Tag Archives: 2023

Wrapping Up My 2023 Workouts (or Still Making Sure I Hit My Goal)

Posted on January 1, 2024 | Comments Off on Wrapping Up My 2023 Workouts (or Still Making Sure I Hit My Goal)

My final week of workouts for 2023 wasn’t my normal workout week. On Monday the studios were closed because of the holiday. And Tuesday had reduced hours since it was the day after Christmas. The reduced hours meant none of the class times would work with my work schedule, and since I wasn’t going to take the day off after having a day off, I just had to miss that day. But I still got in my Wednesday and Thursday workout, plus I got a workout in on Sunday for New Year’s Eve!

I knew this past week was going to be a tough week with pain and nausea, but I kind of got lucky and the worst day of the week for me was on Tuesday. Tuesday was pretty brutal for me and I was struggling a lot while I was working, but at least I didn’t have to go through feeling like that and working out. So it was probably for the best. I still wasn’t feeling great on Wednesday or Thursday, but at least those days were better for me.

And Thursday’s workout was a day I wanted to feel as close to normal as possible. First, it was a signature workout day. We had Everest, which is always a big challenge to get through and I wanted to see if I could get close to my past PR. But also, Thursday’s workout was my 200th class of 2023! In past years, I have gotten to my year’s workout goal a little bit faster than I did this time. But as I mentioned in my last post, I had a few things that set me back in and cut into my workout plans. But at least I got to my goal before the end of the year!

Everest went a lot better than I had expected. I was able to pedal a lot faster than normal for the beginning of the climb which added to my distance. As the incline/resistance levels went up, I did slow down quite a bit. That always happens and that is why I work hard at going quickly in the beginning. As the incline/resistance levels went down, I really focused on my pedaling speed and making sure I was going faster as the time was counting down. For the 3 group classes, Everest is 14 minutes long, so it wasn’t any longer than I normally am on the bike. But I knew that any breaks I might take could ruin my chances of getting close to my past PR so I pushed myself to try not to take any. I did have to take one quick break when my nausea really kicked in, but that was not that long. And when the challenge was done, I ended up beating my past PR and getting a new one!

I have no clue how I did that, but I also know I might have pushed myself too much because the rest of that class was not nearly as good for me. My nausea was hitting me really hard. But I guess I should be glad I was able to hold off feeling horrible until after the challenge was done!

And my final workout of this week and for this year was on Sunday! I didn’t go too early in the morning since I wanted to sleep in a little bit to stay up for New Year’s Eve. If I didn’t have to work in the morning, I probably would do a slightly later workout since I think my body does better in later classes (but working out after work doesn’t work for me so I have to do early morning classes). I was feeling rested and ready for my last class of 2023 and I had a surprise when I got there. The coach for that class was someone who worked at the Brentwood studio that I hadn’t seen in years! She wasn’t a coach the last time I saw her, so this was my first chance to take a class with her! I had so much fun in that class and it was awesome to see someone I hadn’t seen since much earlier in my fitness journey.

I’m so proud that I was able to get to my workout goal for the year. I don’t think I’ll ever make it higher than 200 classes in a year since going more than 4 times a week is probably pushing it for me. But knowing that I pushed myself 201 times in 2023 is something I am so happy about accomplishing!

Here’s to getting to my workout goal in 2024 and beyond!

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Goal Recap Time! (or Things Didn’t Go Exactly As Planned)

Posted on December 27, 2023 | 3 comments

It almost feels like I’m doing a recap of my 2023 goals too early, but since I’m not blogging as often as I used to, now is the time to review how my year has gone! And while I haven’t completed everything since there are still a few days to go, I have a pretty good idea of how my goals for this year will turn out.

My first goal I had for this year was to do 200 Orangetheory workouts. This is one of my goals that hasn’t been completed just yet. This will be done tomorrow, so I will get it done before the end of the year. But I really expected to be to my goal by now since I’m usually over 200 before the last week of the year. But this year, I had a few things that caused me to miss some workouts. I was pretty sick toward the beginning of the year and I missed a week of workouts. I had a day that I couldn’t get out of my parking garage and missed that morning’s workout. The hurricane/tropical storm closed the studio for a day so that was another one that I missed. And this week, I’m only getting in 2 workouts because the studio was closed on Monday for the holiday and it had limited hours yesterday so there wasn’t a workout time that I could make it to with my work schedule. But even though I won’t be getting in as many workouts as I thought I would this year, I will still get to my goal of 200 workouts before the end of the year and that’s something I’m still proud of.

