How did I do this month? Not bad, honestly. My blood sugar is consistently in recommended ranges, my mood has been mostly good with a few blips that I rode out with some deep breathing and less harsh self-judgment than in the past – all good. I’ve lost some weight, too, which certainly never hurts although it’s not the prime focus of this project.
So let’s get specific. My goals for March were:
- Make appointments with my endocrinologist (Diabetes doctor), my general practitioner (for my annual exam), and my optometrist – Never did make that appointment with the eye doctor so that needs to be my first priority tomorrow morning at work.
- Work out at gym five or six times a week, 45 minutes each visit – Done and done. Whether I go to the gym five or six times in a week generally depends on what else I’ve got going on, not whether or not I want to work out. The girl at the front desk at the gym knows me now and told a newbie there that I was “a regular” – me, a regular at the gym? Who’d have thunk it???
- Eat at least two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables on three days a week – Big improvements here. On workdays in particular, I always have veggies with my lunch and dinner, and I’ve been making an effort to squeeze in a piece of fruit at least once a day during the week, too. Not doing as well on weekends but my calories are still in line with expectations, so I’m giving myself some slack. Besides, I said I’d do it three days a week and I’m definitely in line with that goal.
- Cook dinner at home at least twice a week – Nope. Not once. I have subscribed to a meal planning service and yet still nothing. This is a continuing source of frustration. I am eating well and getting in the nutrients I need but I really want to be able to cook at home and I’m not.
- Schedule an anti-aging facial and make it a monthly thing – Didn’t get to this one, either.
Alright then, so what will I be working on for April?
Let’s first look back at my bigger goals for 2013, which are
- fasting blood sugar reading below 130 mg/dL
- triglycerides reading less than 150 mg/dL
- body weight at or below 220 pounds,
- and an improved quality of life as perceived by me
Goals for April:
- Make appointments with my optometrist and a periodontist – The eye doctor is more of a preventative measure (to make sure diabetes isn’t damaging my vision) but the periodontist is something I’ve been putting off dealing with for five years. I have very bad gum disease – turns out that’s probably due to my diabetes – and I haven’t done anything about it since I had costly and painful root scaling surgeries in 2008. Once the doctor told me I’d need a further four surgeries after that and that EACH ONE would cost about $5,000 (none of which was covered by insurance), I just sort of gave up on trying to get better and decided just to wait until my teeth fell out. (Yes, I know how insane that sounds.) That philosophy is not in line with improving the quality of my life – how does hating my teeth fit in with a healthy lifestyle??? – and I need to do something about it, now.
- Take 10,000 steps per day at least 5 days a week – right now I’m averaging about 9,000 so this will be a bit more work but not unreasonable.
- Cook one meal at home in April – if I can’t manage that, I might just give up on cooking entirely.
- Make an appointment with my hair stylist for highlights – the gray in my hair is making me feel old and sad. I’m thinking honey blonde and auburn but I’ll let the expert decide!
fun by hodgers via Flickr
- Do something fun at least once a week – I spend so much time doing what has to be done (work, volunteering, parenting an adult former foster child) and almost none actually having fun. I feel as though I’m always running after something elusive, just in front of me, that will make everything perfect and right so that I can relax and just enjoy my life. But I’ve come to realize that there is never going to be a perfect and right time in my life but if I don’t start to have some fun then what is the point? One of my big goals for Project Me is to improve the quality of my life, and I cannot think of anything more important for attaining that goal than having fun!
So those are my goals for April, now you: What will you accomplish in the next 30 days?
