Ahhh week 5… almost 10% of the year already done with. I was a moody cow but still managed to get some things done…
WEEKLY GOALS:
A2) Weigh 140 (2.2lb/week): So I lost 1.8lb, on the very last day, after having been different versions of the same number for the entire week and wallowing in frustration and gloom! Just goes to show that you should never give up if you know you are doing the right things. That’s 1.4lb for the month and 6.6 for the year so far – but most importantly puts me at a weight I haven’t been since 2011 – incidentally the year I was last at my lowest ever weight. This has definitely been a milestone I’d been longing to get to and although progress is slower than hoped for (because when is weightloss ever actually faster than hoped-for?!) it’s a definitive step in the right direction. I know I’m on the right path now and am on track to lose more in February than January. For now, at least.
A3) Observe an exercise regime and meal programme that works for me and ticks over in the background. I’ve got to have a little LOL here. I was all enthusiastic about this during the week (triple swim followed by a long walk and a jog) and then completely failed to go for my long swim on Monday! So it was 5×5 but that’s OK. I wanted a day at home on Monday and wasn’t in the mood for leaving the flat let alone trekking out to the pool and I only had time to complete either my music hours or get in a 6th workout, so I decided since I’d already done 5 that I’d prioritise the music, and I think that’s the right decision. IF I hadn’t done 5 already I would have prioritised the workout but as it is, I opted for balance.
B1) Combined practice target of 720-730 hours or more (15h/week on average): exactly 15 hours done. I was way ahead by the weekend and did 4 hours on Saturday but then completely lost momentum on Sunday, had to do 5 hours on Monday just to break even. That said, I took my February goals to heart and tried out a load of new songs and arrangements, and I think I’ve exhausted all that’s worthwhile from my own songs, plus I got one backing track recorded. Visible progress again and a swing towards song hours vs. piano hours which is a good sign (as I tend to do more piano when I’m just making up time because it’s easier!)
C1) Read at least one book each in Japanese, French and German (5/8/4 pages) – all done, and a week ahead. It’s not that difficult – the only one I’m struggling with is German.
C2) Retain the ability to write all the kanji I’ve learned so far (up to level 3) – weekly test rotation. Done – new rotation and much less of a fail-rate than last time.
C3) Learn the rest of my 常用漢字 (standard kanji) and be able to write any character from the reading/meaning: 12 characters a week. 5th card done, but incomplete although I did review readings so it’s swings and roundabouts really. I will always be a little bit behind on these but I only have 38 weeks’ worth of kanji to learn so I will have some time to get them solid before the end of the year. Having trouble scheduling this one.
C5) Improve written French (work on this weekly) – ½ hour/week – OK so again this is not done BUT I’m claiming exemption because I’ve made a massive discovery! My friend at work asked me if I liked watching Japanese dramas and sent me a link to a site that has thousands of hours of J-dramas of all different sorts – I requested one based in an office so I could get some office-lingo exposure. Anyway some of the videos are subtitled in French so I can listen in Japanese and read in French simultaneously, brain completely fried but I did that for wayyy more than half an hour this weekend so that’ll do!
C8) German listening – at least once/week on walks to work – Done.
C9) Read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in Russian – 14 pages or tapered version – Still on target and I was happy to surpass my January target overall.
C10) Incidental languages – one session a week, ½ hour – Not done, but I’ve been working on Japanese letters and watching Japanese videos so I’ll count that time in here.
G1) Pass F9 and become officially “part qualified” – 2hours per week – I finished Chapter 2 and was supposed to do Ch3 but failed – work has been manic. Plus I hate this paper! (This may be a recurring theme!)
E1) Weekly card – Tried a new technique cutting away with a craft knife and made a couple of simple cards, nothing really dramatic or potentially useable but still, worth experimenting with.
E2) Weekly scrapbook page – not done, this was the loser in the toss-up over priorities this week.
F1) Maintain friendships – had a home friend come up for a long lunch on a work-day, so that was cool, and didn’t cut into my weekends or evenings!
F2) Weekly post item – the Japanese letters are STILL NOT DONE although one is drafted! Which means this hasn’t been done but if I can get them both done next week I won’t feel bad about it!
F3) Weekly gift – not done, I think I still have a week in lieu to claim here right?! In all honesty this goal will probably get shelved until the second half of the year unless I actually have to buy something.
WORK TOWARDS MONTHLY GOALS:
A4) Tackle one eating habit per month – my habit for February is to eat as little as emotionally possible. I definitely have found myself engaging with this on a daily basis if only at a couple of crucial points each day. I’m at least getting into the habit of thinking about whether I really need to eat or if I’m not still full from the meal before.
E3) Monthly sewing project – not started grrr.
Work on my music goals is going well as mentioned above!
FOR NEXT WEEK:
- Sleep has been interesting – we both slept masses over the weekend, two really good nights and then a lie-in/nap on Sunday and from there it all kind of went downhill, and two bad nights have followed. I’m starting to wonder if the only solution to this is to rule out lie-ins altogether and get up when I first wake up at the weekend – but is it really worth it, and would it really help? I do so dearly love a good lie-in and if I don’t do it and then still don’t sleep well on a Sunday/Monday night, I’ll be crippled for the week ahead. That said, we have normal hours this week so hopefully the weekdays will see a more regular sleep pattern. I definitely benefitted on Saturday from having prioritised sleep more during the week.
- I’ve got a social thing on Thursday and need to organise a lunch for a work-friend’s birthday, which means getting my arse in gear and getting a present too.
- Work is pretty manic pretty much all of the time at the moment! I am really struggling to fit everything in and am wondering which of my study activities will be the first casualties if this is set to continue. With a view to this, I did make a re-list of priorities in descending order so I know what I NEED to get done and what I can afford to let slide. The problem I have is that most of the things that are higher on the list need to be chipped away at every day to get that cumulative effect – especially various kinds of learning – so I have to prioritise those and then schedule everything else around them which means I can get behind pretty quickly. Not sure how to go about making more time here.
alifeindetails 
Congrats at hitting a little milestone in your weight goal! That’s very exciting!
Re Japanese videos — I have watched a few Japanese movies by reading French subtitles, which is kind of hilarious. Once I was watching with DH, so I was translating the French into English for him as we watched (as best as I could: my French isn’t spectacular), and it made me laugh that so much translation was going into watching a pretty hokey movie! 🙂