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Varia
This entry will likely end up a bit disjointed. Apologies in advance.
There are over 20 slots left to fill up for my tell me what to write about in June meme. Feel free to pick one or more dates and give me topics! :)
I realised I haven't talked about all those things I started over the last few months and promised I would keep you posted on (even if you're not interested! Muahaha! Ahem.). So, in no particular order:
Caffeine
It's been just under two months since I quit caffeine, and I find I don't really miss it all that much. I still drink coffee, but I stick to decaf, and I find that the taste is pretty much the same. It's made me cut back considerably on the amount of soft drinks I was consuming too, since my drink of choice was always Diet Pepsi, which has a fair bit of caffeine in it.
I can't say that I've noticed a huge difference in how I feel overall. My quality of sleep hasn't changed all that much, and it hasn't affected my energy levels one way or another. I've found it made no difference in how awake or alert I've felt at work or at home, either.
I've decided to spend the rest of the summer caffeine-free, and maybe go back to drinking coffee in the fall, minus the soft drinks. I really do enjoy coffee and tea, and the other yummy caffeinated beverages I can get at local coffee shops. I figure it'll be more of a treat by then rather than a staple, which will be nice too.
The Mystery Tired
The bad news is that the mystery fatigue and brain fog are still well entrenched. The good news is that the fatigue seems to have been at least in part due to SAD, because once spring arrived and I started spending more time outside, I've found it has abated somewhat. Either that or I've become so accustomed to it that it feels like the new normal. :P
The brain fog and memory issues are ever-present. I can't catalogue them entirely accurately, because I've set up so many multiple redundant systems to make sure I don't forget important dates and appointments that I've actually done quite well for myself over the past few months. Extended Cognition Tools, ftw! My system basically consists of entering things into my phone calender along with alerts that are triggered one and two days before the event/appointment. I also enter tasks into a to-do list on my phone (I like to use Carrot App because it makes me laugh and has ninja penguins) which also has built-in reminders and acts a bit like a game, in that I get points for accomplishing tasks on time and lose points if I slack off. I also try to write down all relevant information on paper, either in my agenda or my notebook, and on the white board we keep in the kitchen at home. This multi-level system keeps the chaos to a minimum, though there are still plenty of smaller things I routinely forget to do, so it's not perfect by any means.
Nutrition and Exercise
Did I mention that I was trying to eat better? I think I did, probably when I was waxing rhapsodic about mason jar salads. This is the third week in a row (the third work week I should specify) that I've been making them, and I am loving it. I think that over the course of the summer I may try to alternate with other kinds of lunches, just so I don't get bored, but they are delicious and portable and look so, so pretty. :)
The exercise part of the equation is so-so. It's been a busy spring and the summer is looking like it's going to be crazy busy, even moreso than the last eight months combined! So it's been incredibly difficult to find both the time and the motivation do get out there and get lots of exercise. Yoga was sort of a bust, alas, and I may try it again once I've got a more stable routine happening in my life. Right now the lifestyle of commute-work-commute-run around like crazy-commute-work-commute is not conducive to having a regular time for a yoga workout, no matter how short. I just can't do it.
I've been a little bit better about walking. Not great, but better. Mostly I walk when I take the dog out, which is good for both of us. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to take him out much more regularly as the summer progresses, but we shall see. Honestly, walking with him is so much more fun than walking on my own. He's a great walking buddy.
The Great No-Shampoo Experiment
Only as recently as last week I was still doing the no-shampoo thing. I quite like it, and it made no appreciable difference when it came to my hair than regular shampoo. If anything, it made my hair slightly more manageable, as shampoo strips away all the sebum from roots to tips, which makes my already fine hair extremely slippery and prone to standing on end from static electricity.
I got a bit lazy in the past week and went back to shampoo. The one drawback of the baking soda method is that it's a bit more time consuming than just using shampoo, and I've been in a hurry of late. So I've decided that I'm going to use up the bottles of shampoo I have at home and here in Ottawa, and go back to baking soda when they've run out. I figure they should last me until the end of the summer at the very latest, which will coincide with what is likely to be the busiest part of my year. It should work out well, or at least I hope so.
And that's it for now. Stay tuned for more thrilling instalments.
