Week 4 of 52~ "To Thine Own Self Be True"

Weekly check in for the Challenge following the book:

"52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier Healthier You"

• Week 1: Adding more Water -80 oz day Check.
  

• Week 2: Averaging Sleep- 7-8hours...."Sorta" Check. Sill slightly hormonally impaired there.

• Week 3: Adding Exercise. Check. If you count: Yoga 3 hours week. Walking doggy daily. Climbed 110 stairs 4x extra this week. Dancing around the house. Going to keep at it w/o getting burned out with some grandeous crash and burn.
  

Hey, I've been working it.
It's not as easy as I'd like....
And it's not a magic fix...
But I'm doing it.
Feeling better for it too. Mostly.

How are you doing?

Week 4's Challenge: Add a Food Journal.

Now, I've been writing stuff down daily, for a long time...on daily slips of errant paper...
but I'm going to get more organized.

It's about:

ACCOUNTABILITY

So yesterday, I bought a small spiral notebook at the dollar store (instead of on my willy nilly tear off papers) for my record keeping of daily intake.

Still trying to keep myself at 1400-1500 calories. This means keeping the journal with me, and being present in my activities and judgement. Not always easy to "be present".

I would add that I'm also doing something else.

My writing teacher told me about a book out there that is a daily life journal,...
but its different in that it has today's date for 3 years in a row.

Like it has a daily spot for entries on:
3/10/12
3/10/13
3/10/14

It's for tracking goals, dreams, problems...then after a year or two of journaling, you can "look back" at what you were going thru, what was good, and how you wound up the following year from the choices you made previous.

Interesting, huh?

This all made me remember my Gramma James. She was 86 when she died.
After her funeral, we found many black & white composition notebooks filled with pages and pages of a Daily Journal she'd been keeping for 50 years!
It was a record of the daily weather.
She did this habit diligently for all that time!
That was freaking amazing!
WHY?

I don't know.

But it was a simple daily habit that she connected with.

Now, I don't know if I have it in me to do 50 years worth of it.
But I do have enough will power to try TODAY.

I thought that the life journal would also make a good Companion to my Food Journal.
I couldn't find that exact book that was recommended....

SO.........being SCOTTISH... (read: Parsimonious :)

I customized a personal template and started that yesterday. For giggles.

I will track certain emotions, information, weather (thanks to Gramma :) BP, weight...

My template looks like this on a single page: (but feel free to copy/adapt it to your personal needs, if you would like to do this for yourself)

I will put copies of these pages in a 3 ring notebook and see how I like doing it for awhile.

Date 3/11/12 Weight BP

Weather

Problem

Goal/Dream

Solution/Epiphany

Current Project or Book that I'm reading:

Date 3/11/13 Weight BP

Weather

Problem

Goal/Dream

Solution/Epiphany

Current Project or Book that I'm reading:

Date 3/11/14 Weight BP

Weather

Problem

Goal/Dream

Solution/Epiphany

Current Project or Book that I'm reading:

Both these journals (Food and Life) should give me an interesting, fun, accurate way to track myself and my cycles and progress....

as well as a longer view of my life.

Where we wind up tomorrow is because of the choices we made today.

Just thought I'd share it with you, for what it's worth.

Shakespeare, that great Journalist....had it right: