Monthly Archives: April 2020

Doing A Lot Of Spring Cleaning (or Trying To Fill My Day)

Posted on April 16, 2020 | Comments Off on Doing A Lot Of Spring Cleaning (or Trying To Fill My Day)

Besides the limitations of being able to do things outside my house, I have more downtime in my house now. My main job doing customer service work has significantly cut my hours. I used to work about 30 hours a week for that job. A few weeks ago, most of my co-workers were let go and I had my hours cut in half. We weren’t doing any shows, but my manager and I stayed on to handle the few customers that were contacting us for help with various issues. Then this week, I became the last one left at my job (because of the way unemployment would work for me, it made more sense for me to stay on than my manager). But I am down to 3 hours a week. I now only will be working 1 hour for 3 days a week to answer voicemails. This could change to no hours, but I’m hoping at least I can keep this.

I do still have my other job (although I am restricted in how many hours I can do for that) and I can file for unemployment to make up the difference in salary once the pandemic unemployment assistance is set up. I’m not as worried about money as I thought I might be. Since so many people are in the same situation as me right now, I know there are a lot of people I can ask for help. And they are making the rules for unemployment different so I am eligible (when normally I wouldn’t be). So even though I’m sad that I’m not working normally, at least there is a bit of good news with the situation.

Now that I’m down to 3 hours a week (plus the other few hours a week I do my other job), there is so much free time for me every day. And I’ve really been trying to be productive. I put a lot more stress on myself to be productive when this all started and I realized that I couldn’t hold myself to that standard. This is not just a normal break with work like I’ve had before. I don’t know how long this will last and there are so many other things bringing stress into my life. SO I’m trying to find ways to be productive but not be hard on myself if there are some days that all I do is sit on the couch and watch tv. So I’ve been making a list of things that I have been putting off when I do feel motivated. And a lot of that list is big cleaning projects.

I’ve only accomplished one of those cleaning projects so far and that was to deep clean my fridge. I usually clean my fridge by wiping it down when necessary. But I couldn’t remember the last time I took the drawers and shelves out to scrub them. And I wanted to add some shelf liners to the shelves and a crisper drawer liner for my vegetable drawer to help keep it clean (or make it easier to clean when there is a spill). So I ordered a few things online that I wanted to use and once it was all here and I felt motivated, I did a huge cleaning of the fridge.

I was able to just shift things inside the fridge so I didn’t have to worry about things going bad. I just did one section at a time and then put things back and moved them around to work on another section. Because I was doing a deep cleaning plus adding liners, it did take a bit longer (it took me longer than I thought it would to cut the liners to the right size). But in the end, I’m very happy with having one big cleaning project done and my fridge looking so nice!

I think the motivation for the cleaning was because I have been trying to be better about cooking. And having a clean and organized fridge does help me want to cook. If I can store my ingredients where I can find them, that helps.

I’m sure that some of you are laughing at me for making such a big deal out of this, and I know that this isn’t something that should be life-changing. But it was something I was putting off for longer than I should and I’m so glad that I did it. It made me feel very accomplished and took up a lot of time, 2 things that I really need to feel these days.

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Default ThumbnailA Big Cleaning Week (or An Excuse to Organize) Default ThumbnailFeeling Like A Fresh Start (or Spring Cleaning and New Toys) Default ThumbnailSpring Cleaning (or Needing To Declutter Again) Default ThumbnailSlowly Spring Cleaning (or Tidying Up My Way) Default ThumbnailIs It Too Early To Be Spring Cleaning? (or Out With The Unused) Default ThumbnailSpring Cleaning (or Feeling Pampered)

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Posted in Food, Fun Stuff

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Some Of The New Normal (or I’ll Need To Get Used To This)

Posted on April 15, 2020 | Comments Off on Some Of The New Normal (or I’ll Need To Get Used To This)

I haven’t been leaving my house to do things lately, so the new guidelines and rules for what we need to do haven’t affected me yet. For a while, people weren’t wearing masks. Then they started to wear them. Now, you are required to wear them in LA. If you go to a business not wearing a mask, they have the right to refuse service and make you leave.