There are over 20 slots left to fill up for my tell me what to write about in June meme. Feel free to pick one or more dates and give me topics! :)
I realised I haven't talked about all those things I started over the last few months and promised I would keep you posted on (even if you're not interested! Muahaha! Ahem.). So, in no particular order:
Caffeine
It's been just under two months since I quit caffeine, and I find I don't really miss it all that much. I still drink coffee, but I stick to decaf, and I find that the taste is pretty much the same. It's made me cut back considerably on the amount of soft drinks I was consuming too, since my drink of choice was always Diet Pepsi, which has a fair bit of caffeine in it.
I can't say that I've noticed a huge difference in how I feel overall. My quality of sleep hasn't changed all that much, and it hasn't affected my energy levels one way or another. I've found it made no difference in how awake or alert I've felt at work or at home, either.
I've decided to spend the rest of the summer caffeine-free, and maybe go back to drinking coffee in the fall, minus the soft drinks. I really do enjoy coffee and tea, and the other yummy caffeinated beverages I can get at local coffee shops. I figure it'll be more of a treat by then rather than a staple, which will be nice too.
The Mystery Tired
The bad news is that the mystery fatigue and brain fog are still well entrenched. The good news is that the fatigue seems to have been at least in part due to SAD, because once spring arrived and I started spending more time outside, I've found it has abated somewhat. Either that or I've become so accustomed to it that it feels like the new normal. :P
The brain fog and memory issues are ever-present. I can't catalogue them entirely accurately, because I've set up so many multiple redundant systems to make sure I don't forget important dates and appointments that I've actually done quite well for myself over the past few months. Extended Cognition Tools, ftw! My system basically consists of entering things into my phone calender along with alerts that are triggered one and two days before the event/appointment. I also enter tasks into a to-do list on my phone (I like to use Carrot App because it makes me laugh and has ninja penguins) which also has built-in reminders and acts a bit like a game, in that I get points for accomplishing tasks on time and lose points if I slack off. I also try to write down all relevant information on paper, either in my agenda or my notebook, and on the white board we keep in the kitchen at home. This multi-level system keeps the chaos to a minimum, though there are still plenty of smaller things I routinely forget to do, so it's not perfect by any means.
Nutrition and Exercise
Did I mention that I was trying to eat better? I think I did, probably when I was waxing rhapsodic about mason jar salads. This is the third week in a row (the third work week I should specify) that I've been making them, and I am loving it. I think that over the course of the summer I may try to alternate with other kinds of lunches, just so I don't get bored, but they are delicious and portable and look so, so pretty. :)
The exercise part of the equation is so-so. It's been a busy spring and the summer is looking like it's going to be crazy busy, even moreso than the last eight months combined! So it's been incredibly difficult to find both the time and the motivation do get out there and get lots of exercise. Yoga was sort of a bust, alas, and I may try it again once I've got a more stable routine happening in my life. Right now the lifestyle of commute-work-commute-run around like crazy-commute-work-commute is not conducive to having a regular time for a yoga workout, no matter how short. I just can't do it.
I've been a little bit better about walking. Not great, but better. Mostly I walk when I take the dog out, which is good for both of us. I'm optimistic that I'll be able to take him out much more regularly as the summer progresses, but we shall see. Honestly, walking with him is so much more fun than walking on my own. He's a great walking buddy.
The Great No-Shampoo Experiment
Only as recently as last week I was still doing the no-shampoo thing. I quite like it, and it made no appreciable difference when it came to my hair than regular shampoo. If anything, it made my hair slightly more manageable, as shampoo strips away all the sebum from roots to tips, which makes my already fine hair extremely slippery and prone to standing on end from static electricity.
I got a bit lazy in the past week and went back to shampoo. The one drawback of the baking soda method is that it's a bit more time consuming than just using shampoo, and I've been in a hurry of late. So I've decided that I'm going to use up the bottles of shampoo I have at home and here in Ottawa, and go back to baking soda when they've run out. I figure they should last me until the end of the summer at the very latest, which will coincide with what is likely to be the busiest part of my year. It should work out well, or at least I hope so.
And that's it for now. Stay tuned for more thrilling instalments.