5 Things I'm Proud Of #17

Image: taivasalla

"Oh no! I should do something..... but I'm already in my pajamas"
Prof Farnsworth. Futurama

If you'd like a double dose of my ramblings today, check out my musings on exercising at home over at the baby incubating, wonder woman that is Fit Fig.

Friday is the day I like to reflect on my week and think of 5 things I've done that I can be proud of. This exercise has really helped me to get out of my self doubting rut, recognise the small achievements I make in my day and generally become an annoying Positive Polly, I ain't apologising one bit!

So here are my five things. What about yours? I'm sure you did something this week that made you smile. Dare to share below?

1. So far sticking with my exercise everyday goal that I set this week.
   
2. Not letting the rain and my lack of motivation to go walking stop me, long live the elliptical trainer and being able to wear my PJ's whilst exercising.
   
3. Literally kicking my way through training this week, despite being given the option to cancel.
   
4. Living it up spontaneous style and booking a ticket to London, leaving in 2 weeks, wooo hooo!
   
5. Drinking less caffeinated beverages and drinking more herbal tea.
   

5 Things I'm Proud of #16

Image: Tomás Rotger

"When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be"
Lao Tzu

Running late with this post, seems to be a theme I've had going all week. Nevertheless there are things I'm proud of. I feel like I've strayed off course a bit lately but jumping back on as of today and keeping on keeping on.

1. Remembering that I don't like working weekends, and keeping it that way.
   
2. Finally writing a post on fat and cholesterol
   
3. Meeting the Luscious L for an early morning walk
   
4. Restarting the 100 push-up challenge
   
5. Getting back on the elliptical trainer after a few weeks of absence

What about you, climbed any mountains this week?

5 Things I'm Proud Of #15

"Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all"
Harriet Van Horne

This week I have a theme of which I am proud of, and that theme is cooking. To know the men in my life is to know brilliant cooks, cooking for them is a daunting, nerve wracking experience, but I have vowed to overcome it and join in on the fun. So this week I am super proud of the dishes I created all on my own.

1. Buddha's Delight, a Chinese vegetarian dish that traditionally includes 18 varieties of vegetable to represent the 18 Buddhas.
2. Steamed whole Barramundi with ginger and shallots. A whole fish seems such a treat, but it's actually really easy, especially if you leave the gutting and scaling to your local fish monger.
3. Cooking a traditional Vietnamese stock for the almighty Phố from scratch. Three days of boiling and toiling paid off with a deliciously aromatic stock, the perfect background for the fresh herbs and powerful flavours of the offal.
4. Creating juicy juicy Thai style Gai Yang (ไก่ย่าง). BBQ chicken wings, which were cooked outdoors over the coals as part of the Phố extravaganza.
5. Making Thai style fish cakes from scratch as part of the Phố feast.

How bout you? Cook anything exciting this week? What about other steps you've taken that mean you are living the life you want? Time to get proud.

5 Things I'm Proud Of #13

Image: Maki_C30D

"From little things big things grow"
Paul Kelly

So these small things that I'm proud of, they happen every week and here they are again.

1. Working 5 days this week, the first time in a long time.
   
2. Reminding myself each and every day of what my goals are.
   
3. Belting out some tunes with the gals.
   
4. Picking up the extra weights at training and going hard.
   
5. Continuing to eat when I'm hungry.

What are the little things you've done this week that make you proud?

5 Things I'm Proud Of #12

Image: john w

"Follow effective action with quiet reflection. From the quiet reflection will come even more effective action"
Peter F Ducker

I'm running a bit late this week, but better late than never. Remember to focus on the little things, it is those little things that make up the big things we are reaching for.

1. Letting myself have a nap rather than reach for the coffee
   
2. Commencing the epic task that is tidying up the disaster zone that is our house
   
3. Dragging myself onto the Wonderfully Fandangled Exercise Machine and getting that cardio DONE
   
4. Publicly broadcasting The Great Cholesterol Challenge. Nothing like potential humiliation to get me going
   
5. Booking tickets to Japan..... yippeeee!!

Have you got any moments you are proud of this week?

5 Things I'm Proud of #11

Image: mdezemery

"All that we are is a result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think we become"
Buddha

I'm finding more and more that the whole positive thinking thing really does work. Things just seem to flow on from each other and while life itself often doesn't change all that much, the way we look at it can make all the difference. So here I am again making this list of the little things that I'm proud of this week.

1. Making every meal a home cooked one this week
   
   
2. Keeping up the walking and the thinking
   
   
3. Making time to catch up with old friends
   
   
4. Reacquainting myself with myself and eating when I'm hungry
   
   
5. Joining the girls for Weight Loss Weekly, what fun!

What are you proud of this week? Be it big or small be proud of them all.