These masks we are supposed to use are not the medical ones. We are supposed to use different fabric masks. I ordered one online, but I haven’t gotten it yet (a friend of mine also made me one, but that hasn’t arrived yet). But I did look at instructions online on how to make one using fabric and some hair ties, so I made one earlier this week to try it out. I had to modify a few things to make it work for me (just using hair ties around my ears didn’t work because of how my ears are shaped), but I figured out how to do it. It’s not perfect, but it does the job and fits the requirement for what we need to have.

And I hadn’t had a chance to use it until yesterday when I had to go to Kaiser to pick up a prescription. I wish I could have had my medication mailed to me, but because of it being a controlled substance, I have to get it in person and show my ID and sign a form to get it. And I waited as long as I could to get my refill, but I was down to 2 days of medication left. I would have preferred to wait until things were a bit more normal, but that wasn’t an option. So I got my mask together and drove over to the hospital when I was done with work.

I’ve never had to wear a mask for any reason before, except when I was skiing and it was a part of my hat. This was a bit weird to wear and made me feel a little claustrophobic. I also think I folded the fabric over too many times because it was very thick and not as easy to breathe through. But I was fine and just had to deal with the weirdness. I’m glad I didn’t need to wear it while driving because breathing made my sunglasses fog up.

When I went to get my medication, I did have to be checked for fever before I was allowed inside, so I know they are being careful. And I used hand sanitizer after any interaction. So it wasn’t too bad considering everything going on. But it did give me an idea of what things will be like as I use a face mask for other things in the future.

I hope the masks I am getting will be a bit better than my homemade one. I still expect that it will fog up sunglasses, but that’s not a big issue. And I will get more used to wearing one the more often I have to do it. I don’t think this will be a forever thing, but it will be something that I have a feeling we will be doing for quite a while.

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Default ThumbnailWeird Feelings About Reopening Things (or I Might Just Keep Staying Home) Default ThumbnailFinally It Feels Like Things Are Normal (or A Week Of Various Self-Care) Default ThumbnailOver A Month On Vyvanse (or A Meeting With My Therapist) Default ThumbnailAnother Mixed Motivation Week (or I Might Be Almost Done With At-Home Workouts) Default ThumbnailCoconut Oil Hair Mask (or Trying A Simple DIY Beauty Trick) Default ThumbnailFeeling Normal Again (or Happy To Be Back In Control)

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Posted in Health

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Still Having Some Cooking Fails (or Trying But Not Being Perfect)

Posted on April 14, 2020 | Comments Off on Still Having Some Cooking Fails (or Trying But Not Being Perfect)

As I wrote in another post, I’ve been cooking a lot more lately. This is a necessity and it’s also a way for me to pass some time each day (because each day does feel like it takes forever). There are still some things about cooking that are difficult for me, plus there are a few additional challenges.

A friend of mine asked me why I don’t like to cook, and I mentioned that I don’t mind cooking, I just don’t really like to cook for just me. Of course, that got me thinking about why that is and maybe I don’t feel like I’m worth cooking for (but that’s a big rabbit hole I could go down). But I think it’s just that I haven’t had the time or motivation to cook, and my kitchen might not be the best setup for cooking.

Well, I definitely have the time now. The kitchen setup is something that I’m working on. Motivation will probably always be a struggle. But the new struggle is also not being able to plan what I might want to cook because I also don’t know what I will be able to get for groceries. This is making me a little stressed out with cooking because I don’t have recipes that I feel comfortable enough with making huge substitutions. But I’m trying my best and also making a lot of things that are pretty basic and simple.

But just because I’m making easy things doesn’t mean I won’t screw them up. I’ve had a few really great cooking wins with making some awesome stuff, but I’ve also had some epic failures. Like ruining an entire recipe because it got to an unsafe temperature but not hot enough to actually cook (and I didn’t notice it for long enough that I didn’t think it could be saved). Throwing out food is not easy, especially when it’s the meal I planned to eat that night for dinner. But in that case, I didn’t think risking food poisoning was worth it.

