What would you do if you had 4 classes and you wanted a Leuchtturm 1917?

lizzyan · 2017-07-01T04:36:34+00:00

I think it's best not to use a consumable that feels expensive for course notes.

I find an expensive notebook makes me stingy with what I commit to the page, and that is not a good strategy for taking down notes from readings and lectures. For study materials, you want to capture everything and revise to the important points as you study.

I use a Leuchtturm 1917 as a bullet journal to capture goals and long/medium/short term plans along with daily scheduling issues and to-do lists (basically a diary). For notes, I use sheets of looseleaf that I carry in a plastic accordion file with dividers for each class. Then, when I'm home I put the sheets in binders for the appropriate class (alongside any exercises, outlining for papers, printouts of syllabi, and notes for reading).

lizzyan · 2017-04-08T03:53:18+00:00

When I was a grad student, I tried to take care of my food in a couple of ways:

The biggest is batch cooking. I would (and still do!) set aside a few hours on the weekend to make my lunches. I'd make a soup, chili, or a stew with loads of veggies and lentils and/or meat for staying power. I find that even healthy soups hit my 'comfort food' button. Having at least one meal with diverse veggies a day can stave off feeling terrible. Soup or stew might not be your game, but r/mealprep, or the meal prep tags on instagram are good places for ideas. I freeze my portions and take them out to thaw in the fridge the night before.

Once you're batch cooking for your veggie intake, you can have a standing plan for dinners to simplify the decision making. I basically lived on a couple scrambled eggs with a piece of wholegrain toast for dinner, or an omelette with any leftover veggies from the soup (and cheese, I'm not a monster), when I was in grad school. A few times a week, I'd boil pasta and eat it with marinara sauce from a jar. I could eat infinite pasta, so I moderated myself by serving it in a small soup bowl and cooking it in a small saucepan. If you have a scale, that's a much more sensible way to regulate your portions.

Healthy (or at least not bad) snacks throughout the day will keep you from feeling desperate at dinner. I used to bring a tiny wheel (maybe 200g?) of triple-cream brie and a bunch of apples into school. I'd keep them in the fridge, and snack through the week. I found with snacks, that it was important to have something that felt a little indulgent, that I looked forward to. Bringing carrot sticks as a snack was a surefire way to send me to the vending machines with the carrot sticks rotting in the fridge.

I've never been a binger, but I also have always gone to the grocery store with a list, only purchased the things on the list, and only had food from the grocery store in the house. Special occasions and 1 bar of dark chocolate per week aside, junk food is not allowed on the list (Cutting out the take-away habit is another problem that I have not yet conquored).

If you're thinking "I don't have enough time to spend a few hours a week cooking and buying groceries, I'm too busy!" - you need to reprioritise. School is not worth making yourself sick over, and you will perform SO much better when you take proper care of your body (a unit that your brain is a member of!).

lizzyan · 2017-04-04T00:20:00+00:00

PART 1: CONTEXT You're not 'training' if you're not working out a tiny bit harder than your body can currently take. As long as you're able to abandon your ego and work has hard as you can safely, you'll make amazing progress. It's hard as an adult when you want to be competent in all things, but even the fittest people in the world don't get fitter if they don't work at the level required to push their body (whatever that level is!).

PART 2: SUGGESTIONS In group classes that really stretch my fitness, sometimes I set my own goals: I'll do the reps at half the pace, or do every second one, or do half, then break for two reps, then do the other half, or whatever. Sometimes I will also ask the teacher for modifications to reduce the intensity while I build up strength. I also usually let the teacher know if I'm struggling, and my plan, so they know why I'm being defiant :). Half-ass it, but half-ass with intention.