My next goal I had for this year was to work on getting more sleep. This one I consider to be a bit of a success but not as much of a success as I was hoping it would be. I still am working on getting to bed earlier so I can get more sleep, but I have been a lot better about not getting sucked into a book and staying up super late reading the entire thing. I do have a time that I want to try to have my lights turned off, but I’m not always doing that on time. I have been doing a lot better with getting myself ready for bed earlier, but I am continuing to work on shifting that a bit earlier. It’s not easy to do this since I am still trying to do things after work and if I go to bed much earlier that reduces my free time a bit more, but I’m trying to remember that I can just make a sacrifice for the 4 days I have to be up early and not be too worried about free time those evenings and focus on scheduling things when I know I can sleep in a little bit more the next morning.

The third goal I had for this year was to continue setting up my condo. This was another goal that I feel like I had some success with but not quite what I had hoped I would do. I did get a new tv and tv stand for my living room, which helped the room feel more complete. I moved everything out of boxes for the most part even though I haven’t found new office furniture that I like. But I am learning to live with what I currently have because it’s not cheap to replace things. I don’t want to just buy something cheap because it works for now, I want to find pieces that will last. And with my office, I feel like I keep learning more about what will be functional and what is just a design idea that I like. But I have been looking at getting new dining room furniture and I think I have found the perfect thing. I am getting fabric samples now and I’m hoping that it will work out exactly like I hope it will so I can have a new dining room sometime this coming year.

And the final goal that I had for this past year was to rebuild my acting life. Well, this one really wasn’t that successful for me but it also was a bit out of my control. I wasn’t expecting a long strike this year that essentially shut down the entire industry. I also wasn’t planning on randomly finding out that my agent isn’t my agent anymore and needing to look for a new agent. But I’m finishing out this year on some really positive notes (which I’ll write more about when I do my monthly challenge recap), so it wasn’t a complete wash. But I had to rebuild a lot of things that I wasn’t expecting to instead of building upon what I thought I already had.

I’ll be sharing my goals for 2024 soon, but since not everything was accomplished this year that I wanted to, I set up some goals that I feel will be building upon the ones that I worked on this year. And even though my goals this year weren’t perfectly completed, I didn’t fail at any of them either. I found ways that I could succeed and accomplish them even if they weren’t exactly what I planned to do. And making steps forward is totally a win for this year!

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Another Low-Key New Year’s Eve (or At Least I Made It Until Midnight)

Posted on January 6, 2023 | Comments Off on Another Low-Key New Year’s Eve (or At Least I Made It Until Midnight)

I continued my tradition of having a low-key New Year’s Eve again. I know that some people love going out or going somewhere fancy and festive, but that’s just not who I am. I do love occasions where I can dress up, but not when it’s going to be super crowded and likely overpriced. So doing something that isn’t too fancy is much more my speed. And pretty much every year I do the same thing, hang out with my friends and just have a very easy evening.

I’m glad I got to spend time with my friends and it was a smaller group than normal for a few different reasons. But we all still had fun and a nice time being together. It was a little crazy getting there because of the rain storms, but at least I wasn’t in a rush to get there and could take my time while driving. And I lucked out and found a parking spot very close to my friend’s house so I didn’t have to walk too far in the rain.

Since it was storming, we all pretty much spent the evening inside. We sometimes went outside to get fresh air, but it was cold and windy as well. So I’m glad it was a smaller group since we were inside a lot more than normal. Everyone there also were people I knew so it wasn’t like I was around a lot of new people who I couldn’t be sure took as many precautions about things as my friends and I do.