In the past, that failure might have made me not want to cook for a while, but I don’t really have that luxury right now. I do need to cook almost every day. And while a lot of days are just making something simple like eggs, that still is cooking every day. Sometimes I do have a day where it’s just leftovers or things that don’t require cooking, but those days are rare. Being forced to cook like I am now is probably a good thing, but I’m looking forward to when I can cook without the stress of everything else going on.

I am far from a perfect cook. I know I will screw up so many more recipes in the future. Hopefully, those screwups won’t be complete failures where I have to throw out the food, but that might happen too. I can only try my best and try to make this time of forced cooking the most productive I can and hope that I will come out of this time of isolation with a new habit and a stronger skill set in the kitchen.

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Default ThumbnailLack Of Planning (or No Home Cooking This Week) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps Back To Cooking (or My Check In Kicked My Butt Into Gear) Default ThumbnailCooking At Hipcooks (or Remembering Cooking Doesn’t Have To Be Hard) Default ThumbnailForced To Do Some Cooking (or Making The Best Of Things) Default ThumbnailBaby Steps With Cooking (or I’m Cautiously Optimistic) Default ThumbnailStill Cooking (or It’s Almost A Habit)

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Posted in Food

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Another Week Of Home Workouts (or Still Trying My Best)

Posted on April 13, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Week Of Home Workouts (or Still Trying My Best)

I’ve been doing workouts at home for a while now. I’ve been making adjustments to try to make it seem as close to my regular Orangetheory workouts as possible. I’ve been missing my workouts so much that I even went online to see if there was any way I could get a rower at my house. Turns out, there are companies that rent home workout equipment, but they were all sold out of rentals. And the rowers that I could buy were either cheap versions that I don’t think I would like or huge ones that I wouldn’t have room for once things were normal again.

Fortunately, the at-home workouts have been changing as time goes on and they are getting harder and longer. They started out being closer to 45 minutes and now they are an hour long. And they are adding a lot more work to them so they are getting difficult. I know that I am working hard and I’m noticing that I’m sweating more and needing breaks as I do in a normal workout class. So I have been feeling better about what I’ve been able to do at home.

I still really miss having a coach with me and pushing me. I miss having friends with me in class and feeling that support. And I miss all the different equipment and options I have when I’m in class. But I’m doing what I can and I know that I will need to do this for a little longer.

The Safer At Home order for Los Angeles has been extended through the middle of May. We’ve been doing this for about a month and as of right now we have another month to go. I feel like the order will be extended at least once more to be the end of May. But even if that doesn’t happen, I’m only about halfway through the length of time that I will need to be doing these workouts at home. I know I have made improvements over the last month of what I have been able to get done and I know I can do more improvements over the next month.

This past week, things were also a bit better because I was feeling better. I had only a little more nausea left so that didn’t affect too many of my workouts. And even though I’m still getting over being sick, I’m doing significantly better than I was before. I’m so grateful that I was doing better so I could do more and do a better job with the harder workouts. And I hope that this week is just going to continue getting better.

I wish I had more to say about the workouts, but I really don’t right now. As positive as I am trying to be about everything, there is no denying that this is a struggle for me right now. I have said so many times about how my workouts do so much good for me, and that isn’t happening for me. I know I would be doing so much worse if I wasn’t doing the at-home workouts, but I also know I could be doing so much better. I’m working on being grateful and appreciative of what I’m able to do and knowing that I’m not using this time as an excuse to do nothing.

Right now, what I’ve been doing is the best that I can do, but I want to see if this coming week if I can somehow do more. And if that happens, that will be awesome. And if that doesn’t, I’m going to continue to be happy that I’m just doing something.

