January Recap

Charlie has been working on trying new foods and I've hinted that I've been working on a few goals, but apart from my reading goal, I never spelled out what those goals were. As so often happens with me, I was afraid I wouldn't follow through and I didn't want to set myself up for failure.

I started with three small goals and have been working on them one week at a time. There's a little chart in a notebook under my bed that I check each night and I'm happy to say that I've been meeting my goals!

To start, my goals were as follows:
-Meditate for 20 minutes every day
-Exercise for 30 minutes every day
-Drink at least 2 Nalgene bottles (roughly 10 glasses of water) every day

Last week, I added one more goal (which has been the hardest one so far!):
-Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day

Gretchen Rubin's book The Happiness Project and blog have been very helpful to me with my goals. I am what she calls an abstainer - I find it easier to commit completely or not to commit at all. With a goal to meditate three days a week, I would tell myself that I would sit the next day any time I didn't feel like sitting. Setting a goal to meditate every day doesn't give me the option to push it off. I have, however, given myself a little leniency by following another of Rubin's rules - never skip two days in a row.

It's been easiest to meet my water goal - I only missed it once in January and it was on New Year's Day. We were driving all over the place and I ran out of water in the car!

Meditating has been easier than I expected. I've sat for at least 20 minutes all but two days - once because of a girls' night that lasted until 2am(!) and once because we had company over and I wasn't able to fit it in. I also attended my yoga studio's Second Sunday Sit for an hour-long meditation at the beginning of the month. Meditating with a group of people and discussing the experience afterwards is quite a positive experience!

There have been a few kinks in exercising - I use the elliptical during the week to get my workouts in, but I prefer to get outside to do something different with the family on the weekends and I had been giving myself one rest day a week. I haven't missed any weekdays, but mentally, I've discovered that I'm better off not taking a complete rest day on the weekend. If we can't get outside, I plan to compensate by doing a very slow 30 minutes at the lowest setting on the elliptical.

Yesterday, an issue arose with my elliptical. As I was working out, the machine was very wobbly, leaning to the left and it was moving around quite a bit. I was so excited that I was able to work out while the boys were sleeping because it meant I wouldn't be jumping off every few minutes to help someone (or yell at someone). Instead, I kept having to get off the pull the elliptical away from the wall and eventually got off to move it onto the carpet hoping that would reduce the movement. Arg.

When Chris got home, I asked him to take a look at the machine. It turns out that the main shaft of the base is cracked!!!!! He took it apart and is going to attempt to weld it back together. But, I don't know when he's going to be able to do the welding and I'm in a panic about getting my exercise in. (I am, however, very thankful that I have such a handy hubby.)

It seems like every single time I get an exercise routine, something messes with it. The exercise and meditation have been helping immensely with my moods. That benefit has made it easier to keep my goals but it's also the reason I'm worried about getting my workouts in. I'd love to get outside for a run or walk, but the weather and Chris' work schedule make that difficult. My fingers are crossed that he's able to do the welding as soon as possible and that the welding actually fixes the issue.

In terms of my reading goal, I completed 5 books in January and I'm halfway through Scarlett, the 800+ page sequel to Gone with the Wind. I loved Gone with the Wind and I'm loving this book, too!

January
Diana Gabaldon - Lord John and the Hand of Devils
Ernest Hemingway - A Moveable Feast (Library Bookclub pick - I'd never read any Hemingway before and I really enjoyed it)
Rebecca Hunt - Mr. Chartwell
Tom Perrotta - Little Children (Mommy Bookclub pick - did NOT like this at all, but that will make for a good discussion next week)
Deanna J. Smith - Dreams Change (I follow Deanna's blog - check it out!)