40 Days of Savings

While I am wrapping up 40 Days of Organizing (you'll see some photographic evidence of that next week) I am going to launch 40 Days of Savings!

Those of you that read my previous blog will remember that I went on a diet and a budget at the same time and it is amazing how related the 2 issues can be.  They are both about planning and control.

So like the concept of 40 Days of Fitness, my hope for 40 Days of Savings is to set some good habits and put away a little money for the holidays and beyond.

Here are some of my goals:

1.  Open a Savings Account:  I know this seems simple, most small children have Savings Accounts, but I don't. If you have a good online Savings account please pass along the info in the comments.

2.  Piggy Bank the Change: I keep my change in a little milk jug on my desk, but inevitably I cave and cash it in when it is like $10.  I am going to leave it untouched for the next 40 Days and cash it in before Thanksgiving for a little extra Christmas cash.

3.Write it all down: On the back of my weekly plan I am tracking my spending.  I set a spending limit for the week based on my plan and track against it, recording my final balance each week.

I don't expect to save a ton of money in only 40 Days, but like the other 40 Day Challenges I hope this one creates healthy habits that I can hang on to.

Single Girl Rules

So I am single.  Really single.  Not in a long term relationship where we don't need to be technically married because we are so awesome together, but truly single. I have lived on my own for 15 years with no one to share the joys and burdens of day-to-day life.  Sometimes this is great and sometimes this is sad, but most of the time it is great.

Here are some general Pros and Cons of single life:

Pro:  No one else is dictating food choices in my apartment.
Con:  Sometimes my food choices are an entire bag of Oreos for dinner.

Pro:  No one is nagging me to do the dishes.
Con:  No one else EVER does the dishes.

Pro:  All the money I have is mine.
Con:  So are ALL the bills.

The three examples above will all be evident here on this blog as things I struggle with:  food, household organization and money.  I realize these are pretty normal struggles for almost everyone, but managing them alone is different.  No one shares the hardship and no one sees the small victories.

I am not whining.  I have whined about being single in the past and it gets me absolutely nowhere.  I am very good at being on my own, but unless you have lived alone for a long period of time it is tough to truly understand what it is like.  So consider this a shout out to all the single girls (and guys) out there that are getting it done, on their own.

Mixin' It Up

This past Sunday I went on a hike.  Outside.  In nature.  I have lived in a  city for 18 years, sure I went to college in Maine, but I have lived in a city for 18 years.  I don't hike.

The idea was inspired by a local newspaper piece about spooky trails to hike in New England (for those of you in MA, we went to Freetown State park in Assonet, it wasn't the least bit spooky) and I put it out there to our regular Girls' Night crowd as an alternate activity (generally our outings involve vodka and good food).

It was a blast!  Now don't go signing me up for any mountain climbs or anything, I almost fell down standing still, but I kept up with my friends (one has actually climbed some mountains and the other has run marathons) and while I was slightly startled by a dog I thought was a deer... I did pretty well.

The moral of this story is, it was a great work out -- lots of steps, some hills and uneven terrain making it a little more challenging than those same # of steps in the city.   It was a beautiful day and we had a lot of laughs.  It didn't feel like a workout, it felt like a fun day out.

I kicked off 40 Days of Fitness over 2 months ago and while the 40 days are long up I have continued with the goal of making each day more active.  Having fun outings like Sunday make that super easy.

How do you combine exercise with fun?  What do you do to avoid workout boredom?  I'd love some tips, please leave a comment.  Thanks!

Working Out the Brain

Meet my challenge for the next 8 weeks!  For the next 8 Thursdays I am stepping out of the gym and into a classroom to read the one big gaping hole in my Russian Literature cannon.  It is going to be a very different kind of work out.

Luckily I am embarking on the journey with my college roommate.  She and I read a lot of the big long scary Russian novels together 20 years ago, so I have faith we can conquer War & Peace.

Here is some sage advice for those of you still in or much closer to the college experience than I:

1.  You will miss going to class some day, enjoy it while it lasts.

2.  Take calculated risks in college, the stakes aren't nearly as high as you think they are.  To this day I kick myself for not taking a studio art class.  I thought it would be hard, I thought I might not get a good grade, I thought I might embarrass myself with my stick figure drawings.  Who cares?  No one.  I'm not saying load your schedule with every random thing you want to try, but don't hesitate to try the few things you think are too silly, because they are not.

3. Your college roommate can be the person who knows you better than almost anyone else.  That will mean a lot in the years that follow.

And so my War & Peace journey begins... "Eh bien, mon prince, Genes et Lucques ne sont plus que des apanages..." Wait, this book starts in French?  Mon Dieu!

Sweet Enough as I Am

Like most Americans, I eat WAY too much sugar.  Breaking the sugar habit is tough, your body craves the stuff.  Here are a couple things I did to curb the white siren.