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Default ThumbnailMaking Home Workouts Feel A Bit More Like Studio Ones (or I Do Still Wish I Was In-Studio) Default ThumbnailMissing My Normal Workouts More Than Ever (or I Needed Someone To Push Me This Week) Default ThumbnailAnother Mixed Motivation Week (or I Might Be Almost Done With At-Home Workouts) Default ThumbnailSome Of My Best And Worst Workouts (or A New Type Of Home Workouts) Default ThumbnailWorking Through The Workouts (Modifications Are Harder At Home) Default ThumbnailContinuing My Home Workouts (or I Really Am Grateful For Orangetheory)

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Another Thing I’m Learning In Isolation (or Eating Disorder Issues)

Posted on April 10, 2020 | Comments Off on Another Thing I’m Learning In Isolation (or Eating Disorder Issues)

There are so many things that I’m learning about myself and about the world right now. Yes, there are so many sad stories happening and I have friends who have lost loved ones. But I also have never heard of so many stories about how people are helping each other and coming together. I have learned that I’m much more of an extrovert than I thought (I thought I was an introvert until this). We haven’t been doing this for that long and I expect us to have to do this for a while, so I’m sure there will be so many other things I will learn about myself and about others.

But I have also come across issues that I never thought about before that are only happening because of being in isolation. And the biggest ones for me have been with my struggle to recover from my eating disorder. First, my workouts have been so good for me with feeling better about myself. But now, I’m not able to do my workouts the way that I have gotten used to. I’m not able to work out as hard and I’m missing a lot of cardio (I’m working on fixing that, but it’s not easy). Having something that felt like it was helping removed from my life has been hard. I don’t know if I was struggling this way before joining Orangetheory because I didn’t know what I was missing. I don’t know how to get the same feeling I get in class when I don’t have others around me supporting me and pushing me. But it’s something that I have accepted would be difficult to deal with so I’m working on it.

But the biggest challenge or struggle with my eating disorder has been about food (which is usually my issue). I am not used to having this much food in my house. I don’t like it because it makes me uncomfortable. But I know I have to do things this way because I need to limit how often I go to the store. And I’m not keeping foods in my house that I usually keep because I have to find more shelf-stable things or some of the things that I like to have aren’t available or easy to find right now. If I’m craving something, I can’t always find it. And I can’t have a binge of the foods I have in my house because I need that to eat for the rest of the week.

I’m also almost feeling food insecure because of those issues. I know that I’m not actually dealing with food insecurity and that’s a real and serious issue, but that’s the best way I can describe it. I know I have food and I would be fine if I couldn’t get more for a week or two. I wouldn’t be eating anything fabulous, but I have things like pancake mix and ramen that I could have. But I don’t have things that are as familiar to me and I don’t know when I’ll be able to get those again. Going to the grocery store has been stressful, but I have been able to avoid it for the past few weeks. I’ve had both grocery delivery and a friend help me, so it’s been easier now that I haven’t had to deal with going to the store myself. I’m not feeling anxiety by the lines or by being frustrated that I can’t get the things on my list. But I’m also feeling a bit out of control when I don’t see immediately what will be something that can be purchased. It’s a weird situation where I don’t know if I can win.

I’ve seen several articles and heard some podcasts that discuss these issues and say how this is a difficult time for anyone who has had or currently has an eating disorder. Even people in recovery are finding this a challenge and knowing that has made me feel a bit better about my struggles. I’m not alone by any means in this and that is reassuring. There haven’t been a lot of suggestions on how to work through this yet because this isn’t something that people have experience with. The main thing I have heard over and over again is that people need to be gentle with themselves and know that there may be setbacks right now. And that is ok because we are dealing with something that nobody has ever been through before. If right now my recovery takes a bit of a pause, that doesn’t mean I have ruined everything that I have worked for. I can get back to what I was doing before. And maybe I will start to pick up some skills that I can use to help me soon. I don’t know yet, but I am trying to stay optimistic.

I’m sure there will be other things that come up in the coming weeks and months that will be challenges and struggles that I wasn’t expecting. Even when things start getting better, I know that they won’t be just like they were before. We all will need to ease back into normal so we can feel comfortable with not being isolated anymore. But just because things won’t go back to the way they were before immediately doesn’t mean that they will be worse. I hope that I can find a way to make things better for me in the future. And if I can’t, I will just have to keep reminding myself that this time is temporary and any issues I have with my recovery are temporary as well.

