Shout Out Saturday : The Blogs's Edition

This week's shoutout will be focused on great blogs I have been reading lately.

Since I decided to get more consistent about blogging, I have been dedicating part of my free time to reading other articles out there. I will already say that this is not an extensive list. There are way too many great entries that if I wanted to share them all, it would simply be impossible. So here I will be sharing (only) 5 of my favorite ones. More will come in the future for sure. Let's get started!

Shout Out Saturday : The Blogs' Edition

How you can make it work for you

Last week I wrote about how I get things done in my life. Those were general rules that I have in mind on a daily basis. They allow me get a lot done within the limited free time that I have. And more importantly, without exhaustion myself.

Each person is different and each moment in our life may require a different approach. We have to keep our eyes and mind open for the need of changes and not to be afraid of jumping in if necessary.

Personally, I prefer to use applications and keep most of my stuff online. This way I can check all my appointments any time, anywhere. When you plan ahead it becomes crucial to have as much information as possible at hand. If you need to make changes in your schedule, you will not have to guess anything. It is all there and you can (generally) drag them from one day or time to another to have them rearranged.

With that said, I still keep a paper agenda with me for the times I have bad connection and cannot go online. Even though I should have 4G by now, I feel lucky when I have connection sometimes. 

Tracking my workouts prevents me from getting stuck in plateaus.

So what do I keep track of?

• Appointments (professional and private)
• Projects (professional and private)
• Goals (professional and private)
• Groceries
• Workouts
• Meals

Appointments

Whether it is a meeting in the office or an appointment with my hairdresser, I write it down. As a rule of thumb, I keep my professional schedule on the agenda from work, and my private ones, electronically. Double booking oneself or forgetting a call is not a pleasant experience and it can spoil your day or even your career.

Projects

I am always working on something. I love sewing, knitting, reading and taking pictures. That in addition to my hobbies and regular chores. To avoid losing sight of deadlines, I make notes about everything. Ideas do not come at predetermined times. Wow-moments can hit you when watching TV or when you are stuck in traffic. You do not want to miss them!

Goals

All the time and energy I invest in my projects and plans cannot be in vain. Many times we are so busy "surviving" that we forget the meaning behind our actions and the reason why we started them in first place.

No matter how much you enjoy the race, remember what you are expecting to accomplish with your efforts. Otherwise, you will not be able to measure your progress. Set goals for 2, 5 and 10 years from now and record them. You cannot get anywhere without a destination.

Groceries

Because of the limited hours of shops and supermarkets here, we buy our groceries on Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons. Therefore, I must keep close track of all ingredients I need to buy for the week in advance. If I miss something, I will have to change my meal plan and it can damage the balance of diet. If you are an athlete, you surely understand I mean.

Workouts

The only way to improve your physique is by breaking plateaus. If you are a runner, it means running faster or longer. If you lift weights, you want to go heavier and have more intense sessions. How can you remember where you were at if you do not write it or input it somewhere?

Meals

After spending more than year following no-brainer diet plans, suddenly I was confronted with having to put my own meals together while keeping a balanced intake. Needless to say that it sounded pretty scary to me in the beginning (I'm a no-cook) and it is still a challenge to keep them varied.

However, when I started putting a schedule together, things got much easier.

When it comes to choosing the tools to use, have your personal preference in mind above any fashion or tendency. At the end of the day, it has to work for you. It might be flashy, cheap, expensive, cool, whatever, but if you do not feel comfortable working with it, it will be a wasted effort.

As mentioned above, I use both applications as well as paper tools to get organized. The more centralized your lists are, the better. And that is the main reason why I go online. However, I do not want to be in the dark if I run out of battery or a server somewhere around the globe goes down.

My number one tool is Google. I use not only Gmail, but their Calendar and Google docs. To keep my partner updated of my schedule, we adopted Cozi. Their system is user friendly, available for both IOS and Android phones and tablets and in addition to a family agenda, they also offer to do and shopping lists as well as a recipe book. For my workout and meals, I have recently adopted BodyMinder. I was still struggling with a method to use for my training and intake journal and it is proving to be a great alternative.

Cozi and BodyMinder are two the tools that I use.

These are just examples of some of the tools that I use. There are other great ones out there for all tastes and preferences. So before choosing one, the first step is to ask yourself what you need to start with. If you are not accustomed to writing things down, do not expect you will get everything tracked at once. It will just create unnecessary stress. Take one step a time. Pick the aspect you need to improve most and work on it. Once the first barrier is broken, the rest will be piece of cake.

Get others in the family involved. Kids may work with stickers, for example. Working together will surely make it a fun experience. How about a vision board? Or a board on the fridge? Be creative!

