Another Year, Another Time to Try Again.

I came to the realisation the other week that while I'm miserable and hate my working conditions and my family sitch, I don't need to make it worse on myself by also making myself miserable about my size and the fact that I don't fit into my clothes.  In fact, out of the big 3, this is the one I have the most control of.  So I should control it, and be responsible for it. 

I'm gonna get a hold of this eating sensibly and moving meaningfully business.  

I've started relogging in my MFP diary, and I sat down this weekend to foodplan what I was going to eat for each meal & when I was going to cook what. 
     Not gonna lie, it took a while.
   
Thinking about what I wanted when was time consuming.
     I had trouble thinking so far ahead to Thursday & Friday.  I wrote the meal plan out on a sheet of paper, with a basic idea of what I was going to eat for breakfast, morning tea, lunch & dinner.  For example, tonight for dinner I am having tortellini with a spinach based pasta sauce.  I sat down and planned out (as best I could) for a whole week in advance.  Probably took me over 60 minutes.  I got distracted or frustrated along the way too.
     Writing the specific details into my (paper) food diary wasn't too bad.  That only took about 15 minutes for the whole week, given I had to flip back and forth between pages as I realised that I would need to create a recipe for the green sauce, so I needed to list the ingredients for that.  I keep a paper food diary in a notebook so I have somewhere to write down how much everything weighs.  This is especially useful for when I am creating my own recipes and I don't measure out my quantities in something as arbitrary as 'cups' when the food I am eating isn't liquid, like a stir-fry.
     I would love to know how people know how many cups of food they've cooked without ladelling their whole dish from one container to another 1 cup at a time.  For me it's easier to create a 'recipe' listing the raw weights of the ingredients, weigh the whole thing when it's finished, and then create portions based on 100g serving sizes.  Then, when I do weigh out how much I've eaten, like 335g, I know it's 3.35 servings.    I find it a quicker process.
     It was entering everything in advance in MFP that was trying.  Nearly 1.5 hours to enter a week's worth of logging in advance.  I did it though, so that when it came time to log the weight, I could save time during the week, by already having the ingredients/foods already entered and I wouldn't have to search for everything.  It was quicker on my phone too, than the webpage.  Recipes were easier to do on the computer, but everything else went through the phone. 

On Saturday I went to a butcher to get quality mince and chicken breasts.  I shopped at a Fruit & Vege grocer first, before going to Coles to get everything else I needed.  For the first time in a while, I set myself a food budget, and I think I stuck to it.  <--- This is another much needed motivation.  I was finding myself going through Drive-throughs and spending $20-25 for a meal, sometimes three times a week.  I don't have that much free money to just throw away. 

I decided to join MFP's April 2016 Running Challenge.

I have never really paid attention to how much I walk in a month, so I set myself a fairly low goal of walking 30 km this month (~18mi).  I'm trying for consistency more than I am concentrating on distance.

I always start out with good intentions, and walk 2-3 days in a row, and then... fizzle.  I get lazy.  Or find excuses like I don't have time, or I'm tired.  I'm trying to tackle that by taking the time to evaluate: am I physically tired, or mentally tired? Because there is definitely a difference and I need to work on recognising that, and not letting it get in my way.

I'm re-evaluating my goals.  I'm currently at 110kg and I wanted my first goal weight to be 90kg because that's the BMI cutoff between being obese and merely overweight.  I've stepped it back a fair bit and am going for 105kg, because that becomes the distinction between Obese Class II and Obese Class I.  I'll look into setting myself 5kg goals after that.

I've also measured 7 points around my body to keep a track of too, because it's not really about weight for me.  I honestly couldn't care if the scales said 400kg! It's the fact that I don't fit into clothes that really gets me down.  So taking (and writing down!) those measurements and entering them into my spreadsheet is going to happen the first Monday of every month.  I won't share them publicly I think, but I will be graphing them to see what happens.

An update – what I’ve done, what I’m going to be doing

Okay, I did mention last post that my posting is sporadic, and I would try to update again soon(ish). A month later and here we are.

So, my previous update was in late March.

Early April I bought a fitbit.  I own a fitbit One and I think it’s great.  I really enjoy using it and seeing every day just how active or inactive I am.  The days when I am not at work, I tend to be really, really inactive.  I barely make 5,000 steps those days.  So it motivates me on really lazy days when I’ve been on the couch all day to at least get out in the afternoon and take a 3km walk.  Along the same routes that I took earlier this year when I was going for a walk every morning.  

