Check-in: Good Enough

Last week, I set some goals. Here's how I did:

1. No more than one piece of bread or one sandwich at a meal.

I forgot this, and was thinking general portion control, rather than bread. I think I'll modify it to portion control, generally: stop eating when I'm not hungry. I did pretty well with that most of the time.





2. If I have dessert, it will be only one helping in a day.

I did this. It was hard, sometimes. But I did it.



3. Drink 2 quarts of water - every day.

I at least got close. Which is an improvement. I'll take it.




4. Daily supplements. I've got a couple. I'm not being consistent -- and they help my overall health.

I did better, but there's still room for improvement. The one of them doesn't taste very good, and I think I need to find a way to fix that.

5. Weekly bike rides, at least for the summer.

I did not take my bike out all week. As usual, this week was a zoo. I have to figure out what to do about that. 

So a mixed bag. BUT. I'm down on the scale, and I made progress in the right direction on taking care of my body. So I'm calling it a success!

Challenge and Change

True story. I need challenge to change. There's a sweet spot, not too much, not too little, but juuuuust right. The lady in the meme is doing Crow Pose -- a basic version. The full-on pose puts the knees in the armpits. But I like this one: this is the one that I regularly fall out of. However, I can tell that, by trying and trying again (and again), I'm ever so slowly getting closer.

Small progress is progress -- and it's encouraging. One of these days, I'm going to figure out this business of taking care of my body, and it's going to be awesome.

Bodies are cool.

Perfect Timing

Miss Kate has perfect timing. I've been thinking seriously about how my body's doing, how I want it to be doing, and where my current habits will take me -- and I'm not liking the end of that path so much. I need a new one.

I also like the idea of small changes. Baby Steps. I realized just the other day that my littlest "little" one is now too big to be the culprit in my weight issues, and that this is on me. Pretty sure there's some underlying hormonal issues -- and I'm also pretty sure that I like to eat more than I should. And that's where I'm starting.

Several months back, I got the stomach bug, and I was sick. I got so incredibly thirsty, but if I drank more than the tiniest sip, my stomach rebelled and badness ensued. It took incredible self-control to limit myself to the little sips - teaspoons at first - that my body could tolerate, and I was soooo thirsty. Since then, I've been pondering that experience, and the phrase "bridle your passions." For several months I've been resisting the lesson, as it applies to my weight. I like to eat. Dessert is nice!

For me, part of my problem is a habit of indulgence. I know that I have a will strong enough to control my body - even strong urges, like to drink when I'm extremely thirsty. I have not been using much self-mastery in this area; indulging is pleasant. And the scale's slow ticking upward is the effect.

I really like the idea of small changes. So. Here's my plan:

1. No more than one piece of bread or one sandwich at a meal.
2. If I have dessert, it will be only one helping in a day.
3. Drink 2 quarts of water - every day.
4. Daily supplements. I've got a couple. I'm not being consistent -- and they help my overall health.
5. Weekly bike rides, at least for the summer.

So. I know that regular check-ins help me. Monday is going to be my check-in day. This week is the start of some new habits for me, too.

The Goal: Form New Habits

Ha! It's been almost exactly 3 years since I last posted on here. Whee! Fun fun.

Anyway, so, I follow this blog of a famous guy who's clever and funny and posts about a myriad of things. A few months ago he started posting about "hitting the reset button" in various areas of his life. He follows up monthly and grades himself in the areas and talks about what's good and what needs work, and he's very candid about it.

Over the last few months, as I've followed along, it's struck me that his method is a great one for creating new habits; he's got solid, defined goals and a follow-up plan, plus a live audience to help keep him honest. And, while I don't have millions of followers, I do have a place I can post about things where people might see and comment... so, here I am.

I've been wanting to lose weight for some time now but, instead, seem to be steadily gaining. Tiny babies make regular, planned *anything* exceptionally challenging, and so often I'm too rundown and sleep deprived to muster the energy to make (and keep) big changes in my routine.

However! Small things, new habits.. those I can do. Weight-loss/Being healthy is really a lifestyle thing anyway. So my plan is to form new habits by writing them down and grading myself monthly. Hopefully that'll keep it feeling like an ongoing project versus a crash diet that is temporary.

Here are my goals:

• Eat a salad every day
• Don't eat dessert every day
• Get up and move every day

So, here we go! I will check back on July 1st and give myself a report-card update.