July!

 July started out with a bang!  And I don't mean fireworks!  I mean with my determination to be healthy!  Yes, I started the month with a spark of determination within me!

I set up my journal again this month much like I have the last few months, creating it by hand.  I have made adjustments each month to take away things that I didn't do and found unnecessary.  I added things that I realized I needed.  I adjusted and reworked things that I didn't like how they worked.  I am feeling really good with my journal!  I may start working on a version that I can print up so that I don't have to get out the good old ruler each month to create my own boxes, lines and gizmos!  I'm excited about possibly getting the perfect planner for me!   Seriously, I've been looking for YEARS for a planner that would have exactly what I needed it to have, or at least something close!  So I am excited to create my own. 

The month of July rolled around and I sat back and started to think about where I am.  And honestly, I wasn't happy with where I am in terms of my health.   So I decided that July was going to be my month to change my behaviors.  

What is changing?   Well nothing really.  But on the other hand, everything!   Last month in my journal I had 4 habits that I was to work on.   The four habits were very simple.  One, I had to keep my calories under 1500 for 6 days a week.   Second, I wanted to work on my water consumption.  I wanted to have 64 ounces of water bare minimum each day.    The third and the fourth kinda went hand in hand.  I wanted my step count to be over 5,000 steps per day and I wanted to exercise at least 3 times a week.   I quickly noticed that if I didn't exercise, the steps were much more difficult to get!     Simple and easy right?    I failed miserably!  Oh, not all of them.  My calories were spot on most days.  However, everything else was a colossal failure.  I exercised the first week or two and then didn't do it again!  Step count was next to nothing most days and my water.  Eii yii yii my water, lets just say it was a drought! So when I decided to get serious, I knew that those last three things would be on my habit page again.  I decided to not include the calories, that was pretty solid and darn near perfect.  I wanted to focus on things that I struggle with!  Easy peasy decision!   

So July first rolled around. And just like I expected, my calories are spot on and everything is going well.

 Exercise:  I didn't want to exercise when I woke up.  5 AM is not a friendly hour!  But I did it anyway!  I did it on July second also!    Now I am writing this on July third and I have to admit that I didn't exercise this morning.  I was thinking it was going to be a 'rest day'.  But after thinking about it throughout the day thus far, I have plans to knock out SOMETHING after work.  It's not so much that I don't want to skip a day of exercise, but rather I know that exercise will help me increase my step count so that I don't miss that goal today also! 

Steps:    I am happy to say that I got my steps in on both Monday and Tuesday, the first two days of the month.  The one day I was a little shy of my goal as the day was winding down. Nope, Not allowed, not happening!  So I  made sure that I moved and walked a bit more around the yard with the dog to make it to my 5K.   (and yes, I know that 5 K is a low goal....give me time and I will raise it gradually, but right now 5K is a stretch!).   And yes, that is why I KNOW that I need to do something after work.  I'm at 2k Steps right now, and I know getting 3 K will be hard.  Sure I'll be on my feet and making dinner and whatnot, but that doesn't garner a lot of steps!  I NEED STEPS!

Water: I didn't forget my water! On the first of July I actually not only got my 64 ounces, but I also got an extra 32 ounces on top of that!  Go me!   Tuesday was not as over the top, and I just made my 64 ounces.    No extra, but I am still proud of myself!    Today is about halfway over and I am more than halfway through my water for the day, so I'm feeling good about my success for the day.

So there you have it.  I am enacting the changes necessary to turn my health journey around.  Sadly, I am not seeing any change on the scales.  But I am ok with that.  First of all, it is only 3 days in.  I am also aware that my body is probably holding on to every ounce of water since it's finally getting what it needs and that within a few days I'll probably be running to the bathroom frequently as it regulates itself, which is when my weight will drop.   But you know what, if it doesn't;  I will still be ok because I know that the habits that I am working on will have a positive impact on my overall health!

Testing it out

 April has come to a close and with that a new month.   To me, a new month is a time for new beginnings.  This month was no different.  

April was not a stellar month for me in some areas.   But in other areas it was fantastic!    I had some goals for the month of April (ok, they are the same most months).

** Track all my food

** Exercise daily

** Lose Weight

** Continue to bank my miles for my 2024 mile challenge

** Purge 5 items

** Read at least one non fiction /educational/self help (Edifying) book

** Drink 64 ounces of water a day

As I said, it was a mixed bag. here it is, the good, the bad and the ugly!

** Track all my food-  I did this!   I was spot on with my tracking.  I did it each and every day without fail!  I didn't always (rarely) track before I ate but it was all tracked!

** Exercise daily- This was a colossal failure!  I was gung ho at the beginning of the month. I was going to get back to my daily exercise and set the world on fire!   However, when it came down to it I failed.  I started the month strong and exercised two times in the first few days of the month....and then didn't exercise again the rest of the month. Yeah, huge failure!

** Lose Weight-  I had grand plans that I was going to lose and I was going to lose big!   This is one of those mixed bags.  It wasn't great, but it wasn't horrid!  I lost.....1.2 pounds for the month.  So a measly amount of weight loss.   And don't get me wrong, I am tickled with ANY loss.  Heck, I am even tickled with a maintain.  But I know in my heart that I could have done better.

