March Update

Hello again! I'm very happy to say that I have continued with my goals for another month. As always, I wasn't perfect (and I'm sure I never will be exactly perfect, but who is?) I am very happy with my progress, I've made a lot of great changes and I have a lot of new changes and progress to look forward to in the upcoming months. But here's what I did in March!

New Years Resolutions 2013

Work out More

• Jump rope or cardio at least twice a week
• Ab work out at least twice a week
• Walk at least a mile at least once a week

  
  

  This is admittedly the area where I struggled the most. March was a very interesting month. Tyler and I were able to see each other every weekend, so that kind of put a wrench in the workout schedule. I also was sick for a week and that was detrimental. It became a situation where I made up excuses for every week. I've slowly picked up on going back to the gym, although I'm not doing as much as I would ideally like. I've noticed I feel better after I work out. I'm doing the Warrior Dash next month (in two weeks- aaaah!) I'm not really running competitively, but I'd like to be somewhat in shape when I try my hand (and feet) at it. I want to try to do yoga more. And I want to maybe go to Zumba some more if I get over how silly it is. I'm excited for the Warrior Dash and I think that will be a great experience for me. I also just got back from a weekend camping with Tyler and helping him ride a twelve hour race and that definitely counts as exercise. 

  
  

  TL;DR: I wasn't perfect on this goal- I missed a lot of days working out- but I'm getting back into it and I'm excited to be gearing up for the Warrior Dash!

Eat Healthier

• Cut down on cheese and dairy-I have really done great on cutting down on cheese and dairy. My new personal goal is not to keep cheese in the house. I'm not going to include it here, because there may be some times when it's really necessary (cheese emergencies do happen). I'm thinking about looking at substitutes, but mainly trying to find recipes that don't include cheese. And I'll sometimes order dishes with cheese when I go out to eat, but also keeping my options open.

  
  
• Replace unhealthy foods with healthier ones- I definitely set the foundation for this one. I am working towards eating less processed foods and eating more natural things. I'm making a few new recipes this week that I'm really excited about and that use fresh and/or healthy ingredients. If they turn out well, I may include some posts on the new dishes I try. 

  
  
• Choose a side besides fries- I can't remember getting fries this month, I really feel like I'm doing well on this one. Even though Tyler had to talk me down from the fry ledge after a stressful work day! Oh and new favorite side- Baba Ganoush- it's delicious!

  
  
• Use Smaller Plates- I'm doing pretty good on this.

  
  
• No Seconds- The only time I can remember not doing this was when Tyler's mom cooked and when we were camping but they were extra servings of veggies and potatoes, so I can't feel too guilty!

  
  
• Drink more water- I've done pretty well on this, I still need to make an effort to have more grab and go water available before I go to work. 

  
  

  Once again, not 100%. But I don't know anyone who was ever performing at 100% for 100% of the time. But I'm excited to start eating healthier. I have a wealth of vegetarian and vegan recipes and I've started talking more to a few of my veg-head friends who are really inspirational. 

Read More

• Read at least 30 minutes on week days

  I finally changed that goal to reflect the time that I actually read. I read more on weekdays after work.
• Read a book a month

  
  

  Finally a goal I can say that I've achieved! I finished the book Stiff by Mary Roach. It was a fascinating book about Human Cadaver research. I really enjoyed it and my morbid side found it really intriguing. So I enjoyed it a lot and those close to me get to learn a lot of new and interesting facts about death and cadavers. So everyone wins! 

  

  
  

  I also started reading Neil Gaiman's graphic novel The sandman Chronicles Preludes and Nocturnes and the (because I don't want to carry that beautiful and new graphic novel with me so it doesn't get ruined) I've started reading Eating Animals by Jonathan Sarfran Foer which is a non-fiction book about vegetarianism. I've been really interested in non-fiction books lately.