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Posted in Health, Tough Stuff

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Appreciating The Little Things (or I’m Lucky To Have Awesome Friends)

Posted on April 9, 2020 | Comments Off on Appreciating The Little Things (or I’m Lucky To Have Awesome Friends)

I want to believe that I typically appreciate the things I have in my life. I know there are some things that I take for granted, but I also am aware of how lucky I am in my life. I don’t think I have a lot of things in my life that would make others jealous, but I do have things that I know others would like and I am very grateful for those. And right now, it’s easy to forget how lucky I am sometimes because it feels like there is so much against me right now.

I have to remind myself that I’m not the only person going through isolation and that almost everyone is dealing with the same things that I am. But it’s hard to remember that when I am alone at my place and I don’t really see others struggling the same way that I am. I have been working on being more open about my struggles because maybe I am not seeing others struggle because they don’t want to share that. So by me being open, I can hopefully make someone else feel alone.

And I am lucky that I have friends who I can be open with and can turn to for help when I need it. I’m not good about asking for help, but I know right now that it’s something I need to get better at doing.

For example, I haven’t been to the grocery store in several weeks since I have been sick. I have been getting grocery delivery, but there are a few things that I either can’t get through grocery delivery or don’t want to get. For example, I needed some dried pasta and it’s not easy to tell grocery delivery that I would prefer this type of pasta but any would be fine. I could be ok with what I was able to get through delivery, but I also wanted to get a few more ingredients so I could make some more tasty and unique recipes.

So I texted my friend Liz who lives a few blocks from my house (and down the street from the grocery store) and asked her if she would mind helping me out. I told her that I wasn’t in desperate need of supplies, but if I could give her a list the next time she went to the store that it would be amazing. And she agreed right away. It wasn’t easy to ask for help, but having her agree to help with no hesitation helped me feel better about it.

She was able to get to the store earlier this week and I gave her my list. I had some things that I felt pretty certain she could find and a few that were harder. And I told her that I knew that she probably couldn’t find everything so it wasn’t a big deal if she could only get some things. And she was able to get everything for me except the 2 that I thought might be impossible to find!

Even though she lives only a few blocks from my house, I drove to her place to pick up the groceries. I had some extra alcohol that I didn’t need taking up room in my place so I brought that for her as a thank you for getting me supplies (I also paid her back for all the groceries, the alcohol was a bonus). I put that in the trunk and figured that if she put the groceries in the trunk that would keep us about 6 feet apart so that should be safe.

The grocery exchange went well and I’m going to remember using my trunk that way for any future help that I might need or if I can help others get supplies. And Liz hung out for a few minutes next to my car (but still a good distance away) and we had a quick catchup chat. It was the most in-person conversation I’ve had with a friend in weeks. Even though I’ve had phone calls and video chats, there is something so different compared to an in-person talk. I really needed to have those few minutes of feeling like I’m in the same space as another person. There really aren’t ways to do that too often right now. Hopefully, there will be some public spaces that I can have some physical distances with friends open soon. Like a park where we can all sit 6 feet apart and just hang out. I am craving those moments right now and it has made me realize how lucky I am that I typically do have those.

It was so nice to feel support from a friend in real life and not just online. I need to be reminded that I do have friends that would do that for me if it was possible. Right now, it’s just not possible unless it’s for a specific purpose. I can’t ask for help for things that are not essential (both for my health and my friends’ health). But this time is temporary and soon things will be able to be a bit more normal. And I will hopefully be able to repay the favor to friends who did help me with so many things, both in-person and virtually.

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

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I’m Officially An Aunt (or Welcome Rory!)

Posted on April 8, 2020 | Comments Off on I’m Officially An Aunt (or Welcome Rory!)

I’m so excited that my nephew is here! He was born last week and now he is home with my brother and sister-in-law. I know that the original plan didn’t quite happen, but I’m still so excited.

Originally, I was going to go up to Santa Barbara when my sister-in-law went into labor. My parents already had plans to spend the month of April there (my sister-in-law’s parents live in Santa Barbara so they didn’t have to travel). When we were at the baby shower about a month ago, we all assumed that’s what we’d be doing. I remember saying goodbye to everyone and saying how I’d see them in a month. I was so honored that my sister-in-law wanted me to be there when my nephew was born and I couldn’t wait to meet him.

