52 Challenges 2015 – Weekly Update 7

Another week of very slow progress – I will use the fact that I was abroad on a business trip for 3 days as an excuse but it doesn’t really justify anything as most of the challenges could have been pursued in the 4 days at home.  But there we go:

1. 52 Week Money Saving Challenge – £11 put aside this week for a total of £66.
2. Read 52 books in 52 weeks – Finally finished The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton.  No reason to have taken so long to read this book, I really enjoyed it and it was an easy read, just spent too much time doing nothing!  Although I feel some parts could have done with more developments, I also like the fact that they were left open to the imagination.  A great first novel in my opinion!
3. Declutter 52 items – nothing new this week.
4. 52 Weeks Decluttering My Inbox – empty inboxes + spent an hour on older emails.
5. Watch 52 movies from the “1001” list – I watched 1 movie this week: Double Indemnity – a “film noir” that was really enjoyable.  The way the film is narrated reminded of another more recent movie (from the 80s or 90s I think) but despite all my searches on the net, I cannot find the title, not sure who was in it and by the look of it I don’t remember the plot either…  try and get a successful search this way  🙂
6. 52 Days Without Contacts – one day wearing my glasses this week.
7. 52 Weeks Updating Blog – see this post!
8. 52 Weeks To Drink Water – drank 1 litre of water during the three days I was away and two glasses of plain water every other day this week.
9. Try 52 recipes – no new recipe tried this week. 
10. Finish 52 items in cross-stitch – Nothing new.
11. 52 weeks to lose 10.1kg – put 0.1 kg back on since last week, 0.5kg down from my original weight.  Not overly happy to have put weight back on, but considering that I ate a lot during the three days on business trip, plus having brought back and eaten quite a bit of chocolate too, I suppose it is not too bad a result.
12. 52 weeks exercising – exercised twice at the gym and once at the hotel for a very short time, but it was still exercise!

I have not started any new challenge for the past couple of weeks I believe so I will focus on getting some more on the way in the next week.

52 Challenges 2015 – Weekly Update 5

Not a great week in terms of overall progress. Found it difficult to focus on a lot of the things I was planning to achieve due to the events in France and mental state. Anyway, there are some updates despite all, so there we go:

1. 52 Week Money Saving Challenge – £9 put aside this week for a total of £45.
2. Read 52 books in 52 weeks – Didn’t spend much time reading, still into The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton.
3. Declutter 52 items – nothing this week on this front.
4. 52 Weeks Decluttering My Inbox –empty inboxes and spent an hour on old emails.
5. Watch 52 movies from the “1001” list – surprisingly I managed to watch 5 movies from the list over the weekend.
   • Clueless – as stupid as it may be, it was still very funny and cute. Yes, I feel lonely and am craving stupid chick flicks…
   • Beverly Hills Cop – somehow I remembered it less serious than it is. Of course it is funny, but it is not all just silly. Obviously been a very long time since I last saw it. And enjoyed it actually, even though I am no big Eddie Murphy fan.
   • Clerks – I had never heard of this movie before, and it is probably not for everyone. I personally thought that a couple of scenes might go a bit too far, but overall it was a good laugh.
   • Pinocchio – oh wow! Another one taking me back to my childhood (wasn’t born when it came out though…). Simply loved it.
   • Frenzy – funny how with some movies, you never remember the ending and are surprised by it every single time! I must have last watched the DVD two years ago and yet I still thought it would end differently. It looks its age, mainly because of the hairdos, but it’s still tense and the theme is sadly still current – I still laugh at the sticking tongues though… as inappropriate as it may be!
6. 52 Days Without Contacts – one day wearing my glasses this week.
7. 52 Weeks Updating Blog – see this post!
8. 52 Weeks To Drink Water – drank at least one glass of plain water every day this week. Will try and repeat next week before increasing the volume per day. Note: I do not take into account any water drunk during or after exercising.
9. Try 52 recipes – no new recipe tried this week.  I have actually not cooked at all… Sandwiches and pizzas have been the basis of my diet this week (plus leftovers from the pasta cooked last week).
10. Finish 52 items in cross-stitch – Nothing on this front at all.
11. 52 weeks to lose 10.1kg – that’s quite an epic fail for the first week… Put 0.5kg on… It would not have been unexpected based on the fact that I ate a lot of cake (that I was asked to bake and then hardly anyone ate any of it… was not going to let it go to waste!) and a lot of cheese, and a lot of chocolate as I wanted to eat as much of what I had left from the holidays as possible, so as to avoid future temptations. What just made this weight gain completely unexpected is that I had an MOT at the gym on Friday and even with my clothes on, their scale showed a weight 4 kg lighter than mine! And despite all I have had, I don’t think I ate 4 kg worth of food in two days! So this is a major blow because our scales are completely different. I guess next time I’ll weigh myself when coming home from an MOT, at least I won’t expect any miracles at the end of the week!
12. 52 weeks exercising – exercised 4 times this week.
    • Monday, I had an induction, was shown the various machines and what we do on them (gym-virgin), stayed on and exercised for about 25 min
    • Tuesday, exercised for about 30 min
    • Friday, exercised 25 min after my MOT
    • Saturday, had an appointment to design a programme for me, which is a bit more intensive than what I had done on my own, despite the fact that it is still very basic…  My programme includes the following:
      • Warm up on the bike – 5-10 min at the speed and level I choose
      • Leg press – 4 sets of 12-15
      • Chest press – 3 sets of 10
      • Shoulder press – 3 sets of 10
      • Seated row – 3 sets of 10
      • Lateral pull down – 3 sets of 10
      • Leg raises – 3 sets of 10-15
      • Plank – 3 times 30sec-1min
      • Cross-trainer – 20 min at level 4 at a speed of 8.0
    • What I actually did: 7½min B, 4×15 LP, 3×10 CP, 3×10 SP, 3×10 SR, 3×10 LPD, 3×10 LR, 3x30sec P, 13min level 2 CT – my legs could not follow at that point so I stopped. Hopefully will get better next time.

Another thing I want to start focusing on seriously is having a clear schedule for my cleaning and sticking to it. This will require some better planning to manage it around the evenings at the gym as I know myself better than to expect any chores to be completed after exercising (at least until I’m more used to it!).

That’s all folks – hope you are well and happy!

Challenge 12 – 52 weeks exercising

Today I had an induction at my local gym.  First time I’ve ever been in a gym and my main worry is to remember what each machine is for and how to use them all!  But I guess there will be other people using them too in turn so I should be able to look at what they do, plus I’ll be able to find staff members if the explanations on the machines still don’t help me remember!  🙂 I also have an appointment on Friday for an “MOT” to take my measurements and hopefully notice some progress in a few months time.  And I also booked myself for a programme session on Saturday which, if I understood correctly, should help me design a workout routine.  Because, let’s face it, when you have never been to a gym before and you see all this equipment, it is a little bit overwhelming and you don’t know where to start (well, at least for me!).  But I can definitely see the advantages of going regularly and doing different kinds of exercise. After my induction, I stayed on and exercised a little bit.  I got a feeling that even though it was short, I might feel it tomorrow, but it’s all good!  I did only the following: walking 10 min, then 7min on the leg press machine and then 11 min on the cross-trainer.  But I think just trying out the various machines has already reminded some muscles in my arms that they are still there!  At some point I might consider trying to run… but as I told the trainer – who accepted after my explanation that I might be better off just walking at a good speed – the last time I ran to catch my bus, I fell over and ended up with 5 stitches on the elbow!  🙂 Well, this exercise business might even help me sleep at more reasonable hours!  I feel exhausted! So, to summarise this first exercise session, I am excited about the prospects, a bit overwhelmed too, a bit worried, but also looking forward to trying more stuff and adding a couple of classes if I can! The plan for now is to exercise at least three times a week.  For now the most important thing will be to achieve this, irrespective of lengths of sessions or intensity of the workouts.  Just getting into the habit of exercising regularly is the first thing I need to achieve.  I shall keep a running record of my (non-running) workouts on this page and in my weekly updates emails.