Once you are into it, you will see how much more productive you have become. And if by any means you do feel at ease with the way you chose to do things, do not be afraid to change. You will only succeed if you use the right method. If you have to do some monetary invest, think of the return you will get by getting your time managed better.

You already have something going on. Awesome!  Let me know what tools you use. For what do you use them? I would love to learn from you too!

Thank you all for stopping by and I hope these tips can be helpful somehow. Success and see you next time!

Decluttering

It is going to be a slightly off topic entry, but since it is part of My 2013 Commitments (I'm not into the word "resolution"), I think it is worth writing about it.

We are already in October and for most part of the year, I did not work on inner self. I wanted, but did not really worked on it at all until really recently.

The trigger of me making this major change was my health. Even though I have been eating really clean for the last month, there were some triggers missing and I had to restart from scratch. I am still taking baby steps in reviewing my meals and workout routine, however the first positive signs are already showing.

Hormone free chicken & turkey. Real food!

So after setting my intake in a good track, it was moment to take another major weight from my shoulders: my lack of organization talent at home.

At work, I simply freak out with the slightest idea of having a messy desk. I do not bother cleaning things up every once and a while; changing places and reorganizing. But at home... It is like my brain cannot process information the same way when I cross the door.

Having chaos around me bothers me more than I can describe, still I had not found a way to work it out in a way that I could made this change permanent. I was so attached to the idea that I "couldn't"...

Browsing aleatory sites, I bumped into FlyLady.net. The fun thing is that it was the first time I felt comfortable with the approach (believe me, I have a collection of books on the subject, with different models that simply did not work for me). She writes for perfectionists, freaks like me who think that if they cannot do it all at once, it is not worth even starting. And so there is clutter.

http://www.flylady.net

I am taking one step at a time, not putting too much pressure on myself. There is only that much I can do with the 'free' time I have in my hands and not feeling 'obliged to' has also helped me so much with my training and meal plans that it is worth to expand it to other aspects of my life. 

You can't rush something you want to last forever.

Today, it has been a week since I started following this plan and since then, I have been getting rid of a lot clutter and I am excited about improving every day.


And you? How are your plans for this year ago?


Remember, there is still time to accomplish a lot before 2014 hits the door! Wishing everybody a lot of success.

My 2013 Commitments

Here we are! The new year has started and it is time to get things going. Maybe you found the title of this entry a little odd. Why "commitments" instead of "resolutions"?

Well, words are what we make out of them. I associate "resolution" to a short-time effort that people drop down when facing any adversity. This idea scares me and that is why I prefer the word "commitment".

Happy 2013! This year I will...

For the first time, I wrote down a small list with my plan for 2013. I feel attached to it already and that is why I want to blog about it. Since then, this list grew a bit, but even if I need to update it here and there, these are the my main objectives for the next 12 months (no specific order):

• Get competition ready by the beginning of April: I am looking forward participating in the Limburg Open, so... ;)
• Keep on improving as an athlete: including stage presence, marketing and all other aspects involved in getting myself known in the sport and  in the media. I have big dreams and having a strong brand is a very important part of it;
• Give the first steps towards a pro-card: the amount of shows in which one can get a pro-card is REALLY limited in EU. Adding to that, I haven't seen any Masters competition for Bikini. I'm not backing down though;
• Finish the Personal Trainer course: there is so little information and support for girls who want to get lean and fit here. I love helping and motivating people. It would be great if I could aid them get in shape too;
• Progress professionally: once a workaholic nerd, there is no salvation for you. I will be assuming a new job position soon and I am really excited about its future possibilities;
• Become a more patient, organized and relaxed person (=zen): as a perfectionist and a control freak, I ended up adding extra unnecessary pressure to my shoulders. I seriously need to start working on that;
• Sleep more: even though it may sound the easiest one, I still haven't been able to find the best solution to achieve it. I'm still struggling with the limited opening hours from all gyms here and my working schedule. I will find a way though;
• Embrace a natural lifestyle: my intake is already based on whole foods, and I already exercise regularly, but there is more I can do to achieve the balance I mentioned some points before by taking a next step towards a healthy life style.

These are my short, medium and long plans for 2013. They are very simple, but require consistency and hard work. I am taking one step a time to avoid creating useless chaos and confusion that could hinder my progress. Like a friend of mine always says: "Life is great!". And it really is, but one has to live it day after day in order to be able to appreciate and enjoy it.

2013

So these are my plans? And yours? What are your commitments for this new year? 


I want to hear from you too! Let's support each other along the way and celebrate together our accomplishments!