A-MAY-Zing May

 Welcome to A-May-Zing May.  Catchy huh?   Ok, I admit, it's a bit corny, but hey, that's just who I am!  But regardless, I am going to try to make May my most amazing month yet!

Before we can get into May though, lets talk a bit about April.   April did not go as I had planned.  I finished off that 75 Hard challenge early in April and I was gung ho!  I was going to carry on with those habits that I had set and I was going to rock out April.   I even called it my 'one month of winning'.  Except that I didn't quite have  month of winning.  My plans got shot to smithereens the moment I got sick.  I should have only lost one week to being sick.  However, I struggled to get my mojo back after being sick.  Exercise at 5AM never recommenced.   Water consumption was slow to pick back up.  Afternoon walks were non existent.  I tracked very little of what I ate.  Naps became a common occurrence and probably the worst thing of all was the addition of TV into my daily routine.  Yes, the person that used to never turn on the tv while home alone now turned (turns) on the tv at any chance! It was a disaster waiting to happen. It wasn't a stellar month in terms of my efforts.

What WAS a success is the fact that I did manage to lose 8 pounds. (Or should I say I managed to maintain 8 of the 12 pounds I lost while I was sick.)   I managed this simply because after I was sick and my involuntary fast of 3-4 days that I was much more in tune with my bodies signals in terms of hunger and fullness.   I started to notice that I wasn't hungry half of the time when I was eating.  I was eating because it was 'lunchtime' or because I was bored.  I also started to notice that I could feel my body telling me that I was getting full and to stop eating.    I have long struggled with these feelings and signals and it was a 'weird' thing for me to experience.   But I really stopped to listen.  I really stopped and tried to heed these signals.  I won't say I was successful all the time, but I can say that I really think I made some positive steps toward being more cognizant.   For that reason alone, I call April a somewhat successful month.  

 

So as April came to a close I started to really think about where I was.  I'm happy with the 8 pounds, but I need to lose a whole lot more than 8 pounds!  I know I can do it and I know that May can be A-May-Zing for me.  But if I want it to be amazing, I need to stop being loosey-goosey with my health practices and get serious.   For a hot fleeting moment I thought about doing another 75 hard.  But before the thought was even fully in my head I knew that this was not the time for that.  Instead I decided to focus on basic principals and to not even focus on them 7 days a week!   I decided to go for the sustainable route for this month.  So here are my plans!

1. Steps.   My goal is 5,000 steps daily.  I have been watching a lot of tv.  You don't get steps when you watch TV, so my step count has been somewhat lower in April.  It's time to work on it.   Sure I WANTED to say I would do 10K  but I am going for sustainable so for now it is 5K steps for six days of the week.  Yes, I am giving myself a pass one day of the week.  It's the first of the month as I write this, of course I am in the back of my head thinking "I really want to do it each day, but I also know that the moment I miss a day I will give up because all will be lost.  It's an all or nothing mentality.  SO 6 days a week....just 5K steps.  That's it!

2. Water.  Of course water is going to be part of this challenge. The goal, 64 ounces a day.....or should I say 64 ounces of water 6 days of the week.   If it's 7, awesome.  If it's 6 that is still a great, and still puts me right there at the 80% perfect mark.

3.  Calories.  I need to start tracking  my calories.  I am aiming for 1400-1500 calories daily.....or should I say 6 days a week. :-)

4.  I am going to be doing some intermittent fasting during the month.  5 days a week I want to do a 16:8 fast.   I will be fasting from dinner until lunch the next day......at least 5 days a week.  

 So you can see, there isn't anything  earth shattering about my plans.  If I feel motivated, I can definitely add some formal exercise. But if I get my steps from working outside that's still good.   If I want, I can do more steps.  I can even eat lower calories or drink more water.  But if I follow my plan, I will have taken some great strides toward being healthy.