Looking at my Successes from December's Goals and defining February's Goals

I am making little mini cards, each one individually painted
rather than printed.
This is under the category of fun and social
(Family and friends)
click to view larger.)

Today's the day that I am checking to see how I did on my goals for December and January:

1. I walked 45 minutes nearly every day and if I missed, I usually made it up--success!
2. I finished more than 4 books a month:  success!
3. I did not get out in nature 2 or more times a month.  I got out once a month or so.  :-(  This is very sad.  I get out, but not in nature.
4. I posted more than 8 times a month.  Success.
5. I meditated 3 x a week or more most weeks. Pretty good success.

Also, I did art, worked on my novels, wrote and submitted some poems, restarted my exercise program, worked on my diet, submitted photos to DSS and generally made a lot more progress than I usually give myself credit for.

Today's challenge for my goal-setting track is to make a treasure map for one goal.  I chose getting a book done.

Treasure map to publishing my books
(2 that I am currently working on).
Click this to see it large enough to actually read.

Goals for February 2014

My five major goals for February are:

1. health:  exercise, diet and other stuff below.
2. work:  Wolfie, Uncertain Weather, submissions. Art.
3. Social: husband, family, friends.
4. Fun:  art, play, reading, social.
5. I'm totally confused about this and if I am going to do it, I need a better way to do it.  Find that way or jettison project.

I am doing the first topic below and will attempt the 2nd-5th in coming days.  I think I am spending too much time on this, but picking a few things doesn't seem to work, either.

My Year-word for 2014 is HEALTH, which is physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual well-being.  (A subcategory is Bravery, which I hope to address in a future post).  In the goal-setting month, today’s challenge* is to QUANTIFY the goals so you know if you are achieving them.  I’m not sure all goals should be exactly quantified. But here goes.

Exercise:

·         I will do my basic exercise set at LEAST 3 X a week.

·         I will walk 45 minutes (or do an equal or better exercise such as biking, snow shoveling, cross country skiing, jogging, etc.) at LEAST 5 X a week.

·         I will look for ways to modify my exercise schedule to make it healthier (more vigorous when possible, more stretching, more varied) and more fun.  What I want to do is add BACK into my schedule T’ai Chi, Chi Kung, Zhan Zhong and yoga.  I don’t want to overwhelm myself time-wise, so I want to fit those in place of some of the other exercises I do a few days a week. I would like to make incremental changes so they don’t seem overly burdensome but still create positive changes.  By the end of February, or sooner, I will create and implement a schedule for adding in or substituting some of these activities.

Eating, part I:*

·         I will have a healthy vegetarian breakfast 3-4 times a week or more (including today).

·         I will brainstorm healthy-for-me* vegetarian lunches and try to find and implement at least one good vegetarian alternative lunch by Feb 15 and add it into my schedule.

·         I will brainstorm healthy-for-me* VEGAN breakfasts and lunches and try to find and implement at least one good vegan alternative breakfast and lunch by Feb 21 and add it into my schedule.

·         I will work on reducing portion sizes so that my maximum meat consumption on a meat-containing meal does not exceed 5 oz and is closer to 3-4 oz. and I will not have seconds on anything except vegetables.

·         I will avoid unhealthy-for-me* foods such as sugar, white flour, dairy products, soy, potato chips alcohol etc. as much as I am humanly able to. (I would like to not eat them at ALL ever.)

*Healthy-for-me means does not include any of the many things I'm allergic to such as dairy, soy, legumes, sugar, etc--my allergies complicate choosing healthy menus. See eating, part II, at the bottom.

Sleep:

·         I will make a concerted effort to avoid working late and encourage Keith’s reading to me at a reasonable time.* I will try to be in bed by 10:30 at the latest and up by 7 IF I slept.

*What IS the current reasonable time for Keith???  Ask him!

Work:

·         I will set up a tentative work schedule for my deadline projects by Feb 10.

Relaxation:

·         I will alternate enjoyable projects such as writing and art.  I will read and meditate.  (I can’t think how to quantify relaxation without making it a burden, but if I do not quantify or elucidate it, I tend not to do it.)

I I will make a real effort to get out in nature when the driving is acceptable.

·         See fun and social.

FUN:

·         Hmm

·         I intend to consider the issue of fun before the end of February.

Social:

·         I’m not going to quantify this, but will state it as an intention:  My intention is to find some social experiences for myself and Keith, ways to spend some positive time with other people, NOT online.  Goal:  to find an appropriate way to realize this intention* and to “quantify” (or explicate) the means of realizing it.  We are becoming too insular.  (I don’t mean narrow-minded, but private, closed in, separated.) *for example, perhaps we will invite friends over at least once a month, ML over every other week, visit with family at a distance, and go out to some events with someone other than ourselves 6 times a year. Maybe it is just ME who needs more human contact, but I think Keith could use some too—he gets some at work, whereas I do not.  But work isn’t friendship—or is it?

Financial:

·         TODAY I will see about paying Graham’s bills.

·         I intend to look more at financial in March (or sooner, if necessary and/or if time allows).

Spiritual:

·         Overlap here with T’ai Chi, Chi Kung, Zhan Zhuang, yoga and meditation.

·         I will take at least one “journey” (with drumming CD) in February.

·         I intend to look at this area.

*The challenge to quantify goals was from several days ago, but I decided to save it for today, Feb 1.

Eating, Part II:  Abstinence:

Until I learn otherwise, I believe I need to become thoroughly abstinent from food substances that make me sick.

I’m going to quantify eating abstinence this way for now:

1.    Abstinence level 1:  No refined sugar, white flour (refined grains), dairy or soy.  This is the basic abstinence.

2.    Abstinence level 2:  No refined sugar, white flour (refined grains), dairy, soy, potatoes, snack foods (eg:  potato chips, corn chips) or any food that results in binging. No thirds.

3.    Abstinence level 3:  No refined sugar, white flour (refined grains), dairy, soy, potatoes, snack foods (eg:  potato chips, corn chips) or any food that results in binging. No more than half-portion seconds.

4.    Abstinence level 4:  No refined sugar, white flour (refined grains), dairy, soy, potatoes, snack foods (eg:  potato chips, corn chips) or any food that results in binging and NO SECONDS on anything but veggies. 5 oz or less of meat, poultry or fish.

5.    Abstinence level 5:  No refined sugar, white flour (refined grains), dairy, soy, potatoes, snack foods (eg:  potato chips, corn chips) or any food that results in binging and no seconds on anything but veggies.  4 oz or less of meat, poultry or fish plus vegetarian breakfasts 3-4 times a week.

6.    Abstinence level 6:  No refined sugar, white flour (refined grains), dairy, soy, potatoes, snack foods (eg:  potato chips, corn chips) or any food that results in binging and no seconds on anything but veggies.  4 oz or less of meat, poultry or fish plus vegetarian breakfast 3-4 times a week, vegetarian lunches 2X.

7.    Tba (include vegan if I can come up with that.)

8.    NOTE:  Any failure pops me back to the level that does not include that failure, eg: yesterday I grazed on free food samples at Village Market (I completely blanked out that I was supposed to be attempting a gluten-free diet) and ate something with sugar and white flour which tossed me back into LEVEL ZERO (no abstinence at all and I have to start over with the gluten-free diet.)  So today, I am starting over.  I am allowing myself three days per level before I require an upward movement, but I can start at any level that works ok.

9.    I think I may redo this as a table or chart.

I think at some point (March?) I need to quantify fats as well!)

I need to quantify fruits, sausages and fatty meats.  But this is TAKING TOO LONG and I’ve done more than enough for now.