Exercise

After 41 years, I'm finally discovering that daily exercise really makes a difference to me - not just in my fitness amd weight level, but in my overall mood and motivation.  Who knew?! :)

Since I got back from holidays (ie 12 days ago), I've exercised at least 20 minutes each day - most days over 30, a couple of days up to 45 mins.  I'm mixing it up, some days on the Wii Fit, some days I go for a walk / run, tomorrow I'll have Defendo class (eeeek!).  Today I was feeling really tired and slothful, so mid-afternoon I forced myself to do a couple of 10 min workouts I found on YouTube.  And funnily enough, I got a modicum of energy back.

I'm finding doing my workout first thing in the morning works best for me - then its done and I don't have to worry about it anymore. It also boosts me for the day - making me eat better and have more energy and focus. 

This is all very strange for me - I've never been a sports person, or an exercise person.  Last year when I lost 7 kgs over 6 months was the longest I'd ever consistently exercised and that was generally 3 or 4 times a week.  Daily is something else again!

One thing I've never been able to do is run - even as a kid I avoided it at all costs.  (Especially the cross-country runs the nasty PE teacher used to make us do for sport!)  As an adult - well, its quite easy to avoid running if you don't play sport!  So it was quite a shock to the system when I started Defendo and our warm-ups often involve running.  Not fair!!

Towards the end of last year, I started toying with running.  I'd go out on my walks and would try to run from one driveway to the next a few times (we live in an estate with wide front yards!).  I really had no idea what I was doing or any plan to measure if I was improving.  I made a goal this year to improve my aerobic fitness - one way is by running.  Last week at the library, my attention was snagged by a book called The Complete Idiots Guide to Running.  Yep, that sounded like me.

One of the things I was excited to see (yeah, I couldn't believe it either!) was a schedule for building up from running 0 minutes to running 30 minutes in nice incremental babysteps.  You can find it here if you're interested.  You just had to be able to walk for 30 minutes to start - easy, peasy, I could do that.

So far, I'm up to Workout 3 of Week 1.  Yesterday, as per workout 3, I walked for 10 minutes, then for the next 15 minutes, I alternately ran for 2 minutes and walked 1 minute, then finished off by walking for 5 minutes.  Now, I'm sure those of you who can run are sniggering, but it was a big step for me.  That meant I ran 10 minutes (non-consecutively, but still!)  I plan to repeat that workout again next time I go out for a walk.  (Because while I did it, I really struggled through the end).

I'm sure that it will take me far longer than the 4 weeks they've scheduled, but slow and steady will do me fine.  I hope to be able to run for 30 minutes by the end of the year. 

Any tips gratefully received :)

Oh and I've lost 2kg since I came back from holidays.  I think that was the 2kg I found over Xmas!

Theme for the year

Last year I chose the word "Balance" to focus my year. To a large extent, it worked - by the end of the year I had a far better balance of the different areas of my life. There's still work to do though.

I've been thinking of what word I could use this year and had pretty much settled on "respect" - respect for family, friends & myself, but I had one of those blinding flashes that come on every now and then. Respect for myself was really the major part of what I was reaching for.

So I hereby declare this year to be:

2010 - The Year of Being Me. "I yam what I yam"

Yeah, it's more than one word, but that's kind of the point. This year I want to focus on discovering myself. I'm basically insecure and have spent most of my life trying to fit in. I want to be able to do what feels right to me without worrying about what other people think, or what some 'expert' says to do, or what every else is doing. I want to do things I *want* to, not what I think I *should* do. I want to be able to read what other people are doing and think "wow, that really works for them, that's great" rather than beating myself up because they sound so much more fun / with it / caring / focused etc than me.

I have a long way to go - even while I'm typing this I'm thinking, "Gee that sounds selfish - what will people think??!"

In the long run though, I think if I'm more secure in myself, it will reflect favourably in my relationships with others. Or maybe that's just me making excuses so people will still like me :)

I have no idea how I'm going to achive this, but I'm putting it out there. And I'll just keep repeating to myself - like Popeye, I yam what I yam.

Balance

Several bloggers I read have chosen a word to represent this year, and for me, it has to be balance that I'm trying to achieve. Balance between the needs of me, family, work, homeschooling & home (with everything it incorporates).

I think I say this every year, but maybe if I make it my theme it will help me focus on it.

