meet up with my above referenced Friend for some "Brunch" with a few of our other friends from our dance studio.~ Then relax with the hubs later~

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND~

**Hey there Everyone~ Welcome to the weekend!..How have things been going for you?

**This is our FIRST Check-In for the Month of OCTOBER!! How are you feeling about this new month ahead?! I think it will be a productive month.

** What are you looking forward to this month? I plan to get some walking in decent weather.
What are you looking to accomplish? Finish editing my one book, set up another and work on yet another with my best friend

**What new goals will you be setting for yourself this month? I want to try to walk 50KM in a week and finish editing my book 1 of my thriller
What are your plans to accomplish them? I have set smaller goals each day and I have my friend as my accountability partner

**What have been your "Highlights" Or "Struggles" over this past week? I had a very bad day on wednesday and anxious and depression were through the roof.

**What are your weekend Plans? walk, cook and write/edit

**What would "YOU" like to talk about or share with us?! WE want to hear from "YOU"!! I'm hanging in there.

@PoliteOcean

hello ocean! good to see you.

i am doing quite good today! We had no school since wednesday so i spend lot of time relaxing and i was able to get back on track with food!! I am so happy that i am allowed to eat mostly anything (besides anything with dairy) again, so that i can eat healthy too i also am getting back on track with workouts! I did one yesterday and felt amazing, so today i am doing two! I have lots of free time as none of my friends seem to have any time so i am by myself at this moment.... i find it sad, but it also means more time for myself!

i am feeling pretty good about this new month ahead...i feel very spontenous this month and very open to new experiences!

i am looking forward to visiting my old friends next week and we are maybe going to do a spontenous trip with my family, but not sure yet! Unfortunately, we lost some money because all my brothers stuff got stolen... so we will see if we can afford any sort of trip.

my goals for this month are: preparing myself well for my exams, doing sports NOT only to look good but to feel good!, being more open to spontenous plans.

i am going to accomplish preparing for my exams if i start with studying next week!

highlights: healthy food, workout, watched some videos that motivated me to do sport/eat healthy

struggles: the incident with my brother, none of my friends having time for me

my weekend plans are buying some stuff that i need, working out, maybe trying out some new things! new recipes, hairstyles, just something. and starting with studying maths!

@PoliteOcean

**Hey there Everyone~ Welcome to the weekend!..How have things been going for you? Good! I didnt realize that 4 days ago was the 2 year anniversary of the Route 91 Harvest Festival in Las Vegas..RIP all those 58 people. If feels weird to even call if an anniversary considering what happened.

**This is our FIRST Check-In for the Month of OCTOBER!! How are you feeling about this new month ahead?! I am excited for whats goanna happen and anything new.

** What are you looking forward to this month? What are you looking to accomplish? I hope to write some more music and perform with my gf. Its almost Halloween so maybe we will do more rock music.

**What are your weekend Plans? Nothing yet, but I know me and my friends are goanna go to Fear Farm soon.

@PoliteOcean This past week, I went to see my endocrinologist. She thinks I have an overactive thryroid gland. I submitted a blood sample on Tuesday to have my TSH and T4 tested, as well as other indicators. Last Sunday I went to church for the first time in two months. I hope I can continue to attend church. It helps to get out of the house. Thursday, I was supposed to get a massage but my ride bailed out on me, due to unforeseen circumstances. Wednesday I ate two donuts. Donuts are one of the worst things a person can eat, but I figure two donuts once a year isn't going to kill me. I am by far the youngest member of the group home I'm living in. It's not a healthy environment. I live here because it's too dangerous for me to live by myself.

**Hey there Everyone~ Welcome to the weekend!..How have things been going for you?
Hi, I've been doing relatively better, I'm making progress. Slow progress, but still. For me it's huge. Not evereyone notices though. My boyfirend for instance.

**This is our FIRST Check-In for the Month of OCTOBER!! How are you feeling about this new month ahead?!
It HAS to be productive. I mean, I know that now I can do more than shut myself inside my home with my butt on a chair and do nothing of my day, so I expect some things will be done. Anything, really, that's not sleeping, staring at the void or waste my time with videogames.

** What are you looking forward to this month? What are you looking to accomplish?
**What new goals will you be setting for yourself this month? What are your plans to accomplish them?
First thing I'm looking forward to is eating, regularly and properly. I managed to really start a rotine with my eating, but I'm still working hard to keep it. Then, as I said, I'll be trying to "do things", which can be anything from the smallest thing like a drawing, to finding a job. At least one thing a day to have get the feel that I didn't waste another day of my life. One long term goalò I have is to find a job. But I first have to know if I'd manage to keep it or if it's not the right time yet. So this month I plan to go volunteering at the afterschool every single afternoon, exactly as if it was a part time job, and see how I react. Oh, I'll also have the second meeting with the psychiatrist, we'll discuss the SCID test results and then decide what kind of help I want for my issues.

