Hold me... accountable, that is

In an earlier post, I announced that I would begin a new accountability regime: posting my goals and my progress toward them to this blog once a month. Several of you, both readers and fellow bloggers, expressed interest in doing the same. I'm inviting everyone to participate who would like to post something similar on their blogs. Email me your blog entries and I'll post them links to them here as well.

Without any further ado, I give you my first Hold Me Accountable post.

Physical
This is probably the area where I've lost the most steam as of late. It is also the one that I would like to get back on track with the most. When I treat my body well, it treats me well. Everything else runs so much more smoothly in my life when I feel good physically. There are three components to my physical goals: exercise, diet and overall health.

Exercise
I took up running in late December last year. I put running down around the beginning of May. I had been training for a relay marathon and once it was over, so was the training. I need a goal in order to stay motivated in my running, even though I love it. I know I'm going to feel good after a run (phenomenal, actually), but the motivation I need is when I really don't feel like waking up early and lacing up my shoes. So, I'm going to sign up for a half-marathon. I'm confident I can do it if I start training now. I'll do short runs on Mondays, hard runs on Wednesdays, cross-train on Saturdays and long runs on Sundays.
Goals: Sign up for half-marathon in October; beginning training schedule.

Diet
I don't mean diet in the sense that I'm trying to lose weight. I'm not. I simply want to give my body good fuel, not crap. The main threat to my diet is the vending machines at work. If I forget (or am too lazy) to make my lunch, I'm known to eat a lunch of chips and soda. Blech. I've already begun to make dinner at night and bring leftovers to work. Note: This helps financial goals as well - double-plus bonus! I'm also really bad about keeping my refrigerator at home stocked. When it's full, not only do I eat better and save money on eating out, but it gives me an odd sense of fulfillment. Hmm.
Goals: Cut out soda, vending machine snacks; bring healthy lunches and snacks to work; keep home fridge stocked.

Health
You've heard me complain about my sinus infections ad nauseum, I know. I bought a neti pot (for nasal irrigation) because I heard from many, many sources that it works wonders. I've been too chicken to try it, even though I feel confident it will help. I've been battling some serious fatigue, probably due to sinus infections and not exercising, which is added incentive for the workout routine. Finally, it's been about 3 years (!) since I've been to the dentist. Yikes.
Goals: Use neti pot three times a week for one month; see dentist.

Relationships
My biggest issue with my relationships right now is that I'm spending an awful lot of time with a certain someone instead of spending some time with myself, my friends and my family. This was fine and well in the budding stages of the relationship, but now that things have settled down a bit I desperately need to hook back up with my friends and fam.
Goals: Hang out with my three best friends for some serious QT at least once this month; visit my aunt and my grandmother.

Career
For now, thing seem to be going really well with my 8-5 job. I'm relatively focused and my recent annual performance evaluation was stellar (including a raise!). Guess where nothing is happening? That's right - my business. uSavvy, my IT consultancy, has one client, no actual tax ID number, nothing, plus a website that's just sitting there, all designed and hosted and not actually up. Include my blog in here, and I haven't been posting as regularly as I would like, which is about 3-4 times per week.
Goals: Obtain tax ID number and sole proprietor status; open bank account; finish site buildout and get online; buy business cards; write business plan; blog 3-4 times per week.

Financial
I have two areas I'm currently working on financially. I've got terrible credit (hey, I drank heavily during those pivotal post-college years), and practically no savings... OK, no savings if you aren't counting that $50 in my ING Orange savings account. I started the ball rolling on this one yesterday though. My pay increase will show up in my next paycheck and instead of rejoicing at the extra money, I already set up an autodraft for the increase amount to pay down my credit card. I also have an autodraft set up for a student loan I am rehabilitating, as well as one for $50 per paycheck to my savings account. Once the credit card is paid down, I will up my savings autodraft to include the amount from the pay increase. The problem with my savings account is that I almost always tap into it. I'm a little more solid financially right now, so my goal is not to do that.
Goals: Pay off credit card in 2.5 months; continue savings without touching it.

Spirituality
I don't talk about my spirituality very much on this blog, even though it's a big part of my life. The truth is that I've been a little disappointed in my spirituality lately... or my lack thereof. I'm not a churchgoer, that's just not for me. However, I do pray and meditate. I include my sobriety as part of this picture because the way I stay sober is to work a spiritual program. I go to three or four 12-step meetings every week, but I'd like to start branching out a little more into more groups besides my home group, particularly to this one young people's group. I'd also like to try to meditate in the mornings, even if it's just for a short time period.
Goals: Attend one non-home group 12-step meeting per week; meditate twice a week.

