Body
I have been taking my new allergy medication everyday and am feeling much better. During this 365 day project I expected struggles, improved physical fitness, and hoped for muscle tone if not weight loss, but I never thought I would discover I have bad seasonal allergies. I always knew I had allergies, but I didn’t know they were so severe. That’s what happens when prior to the last 118 days the closest you came to being outside was accidentally turning your car’s A/C to recycle.
Now I’m walking daily in an older neighborhood with established trees, plants, and so many cats. Sooooooo many cats. Sometimes I feel like I’m the bowl in a Friskies commercial. Anyway. Allergies: doing much better and still walking.
Mind and Spirit
I’m going to give this part of the project another go after the Mom 2.0 conference and Mikey’s First Communion. I figure I have the walking part down. Now I need to work on the other two, and I might take them on one at a time to keep from overwhelming myself again. I’m looking into an app for my phone–the kind that will remind me to jot down something positive for the day. When it comes to apps I’m fairly uninformed, so if you have an favorites or have heard good things about one in particular, please let me know.
Anyone else doing a 365 project this year? If so, how are you doing? (And feel free to leave a link to it in the comments.) I hope you’re glad you took it on. My project hasn’t gone as planned, but it’s my favorite thing I’m doing this year.
Song of the Week
Can’t Hold Us (Featuring Ray Dalton) — Mackelmore & Ryan Lewis
I recently heard about this private online journal called OhLife. What they do is send an e-mail to you every day, at a time you appoint–then you simply reply to the e-mail and it keeps track for you. I don’t know if that would help you keep track of your positive notes? Or maybe you were preferring to write in a paper journal. Anyway, the website is here: http://ohlife.com/
I will check it out, thank you!
You should check out the One Thousand Gifts app, based on the book by Ann Voskamp. You can record daily gifts and share them, or keep your list private. You can also record a gift by just taking a picture of it. It is a great little app for those impulsive things we might otherwise take for granted.
I need to put her book on my Unread Library list. I’m so close to finishing it! Thanks for the recommendation. :)
I have not been nearly as purposeful as you–and even in my own puny efforts I’m struggling. I was so sure/determined that I was going to make more time for reading. Hah! But not giving up…Helps to see you keeping at it here.
I thought the reading component of my project was going to be joke-easy. So far, it’s the hardest part! Don’t give up–I’m not. :)
My 365 days started yesterday…. thanks to watching your walking success, my exercise plans are to just do *something* (anything!) each day. I was feeling overwhelmed by the idea that I should have some sort of lifting plan, should become a runner, should, should should… now I’m excited to just learn to get active every day & towards making it a habit.
So… a question for you… do you think that it has helped that you honed in on walking specifically?
Great question! I over-think everything, and this was no different. :) I chose walking for several reasons.
1. It’s the best activity for someone with a sedentary lifestyle to take up.
2. It’s cheap. All I needed was a pair of shoes. Turns out the compression pants helped a ton, but I don’t need those.
3. I can do it anywhere, so there is no excuse if I were to go on vacation or out of town for some reason.
4. It’s an activity that I could measure to track improvement.
5. It’s an activity that I can easily and cheaply adapt as I become more fit. The more in shape I get, the farther and faster I walk. This doesn’t require anything more than time and commitment. Anything else (biking or a sport, for example) might require more expensive equipment or something.
I’m sure there were other reasons, but those are the main ones. Hope that helps!
Fantastic reasons – thanks! :)
Rather than a 365 challenge, I decided to pick a challenge each month and see how far I get with it. I’m actually finishing up my first one, which was to make a different vegetarian dish 2x/week on my “nights off” of cooking for my husband. It was a lot easier than I thought, and even more surprising is that my husband ended up eating about half of the recipes I made anyway. Turns out he likes home-cooked food so much that he’s willing to overlook the lack of meat sometimes. :-)
Now, as for my challenge for May…I have no clue what I want to do. Whatever it is, it’s going to have to blend in well with final exams, a vacation, and upcoming summer classes. I’m thinking something book-related, but we’ll see!
Seasonal allergies are so rough! I never really had allergies until I hit adulthood and they are a serious bummer! Glad to hear that the meds are helping!