**What have been your "Highlights" Or "Struggles" over this past week?
Anxiety related issues (I guess) were my hardest struggles. Now that I'm into volunteering, cooking eeryday and doing stuff, seems like my brain realizes it has much less time to worry about any awful thing that may not be going right, about noticing the possible signs of an imminent tragedy ecc ecc. So it takes its time to be terrified at night. I have a hard time falling asleep, or I keep waking up in the middle of the night with the sensation that I forgot something terribly important, or just scared for no reason. I wake up at like 3 or 4 in the morning feeling helpless and terrified of who knows what, but the feeling is so intense that I can't get up or open my eyes sometimes for hours. Plus, I have nightmares, every night, that can range from being unsettling to absolutely disturbing.
Anyway, I'm managing to keep an agenda and organize my stuff, I've been eating regularly and properly, even healthy, most of the times. Volunteering is going awsome, although it's hard to believe, because last week someone asked me not to tell ghost story to a kid anymore, and I saw my whole reputation as a person and as an educator crumble and I thought that my volunteering days should probably have ended there since I saw myself so stupid, immature and irrespinsible, I thought my superiors saw me the same way. Pretty catastrofic, and not realistic, I know. I tried to ignore it, and I'm still volunteering, I didn't flee, I didn't miss a day. Yesterday a kid managed to make me believe he did all his homeworks when he didn't and another educator luckily noticed. But I saw my self esteem shatter again. A mistake! what a tragedy! It's really hard to believe anyone with my same experience could easily make those mistakes. I'm trying to manage this in an environment I know and I feel comfortable in, and maybe one day I'll be ready for work too -.-"

**What are your weekend Plans?
I was trying to plan a hike in the mountains with my aunt, but I'm not sure I'm so eager about it. I've been doing a lot of stuff recently and I'm not used anymore, I need a break ahahah I've got some projects to work on at home, some crafts I left unfinished.

**What would "YOU" like to talk about or share with us?! WE want to hear from "YOU"!!
Eeeerrr... mermaid project is still on the to-do list. I'm a little stuck beause I can't find a monofin, and I don't have money to pay for it. I have my boyfriend's money, of course, but those are for other stuff, I wanted to pay it with my money and right now I have none. I'm training my swimming skills in the meanwhile, and I'm getting results :D
Oh. I also had to come to term with the fact I really like singing, although I don't think I have such a good voice. But I can't stop because I like the feeling when my voice comes out, so often I sing when I'm alone. Very often. I bet my neighbors hate me LOL

@PoliteOcean So I've been super excited all summer long for October to be here and it's finally here! My heart is jumping with joy! This month is very special to me because of the harvest festival I get to take my boys to! I've also set a meditation goal for this month... my goal is to do 30 straight days of guided meditation and so far I am on day 5!

I also have a weight loss goal of 4 pounds for the month of October! I this it's totally realistic and I know I can get it done! I would also like to take an inventory of my eating habits! If I can be honest, they are not the best and I know I need to work on it this month!

@PoliteOcean

**Things have been going slightly better the last 48 hours. I've been looking into my diet and general health, trying to see if there is a dietary issue for my low energy, depression, and anxiety. I've started taking a few supplements (blaaaaaaaaah not really into the supplement thing but I'm feeling desperate). It's only been a couple days so it's probably just a placebo effect but I feel about 20% better.

** I'm a little nervous about this month. My gym membership ended and I don't have money to renew it so I'm feeling anxious; going to the gym has been one of my only anchors to keeping me grounded. I'm looking forward to hopefully getting a bit of work and having some income again. I hope to get things together enough this month to move out from where I'm living and hopefully get a reliable/decent job.

** I'm hoping to make it out of woods, metaphorically, and back into the woods, literally I hope to take some small steps to enjoying things I used to enjoy. I'm looking forward to the weather cooling down a bit so I can hopefully spend more time outside

** I have a few goals this month; ***get my finances in order (credit card debt! YIKES) I will accomplish this by hopefully getting a job (another goal) and by facing the dread of actually going through my credit card statement ***go to yoga classes: I will accomplish this by finding studios that offer karmic yogi positions so I can clean in payment for classes while I can't afford it. ***A Very Big Goal is to have some hard conversations that I have been putting off: I will accomplish this by writing out my intent before and going into the conversations with the idea that I do have the right to stand up for how I want to be treated.

**A major struggle I had was trying to get into therapy. I went to one session at the local county mental health services and it was more detrimental than it was helpful. The provider was a student and he laughed after I told him anything that was really upsetting for me. I think it was nervous laughter but it made me feel so bad and invalidated. I cried in my car the entire way home then laid in bed the rest of the day. I called to change providers and they said because I don't have insurance that I have to make a formal request through someone who is of course out of the office for another week. A highlight I had was finding a bit of joy in baking this week.

**My weekend plans are to try to get outside a bit more, maybe take my dog to the dog park. I have a social event to go to tomorrow with a bunch of people I don't know so I might bail because it sounds terrifying.

**Something I'm curious to talk about with others is if anyone has had any success with taking supplements to help with depression? Obviously I know this isn't a place for medical advice but I'm curious about peoples' personal experience. Omega 3's, 5-HTP, ashwagandha.. anyone gone down this route before?

@PoliteOcean It's October! I am so very happy to have finally made it to fall! I didn't set too many goals for myelf this month, I kind of wanted to take it a little easier, so what I am going to be focusing on is my eating. Because I have such a hard time with food, I've decided to try and eat a "raw" diet. I'm going to try and stay away from perservatives as much as possbile and I believe in doing so, I will feel better mentally... and of course look better too!

Energy levels still suck and we had a sudden temperature drop over the last 24 hours which doesn't help but considering things could be much worse. I did infuse last night, think that timing of the med worked well to avoid serious issues.