General
Finally, this part relates to my overall life goals, mood and emotions. I'd say lately I've been in a funk. Definitely in a funk. It's not enough for me to focus on my short-term goals, so I need to keep my long-term goals on the burners, too. I really would like to move to a larger city. I would like to either advance to the next level of my career in research or I would like to take my business full-time. I would like to be a less selfish person on a day-to-day basis. The other day I realized at the end of the day that I was the only person I had thought about all day. That sucks. And I'm guessing that it probably also makes me a pretty obnoxious person to deal with.
Goals: Mostly just to keep my larger life goals top-of-mind; try to think of other people and how I affect them throughout my day.

I will keep you all up-to-date with my progress on a monthly basis, at the very least. I hope that some of you will jump in and participate. It would be really great to have a community of people who are all holding each other accountable, encouraging one another and learning what works and what doesn't in real time, wouldn't it?

Related articles:
Got goals? Hold yourself accountable
How baby steps became a huge deal
Stand up and be accounted
How I change my habits

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Prepare to Stay Ahead

There has been some major backsliding going on in my life the past three or four weeks. Let’s just say some slacking has occurred… it’s like cancer. It started in one area of my life and spread quickly to the others. Part of this can be blamed on tragedy and illness, but that crutch has gotten old. It’s time to throw out the excuses and get things back on track now.

Sleep
I used to be the Queen of Good Rest. I always slept well and for the optimal time. I guarded my sleep schedule like it was Fort Knox. I defended it and nurtured it. It’s as if I’ve spent the past month beating the shit out of it and calling it a Bad Kid. It hates me now and acts like an angry toddler. When I do give myself the time to get a good night’s rest, I have problems either falling asleep or staying asleep. When I wake up, I don’t feel refreshed. I feel more tired. Last night I slept for 9 hours to make up for the 5 ½ hour sleep cycles I’ve been doing. I feel less awake. People even say I look tired. I need to get back on a schedule. I’m sure it has to do with the fact that it’s been erratic.

Diet
I’ve lost three more pounds. Most women would be excited by this. I am not. This has nothing to do with healthy weight loss – I’m not eating right. And I’m running distance. As a distance runner, weight loss is your enemy (after a certain point anyways). I am usually vigilant about my diet – 6 or 7 small, regimented meals per day. I make sure I eat enough protein, iron, dairy and good carbs. Lately, I’ve been skipping meals, not really eating anything healthy, etc. I can feel how awful it is for me. Eating well takes time. You need to get to the grocery regularly for fresh produce and plan your meals ahead if you have a jam-packed day like I do.

Running/exercise
I run four days a week like it’s my religion. Since everything happened last month, I have seriously slacked. It’s Thursday and I haven’t run at all this week. Now, this is serious business. I have a 5K and a relay marathon to run in May. I’m not where I need to be. Aside from that, running is my release. I feel energized and empowered when I’m done with a good run. I particularly enjoy the time I spend outside doing it. It’s relaxing. Skimping on this area of my life does exponential harm to me; it kills my relaxation and my health.

Budget
Ugh. To be fair, I’ve lost 18 pounds since I got sober. The first five came off right away (I was a beer drinker – muy fattening). The rest I lost in the past 5 months or so through the combination of a healthy diet and running. So, I’m down a few sizes in almost everything, especially work clothes. That’s where I’m blowing my money. I’m close to overdrafting my bank account, and that is a place I really hate to be.

General cleanliness
Please step away from the apartment, miss. Really, things are pretty messy on the home front. I’m never in my apartment and since I am moving next weekend, I decided not to worry about doing much until then. Really, all I’ve done is create more work for myself when I start packing. The car is in pretty bad shape too – a cleaning inside and out is definitely in order.

Tardiness
Running around at break-neck speed has caused me to forget just about everything. (Hello? I brought my running clothes, but left my sneakers. Is anyone home?) I am sleeping as late as I can, and thus making it to work perpetually 15 minutes late, which causes me to leave 15 minutes late, throwing my entire schedule into chaos. That does not look good to the boss either. And, let’s face it, tardiness is tacky.

