Mini update
I’m halfway through my little 30 day challenge and still chugging along. I gave up on answering my list of questions because I fell behind and got moody and some of the questions were a little too introspective if I’m not already feeling hyper and bubbly. :) The yoga pictures have fallen a bit behind as well, but I don’t mind doing a few in a row on one day to catch up, and it’s easier to edit and upload them in batches anyway. The food is going pretty darn well. I’m relying a little too much on convenience food like larabars and jerky and such, but I can tell that my cravings have gone way down. I made it through Halloween with my only “cheat” being a mug of warm apple cider. yay!
Have you ever been in a car accident? What happened?
Yup. When I was 5-ish, a bee flew in the window and stung the driver on the face. We collided straight on into a big tree on the side of the road. I was in the front passenger seat (no airbag) wearing my lap belt but with the shoulder belt behind me. My face hit the dash just enough to bust a nerve in one of my front teeth. (The tooth turned half-gray. weird. It fell out maybe a little earlier than usual and my adult teeth grew in without any issues though.) Amazingly, the rest of my face was fine. Unfortunately, the force of the lap belt restraining me ruptured my colon. They did the whole surgery thing, removed a few inches of it and sewed me back up. I bounced back to completely healthy in no time flat, and not really even feeling all that traumatized, as only little kids can. To this day I still have a vertical scar running next to my belly button from the surgery.
(Day 5 of 30)
Who inspires you most? Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
My dad, my mom, and her sisters, for being so unconsciously pro-woman/egalitarian, that it never occurred to me growing up that I couldn’t do something or that I had to be a certain way just because I’m a girl.
My sisters for their very adventurous spirits, though they manifest in completely different ways.
And my partner-in-crime, because he always wants everyone around him to be happy, and for some inexplicable reason he things I’m the bestest. :D
(Day 4 of 30)
What was the most damaging event in your life that gave you a negative self-image?
Hm. I would say that my negative self image revolves mainly around me being a stuck-up bitch, though I sometimes like to think that I’m getting better at not thinking that way about myself. The one event that sticks out as really starting that negative thought process for me was I think when I was still in middle school, as a student teacher at my “small-town” (for lack of a better term…) ballet school. I was helping at lessons and rehearsals for a lot of the younger kids pretty much whenever I wasn’t at rehearsals for my own dances. I may have gotten a bit too into it though, because I think I ended up organizing formations and such here and there for my own peers in our dances.
I think this one girl felt I was putting her in the back and putting myself in the front. She ended up quitting, the night AFTER opening night for this performance. On her way out she managed to convey to me in pretty much one word (the “B” word) the reason she was leaving. On a happy note, the rest of my peer group managed to pull through and cover her parts for the remainder of the performances between us. (For the insanely interested, the performance was Sleeping Beauty and the role we had to flail the most to cover was her part of the fairy solos, since she was one of the 6 fairies. yikes!)
Anyway, I’ve had other instances in my life where people have interpreted my actions as vindictive or callous, and I’ve had the opportunity to devote a lot of my thoughts and observations towards recognizing how people can misinterpret each other. I feel like I’ve come a long way.
(Day 3 of 30)
What makes you feel great about yourself?
Hm. I think the number one thing that makes me feel great about myself is when I have a lot of energy. Physical, mental, whatever. I just feel like I can do ANYTHING! Runner up would be having the right answer when I need it. I loooove knowing the answer. Even if it’s the silliest thing to know, if I happen to have the answer on hand I just want to give myself a medal or something. :D
(Day 2 of 30)
What are your favorite things to do in the past? What about now?
Past: reading, reading reading! dancing (ballet), puzzles of all sorts, messing around on the computer.
Now: reading, ultimate frisbee (though that’s fading now that my knees are permanently messed up…), eating at my favorite restaurants, fixing up the house, messing around on the computer, playing with my dog.
(Day 1 of 30)
30-day challenge, daily posts
Here’s my master plan of daily yoga pictures of myself to spam everyone with for the next 30 days. :) Some of these poses are ones I’ve posted pictures of before, so I can compare how I’ve improved… or not. I’ve also picked a question each day that I’ll post a (short!) answer to.
Day 1: downward facing dog
What are your favorite things to do in the past? What about now?
Day 2: upward facing dog
What makes you feel great about yourself?
Day 3: warrior 1
What was the most damaging event in your life that gave you a negative self-image?
Day 4: warrior 2
Who inspires you most? Which qualities inspire you, in each person?
Day 5: warrior 3
Have you ever been in a car accident? What happened?
Day 6: chaturanga
What does intimacy means to you?
Day 7: camel
Why did you attend your college?
Day 8: triangle
What would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you?
Day 9: revolved triangle
What does your morning routine look like?
Day 10: side plank
What one thing have you not done that you really want to do?
Day 11: wheel
What do people typically ask you for help in?
Day 12: chair
What makes you smile?
Day 13: shoulder stand
What are you really good at? What are you really bad at?
Day 14: crow
Do people think you are younger or older than you actually are?
Day 15: bow
What song always makes you cry?
Day 16: half moon
What sound or noise do you love?
Day 17: revolved half moon
What were the three happiest moments of your life?
Day 18: dancer
How did your parents’ relationship influence you?
Day 19: side crow
Who would you cast to play you in a movie?
Day 20: front splits
What cause do you most strongly believe in or connect with?
Day 21: firefly
What activities make you lose track of time?
Day 22: seated twist
What movie or book had the most impact on how you see the world?
Day 23: standing head to knee
Are you superstitious?
Day 24: forearm stand
What are your deepest values?
Day 25: split-leg arm balance
If you had just been rescued from a deserted island, what would you want your first meal be?
Day 26: standing splits
If you had to teach something, what would you teach?
Day 27: squat
What is your ideal vacation?
Day 28: eight angle
What’s your favorite smell?
Day 29: bird of paradise
Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset? Does it still matter to you now?
Day 30: flying pigeon
What would your totem animal be?
Challenge foods
My 30-day challenge is starting on Monday. The most important aspect is the food, but I don’t really plan to blog much about that part. The parameters of the food challenge are mostly a lot of “don’ts”, but I’m trying to think in the positive mindset of what I DO plan to eat:
- big omelette for breakfast
- big ass salad for lunch
- fish, poultry, or meat with a heaping side of veggies for dinner
- unsweetened tea if needed in between meals
And the goal is to prepare the majority of this myself instead of eating out all the time. I’ll also be trying to eat breakfast as soon as possibly upon waking and eating dinner as early as possible in the evening, with the hope of reseting my internal clock to where it should be.
30 day challenge planning!
I’m gearing up to do a 30 day food challenge that starts in a week and will end the day before Thanksgiving. I really want to commit to making my own meals and getting as close as I can to eliminating processed foods, so this challenge sounds ideal for me. But… I’m historically pretty bad at just sticking with diet-focused goals, so I decided to make it more interesting for myself. I’m restarting my daily yoga pose picture posts, and I’m picking the 30 poses I want to do, and saving my favorite poses for later in the 30 days. :) I’ve also been scouring the internet for a “daily question” about myself that I can answer. Some introspection should be good for me, but I’m promising myself that I’ll keep my answers short, or I’ll start writing huge essays and this challenge will become totally impossible.
I probably won’t post too much about the food, because hopefully it will be pretty routine. :) But I’m going to try to post a yoga pose picture and a question each day, and hopefully that will help me stay focused on the food too!
