Today is the First Day of the Rest of My Life.

I have been planning and planning to change my Life. I been deciding what those changes should be, but I don't seem to get to it. So today is the day I'm going to at least make the attempt to do the habits I have been trying to establish.

I got up this morning and took a shower.

I used to (in my youth) shower everyday. Now I shower a couple of times a week, but lately I've been letting it go too long. I don't think I'll go back to a daily shower, but I definitely need to work on a better regimen. 

I took my pill.

My doctor has me taking a pill for my high blood pressure. This habit I do pretty well with if I do it first thing, otherwise I forget. This is almost a habit already, but can use some work. I find that if I have bottle of water sitting next to the pill bottle I'm more apt to remember  take my pill. It's all in the set up that makes it possible to accomplish my goals.

Fed Mike

This is a morning activity I never shirk. My brother, Michael, is the love of my life. Michael is a 41 year old man who has Downs Syndrome. He can do many things for himself, but he is not independent enough to mix a meal. Each morning I get him up and make him breakfast.

Got dressed and brushed my teeth.

Okay, this might seem like a no-brainer to you, but I sleep in my clothes. To me "getting dressed to go out" means I put on my bra and shoes before I leave the house. So this area of my life that definitely needs some more attention.

My teeth are another issue. I have neglected them most of my life. I rarely brush my teeth and I floss only when something is stuck in my teeth and it's driving me nuts. I don't know why brushing daily is such a challenge, but it is, and it is on the list of the changes that I'm making. (I did it! I brushed today! Yay me!)

Walked the cul-va-sac

Walking is one of the "W"s in "Plan W" I've not been doing it. Not even the ridiculously easy goal of 3 minute jaunt around the cul-va-sac that is just outside my door. It requires putting on the aforementioned bra and shoes, so I suppose that is the sticking point I must surmount and I did. Today!

Write-it-down

Another one of the "W"s, Write-it-down originally meant keeping a "Bullet Journal" but is morphing into just documenting my goals and accomplishment s- like in this blog- so this counts.

 

The original "W"s are Water, Wake, Walk, and Write-it-down.

• Drinking water goal has become eating water rich foods while being on the look out for carbs.
• Wake at 5 am has become get 8 hours of sleep by getting to bed earlier.
• Walk 2 miles a day has been reduced to 5 minutes or just get out the door.
• Keeping a journal has expanded too.

But to help me with my plan I've decided I needed to go to the source of all good things. That source being God.

I prayed.

This is part of the set up I need to do to get to my other goals and a resource I need to tap. Which I've broken down into 4 simple actions I need  to take.

• Pray daily
• Read the scriptures daily
• Partake of the Sacrament weekly
• Tithing

So I started this morning and I asked God to help me with my goals and I found this scripture about prayer in the 2nd Nephi, chapter 32 of the Book of Mormon:

8 And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray, ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray. 

9 But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.

I think I'm on the right track.

I attended church. 

The 24th of July is Pioneer Day for Mormons. So today my Dad gave a talk about the faith of the Pioneers. It was to commemorate when those Pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley in 1847. 

I also had an opportunity to partake of the Sacrament.

When I got home I set aside $2.59 which I will tithe to the church from the money I got from answering surveys. It's a start.

So I am inviting God's influence into my Plan W to see if it helps.

Drank a bottle of water.

I just finished off a 24 oz bottle of water. Yay me! 

It's late so I'm going to bed. Lets see if I get up a 5 am tomorrow (the 2nd day of the rest of my life)

Yikes! Going Backwards - Weigh in at 331 Thursday,April 26th 2018

I've been going backward all month long and now it's showing up on the scale. I'm supposed to weigh 328lbs by the end of April if I'm to stick to Plan W.

A couple of changes in my life is changing the plan. I've been weighing in on Friday mornings that is going to change to Monday nights. Starting April 30th. I will be participating in what my family calls "Weigh in, Pay in".


What is Weigh In/Pay In?

