Saturday I went over my mom's for the first time in a while (for an actual visit and not a favor), courtesy of our yard maintenance person Tony. She was getting her house painted by her neighbors and it looks really nice! I hung out with my mom for a while and brought her biscuits. Then because she has a weird sleep schedule she fell asleep for a while so I did some household tasks for her--folded her laundry, emptied and filled the dishwasher, etc. When she woke up I talked to her while dusting some crap in her room. She took me home and I did my walking and showering and watched some funny videos Meghan suggested.
Sunday was the usual chores, got my laundry done and table cleaned and trash taken out. Did my karaoke, took some walks, observed the pothole turning into a big open road hazard. Vehicles kept driving into it and making a terrific racket outside and damaging the street more. I played Dance Dance Revolution and made a curry for dinner. At night the cops showed up and started guarding the pothole, and finally another truck arrived and put a barricade finally. Whew! But now people are driving into my yard to get around it and running my grass down. Great.
Monday I was supposed to go to the office to prepare a proposal but my boss postponed it one more day. Did several letter edits and took walks. I wanted to take a bike ride but my bike chain fell off. Rargh. The City came to paint around the pothole, I guess to mark it for whatever repairs it needs. I ate leftover curry and argued with someone on the Internet about transphobia.
Tuesday I did end up finally going to the office and it was a hectic day. I shot off some arguments on the Internet before I went in (my boss picked me up), still arguing with one girl about transphobia and another person about whether they'd misremembered literal, easily checked objective facts. I didn't look at my phone all day to continue the arguments because I figured I'd get too distracted at work and wouldn't be able to complete my tasks, but getting irritated at the arguments probably building up made me annoyed all day. I had a VERY long day that day but got all my work done and my boss took me home. I was super hungry so I ate a veggie dog AND a veggie burger when I got home. Then I looked at the arguments online. The fact-denying person had deleted the entire argument (I guess he finally did check the facts and was embarrassed to be wrong?) and the transphobic person had been banned from the group (for transphobia). So the arguments were won without me even having to win them. :] I chatted to Meghan and did some dance game again, and I used a cool avocado mask for relaxation. And my friend Victor somehow ended up in the hospital after getting trapped in a bush (??).
Wednesday work was nice and slow after the rush. I had to edit a scope. I kept trying to take walks but the rain was interrupting me so I put on music and walked around inside pretending it was an outside walk. Jeaux came in the evening and we grocery-shopped, watched Owl House and Colbert, and cooked ourselves a really great stir-fry! He also fixed my bike. He's great.
Thursday I had to get up early for a training session that took up half the day. Then I worked on editing and compiling components of a proposal we're submitting for a local city. Victor got released from the hospital and called me later that evening but he was really tired and not holding a conversation so I told him to go get more rest. I drew some comics and watched weird videos.
Friday was a busy day! I spent a bunch of time drawing comics and taking walks, and I did an experiment photographing my food (three meals, three snacks). Then it turned out I had agreed to move my podcast recording with Daria to Friday and didn't even remember agreeing to it, so I wasn't prepared and wasn't finished with the comic in time to do it. We postponed the start time a few hours and I was able to do it but I ended up talking to her until 4 AM and boy was I exhausted.
Food Plan Update:
Still on the plan I joined three weeks ago. I've remained committed to both the eating guidelines and the exercise guidelines, introducing some more intense activity this week. My main problem seems to be that even though I'm undereating based on my plan recommendation, I'm sometimes going over on the foods in the "limit your consumption" category. AND it might not actually be happening because some of the categories seem inconsistent (example: I'm recommended to eat brown rice instead of white; I buy brown rice; I scan the package into my log and it still says it's in the worst category even though my coach says that shouldn't happen). It's done this for my multi-grain cereal, my hummus, my vegetable protein--not just for foods I'm expecting to get flagged for like cheese, oil, and butter. And one time it said my mushrooms were ice cream. So I'm pretty sure I can't take the app's food database as gospel!
It's frustrating though because I have made a HUGE change in my activity level and a PRETTY BIG change in how I'm eating, and at the end of three weeks I'm still seeing no movement on the scale. At least it isn't going up? But I can't shake the idea that this is very weird. I don't really do "diets" but for the people I know who have, they usually experience the most weight loss at the beginning (if they stick to the program), so when I'm over here meeting or greatly exceeding the recommendations in EVERY category, it's discouraging to see very little evidence that it is working.