Of course, with everything going on, there was no way for us to be there. Even if we were in Santa Barbara, we wouldn’t have been allowed at the hospital. But none of us traveled because it’s really not the smart thing to do right now. We had an idea of what day he was going to be born, so we were all keeping our phones near us to find out the news as soon as possible.

And when he was here, I got photos immediately from my brother. And I am thrilled to introduce you all to Rory James Levin.

I knew his first name would be Rory (and obviously knew his last name would be Levin). The gift I made for the baby shower were bookplates that said “The Library Of Rory Levin”. But I didn’t know his middle name until he was born. I think it’s a super cute name and he looks like a Rory to me.

I’m glad that my sister-in-law’s parents are near them so they can help my brother and sister-in-law out with things. I know that they are working on keeping their house as clean and safe as possible so nobody else is able to come over. But as soon as things are normal again, I know my family and I will be traveling there to meet him. For now, we just have to see him through technology.

I am sad I wasn’t there when he was born and I don’t know how long it will take before I get to meet him, but I also know it’s for the best for everyone’s health. And if everyone just went to see one person, people are going to keep getting sick. So staying home, even if it means missing out on something my family has been looking forward to, is what I have to do. And I’m sure my parents feel the same way since they were so excited to get to spend several weeks with Rory. But they will be there as soon as they can and I’ll probably time out my trip to be at the same time so I can see my parents as well.

I have several friends who are pregnant and close to their due dates and I know that there are so many unknowns or weird things with trying to give birth right now. Everyone is handling it the best that they can and I hope that my friends have a similar experience to what my sister-in-law had. Even if my family couldn’t be there to support my sister-in-law, I’m glad my brother was there and that they do have some family nearby that can help them if they need it. Plus, everyone has gotten more familiar with different delivery grocery options lately so I know they know how they can safely get groceries without having to leave their house.

For now, I’m just going to enjoy knowing that I’m officially an aunt and I can get so excited for when I get to meet Rory in person (hopefully) soon! And I now have lots of time to find really cute presents to get him so I can bring lots of things when that happens!

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Posted in Celebrations, Fun Stuff

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Escaping My House For A Bit (or Enjoying Some Time In My Car)

Posted on April 7, 2020 | Comments Off on Escaping My House For A Bit (or Enjoying Some Time In My Car)

Between the regular isolation we are supposed to be doing and avoiding going to the grocery store on my own since I’m sick, I’m not seeing anything other than the inside of my house much. I did walk my trash can to the curb and bring it back, but that’s about it. I’m not going for walks in my neighborhood because I don’t have a mask right now and I know that I’m a higher risk of getting sick. I am doing this for my own protection, but it’s not easy.

I’m not used to only being inside my house. And this past weekend I was going a bit antsy and stir crazy. I needed to get out of my house but I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t going to go to get supplies and there aren’t many other places to go. But I needed to not be home and I realized that I probably also needed to drive my car. I hadn’t driven it in a few weeks and I didn’t want the battery to die. So I decided on Sunday that I was going to go out for a drive.

I didn’t have a place in mind to drive to when I got into my car, but I decided to head toward the beach and see where I decided to go. I knew the beaches were closed and that the parking lots were likely closed too, but I figured if I couldn’t find a place to go I would just drive around for a bit and then drive home. No matter what, it would be something different than being home.

And when I got to the beach, I started to drive up PCH and thought I wouldn’t find anywhere that I could park unless I went much further north where I could park on the side of the road, and I didn’t feel like driving that much. So I drove toward Malibu and then found a place to turn around and head back. But on the drive back, right before turning away from the beach I saw a side street and decided to take a chance on finding some random street parking. After driving up and down a few streets, I found a parking meter and pulled over. And it was a parking spot with an amazing view!

There were a few people on the beach path, but there weren’t many people out (which is a good thing). I don’t know if I’ve ever seen the beach this empty before. Even on a rainy day, I would see people out there. It was so eerie seeing it like that, but it was also a bit nice because I had a really pretty view of the sand and water. I sat in my car for a while just looking out at the water and feeling lucky that I had the option to drive there and have a good view. And then I headed back home.

