Sunday, February 8, 2015

Let's Get this Party Started

The first week of February has already passed and I'm sitting here thinking "what the hell happened to January?"  Just like every other well-intentioned knuckle head in the free world, I decided to set some goals.  Yes, you read that correctly, goals, not resolutions because that (in my honest opinion) has a negative connotation to it...a problem that you resolve to fix because you are a failure...and you will be again when you don't make it through January. So, goals they are:

Goals for the New Year &  a More Effective Me...notice I didn't say "new me" because that is impossible...hells bells, I'm 45, there isn't a whole lot of "new" happening over here, unless you count the work of gravity & the lovely side effects of perimenopause (the precursor to the real deal, menopause): night sweats, hot flashes, more stubborn than normal belly fat, and a serious lack of short term memory, just to name a few.

Goal Numero Uno

Keep work at work.  I am a teacher and everybody knows that we have a buttload of papers to grade and creative lessons to plan, lessons that will not only educate young minds but keep them entertained for hours at a time.  Well, by the second day of the holiday break, just when I felt like I was starting to relax, I fell sick with bacterial pneumonia...lasting 10 of the 14 days I had off.  So much for time off...coughing my lungs up (peeing my pants every damn time) and unable to sleep more than two hours at a time.  What does this have to do with work?  The stress (self-induced) & strain of having to get it all done kept me going through the school week(s) but as soon as I had time to chill, my body & immune system rebelled.  I have not been that sick in a long time and it was enough to make me say to myself (and later my family) "something has to give" and it was all of the working during non-work hours.  Note:  I am required to be at work 7:15-3:15pm every day.  Some days I may go in a bit early or stay until 4pm, but NO work is coming home with me.

Goal Number Two (yeah, my Spanish is limited)

Get healthy, mentally and physically.  Just like hundreds, hell thousands, of other women out there, I have been a yo-yo dieter.  I have lost & gained the same thirty pounds at least twice in the past ten years.  Again, I am 45 and I have no grand illusions of becoming a middle-aged Sports Illustrated model.  But I do want to be comfortable in my own skins.  I do want less body aches and I do want to look & feel good - even if "good" is my own definition and not something imposed upon me by the media.  This goal is a bit more labor intensive as it requires something that I have very little of...patience and willpower.  

Healthy - physical: drink a minimum of 64 ounces of water per day and walk a minimum of 10,000 steps (at least 30 minutes of steady activity) - I use my Fitbit to keep track of this.  It can also track my food intake but I haven't tackled that, yet.  Note:  I need to get my water intake up to 95 ounces but I'm a work in progress.


Healthy - mentally:  make more time for me...reading what I want, when I want; doodling & crafting like I did before kids & teaching; walking outdoors at least once a day - the fresh air is killer (yep, I just showed my age) for getting my head straight AND it helps with the physical portion of this goal.

That's it folks, two goals...simply because I want to succeed this time.  Any more than two and I'd be overwhelmed and ditch it all for a lovely bowl of Wavy Lays Potato Chips and Dean's Sour Cream & Onion dip or spending my Sunday's planning & stressing over school work.


So now you are wondering if I have made any progress?  Hell yeah I have - cuz I don't have the balls to write all of this only to tell you that I am failing miserably, ha!

Progress on Goal 1: I am learning to make use of every free moment I have at school.  My students are not suffering and neither am I.  I also forgot to mention that I am not staying after school past 4pm, and some days I leave by 3pm so I can pick up the teens from school.  My stress level is waaaaayyy down & I am really learning not to sweat the small stuff...okay, so I am a slow learner.

Progress on Goal 2: Intaking 64 ounces of  water & walking 10,000 steps on a daily basis - check!  I find myself craving water & I get irritated and antsy if I don't walk.  Going to start tracking my food to really get to the next level...and cooking more, which leads me to this:  creating and implementing a new goal....

Goal Number Three

Creating a budget that we can stick to and get out of debt.  This morning I wrote up the basics of our income & expenses and I was completely mortified by how much money we earn AND waste.  Where does it go?  Why are we unable to keep & grow a savings account?  Simple answer: we eat out too damn much and that has to stop.  Which means thoughtful grocery shopping and all hands on deck with cooking dinner.  Since I just created this goal today, I do not have any progress to report except that we grocery shopped & I forgot the list at home (filled with ingredients for my Pinterest inspired dishes) but we did okay...lots of green stuff, lean meats & healthy grains.  It's a start, right?

If you have any positive, healthy suggestions to assist me that would be fabulous...because I need all of the good ju-ju I can get.


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