So it's Monday once again, and it's time to give a little assessment of how things went this past week. Sorry for not posting yesterday: it's not that I took a vacation, but rather that I fell asleep early Sunday night after a delicious outing at Prince of India Buffet (You can find them on Fifth Avenue in Oakland or at this website). Every now and then, after a long day of work and week overall, buffets are necessary, but the good ones always induce food comas. Anyways, I'm getting off-topic: I'm not sure how poorly chicken tikka masala or garlic naan affected my body for this week's weigh-in, but I can assure you that I went to the gym more times and ate better through other days of the week.
Body
Weight on 9/2: 217 pounds
Weight on 9/9: 215 pounds (-2)
This week wasn't bad for the body, as I found a couple extra days to go to the gym. After hitting the treadmill three times, I feel that I'm starting to get back some of the cardio that I lost from over the summer. At the same time, skipping rope on Tuesday went really well. I did six sets of 200 skips, going to failure on the sixth set, in which I did roughly 310. Over the next week, if I get a jump rope in my hands once again, I'm going to try to mix up the regimen a bit.
Some questionable food decisions kept some of that hard work from coming to fruition. Pizza and mac and cheese on Saturday did not serve as a good combination, nor did Indian food the next day. However, this week is a new week, and I will be working hard to eat more sensibly. I have a couple loaves of wheat bread now in hand, and I think that will help to quell any food cravings between meals. I know that there are better things to eat, but I'll also try to mix bananas and apples into my meals to get the fresh fruit necessary. The goal for 9/16 is 212, or another 3 pounds off.
Mind
One of the great things about graduate school is that you're always being exposed to new strains of thought, depending on the semester or even the given week. This semester I'm learning a lot more about global economic development, focusing on key issues such as poverty and counterinsurgency. The classes are intense, with some classes asking for at least a book a week; however, I'm up for the challenge. I enjoy that there are different presentations and readings for which I have to prepare, as it allows me to better internalize the readings. I've always held that I learn the best when I have to complete small assignments every week (as opposed to one big assignment at the end of the team). I read chapters of the book I'm showing above, for my Global Poverty capstone course. In it I have learned about the reality of global poverty and some of the tools and approaches we can use to address this very important issue.
In addition, I've continued working with my Coursera course on business strategy. Though I've fallen a bit behind on it (I haven't taken the weekly quiz yet), I have a couple free afternoons in the upcoming week that I can use to view the rest of the lectures, take the quiz, and get a start on this week's lectures. In all, I'm disappointed that I didn't dedicate more time to this course last week, as I encountered some pretty cool topics both yesterday and today, but I will adjust that strategy for the next few days.
Spirit
I managed to summarize some readings that I did this past summer related to the genocide in Rwanda and Immaculée Ilibagiza's re-telling of the events; however, I didn't attack a whole lot more this week in terms of spirit. Maybe it's just that I've been busy; this week, what I'm going to try to do another entry on a saint important to my life. I might look at Thomas Aquinas, the patron saint of scholarship, or perhaps St. Michael the Archangel, whose prayer I try to say every day on my way to school. Either way, this area is probably the area I need to address the most in the upcoming week.
And so, this week's Judgment Day wasn't a harsh one, but I will admit that I was a bit unfocused. I definitely made some mistakes over the course of the week, whether out of pure laziness or just bad choices, and I seek to correct them in the upcoming week. I will keep you all posted on how things are going and will give insights to new things that I'm trying on a daily basis. For the rest of Monday, and for Tuesday, think about how focused you are in your goals, at this point of the year. Are you on track? Is there something keeping you from achieving your goals? How might you turn things around to finally hit your target? I'm already thinking about these sorts of things, and the goal now is to implement them. Find little steps in your daily routine to re-orient your pursuit of your goals, and be sure to test regularly if you're staying on track. Thanks, and see you all tomorrow!
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