Week 1:

• Workout 1: exercised 25min
• Workout 2: 20 min
• Workout 3: 30 min
• Workout 4: Prog 1: 7½min B, 4×15 LP, CP, SP, SR, LPD, 3×10 LR, 3x30sec P, 13min CT level 2

Programme 1:

• Warm up on the bike (B)– 5-10 min at the speed and level I choose
• Leg press (LP) – 4 sets of 12-15
• Chest press (CP) – 3 sets of 10
• Shoulder press (SP) – 3 sets of 10
• Seated row (SR) – 3 sets of 10
• Lateral pull down (LPD) – 3 sets of 10
• Leg raises (LR) – 3 sets of 10-15
• Plank (P) – 3 times 30sec-1min
• Cross-trainer (CT) – 20 min at level 4 at a speed of 8.0

Week 2: Having “felt” my calves quite a lot on Sunday and Monday and considering how much my biceps were hurting on Monday, I decided to lower the weights I used last week (15 kg) to 10 kg and to do for now the minimum recommended by the trainer.  Whilst it kind of feels that some of it is far too easy, I prefer to start low and increase if I cope with it rather than possibly get an injury.

• Tuesday: Prog 1: 5min B, 4×12 LP, CP, SP, SR, LPD, 3×10 LR, 3x30sec P, 20min CT level 1 – yeah, finished the 20 min!  🙂  (I did get confused by the machines again though and didn’t do it all in the right order…)
• Thursday: Prog 1: 5min B, 4×12 LP, CP, 1×10 1×9 1×8 1x3SP, SR, LPD, 3×10 LR, 3x30sec P, 20min CT level 2
• Saturday: Prog 1: 5 min B, 4×15 LP, 10kg CP, 7.5kg SP, 10kg SR, 9.5kgx2 LPD, 3×10 LR, 3x35sec P, 20 min CT level 3

Week 3: Was on business trip from Tuesday to Thursday, which disturbed my schedule a bit.

• Tuesday: at the hotel “gym”: 5 min B, 8 min CT
• Friday: Prog 1: 5 min B, 4×15 LP, 10kg CP, 7.5kg SP, 12.5kg SR, 9.5kgx2 LPD, 3×10 LR, 3x40sec P, 20 min CT level 4
• Saturday: Prog 1: 10 min B, 12.5kg 4×15 LP, 10kg CP, 7.5kg SP, 12.5kg SR, 9.5kgx2 LPD, 3×10 LR, 3x45sec P, 20 min CT level 4

Week 4:

• Monday: Prog 1: 10min B (4.16km), 12.5kg LP 4×15, 10kg CP 2×10 + 12.5kg 1×10, 7.5kg SP 3×10, 12.5kg SR 2×10 + 15kg 1×10, 9.5kgx2 LPD 2×10 + 13kgx2 1×10, 3×15 LR, 3x50sec P, 20 min CT level 4 3.2km

Challenge 11 – 52 weeks to lose 10.1kg

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear…  Getting on that scale was something I wasn’t looking forward to, and it is all but nice to see those numbers…

Based on my BMI, I have been overweight for at least 6 months (that was the last time I had been on a scale, and I have no idea when I had weighed myself before that).  It is now really bad, with a weight of 82.10 kg…  That is by far the heaviest I have ever been, and it shows.  My clothes are tight, my knees hurt, and I look fat.  I am not obese and I am sure some people would still think me thin-ish, but considering that this is only fat and hardly any muscle, it isn’t good.

When I moved to England 12 years ago, I weight 63 kg.  Yes, almost 20 kg / 40 lbs / 3 stones less.  Realistically, the chances of me ever getting back to 63 kg are very slim.  I noticed around the age of 30 that my body started finding it much more difficult to get rid of the occasional extras.  Unfortunately since then the extras have been the norm and more.  So my goal would be to get back to 67 kg.