The good news is that I feel really good. The movement I'm working back into my life is a big game-changer and I like that feeling of good tiredness. I haven't felt different hunger-wise. I am feeling like I don't have a good balance yet, though--that I'm devoting a lot of time to making sure I meet these requirements (especially the exercise) and am having trouble keeping up to date with other obligations. I hope I find the balance soon.
(I am only down one pound from when I started.)
Reading progress:
Finished Reading:Nothing, paused on reading projects right now!
Social Media Counts: YouTube subscribers: 5,293 for swankivy (4 new), 675 for JulieSondra (1 new), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 99 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 950 for swankivy (lost 2), 1,360 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 297 friends (no change) for swankivy, 635 likes for JulieSondra (lost 1), 62 likes for Negative One (no change), 158 likes for So You Write (no change), 83 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,482 (1 new). Instagram followers: 202 (lost 1).
Saturday I mostly just had a chill day taking walks and texting with people I like.
Sunday I chatted with my mom on the phone and gave her some cash to help with some painting and repairs on her house. She told me she needed me to come to her house more often to help her with various life stuff. Not sure how to arrange that since I can't get paid rides over there during the pandemic but we'll see what I come up with. Made some plans, took more walks, chatted with my sis, and did chores--laundry, cleaning the table, bills, trash. And did a karaoke recording. Then I decided to start submitting stories to magazines again and sent two out!
Monday I did some work on some Polk County proposals at work. Also chatted to my sister, took more walks, and did some more story submissions. One of the publishers wrote back and asked to see the story I pitched. (Pitching stories is unusual, but it's for an anthology. So it's great news that they wanted to see it, but obviously there is no guarantee of anything.)
Tuesday involved letter editing at work and having to make a digital stamp for my coworker. Texted with Meggie and did some walking. Watched some depressing YouTube videos because somehow I got sucked down a rabbit hole. Cleaned ants out of my microwave! It's an invasion! Processed some of a video with my next interviewee.
Wednesday I prepared forms for some proposals. I also had another adventure with my ceiling leaking because it rained. I touched base with the property manager but they still haven't found a roofer to help. Jeaux came over and we went grocery shopping, then made dinner jacket potatoes with mushrooms and parmesan cheese. We watched Kipo and a new episode of Owl House. After he left I fell asleep on the couch.
Thursday I had more proposal work to do and stayed late working. Talked to my lawn maintenance person, Tony, and he said he can take me to my mom's this weekend. (He does her lawn too.) Talked to Victor on the phone and he's been having a really sleepy week. I didn't get any drawing done.
Friday I was supposed to go to the office but my boss postponed the work until Monday, so I worked from home as usual. Got a bunch of proofreading done on our proposals and finished the reports I do every two weeks for my boss. And also timesheets. Then I had to work hard to meet my deadline on my webcomic, which I did while chatting to Meggie on the phone.
Still on the plan I joined last week. The good news is I like the food changes (eating "better" foods but generally not feeling hungry) and I really like all the walking I'm doing--it is fun, relaxing, and gives me time to just not be distracted by anything. The bad news is that the scale has literally not moved at all despite drastic changes in my diet and exercise. The plan comes with a coach and we're discussing what to do, but so far I'm feeling like YES this plan is sustainable and I like it but NO I'm not any closer to my goal after almost 2 weeks. It's honestly weird.
Reading progress:
Finished Reading:Nothing, paused on reading projects right now!
Social Media Counts: YouTube subscribers: 5,289 for swankivy (4 new), 674 for JulieSondra (1 new), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 99 for Not-So-Giant Women (no change). Twitter followers: 952 for swankivy (lost 2), 1,361 for JulieSondra (lost 1). Facebook: 297 friends (no change but I added someone new from a group, and then got unfriended by someone because I asked her not to spread anti-Semitic propaganda and she took it personally and unfriended me, yikes) for swankivy, 636 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 62 likes for Negative One (no change), 158 likes for So You Write (no change), 83 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,481 (4 new). Instagram followers: 203 (lost 1).
Saturday I got my transcript finished for my video with Destiny and posted it. I'd planned to do a podcast with Daria but an emergency came up so we couldn't. I worked on my blogging and played around with some games. My e-mail decided that messages from my agent are spam now. LOL. I cleaned out some comments in my webmail and made some arrangements to do another ace interview.