Even when I can start going to the grocery store again, I might have to do these random car adventures from time to time. It really helped me feel better just getting out and going somewhere different. I needed something to get me out of the feeling of every day being a repeat of the day before. I wish I could have done more, but for now, just driving somewhere might be my only option. But at least I have an option to do something and I need to make sure I plan to do more things like this to keep myself sane.

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Default ThumbnailRandom Driving Around LA (or Anything Is Entertainment) Default ThumbnailDriving Around For No Reason (or Finding Places That Make Me Happy) Default ThumbnailLA Adventure (or How To Enjoy A Day Without Your Own Car) Default ThumbnailUnexpected Car Shopping (or New Year New Car) Default ThumbnailEnjoying More Food and Wine Festival (or Enjoying A Hot Day At Disneyland) Default ThumbnailThe Roadrunner (or More Memories In My House)

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Posted in Fun Stuff, Tough Stuff

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Working Through The Workouts (Modifications Are Harder At Home)

Posted on April 6, 2020 | Comments Off on Working Through The Workouts (Modifications Are Harder At Home)

I’ve been getting used to doing my workouts at home, and that’s a good thing. I finally feel like I have some good workout equipment (although there are a lot of things I wish I had). I’m able to feel like I’m doing a workout and not just goofing around while doing it. I can get my heart rate up and I’m sweating a lot. And I’ve had some moments of muscle soreness which made me really happy. I know that I’m working my muscles if I’m getting sore.

But this past week, I struggled a lot too. It was a combination of things that affected my workouts. First, I’m dealing with being sick. I feel pretty certain that it’s bronchitis because of how I’ve been feeling. But that also means that I’m out of breath from just doing the workouts. I’m coughing constantly, and even more when I’m breathing hard. It makes the workouts even harder than normal and requires me to take more breaks than I normally would need. I’ve dealt with this before and I know it will take a long time to recover, but I will get better. And because of how my symptoms are, I still feel pretty certain that it’s not COVID-19, which is good.

But I also was dealing with my monthly pain and nausea. I’ve been dealing with that for long enough that I am very used to it. But I’m only used to doing workouts with pain and nausea when I’m at the Orangetheory studio. When I’m in class at the studio, there are so many ways I can modify things. There are different pieces of equipment that I can use to make the exercise easier on me or to do a completely different exercise. I don’t really have that option when working out at home.

For example, any plank work that I had to do was so hard on me. Normally, I would use the bench for my hands so I wasn’t really face down. I looked around my house for what I could use to replicate that, and I wasn’t able to come up with a good option. The closest I had was using a step stool, but it wasn’t stable enough when I was using my hands on it. I thought about just standing and leaning on my walls, but that made it not make me nauseous but I didn’t feel like I was working out. I’m going to keep looking around my house for things I could use since I know I will still be nauseous this week, but I’m open to any suggestions if anyone knows of anything I could try using.

There were a few other things that I would have loved to have modified if I had more options with my weights. I am very limited in my house with what I can use as weights. Even the weights I bought only are a fraction of what I’m used to using. So I know there are some exercises that I’m doing with weights that don’t feel like they are doing much. It’s better than doing nothing, but it’s a bit annoying when I know I could do more if I had what I needed.

I know I’ll have the same struggles this week because neither issue will be better. The pain and nausea might not be an issue at the end of the week, but it might still be. But the issues from being sick will be something I probably will be dealing with throughout this month. I do need to figure out how I can modify things without having all the stuff I’m used to using. I’m planning on reaching out to some of my coaches to get their advice, but I know that a lot of things that others have suggested to me are not things I have in my house. Maybe I’ll need to do some more online shopping to get more equipment just to be able to do it. But I’m hoping my coaches will be able to suggest different exercises I can try in place of the ones I can’t do.

There are so many things I miss from my normal life right now, and my workouts are a big one that I miss. I miss my friends, my coaches, what I can accomplish, and feeling so strong. I never knew I could miss workouts this much. I know that everyone around the world is going through this same thing, so everyone is missing stuff. And at least I have the at-home workouts to make it as close to normal as possible. And I just have to keep pushing myself however I can so when we are able to be back in class that I’m ready to get back into it full force!

