Changing things up

This weeks goals are: 

Monday – write at least 10 thank you notes.  

Tuesday – cook dinner and clean kitchen.  

Wednesday – go to gym and clean bathrooms. 

Thursday – make sure all clothes are put away prior to going to work (friend arrives today!).  

Friday – Friend in town!  Have fun!  

Saturday – Friend in town!  Have fun!  

Sunday – prep for the coming week (pack lunch; pick up house; do laundry; grocery shop; etc.)

Though, I'm not sure the above will actually work out.  Today we're celebrating Father's Day with the husband's family.  This will put a dent in time available to write said thank you notes.  I'm still going to give it a shot, but I might only get 5 done instead of the 10.  Here's my amendment for the week:

Write 20 Thank You notes over the course of the week

Cook dinner at least one night this week (probably either Tuesday or Wednesday, but maybe not till Saturday or Sunday)

Go to the gym TWICE (I went twice last week! Yay!)

Clean up Kitchen, bathrooms, clean up living/dining room, and clean up spare room (mainly put away clothes) before Thursday when friend arrives (I started a bit of the kitchen cleaning last night)

HAVE FUN!

Pack lunch for Monday on Sunday night.

Basically the same list just opening it up to be moved around various days instead of sticking to the previous order.  Sometimes you just have to move things around.  Life is about balance.  I'm NOT going to miss out on dinner with the family just because I have a to-do list.  I'll figure out another time to get these things done.  If only I didn't need so much sleep...

As Nike would say...

Here’s my plan for blogging: JUST DO IT.  More specifically, I’m going to make sure I post on Mondays from now on.  Might be first thing in the morning, might not be until before I go to bed at night but I WILL post EVERY Monday.

So, here we go…  First Monday blog in a loooong time!

This week: I’m going to the gym!  I went ahead and packed my gym bag this morning so I’m all set to go right after work.  In addition to the gym, I need to get to organizing/cleaning my house a little because we have a friend coming in from out of town next week!

Next week I’ll be focusing on daily goals.  

Monday – write at least 10 thank you notes.  

Tuesday – cook dinner and clean kitchen.  

Wednesday – go to gym and clean bathrooms. 

Thursday – make sure all clothes are put away prior to going to work (friend arrives today!).  

Friday – Friend in town!  Have fun!  

Saturday – Friend in town!  Have fun!  

Sunday – prep for the coming week (pack lunch; pick up house; do laundry; grocery shop; etc.)

Obviously, these aren't the ONLY things I'll be doing on those days, but they are the one thing I want to make SURE happens.

Week of June 25 – Pack lunches at least 3 days.  (I really need to get back on this regularly!)

Wedding update:

For anyone keeping track of my post-wedding to-do’s I’ve officially started the name change process (Social Security office) and hope to do the other major part (Secretary of State/License update) this week.  After that I just have to change my name with work, banks, credit cards, doctors, etc.  If you have any suggestions on anything I might have overlooked, let me know!

How Many Ways Can You Say...

"back on the wagon"?

Here’s the thing – I just cannot manage to get into regular posting.  I want to, and then I get lazy.  So, this week’s resolution (even though now the week is half over!) is to figure out a way to get myself to post every week.  Any suggestions?

Next week, I have GOT to get back to the gym.  It’s been over a month since I’ve been and I miss how good I feel when I work out regularly (it’s also been over 2 weeks since I’ve done ANY sort of fitness activity at all – I’m DEFINITELY starting to feel it).

June 4 – Get back in to posting EVERY week on the blog - IE: Stop being so lazy about typing up a few sentences!

June 11 – Get back to the gym!

After that... well, I haven't thought beyond next week.  I'll think about it and hopefully have a definitive answer on Monday on what the June 18th week will look like.  :-)

I'm a Mrs!

May 14 – Get all wedding gift info logged on spreadsheet and start name change process
May 21 – Work on getting at least half of thank you notes out and get back to regular working out (at least 3 times this week)

Clearly, the wedding happened (it was great! Maybe I'll get around to posting about it soon) and in those last weeks of planning, it happening, and the week after I just sort of fell off the blogging bandwagon.