"Weigh in, Pay in" is a mini weigh watcher type meeting where the whole family gets weighed each week and pays $5 into the kitty. This "Kitty" is literally a cookie jar in the shape of a Lion. At the end of each Month whoever loses the most weight that month gets to choose whether to spend the money on "Something Fun" right away or roll the pot over till the next month for a chance to do something bigger or at least more costly. The "Something Fun" has to be something that the whole family can enjoy or use - like a night out to a fancy restaurant we don't usually afford or Gadget that makes Mickey Mouse shaped waffles. It doesn't matter as long as there is accountability and reward.

Rebooting Plan W

I don't know if I can lose 3lbs by Monday, but what is more important is getting back on track. I have read half of Dr. Schwarzbein's book and will be beginning to apply her "Principle" to my eating starting May 1st.

Plan W rides again!

The Paperclip Challenge

I an taking a 12 week Self Relience Course sponsered by my church. The first week the assignment was to take up the Paperclip Chanllenge. It is a kind of trading game where you take a paperclip and trade it for something bigger and/or better and keep trading it up in hopes of gaining value.

This was kinda started by Kyle MacDonald, a fellow who wrote a book about his exprience in One Red Paperclip:How to Trade a Red Paperclip For a House. (this is a amazon affilite link, so if you buy I get a small comission at no extra cost to you.)

Check out The Red Paperclip Guy 's 2015 TEDtalk on YouTube.

Kyle MacDonald The Red Paperclip Guy

But my odyssey started with a blue paperclip

the paperclip

 That paperclip sat in my pocket for a whole day until my sister took me to a friend's house to make a trade. My friend Linda thought about it for a bit and pulled out brand new pencil. Very remenicent of the fish shaped pen (what pen? see youtube the red paperclip guy).

the pencil

The next morning I went to my neighbor and traded the pencil for a set of playing cards that had cajun recipes the cards' box had a magnet and the autograph of the creator on the back.

the playing cards

My sister hadn't even seen the cards but from the discription I had given her over the phone she said, "I've gotta hav'em!" my first reaction was that this was cheating but after a little reflection  I shugged and decided "why not". But I realized I had leverage and made her give me give me something good. I had rejected a hand crocheted dish cloth and  t-shirt until she found a pair of ear rings she had constructed.

the ear rings

It took my sister a while to locate the ear rings for the trade but in time for me to approach a friend who had dropped by with her husband to help my Dad out with some handyman chores. She seemed actually impressed with iridescent beads. After some thought she remembered she had a pair of what she called "Slippers" that she didn't need anymore and willing to part with them for a pretty pair of ear rings.

the slippers

The next day I received the "Slippers" - my friend had mentioned that they were pink and jewel encrusted. For some reason I had envisioned bedroom slippers, but the "Slippers" turned out to be flip-flops that were indeed pink and jewel encrusted. I was very pleased with the swap.

When we went to the Self Relience class to report on our Paperclip Challenge. My sister was the winner because she had not only traded her paperclip up to something bigger or better. She got the playing cards with the cajun recipes - she convinced one of the participants in the class to trade a cookbook he was not pleased with for her 4 sponges.

My sister also ended up the pink "Slippers" as well. They are just more her style than mine.
So she made out like a bandit.

Weighed in at 326.2 Lbs on March 16th

Lots of socializing this week. Which is a good thing for a hermit like me, but not so good for a weigh loss regimen.
I happy with my progress in other areas I'm stronger in my walking ability, so maybe its just muscle gain... "he he... yeah right,😏"

By the way Happy St. Paddy's Day💚

Weighed in at 323.8 Lbs March 9th

I was surprised by the 3lbs drop. I wasn't particularly righteous in my eating this week, but I did give up caffeine.

Weighed in at 326.8 Lbs. on March 2nd

The day before on March 1st I went to a doctor appointment at the VA medical clinic and weighed in at 325.9. The last couple of weeks my eating has been poor - too much diet soda. March 1st I comitted to give up caffine in an effort to curb my consumsion of it.

Weighed in at 327.6 Lbs on February 23rd

I've been going to a class that teaching me how to use CorelDraw and having a lazer printer cut the drawing into a piece of wood.


This last week I made a plaque with my personal mantra.

This is a piece of Walnut wood that Michelle a fellow classmate gave me instead of using the plywood that is supplied for free in the class. I will cherish this little plaque as it reminds me of my mantra as well as the kindness of others.