In June I was particularly busy:

I did (for the second year) the 14km City2South funrun (15^th June).  I walked it, because that’s pretty much all I was capable of.  My goal was to finish faster than last year. 

If you recall, my last years’ time was 2:44:24.  An average pace of 11:44min/km. 

 
This year I managed to finish in…

Time, time, time; see what's become of me

Hi there!

Yes, I disappeared again.  

And it is for the obvious reason you assume – where I stopped caring, so I stopped trying, so I stopped eating good food and I stopped exercising, so I stopped logging food and exercise, so I stopped blogging about it.

I gained some weight back.  I was hovering around 98kg last time I blogged.  Nearly back at my starting weight!! Now, I’m closer to 102kg.  But that’s okay.  It’s not way up there near my all-time high - 108kg - it's just not where I want to be.  But, as I keep saying, “I can change that”.  And I do.  And I’m getting there slowly.  It’s lots of small steps forward, baby steps back, stumble forward again. 

What can I say, but that it is a work in progress?  I’m trying to instil new habits.  Some are sticking; some are slowly sliding off the wall like blu-tack in the summer.  

Something which seems to have stuck is waking up and getting out of bed every morning at 5am, when my alarm goes off.  As opposed to sleeping through it for the next hour & half.  I’m not a morning person. I never have been.  But, I do see the benefit of getting up early of a morning.  I seem to be able to get more done in my day when I’m up early.  And, I’d like to point out that it’s winter here, so getting out of bed when it’s dark and cold is not easy.  But, I’ve been able to do it.  For almost three months now I think?  Even when I’ve stayed away from home, I’ve been able to do it consistently.  

I also eat pretty much the same breakfast everyday now, and I make it the night before.  It’s my yoghurt-porridge thing.  “Overnight Oats” I think is the prevailing phrase on pinterest.

Not much else seems to have stuck.  Trying to get more fruit & vege in my day.  Trying to get enough water in my day.  Trying to get a chance to actually sit and eat during the day.  Trying to exercise everyday.  *Shrugs*  Gotta keep working on all of that.  

It all seems to come down to time, not having enough and not managing well the time that I do have.  And I think that’s one of the main factors that has influenced how I approach this blog and this weightloss/healthiness malarkey.  I struggle big time to fit some of the ‘basics’ in every day.  Eg: Food journaling - then logging in MFP, exercising – then loading that into Nike+, Daily weighing – then filing out my spreadsheet, or weightgrapher app… and so on.  I know that technically I don’t need to do all that, but when I do, it’s a system that works.  I’ve found that just simply writing my food down, without logging it, isn’t enough.  It doesn’t make that much of an impact to just see the food written on my page – I need to see the numbers to see if I’m going over or not.

And with time being my biggest factor, I think I have to be honest and say this: if it comes down to a choice between
                a) taking the time to do something about getting healthier, or
                b) write about what I’m going to do/have been doing…
I think actions need to speak louder than words.   

And so I haven’t blogged.  I’ve been doing some stuff – a fair bit, now that I think about it – but I haven’t taken the time to stop and think and write.

I’m going to keep this blog and keep updating it, however I dare say my posting will continue to be sporadic and filled with empty gaps.  I’ll more than likely only fill in what I have done in bursts and in the past tense.  I can fill you in, in a follow up post, what I have been doing and what my plans for the next little bit are… and that might be the last you hear of me for another month or so.

If you can put up with that, then I thank-you for your comments, encouragement and support.  If you feel you need to leave, then by all means, I wish you well.

My first 5K!

I left this in drafts because I wanted to add pictures! So here's the post now! :)

I got back about an hour ago from completing my first ever 5K race.  Woo!  It was part of a fundraiser for breast cancer research and support in coincidence with International Women's Day.

I say race, although I wasn't in either of the running categories.  There was a <30min runners category and a 30-35 min category and then lastly a general runners-walkers-and-those-with-strollers category.

I decided that I was going to aim to complete the race in <1 hour.

