Being just after the holidays and twelve days into the New Year, I'm doing a belated set of resolutions -- not all of which started or will start this month.
"The Mighty" is doing #52SmallThings, or 52 weekly goals, which I'm going to try to follow. That said, as I've learned at different times in my life, Thomas Jefferson's quote in the title, nothing is impossible, but you really have to be committed.
One of the non-resolutions that I made at the beginning of the year was to stop drinking soda of any kind. The only soda allowed this year is ginger ale or Sprite for stomach bugs or in recovery after surgery. I had my last soda on December 31st at work. I did have ginger ale this past Tuesday, but it was to help with post-surgery nausea and dry mouth after my D&C.
It's been hard at times, especially at work, but I've been successful at fighting the cravings. Mostly because I haven't given up caffeine in addition to sodas. I drink plain water, Hint water, unsweet tea, or coffee with milk. The biggest thing was to avoid the empty calories of all that sugar, as well as the chemicals in diet sodas.
The other thing I've been reining in has been online shopping. It was meant to decrease drastically if not stop altogether. I've had some slips (I bought tennis shoes online tonight), and I've managed to spend a small fortune at a boutique coffee shop today, but I haven't been shopping online as much. I "shop", but don't fill baskets, carts, or whatnot, and I'm definitely slowing down on the "Click" option.
Pat offered me 100.00 to give up Facebook for a week. He didn't think I could do it. As it's my main form of entertainment and expression, it has been hard. Normally, before surgery, I would have requested prayers and good vibes from my friends and family. It makes me feel safe even if I have an almost superstitious fear of NOT having the thoughts of others to carry me through scary things. But I didn't log on to post, and I didn't have friends post for me. I let my mom and my best friend Rhonda know that I wouldn't be available on Facebook or Messenger, however. Mom and I have been talking on the phone more, and Rhonda and I have been doing more regular texting. I'll call her tomorrow, too.
As you might have noticed, I've also been posting in my blog a bit more (this is my third post today). I've also been writing letters. I do plan to go back to Facebook, but I'm going to try to curb my use of it to an hour a day instead of the many hours I was on in the evenings and on weekends. I may even limit it to three days a week for the time being.
For some of my #52SmallThings, I want to try a week without sugar and maybe make it two, and see how things go from there.
I want to start working out more in between my training sessions with Scott at LA Fitness, so I'm shooting for two trainings and two workouts on my own. I have a ton of sessions to use, but two a week will be good enough to start. That can't start until after the 23rd due to post-op restrictions, but it's a nice goal for the end of January.
I want to spend more time writing to my friends and encouraging them. Not just on facebook, but via cards and letters. This includes family, too. I didn't get Christmas cards out, but I want to take a week in February to write them all.
I also need to start the DASH diet that my cardiologist recommended for me. I have the cookbooks, but I haven't read them and they aren't in my kitchen where I could make better use of them. For that matter, since I am already trying to cook more at home rather than sending out for dinner so often, I need to spend a week or two where I actually make a meal plan, a shopping list, and actually cooking from the DASH books.
It will all take self-discipline. Motivation comes and goes, but I need to decide when to do things and just make myself do them.
* Thomas Jefferson
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