1. Swap Dessert -- Even when I was eating my healthiest I always slotted calories for dessert.  Every night.  This time around I am only allowing myself a real sweet treat on the weekend.  On weeknights my after dinner treat is fruit (fresh or dried). It is still sweet and still has sugars, but at least it also has vitamins and fiber.  It also makes the weekend dessert seem like a real splurge.  And those weekend splurges are portion sized (to avoid the fistfuls of Chips Ahoy).

2.  No Fake Outs -- I have almost entirely removed fake sweeteners from my life.  No more diet soda, no more Crystal Light, no more Starbucks skinny syrup, no more artificially sweet yogurt.  Fake sugar may save you calories in the short term, but it tricks your body into wanting more and more of the white stuff.  The last vestige of chemical sweetener in my life is in the occasional piece of gum.  Anyone have a good low sugar all-natural gum?

3. Go Halfsies -- I like Honey Nut Cheerios.  There, I said it, I am a five year old.  I also like real Cheerios, so I buy a small box of each and mix them together.  I enjoy a Pumpkin Spice Latte this time of year, but won't use the fake sugar syrup at Starbucks, so I have them go half on the syrup and it is still plenty sweet. Want a soda? Buy the tiny cans they sell in the grocery store (a friend gave me this idea and it is awesome).

4.  Make Better Choices -- This is my mantra for all things food related.  Want that soda?  Get a ginger ale instead of a Coke and save 10 grams of sugar per 8 oz serving.  Want chocolate?  Buy a single serving of Cadbury or even Godiva, sure it is a splurge but if you are going to eat it make sure it is really good - and portion controlled!

How do you cheat the sugar game?  If you have a good tip please leave a comment, thanks!

The Power of Positive Women

 

 

If I could give one piece of advice to my 20 year old self now that I am 40, it would be to make sure you surround yourself with good women.  I did that any way, but it would have been nice to know it would work out so well for me.  This swirling nostalgia that 40 has brought on, coupled with the great outreach of Social Media has reminded me just how wonderful all the women in my life are.

 

I got off on the right foot, I have a great Mom (my dad ain't half bad either, butt his post is about chicks).  My mother is kind and generous and smart and hard working, she supported my choices (even when they took me very far from home) and she respects the life I have made for myself (even though it is very different from her own).

 

I forged great friendships in school with girls that had ambition and open minds, some of whom I keep in close contact with and some I have rediscovered as wonderful women on Facebook.

 

And there is a special place in my heart for the friends I have made as an adult.  We were not forced together by the rigors of school to unite over chemistry homework or cute boys, we chose each other amidst our busy lives and carved out the time to form bonds.

 

Friendship, at any age, isn't easy; it requires time and commitment and the willingness to listen and share.  Not all friendships succeed and that is another lesson I have come to appreciate.  A failed friendship is not a condemnation, but merely a sign that you were each meant to find a different friend.

 

What I have at 40 is a great group of women who support one another in all things.  We challenge each other to be better, we motivate when needed, we comfort when called upon.  Life isn't always easy, but the hard parts are a little softer with the right kind of support.  Thanks!

 



Stick to the Plan, Ann!

Remember that old adage: "Failing to plan is planning to fail."  Well, it's true - especially in the world of diet and exercise.  Without a plan it is so easy to devolve into take-out and sitting on the couch for hours on end (those things require nearly no planning).

In past forays into a healthy lifestyle I always kept a food journal (and I still am) but the food journal is retroactive to what you ate or how you worked out, a plan is proactive.  Maybe I am just more addle-minded than I used to be (over 40 now!) or maybe I should have been doing it this way to begin with.

The photo above is last week.  I created a simple Excel chart for meals/snacks/workouts and I set it and printed it on Sunday evening.  Throughout the week I marked off those things that went as planned and annotated those that deviated.  Hopefully as I get better at planning the annotations will be fewer.

Life doesn't always go according to plan and if you have partners and kids and pets the weekly plan will likely look a whole lot more complex than mine, but here are some advantages to setting up a plan:

1. Shopping List -- If you know what you are going to eat you can set up a list for the grocery store and then avoid wandering aimlessly throwing Chips Ahoy packages by the fistful into your cart.

2. Identify Danger -- Maybe it is a bunch of social obligations in one week or the opposite and you are facing a whole weekend alone with nothing but you and the thoughts of all those Chips Ahoy, but if you lay out your week in advance you can plan for that instead of finding yourself facing too much temptation.

3. Retrospective -- Like a food journal you can keep these printed plans (I have a binder just calling out for them) and look back on weeks that you succeeded or struggled and see what you did well or could have done better.  If you stick to this for an extended period you can look back year on year and see how you handled the holidays or vacation and tweak your plans as you progress.

Obviously, you do not need to be trying to lose weight to utilize a meal and exercise plan.  This is actually as much a part of #40DaysOfOrganizing as it is anything else, but anyone who has struggled with weight loss knows that one of the biggest issues for many is control.  By having a good plan you are taking control of your week from the beginning and starting off on a good foot.

Anyone else have a good life organization technique they use and would like to share?  Please leave a comment!