My New Year's Project: Month One
I know I said a few posts ago that my resolution for 2007 was to have my wisdom teeth removed. But I also started two self-improvement projects that I thought I'd talk about a little bit.
The first one was just to start walking three or four times a week, and so far that's going very well. My treadmill had to stay at my parents' house when I lived in my apartment because there was no room for it. But now, I have a sweet little setup in my spare bedroom. I took my new stepladder and put it right in front of the treadmill. Then I put my laptop on the stepladder so I can watch DVDs while I walk. I can't believe how quickly the time passes when I can watch "Grey's Anatomy" and walk at the same time. I hardly even get tired. (OK, that's a lie. By 2.5 miles, I'm looking forward to finishing up and getting off the darned thing.) I've even managed to wake up early a few mornings and hop on the treadmill before work so I could have my evening free. Let's hope this continues.
My second self-improvement initiative was born out of necessity more than desire to better myself. And it's proving much more difficult than walking.
When I lived in my apartment, I had some expendable income. Not much, but enough to buy what I wanted or eat out a few times a week. But when I moved and had to worry about things like my mortgage and the gas bill (vultures!), I realized that I couldn't live that life anymore. Instead, I had to start taking control of my spending, and that meant making rules about what I could and couldn't do. So I decided during my Christmas break that in 2007, I would only be allowed to purchase a meal one time a week. And folks, that includes lunch. So if I forget to take something to work and need to buy my lunch, there goes my one luxury of the week.
The first three weeks were terrible, like I was a heroine addict going through withdrawal. When I was a little girl, my family could never afford to eat in restaurants--maybe just a few times a year. So all these years later, even though I'm a grown-up now, going out is still a novelty. I love restaurants. I love the menus and the sweetener packets for my iced tea and all the people and the contented feeling of fullness without having to wash dishes. It's probably one of my favorite things to do in the whole world.
And boy did I miss it when I couldn't do it very often. Lunch from home seemed stale and boring. Cooking every night? Blech. I missed Arby's. And take-out. I missed Applebee's.
But in the past week, this not-going-out thing is getting much easier. I'm into a pattern now and I seem to be doing fine. I've resisted the urge to order Chinese with people at work, and I've gotten much better at cooking tonight's dinner with an eye toward tomorrow's lunch. I've also found that hording my one day/night out is the smartest thing to do, and it makes that Arby's or Chic-Fil-A taste so much better for the week of anticipation that preceded it.
I guess the best thing is that I'm saving money, although it's just going into my furnace. I do feel about 30 lbs lighter, though, just from not eating out. (Note that I haven't actually lost weight. I just feet a whole lot better.) I hope that by March or so, staying home for meals becomes my status quo.
But I really miss Chic-Fil-A. I wonder if it misses me.
The first one was just to start walking three or four times a week, and so far that's going very well. My treadmill had to stay at my parents' house when I lived in my apartment because there was no room for it. But now, I have a sweet little setup in my spare bedroom. I took my new stepladder and put it right in front of the treadmill. Then I put my laptop on the stepladder so I can watch DVDs while I walk. I can't believe how quickly the time passes when I can watch "Grey's Anatomy" and walk at the same time. I hardly even get tired. (OK, that's a lie. By 2.5 miles, I'm looking forward to finishing up and getting off the darned thing.) I've even managed to wake up early a few mornings and hop on the treadmill before work so I could have my evening free. Let's hope this continues.
My second self-improvement initiative was born out of necessity more than desire to better myself. And it's proving much more difficult than walking.
When I lived in my apartment, I had some expendable income. Not much, but enough to buy what I wanted or eat out a few times a week. But when I moved and had to worry about things like my mortgage and the gas bill (vultures!), I realized that I couldn't live that life anymore. Instead, I had to start taking control of my spending, and that meant making rules about what I could and couldn't do. So I decided during my Christmas break that in 2007, I would only be allowed to purchase a meal one time a week. And folks, that includes lunch. So if I forget to take something to work and need to buy my lunch, there goes my one luxury of the week.
The first three weeks were terrible, like I was a heroine addict going through withdrawal. When I was a little girl, my family could never afford to eat in restaurants--maybe just a few times a year. So all these years later, even though I'm a grown-up now, going out is still a novelty. I love restaurants. I love the menus and the sweetener packets for my iced tea and all the people and the contented feeling of fullness without having to wash dishes. It's probably one of my favorite things to do in the whole world.
And boy did I miss it when I couldn't do it very often. Lunch from home seemed stale and boring. Cooking every night? Blech. I missed Arby's. And take-out. I missed Applebee's.
But in the past week, this not-going-out thing is getting much easier. I'm into a pattern now and I seem to be doing fine. I've resisted the urge to order Chinese with people at work, and I've gotten much better at cooking tonight's dinner with an eye toward tomorrow's lunch. I've also found that hording my one day/night out is the smartest thing to do, and it makes that Arby's or Chic-Fil-A taste so much better for the week of anticipation that preceded it.
I guess the best thing is that I'm saving money, although it's just going into my furnace. I do feel about 30 lbs lighter, though, just from not eating out. (Note that I haven't actually lost weight. I just feet a whole lot better.) I hope that by March or so, staying home for meals becomes my status quo.
But I really miss Chic-Fil-A. I wonder if it misses me.
2 Comments:
Is there something we should know about?
"The first three weeks were terrible, like I was a heroine addict going through withdrawal."
Now, granted, I love a strong woman who's willing to take charge of the situation and save the day, but I'm a man. I would think you'd be more inclined to go through hero withdrawal.
I was typing fast! So sue me if I added an extra "e."
I'm gonna leave the typo in, because it's actually kind of funny.
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