This year, I will work towards losing 10.1 kg to get to 72 kg.  I was originally planning to lose about 7 kg but I still want to hope that some of my current weight is associated to the holidays and can be lost quickly, therefore I put my goal up to 10.1 kg.  7 would still make me happy if that’s all I can achieve by the end of the year!  🙂

This will require drastic changes in my lifestyle.  On the nutrition side, I suppose checking my calorie intake would be good, but when you have croissants / cakes for breakfast, eat chocolate and cheese and drink full fat sodas all day long, you don’t need to count to know what is bringing the weight up…  On that front, I will need a few weeks before I can really improve my diet as I still have quite a lot of cheese in the fridge…  I also have chocolate, but that can be kept for one-off occasions (or at least not all day long treatment)!  Plus I was asked to bake some “galettes des rois” (cakes of the kings) for the Epiphany.  I made a couple today – and somehow managed to buy the wrong pastry, realising it only two minutes before taking the second cake out of the oven…  🙂  Oh well…  will still bring it into the office, but also enjoy some, so that will be some more damage to come…

From an activity point of view, I went for a 4.7 miles walk this week.  I was thinking of starting my walking challenge later in the year as I wanted to reach walking 52 miles in the 52nd week (not in one go though at this point), but I would not do this in the winter, hence starting later.  I was also looking at zumba classes organised in my village.  There are two sessions per week, but I would probably be able to attend only one due to the traffic on the way home.  And then, with my depression, I know it will be incredibly easy to have a down day and not go, and then I would not exercise at all, a continuation of the current situation.  So today I signed up with a gym.  This is my first time – I always thought it is money thrown out of the window and that it is possible to keep in shape without spending so much.  But I do need help to get me motivated and on track and I hope that the variety of equipment and classes will help me exercise without getting too bored.  I have an appointment tomorrow night to get some advice on the exercises I should start with.

I will give updates on my journey via the weekly updates and add them onto this page too.  Wish me luck!

Starting point: 82.1 kg

1. 11th Jan 2015: 82.6 kg – very big disappointment as the scale at the gym a couple of days earlier showed 4 kg less than my scale.  Now I know that it’s just a difference in scales…  Otherwise, not a surprise as I tried to “finish up” the cheese, chocolates and cakes from the holidays…
2. 18th Jan 2015: 81.5 kg – nice to see some improvement after the gain last week.  Didn’t eat very healthily but didn’t have any soda, had my coffee without sugar (and reduced the coffee), had porridge instead of pastries in the morning.
3. 25th Jan 2015: 81.6 kg – obviously not good to have put 0.1 kg back on, but considering how much I ate over the three days I was away on business and the chocolate I ate too, it is not too bad a result.

52 Challenges 2015 – Weekly Update 4

Here is this week’s summary:

1. 52 Week Money Saving Challenge – £8 put aside this week for a total of £36.
2. Read 52 books in 52 weeks – I finished The Children of Men by P.D. James. Way better than the movie of the same name! It is actually because I did not like the film that I wanted to read the original novel. I am now reading The Miniaturist by Jessie Burton.
3. Declutter 52 items – I sent the book The Children of Men out to a fellow bookcrosser.
4. 52 Weeks Decluttering My Inbox – my inboxes are empty and I spent some time clearing old emails.
5. Watch 52 movies from the “1001” list – I watched 4 movies this week – after the feast of last week, I feel like I have had an overdose and have not even bothered taping all the movies I originally wanted to watch!

Slumdog Millionaire – such an inspiring movie, though re-watching it made me think that it is very Westernised. Always love the Bollywood bit at the end – and as I do not normally really enjoy Bollywood movies, it is another proof that the movie was aimed at Western audiences…

Forrest Gump – had only seen it once before and had found it overrated, but I did enjoy it this time. And I was very surprised to see Haley Joel Osment (The 6^th Sense) at the end of it! That is one of the things that makes me enjoy re-watching older movies!