However, I’m back and ready to re-commit myself to this project I started!

This week’s goal is mainly in the terms of research (name change) and a small amount of computer work. I’m rather busy this week (dance showcase is on Saturday!) so I didn’t want to include anything too time consuming.

If I’m REALLY lucky, I can take a long lunch on Thursday and go to the social security office to start the name change process. If that DOESN’T happen, then I’ll gather everything up and get it done ASAP next week. My goal is to get the biggies of name changing (SS card and license) changed before May 28th.

I'll let you know if that happens!

Slacker

I’m starting to slack on this whole blogging thing – Sorry! I think I’ll make it next week’s goal to blog TWICE that week ;-)

April 2 – Create and stick to STRICT workout schedule (wedding is in 4 weeks! Yay!)
April 9 – Track nutrition & fitness (using SparkPeople) and create wedding To-Do List
April 16 – Blog TWICE this week and work on wedding To-Do list

So, last week I printed out a monthly calendar and wrote in things I knew were coming up. I tried to place as many workouts (home, gym and dance) in as possible without becoming overwhelmed. So far, so good. Have I stuck 100% to the calendar, NO. Have I managed to still fit in as many workouts as I wanted to, YES! For example, this week – I had planned to workout Wednesday after work but we ended up meeting up with Matt’s sister. SO, instead, I got a workout (in addition to dance class) in on Thursday. I always forget how GOOD I feel when I work out regularly!

I started using SparkPeople again to track my food and fitness. So far so good. My only problem – I pack a TON of food in the morning and still end up with a much lower than I want calorie range. For instance, today I packed breakfast, lunch, snack AND dinner, but I’m 300 calories shy of where I should be. So, with that in mind, I’ll be adding something in! I’m looking to lose weight, not starve myself! (I’m thinking a Dunkin Donuts Veggie Egg white Flatbread – Delicious!)

Next week – Blog and wedding. Life will go something like – work, eat, wedding stuff, sleep and repeat (with a few other things thrown in there like my soon-to-be nieces first birthday, working out, and dance). :-)

Back on the Bandwagon

March 19 – Clean, Clean, Clean! Deep clean both bathrooms, organize spare bedroom, vacuum, deep clean kitchen. (We have visitors coming to the house over the weekend and I’d like the house to be lovely for them!)
March 26 – Bring lunch to work every day AND focus on wedding things (specifically, update spreadsheets and work on Thank You notes)
April 2 – Cut back to 1 cup of coffee a morning; Increase water intake; Create and stick to STRICT workout schedule (wedding is in 4 weeks! Yay!) for the month of April

I didn’t post last week – sorry about that! Between work, wedding things, and guests coming into town (it was a SUPER busy weekend) blogging fell to the wayside.

Last week I’m going to call a success. I didn’t get quite as much done as I wanted, but I did get a good portion done. Of course, we had another wedding shower on Sunday so now I have a TON more stuff I need to find homes for!

This week we’re getting back on the lunch bandwagon. I’ve been spending way too much money (and calories, if I’m honest) lately and I need to tighten things up (both financially and physically). So far, so good. As long as I pack something for tomorrow I’ll have this one accomplished. This weekend I’m going to focus on wedding items and attempting to organize all the new items in my house.

Starting Monday I’m going to attempt to create a workout schedule I can stick to. I can do this, right?

Is it fried?

March 12 – No “fried” foods (this means, no fast food French fries (although oven fries are good), no potato chips (unless they are “baked”), no fried chicken, etc.) AND focus on wedding things (finish escort card design; get thank you notes OUT THE DOOR; final decisions on music; start “must take” photography list)
March 19 – Clean, Clean, Clean! Deep clean both bathrooms, organize spare bedroom, vacuum, deep clean kitchen. (We have visitors coming to the house over the weekend and I’d like the house to be lovely for them!)

