Clean Living, Day One!

Stats
Time awake: 10:00 am
Weight: 165.0
Video Games Played: 0
Water: 2 liters, approximately
Caffeine: 1 cup of coffee only
Time to bed: approximately midnight (would love to get to bed earlier tomorrow!)

I've taken my measurements but I'VE GOT TO DRAW THE LINE SOMEWHERE! I'll keep track of them offline.

Food Eaten

Brunch - Steel-cut oats (approximately 2 cups), coffee with creamer (prepared by my sweetie without realizing it contains both sugar and dairy, which I'm not eating, but sweet nonetheless)

Afternoon snack - Roasted and unsalted chick peas (probably too many, but YUM!), ginger kombucha

Dinner - Tamari and ginger seasoned tempeh with zucchini and carrots, hot herbal tea with ginger, and lemon water

Snack - Banana and lemon water

Yoga

One run through of the Introductory Iyengar routine outlined by Geeta Iyengar in Yoga: A Gem for Women. (I want to do something a little more rigorous next time, although I can't really say I gave it 100% since we were watching Hemlock Grove while I was doing it. I know, I know.)

Insights

This has been fun. I'm looking forward to it. I'm soaking black-eyed peas for tomorrow, and I've soaked the mung beans and rice for kitchari. I was looking forward to making it for dinner but then I realized I made an appointment for acupuncture and a massage after work. I know, my problems seem insurmountable at times, but I'll make it. Somehow.

Also, I don't think I was supposed to watch Dredd twice and 3 episodes of Hemlock Grove while on my cleanse. It just felt ... dirty somehow. Although Dredd is SO. GOOD.

Oh HI CLEANSE

Let me let you guys in on a little secret.

Ergh...

I'm almost as fat today as I was on my wedding day. Yes, it's gotten out of hand. Again.

I know I know, I'm so cute what could be wrong? Well, that's actually just the shirt talking (GO SANTA CRUZ!). In the other photos I'm wearing a bathing suit, so the cuteness is quite diluted.

Now, as I am totally not one for public shaming (of myself, obviously), I shall hereby disclaim that I love my body. My body has been through a lot as/with me, and it is for myself that I want to help my body out of its blubber wrap before it gets totally out of control.

My acupuncturist has recommended an elimination diet for me (and Collin, LOL) so I figured now is the time. 36 it is! (By the way, it's SO WEIRD that I'm 36. So weird. I wonder if everyone is as surprised as me about growing older.)

In this cleanse, I will eliminate a number of foods that frequently cause inflammation and digestive problems in people, and then gradually introduce them back in, one at a time, so I can determine which of them, if any, are problematic. These include: soy, wheat, corn, peanuts, dairy, and for me, nightshade plants (potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers), among other things. I will drink more tea and less coffee. I will do yoga daily. I will not play video games (WAAT?!?!? Yes it's true). I will regularly get acupuncture and massage to help support my body through this process and keep myself motivated.

So in thinking about this cleanse, one of the suggestions is to make a list of intentions and goals for the cleanse. In keeping with that suggestion, here are my Cleanse Intentions:

1) I will be able to get up without creaking so much.
2) I will be able to digest my food more predictably and smoothly.
3) I will be able to sleep better.
4) I will be able to wake better!
5) I will not crave random weird foods late into the evening.
6) I will be calmer about the changes happening to my body as it gets to be more "lived in."
7) I will lose a few pounds.
8) I will have more time to do things I like.
9) I will feel more confident about my body and my life.
10) I will prepare myself and my body for pregnancy in case that is the path we end up taking.

Overall I'm pretty excited about this thing. I'll post summary stats in separate posts for each day, just because it's easier to keep up with. I've ordered a cleanse journal so as soon as it gets here I may stop keeping these facts public but in the meantime, I guess there's no harm in it.

So without further ado...

Oh HI BLOG

Oh HI everyone!




Yeah, I've just been thinking. Sorry about the delay. I can't believe it's been over a month since I've written. Like, almost two months! But, you know, better late than never, right? You still want to hear my stories, right?

Otherwise:


[VIDEO REMOVED BY YOUTOOB AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS -charity]

No, but seriously. Here's a quick recap of what has happened since July 31st.

1) I got another job: HOORAY! I'm so excited. It's going to be awesome. It's full-time, more responsibilities, more pay, more opportunities for professional development, etc. Plus I don't even have to quit working at my current place of employment, which I love! So blessed.

2) I went home to North Carolina to go to the beach in August and had an absolutely phenomenal time. Feel free to visit my Tumblr blog for photos, although you'll have to scroll through pictures of...

3) My birthday trip to Santa Cruz, which was also wonderful! Collin and I had a party for my birthday which was awesomely sweet, and then headed down to Santa Cruz, where we spent a lovely time at the Boardwalk (with tickets to spare, meaning we'll have to go back - score) and then stopped by the Winchester Mystery House on the way back, which has been a dream of mine since I was a girl! Totally worth it. Totally.

4) So obviously, I had a birthday. BIG 36! Literally (see #6, and next entry on cleanse for more details).