** Continue to bank my miles for my 2024 mile challenge  Here is another colossal failure.  I was holding my own with my miles from January through March.  I wasn't banking a ton of extra miles, but I was holding my own.  And then April hit!  In fairness, I was fighting off some sickness the one week.  But that is just an excuse.  Because that was only one week!   There were three other weeks in the month!   But, the down and dirty of it all is that I ended up the month behind by 25 miles!   Not Cool!

** Purge 5 items.  Nailed it!   Yes, I nailed this one.  I am doing pretty good with the purging.  I need to really get into it and purge some more, but I purged.  I sold some items on facebook market place and the rest I carted to Goodwill!

** Read at least one non fiction /educational/self help (Edifying) book.   It should come as no surprise that I nailed this one.  Reading has never been a problem for me.....even if it is more 'edifying' content. 

** Drink 64 ounces of water a day-  This was another huge failure.    I may have reached the magical 64 ounces, which I want to be my MINIMUM each day once or twice!   I am telling you.  Huge failure!

May is a new month though.  It's a time for new beginnings.  It is time to be fabulous and not just meet my goals but smash them to smithereens!     My goals are remaining the same with the exception of an additional goal.  That additional goal is that I want to reach 5 thousand  steps each day.  I admittedly get most of my steps for the 2024 challenge on the exercise bike.  My steps are just the additional boost to get me over the hump so i don't focus on getting the steps as much as I should.  So this month I am aiming to get at least 5,000 steps a day.

I am trying a new journalling system of my own creation to keep track of everything.  I have never been happy with the journals that I can find.  They never have what I think a weight loss journal needs!  So I made my own. I"m going to play around with it and change/adjust and refine it and maybe I will have one printed for me for next year versus creating my pages each month on my own.  We shall see.   

I have a page where I will be keeping track of my habits, a page to track my food consumption.  And on that page I also have columns where I can indicate I ate fast or slow.  I have a place to indicate if I took my acid reflux pill and I have a column to keep track of the acid reflux.  (I am honestly not sure that the pill is working.)   I have a page for my measurements.  I also have a place for my word of the week.  And of course I have a page for my goals.  I have also included a page for me to keep track of my reading...not just what I am reading by an area for a small review for each book.  
 

I am trying to streamline my intel into one place.  I will still be using myfitnesspal for tracking and my garmin and the garmin app to track my steps.  But I need to have all of this information in one place that I can see all at the same time.  I do better with good old fashioned pen and paper.  SO I'm giving it a test run!   We shall see how it works!

 

Did I do it

 My word (or rather phrase) of the week for last week was Just Do it.   The question is did I actually do it?

So what did I have to 'just do'.   The main thing was get my butt in gear and move!   I had been fighting off a cold or some crud. (Jason had it worse and is still congested and sniffly.) Due to feeling under the weather I stopped standing at my desk.  I had worked my way up to standing about 3 hours and then I felt so run down that I didn't stand at all for a week.  At the same time, I also failed to get on the exercise bike during my break.  

The bike is important because that helps me earn the miles that I need each day for my 2024 miles in 2024 challenge. (You can read a bit about that challenge here.)    In short, I need about 5.5 miles each day in order to obtain the magical 2024 miles by the end of 2024.   I was on target with my miles, and even had a few miles banked for a rainy day.  Then I was sick and didn't ride or even walk all that much.   So after my week of being sick I was behind!  This past week was to be my redemption!  I was going to get back on the bike and at the barest minimum not fall further behind.  So how did I do?   Well, I did ride!  But not enough!  I missed one day, simply because I had fallen out of the habit (yes, one week and the habit was broken) and simply forgot!  I also was off on day and didn't ride that day.  So I didn't make up ground and in fact, I actually am a bit further behind now!  Yup, so a mixed bag of success for actually riding at all; but a failure because I fell further behind.

So how did I do with the stand up desk?   I stood.  The first day I only stood for an hour, but by the end of the week I had gotten myself back to 3 hours.  In fact, that last day I was even doing a little two step dance at times at my desk!  

My eating was pretty solid!  I didn't have any day where I binged and/or overate.  I made healthy choices and kept my calories in line.  Of course, there is always room for improvement!  ALWAYS.   So this week I will focus on getting more fruits and veggies.   I will also work on drinking more water (why is water such a difficult one for me?)

It's spring and I've been able to get outside some and work in the yard.  It feels good to get some fresh air without freezing my behind off.  This past week I worked on preparing the soil in the three new beds. Yes, we are adding three new beds to the vegetable garden.  (they are each about 8 feet by 4 feet).  I have been digging and raking and working the soil and pulling junk out of it (weeds, roots, clumps of grass, trash, and the ever present rocks).  And each time I go through the soil to remove all this unwanted junk, it is just helping to prep the soil!    I have also weeded (Must.Get.Mulch.Soon) and transplanted plants from my mom's to my place.  Yes, I grabbed some hostas!  I had been talking to mom before she died about splitting her hostas (they are Way past due for a split) but ended up totally removing about 4 feet of them after talking to my brother.  Free plants are GREAT!  