I based that off the fact that all I've really been walking lately is 3km (1.8mi) distances, and when I'm pushing myself thats an average 9'48" min/km pace (6.1km/hr; 3.8mph). If I could keep that pace up the whole race, then I should have made it around the 50 minute mark.  I gave myself more time because of the longer distance (in case of fatigue) and crowding (being a crowd event after all).  But I decided I would still try to push myself nevertheless to definitely finish under 1 hour.

I finished in 48'34".



I AM SO DAMN PROUD OF MYSELF!!! :D



I seriously felt soooo good when I saw that on my nano!  Because I was not a serious running competitor, I didn't get a timing chip, but that's okay.  I used my nano (as I just pointed out) to take my time and distance. And after all, this was my first 5K.  It didn't need to be serious.

But now I'm looking up what other events and 5kms races are on that I can sign up for.  The Brisbane Marathon runs a 5K race.  There's the always popular "Bridge to Brisbane" 5k/10k race that cross over the huge Gateway Motorway toll bridge.  Hmm... Off to do some investigating!

(You can click on the photos to make them bigger)

In the morning, ready to go! 

The results! And yes, that's my food diary behind it.

What? February already? Since when?

Ack!  So long without posting.  Especially a real post.  Crazy town!

Still on the highway, no wrong turns for me! :)  Admittedly, my walking has slowed and/or stopped lately.  I think the last proper walk I went on was Sunday 1st Feb?  Holey Colander!! Really? WHOA.... Oh no, it's okay, I checked my Nike+ Account and it turns out it was 4 Feb - so only a week ago.  But evidently it feels like a really long time, probably because of BUSY!

I have to admit, I haven't felt busy like this in a few years, and at this point in time, I'm liking it. : D

So I haven't been walking for a week, and I won't until Friday at this stage.  That's okay though.  Because on Thursday nights, I've been going to a dance class again.  YAy!  This is is the same one I was enrolled in last year on Thursdays - but I ended up stopping in August because I felt overly busy at work. And then never got back to it... Whoops!  But in any case, my teacher was more than happy to take me back this year, so yay again!

On top of that, I've picked up another dance class on Monday nights.  It's in the same vein as Thursday, but with a different group.  Still fun and exciting and I'm enjoying it.  First one was this week.

So, not so much walking in the last week or two.  But, keeping on the food journalilng and logging onto MFP.  I have been diligent in making lunch and breakfast the night before also - that I think was one of the big downfalls for me in last year.  Once I become only a little disorganised, that's it... it starts a downward slide and it takes me four to five days to get back on it.  So far, I've had one slip I think, on a weekend and it came from missing a lunch one day so when I got home I was starving and I couldn't wait for anything to heat up or put anything together so I ate lots of junky stuff.  But, it was just the weekend, so that was fortunate and I was able to pull myself back together.

On Mondays, I'm still weighing in, first thing in the morning.  I've got to make time on a Sunday soon to make a table and a graph of how my weight is going.  I have lost a little, I just want to keep it to myself right now.  I know, I know, accountability, put it print, all that... but.. meh.  you'll see.

Other than that, sleep and water intake is some good some bad.  I have trouble getting in enough water during the day sometimes so I get to 8-9 in the evening and I find myself thirsty and trying to drink 1.5 litres in 1 hour.  My stomach feels full of water but my mouth feels dry.  Urgh! So frustrating!  But, can only keep trying until I get it right, right? : )

Anyhow, I'm nodding off here as I write this, so I am posting and ending it here.

Again, some sporadic posting, not sure when I'll get back on to post again.  I'm still trying to catch up and read everyone else's blogs too when I can.  I'll get there!

Fat and Back

I am in the process of watching a documentary on T.V., as I write this so this post will be a little bit disjointed.

The doco I’m watching is called“Fat and Back”. It is both fascinating and terrifying. It’s an Australian documentary focusing on PJ, a personal trainer, who decided that for the space of one year, he was going to gain 50% of body weight and lose it again.

A personal trainer, PJ, made the comment that one of his overweight (obese) clients had cancelled for the third time in a row and it made him annoyed that the client was “giving up”. PJ rang him and said, “just follow what I say for 3 months and after that you’ll see how easy it is.” The client replied with “live like I do for 6 months and then you’ll see how hard it is.”

That was the starting point.