5) I went to a yoga workshop at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco, and now I really want to go take a few classes there. I'm excited about that possibility.

6) I started seeing another acupuncturist (in addition to volunteering at the Yerba Buena Community Acupuncture clinic, which I will continue to do and love every minute thereof) who is helping me with herbs and such. She recommended an elimination diet for me and Collin so I'm starting that TODAY! I'm actually going to write an entry just on that, so I'll end this one here.

Overall things have been super swell. I can't complain, nor would I want to.  Life is good. Majorly.

Charity :-)

Got to Keep the Yang Up!

Hi Blog,

I just wanted to say hi.

Last night I played the piano for a few minutes. It was fun but kind of annoying. I got a book of standards which I thought would be perfect, but it is not that great after all. Oh well, I gave it an effort.


I'm going to rephrase my goal "Start playing piano more" as "I will be that white guy in the Soul II Soul Keep On Movin' video," which I think might motivate me more effectively.

As for my other goals, I've been trying to do yoga more but so far when I do yoga at home it's more like stretching. I know that has value, but I wish I could do yoga at home and then feel like, "Yeah, I DID that yoga," you know? So I'll just keep working on it.

I gained some weight back, probably because of my dinners Wednesday (veggie burger and fries) and Thursday (veggie nachos), but that's ok. It's a process.

Yesterday I had an awesome acupuncture treatment. I think today I'm going to run down to Clement Street and pick up some Chinese herbs. My Spleen Qi and Kidney Yang need some help. Maybe I'll pick up some Yak Loin?

(Oh Eddie Murphy, you're so much better than all of us.) Charity :-)

Two Years is a Long Time...

Well, ok then.

You know, I've had this nagging feeling in the back of my ... back ... urging me to write again.  I keep thinking I'll do it some more. Actually I've started a few blogs only to leave them languishing, worrying about what I should put in them, whether I should have one general one, specific ones tailored to different goals in my life, ones for travel, ones I will keep private and ones I will share, and finally it has just gotten to the point where I can't care anymore. I just need to write. So here I go.

I looked back and realized it's been two years since I blogged regularly.


Well to be honest, a lot has happened; and at the same time, nothing much has happened. I got back together with Collin, I moved to San Francisco, I got married to Collin, I lost my job (as anticipated), I was unemployed for several months, I got a job in a grocery store and worked there for a year and a half, I got promoted, I got demoted, I quit my job and got another job, and I got another job. In the meantime I've grown accustomed to life in San Francisco and am sad to say that I can't see ever moving back to the East Coast (especially and most sadly to NC, with the naughtiness being conducted currently by the NC General Assembly and its cronies). I've had an extremely stressful first year of marriage and come out on the other side, possibly (and bafflingly) even more in love with Collin than I was before.

Most sadly though, I've really been struggling with being socially isolated. I knew this was possible (likely) for me, due to my personality quirks (yes, let's call them personality quirks). However, I didn't realize how strongly it would hit me. I don't really have anyone to talk to anymore, except Collin. I love Collin and love talking to him but I know that it's not great to rely on one person for all my social needs. As an introvert, I don't really have many such needs, which made it easy to let those relationships slide. However, I realize now that it was not the best course of action.

So where does that leave me now? I have a few goals, and I'm excited to pursue them:

1) Get a job that is inspiring, satisfying, fulfilling, and challenging.
2) Lose fifteen pounds.
3) Get to the point where I'm doing yoga every day.
4) Cut down on video game playing to less than ten hours a week.
5) Write regularly: 2-3 times a week or more.
6) Make some new friends.
7) Start playing the piano again and learn to play the guitar (two-in-one big value special).
8) Have a cleaner apartment.
9) Have a baby. (Big one, lots of work to do before then, but why not dream big?)

To be fair, I've also completed a few goals that I want to brag about:

1) I've quit smoking. (This was kind of a freebie because I never really started again but I'm feeling generous so I'm including it.)
2) I got a real job, and then another real job on top of that one, and am doing pretty well in both (although feeling rather annoyed by both and itching for more).
3) I've lost 5-10 pounds, depending on the day.
4) I've quit drinking.
5) I've started doing yoga again.
6) I've started volunteering.
7) I've started getting acupuncture regularly.
8) I've survived the first year of marriage and come out happier than before.
9) I've started this blog. :-)

Right now I feel optimistic, enthusiastic, excited, and confident (mostly). Actually, that might just be the coffee. I should probably cut down on coffee but I'm trying not to be unreasonable (goals must be SMART, after all)!

I look forward to this new chapter of my life. There are so many things I want to write about; I'm very relieved to have the opportunity again. I might not write regularly, and I might not write frequently, but I'm going to try to just relax about it, and let this be a space where I can write when I need to, or when I want to. I don't need another thing to feel bad about so I'm going to try to just have this as a resource for myself. At the same time, I'm getting older, and my memory is getting less than sparkly, so I'm happy to have this as a place to record my memories for later (I'm definitely feeling the Memoir Bug).

Feel free to contact me and tell me how much you love me or want to talk. I need it. Otherwise, I'll just continue to talk here.

xoxo,
Charity