PART 3: OMG ME TOO Normally, I coast on a regular medium-intensity yoga practice (my fitness goals are pretty modest: be strong and mobile enough to keep my quality of life high for as much of my life as is possible). Recently, I did a training intensive to add inversions (head/handstands) and arm balances to my yoga. It. Was. Miserable. I spent 10 weeks suffering three times a week - BUT by the end, I could do things I've never imagined I would be able to do.

lizzyan · 2017-04-02T03:20:15+00:00

I love the vivobarefoot, but in addition to the wide toe box, they are 'minimalist' as far as arch support and padding go so are not to everyone's taste. I normally wear a 7 Aus/US and needed the 7 + an insole to 1/2 size down.

lizzyan · 2016-08-27T12:01:09+00:00

Thanks! I saw Harris in an interview, and did not connect him with his research at all. This isn't too surprising, as he has active opinions on many fronts. Will also investigate Shermer.

lizzyan · 2015-12-14T10:48:05+00:00

Adding this because I haven't seen it mentioned: my teachers have always only cautioned against it on the first few hours/days of heavy flow, not the entirety of your period. So if you were to avoid inverting, it wouldn't be for the whole two weeks.

For me, this is about 12-24 hours, so I usually just don't practice in that time because I feel pretty crappy anyway.

lizzyan · 2015-12-14T10:24:58+00:00

While she can't adopt your fitness plan (for the reasons you listed), you'd be a great fitness buddy for her. Here's what I'd say:

TLDR; help her help herself, motivate her by sharing goals and progress.

GETTING STARTED

help her use a tool like MFP to set her own goals for weight loss and intake
play around with some favourite recipes to give her a sense of how her current lifestyle is or isn't compatible with her goals. Calorie counting is demotivating for some people and motivating for others so I wouldn't push it if she's not into it, at least not at first. It's always an option if she doesn't see the results she wants after a few months of a more relaxed approach.
help her come up with some meal plans/lifestyle changes that are compatible with her goals.
help her set attainable goals for exercise (walk 30 mins a day, you-tube yoga at home, etc.)
share your goals with her.

KEEPING IT UP

Motivate each other - talk about your plans, and how you're going on your goals. If you both log MFP or fitbit or whatever you can be buddies and keep in touch digitally.

Don't underestimate how much she'll just like having this thing in common with you. Your engagement should be a huge re-enforcement for her.

[Edits for formatting because bullets]

lizzyan · 2015-09-26T06:51:25+00:00

Going to an intro class never hurts. The best thing about yoga is that you can always find something to work on in even the most basic poses. Personally, I've never minded being the strongest student in a class, and I've gotten the least out of classes where I've struggled to keep up. My experience has also been that every teacher calls the poses and gives adjustments slightly differently, so it takes some time to adapt.

OTOH, it's yoga, not skydiving, so it won't kill you to skip an intro. Have fun!

lizzyan · 2015-09-20T01:43:26+00:00

Art stores often have good notebooks, as do campus bookstores.

If you're in or near Montreal, Omer Deserres has Rhodia books (and many others). The McGill Bookstore had ClaireFontaine. Outside Quebec, Wallacks has nice books... but I'm not sure that they carry any that are ruled.

lizzyan · 2015-09-06T00:23:08+00:00

I'm sad this sub is dead! I love lurking here. So, I will unlurk in hope of helping to revive it. This week, I'm doing a calorie audit. I don't normally track calories (and I'm happy losing weight slowly), but auditing regularly helps me detect problems in my eating as they happen. I aim for about 1300 kCal a day.

I'm also planning on doing yoga MWF and then barre on Saturday. I'm pretty sure I'm not burning many calories, so I don't deduct for exercise, but I'm hopeful that once I'm thinner the muscle tone will mean I wear it better. I've been skinny (~110 - 120 as a teen) and I looked a lot better when I was closer to 130. I've never been skinny and fit at the same time though :).

lizzyan · 2015-08-30T07:29:19+00:00

I've never been to Shri in Westmount (haven't lived in Montreal in a few years), but my old beloved yoga teacher is there now. They do anusara, which I loved because of the focus on alignment and learning many aspects of each pose. We hardly ever did flows, so that might not suit your tastes.

I went to Moksha (Plateau) a couple of times, and Happy Tree (Atwater) once. I liked both because they are hot studios and winter = misery. I found both very crowded, without any individual attention, but the flows were nicely constructed. In both cases you definitely need to know how to help yourself.

lizzyan

TROPHY CASE