From the first of January PJ made the journey to go from 80 kilos to 120 kilos. He did this by stopping exercise and by eating junk foods. It was surprising to see how quickly he turned to food. He was noticing that because he wasn’t getting the energy burst that he used to from exercise, he was relying on food. When he did his grocery shop, he made the commentary “oh, see, they put this food and the end of the aisles to get you sucked in … and it works” (he grabbed one for his trolley). He also saw chocolate bars on special “oh I don’t really need them … oh, maybe just one”. It was that easy. He just kept picking up the food and putting it in the trolley

It was especially strange/scary to see how easily he forgot how much food he was eating. He went through a Hungry Jacks drive-thru and as he was there, ordering his food, he kept adding“just one more,” and “oh, I more thing”. When he got home and was talking to the camera, he tipped his chips (fries) out onto the table to eat them, when one of his mates (filming) pointed out they weren’t his chips. It took a while for PJ to believe him, because he had completely forgotten that he had eaten his in the car. That was scary to watch him realise that he had no recollection of having already eaten.

The doctors/nutritionists/psychologists that were part of the doco also mentioned things like this. That when obese people recount what they've eaten, they appear to have eaten less than fit/healthy people. But when it came down to it, obese people didn't even realise sometimes when they were eating.

By April he’d gained 28 kilos. And he was struggling. He was depressed and unhappy with himself. He pointed out that his arms were coming up in bumps – the toxins from the food he said. Like tiny pimples. I get them too and never realised that there was a connection to what I was eating. PJ also brought up how one night he went to bed, and without anything seeming to trigger it, he felt his entire left side go numb. He freaked out, thought that maybe he was having a stroke. He was even contemplating calling his doctors to find out what was wrong. When he did get up, he noticed it was better, he was okay, but, the thing he went to was more food, jelly snakes. He even wondered if they might have been the cause of the incident because he’d had some earlier in the evening, but then changed his mind after he ate some more.

He got to the point where he had reached his target goal of 120kg. But he couldn’t handle it. The pressure he felt at what he was doing, and how awful he felt was so much that he became reclusive and wasn’t leaving the house or answering the phone. He ended up going overseas for a couple of weeks, just to get away. And he pointed out on the camera diary, that that was it. He’d had enough.

I’m going to try to not write a whole review of the doco (it’s finished now – I’m a terribly slow typer!) but the reason I wanted to write about it was because it shocked me just how similar what he was going through as he was gaining the weight is how similar I feel now, at this weight.

His next 6 months involved him getting fit again and taking on an overweight client to motivate and lose weight at the same time. That started off okay, but by the end, she wasn’t someone he could help. She stopped coming & didn’t have the commitment. She also felt that he wasn’t the right person to motivate her because she felt that even though he had gained all this weight, he still didn’t get what it was like to be a fat person. To be someone who has always been fat and has felt the mental struggle with overcoming that.

She also felt that he was more interested in the doco than helping her, which I felt was unfair, and maybe only slightly true, given that we didn’t see how he was with other clients.

In the end, PJ did get back down to the weight he was at the start of the year. But it was a struggle for him. On the very first day he was to change (1^st July), he “eased back” into exercising. After just two minutes on a treadmill, he was puffed. He struggled to sit up after being on a weight bench. PJ mentioned he actually felt like some junk food. Right there, he wanted to stop training, just to go get some junk food. Later that day he was caught trying to sneak some pizza. This was after having two meat pies for lunch. That just goes to show how easy it is to get into a food addiction and just how hard it is to switch off. This is a guy who is a personal trainer, who has won some titles and photo shoots for being “Mr Fitness Muscles” (or whatever those titles are). His life revolves are fitness and eating well. In 6 months, he has picked up so many bad habits, he couldn’t just bounce back into it like he thought. And that scared him.

What was also scary was his weigh-ins. He wasn’t finding out the results. I think part of the deal was he had to ‘wait and see’ in December what he would be. PJ just guessed based on how his body felt and how he could see how his body looked. His guesses of where he was at, were nearly all 3-5 kilos lowerthan what he weighed in at. He honestly thought losing the weight would come quickly and easily once he got back into routine. It took him nearly 12 weeks to lose 10 kilos. Granted, towards the end as he got fitter, he was losing more because of course he had more energy to keep exercising. A self-fulfilling cycle. But the very beginning was a terrible shock for him.