5 Things I'm Proud Of #9

Image: harold.lloyd (well I declare)'s

Hmmmm, Friday came around awfully quick this week. Was there even time to be proud?

1. Meeting with The Terrier for the first time, she's small, she's muscly, she's energetic and she sure doesn't take no for an answer. My thighs thank her in some strange sadistic way.
   
   
2. Doing a 10min jog today. The physiotherapist advised 'testing' my knee out to see if we've made any improvements. I could have easily not done this, but I did, I'm impressed, and keeping my fingers crossed.
   
   
3. Recognizing that somedays it's OK to just let yourself feel a bit sad and bliss out in front of a movie, rather than push through it.
   
   
4. Keeping at the eating slow thing, it's harder than it looks, and sometimes I totally forget until I have one mouthful left, but as the wonderful Ms Netherlands says, I'm trying, and that's what counts.
   
   
5. Stepping out of my comfort zone. I won't bore you with the details but let's just say, it involved me, a receptionist and a lost appointment time. I stayed true to my niceness, but I ain't getting pushed around no more no more no more.

"Jogging is very beneficial. It's good for your legs and your feet. It's also very good for the ground. It makes it feel needed"
Charles Schulz

5 Things I'm Proud Of #8

Image: davesag

I've been doing this exercise for a while now. Today I realised, it doesn't make me feel icky anymore. Gone are the feelings of "being proud of yourself? That's just lame, you're not worth being proud of." The five things come easily and without much effort. Could it be? Could it be that I'm starting to see myself in a different light? In a soft appropriate light, nothing like the harsh, unwanted, shadow inducing beams of a Kmart change room of old?

Comment if you will, share if you like, but most of all remember what you've done that makes you proud.

1. Finally doing my exams. Distance Ed can be such a struggle, all part of learning how to be self motivated


2. Doing the exercises my new fabulous physio has given me for my dodgy knee, I will run again, I will run again, I will run again.... well jog... well maybe it's just walking really fast....


3. Trying out some HTML, with help from Roni at SkinnyMiniMedia. It seems so scary, but really not so


4. Eating S.L.O.W.L.Y I'm amazed at how slow I can eat and what a difference it makes to portions. Hmmm maybe another key unlocking another door


5. Saying YES to sharing a personal trainer with the gorgeous JRose and friends, as much as I love my solo fitness efforts, having a group to be accountable to is going to really up the ante

"You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection"
Buddha

5 Things I'm Proud Of # 7

Image: Laurie :: Liquid Paper

Friday, pride time. The wonderful Roni posted about finding balance in your life this week, and she linked to another great post about your right to brag. It further reinforced what I am trying to do here on Friday's, it's all too easy to focus on the bad stuff and in doing that all we see is the negative parts of our lives, some would say even attracting more negativity into our lives.

I'm all about changing the self talk and this is a big part of it. Share in the comments, break the cycle, be proud of yourself. This is your life and you are in control of how you feel, why not feel good?

Here are my five for this week.

1. Keeping on with this post. I was feeling a bit like it was boring, for me and for you. Who cares if I cleaned my house? Well I do, and it's not really about the things on this list, it's about making this list. If it works for me it might work for someone else, try it see how you feel.

2. Writing an article for the soon to be MizFitMag. I said I wanted to be a writer so here we go!

3. Organising my exams, one step closer to not failing my studies due to laziness.

4. Not cleaning the house. I'm mixing it up here, I always use cleaning as an excuse to not start something, I hate cleaning, it takes me days to psych myself up to do it, and those are days I spend not doing what I need and want to get done. This week, I left it all and focused on the things I needed to do, and now they're done and I can clean the house. Yay!

5. My relationship. The Ninja and I are totally in synch right now, it takes work and mindful effort, but damn it's so good when it's good. Happy Birthday!

"Maybe it's easier to like someone else's life, and live vicariously through it, than take some responsiblity to change our lives into lives we might like"
Tish Grier

5 Things I'm Proud Of #6

It's Friday, you know what time it is, time to be proud of all the things you've done. Share in the comments, go on, I dare ya!

1. Getting up early to clean the house

2. Walking home from work

3. Realising I really need to go back to week 2 of the push up challenge, and doing it with good form

4. Resisting the biscuit tin at work

5. Not making any excuses, I'm about to go indoor rock climbing, finally!

"Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday"
Unknown

5 Things I'm Proud Of #5

Friday is here again and it's time to look back over the week and remember all the little things. I've been doing this for a while now and I find that it really helps me to stay focused and positive.... so here we go.....

1. Finishing week 4 of the push up challenge, which involved doing an exhaustion test to see how many push ups I could do in a row...... I've found that I need to go back to week 3 and go from there, but that's OK, my form is getting much better and I'm really loving the challenge.