Sunday I did my table cleaning and chores and tried a fun skin-treating aloe mask for the first time. It was relaxing but I didn't notice any effect on my skin. I found a leak in the roof! Water started coming into the closet through the ceiling and this time I caught it in action. Welp, I found out what made my clothes wet and mildewy up there. Reported the issue to my property manager. Sent some feedback about the SU card game to one of the representatives.
Monday I did some catch-up at work and collected timesheets. Did some work on a new episode of the podcast. got my interview scheduled to interview Cat. Talked to Meggie. Decided to sign up for an app that will help me manage my health goals.
Tuesday I did some proposal stuff and letter stuff at work. Took a couple of walks because I was bored, then found out I could log them in the app I got. Even better! Ate a potato. Showed up for the interview with Cat but they didn't arrive for their interview so I sent a message to reschedule. Did the dishes and finished processing the podcast.
Wednesday was slow. It seems like Wednesdays are slow. Did some forms at the office. Posted the new podcast. Did some walking. Jeaux came but he showed up late. We grocery shopped, ate lasagna, and watched Hamilton. He left at like 1 AM.
Thursday required my attendance at a virtual work meeting. I didn't have to say anything but it was negotiations about utilities so I needed to be there. They're going to let me be the coordinator even though I don't quite have enough experience, yay! Took a walk while talking to my sister Patricia on the phone. Then right after talked to Victor about how he wants a cheesesteak. I got a little bit of art done.
Friday I woke up a bit late so I stayed late too. I did some database stuff for project manager contacts. And requested some plans. Other than that I drew my webcomic and took an epic walk. I saw two cute dogs, saw a pair of elderly people riding a bike that let them sit next to each other, and saw some grasshoppers having sex. Also found a lake I didn't know was near me, and stood on a bridge sniffing it for a while. Came home, finished the webcomic, and went to bed late.
Big update! So I joined Noom and am on a trial right now. It's an app and it helps me track food and exercise, gives me tips, and tracks weight, with some psychological nudging goal-setting help.
Food: It gives me a recommended calorie intake for my goal, has me enter what I eat with an easy-to-use tracker (I can even scan the barcodes of foods that have them), and sorts the foods into categories without telling me something is off limits. Just seeing how things break down and what I can do to eat better foods helps conceptualize it differently.
Exercise: A step counter is built in. It gives me a step goal that starts really small and I'm supposed to meet it as it keeps increasing. It also allows me to log other kinds of exercise and it translates the calories I've burned doing it into a portion of calories I'm "allowed" to add to my recommended ceiling for the day. Just the step counter idea is helpful because it's encouraging me to take frequent breaks and not sit in a chair too long.
Weight: The goal is super realistic and achievable. Based on the plan I should be able to lose 10 pounds in 3 months, though that wasn't a goal I put in or anything. It's just where the trajectory is at the end of October. It has me weigh in every day as part of my checklist. I have not lost any weight at all yet, though I've been on the plan for 5 days. But since fast weight loss isn't a goal I'm keeping, I'm okay with that.
Reading progress:
Finished Reading:Nothing, paused on reading projects right now!
New videos: "Who We Are" Steven Universe the Movie Cover is up. There are two of me in a duet, doing Bismuth's part and Steven's part! Enjoy! This one was rough to play for some reason, but I made it through!
Not-So-Giant Women Episode 12: Giant Woman is up! Join Daria and Ivy as they discuss the landmark episode "Giant Woman" and cover such topics as realistic portrayals of four-armed people, analysis of how Opal works, water-balloon checkers, Pearl's sand manipulation, what's up with those beetles, who might fuse next, and whether this was Garnet's master plan all along.
New photos:
Aloe Mask
Using the aloe mask
Cookie Cat merchandise collection. Spot the real Cookie Cat!
Halfway through epic walk.
Social Media Counts: YouTube subscribers: 5,285 for swankivy (1 new), 673 for JulieSondra (no change), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 99 for Not-So-Giant Women (lost 1). Twitter followers: 954 for swankivy (lost 2), 1,362 for JulieSondra (6 new). Facebook: 297 friends (no change) and 221 followers (1 new) for swankivy, 636 likes for JulieSondra (1 new), 62 likes for Negative One (1 new), 158 likes for So You Write (lost 1), 83 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (2 new). Tumblr followers: 2,477 (lost 2). Instagram followers: 204 (no change).
