Me. I am working. I mean WORKIN’! Some nights I lay in bed and try to think of something I did that day that would not be considered “work”. Most nights I can’t come up with a single moment that was not filled with work. Between my actual work, projects, questions, and decisions made for the new house, my relationships with everyone in my circle, and all the work I am doing for my health there is just not a lot of time for anything that is not “work” related. I hope this is a season because I am really starting to feel it. I wonder if this is how Rihana feels after a video shoot…

What’s Working

There are some things that are really working for me now, despite the craziness that at times engulfs my life. All of these things have contributed to a 10.4-pound weight loss in the last two weeks and that is something worth noting 🙂

• Tracking my food. 
  • Not since my 30/10 days have I tracked my food so closely. Weight Watchers (WW) has a pretty cool app that you track all of your food in and I have been faithful to that app these past few weeks. WW bases everything on points- each food item is worth a numeric value (points) and you track these point values throughout your day. You have a point goal you are shooting for and the idea or goal is not to bust out of your daily points. Even on the days when I like, break-the-glass-ceiling of points, I am still tracking them. I had a 90 point day two weeks ago… and I tracked the shit out of that day.
• Tracking my habits.
  • I have been using a Bullet Journal for a few years now and every month I would faithfully create a habit tracker filled with my goals for that month. My goals would be whole-life ranging and not just focused on one area, like health. I would track STRONG for the first few days then my tracking would fall off and I wouldn’t start tracking again until the next month. But this month I revisit my tracker every morning, afternoon, and evening. I review my habits during my “Miracle Morning”, I revisit them when I make my lunch, and I reflect on my progress at night. I don’t think I have EVER tracked my habits through the 18th of any month. VICTORY!
• Water Pitcher! 
  • Dude! I was STRUGGLING to get in 100oz of water each day. I always have water around me or with me but I was never 100% sure how much I was actually drinking. So I brought down one of our huge ass juice pitchers and figured out that the 3-liter mark equals 100oz of liquid. So now every morning as I am making my smoothie, I fill that jug with water to the 3-liter mark and ONLY take my water from the pitcher. I leave it out on the counter and it serves as an excellent reminder to FINISH that jug!
• Miracle Mornings.
  • Ok…I am NOT a morning person. Never have been…never want to be. My ONE hesitation about building our home where we did was that the house faces the sunrise…YUCK. I will take a sunset any day over a stupid ass sunrise. I digress. I am slowly coming to the realization that I might be able to get more done and maybe have more time for not work-related things if I got up earlier. I read a book last year called Miracle Mornings by Hal Elrod and something about that book helped me see a reason for getting up earlier. Basically- he insists that if you rise early…like super early and do 6 things, your life will be amazing. So…I try to get up now at 7am (I KNOW…the horror) and work through my S.A.V.E.R.S <Silence, Affirmation, Visualization, Exercise, Read, Scribe>. What I have found is that I already do some of these things and meditation is one of the habits I am trying to create so this morning “formula” allows me to get done some things that I already wanted to do first thing. If I can have my “miracle morning” least I can say I took some time for JUST me that day.
• Focusing on fruits and veggies.
  • I ALWAYS get one of the two in but rarely both. Keeping my habit tracker handy at lunch gives me the reminder to focus on both and not just one. I am not perfect but I am getting closer.  If I get to dinner time and I still don’t have my veggies in for that day, I make us a big-ass salad for dinner! I have really been stepping up my salad game too…I made us a WW Bacon Cheeseburger Salad the other night that was KILLER…10 smart points! The recipe below makes a 5 point salad…I added more meat and dressing for 10 SP in total.

From @”weightforit” on Instagram

From @”weightforit” on Instagram

• Writing and reflecting.
  • I can’t believe the amount of clarity that writing provides me. I guess it’s similar to lesson planning. You really have to think about what you are doing and map things through before you test it out in front of 60 eyes. Lesson planning is really all about writing. I am so happy to be writing again.
• Atomic Habits.
  • James Clear defines atomic habits as ” …-a regular practice or routine that is not only small and easy to do but also the sources of incredible power; a component of the system of compound growth.” (27) Well…the small habits I am forming have made a positive impact on my weight and my health. I cannot say enough good things about this book.

What’s Not

As I was reflecting on my progress so far this month during my “miracle morning” I realized I need to make a few little changes. I need to slow down to go faster in a sense. So here are some things that are not working but I will adjust in May!

• Too many habits.
  • I have 12 habits and things I am working on to create my new, healthy identify. But 12 is a LOT. My husband has pointed out many times…when I dive in, I dive straight into the deep end. I will buy ALL the things or do ALL the things when really I need to just try one thing and go from there. I think I did the same thing with my habits. When I look at my tracker and see all the empty spaces, I start beating myself up instead of looking at all the progress I have made. So I think next month I am going to narrow my focus- perhaps pick one of two things that I am not doing a good job of doing every day and continue to focus on the things I am already doing. Surgery is in the very near future…perhaps I need to focus on the healthy habits that will help make that procedure a success.
• Too much bread.
  • I am eating too much bread. I love sandwiches. They do not love me. So I need to create some space between me and bread. One of my goals is to eat fewer carbs. And by carbs, I straight up mean bread and sugar.
• On-Time Dinners
  • My poor husband is working crazy hours and spending 6-7 hours a DAY commuting. I need to really work on having dinner done by the time he gets home. That way we can eat together and take advantage of that time together. This might sound kind of barefooty housewifey but I think it would really give us more time to connect and touch base on things we really need to touch base on…like exterior paint colors and stone texture…YES, that’s a thing 🙂

I hope YOU are having a week packed with all kinds of things working for YOU!