The Searchers – and another cowboy movie… so many on the list! But quite enjoyable!

Total Recall – that took me back a few years! I have not seen the new version and I’m happy about it. There is nothing like those sci-fi movies from the 80-90s. Women hairdos and special effects, gotta love them! The special effects are actually pretty good, the most hilarious ones are the pressure effect ones – nothing like bulging eyes!  🙂

In-between typing this update I watched Bambi – not on the 1001 list – hadn’t seen it in probably 30-35 years and oh my, what a re-discovery!  I remembered parts of it, but not that it is so amazingly cute, funny and educational! I fell completely in love with it and laughed so much it was ridiculous!  🙂

6. 52 Days Without Contacts – one day wearing my glasses this week.
7. 52 Weeks Updating Blog – see this post!
8. 52 Weeks To Drink Water – drank a glass of plain water five days this week – managed to keep up with last week. Trying to make it a real habit!
9. Try 52 recipes – tried one new recipe this week: pasta puttanesca, it was ok. Nothing transcending, but low calorie!
10. Finish 52 items in cross-stitch – I finished the cross stitch for a friend’s baby’s birth… over a year ago… It is going in the post tomorrow! Photos here.

Another couple of pictures from my book-tree:

That’s all for now – wishing everyone a lovely week!

52 Challenges 2015 – Weekly Update 3

First of all, I would like to apologise for this delayed update. My laptop crashed on Sunday and wouldn’t reboot despite all my attempts at safe and repair modes. Luckily the restore option allowed me to back up my data (just in case) and I then had to restore to factory settings. A couple of days and over 200 updates later, I am back and running!  I could have sent an update by writing on my phone but 1) I do not like typing on my phone 2) I had already prepared most of my update and really didn’t fancy starting all over again…  🙂

Now, before I forget, if you celebrated Christmas, I hope you had a nice one! I got inspired by the idea on this website and created my own book-mas tree ( will try and upload other pictures in the next few days):

 Back onto the challenges subject, here are this week’s updates:

1. 52 Week Money Saving Challenge – £7 put aside this week for a total of £28.
2. Read 52 books in 52 weeks – I finished The Returned by Jason Mott. I decided to read this book because I had seen the first season of the French series of the same name. I know another version has been made in the USA but have not seen it therefore cannot comment on it. For anyone who has seen the French version though, well, it is only very loosely based on the novel. The theme is the same: people returning from the dead; but as to the number of “returned” and the plot and everything else, it has nothing to do with the book. So you can read and watch both, you don’t run the risk of having the plot ruined by one or the other (at least with the first season).
3. Declutter 52 items – I put quite a few pages of magazines and of papers I had kept for craft purposes into the recycling bin, but it was kind of random so I have not added this to my list of “achieved” as of yet.
4. 52 Weeks Decluttering My Inbox – spent some time clearing old emails and emptied my inboxes.
5. Watch 52 movies from the “1001” list – I watched 15 movies this week:

Independence Day, always a good laugh.

The adventures of Robin Hood, quite ok considering how many movies / series there have been about it.

Skyfall, a huge surprise for me as I am no fan of James Bond movies, really enjoyed this one.

Back to the future, brought me back to my youth, still very enjoyable.

Jurassic Park, obviously lost the effect of surprise after seeing it quite many times, not as impressive on my old TV as on the big screen, but every time I see it on TV, I can’t help feeling relieved I do not have to watch it again in a cinema full of kids screaming with laughter at the “scary” scenes.

Boyz n the hood, I guess the movie was more or less what I expected it to be and it left me a bit uncomfortable and wondering if this depiction is still considered as current.

The lady vanishes, I’m not sure if I had already seen it or if I saw a movie very similar to it, but I did enjoy it very much.

Muriel’s wedding, still funny but not sure it should be one the 1001 list.

