UPDATE / Week of February 8 to 14

REFERENCES: The 12-Notch Plan — Notch #2 – GOALS for February — Notch #2 – BABY STEPS / Week of February 8 to 14

Before I explain what the illustration’s all about, here’s how it went with my BABY STEPS last week.

BALANCED DIET / PROTEIN INTAKE

I jotted down everything I ate to make sure I was getting the recommended 78 grams of protein each day… or close to it. Being vegetarian is quite a challenge when it comes to proteins — most days, I made it to 65-70 grams. I have to get used to eating more of everything: beans, nuts, tofu and other soy products.

CONCEPT/DESIGN FOR “ABOUT” PAGE

Had quite a few crazy ideas which — unfortunately — aren’t do-able. Maybe I’m expecting too much of this. Then again, I’d really like to come up with a fun way to introduce myself. Back to the drawing board!

AND NOW FOR THE BABY STEPS INTO THE SOUL

Time came to a halt last week. It’s as if one extremely long day went by. Or better yet, one never-ending night. Yeah… it was kind of dark for a while.

First, a friend of mine needed help. Without going into details, let’s just say that I put everything on hold in order to *be* with her. She’s better now — thank the Universe!

But somehow, it got me thinking about where I’m going with this blog, the whole internet thing, being stuck at a desk in front of a computer instead of being with actual flesh and blood people out there in the real world. This situation is getting weird. It’s not how I want to spend the rest of my life.

Then I caught a cold and the trance-like fever amplified my feeling of isolation. I even managed to injure my foot and couldn’t get out of the house for my morning walks. I was in prison… in a trap. Arrrrrrgh!

Naturally, all that was left  for me was to think-think-think. I’m still thinking as I type,  How do I get out of this rut? I’ve been in this housing co-op for 28 years. Sure, it’s a nice flat, the rent is low, I’m near the metro. But deep down in my soul, I know that it’s time to go. But where?

I want the road, adventure, mountains, nature;
to walk along oceans and step deep into forests.

I want the unexpected, the out-of-the-ordinary,
the not-the-same-as-yesterday.

My cocoon period has come to an end.
I’m aching for change.
I’m ready for it.

And once I create that change, I’ll have something
more interesting to blog about!

CONCLUSION

I need a vision.
A map.
A plan.

How about you… do you need a change?

Notch #2 – BABY STEPS / Week of February 8 to 14

REFERENCES: The 12-Notch Plan — Notch #2 – GOALS for February

Here’s what I’m committing to this week:

BABY STEP
#1

*P* is for PROTEIN

For the past 2 days, I’ve been feeling more tired than usual; my bet is I’m not eating a balanced diet.

So I’m going to start jotting down / counting my food intake to make sure it’s all good, especially the protein intake as I’m vegetarian.

I checked on the internet and saw that I should be eating 1.5 grams of protein per kilo. I weigh 52 kilos (115 pounds), so my daily dose comes to 78 grams. Divided between 6 small meals, this means I need to eat 13 grams of protein every 3 hours.

Maybe I should go back to logging my daily food intake on DailyBurn. Not sure if I have enough time, though; for the moment, I’ll keep track offline and see if that’s enough commitment for success.

And yeah… I stopped my weight-lifting routine. That’s another thing I have to go back to — sheesh!

BABY STEP
#2

Come up with a concept/design for my “about me” page.

How about *YOU* — anything new?

UPDATE / Week of February 1 to 7

REFERENCES: The 12-Notch Plan — Notch #2 – GOALS for February — Notch #2 – BABY STEPS / Week of February 1 to 7

I’m proud to say
that I’m well on my way
to making it a habit to

every day.
Olé!

Yes, my one and only BABY STEP this past week was to stretch for 20 minutes every day as soon as I got home from my morning walk.

Result:
I love it!

Of course, I was lucky to have the sun shining in my kitchen all week long; with a little imagination, I felt I was by the ocean, lying on a beach towel. What can I say, I’ve got a talent for make-believe — it’s one of the main ingredients in my recipe for happiness.

Music is also a big part of the mix. I now know exactly how many James Taylor songs it takes to accompany my 20-minute routine — I put his greatest hits on “play” and I stretch and relax and feel the pain from Something in The Way She Moves to the end of You’ve Got a Friend.

Conclusion:
I won’t say I’m hooked just yet. No. I’m going to wait another week or two. I want to see if I’ll be as enthused about the whole thing when there’s no sun around to give me a high.

Surprise:
On Saturday morning, I went skating for the first time in 24 years. It took me less than 5 minutes to realize that I could still stand on two blades and glide, Baby, glide. Another habit, maybe? — We’ll see!

Hey… how was your week?