The Solution
The best people in my life always tell me to get out of the problem and into the solution. Having defined the problem, I know how to tackle it. One of my major problems has been budgeting time for preparation. Most of the things above can be eliminated if I will simply slow down and take the time to prepare for them.

I need to prepare my food for the next day. I need to get my bag of running gear together the night before. I have to take the time to sit down with monthly bills twice a month and look at how much I can afford to spend on clothes, etc. I need to spend just 10 little minutes cleaning up when I get home instead of falling onto the couch with the laptop for an hour. And finally, I need to guard my sleep schedule like it was the Most Precious and Dear Thing on the Earth again.

Your #1 Productivity Killer - Sickness

Meetings, e-mail alerts, busy work… these are the most frequently addressed productivity killers. I have read books and found work-arounds for all of them. What I can’t get around, what kills my productivity more than any form of corporate red tape is getting sick. Ironically, this seems to be the one productivity killer I can’t find a book on. Americans seem bound and determined to a.) not take care of themselves, and then b.) attempt to keep working, thereby dragging out their illness and spreading it around. This exponentially decreases productivity.

Two weeks ago, I got a sinus infection. This is a fairly common occurrence for me, given my allergies. What I should’ve done was take a break, get some decent sleep, watch my diet, hydrate more than usual, and get some good sleep. What I did instead was continue a ridiculously busy schedule and pay no attention to any of the afore-mentioned factors. Each day my sinus infection was compounded by the loss of sleep it brought. With no time in my schedule to make it up, I was blessed with a raging case of laryngitis.

Because I wouldn’t take two or three days to run at a slower-than-usual pace, I lost a good two weeks of productivity. I ran at my bare minimum, calling into work twice because of how sick I was. When I was at work, I was unfocused, tired and probably spreading some major germ action. My appearance was tired, messy and unkempt. My ‘give a crap’ was busted. I lost my voice for two or three days entirely, and only recently got my voice back (I’ve been borrowing Kathleen Turner’s voice for the past 10 days).

I took a few lessons away from this. These are pretty basic, but it’s amazing how glaring they can become when you’re completely wiped out for a few weeks.

Heed the Warning Signs
Given that I attended two funerals for people I cared about very much within one week of the other, I should’ve taken some steps to guard against illness. The mind-body connection is amazingly strong, and stress can and will take you down with the ship. When your life gets stressful, treat yourself better than usual. I’m not talking about an extra glass of wine; I mean you should take it easy on yourself. Get rid of the things in your schedule that aren’t essential and crucial and get some rest.

Watch Your Diet
What you eat is the fuel that you provide your body to keep you going. Treat your body like a Porsche. Are you going to put regular gas in that bad boy? I didn’t think so. You’re going premium all the way. It ought to be the same way with your diet, especially when you’re sick. Think about what’s going to help you get better and make a conscious effort to supplement your diet with the things you’ll need to ward off prolonged illness. Get some protein, eat dark green veggies, and for heaven’s sake, eat some oranges. The worst thing you can do is stop eating. You give your body nothing to use as defense and it will only get worse.

Hit the Hay
Your body is going to need more time to recharge than usual. If you are used to sleeping 6-7 hours every night, you’re going to have to make time to get more in order to get well. I also find naps help me get better faster. When I’m not feeling well, I’ll get home from work and snooze for a good 90 minutes. I find this is long enough to be effective and short enough to not ruin my regular bedtime.

Get a Little Exercise
Don’t go running any 10Ks, but do a little bit of exercise if you are physically able when you feel something coming on or are coming out of being sick. Some exertion will boost your immune system and help you feel well faster. Don’t take up anything new while you're sick; just do whatever you usually do at about half the time or pace. For me, this has taken the form of a light jog because I am already a regular runner. If I can exercise when I feel something coming on, it usually wards it off. When I do get sick, then as soon as I get over the hump I try to do a little something to boost my immune system again.

Cut Yourself Some Slack
Highly motivated people are usually their own worst critics. Beating yourself up mentally when you’re sick is counterproductive (as a matter of fact, it’s usually counterproductive, but that’s another post). Take this time to go easy on yourself. Again, that mind-body connection is strong and it is real. Stressing yourself out is going to make you sicker, longer.

How I change my habits

Thanks to a recent article circulating some of my favorite blogs, I found this article on quitting caffeine through LifeHacker.com.