Willy Wonka & the chocolate factory, up to now I had only seen the Tim Burton version, which I find rather annoying, especially the songs, so this was a very welcome watch, much more enjoyable than the recent version!

Unforgiven, an ok movie in my opinion, not the greatest I’ve seen, but still quite good for a cowboy film.

Spartacus, a pretty impressive movie, especially considering when it was filmed. I expected it to be boring but really enjoyed it.

Whisky Galore!, one of my favourites this week. A simple yet incredibly funny movie apparently based on a true story – I shall consider getting it on DVD, can’t believe I hadn’t heard of this film before!

Red River, another cowboy movie, another enjoyable watch! Getting seriously into those oldies!

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, still wonderful, and by doing other things at the same time (staring at a screen hoping it would show something else than an “attempting repair” bar), I did manage not to cry!

Guys and Dolls, quite liked it too, though it took me a bit of time to get into it. It does show its age, but it still a good laugh.

I re-watched Gran Torino, which is not on the 1001 list, and I still think it is a brilliant movie. Another one I should get on DVD! With tissues…

6. 52 Days Without Contacts – three days wearing my glasses this week.
7. 52 Weeks Updating Blog – see this post, despite late due to technical reasons! 🙂
8. 52 Weeks To Drink Water – drank a glass of plain water five days this week!  Woohoo!
9. Try 52 recipes – tried three recipes this week: figs with mozzarella, Parma ham and breadsticks / American-style fluffy pancakes / Smocked haddock with crème fraiche and chives, Puy lentils and citrus broccoli – all were quite good!
10. Finish 52 items in cross-stitch – worked on something I started a year ago, should finish it shortly.

That’s it for last week, folks!

I would already like to wish you all a wonderful and healthy New Year!

Challenge 10 – Finish 52 items in cross-stitch

With this challenge I am definitely way over-ambitious.  I may have to look into working on quite a few small projects!  Who knows, that might give me some birthday or Christmas cards!

As part of this challenge, I will count items that I already started a while back and never finished.  The three that come straight to mind are a present I started over a year ago for the birth of a friend’s baby and never finished, a square I started probably 5 years ago for a charity and a design that I started 11 years ago as a present.  The latter is unlikely to get finished this year still, but it would be nice if I got back onto it.

1. A New Baby kit from Me to You – I finally finished this kit started over a year ago.  I liked doing the cross-stitch part but I honestly hated the back-stitch to make the “fluffiness” of the bear.  The shades are all so similar on the cross-stitch that I found it very difficult to figure out where I was and made mistakes.  Hence me stopping working on it.  I will definitely never try another cross-stitch from this collection.  It is lovely to watch, but hell to make in my opinion.  Despite the mistakes I am still glad I finished it in the end.            

Challenge 9 – Try 52 new recipes

I can imagine that many people would be willing to go for this kind of challenge – trying new recipes can be really exciting for those who love cooking.  As for me, who eats because we have to – although I do enjoy good food, as long as I do not have to be the one cooking it – this is more a way to try and get me to learn how to cook.  In the past couple of years, I have eaten mostly ready meals (and unsurprisingly put on a lot of weight).  I can cook very basic meals, pasta, couscous, salads, vegetables, but they are very basic.  No sauce, no fuss, just plain food.

I am told so often “oh, but you can cook this or that so easily, you just put it in the oven with this and that and it’s so good”.  But it all sounds to me incredibly complicated.  I have never been interested in cooking or really taken the time to try much.  But then again, when you cook only for yourself, it is difficult to find the will to put the effort in (at least for me).  Spending hours cooking a meal I will eat in five minutes does not appeal much to me!  But in an attempt to eat healthier meals, lose weight and save money, I am willing to take up the challenge of trying 52 new recipes within a year.  I hope that I will learn a few tricks and maybe realise that it really is not as difficult as I see it.

