Experiment in Motion: How Much I Move Chart, Day 3

I moved both more and less than the previous days. I spent a lot more time eating. It was Thanksgiving so I'm cutting myself some slack. As an aside, I ate pretty well. The food was delicious, healthy, and wonderful. I ate no sugar and had berries for dessert. I did break my no-wheat rule, which I am paying for in some extra pain today, but it was worth it because the various pestos I brought (mushroom artichoke heart, garlic basil, bruschetta, and the cream cheese garlic concoction known as xteepeetee*) are best with a warm slice of baguette.

The big news was that I did keep up with the aerobics rule and did more minutes of Just Dance on XBox. I love it! It's superior to anything on Wii, although, I must admit, I miss Dance Dance Revolution in its footwork complexity. And I do like the interface a little better when playing DDR.

So, here's the chart. As you can see, it's more skewed towards sitting and eating than movin' and groovin' but I'm hoping that will change as the experiment progresses.

* If you want recipes, drop me a line and I'll try to put them together.

Motion Chart (How Much I move, Day 2)

I've completed two days of my experiment in how much I move. Yesterday proved to be a more active day than day one. I was in motion more than I was sedentary. I cleaned, shopped, walked, hiked, exercised and generally moved more than I sat at the computer, wrote, or watched tv. I'd like to watch less tv, but I must say that during the long night/short day portion of the year, I tend to have little energy left for anything after the sun sets.

Plus, it's been cold and rainy here so that never helps. When I add in my hypothyroidism, it doesn't surprise me that I lack energy. However, there are still other things I can be doing with my time and I will think on how to be more active and less lump-on-a-couch. 

I did use some of my sitting time to complete a craft project (a new silk bag and cloth for my new tarot deck) so that helps me feel like I wasn't just sitting.

I also added in a category that's a bit of a catch-all. It's the Miscellaneous Motion category. Sometimes, the alarm rings when I am walking down the stairs or going to the sink to get a glass a water. I'm not spending the entire 20 minutes doing that motion, but I decided that one of the parameters of the experiment will be that I won't fudge the data. I'll mark exactly what I'm doing at the moment I'm doing it unless it's a small something like I'm walking down the stairs. That counts as being in motion, but I don't want to give myself too many categories to keep track of so that will have to do.

Today promises to be interesting. We're going over to some friends' house for the Thanksgiving celebration. I'll have to explain the experiment to my hosts and the other guest and hope they don't think I'm rude when I get up in the middle of dinner to go dance for a minute.

I'll let you know how it goes. In the meantime, here is the Motion chart for 11/27/13.

Motion Chart (How Much I Move, Day 1)

Day One of my experiment is over. For those who might not know what's going on, I'm doing a week-long experiment that has two goals. One, I want to chart how I spend my time. Two, I need to make sure I move more often than I am. To that end, I have set up an alarm system that buzzes me at twenty-minute intervals for a span of twelve hours a day. When that alarm sounds, I must get up from whatever I'm doing and move around for one minute. Then, I resume my previous task. For more information on the whys and wherefores, go here: http://izoldat.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-often-do-i-move-experiment-to-learn.html

What I've learned today: I thought it would be easy to get up and move regardless of what I was doing when the alarm sounded. For the most part, it was not a big deal to get up and dance. But a few times, I resented the heck out of that little alarm because it pulled me out of my task. Luckily, I didn't have a lot of trouble getting back into the groove. Also, my husband loves watching me dance and giggled every time I stopped what I was doing to get up and shake my tail feathers. :)

My thoughts on the chart: Fully, a quarter of my day was spent at the computer. I also sat doing other things for a healthy chunk of the day. My "in motion" time was spent on yoga, aerobics, and a wee hike with the dog (It will be longer later in the week when it's not raining; Hatha is a rain wuss and wouldn't walk past a block and a half).

Tomorrow, I will try to do more writing, less plain sitting, and far less time just on the computer. To be more efficient, I must use my tools more productively. I will write more if I am at the computer. I will use it for recording music rather than surfing. That will be for the next few days. Here's the problem, I'm not sure how to spend time writing if I am not sitting at the computer.