And like many times when I’m with my friends, we just enjoyed spending time together and we didn’t need to do anything crazy. Most of the time I was there, I was just talking with my friends about various things. One of the friends in our group just moved back to LA so we were talking about their job hunt and move. We also occasionally would glance at the tv and joke about how we all must be old because we didn’t recognize the different performances going on. There was also some karaoke happening, but I don’t usually join in for that since I don’t sing. But I do love seeing my friends having fun.

Once it was closer to midnight, we started to play a new card game my friends got for Christmas. It was called Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza and it was really fun! There were some moments when we were all confused about a rule, but most of the time we were playing we were laughing and making fun of each other for some of the silly mistakes we made. I was shocked that I did well in the game, but I ended up not winning in the end. But that’s ok.

I was a bit tired while I was there and there were moments when I wondered if I would have to leave before midnight. I knew I didn’t want to drive if I was tired, especially in the rain. But after the game was over, it was only a few more minutes until midnight so I managed to stay late enough. And when it officially became 2023, we all celebrated together. A lot of people in our friend group have had a rough year (or a few years) and we could celebrate making it through another year and still all of us being in pretty good health.

Only a few minutes after midnight, I decided to head back home. There was a bit of a break in the rain so I wanted to drive before the next storm started. And I never like staying too late since I’m less likely to be on the road with a drunk driver right after midnight compared to an hour or two later. Maybe one year I’ll stay later, but I don’t mind leaving earlier than many of the others since I do have one of the longer drives home.

Once I was home, I realized I took no photos while I was at the party. Usually, I’ll take at least a few, but I guess I was more focused on spending time with my friends and enjoying the moment. So that’s ok with me. Even without photos, I know I had a nice New Year’s Eve and I have fun memories from that night. And I’m sure that in a year, I’ll be doing the same thing again with another low-key night and enjoying it just as much.

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My Word for 2023 (or I’m Ready)

Posted on January 4, 2023 | Comments Off on My Word for 2023 (or I’m Ready)

I try to put a lot of thought into the word that I pick for my word of the year. I want to pick something that really does represent something to me and what I’m trying to achieve, but it also can’t be too specific. For a while, I was also getting a bracelet with the word I picked each year so I tried to limit what I was considering as my word to what was available from that store.

In some ways, having that limitation was good because it made me focus on only a certain number of options. But as I’ve had more and more words of the year, that has also limited me in what works. And over the past few years, I haven’t worn the bracelet (or ring like I got last year) when I’m out so that didn’t seem like a good way to pick something anymore. So when I was thinking of what I wanted my word to be this year, I didn’t have any restrictions and I allowed myself more time to think about it so I could be really sure of my choice.

There were several options that I went back and forth on because they all represented different aspects of things I wanted to see in 2023. But I think I finally found the perfect word to not only represent this year but what I have done in the past. And that’s why I chose my word for 2023 to be Ready.

I feel like this is exactly what I want to use as a guideline for what I do this year. I have spent a lot of time working on myself in different ways and I am ready to see what comes next or what I can accomplish. And I am ready for so many different things in my life to happen.

I’m ready to see changes come in my physical health this year. I’ve been doing a lot to work on different parts of my health, but I think that things will go to a new level this year with all my various health concerns. I also feel like I’m ready to take steps to improve upon what I’ve been doing at Orangetheory. I know I have a lot of struggles because I have so many bad weeks, so I haven’t made a lot of improvements with what I can do. But I want to try to track things better and really see some improvement this year.

I’m ready to put myself out there more, both in dating and my social life in general. I do still want to be cautious because Covid is not over and there are other things to worry about, but I want to stop allowing other fears to stop me. I won’t put myself in situations that feel dangerous or that don’t sit right with me, but I also want to accept and say yes to offers that maybe I’m not 100% sure about. I need to take more risks and I think I’m ready to do that.

And I feel like I’m ready to see what happens with my job. I have made a lot of changes with my work situation the past few years, but especially this past year. And I want to continue to see how I can make my job the best situation possible. I want to stop worrying if I can do something if I’m asked because I know they are asking because they believe in me. I remember reading something about how typically women will not apply for a promotion or accept more responsibility unless they know they can do that work. But men typically will apply or accept something greater if they believe they can do it. I want to switch my mindset from needing to know to believing I can.