I found this doco confronting. It shocked, saddened, upset and terrified me as he was going through the putting on weight phase. The physical and mental issues that he was dealing with were way too familiar and hit too close to home. It was awful to realise what I am doing to myself. It was upsetting to see played out on the screen in front of me, just what I had done to myself over the past 5 years. How easy it is to fall into those mind traps of “this food can’t have that much calories, surely” and so on.

This just serves to reinforce how much further I have to go and how much more work I need to do mentally.

Four weeks ago I started tracking diligently what I was eating. Two weeks ago I stopped being so diligent and started being careless and sloppy. Tomorrow is my weigh-in day.

Let the results speak for themselves.

 

Splish splash

Well, I had better not keep you in suspense any longer and I’ll tell you what I was rushing off for on Monday evening.  Still water based, just not swimming laps…

Aqua Aerobics!

Yes, as daggy as it sounds, I donned my togs and went down to the pool to do aqua aerobics.  Monday was the second session this year. 

I had never before ever done aqua aerobics in my life.  Whenever I heard the words aqua aerobics, I always sniggered to myself, thinking it was the daggiest thing ever.   Coupled with the fact that I don’t really enjoy being in water, I never ever thought I would do it.

Oh how wrong I was...

 

Ohmagourd! Aqua Aerobics is best fun eva!!

 

Seriously.  So. Much. Fun.

I went along not really knowing what to expect and I was really surprised to see how much I enjoyed it.  And I’m so glad!  The teacher, Bronwyn, is super fit.  She has these skinny little arms and legs – that are all muscle!  She reminds me of an English teacher I had at high school who was big into aerobics like that.  Bronwyn is also really good at pointing out the different intensity levels available for each exercise and is always quick to point out if you have a back or knee injury (that’s me!) what variations she wants you to do.  She has good taste in music too.  This week was some remixes of ABBA and towards the end, a techno/club song I remember from when I was 15.

I was trying to explain to my friends on Friday night what it was like, but I don’t think I was doing it any justice.  A lot of the moves are your regular aerobics moves – just underwater.  The trick was to stand in water deep enough to chest level (that’s the deep end for me), to really increase your resistance, and thus, how much your body was working.  We did star jumps, leg kicks, Jackie Chans (high side kicks), knee repeaters, squats, punches, running on the spot, ab work, arms, playing the bongos…. Okay, so that one’s not your typical aerobics move, but it works great underwater!  Trying to play them fast is so hard!

One of the other things that’s really hard to do, is to keep yourself from drifting up the pool.  Trying to keep your heels planted on the ground, your arms underwater, and do the moves quickly is tough!  But I took that as a challenge.  I decided I would use that as an opportunity to really work my core – clench those abs!  As a result, I feel I might have worked harder than I did the first week.

And the other ladies (yes, it’s all women) in the class are good fun as well.  Some have been coming for a while, some like me, are new this year.  Unfortunately, it seems the girls who are closest to me in age – they look to be 26 – aren’t interested in being friendly.  But after the class, I overheard a woman (who I don’t think was there last week) talking about another class on Thursday night at a different pool, and when I asked her about it, she seemed happy to talk to me about it, so yay.   : )   The Thursday class is Aqua Zumba.  According to this woman (whose name I didn’t catch) it’s a lot of the same stuff but it’s also a bit different, and with different music.  It sounds interesting, and I think I’ll give it a go.  I can only go for 2 weeks anyhow, because after that my dance class starts up again, and it will have priority (and how!). 

So my monthly challenge of swimming every day is going to be side-tracked slightly into swimming every second day, because I don't think I'll swim the days I am doing aqua aeorbics.  Hmmm, unless I swim some laps before hand, say, for 1/2 hour and then stay on for aqua aerobics?  I wonder how that'll work for entry pricing?  I might have to make an enquiry later on this week...

My New iPod Nano!

How excited am I?!

I decided that I really wanted to get serious about my fitness, and finding easier ways to keep track of my exercise - especially as at this stage, I really enjoy walking the most.  And I want to try running.  But carefully, because of my dodgy knee.  And lack of fitness.  

I was doing some research about 1 1/2 months back about mp3 players  - I was going to buy one as a reward for completing my walk-100km-in-August-Challenge.  Well, I didn’t meet the 100km goal, but I decided I did like the idea of the iPod Nano!  It comes with the nike+ fitness app, so I can track walks/runs, time myself, and get a step count. 