Write More

• Write 750 words a day on 750words.com

  I did 28 Days this month! I think that's really great and still and improvement upon last month. One day I'll get that whole month and earn my albatross badge (writing 30 days in a row). I wrote almost every day when I was visiting Tyler in Marietta. I only missed one really busy day we spent hanging out in town checking out some local stores. I missed two days from camping this weekend and two more days when Tyler spent a weekend with me and the Vagina Monologues were in production. I'm really proud of what I've done this month! 

  
  
• write at least a poem a month

  I did write a poem. I would post it if it wasn't deeply personal and mushy and romatnic. Tyler is my muse for my poetry a lot of times, but that makes for some sappy stuff. 

Wake up Earlier

• Stop using the snooze button

  I had my ups and downs with this, and the week before spring break was tough!

  
  
• Eat breakfast and drink coffee before leaving the house

  I'm still working on this, luckily it's not one of my more vital goals. I'm going to start eating more vital goals. I'm going to start eating more cereal and I've learned that cereal and moving vehicles don't mix (hard boiled eggs are also a bad idea if eaten in the car). So I expect some improvement this month.
• Pack lunch before leaving

  I am still eating leftovers or figuring out lunch before I go to bed the day before, so I'm pretty happy with what I've been doing on this goal. 

  
  
• Drink water at work 

  I'm still working on doing better with this.

  
  
• Lay clothes out the night before

  I haven't noticed a problem with this, like it has been in the past. I'm feeling good about this one too.

Spend less time online

• Limit of one hour per day on frivolous websites

  This one has had its ups and downs and I've noticed this is a problem when I'm bored or moody, but spending 3 days in the woods is definitely the opposite of wasting time online! I have been doing a lot more online research and pinning things I'll actually use on pinterest. I'm definitely doing better about not wasting so much time and getting the best out of the time I do spend online. 

Be more creative

• Knit more:
  • complete one project per month

    I finished my mom's Birthday Present (my mom's birthday is January 28th). Happy birthday, mom! 
• Paint/ collage:
  • complete one project per month

    I'm still working on my smash book. I promise, promise, promise pictures in April. I also made a decoupage letter V for the Vagina Monologues.
• Set up my front bedroom to be a craft room.

  This is still a work in progress, but if I did it in January, it wouldn't still be a goal.

Be more positive

• work on “happy book”

  I haven't really done this one exactly, but I've still been expanding my arsenal of positive thoughts and quotes
• Write positive notes to self

  This is actually one of the goals for a project I'll talk about in a little bit, so it will be done soon!

  
  
• Negate negative thoughts with positive ones
• No negative comments about appearance- if you slip up fix it with a positive statement or rephrase it. 

  I'm pleased to say I'm getting a lot better about this. 

  
  

  So this goal has been one of the toughest for me. Each month, when I write these recaps, I'll think back on it and realize that I didn't really do this to the best of my abilities, so I brought in some reinforcement on this. I heard about this website on an NPR broadcast of a TED talk and thought it was pretty neat. It's called SuperBetter. I really recommend it for anyone who struggles  with Depression, Anxiety, or any other long term ailments.

  
  

   It's a really neat little system and it makes you feel really empowered to conquer things that have been holding you back. It's set up like a little video game- you get power-ups and experience points, fight bad guys, and even employ allies. I'll admit it feels totally stupid when you start doing it and I've had a lot of doubts about it, but the more time I spend using the system (it only takes a maximum of about 30 minutes a day and can be done effectively in about ten or fifteen minutes) the more that I see how useful it is. It gives me a lot of positive thoughts to replace negative ones with and gives me a lot of fuel to feel better about myself and think more positively. 

  
  

  Check it out for yourself here.

  
  

  So there it is for March! I feel like it's been a great month. I look forward to seeing what kind of progress I'll make in the coming months! I found my camera battery that has been missing, so I'm hoping to post more variety of entries in the coming months. I want to show some of the craft projects I've been working on and maybe some of the healthy recipes that I make. So look out for those soon!