I started pulling back from some things last year that were taking a lot - not necessarily in time but emotional energy. I resigned today from another organisation that while I still think is a great thing, just wasn't a fit for me at this particular point in time with that particular group.

I'm trying to get more organised but I'm recognising that I like to go overboard with "systems", so have pared back to a basic notebook and calendar. As I commented to a friend - I know what I need to do, I need to stop looking for the perfect system and JUST DO IT!

This week has been good. We started back with school work and spent (on average) an hour each day on it (more in a later post). I've been able to get some paid work done through the day - sometimes locking myself away for an hour to concentrate, other days just working when I could. I've spent several nights knitting and other nights reading! Most mornings I did a few minutes of stretching after my shower - I've made a note to look for a Yoga DVD in the library so I can get back into that. The house is reasonable - still lots to do but slowly. The garden hasn't had a lot of attention lavished on it due to a few HOT days this week (41C one day!), but I have been out watering and got a bit of weeding done. I haven't wasted any food this week, and cut up some leftover veges to freeze tonight. I've worked out where we're up to with our finances and haven't spent anything over budget.

It's been a good week!!

How to be consistent?

I know life would be much easier and I would be so much more productive - if only I were more consistent..

If only I was more consistent with picking up after myself, then the house wouldn't get into such a state (and maybe Billy could learn to pick up after himself too..)

If only I were more consistent with my parenting rules, then I mightn't have to deal with as much arguing and manipulation..

If only I were more consistent about writing down what I spend, then I'd stop wasting as much money...

If only I were more consistent about using up the leftovers, then I wouldn't waste as much food...

If only I were more consistent about doing exercise and / or yoga, then I wouldn't be as stressed..

You get the idea!

I know it works - but I get all gung-ho on something and go great guns for a couple of weeks, only to have it all fall away again. Especially when I get busy.

So tell me - what are your tips for staying consistent? How do you stick to a new habit? Help!!!

In the meantime, I'm dusting off an old blog that a friend and I used to use to keep each other on track (want to join in again HRH?) - http://5min-challenge.blogspot.com/ - feel free to come on over and give me some motivation!

6 monthly goal review

Time to revisit the goals I made for in Dec for 2008 and see how things are going..

Financial

* finance hubby's microbrewery from savings/earnings only - no debt - hopefully we have enough saved for this now. Even more hopefully it will get underway and start earning some money next year! Things are at a standstill atm waiting on other people to do stuff. We used the money we had saved towards the caravan instead. Plans are still up in the air.
* get down to $10,000 non-mortgage debt ($6,000+ to pay off) Hmmm, can we forget I made this one??! Buying the caravan increased our non-mortgage debt again. Personal loan for van has $2,700-odd remaining, then back to paying off the family loan. Hope to have the personal loan paid off by the end of the year.
* look at non-stress alternative income sources that can work around homeschooling - does such a beast really exist??! lol I can't say that I've found one yet!
* save at least $1,000 in appliance repair fund (washing machine is on it's last legs) by June 45% there - won't get there by June but have started an extra "rainy day" savings account that could be used in an emergency. New goal to reach $1000 in appliance fund by Dec. Oh and we won a new TV in a competition, so don't need to worry about buying one of those for quite some time!
* reduce present/gift spending - more homemade? LETS? We had a shocking year this year with the present budget - several weddings, births, 40th b'days - all out of the ordinary. Hopefully next year will be better but need to be vigilant. So far so good, but the birthday rush starts from next month.
* Go back to tracking expenses! Hiding head - I keep failing on this :(
* Actual envelopes aren't working too well for medical / misc household - try virtual envelopes. Seems to be working ok but it's hard to tell without tracking. See point above..

Work

* only take on one large project per month (max) - that will leave time for other one-offs / fixes. I'm booked up until May already!! Still finding it hard to say no to little things that then turn into time-consuming big things, but sticking to this on the whole. Currently booked up until September.
* Try to work no more than a couple of nights / week On the whole, yes, doing well. Through the week I try to work no more than 3 nights, 1 night doing non-paid work stuff (quotes etc) and have one night off the computer.
* start monthly newsletter back up Haven't even thought about it.
* Keep weekends free Generally yes. I also try to keep one day / week completely computer free.