I do acknowledge that some of the recipes I will try will sound so simple to most of you may not see them as proper recipes, but if I have to look in a book to get that idea, then to me it is a recipe.  And for me it is about learning what flavours work with what.  And finding that it is possible to cook simple meals that taste good without spending hours on them.

Here are the recipes I have tried:

1. Figs with mozzarella, Parma ham and breadsticks – from 10 minutes to table by Xanthe Clay – 24th Dec 2014
2. American-style fluffy pancakes – from The hairy dieters book 3  by Si King and Dave Myers – 25th Dec 2014
3. Smocked haddock with crème fraîche and chives, Puy lentils and citrus broccoli – from 10 minutes to table by Xanthe Clay – 27th Dec 2014
4. Pasta puttanesca – from The hairy dieters book 3  by Si King and Dave Myers – 4th Jan 2015

52 Challenges 2015 – Weekly Update 2

Here is what I have achieved this past week:

1. 52 Week Money Saving Challenge – £6 put aside this week for a total of £21.
2. Read 52 books in 52 weeks – Finished La Condition Humaine by Malraux.  Was quite disappointed.  I expected something different and… more enlightning from such a pillar of litterature.  But at least I managed to get to the end!  Started both The Returned by Jason Mott (p. 82) and Children of Men by P.D. James (p.90)
3. Declutter 52 items – nothing this week
4. 52 Weeks Decluttering My Inbox – spent some time clearing old emails and emptied my inboxes, except for 2 emails received today that will require a longer reply than I could do today.
5. Watch 52 movies from the “1001” list – I watched 8 movies this week: JFK, Edward Scissorhands, The Hurt Locker, The Lavender Hill Mob, Gunfight at the OK Corral, Rushmore, Good Morning, Vietnam and The Evil Dead.  I enjoyed most of them quite a lot, the exception being The Evil Dead.  I am no fan of this genre and it is the kind of movie that scares me and gives me nightmares.  I suppose this one wasn’t the worst I could see as the special effects are now dated and actually ridiculous and funny in parts, but it made me realise that I may struggle with parts of the list.  And I’ll confess that I did work on other stuff while watching it so I didn’t have to be fully engaged in what was happening on the screen.  The next couple of weeks might be quite busy watching films again as there are TONS of movies from the list programmed over the holiday period!  I did manage to empty most of my tapes (yes, still using a VCR!) so I hope that between taping and watching after work / on my days off, I’ll be able to catch most of them… but there will be some programming conflicts too, so I will have to make some choices there!
6. 52 Days Without Contacts – one day with glasses this week.
7. 52 Weeks Updating Blog – see this post!  🙂
8. 52 Weeks To Drink Water – drank a glass of plain water!

 

Challenge 8 – 52 Weeks To Drink Water

I am VERY bad at drinking water.  I drink water as part of coffee, water with cordial, but I am incredibly bad at drinking just plain water.  At the moment I also have a lot of soft drinks, which is obviously not good for anything, especially not my weight that is just getting worse and worse. So.  My plan is to increase the amount of water I drink very slowly.  I have challenged myself to 100 days without coffee at the beginning of the year and various other ones, but the plan here is to try and implement good habits, not just do it for a period of time and shortly after revert to bad habits and worse. This may look incredibly stupid, but when I said I do not drink plain water, I do really mean it!  Here is my plan for the 52 weeks – note: I do not count any water intake during or shortly after exercising:

1. Drink at least 1 glass of water – achieved 1 day
2. Drink at least 1 glass of water two days – achieved 5 days
3. Drink at least 1 glass of water three five days – achieved 5 days
4. Drink at least 1 glass of water four six days – achieved 7 days
5. Drink at least 1 glass of water five seven days – achieved 2 glasses 7 days
6. Drink at least 1 2 glasses of water six seven days – achieved 1 litre 3 days and 2 glasses 4 days
7. Drink at least 1 2 glasses of water every day – achieved 2 glasses min every day
8. Drink at least 1 2 glasses of water 5 days – 3 glasses 2 days
9. Drink at least 1 glass of water every day