The Boob Tube

That's what my father calls the TV. Not sure why, you'll have to ask him.

It's day 19 of my no tv challenge and I'm DYING!! At least today, I am. While I have been finding ways to stay occupied (i.e. shopping, board games, reading...), there are days that you just don't feel like doing anything and THAT was what today felt like. I just wanted to veg in front of my tv doing absolutely nothing. *SIGH*

I think I felt this way mainly in part because I worked my butt off at the gym yesterday and my entire body was aching. Plus the cold rainy weather always makes me feel like I need to curl up in my pjs with a blanket and just relax. I drank about 18oz of coconut water, took my vitamins, and had lots of protein when I woke up thinking that it might help the sore muscles. If I don't move, I don't hurt. Isn't that how it always is?

So what did I do to ignore the cravings:

1. I turned on the kitchen radio to dance and slide around in my socks and pjs (cause I could)
2. I pulled out my bread machine and baked some whole wheat bread.
3. Cleaned up the kitchen.
4. Continued working on our family haggadah
5. Ran over to the library to get a new book to read
6. Went to the gym

That last one nearly killed me. I must have been crazy. My body was already aching. But I said I would meet some friend for Zumba, which I had yet to try. Verdict: It's a lot of fun! My quads were screaming for the entire hour of dancing, but I endured it and LOVED it. There's another class on Thursday, but I think I might try yoga instead. Tomorrow is a strength training day again and I might just want to do a day of stretching after that. We'll see...

So here it is, after midnight (technically the beginning of day 20) and I survived yet another 24hrs of NO TV. Only 8 more days to go. I can do this!

28 Day Challenge - The first 6 days

If your significant other challenged you to 28 days of no TV or video games, would you accept?
I did. I accepted his challenge well aware of how much I would probably miss my TV shows. And do I? YES!!

We just finished day 6 and can I just say, I MISS MY TV!! While I don't miss it all the time, I do find myself craving it occasionally when I'm eating lunch or dinner by myself. The house is so much quieter. The first couple of days I was so crabby; snappy, even. It was like going through a detox. I kept telling myself "I'm bored. There's nothing to do." But it wasn't true. I have a lot of things around the house that could occupy my time, but I "needed" my TV. I needed the tv, not because I had to watch it, but because I couldn't. I'm perfectly fine reading a book, browsing the net or even finally getting to that project I've always been meaning to start/finish. TV was my background noise.

Here are a few things I've done since the TV has been off:
1. I've listened to my music a lot more in the last 6 days than I have in the last 6 weeks.
2. After 8 years of shelving a story I was writing, I finally pulled it out and started to finish it.
3. Took my dog, Zoe, to the dog park. She's in heaven.
4. Finished a book in 4 days and started reading another.
5. Walked to the library and spent my free time browsing their vast collection.
6. Actually used our Thai cookbook and tried my hand at Asian cooking. I made a fish curry. It turned out well enough that I would make it again!
7. Went roller skating. I haven't done that in years!

So I'm being a little more productive. I think I just need to make that list of all the projects that I've wanted to start or finish and pick something every day to accomplish. I've found that as long as I keep myself busy, I don't feel the need to watch TV or play video games. Being out and about makes this challenge a lot easier. It's the getting home and feeling the need to jump back into my old routine of vegging on the couch that has made this a little difficult. But I'm hanging in there and craving the TV a little less every day.

My original plan was to blog at the start of this challenge, but somehow that escaped me. So I will do my best to keep you all updated on the rest of my TV detox. Here's to weening off the things that rot my brain...