March Recap

"The habit of judging ourselves severely disguises itself as an attempt to help us to live better lives and to be better people, but in actuality the habit of judging winds up functioning as an irrational tyrant that can never be satisfied."
The Mindful Way through Depression -
Mark Williams, John Teasdale, Zindel Segal & Jon Kabat-Zinn

March was not the best month, and I've been reflecting on the quote above quite often. We began the month with a 5-day visit from the Noro virus. I knew it was coming (we had friends who had it days after we were with them), and my stomach was not right for weeks after we had recovered. The sickness destroyed my exercise streak, which in turn destroyed my positive mental state. There were far too many days without a workout, meditation or fruits and veggies. I've been quite critical of myself in every way possible, and the criticism is not helping me in any way. I've attempted to find some positive aspects of this ordeal. I did lose a few pounds thanks to the Noro and just how much my mood is linked to exercise was also strongly reinforced.

There were a few fun things that took place in March. I was able to pull off a surprise diaper party disguised as a play date for a girlfriend who is due any day now. (And not a single picture was taken!) We had a great family cookout during a week of amazingly warm weather, and a wonderful lunch was enjoyed at Pickity Place in celebration of my birthday and my college roommate's birthday (the day before mine) as we enter the last year of our 20s (not such a positive event!).

We're only a few days in, but April has been shaping up to be a bit better than March. We had a great Easter dinner with family last weekend, and we have a date (love gift certificates) and a family outing planned for this coming weekend. The exercise is back on track, and the boys have been sleeping really well and really late. Chris and I were up before them both on Saturday morning (never happens), and they both slept until 8am on Monday! Woohoo! I so hope I didn't just jinx myself by mentioning this!

I finished four books in March which puts my total at 16 for the year.

Tana French - Faithful Place
Jennifer Haigh - Faith
Joanne Harris - Five Quarters of the Orange (Library Bookclub pick) - LOVED it
Jodi Picoult - Salem Falls

February Recap

February didn't go as smoothly as January because of a trip to DHMC and a visit from a nasty stomach bug, but I'm going strong with my goals and Charlie's doing well with trying new foods. We had broccoli several times and he just pops it in his mouth!

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
-Eat at least 5 servings of fruits and veggies every day (still one of the harder goals)

I've also added two smaller goals:
-Write down 3 things I am grateful for every day
-Write down 1 positive event from the last 24 hours

I attended the Second Sunday Sit at my yoga studio at the beginning of the month and my instructor mentioned a video she had recently seen about training your brain to be more positive. She later emailed us a link to the video (which is pretty funny). The speaker, Shawn Achor, believes there are five ways to train your brain to be more positive: write down three things you are grateful for daily, journal about one positive experience in the past 24 hours, exercise, meditate and perform a random act of kindness (he suggests sending off a quick email praising or thanking someone in your social network).

Exercise (which I can never spell correctly - I always use a z) and meditation are already a part of my daily routine. Keeping a gratitude journal is something I've seen pop up several times in the past year so I decided to make use of one of the old journals I had tucked away in my desk drawer. I've missed a few days, but I'm really enjoying reviewing my day by writing down three things I'm grateful for and one positive event from that day. I do it after I meditate and it takes less than five minutes out of my day. Although my journal is pretty short right now, it's been fun to look back at other days and see what I've written. I'm looking forward to seeing it at the end of the year.

I completed 7 books in February which puts my total at 12 so far this year.

February
Stacy Hawkins Adams - The Someday List (Mommy Bookclub pick) (not a fan)
Laurie Halse Anderson - Speak
Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale
Tatiana de Rosnay - A Secret Kept
Darien Gee - Friendship Bread (Library Bookclub pick) (fun fluffy read)
Jodi Picoult - Change of Heart
Alexandra Ripley - Scarlett (loved it)

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!)