Getting better

This past week I managed to check off 8 things off my list. Over all it was a pretty good week, even though our week was royally mixed up due to the "blizzard" we had in North Carolina.

It snowed pretty hard starting late Sunday night, I was off on Monday and Dee and Bailey had a snow day, so we had a nice day together as a family. Bailey even helped me shovel snow and clean off the cars. The snow turned to freezing rain that night, so all the roads were skating rinks on Tuesday. I went to work very late (2pm instead of 9am.) and came home 3 hours early. Dee and Bailey had another snow day.

Bailey ended up not having school ALL WEEK, due to icy back roads for the school buses.  Dee and I did several trade offs with Bailey so we could at least get to work part of the time.

Sadly, the two items I missed on my list  were big ones. I only managed to exercise twice last week (one walk and shoveling snow.) I also drank more than 3 sodas. I "only" drank soda on 3 days, but I had more than one each day, which violated the spirit of my list.

Every thing else on my list I accomplished pretty easily. So with a little hard work and discipline, I can do even better next week (hopefully the weather will cooperate !!)

6 out of 10 Not great, but it's a start.

Well one week and a day into my New Year's checklist challenge, and I scored a 6 last week.

1) I weighed myself 4 time.  Check !
2) I walked 3 times this week (almost 3 miles) Check!
3) Bailey and I went to dinner and a movie, quality time Check!
4) I shaved 4 times, and I even got a new electric razor. Check!
5) Drinking soda was my big FAIL this week. I had soda almost every day.  Buzz :-(
6) I had fast food 3 times, so a near miss. Buzz
7) I flossed 5 times. Check!
8) I missed my medicine once last week. Buzz
9) I only checked my vital statistics 3 times. Buzz
10) Was able to do 4 chores. Check!

I was very close to getting 8 out of 10, and I will work even harder to do better this week. I have to set a routine so I remember to check my vitals and take my medicine every day.  We have done some shopping, so there is more healthy/ ready to eat things in the house, so that should limit the fast food. Soda is still a big challenge, and will probably be all my life, but we have lots of bottled water at home to keep me from grabbing a soda.

I am still getting used to my new scale, and I am trying to see how accurate it is (the reading bounces around.) If it is accurate, I have lost 6 pounds since last Sunday. I sure hope it is right :-)

I am 2 days into this week, and I have have 8 things on the list accomplished, so there is some momentum building.  I

My New Year's "Check List"

I am not a big fan of New Year's Resolutions.  They are often a punchline in a lame joke about how soon you are going to break them. I know myself pretty well, and I KNOW I will not last with any resolution I make at the beginning of the year, so I don't set myself up for failure.

I have been thinking  long and hard about how the New Year is a great time to have a fresh start, and make positive changes in your life.  I wanted to find a way of making those changes, without the disappointment of screwing up a resolution.

What if there was a way to score myself on how well I am doing ? That way it wouldn't be all or nothing, pass or fail.  Finally, I decided to make a list of 10 things I can do to  improve myself in some way. Then I would give myself a score from 1 to 10 based on how many of those things I accomplished each week. If I did all 10 that would be an awesome week, and if I only managed 3 or 4, it would be a crappy week. 

The next challenge was to come up with a list of 10 things to do. There are a lot of things I need to work on, and it was hard to decide which ones were important. I didn't want to do all of the usual things (exercise, eat right, etc.) Those are important, and many of them will be on the list, but there are other things that I should do more often, but I am too lazy or unmotivated to do frequently enough. I wanted to put those things on the list too, to hold myself accountable.

To some people it may not look like a very challenging list. You may do all of those things every day and even more, but this is my list based on where I am now. Each item will be an improvement on what I am currently doing. I want the list to evolve over time, I will expand how often I do things, or even add new and more challenging things as I succeed with the current list.

So here is the list;

1) Weigh myself at least 4 times a week
2) Exercise at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes
3) Spend quality Daddy / Daughter time with Bailey
4) Shave at least 4 times a week
5) Drink no more than 3 sodas a week
6) Eat no more than 2 fast food meals a week
7) Floss at least 4 times a week
8) Take all my medication each day (at the correct time !)
9) Check my Blood Pressure and Blood Sugar 5 days a week
10) Do at least  4 household chores each week (dishes, laundry, etc.)

That is my list. Each week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturday. My goal is to post my weekly score every Sunday on the Blog, Twitter and on Facebook.

Wish me luck !! I welcome any encouragement and feedback about my list.