I'm struck by the amount of information I've gotten just by keeping track for one day, and I'm looking forward to seeing these progress over the next week.

How Often Do I Move? An Experiment to Learn My Patterns

So, I'm running a wee experiment on myself. It occurs to me that I have become a bit too sedentary. Certainly, when I'm on the go, I'm out and running. But, when I'm at home, I'm noticing my tendency to sit (pretty still) and work and get stiff and hurt. It got me to thinking about how much physical activity I'm doing in any given day. I want to figure out how much and what kind.

So, here's what I'm going to do. I've set up an alarm system that will ring a bell every twenty minutes for twelve hours. During that time, every time the bell rings, I will need to do something physical. If I am already doing something physical (yoga, hiking, etc.) then I will need to up my game and do it faster or deeper depending on what is appropriate. If I am not doing something physical, if I am instead practicing music, or writing, or watching a movie, I'll be required to get up and do something like yoga, Tai Chi, stretching, jumping jacks, kickboxing, etc., for a period of at least one minute. Then, I'll go back to my previous activity.

I have a number of reasons for this.

First, I recognize that if I don't move and move pretty often, I get horribly sore. So, I need to move more and this experiment will accomplish this goal.

Second, I'd like to know exactly how I'm spending my time. Am I wasting a lot of it on tv or movies or games (not terribly, I don't think, but I'd like to know regardless).

Third, I think once I know exactly how I'm spending my time, I'll know what, if anything, I want to change to help myself be more efficient when I'm working, more productive when I'm practicing or writing, and more physical regardless of what I'm doing.

I'm going to chart my progress and likely put up little pie charts here to see what happens.

Today, I'm just setting practicing how I need to set up my metrics (what activities I generally do and how they will be entered into my database), and I'm also making sure that I do indeed get up and move when the alarm goes off.

There will be times, like when I am with a client, that I will not be able to complete my motion requirements (clients tend to frown on you getting up and doing jumping jacks while you're supposed to be reading for them or energy work on them). And I will need to see what sort of consequences I will make myself face when I do not engage in a physical activity when the alarm rings. I think it will likely be something like extra motion for longer as soon as I *can* do something, but I am not sure.

If you want to track my progress, I'll be updating everything here. I'm going to try and run this for a week and see how it goes.

Looking forward to this.

Begin at the beginning, or the middle, or the end, but begin.

Today's cards: Ace of Cups, Ace of Pentacles, Page of Pentacles. Well, then today is about beginnings. It's the first day of the rest of your life. If not now, when? Be here, now. Let's see, are there any others? Yeah, likely, but for the moment, these will do.

The Aces really speak about turning a page, in our hearts and our bodies. Begin to forgive. Begin to exercise (daily). Begin to eat healthfully. Begin to love. Begin to trust. Begin to stabilize. Begin to truly look for a job. The opportunities for a blank slate are endless, particularly if you are about  to begin a new chapter in health, wellness, and well-being.

Be the person who does these things, not because you feel guilty, by the way, but because it's time. It's time to make some changes, both sweeping and small. One tiny change in perspective, habit, action, etc., can create a ripple effect that will revolutionize our lives. Do that. That's what the page is all about. The Page is the person who takes on the task in a practical and studied manner. The Page makes revolutionary changes, one tiny step at a time.

Good luck. Oh and my change? I promise myself three things. One: I will drink water, first thing, when I wake up in the morning. No matter what. Two: I will make some sort of music, daily, whether it's singing in the car, playing recorder, guitar, or violin, or writing songs that I hum in the shower. Three: I will do yoga every single day, no matter what. Even if it's just five minutes of stretching and breathing, in bed, right before I drop off to sleep, I will do it. The yoga and music have been happening since April first. The water is new today, but all three will happen until something else either needs to be incorporated or released.

Last, but most certainly not least, if you are trying to get pregnant, today is an excellent day to go have sex with wild abandon. The moon is just past full. The Page represents the young person. And the Aces? Well, they're all about beginnings in body and heart.

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