I've seen on Facebook where people are posting 30-day challenges for the month of October. Over the course of the past month, I've been thinking about how it's time I broke some old habits and worked on forming some new ones. What better time than now?
I have found, since my diagnosis of severe osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and a slew of other problems, that I've become sedentary and I'm doing a lot of comfort eating and because of that, I've put on some weight I really can't afford to carry. I've also found I complain a lot and haven't been very encouraging or uplifting to Lisa, my friends, or my family.
My new doctor wants me to get out and walk every day for thirty minutes, as fast as I can walk. I laughed when he said that because I used to be a speed walker; I used to walk eighteen miles every Saturday because I could; I entered 5 and 10K races and beat more than a few runners and I never ran a step - I walked. But now, walking more than a few feet at a time is painful and exhausting for me. I depend on a cane and at times a walker. But, I've gone out and walked every day for the past five days. I only walk about ten to fifteen minutes and I walk less than a half-mile, but I'm walking.
I've also found that, because of the fibromyalgia, I have a hard time concentrating on things for any length of time. I'm a professional editor. I can't afford not to concentrate on things - I don't get my work done when I don't make that effort.
So, here's what I'm going to work on during October:
1) Every day that the weather is cooperative (as in not raining), I will get out and walk. I'm not going to push the thirty minutes and I'm not going to push the fast, but I am going to walk. I'm not sure yet what I'll do on the days it's raining since I have no way to get to a mall or a gym, but I'll figure something out.
2) I'm going to cut back on my snacking. With Lisa gone during the day, I find it's easier to snack than have a decent lunch. I'm going to work on changing that. Nothing fancy - but fewer chips, fewer sweets, more fruit and crunchy vegetables.
3) Along the same lines, I'm going to limit my Dr. Pepper to no more than one a day and I'm going to try to make that every other day. I'm also going to try to drink more juice and water than tea.
4) I'm going to do my best to edit no less than three hours a day, five days a week. That may not sound like much, but with my lack of concentration, that's all I'm going to ask of myself. If I can do more, I will.
5) I'm going to work on complaining less (hard to do when the pain is on the high end of the scale) and I'm going to work on being positive and counting my blessings more.
Anyone else up to the October 30-day challenge? I'd love to hear what you have planned. Good luck to us all!