There are other things that I think I’m ready for in my life and I just have to be open to what comes my way. I know not everything will be positive and that there will be some setbacks, but I also know the work I have been doing on my own and that I really am ready to take a lot of forward steps in my life this year.

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My 2023 Goals (or Some New Goals and Some Repeats)

Posted on January 3, 2023 | Comments Off on My 2023 Goals (or Some New Goals and Some Repeats)

As I have done each year for the last several years, I have set some goals for myself for 2023. I look at goals and resolutions as different things. Goals seem to have more of a concrete idea of what you want to get to versus resolutions that feel more abstract. I still have some goals that don’t have an exact thing to get to, but I still feel like there are better ways to track my results with goals than I do with resolutions. This might just be wording and the idea that resolutions typically are broken, but for me, I think whatever works is good. And for 2023, I have set 4 goals for myself.

The first goal is something I’ve done quite a bit. I want to make sure I do 200 Orangetheory workouts this year. This goal is the one that I feel is almost a guarantee I will be successful unless something crazy happens in my life. And if something does happen in my life that will prevent me from working out for a few weeks, then I’ll probably reevaluate this goal and make sure it’s still something I can get to. 200 workouts means I go 4 times a week for almost all the weeks of the year. I don’t have to go 4 times every week and I could have a few weeks of just going 3 times. But my plan is to go 4 times a week unless something comes up that make that impossible. But that’s why I have a bit of flexibility with having some weeks where I could go 3 times and still make it to my goal. Even though I look at this goal as something that should be accomplished with very little extra effort, I do like to have accountability.

My second goal for the year is to work on getting more sleep every night. I have been getting very little sleep for a while and I know it’s affecting me. I get up pretty early to be able to work out before work, but I haven’t really adjusted what time I go to bed with the earlier wake-up. There have been far too many nights where I get only about 4 hours of sleep, and that’s not something to be proud of. Since I can’t really adjust what time I get up, I need to work on going to bed earlier. That involves a few different things such as actually getting into bed earlier, not reading as late as I have, and not staying up late to catch up on a tv show or something. Nothing that I do late at night couldn’t wait until the next day, so I have to be better about not feeling a need to complete something at night.

My third goal is something similar to what I set for 2022. I want to keep setting up my condo. There aren’t too many things I have to do to get things set up the way I want to, but all of those things involve money. I want to get the furniture I want for my office since that will help move almost everything still in a box out of a box. I also am looking into redoing my closet since it’s not the best use of space for me. For my closet, I’m hoping this could possibly be something I do on my own to save money, but there are a few things that need to be considered first. But my parents and I are going to look into some options soon so hopefully I can have an idea of what that cost will be and when it can be done. I would love to say that by the end of this year, I won’t have anything left in a box, but I’m not sure if that will happen. But it’s something I’m going to work toward and see how close I can get.

And my last goal for the year is something I have talked about several times and just haven’t done it. I want to rebuild my acting life. I still have been pursuing acting and have been submitting myself for projects. And if I get an audition, I do everything I need to do to have the best audition possible. But I know that things aren’t going as great as they could be. Things still aren’t exactly where they were before the pandemic, but they are much closer so I should be at least closer to what they were like before. But I’m just not there. This will involve a few different things such as trying to get back into class or finding a group to work on scripts together, getting new headshots, and maybe looking into if a different agent could be a better fit for me. None of these things will guarantee that I will get more auditions or book work, but I want to do whatever I can that is in my control to feel like I’m not just playing around at being an actor but an active participant in that career. I know for the last few years I have had my focus on other things, but I’m ready to get back to what I love and hopefully see some results from my work.

I debated about doing some other goals this year and there are other things I might set as monthly challenges or just a smaller monthly goal so I can accomplish more this year, but I think for my big year-long goals, these 4 are really things I need and want to focus on and will help me to have a successful year.

And I hope in 12 months when I’m recapping how 2023 went, I will have a lot of success to share with you all!