Last week rounded out nicely with me having gone to the gym 3 times and to dance once. Tried to carry that in to this week, but unfortunately I kept forgetting my gym bag at home! So far, 1 night of dance and I’m going to the gym tonight. I also have dance tomorrow morning and am going to try to hit the gym (or workout at home) on Sunday. Except for dance, I'm going to stick with low impact (elliptical/bike/Pilates/yoga) for the foreseeable future as I've managed to injure my right foot. :-(

This week – Not eating fried food is WAY harder than I thought it might be. But on the other hand, not really that difficult just takes a little extra thought (getting a side salad instead of fries, are baked potatoes an option, grilled chicken, etc.). I DID have a few tortilla strips on top of my soup the other day at Max & Erma's. So, technically fried, but I'm letting myself slide. One slip does not a resolution break!

The whole thing would probably be easier if I had a kitchen full of food, but I don’t. I’ve been eating fast food and in restaurants all week. Next week, although it won’t be an official resolution, I’m going to try to get my butt in gear with the cooking food at home and packing my lunch business. I have all sorts of new pots/pans/utensils from our wedding shower and I think it’s time to put them to use!

As for next week – I have visitors coming in, so I should clean! A deep scrub of the bathrooms and kitchen, a quick vacuum of the house, and a nice organization and de-clutter of the spare bedroom. I’ll need to come up with some sort of schedule to stick to, otherwise I’ll end up doing it all Thursday night/Friday morning before they arrive!

Get thyself to the gym!

March 5 – Let’s try another fitness week – Dance two times a week; workout two additional times.
March 12 – No “fried” foods (this means, no fast food French fries (although oven fries are good), no potato chips (unless they are “baked”), no fried chicken) AND focus on wedding things (finish escort card design; get thank you notes OUT THE DOOR; final decisions on music; start “must take” photography list)

So, I’m already at a disadvantage for this week. Matt is standing up in a wedding on Saturday and therefore I won’t be able to go to dance on Saturday. So, really this goal is more like “get your butt to the gym” week. Which I’m actually succeeding at! I’ve been to the gym twice so far this week and plan to go Saturday (before the wedding) and probably Sunday as well. I have dance tonight. So, that puts me at two gym workouts (so far), one dance class (tonight), and two potential gym (or home) workouts (Saturday and Sunday). I’ve also taken to doing a little stretching before bed the last few nights. I’m hoping I can keep this up. It feels good, so I should! Plus, there is the added bonus of the fact that when I’m working out regularly I tend to eat better too!

Next week my physical goal is to not feed myself fried foods. The REAL goal next week though is to get some wedding details out of the way!

Also, I should note - I didn’t have any soda last week. I have since had a little soda, but not nearly as much as I WAS drinking before. I’m more into tea these days (caffeine free teas!). :-)

LASTLY, I’d love some suggestions/ideas on goals to try for the coming weeks. Let’s hear them!

Kicked it!

Feb 20 – No fast food. By “fast food” I mean McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Burger King… This does not include restaurants such as Subway, Panera, Pei Wei, and Qdoba.
Feb 27 – Give up soda
March 5 – Let’s try another fitness week – Dance two times a week; workout two additional times.

Well, I kicked the “no fast food” thing in the a$$. My cousin offered to get me a McFlurry (I wanted ice cream SO badly) on her way over to my house and I declined! I feel REALLY proud of myself. This is not to say I ate super healthy all week, but I didn’t allow a drop of fast food into my body. It was actually A LOT easier than I thought it would be. I’m going to attempt to keep the fast food to a minimum (there have been weeks when I’ve been eating some form of fast food at least once a day – Gross!).

This week – No soda! In addition, I’m going to resolve to do the following: print organizational chart so I can start adjusting it to my own needs; start a deep clean of the house; and get at least half of the Thank You Notes for the gifts from the shower out.

Not drinking soda is actually really difficult for me. It’s not so much the caffeine I crave (I can get that from coffee/tea) but the bubbles. We have a SodaStream, so I’m going to see if I can get myself to enjoy plain fizzy water and/or see if I can find a way to flavor it that I like (I tried mixing in some Vitamin Water, but it had an off taste to it).

Any suggestions for fun/different resolutions for the coming weeks?

Almost forgot to post!

I realize I’m half way through the week and still haven’t posted!