Saturday I got up a little late and cleaned up the house a little, then got on a Zoom call with my dad. He had been planning to come give me the stuff I claimed from when my grandparents passed, but we decided it was too dangerous to travel with virus rates spiking in our state, so we just did the video call. I ate a sandwich and caught up with what's up with him. After that I just did my weekly blogging and bought the latest instrumental track release for Steven Universe (season 2 is out), and reviewed it online.
Sunday was a three-cup-of-coffee day. Did some laundry, processed a video for Not-So-Giant Women, and started working on my ace interview video with Destiny. Practiced my ukulele a lot and tried to learn the song "Who We Are" from the Steven Universe movie. It's harder than it should be for some reason. Did some chores and talked to my friend Steve through texts and ate a potato.
Monday I went back to work and had plenty to do. Data entry project and editing a letter. Then I worked on a video transcript and practiced ukulele some more. Also, I discovered a stack of my clothes in the closet were mysteriously very damp and I still don't know why. They smelled like mildewy wetness. I put them in the laundry and that part of the closet is empty until I find out why it was wet there.
Tuesday I finished one part of my data entry project at work. After work I made some funny GIFs and made my monthly writing comic. I also made some oatmeal cookies!
Wednesday was a pretty slow work day--just some database updates. I texted my mom to ask if she wanted cookies or anything from the store but she didn't reply so I didn't go. I caught a little snake in my house and let it go outside. My new SU jacket (in size XXS) arrived and I tried it on. It fits! Jeaux took me shopping and we bought a frozen lasagna for dinner only to find out it would take 2 hours to cook. So since we didn't want to eat at 10 PM I figured I'd defrost it next week and this week we ate toasted fake chicken sandwiches, fries, and broccoli. We also watched the first episode of His Dark Materials. It's good! We loved the books but didn't care for the movie, so it's cool that the show looks so good!
Thursday I had to do some pickups for the data entry project and got that done, and stayed kinda late to do my database updates and get reports to my boss. I talked to Victor while drawing comics. I tried to finish my transcript for my video but it was slow going.
Friday I had the day off for July 4 holiday (on July 3!) but I kinda wasted it. I did a lot of relaxing and eating cookies, and I did some work on my transcript and finished my webcomic. Very little to show for the day but not every day needs to be productive, hey.
I had some great salad adventures this week and did somewhat better with being responsible with my eating habits! It was countered a bit by consuming candy when I got a sweet tooth. But I guess that will be countered in the future by me having no candy in the house, owing to the fact that I've eaten it. Also, I made a small batch of oatmeal cookies and ate most of them, but did so in moderation at breakfast dunked in coffee. :)
Reading progress:
Finished Reading:Nothing, paused on reading projects right now!
New videos: Ace Interviews #3: Destiny is up! I am interviewing Destiny from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, a questioning romantic ace. Destiny represents disabled aces as a visually impaired person who has been partially blind since birth, is involved in fat activism, and embraces her Catholic faith minus some of the conservative political views that often are associated. She loves horror movies, podcasts, reading, swimming, and karaoke.
Not-So-Giant Women Episode 11: Arcade Mania is up! Join Daria and Ivy as they discuss "Arcade Mania" and cover such topics as Garnet's leadership, breakfast cereals, video games, Garnet's bizarre eyes, the secrets of Gem clothing, games appropriate for each Gem, fighting the foot, censorship surrounding the beating of meat, and which Gem might be oldest.
New photos:
Cookies I baked!
Snake visitor!
New jacket, old jacket
Old jacket (the size S)
New jacket (size XXS)
Social Media Counts: YouTube subscribers: 5,284 for swankivy (6 new), 673 for JulieSondra (lost 2), 16 for v & V Vids (no change), 100 for Not-So-Giant Women (lost 1). Twitter followers: 956 for swankivy (2 new), 1,356 for JulieSondra (3 new). Facebook: 297 friends (no change) and 220 followers (no change) for swankivy, 635 likes for JulieSondra (no change), 61 likes for Negative One (no change), 159 likes for So You Write (no change), 81 likes for Not-So-Giant-Women (no change). Tumblr followers: 2,479 (lost 1). Instagram followers: 204 (lost 1).
