This was a month of success, frustration and continuing education.  The typical mixed bag of life.

Be Healthier

By the middle of the month I was seriously questioning the validity of my goal.  I was not doing a good job avoiding foods with unknown ingredients or sticking to my ‘make it myself’ rule. I thought about specific problems I was encountering and what I could do to overcome them.  If I want to succeed I need to find a way to make my goals realistic.  While I am figuring all this out I have decided to eat no added sugar for 30 days (fruit is okay).  This should also help put a lid on mindless snacking and help me lose a few pounds.  I am also making an effort to eat more vegetables.

In addition to thinking about what I eat I am now thinking about how I eat.  I read this book called “Beyond Chocolate” and I am implementing some of the ideas I found there.  After my no sugar 30 days I love the idea that nothing is off limits because once you make a food a no-no that is all you want.  And eventually you will cave, big time. The catch is you can only eat when you are truly hungry and you have to make a plate and sit at the table and focus on your eating.  No tv or reading.  You very mindfully enjoy satisfying your hunger with a food you truly want.  I love this idea. I hadn’t realized how often I didn’t pay attention to my eating.  I pretty much always read at breakfast and at lunch I either read or watch tv. Seldom do I pay attention to what I am eating much less really enjoy it.  I rather feel like I have had a mini break through here.  I need to focus on eating habits as much as the food itself.  Ah!

Now for the boring maintenance stuff.  I need to put this down to keep myself honest and no I am not that happy about putting my weight out there for the whole world to roll their eyes at, but I am doing it anyway.  Weight on 1 Feb: 148lbs.  I did yoga 18 times and I am back on track  getting in my 10k steps six days a week. (I was a bit of a slacker in January.) I am still doing an excellent job logging my foods and this month I circled everything in red that I considered a junk food snack.

Be Happier

I totally embraced my word for the year this month.  “Unhurried” is how I lived pretty much everyday.  And I loved it.  I made a plan every morning and thought about what I wanted to do as much as what I needed to do.  And surprise surprise, even when I took care of myself first all the have-tos got done as well.  Yeah me! I also finished my nagging task of knocking off a tote full of papers to be shredded.

Now I am marching into March with some new goals, a positive attitude about eating healthier for 30 days (even if it kills me!) and some new habits to give a try.  Pray for me.

“I think we consider too much the good luck of the early bird and not enough the bad luck of the early worm.”   – Franklin D. Roosevelt

This quote cracks me up and makes me think.  I do wonder what the context was when he said this.