Feb 13 – Create and start organization schedule (using calendar pinned on Pinterest as a guide)
Feb 20 – No fast food. By “fast food” I mean McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Burger King… This does not include restaurants such as Subway, Panera, Pei Wei, and Qdoba.
Feb 27 – Give up soda

First off, last week was a fail. I never did get around to printing off the guide I was going to use. This is still something I want to do, so I’ll continue to keep it in the forefront of my mind. I WAS productive in the wedding planning business.

This week is “No Fast Food” week. So far, so good. Today I didn’t bring my lunch so I headed over to Panera for half a sandwich and a cup of soup. Normally, I’d drive through a fast food joint to pick something up, but I’m sticking to this “No Fast Food” week! It’s actually one of the first resolutions/goals that I’ve made a point of telling other people about.

Next week – No soda! This does not mean I’m giving up sparkling beverages though. We received a SodaStream recently so I will be carbonating water and adding juice to flavor it. I’m pretty excited about the different flavor combinations I can play with and still remain off soda.

Another week, Another Goal

This past week was another one of those partly successful but mostly unsuccessful weeks. I was able to add things to my routine (taking a nightly vitamin for instance) but didn’t manage to create a routine that I was successful in fully completing every night. I’ll keep working on it!

This week is about starting a program that will allow me to stay on top of the cleaning and organization issues in my house. Some things that I want to do as far as organizing I want to wait until after the wedding (we registered for a few things that will be helpful in organizing). There is absolutely NO reason I can’t start clearing unneeded things out of the house now though! If you’re interested in the calendar I’m going to adjust for my own use, here it is: http://www.mysimplerlife.com/2012.htm

Feb 13 – Create and start organization schedule (using calendar pinned on Pinterest as a guide)
Feb 20 – No fast food. By “fast food” I mean McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Wendy’s, Burger King… This does not include restaurants such as Subway, Panera, Pei Wei, and Qdoba.

Welcome to the Sixth Week of the Year!

Apparently, sticking to a fitness goal is going to be the TOUGHEST thing I do this year. I half succeeded, half failed. I worked out Monday (and went to dance on Thursday and Saturday) but I did not get a gym workout in this past week. I paid for a year membership at the local Planet Fitness and really don’t want to let all my money go to waste. My cousin is back in town now, though, so maybe we can motivate each other to go!

This week is about routine:
Feb 6 – Create nightly routine to include taking vitamins daily and nightly yoga/stretching
Feb 13 – Create and start organization schedule (using calendar pinned on Pinterest as a guide)

I’m aiming to come up with a quick 10-15 minute routine that will help me relax before bed and contribute to my overall health/appearance. Some things I do already every night (floss and brush my teeth, wash my face, take out my contacts), but there are other things I’d like to include (drinking a glass of water before bed, taking a daily vitamin, stretching/yoga). I’m hoping if I find just the right order for these events and can compact them into a 10-15 minute routine, eventually they will be second nature and I’ll do them no matter how tired I am!

Take Two!

Well, I tracked my spending and started a budget! This feels like something I should continue for at least a full month to get the best sense of where and when I’m spending my money. So, I’m going to try to continue tracking. I feel like I’m in a good starting place for creating and sticking to a solid budget.

Jan 30 – Fitness week attempt number 2! Be more specific on when and what constitutes a “workout”. Workout at least twice (in addition to dance). One workout MUST be at gym. One workout MUST be on Monday.
Feb 6 – Create nightly routine to include taking vitamins daily and nightly yoga/stretching

Trying the working out thing again this week! I’ll be doing a little Zumba (Playstation Move style) tonight when I get home from work. I’ve scheduled it. It’s GOING to happen. The gym workout will happen either Friday (after work) or Sunday afternoon. I shall not fail at this resolution twice!

Fitness Week FAIL - Please try again

I failed my "fitness" week. I just did not do what I wanted to. It's okay, though. I can give myself another chance. Part of the joy of doing week to week resolutions is that one bad week doesn't mean my goals are shot!

I didn't "workout" like I meant to. I DID, however, increase my movement (extra walking around work, random push-ups, lunges, crunches that I don't normally do).

