Starting The AL Project

And, just like that, I’ll turn 40 this week. So, that’s weird. I don’t want to go through every lame saying about getting older and feeling like it was just yesterday that something happened, when it was actually twenty years ago. But, for the record, all those sayings are true. Ugh. And, really, what do I have to show for the last couple of decades? Twenty years ago I was a sophomore in college, studying to be a teacher, but I didn’t know what kind of teacher I wanted to be yet. I was full of youthful enthusiasm and naivete. SO much naivete. And I was sure that life would just figure itself out and be amazing.

And now, as I enter my fourth decade of this human experience, I’m in my first year of a Master’s program, studying to be a teacher librarian (because I think I finally figured out what kind of teacher I want to be). I’m not quite as enthusiastic, certainly not as naive, but still optimistic…most of the time. So, I’ve made some progress, but I’m also not radically different.

I’m not saying my life hasn’t been great–I really can’t complain. I’ve had some incredible experiences–traveling all over the US and to a few different countries, getting to do all sorts of jobs, living and working in a few different places where I got to meet some wonderful people. Life did figure itself, and it’s been pretty good. And I’m so grateful that I’ve been relatively healthy all these years. But I can’t keep relying on my good genes to keep me upright. I’ve let my eating habits get out of control, I drink too much soda, and I’ve gained weight–if I’m being honest, probably ten pounds just in the last month or two. I almost never get enough sleep, my cholesterol is borderline high, and I don’t do much physical activity other than my daily run (which is usually less than a mile and a half) and walking the dog. I just don’t feel great, physically.

So, my first focus in this year of the AL Project, where I try to improve my health in every area of life, needs to be the physical/nutritional health piece. If I can get better food, sleep, and physical activity routines in place, I feel like I’ll have more energy to tackle the rest of my goals.

I’m not going to follow a “diet”, though. I’m not going to totally deprive myself of anything that I really want, and I’m not going to declare a “goal weight”. I’ve never really been a “diet” person (and I don’t plan to start now), and I feel like weight isn’t at all indicative of health. What my goal is going to be starting out, is to eat at home more, instead of defaulting to takeout when life gets a little bit busy. And the things I make at home need to be more balanced too. I do cook sometimes–I enjoy it, and I’m pretty decent at it, if I may say so–but the meals I’ve been making recently have included a lot of butter, heavy cream, and/or cream cheese. All delicious, yes, but not things we should be eating lots of every day, especially when there aren’t many veggies to go along with them.

So, I’m going to establish a decent breakfast habit (because I resort to drive-thru breakfast much more often than I’d like to admit). My lunches have been decently healthy on the days that I work (usually an apple and some Triscuits these days), so I’ll keep doing that. And I’ll stock up on good things to eat for dinner, and hopefully meal prep a little if I can get my homework done. I’m also going to try to incorporate a different kind of regular physical activity (even if it’s just once or twice a week), probably including stretching and/or weights.

Also, I’m going to set a sleep goal, because I keep learning more about how important sleep is, and I really need more to feel good. Clearly, my dog doesn’t have this problem as evidenced by the photo at the top of this page, but I’ve only been getting about six hours a night, and that’s just not enough. So, I’m going to shoot for an average of seven hours a night of actual sleep–that’s according to my fitbit, not from when I lie down until when I get out of bed.

I guess, in short, I’m tired of feeling tired and meh, and I’m ready to do the thing. So, if you want to join me in working on these goals, or if you want to talk about other goals you might have, send me an email at kim@growingmoxie.com. Now, I’m off to bed so I can get my seven hours!