January Reflections

I just want to note that the moment I wrote "January Reflections" as the title to this post, I had this flashback of those old Saturday Night skits  "Deep Thoughts".  Anyone remember those??  Seriously funny.  Just had to poke a little fun at myself for my "deep thought" reflections :-).  Here's a little Jack Handey for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjfSGPJo-cg

And like that, January is almost over. Feels like literally yesterday I was staring at “day 1” of the no sugar challenge and my goals for the month were all fresh in my head and the month loomed in front of me. Uncanny how you blink and 30 days flies by. For me, today and tomorrow are about regrouping and doing a quick check in on how January went, which of my new habits worked, which didn’t…what I still have on my  P. I.T.A. list (pain in the ass list which is usually WAY down at the bottom of your regular list) that I should have already done. Most importantly? What my vision for the next month is.   It’s too easy for me to NOT do this….and then I turn my head to look at something shiny and it’s April and I wonder where 25% of the year has gone and I’ve managed to fall off the wagon on all my goals. So, first things first.

What worked in January:

1. No sugar challenge. I was really not that excited about this challenge when I started. It was Amanda’s idea and I went along with it to be supportive, and figured, why not? I didn’t think it would be hard or particularly revolutionary. It was pretty hard, I was wrong.   Everything has sugar, and yes, while most things I was eating didn’t have “that” much, if you add up all those things coupled with the actual sugar items (chocolates, or a cookie, or dessert etc.), you come up with a lot.   I think as a person who overall eats healthy, buys organic, and buys foods where I understand all the ingredients, there was a feeling of “I’m healthy, I'm all good”….when in fact, I was consuming WAY more sugar than probably was good for me. Physically, the biggest thing I noticed was that my period was easier. Shorter, less painful, less emotional roller coaster crazy.   It didn’t feel like it stopped me in my tracks like normal. On a daily basis I think I have less fluctuations in fatigue too. I think my skin has looked clearer, especially around my period. So I do believe my no-sugar January will become a lifestyle choice. It’s sort of unfortunate because I like (and sometimes still miss) those sweet treats (although you get use to not having them relatively quickly).   I’ll mourn the loss of my caramel chocolates but I think it’s still worth it to say goodbye.
2. My exercise regime I’ve done a STELLAR job of keeping up. John and I did our training, we both (mostly) kept up with our walking commitment, and I did my stupid videos to maintain some muscle strength (have a love hate relationship with Jillian Michaels...more hate than love). I’m going to check out thedailyburn.com for February. Online videos (600+) in varying lengths of time. Might be good to change it up. Definitely feel better kicking up the exercise. Stronger and tighter….and probably a little less bitchy so that’s good for those around me.
3. Meal planning. I used it (cooksmarts.com) for half the month, not the whole month like I had planned. It works great when I use it, but I can fall off the wagon easily. I’m going to give it another month, see if I can commit to it more fully.
4. I have maintained my blogging commitment. This I feel really good about because literally EVER day I say to myself, “ I don’t know what I’m going to write about, I have nothing to say.” Then I sit down and write something, and shockingly something comes out (you might argue that most of it is barely above the “nothingness” I feared, but still, there are words strung together--some of them even spelled correctly-- so I’m giving myself a pat on the back for that).

What didn’t work:

1. I have NOT done well with walking Milo. Have NOT lived up to my 4 day a week commitment. It was real tricky when it was raining buckets….he’s so furry, the entire house would smell like wet dog for days if I get him soaking wet. That’s my excuse anyway, and I realize it’s sucky.
2. I did not coordinate co-parent counseling session with John. We desperately need it because we clash on some big parenting issues and when they don’t rear their ugly head all is fine, but when they do, I literally want to push John off the balcony and that can’t be a good thing. It’s on my list of P.I.T.A. things to call and coordinate a counselor. I know it would help to talk thru our stuff in a neutral forum and I just really need to call and stop dragging my feet.  
3. I need to change the battery in my Sonicare toothbrush. It’s been dead all month and I’ve been using a regular old toothbrush…..all for the single reason that I haven’t walked to the utility room to get a battery. It’s one of those weird things that I just have no idea why I don’t just do. I’m going to go do it….right after this. It's sort of pathological.  Do you have some on your list? Please tell me yes so I don't feel so weird.  Get them done, you have two days.
4. I need to de-pill some sweaters. Seems like a small thing too, but I feel scrappy in quite a few sweaters that I love simply because I need to spend a few minutes de-pilling. I couldn’t even put my St. Moritz on the other day because I knew it looked scrappy. If I spent 20 mins with it though, it would look brand new. 20 mins to be swaddled in cashmere seems like a fair trade.  I'm going to try this one that Martha Stewart pimps out in this video. 

So overall, I think I did pretty well for January.   It’s been a good start to 2017. I’m ignoring all things political; I’m just talking about a personal good start, just me, in my bubble. I needed January to retreat to be honest. To not obsessively watch appointments, news, or twitter feeds.  February I plan on trying to find ways to come out of my shell and involve myself in spreading some love and unity outside my bubble, in ways that still allow me to be healthy and not wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat. After all, February is the LOVE month, so I’m going to get ready to share some serious love with the world.