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Posted in Fitness

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Dating In Isolation (or Another Thing I’m Trying To Keep Normal)

Posted on April 3, 2020 | Comments Off on Dating In Isolation (or Another Thing I’m Trying To Keep Normal)

Everyone right now is learning how to do things in a new way. There are so many people who have never worked from home that are trying to figure out how to manage things (and they are learning that it’s not as easy as it might have seemed). We are trying to figure out better and safer ways to get the supplies that we need in our daily lives and reevaluating what is necessary and what is not. And we are working on figuring out a new normal and seeing what we can continue doing.

And yes, figuring out our new normal includes some frivolous things. Not everything right now is serious and it’s ok to focus on something that isn’t as important as others. For example, I have a few friends that have had to cancel their weddings because of everything. It’s ok to be upset that it’s canceled even though they know it’s for the best. Or for kids to be upset that they can’t see their friends. I’m figuring out some things that I know are not that important and being upset that I’m not able to do things the way that I’m used to. Everyone is working through this right now and we each have different ways of dealing with it.

In one of the dating related Facebook groups that I’m in, the discussion about dating right now has been a very active topic. There are the obvious things like how we all know that we cannot go out and go on a date with someone. Some people have discussed temporarily moving in with someone that they weren’t super serious about yet so they would still be able to see each other during isolation. Honestly, if I was seeing someone regularly right now, I’d probably be doing that too. Isolation seems to be the make it or break it point for a lot of people. Either they are trying to find a way to be together right now or they realize that they don’t care enough about the other person so they end things.

And then there are lots of people who aren’t seeing anyone regularly or seriously and are debating if they should just temporarily give up on dating right now. There is a lot of reason why this makes sense. In my dating profile, I have a statement that I’m looking for something real and not just a pen pal. I hate messaging back and forth on the apps. I would prefer to meet someone right away because I have had amazing chemistry with someone over text and no chemistry in person. But now, messaging is really all we can do.

But at the same time, I’ve been looking at this as a moment to change up my dating strategy. Maybe not getting to know someone without being in person could be a good thing. It’s not like I have another option. I have to find ways to connect with someone without being together if I want to keep trying. And at the same time, I still want to protect some of my personal details like I always have. For example, I don’t feel comfortable giving out my phone number until I’ve met someone because I like to know they are real and not a scammer.

Some apps are making things a bit easier than others. For example, on Bumble they have a built-in phone and video chat feature. So you can talk to someone on the phone or have a video call without having to give out your number. That’s a nice thing and I wish other apps would have that feature (at least for right now). And I have been using those features with guys that I have matched with in the past week. It’s still not as good as getting to meet someone in person, but it is an improvement over texting.

I have no clue if I will actually connect with someone right now. Or if I do connect with someone that it will last until whenever we would be able to meet up in person. In normal times, I’m not on dating apps just to talk to people. I am on there for the purpose of trying to find someone. But now, I’m relaxing on that idea a bit. I still would love to find my person, but I also am craving any human interaction and dating apps do help to provide that. I’m not just swiping right on everyone to match with anyone and everyone. I still have my standards with who I would want to spend time. But it’s feeling a bit looser and I’m open to talking to people I might have rejected before. Maybe this could help me find someone better than who I have been meeting or maybe not. I have no idea. All I know is that this is one part of my life that I’m not giving up on just because things are changing in the world.

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Default ThumbnailStill Figuring Out Dating During COVID (or Phone Calls, Video Chats, And Social Distances Meetups) Default ThumbnailAnother Dating App Ban (or This Is What Makes Me Over Things) Default ThumbnailDating Life Update (or I Guess I’m Lucky I’m Still Seeing Humor In This) Default ThumbnailStill Trying To Get Back To Normal (or Isolation Monthly Challenges Really Are Not Easy) Default ThumbnailStill Trying To Figure Out Pandemic Dating (or Sometimes You Can’t Plan For Things) Default ThumbnailDating And Disneyland (or Not My Post-It Day)

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