So I thought I'd give a brief update on my Red Hood Rider progress before going into the rest of my post. I'm nearly through my March notes (inches away; I still have the tiniest bits of notes to write down) and I have so far 47 pages' worth of notes. (In my defense, a good 3-4 of those are images that I added in as references.)
I'm noticing a fair number of gaps in my notes that I'll need to fill (ultimately, the goal will be to have fully-equal sections that have a universal format and cover the same details), but I'll get to them later.
What I mainly wanted to blog about is that today, I did my physical therapist session for the first time. It's really been inspiring. Her, TKD, my dentist, my hair stylist, and of course my mom all say the same thing, I need to get my act together, basically, and actually DO stuff.
And she helped a ton with a few, easy to remember, tricks. Right foot on a stand. 20 rocks back and forth when laying down. A massively helpful stretch to alleviate the stress on my back. (Basically, my back is really, really strong, but it's suffering from fatigue from all the stress being focused on a single point.) We'll work from there, but I think I can do those every day. And I want to set up a routine as such.
I will wake up.
I will do the stretches.
If applicable, I will take a shower, changing what clothing I can.
In the shower, I will use the shampoo before the bath.
I will remove the shampoo, and put conditioner in.
Which after the bath, will presumably have done its job, be removed, and leave my scalp healthy and breathing.
After the shower, I will brush my hair. I will then stretch.
Then, I will eat.
I will do my stretch.
Then I will nap.
Then, I will do the exercise.
Then the stretch.
Then I will brush my teeth.
Then I will drive to wherever it is I am going.
After which, I will stretch.
At the location I am going to, whenever needed, I will stretch, and utilize the trick if I can.
When I return home, at first convenient opportunity, I will stretch.
After taking my pills, I'll eat a snack.
After that snack, I will brush my teeth.
These are small changes I can make, 30 seconds each or so, that will really add up.
It won't fix all my problems; I'll need to figure out larger changes like increased cardio later. It also doesn't fix my upper body weakness, my core weakness (not yet anyway) nor my hip inflexibility.
But it's a huge step in the right direction. Made through several small steps.
Now, you might be pessimistic about this. "Yeah, I've heard that before."
And you'd be right! I think even on this blog! I've said I'd make these changes and did for a while but always fell through.
But this time, I have a plan.
...Hey!
Don't go running away!
My plans aren't nearly as terrible as they seem! (Okay, most of the time.)
In this case, I'm actually going to print out the changes, and tape them everywhere I can find room to place them: my drawer, hanging from my TV, stuck to my old possessed monitor, next to my door, on the bookshelves, everywhere. It's one thing to have a note in your head making you feel guilty for not doing it, and then ultimately forget. It's one thing to have a single written note that can and will get easily buried and forgotten.
It's quite another to have that writing plastered everywhere as a constant reminder. I need to make it impossible to forget, so that no matter how much time has passed, I will always feel guilty for lapses in my routine, thus, building memory to follow through and actually do the routine.
I'll do the printouts tonight, and start the routine tomorrow.
This is viable. I know it is. I can do it.
I'm noticing a fair number of gaps in my notes that I'll need to fill (ultimately, the goal will be to have fully-equal sections that have a universal format and cover the same details), but I'll get to them later.
What I mainly wanted to blog about is that today, I did my physical therapist session for the first time. It's really been inspiring. Her, TKD, my dentist, my hair stylist, and of course my mom all say the same thing, I need to get my act together, basically, and actually DO stuff.
And she helped a ton with a few, easy to remember, tricks. Right foot on a stand. 20 rocks back and forth when laying down. A massively helpful stretch to alleviate the stress on my back. (Basically, my back is really, really strong, but it's suffering from fatigue from all the stress being focused on a single point.) We'll work from there, but I think I can do those every day. And I want to set up a routine as such.
I will wake up.
I will do the stretches.
If applicable, I will take a shower, changing what clothing I can.
In the shower, I will use the shampoo before the bath.
I will remove the shampoo, and put conditioner in.
Which after the bath, will presumably have done its job, be removed, and leave my scalp healthy and breathing.
After the shower, I will brush my hair. I will then stretch.
Then, I will eat.
I will do my stretch.
Then I will nap.
Then, I will do the exercise.
Then the stretch.
Then I will brush my teeth.
Then I will drive to wherever it is I am going.
After which, I will stretch.
At the location I am going to, whenever needed, I will stretch, and utilize the trick if I can.
When I return home, at first convenient opportunity, I will stretch.
After taking my pills, I'll eat a snack.
After that snack, I will brush my teeth.
These are small changes I can make, 30 seconds each or so, that will really add up.
It won't fix all my problems; I'll need to figure out larger changes like increased cardio later. It also doesn't fix my upper body weakness, my core weakness (not yet anyway) nor my hip inflexibility.
But it's a huge step in the right direction. Made through several small steps.
Now, you might be pessimistic about this. "Yeah, I've heard that before."
And you'd be right! I think even on this blog! I've said I'd make these changes and did for a while but always fell through.
But this time, I have a plan.
...Hey!
Don't go running away!
My plans aren't nearly as terrible as they seem! (Okay, most of the time.)
In this case, I'm actually going to print out the changes, and tape them everywhere I can find room to place them: my drawer, hanging from my TV, stuck to my old possessed monitor, next to my door, on the bookshelves, everywhere. It's one thing to have a note in your head making you feel guilty for not doing it, and then ultimately forget. It's one thing to have a single written note that can and will get easily buried and forgotten.
It's quite another to have that writing plastered everywhere as a constant reminder. I need to make it impossible to forget, so that no matter how much time has passed, I will always feel guilty for lapses in my routine, thus, building memory to follow through and actually do the routine.
I'll do the printouts tonight, and start the routine tomorrow.
This is viable. I know it is. I can do it.
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