October is Here!

October! A wonderful month. Autumn weather finally starts making an appearance, Halloween decorations can start going up. Just have to watch out for all the candy!

Making habits is rough business!! The inertia of my rut is *strong*. Here's what we have for this month's check in.

Eat Veggies every day:
So, this one was spotty.. some weeks I did pretty good, but other weeks not so much. But overall, a slight improvement from last month.. I give it a C+

Don't eat dessert every day:
This one. This is where my rut is so hard to get out of... It's almost like sweets are my replacement for a mom's quintessential wine at the end of the day. That and I struggle with moderation, so I've decided to change this one up. I'm going to take 10 days off, no dessert. Then, from there only once a week. This one seems more quantifiable and easier to track.
Replacing the bad snacks, I've been eating more almonds and craisins and apples with peanut butter. It's been 3 days, so still early but, so far, so good! C

Get up and move every day:
I've been keeping trying to dance around more, getting out for walks more frequently.. There's always room for improvement, but I say, overall, a C+ here.

Still, there's strength in not stopping. I'm still going.. slowly, slowly, but still going. Trying to get a better handle on things before the holidays really set in!

September is Here!

Alright! I guess summer's winding down. Ah well, bring on the jacket weather!

So, my check-in this month.. oi oi.

Eat veggies every day:
So, I totally fell off the wagon with this one. I think I might need to rearrange when I do my grocery shopping.. if I have time to chop up my broccoli and stuff as I'm unloading things, then it's a lot likelier that I do it, plus it's easier to get it cooked and eaten. But that didn't happen this month, and we kept running out of lettuce for salads (which at least means we were eating salads while we had the lettuce). So, I say C for this month.

Don't eat dessert every day:
Well, we did stop with the Costco sized everything, so that has helped. And I discovered a pretty tasty cake-in-a-mug recipe that is quite tasty and hits the spot (yay portion control). So, I still struggle to make good choices all the time, but I'm ok with this being an on-going process. Here, I give myself a C-.

Get up and move every day:
Along with my working to get outside more often for movement, I've been trying to work in incidental movement into my day as well. Stuff like chasing my boys around the living room more often, dancing while I'm making dinner (most often while holding Moon to keep him from following me around crying), stuff like that.
Also, just this week I've decided to do more exercising during our slow (read: grumpy) times of day.. Thus getting me moving a bit more and show the kids that exercises can be a fun activity. I just have to keep from squashing anyone while doing it - nothing more exciting to climb on (around, and under) than a mama doing leg lifts and planks!
So, I'll keep my C in this category and hopefully will have more progress to report next month!

However, I read this really great Confucius quote (from my September page of my zen calendar) that really resonates with me right now:
"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."

September is Here!

Alright! I guess summer's winding down. Ah well, bring on the jacket weather!

So, my check-in this month.. oi oi.

Eat veggies every day:
So, I totally fell off the wagon with this one. I think I might need to rearrange when I do my grocery shopping.. if I have time to chop up my broccoli and stuff as I'm unloading things, then it's a lot likelier that I do it, plus it's easier to get it cooked and eaten. But that didn't happen this month, and we kept running out of lettuce for salads (which at least means we were eating salads while we had the lettuce). So, I say C for this month.

Don't eat dessert every day:
Well, we did stop with the Costco sized everything, so that has helped. And I discovered a pretty tasty cake-in-a-mug recipe that is quite tasty and hits the spot (yay portion control). So, I still struggle to make good choices all the time, but I'm ok with this being an on-going process. Here, I give myself a C-.

Get up and move every day:
Along with my working to get outside more often for movement, I've been trying to work in incidental movement into my day as well. Stuff like chasing my boys around the living room more often, dancing while I'm making dinner (most often while holding Moon to keep him from following me around crying), stuff like that.
Also, just this week I've decided to do more exercising during our slow (read: grumpy) times of day.. Thus getting me moving a bit more and show the kids that exercises can be a fun activity. I just have to keep from squashing anyone while doing it - nothing more exciting to climb on (around, and under) than a mama doing leg lifts and planks!
So, I'll keep my C in this category and hopefully will have more progress to report next month!

However, I read this really great Confucius quote (from my September page of my zen calendar) that really resonates with me right now:
"It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop."

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.