Farewell January
January has never been my favorite month and this year wasn't much of an improvement. First of all, January is way too long. We even had five Sundays this month so it felt like things were really dragging. The weather was really cold and extra snowy--which is great for keeping away the inversion and excellent for this summer's water prospects, but terrible for travel and everything else. Thankfully we're now in February, which is not only the shortest month of the year but also the month for Valentine's Day and P. Bibby's birthday and other wonderful things.
Actually, January this year really wasn't bad other than being excessively cold and snowy. I started doing yoga a few weeks ago and have mostly kept up with my goal of doing it for five days every week. One of these days I want to be able to go to bed early, get up early, and ride the exercise bike vigorously for half an hour before work. That isn't happening at all yet. However, I decided to start small with some simple yoga, especially since I can now stream YouTube on my cool new TV. Doing a beginner's routine for twenty minutes a night is manageable, and now that I've been forcing myself to do it for a few weeks I actually look forward to it. I've also noticed benefits throughout the day as I pay more attention to my posture and breathing. Last month I also got a massage again after taking a few months off, and I realized that I really need a monthly massage to be part of my self-care routine.
Getting to bed early or even on time has really not been happening. Despite being done with school, for some reason my anxiety keeps flaring up at bedtime and I've been having trouble falling asleep at a reasonable time. And then, of course, lack of sleep makes it harder to manage stress and anxiety. I've had issues with sleeping at various times throughout my life, so on the one hand it feels normal and on the other it's irritating to deal with the same old things again. This month I'm recommitting to at least getting to bed at a good time--sometimes I stay up too late because I'm scared to even try and sleep. My goal this month is to get back in a better bedtime routine by not staying up late reading (and maybe reading earlier in the evening instead of playing Tetris--oops).
The other weird thing that happened this month is that my pants all suddenly became too big for me. I've never tracked my weight before, but I decided to buy a scale and it turns out that I weigh twenty pounds less than I did last summer at my annual check-up (the last time I got weighed). After my surgery it took me a while to get my appetite back, and even then I still ate fairly small portions of things. Also, last fall I mostly phased out eating treats at night because it seemed to make my sleeping problems worse and irritated my gallbladder. It's just disconcerting because I've never really experienced such a large amount of weight loss, but the good news is that it does put me back down in the healthy weight category for my height. Sadly I have to buy all new pants for work, and I hate shopping, but I'm working on replacing my wardrobe and just wearing baggy pants for a while. I think that if I can use this opportunity get in shape and not put the weight back on, it would be great.
We're already five days into February and things are going well. P. Bibby had her birthday party on Friday at the local roller rink and it was a bit loud and chaotic. Thankfully we didn't lose any children (it was crowded and six-year-olds like to run off by themselves a lot) and she had a great time. Yesterday I also took her to see the ballet down at the university, and tonight she told me it was the 'best weekend ever'. Hopefully the rest of the month continues to be awesome.
Actually, January this year really wasn't bad other than being excessively cold and snowy. I started doing yoga a few weeks ago and have mostly kept up with my goal of doing it for five days every week. One of these days I want to be able to go to bed early, get up early, and ride the exercise bike vigorously for half an hour before work. That isn't happening at all yet. However, I decided to start small with some simple yoga, especially since I can now stream YouTube on my cool new TV. Doing a beginner's routine for twenty minutes a night is manageable, and now that I've been forcing myself to do it for a few weeks I actually look forward to it. I've also noticed benefits throughout the day as I pay more attention to my posture and breathing. Last month I also got a massage again after taking a few months off, and I realized that I really need a monthly massage to be part of my self-care routine.
Getting to bed early or even on time has really not been happening. Despite being done with school, for some reason my anxiety keeps flaring up at bedtime and I've been having trouble falling asleep at a reasonable time. And then, of course, lack of sleep makes it harder to manage stress and anxiety. I've had issues with sleeping at various times throughout my life, so on the one hand it feels normal and on the other it's irritating to deal with the same old things again. This month I'm recommitting to at least getting to bed at a good time--sometimes I stay up too late because I'm scared to even try and sleep. My goal this month is to get back in a better bedtime routine by not staying up late reading (and maybe reading earlier in the evening instead of playing Tetris--oops).
The other weird thing that happened this month is that my pants all suddenly became too big for me. I've never tracked my weight before, but I decided to buy a scale and it turns out that I weigh twenty pounds less than I did last summer at my annual check-up (the last time I got weighed). After my surgery it took me a while to get my appetite back, and even then I still ate fairly small portions of things. Also, last fall I mostly phased out eating treats at night because it seemed to make my sleeping problems worse and irritated my gallbladder. It's just disconcerting because I've never really experienced such a large amount of weight loss, but the good news is that it does put me back down in the healthy weight category for my height. Sadly I have to buy all new pants for work, and I hate shopping, but I'm working on replacing my wardrobe and just wearing baggy pants for a while. I think that if I can use this opportunity get in shape and not put the weight back on, it would be great.
We're already five days into February and things are going well. P. Bibby had her birthday party on Friday at the local roller rink and it was a bit loud and chaotic. Thankfully we didn't lose any children (it was crowded and six-year-olds like to run off by themselves a lot) and she had a great time. Yesterday I also took her to see the ballet down at the university, and tonight she told me it was the 'best weekend ever'. Hopefully the rest of the month continues to be awesome.
Comments