The iPod Nano also allows me to play music as I workout (obviously, being from the iPod family), I can download podcasts (Robert Ullrey's Couch to 5K anyone?) and the absolute selling point for me?  It comes with a clip!  I know this sounds stupid, that this was the high point, but really, this is why I got it. 

Many of my trakkydaks or workout pants don't have pockets, so the fact that the Nano comes with a clip was a huge bonus for me. 

I took it out for a spin yesterday and OMG!! So excited and in love with it!! : )  I only went for a 30 minute walk to the park down the road and back.  In order for the app to keep track of things such as distance, speed, steps taken, calories burnt, I turned it to the "run" function.  I've yet to fully explore the 'walk" function, but from what I read online before I purchased the Nano,  the walk setting is designed to be used as a pedometer/step counter. 

There are four choices within the run function -basic, time, distance or calories.  So, because I only wanted to go out for 30 minutes, I set the app to 'time'.  It then prompted me to pick a playlist or shuffle my songs.  I could have also chosen to listen to the radio (oh yeah, it comes with an FM receiver!), an audiobook or podcasts. 

I picked my songs, hit start workout, and then I was off!! Walked away, all fine and good, and then!  Suddenly, my music dimmed and a disembodied voice told me that I had completed 5 minutes.  It was startling to say the least!!  But then I got second verbal encouragement at 10 minutes and again at 15 - "Great work, you're now half-way through.  Just 15 minutes remaining". 

I decided I liked this voice! 

I decided she needed a name!  If she's going to be my own personal cheerleader/encourager, then she has a personality and needs a name. I tried to think of movies or TV shows or anything which included a disembodied voice.  The best I could think of was the computer from Star Trek - which was only ever called Computer.  Then, inspiration struck!  I was using music from the computer game Portal to accompany me on my walk.  I decided that was a pretty good link to a name.  I'm still tossing up between Gladys (a play on GlaDOS from Portal),  or something else on that variation.  Names I've played around with include Glynnis, Glenys, or randomly, Lynda.  At the moment Glynnis seems to be winning. 

Maybe I need to go for another walk, just to test the name out, hmm?  See what suits best  : )

-Kathleen

I couldn't think of a better blog title...

I want to share the funny stuff I see, and occasionally say, and wanted somewhere to do it. So here it is!

On top of which, I also wanted somewhere to document my attempt to get fitter and lose weight.  Right now, I'm about 20-25 kilos over weight, which makes me unhappy.  I don't fit into clothes properly.  (Or doorways or in my car for that matter).  I don't have the energy to do all the things I used to enjoyr doing - like going out dancing.  Now I just sit on the couch and brood about how overweight I am.

But I'mma gonna change that! (I hope!) 

Resolutions:
 1.  Eat better.

• By this I mean not eating when I'm bored.
• When I do feel I want to eat something, but I don't know what, I need to remind myself to go for vegetables and fruit and dry crackers and healthier things than I have been eating. (Namely chips and microwave pasta 'n' sauce packs).
• Choose to eat smaller but more often?  I dunno if this will help
• Think about what I'm going to cook for the week and plan to shop for those things
• Not bring chips and other savoury goods into the house.  If they're not there, I can't eat them, can I?

 2.  Move more.
I don't exercise very much either, so I want to increase the amount of exercise I do.  I used to be slender enough that friends of friends used to ask if I was a dancer.  Alas, they ask that no more...

• Walk for 1/2hr at least three times a week.  This is valid for starting out right?  I want to eventually increase it to 45min x 5 times a week.  
• Find a space in which to do some exercise videos.  I live in a tiny 1 bdr flat, so I haven't really the room to do it at home.
• Commit to actually getting out and moving!  As I just mentioned, I don't have room to exercise at home - I barely have room to even do push-ups and sit-ups.  I have to move the desk chair out of the way and lay down just right.  So I need to get out of the house to move and exercise.
• Go for a bike ride on the weekend.  You know, just to mix it up a little! :)
• I don't have much money so I'm not going to try a gym just yet.  Besides which the gym in my area isn't open on weekends (when I would have more time to exercise) nor is it open late on weekdays (shuts by 7.30).  The times they are open there's a lot of people there, and I'm too self-conscious at this stage to want to exercise in front of people I know.  

What do you think?  Acheivable or too much at once?  Help me out and comment if you read this! :)

P.S.  Look! A cartoon to motivate !