More Ups and Downs
So yesterday, I got my exercise done, and I wrote 3000 words in my novel, but I didn’t look for a new job. Today I’ve done none of the above yet, but I’m going bowling later and writing more of the novel.
This experiment has been really strange. It’s almost like my brain can only focus on one or two major things at once. Any more than that and the others slip away, or become reasons to procrastinate. I’m looking at my list, and at one per month, I could complete the whole list in 3 years, which is a short time. On the flipside though, I want to complete them faster. It’s a conundrum. We overestimate our current capabilities, but underestimate our long term power.
I’m thinking about shifting back to two for now, but it’s so hard to choose. I need these three for now, but I’ll drop to two for December. I think it’s time to go to monthly 30 day trials. Even four at once is too challenging for me right now.
Oh well. Everything is a growth experience.
Ups and Downs
Life is full of them! I don’t know why I should have thought my new life would be any different. I might have changed, but the world still goes on.
I took on drawing and writing, learning french and playing piano. I crashed out quite bad. A few days on each, but nothing much on all of them. Now I’m experimenting with accountability. I’ve got a list of items I want to accomplish, and each day I do, I tick it off the list every day. It’s real proof about what I’m actually up to, rather than what I think I’m up to.
For now, I’m working on exercising for 30 mins daily, writing 3000 words of my novel for NaNoWriMo, and spend 60 minutes finding a better job. Just those three for this week, then a new one on Saturday. It’s not as easy as I thought, and I definately need to grow more in the realm of persistance.
I also want to blog every day, but that’s an experiment for another time.
Weekly Beginnins Redux
So I’ve been doing some thinking about how well my Weekly Beginnings have been going, and the first one was a complete success, but the ones after it haven’t been. I’ve been exercising daily, but I’ve forgotten about the push-ups. I’ve started writing a novel but I forget about finding a better job. I could say it’s my laziness, but I’m thinking it’s because the mind can focus 100% on one item, or only 50% between two items, or 25% each!
if that’s the case, starting multiple 4 week challenges at once is a bad idea, the more you add, the more you have to keep track of. One challenge at a time, until it’s firmly underway, then focusing on another in the next week seems to work well. You will have up to 4 going at a time, but only one in focus, the others should already be on semi-autopilot or at least easy to keep track of.
On top of that, having a big visual guide is a help. You can see where you are at and where you have progressed or lagged behind. A scoreboard could help as well. In order to do that, I’m going to go buy a whiteboard.
For now though, the raw diet, exercising daily, writing a novel and looking for a better job are my 4 challenges.
Lets see how I go.
Weekly Beginnings 4 and 5, and planning.
Beginnings 2 and 3 were kind of a bust. I didn’t managed to do them every day. I’m not quite sure why, but I think it’s because I didn’t fit them into my overall plan of being fit and healthy. The diet was simpler than the exercise, it was something I had to stop doing rather than something I had to actually do. I need a better system.
Aside from that though, this week I’ve going to work on one item that’s critical and one that’s not.
WB 4: Find a better job. I don’t mind working at KFC, but it’s out of alignment with me and what I want to achieve in the future. I’m going to have to get a better job elsewhere. It’s as simple as that. It’s going to be my main focus this week.
WB 5: Write a novel. This is a much more long term goal, and starting today, I’m starting work on it. I had the first chapter of a book finished, but it got lost many formats ago. Today I restart the novel and continue on from there. This inspires me.
WB 2 and 3 are still on the table, and adding 4 and 5 means I need to find a way to definately do them every day. Once I figure that out, I’ll post it.
Until next time, have fun and grow. 
Going Raw Postmortem
Going raw is one of the best and hardest things I’ve done. It was the cravings mainly, because your body/brain tries to trick you all the time, whispering things like “Noone will know.” and “Just one bit won’t hurt.” It didn’t take so much willpower as much as dedication. I really wanted to be healthy far more than I wanted junk food.
The main benefits though were the increased energy and the overall feeling of health. The energy wasn’t bursting out of me like a sugar rush, it was much like a vast background pool of tapable energy. It could be used at all times and keep you going no matter what. I didn’t have problems getting to sleep either, the energy wasn’t a problem at night, it was still there, but I could turn off the access to it.
The health feeling was just an overall well being, but at the same time I was in detox. I had the same aches I get after eating junk food, but it would come and go throughout the day. It started on day 2 and lasted until day 11, but considering that I went straight from a high junk food diet into nothing but fresh ingredients, it’s not suprising.
The food was great, but all the ways to prepare it was overwhelming. I need to find better places to shop, more types of food to eat, and not worry about recipes. I prefer just eating the food like it arrives, raw and yummy. Also, having fruit and vegetables and nuts sequentially in a meal is a great way to eat, you feel like you’ve had three meals at once.
With the two week trial over on Friday night I had cooked food again, a burger from my work at KFC. I really wanted it I thought, but after having I felt ill. Eating the chicken I could taste all the grease, the chicken, the breading and the spices seperately. It felt like my taste buds were on supercharge. I guess even your tastebuds go numb when you eat crap, because I couldn’t taste it before. I’m still eating cooked food until the end of monday night, but right now I feel like crap. All the energy has been switched off and I feel permanently sleepy. The trial was a success, so much so that I think I will go back on a raw food diet starting Wednesday again. After two short weeks I’m starting to wonder how we could live like this for so long, in a permanent food coma.
I do have to get a new job though. It feels karmically wrong to serve food that I know is bad.