2. Starting a routine which will mean that I actually get my distance education subjects done.

3. Losing 3 cms off my waist..... huh where did it go? I can't find it anywhere. Such a shame, I was so fond of that flab roll ^-^

4. Resting my knee despite feeling frustrated about it.

5. Organising my jewelery from little piles all over the house into one easily accessible drawer. Little things make big differences.

So do tell, what are you proud of this week?

"Let us not take ourselves too seriously. None of us has a monopoly on wisdom"
Queen Elizabeth

5 Things I'm Proud Of Today #4

Hey folks, it's that time again, time to focus on the positives and remind ourselves of achievements other than a decreasing number on the scale.

1. Reaching Week 4 of the push up challenge.

2. Testing my real proper push-up ability and finding I can now do 1 real push-up...... yippee!!

3. Increasing my basic cardio routine by 66% in the last 2 months.... slow and steady really works.

4. Starting the Couch to 5k running program.

5. Fitting into a pair of jeans that have been firmly in the too small pile I've got stashed away in my spare room.... wooohooo!!

Share along in the comments....... what cool things have you been up to?

"Winners compare their achievements with their goals, while losers compare their achievements with those of other people"
Nido Qubein

5 Things I'm Proud Of #3

Here we go again folks, don't forget to focus on the positives no matter how small.

1. Making it to Day 1 Week 3 of the Push Up Challenge.... ouch

2. Getting over the weigh day doom and gloom.... back on track, ready to rock.

3. Setting a time for rock climbing...... aaahhhhrk, still pretty freaked out.

4. Cooking instead of eating out despite my total lack of inspiration and burning desire to eat here.

5. The wonderful community at MizFit......... what a cool bunch of peeps, so proud to be in such great company.

So get loud, be proud, what are you up to?

"Don't worry bout a thing, every little thing is gonna be alright"
Bob Marley

5 Things I'm Proud Of Today #2

I've written about this exercise before and have been thinking about making it a regular thing. So here's a few little things I was proud of today.

1. Attempting Tabata style hill sprints in the park- Geeezuhs, that surely gets the heart a pumping and the lungs a thumping.

2. Pasting code into my blog all on my lonesome- nothing like some good old trial and error to get things done.

3. Making a kick ass salad to munch on- great food is so good for the soul

4. Completing week one of The Push Up Challenge- 5 real push ups here I come!

5. Not caving and weighing myself before the Feb 1st deadline- 5 days to go, the countdown is on.

Feel free to share things you're proud of in the comments, would be great to hear about what everyone else is doing out there.

"Just don't give up on what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong."
Ella Fitzgerald

5 Things I'm Proud of Today #1

As I went through the motions on my Wonderfully Fandangled Exercise Machine this morning, I thought I must have put in 3 hours rather than 30 mins because each second seemed to drag on like a Celine Dion concert. How does this happen I ask you, why does 30mins spent exercising seem so much longer than 30mins spent doing something else, like eating or napping, or watching an episode of Flight of the Conchords?

Despite the complaining, I am proud that I did some exercise and on that note, I thought I'd introduce my new technique of mind altering, self styled, behavior modification. I am told, by the beautiful Ms Netherlands, who also happens to be a psychologist, that this style of mind bending is named Cognitive Behavior Therapy, for all those interested. Anyway, this thing that I thought up is called 5 Things I'm Proud of Today (not to be confused with the insightful and hilarious 5 Things That Piss Me Off Today as authored by The Fabulous A).

I started doing this when Sabotaging Me was keeping me up at night with her ranting. To keep her quiet I forced myself to think of 5 things I'd done that day that I was proud of, they can be absolutely anything, but the rules are that they have to be positive, they have to be written down or spoken aloud, and if I start on the self flagellation routine I have to think of an extra thing to be proud of.

Some examples include:

• I'm proud of myself for starting and sharing this blog
• I'm proud of myself for doing the washing
• I'm proud of myself for walking to the shops instead of driving

A variation that developed over time was taking an instance that I would have normally chastised myself for and finding something in that situation that I was proud of, for example, I'm proud that I exercised portion control when I went out to eat tantalising curries with The Soul Sister and The Bodacious Bro-inlaw, instead of how SM would've put it, "you fat loser, you ate Indian, there's so much oil and grease, you over did the carbs and that garlic cheese naan is going to mark your body for an eternity".

It's a funny thing, when I do this I can actually feel SM squirm in her cage, at the beginning I feel self-conscious and awkward, but by number 5 I'm thinking "woo-hoo I'm alright" and at times, if you listen really carefully, you might even hear me think "Yippeee, I'm fricken awesome!"

"I loathe narcissism, but I approve of vanity"
Diana Vreeland