I am drinking tea right now. At 9 a.m. Those of you who know me at all know this is something of a feat in itself. I guess we'll see who the real friends are around Saturday, when the caffeine withdraws get ugly.

Honestly, though, this is exactly what happened when I decided I wanted to start eating healthier. One day I woke up and I simply didn't feel like putting crap in my body anymore. This morning I woke up and I was tired and I wanted to feel energized, not caffeinated. When I walked into the office kitchen I glanced at the coffee pot, and without a second thought, I headed to the hot water instead.

This is how it's worked for me lately when I decide I want something in my life to change. I start to think about it as an option. Then, I try to force myself to do it and fail a few times. I typically take on a "screw it" attitude and gorge myself on something I'm trying to quit or totally ignore something I want to do. It doesn't take long before I come full-circle with conviction to just do whatever it is without really thinking about it. This is how it's been when I quit drinking, started eating healthier, took up running, and decided to launch a business.

Think it, try it, fail, screw it, succeed.

It's what you eat that counts

It’s been six weeks or so since the New Year, and I wonder what percentage of the population have given up their ridiculous diets. Last year, I fell into this category. Except my diet plan was a “non-diet” and despite being unable to stick it to it faithfully, those 6 weeks or so I did stay true to my non-diet left me with some lasting impressions… and, incredibly, results.

I’m not the first person to say it, nor am I even the most recent person to say it, but I can tell you it works: it has to do with the foods you eat, not how little or what time of day, etc. So, which are the good foods? It can be difficult to discern what is true with trends, fads, and quack crash diet gurus telling you which foods to eat for your skin, your hair, your waist, ad infinitum, ad nauseum. I can only tell you what worked for me.

My diet changed when I started tuning into what made me feel good after eating it (sautéed spinach, fresh apples), and admitting to what made feel bad/greasy/nauseous after eating it (McDonald’s, Sun Chips), and also being open to some new foods.

Here are some of the best foods you can eat: sweet potatoes, fat-free/skim milk and yogurt, broccoli, wild salmon, brown rice, citrus fruit, squash and gourds, spinach, tomatoes, beans, whole oats, green tea, dark berries, kale, and – double-plus bonus! – dark chocolate.

Now, does this mean you can grab a Dark Snickers and a bean burrito and feel some great health benefits? Puh-lease. It means reworking your diet to include these foods on a regular basis. I ditched my Whataburger breakfast for a packet of Quaker Multigrain Hot Cereal. I carry my Lean Cuisine meals faithfully to work everyday for lunch. In between, I lightly snack on cranberries, unsalted nuts, yogurt, apples, and the occasional SlimFast faux candy bar. Eating six or seven mini-meals a day is actually better for you than three larger ones – or in my case, the one huge one I was eating at the end of the day.

My dinners now are surprisingly filling – and tasty. I mix it up a bit, but my I’m-too-tired-to-cook standby is low-sodium butternut squash or roasted red pepper and tomato soup, a multigrain or whole-wheat roll, and steamed spinach with cracked pepper – yum! I say that not just because I’ve actually come to enjoy the taste of these things, but because I don’t feel weighed down after eating them. I actually feel better, energized, and satisfied. Before I hit the hay, I reward myself with a cranberry oatmeal cookie or a square of dark chocolate. That’s enough to satisfy the desire for a sweet little something for me.

Am I telling you to follow my diet? Absolutely not. That’s the problem with prefabricated diet plans in my book; they leave no room for the individual. I’ve found what works for me. Sometimes my love for hamburgers rears its ugly head and my black bean burger on whole wheat bun just ain’t gonna cut it. I don’t beat myself up, but I also don’t ignore the way my body feels afterward. That’s what keeps me coming back to my “superfoods” – they make me feel good.

I’ve had fun trying new foods and recipes in my new way of eating. I’ve discovering that I love squash and pumpkin and that it doesn’t have to taste either bland or like pumpkin pie. I’ve found out that steaming fresh veggies is as easy as tossing them in a partially-closed Ziploc with a tablespoon of water in the microwave for a minute, give or take. I’ve learned that I’m more energized at work post-lunch if I have some salmon in my lunch. And I’ve learned that meals can be whatever my body needs – even if it is a peanut butter and mixed berry smoothie with a whole-grain bagel and low-fat cream cheese.