This week is all about $$$

Jan 23 – Track spending and try to create a workable budget
Jan 30 – Fitness week attempt number 2! Be more specific on when and what constitutes a “workout”. Workout at least twice (in addition to dance). One workout MUST be at gym. One workout MUST be on Monday.

I've been randomly spending $3 here, $7 there. It adds up! I want to see what it's all adding up to.

I also want to start creating an actual budget. Obviously, it will have to be adjusted as I figure out just how much I need to spend on food/clothes/beauty items/home items/etc. for a month, but I can set aside the basics that I already know.

Not looking so good

This week is not looking so good... So far I've worked out a total of ZERO times.

Someone give me the motivation to make sure I workout 2 times over the next 4 days (although, really, I have dance tonight and on Saturday).

I guess I HAVE to make sure I work out Friday and Sunday. I didn't mean for it all to happen at the end of the week.

Looks like this is definitely a resolution I'll have to repeat (though I am going to try to accomplish it this week still).

I can do it! (right?)

Mission accomplished!

I definitely refocused on wedding planning – dress bought, e-mails sent out, started to work on details. Things are moving right along. Good thing, too, because the wedding is in 103 days!!!

I tracked all my eating for the week. This is good for a few reasons. Tracking automatically equals eating healthier and/or smaller portions. Instead of the fried sampler trio at Applebee’s, I got the Dijon Chicken off the “Under 550 calories” Menu. It was delicious! Instead of eating two or three servings of Christmas chocolate, I only ate one. I’m going to try to continue tracking for the next few weeks, but won’t judge myself if I fall off that bandwagon.

Jan 16 – Workout at least 2 times (in addition to dance classes)
Jan 23 – Track spending and try to create a workable budget

This week is all about fitness. I had planned to get out of bed early this morning and workout, but that just did NOT happen (why does my bed have to be so nice and warm and cozy in the morning?). Still, I have all week to fit in two workouts – I can do it! I’m planning to get one out of the way this evening. I wish I had an iPhone so I could use the GymPact app – I’ve heard about it and I think it’d be super motivating to me.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get my butt out of bed in the morning?

On to week 2!

So, I've decided (for now) to just use blogging as my accountability. I may, or may not, decide to create some other forms of accountability in the future, but for now, this will work.

Week 1 was a success! I only had 4 days of work last week and I managed to pack my lunch 3 of those 4 days. I'm going to try to keep up the trend of packing my lunch more often. You'll know if I start to slip on it because it will become another weekly resolution if I need a definite reminder to do so. :-)

On to week 2!
Jan 9 – Track food intake AND re-focus on wedding plans
Jan 16 – Workout at least 2 times (in addition to dance classes)

Wedding plans... I've been slacking. This week will hopefully include: finding a salon to do my hair, ordering my dress (I know, I know... who waits this long?), and sitting down with Matt and making some joint decisions about songs, favors, cake design, rehearsal dinner, etc. If I'm SUPER lucky - we'll also schedule a meeting with our friend who is performing the ceremony!

Next week will be about fitness - nothing but fitness!

New Year!

This year, instead of making the standard resolutions (i.e. “ be healthier,” and “get organized”), I’ve decided to make one resolution for each week of the year. I’m hoping that some of these things will become daily/weekly/monthly habits (things such as drinking more water, regularly cleaning and clearing clutter). There will be some things that are meant just for that particular time in my life (resolution for the week of my wedding – relax and enjoy these moments). Some weeks will have one “resolution” some will have multiples.

To make my life easiest – we’ll be assuming weeks start on Mondays:
Jan 2 – create accountability for resolutions AND pack lunch at least 3 days
Jan 9 – Track food intake AND re-focus on wedding plans


So, I haven't decided yet how I want to create this accountability. I think the first step is to resolve to post here at least once a week. I'm also thinking I might need to create an excel sheet or something to check off my accomplishments. Maybe a physical check off list - something to stare me in the face every day. So, by the end of the week I resolve to have the "check list" created. I won't necessarily have all the resolutions set for the entire year, but I plan to have at least a month or two done (the joy of this is it can be adjusted to ebb and flow with my life and activities).

What are YOUR resolutions?