 

I'm slowing starting to see my weight trend lower and lower.  My scales have been really odd lately and they fluctuate and aren't at all reliable (At least I don't feel they are since I can weigh myself twice right in a row and get two different numbers.)  Could I get a new scale?  Sure.  But I have a sneaky feeling it is our uneven floors that is the culprit!   BUT, what I am feeling good about is the fact that just a month or so ago the numbers were fluctuating at the top of this 'decade' and even going into the decade above my  weight.  And now, the numbers are fluctuating at the lower end of the decade and I have even seen the decade below once or twice!   So I'll take that as a sign.   I don't need to know the exact number, I just need to know that it is going down.  So I will take that as a win!

Jason got a new toy yesterday, so we stuck around the house and he messed around with that.  Today we HAVE to get out and mow the yard (at least a few areas that are bad).   We hopefully will be getting a riding mower within a week or so.    Jason's parents have a friend that is selling a zero turn mower at a good deal. Jason's dad went to look at it and says it looks good.  They originally told us that it would need back tires within a year, but they were thinking that they would last for another year.   But when they pulled it out to tune it up and sharpen the blades (yes, they do their own work on their equipment...and actually do some as a side business apparently and yes we will be calling them to tune up our push mowers and snow blower soon!) they realized the tire wouldn't hold air, so they ordered them and are putting them on !  Yay!  So hopefully the days of push mowing 8 hours to get the yard mowed (and doing it weekly) will soon be behind us!  Once we can mow faster, we will have more time for the fun stuff in the yard.   Fun stuff?  Finishing clearing the brush and weeds, landscaping, gardening, etc!   Ohhh yeah, and maybe we can get back out to hiking too once the yard doesn't take so much time! 

I have been lamenting for the last year or two that all of my healthy living and life stats are scattered here and there.   For example my calories are in Myfitnesspal and my steps are in garmin. And I have to manually add my exercise bike miles to one or the other or both.  And each app is awesome, but they don't always integrate into one thing.  Myfitness pal doesn't do to bad with pulling info into one...but I have other things that I want to track like healthy habits, my reading (which I do have an app for...but once again...a different app) and even if I took my medicine for the acid reflux and how I feel after I eat.....trying to see if the medicine helps...or if certain foods and certain eating behaviors help).  I buy a day planner yearly, which I try to pull everything to....but there is a lot of stats and information.   In December I toyed with creating my own planner.  I was going to create it in canva, place it in my kindle direct publishing account for 'sale' and then buy it from there to have it printed up nice.  But when I started to create it I was stumped.  What do I need to include...how do I want it laid out...so many questions and I just didn't do it.   BUT, I have decided to do more of a bullet journal for now.  Each month create pages that I think I would like to have included.  And then use it for the month.  I can then take notes of what is missing, what doesn't work, what works and adapt it for the next moth.   I will only be creating one month at a time, so I can always adjust.  So yesterday I bought a blank 'sketch pad' style book and hopefully today I can start creating what May is going to look like.  Right now I am thinking of the following things:

*  Calendar page (typical calendar month page).  On this calendar page I will divide the square for the day into 4-5  each section will be colored when I successfully complete the habit for the day.   So I can be working  on and tracking  4 habits.  (I will be tracking things like   water, food tracking, exercise, vitamins, Did I get my miles for the 2024, etc)

*  Pages for Food consumption.  I have gone back and forth with two thoughts on this.  The first is a place that I can write down all my food and the corresponding calories.  The second is to actually just have a page (another calendar??) that shows my total calories for the day.  I like the abbreviated version because it would be easier to see how I did at a quick glance.  But I feel as if I need to have my food written out side by side with my habits while eating (did I eat fast...slow...etc) and how I felt after I ate (acid reflux or no)  AND a place to indicate if I took my pill or not before eating.    That is the benefit of creating each month as I go....I can try both and I can adjust monthly.

*  Water consumption....

*A monthly goal page - monthly goals.  such as 'did you lose weight', 'did you exercise 3 times a week'  did you at least maintain your 2024 miles.   Simple yes and no questions (Could be broken into different sections, weight loss goals, life goals, reading goals, household goals)

*Monthly wrap up -  page for highlights from the month (for example if we go for a long hike or on vacation....) and any goals that need a bit more discussing.

* I have always gone back and forth between adding in mood/emotions to a journal.  But it could be an interesting add to the journal to correspond with my food... how much does food affect me mood?

* Obviously an area for weight 

* A review page for a quick review on books I read for the month.....or at least a place to PUT the books I read that month. 

* I also just saw someone else include in their journal a calendar that allowed them to show when they started a book and when they ended the book.   I thought that would be neat.  

*A place to put my word of the week- and maybe a little area as to why I chose it..or how it affected me?

*Body Measurments

What am I missing???

So we shall see how this goes!   Wish me luck!  I will share on here when it's done!