Now that I’m back in town, and for the first time in quite a long while don’t actually have another plane ticket booked to anywhere for the foreseeable future (also known as “October” ’round these parts) I’m really trying to buckle down and work on a few areas of my personal life that I’ve been meaning to improve upon.
This is more for me than you, but if anyone wants to pester me about these and keep me accountable, I’d definitely welcome the prodding.
Here are the goals I’ve set for myself for the rest of the month, some big, some small:
-Make meal plans. Neil and I have been away so long, I think we’ve only actually cooked three real meals in our kitchen since we’ve been married. We eat better and healthier when we plan food – do more of that. Plan and make at least 4 meals in per week.
-Log everything I eat. If I’m recording my food, I do much better at choosing “apple” instead of “cookie” when the 3pm snackmonster attacks.
-Do a sesson from the 10-minute trainer 6 days a week. If I’m going to succumb to late-night fitness informercials, the least I can do is take the damn DVD out of the box and try it.
-Wash off my makeup every night. I’ve been lucky enough to have pretty darned good skin for the last number of years while falling asleep with a facefull of leftover makeup and daily grime. Note to self: you are getting older and can not hide from wrinkles forever. It is time for an extra dose of soap and water and nighttime regenerative moisturizer.
-Swiffer every other day. Dog hair does not have to be a way of life. Cleaning up after it, does.
I think these are do-able goals for the next couple weeks, after which I’m hoping they easily become habits.
One thing I’m trying to figure out, though, is an adequate reward for actually meeting all these. I’m not particularly good at denying myself life’s little (and sometimes not-so-little) pleasures as they come, so it’s gotta be something I wouldn’t normally just do or buy for myself -but also shouldn’t be excessively extravagant (remember it’s just two weeks I’m talking about).
Suggestions?
We also tend to eat better when we plan meals. We’ve found that weeks that we get an order from Organics @ Home, we usually make meal plans so we don’t waste any of the vegetables. Might work for you guys 🙂
Dog hair isn’t a way of life? Are you sure?
god, I need to do laundry…
http://www.lushcanada.com is what I splurge on when I don’t feel particularly motivated to do something but still do it. The soaps super silky smooth and you’re not really spending a ridiculous amount of money if you get one or two.
If you only do it to get the reward, then you’re not really changing your behaviour, you’re just bribing yourself for a while!
But that said, why don’t you bribe yourself with really yummy organic and locally-grown foods for your meals?
I’m just using the bribe as a stepping stone to create the habit. The bribe goes on for a few weeks, and by the time I made it there, the habit’s been ingrained and I don’t need to focus on the bribe anymore.
Or at least that’s how I’m hoping it’ll work.
In the meantime, here’s how I’ve done this week so far:
-I’ve managed to plan, shop for and eat some MUCH healthier meals this week. Between just being home with a regular schedule and having the farmer’s market on down the street now, it was easier than I thought to get back into.
-I’m also logging all that food. I’m still not making the best choices, and going over my recommended calories (which are not insignificant) by about 500/day, but at least now I’m getting a better idea of where I can improve.
-The 10-minute Trainer is still in the box. Le sigh. I am biking to work though, and back with my trainer once a week, but I still want to push to add this to my routine.
-I’ve missed one night of washing off my makeup – I crashed on the couch immediately upon getting home, and woke up and staggered straight into bed during the wee hours. But it’s getting easier, and I just have to do it before I start getting sleepy. Making sure it still happens on “party” nights will be tough, but who am I kidding. I am lame and never manage to go out partying anymore anyhow.
-Swiffer. Oh the Swiffer! It pains me to say this, but I prefer the Swiffer to my OMop (the OMop actually broke, stupid piece of crap), and it’s going a long way to dealing with the shedding.
Based on that alone, I’m nowhere near tracking to get my reward at the end of June, but I think I’ll still aim to get all those in, consistently, and at the end of two weeks of doing all of them, all the time, I’ll get myself a sweet little present.
I have a WICKED food plan and a great log in excel if you’re interested. 🙂 I keep meaning to do all these things too.