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Looking Back At My 2022 Goals (or I Don’t Think I Did As Well As I Could Have)

Posted on December 30, 2022 | Comments Off on Looking Back At My 2022 Goals (or I Don’t Think I Did As Well As I Could Have)

It’s my final post of 2022! This year has been a whirlwind in more ways than one and I think I’m ending this year in a very different place than I expected. I think things didn’t entirely turn out the way I wanted them to, but in other ways, things are better than I expected. I don’t think there’s usually a good way to predict how things will go over 12 months, but I try to do what I can that is in my control. And that’s why I’m always setting different goals for myself. It’s important to try to stay on the path you are hoping to go down. Even if you don’t get things completely right, you usually have at least made strides toward that goal.

And that’s how I feel about the goals I had set for this year. I really thought I picked out some great goals for myself and things just didn’t happen how I thought they would so I don’t feel like I’m as successful as I expected to be. But I still had victories even in the failures.

The first goal I had for myself was to do at least 200 Orangetheory classes. This is the goal that I felt very certain I would be able to achieve and I like having one goal that doesn’t feel like a stretch. But there were moments I was worried I wouldn’t make it to that number. After taking a week off after my foot surgery, I knew I had to limit how many rest days I took. I didn’t have that many weeks throughout the year that I only did 3 workouts in the week, so I was able to make up for that missed week in January. And I will be ending this year with 203 workouts after I do my workout tomorrow. Even though this was an easy goal for me to complete, I like having it because it held me accountable. I am in a routine right now, but I also know how easy it can be to get out of a routine and get into bad habits. So I’m glad that I was able to get this done.

My next goal was to move into my condo and get everything set up. I would say that I was almost fully successful with this goal. I am moved in and have nothing left at my old place (which is a big relief at this point), but I don’t feel like I have everything set up just yet. There are a few things that I haven’t bought that will help me complete my place. But some of them need me to save up money and some I just haven’t picked out the right things yet. I don’t want to buy something just to buy it, so I’m taking my time and being picky. But it’s just a matter of time before I can get everything done on my list. But even without having everything set up, I feel very much at home here and that’s probably the most important thing.

The next goal was to be more mindful of my time. This one was a real struggle for me and something that I will be continuing to work on in 2023. I got a bit better at managing my time and allowing myself to make plans outside of my work schedule, but I still had struggles with organizing my work time with completing tasks in the most efficient way. I’m getting better at it, but I know there is a lot of work I still need to do. And I need to be better about my free time because I also know that I’m wasting time there too. But there are other things I want to work on that I think will help with some of my wasted free time and I’ll be doing those in the new year.

One of the goals I didn’t do so well on was getting out of my house more. I was allowing myself to be more social and go out with friends, but I wasn’t being productive at making plans. I was depending a lot on others to ask me to do things and that wasn’t great. But I know I was doing things outside of my house a bit more than the year before even if it wasn’t exactly what I was hoping to do. I think there are a lot of reasons why this was a failure for me, but issues with free time and still being cautious with the pandemic are the main ones and I don’t know how I could have changed both of those as much as I needed to. But it’s not a total failure because I did do more, so that’s at least something.

And the final goal I had for this past year was to work on my budget more. This one wasn’t that great either, but it was for some things I wasn’t expecting. I am definitely doing better with my budget than I was before, but my tracking isn’t where it needs to be. I should be able to track better than I do and I’m still trying to find what system will work best for me. I was doing ok with this goal occasionally throughout the year, but then I’d have some sort of change that just brought me back to where I started. Whenever my salary changed or I went from an independent contractor to an employee, things should have been easy to change in my tracking but they just weren’t. I sound like I’m making excuses, but clearly, something in the way I was trying to do this wasn’t working for me and I just need to keep trying to see what will eventually work so I can feel better about my financial situation and start planning on how I can enjoy the money I have and not just survive on it.

Overall, my goals didn’t really go how I wanted them to go, but they also weren’t all failures or a waste of my time. I just ended up having different priorities or thoughts as the year went on that made these goals not the ones I put my time and energy onto. But I still had some progress with them all and I know I’m doing better with these things than I was 12 months ago. And I’ve got some goals figured out for 2023 that I’ll be sharing soon that hopefully will be some good ones that I will reflect back on in a year and feel a bit more successful with.

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