So you guys, I have A Plan. You know how I love having A Plan. You know how the shorter days always grind me down, leaving me a gray and weary shadow of my perky springtime self? (A gray and weary shadow who is not IN THE LEAST overdramatic.) Today is the autumn equinox, and I am testing out a new idea for dealing with my seasonal blues.
NINE: Every day, eat five servings of veggies and four of fruit. If you've been reading my blog for a really really long time (like, since it was a different blog), you might remember The Vegetable Project -- my strategy for losing the baby weight after Pete's arrival in 2005. TVP was five servings of veggies + a gallon of water daily, with no sugar. I've tried variations of this again and again, but never with as much success as the first time. I think this permutation may be a little more sustainable. Giving up sugar entirely is not easy, and my children complain, and so my plan is to eat lots of plants and not sweat the rest. The goal is zip! vim! get-up-and-go! -- not weight loss. (Will I complain if weight loss is a side effect? I will not.)
EIGHT: When I am blue, I stay up late doing pointless things. I tell myself I need the quiet time. Then I am tired the next day and the world seems even gloomier, so I really need the quiet time, so I stay up late again doing pointless things. No more! I am getting into bed at 10:00 each night, allowing myself half an hour to read in bed and say compline. There may be circumstances that interfere with this plan, but they should only be unpredictable things, like sick kids or unexpected work deadlines. Unpredictable things ≠ googling that one person I met in 1989 who loved bloodhounds and aspired to be a poet and wait, how do you spell that last name again? and hey, who knew? isn't bloodhound breeding fascinating? EIGHT hours in bed every night.
SEVEN: I am going to run seven miles a week or do a comparable amount of a different exercise. I thought about setting a higher goal, but it's good to have modest expectations as the year winds down and the obligations ramp up. I can do seven miles in two chunks without causing myself distress, or I can do a few shorter runs if that's how the schedule shakes out in a particular week. I am not quite sure how to count today's 25-mile bike ride, which was going to be mellow and easy except that I forgot my arrhythmia meds and we rode back into a savage headwind. It was not mellow at all, but it was fun anyway.
Anybody want to join me? C'mon, it will be fun. I am skipping upstairs because my self-imposed bedtime approacheth.
Recent Comments