July Plans

Dear Friends and Family,

July.

It's just around the corner.

And, before I know it, I'll be saying the same about August.

Am I moving the ball on what makes me happy?

Goal Weight: I'm back on the Weight Watchers bandwagon for the umpteenth time this year. I'll say it. This year hasn't been as successful as my first round of Weight Watchers. But, I don't think it has to do with the new points system. I think it's because I set myself up for failure. I figured I could go back to old Weight Watchers, but I couldn't. Life's completely different now with the commute and P. I was trying to add the old Weight Watchers routine to my new life. What I needed was a new Weight Watchers routine. And, that's the approach this time.

The old Weight Watcher habit loop?

cue: time of day - breakfast, lunch, dinner

habit: log on, plan food, enter food, get food, portion food, eat

reward: weight loss every Tuesday (my weigh in day)

What was I thinking. This only works when you've got dedication and time. And, the other thing that was tripping me up was having points left over at the end of the day and the end of the week and then grazing.

The new Weight Watchers habit loop?

cue: whenever

habit: eat, right it down in the pink book, the next morning enter it into Weight Watchers

reward: at least being able to try to stick to the program

Clean House: It's definitely looking more organized around here. Not organized. Just more organized than when we started. For July, we need to clean the deck and the basement. If we do that, I'll consider it more than adequate progress for July.

Completed To Do List: This is definitely better than before. The NOW NOW NOW list is essentially empty. I think this next week I will try to merge it with the NOW NOW list. I know this is weird, but a list with five things on it seems manageable. A list with thirty things on it seems like utter chaos. So, sometimes I prioritize and break up the thirty things into six mini lists with five items each on it. If we manage to pack away the old G5 and to put together a plan for P's school, that seems like an ambitious enough target for July.

Spending Time with Family and Friends: This feels like it'll happen. We've got friends visiting in July. Perhaps I'll add a plan to figure out 2013 so we can look for cheap tickets now.

Travelling: After our June chaos, I'm okay with a bye month.

Saving for Retirement: I'll continue my $100/week budget experiment.

So, what does this boil down to?

• continue with the pink notebook - writing down food and spend
• organize the deck and the basement
• pack away the G5
• put together a school plan
• 2013 travel plan

Seems like a good list - makes progress without seeming overwhelming.


Cheers!
mouse