School

* Enjoy it!! Yep!
* try to get into some sort of routine Nah, we threw routine out of the window and are happier for it!
* don't overcommit with activities We have a good mix atm.

Me

* me time each week I'm doing far better than I was 6 months ago. I'm knowing my limits more and taking time for myself. Computer free days help as does one night / week off the computer.

Steps to achieve above goals:

* Utilise LETS more Am using it a bit more but still not as much as I could
* Concentrate on grocery budget - more from scratch, bulk buying Ups and downs but not too bad
* Stop buying lunch every time we go out Much better but still not perfect - it helps to not go out!
* Get garden productive I'm hoping the fact that we're not getting a lot out of the garden atm is because it's winter! Am really working on this one.
* Track expenses Hmm, seems to be a theme here - I MUST do this!
* Take time to do things rather than just spending money Getting better at thinking before I buy.

My dream..

Thank you again for all of the encouraging comments.

I want to write. When I was kid I used to write the most imaginative stories - I'd fill an exercise book with each story. I wanted to be a writer (and a teacher and probably more lol). I remember writing a long story in 3rd grade all about a friendly dragon - my teacher wrote a comment like "excellent story but please make them shorter".. That comment has stuck in my mind for almost 30 years and I think of it as the beginning of the end of my creativity :( I became a master at writing succintly - to the point that in Yr 12 I had to get tutored in essay writing because I just couldn't write them long enough!

For a long time I've had the urge to write but it's been a vague yearning, with no concrete idea. I'm always writing in my head - either a blog post, a "conversation" with my email friends or a scene - but I had no "big idea". A month or so ago though I had an idea for a children's book that has inspired me. I have to get past the idea that I'll never be the next J.K.Rowling lol, and just enjoy writing it for myself. Even if the only person to ever read it is Billy, I'm going to give it a go.

I've been writing notes about the characters and ideas for the last few weeks, and today I just jumped in and started writing. I've done 200 words - not much, but it's a start!! (That was as far as I got before I got interrupted!) I've since decided that I need another character (my hero was getting lonely talking to himself) so I need to go back and add her in now. My mind is buzzing with ideas!

Thank you all for giving me the proverbial kick and telling me to go for it!

2008 - Time to work smarter, not harder!

For the past few weeks I've had thoughts running around in my head about next year. My motto for the year will be to "work smarter, not harder". I tried working harder this year - all that happened was that I wore myself out & disrupted the family - and I don't know that we're much better off.

Here I sit at the end of another year and I am literally exhausted. Mostly mentally, although physically as well as I'm not sleeping well due to stress. Financially we are doing ok, but there is certainly room for improvement. I've been too busy to watch the pennies and they've been getting up to all sorts of mischief :)

My plan at the start of this year was to start ramping up the business so that when Billy went to school in 2008, I'd be able to work full-time at home, finish paying off our debt and start saving for a new car - how things change in a year! Instead my income will be reduced significantly due both to homeschooling and not wanting to be on the treadmill anymore. So I need to be smarter with what we have rather than trying to earn more money.

These are some of the goals I've come up with so far:

Financial

* finance hubby's microbrewery from savings/earnings only - no debt - hopefully we have enough saved for this now. Even more hopefully it will get underway and start earning some money next year!
* get down to $10,000 non-mortgage debt ($6,000+ to pay off)
* look at non-stress alternative income sources that can work around homeschooling - does such a beast really exist??! lol
* save at least $1,000 in appliance repair fund (washing machine is on it's last legs) by June
* reduce present/gift spending - more homemade? LETS? We had a shocking year this year with the present budget - several weddings, births, 40th b'days - all out of the ordinary. Hopefully next year will be better but need to be vigilant.
* Go back to tracking expenses!
* Actual envelopes aren't working too well for medical / misc household - try virtual envelopes.

Work

* only take on one large project per month (max) - that will leave time for other one-offs / fixes. I'm booked up until May already!!
* Try to work no more than a couple of nights / week
* start monthly newsletter back up
* Keep weekends free

School

* Enjoy it!!
* try to get into some sort of routine
* don't overcommit with activities

Me

* me time each week

Steps to achieve above goals:

* Utilise LETS more
* Concentrate on grocery budget - more from scratch, bulk buying
* Stop buying lunch every time we go out
* Get garden productive
* Track expenses
* Take time to do things rather than just spending money

I'm sure I'll add to this over the next week or so!