Day 6: Thursdays and Fridays are the new weekend!

Yesterday on the train - which is where I have all my profound thoughts - I decided that since I work on Thursdays and Fridays, making exercise on those days problematic (for the time being, at least), I would declare Thurs/Fri to be the new weekend and therefore exercise-free, and instead work out on Saturday and Sunday.

The vague plan I have been formulating in my head has me working out 5 days a week (Mon - Fri), and then catching some "incidental" exercise on the weekends through things like a bike ride with the kids, a Sunday bushwalk, going to the beach or pool etc. But at the moment, I just can't fit in exercise on my work days. Partly because I am new to this job, and working outside of the home in general, so I'm adjusting to the whole rigmarole of rushing around, getting the kids organised, getting myself organised, getting lunches in bags and getting out the door to take the kids to their respective childcare places. In a couple of months' time it will all be easy-peasy, I'm sure, but for now, I just want to get used to it. And in the evenings when I get home, I just want to sit and be with the family for a while, and once I've done that and we've had dinner and it's bathtime and bedtime etc, it's too late to be working out because I can't get to sleep afterwards.

So, I will be working out from Saturday to Wednesday. Since this is already my "housework week", owing to the fact that nothing gets done on Thursdays and Fridays any more, it kind of makes sense (a massive pile of washing accumulates on these 2 days because I don't have time to do it so at the moment my weekend is spent catching up on the laundry).

Now that I feel that I've mapped that out, I feel quite positive about it all. I'm feeling good about other things, too. For example:

1. Food. I am keeping to my calorie intake for each day. I think I've gone over by about 50 cals on most days, but this is nothing to sweat over. According to www.calorieking.com.au I have 1800 calories per day (net - so when I exercise I get more). I've read through other blogs and some people drop straight down to 1200 - 1500 calories per day. That's a little extreme for me. I'd rather ease myself down there. That said, my attitudes to feed have experienced a huge turnaround this week. I'm trying to incorporate a lot more vegies into my diet than I previously had. Last night my partner said he'd cook home-made pizza for dinner. Normally I don't like his pizzas as I think he doesn't put on enough toppings, but last night I was glad for the lack of cheese and other junk I would normally put on. I had three smallish slices and no dessert (the nutella pizza he'd made!) Above all with my eating, and having monitored my calories this week, I am seeing that I can eat 3 normal, healthy meals per day and still have calories left over in my allowance for snacks. The idea I'd had that food was my reward starting to change.

2. Work. This was only my third week at my new job. Prior to this year, I had not worked since my eldest child was born. Well, I'd done a lot of voluntary work (and from a resume perspective, let me just say thank gawd for that!), and I'd worked as a singer from time to time (but not with any regularity), but for the most part, I hadn't done any paid work for 11 years.

For the first couple of weeks at this job, I felt a bit lost. Thinking I was in over my head, and that the job was a bad fit for me (it's in accounts, which I've never really done much of before). But this week, the pieces of the puzzle started to fit and it all started to make sense. I feel like I have grasped what I'm doing and how it all fits into the machine (I am not a person who can do a job for months on end without knowing why I am doing it. Some people are happy doing things this way but I am a person who needs to know the bigger picture.) So where previously I was feeling very apprehensive about going to work on my work days, I now feel really quite positive.

3. Play. I'd mentioned previously that I'd lost interest in hobbies - more specifically amateur theatre. Was talking to a friend this week, and discussing shows that were up and coming, and she mentioned that one society near me was doing The Sound of Music. Yes, very old school. But it's a show that's a possibility for me - being more on the middle-aged side of things I think I could totally rock a nun's habit. Auditions should be in a few weeks, so I really need to start singing again in preparation - and more specifically to plan an audition song. Rodgers and Hammerstein is perfect for my voice (which, again, is old school - I am sooo not a belter).

Also in this category is my attempt take up sewing. I bought myself a new sewing machine for my birthday earlier this year, and took it out for the first time a couple of weeks ago. And hemmed a pair of jeans. I was so chuffed with the attempt (I did it the proper way (which I'd read about on some blog, somewhere, a long time ago, but the only site I can find that shows how to do it well is the one of linked at DaciaRay.com - so thanks, DaciaRay!)) and vowed to do more sewing. I had a dress I'd thrifted which I planned to turn into a skirt which was to be the next project ... but at the moment all I've done is to unpick the skirt part from the bodice part. It's now waiting for me to refashion it into a skirt. Which I promise I will do this weekend. I'll be able to wear it to work for Casual Friday (I was a little overdressed this week). I also have grand plans for sewing myself a plain shift dress for work as my next project.

So all in all, I am in a good frame of mind this week. I think these changes are permanent. I think my life is changing for the better.