| Resolutions are not meant to be made and forgotten, so I would like to review my progress at the end of every month. Same old chatter chatter feel free to skip.
1) Conscious eating I am sticking to vegetarian food. The downside to that is I eat more carbs. I am eating home cooked food every day of the week except when there are occasional lunches with friends and colleagues. But weight has not budged, may be a pound or two, nothing noteworthy. I can feel my hunger getting worse the days I work out. I need to add more protein to my days without stressing my kidneys. I do take a lot of all kinds of lentils, quinoa, plant protein powder (which I hate since it is processed and not chocolate flavor anymore ) and nuts. Eggs are a hit or miss. May be it is only in my head. No caffeine and I am enjoying discovering new tea flavors. Peppermint has been my favorite find this month. I have begun to enjoy cooking. DH says he likes my cooking and prefers some of my items to restaurants. ;--O Dotter has always liked my cooking, no spice low salt koottus and paruppu saadhams, we are pretty set.
2) I have started drinking hot water which is a substitute for tea sometimes, I can sip for a while unlike water which I guzzle in a few seconds.
3) Workouts I start working out during lunch at work and that feels amazing. I get a nice break from the rut and I feel like I earned the lunch after. I only do that two days a week, so lot of flexibility with the days. I have to work out on Saturdays and Sundays which will go for a toss if we travel, or go camping especially in Summer. The upside is I have all the evenings to myself and family. I don't have to cook in a hurry, I can spend some time with dotter writing, and I can actually take her to bed by 7:30-8. 4 days a week of excercise has helped me feel energized and stronger.
4) Read the bible every night DH said I should do it in the mornings. I tried reading a physical bible and soon moved to an app on my phone. I have been reading on most days. It is such a simple habit to take on. DH gets dotter to say a small prayer in the morning, and I decided to teach her to pray at night before sleeping. Especially since she is scared of monsters at night. She caught on to Our Father pretty quickly and reminds me to pray even if I forget. I didn't like to pray when I was younger but when I came to the US, prayers helped me get through some of the toughest years in my life. A simple thank you at night reminds you of all that is good in your life, lifts off the stress and let's you sleep peacefully.
5) sleep 8 hours I think this is the main reason for most of my good days this month. I sleep by 10, DH says I sleep before that, ;--) and wake up by 530-6. I am off caffeine so it is really critical I get my sleep else I may be one crabby lady. I am fine with it. I will only fit in as much stuff as I can and in the time I have after I have taken care of my health and my family.
6) no stress Haven't felt stressed this month but then work has not peaked yet. It is getting there though. I have to negotiate with a good friend who actually help me ramp! Delicate but both are professionals and we know it is not personal. Next month will be the big challenge to see how I cope. There was an opportunity to take on more work but since it was not high impact I decided not to volunteer to do it. I will choose the work I take on and do my best. No busy rat spinning the wheels just to show I am always busy. Sorry.
7) volunteer I am not in WIN, but I will definitely be a spot volunteer depending on how my schedule looks like. I will utilIze other small volunteering opportunities. This month I didn't do anything. I will plan to do one task a month and let us see how that goes.
8) dream, explore, discover I have started taking two courses in Coursera. They are interesting. I am using my driving time and gym time to listen to courses and listen to books. I am enjoying it so far. We managed to go to Pismo Beach, travel for the month. Have a few plans lined up for the year.
Two things I am not happy with this month - - my weight I am not able to eat less ;--P I am praying to God to help me not be a glutton! - my book writing progress I am not able to fit it in my schedule. I have written 5500 words, not enough for one month. I only wrote diligently for two weeks. I am reading a book Getting High, a trekking story on the Annapurna Circuit to get some inspiration. I downloaded my draft into my phone so I can work on it when I am at the gym or in dotters classes. But I need to really focus I can't fit them in tiny 5minute intervals. I have to get jnto the habit of writing at night, now I watch House rerun ;--(
Bye January!
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