Week 6 check in

Wow! Here we are, 42 days into the new year! Only 11.5% of the year has passed! So how are you doing? I did one monumental thing for me at least, and had a couple of major realizations. So let’s dive in.

My monumental thing was that I participated in a 5K. This was my 4th ever, but this was the first time I picked a 5K because I wanted to do a 5K. The others were supporting an awesome ministry called Coreluv, which does great work with orphans in Haiti. So why did I randomly pick a 5K to do? I’ve set a goal of doing 4 of them this year. But here’s what happened. I ended with my best per mile pace ever, my best 5K time ever. I finished 169/175. The guy who finished first had a 15 minute and change 5K. I mean, the guy finished in 15 minutes. I finished in a smidge under 45 minutes. In fact, the majority of the people finished in 20-30 minutes. I did some jogging and the rest walking. I’ll be doing my next 5K in 2 months and I’ll be running it. I’m doing really well with the Couch to 5K app, and the best part is that my boxer/lab pup who has been going with me has only tried to cut in front of me about 3 times.

Now to the realizations. And they tie together. The first one happened Saturday afternoon. After my 5K, my oldest asked “why does daddy do 5Ks?” My wife started to answer, and she said because I want to be healthy, get exercise and I chimed in with “they’re fun!” But she noticed. She’s almost 9. And then she said the thing that got me. “I want to do a 5K with daddy, too!” There’s the realization that I’ve known since I became a parent, but I get those hit over the head moments as reminders. What I’m doing is being noticed. I’m setting an example for my girls, something that I didn’t always have the healthiest and most positive set for me.

And then the second realization happened yesterday while hunting for a book that my oldest daughter couldn’t find. What ended up happening was I was supposed to snap a picture of a page for my wife and send it to her (which I did), but I didn’t return the book to where it was supposed to go! But we’re looking everywhere in my daughter’s cluttered room. Then we looked under the bed. And the piles of stuff that came out from under that bed! It was a mess. But then the realization hit again. Not only am I being watched for the good example, but the bad examples are being picked up as well. My wife and I don’t always put things away like we should. And we don’t always make our girls pick up their stuff. So, when they see that example, they follow it. So I spent the afternoon focused on cleaning up the kitchen. And tonight, I’ll focus on another room. And another...and you get the point.

As a parent, it’s not easy. But when you’re honest with yourself and your children, and you work on consistent discipline for yourself and your children, you all win in the long run. That’s the word that I’ve always struggled with my entire life. Discipline. And it’s something that’s really hard to pick up when you’re 40. The good news for me is that I’m realizing it is possible. It’s hard, but it’s possible.

Week 5 check in

I could subtitle this post “The new me”. Or I could subtitle it “You’re not defined by your mistakes”. Read on and I’ll explain. I blew it last night. I ate horribly. I’m guessing many of you are waking up feeling that way. The “old me” would have wallowed in self-pity, made excuses and ate some more. Most definitely wouldn’t have exercised. Today, I got up at 4:30, walked the dog, ran a bit, and have been drinking water. While yes, I didn’t eat great for 1 meal....it’s just that. 1 meal out of 21 for the week. See, this is where my thinking has radically changed. I had eggs for breakfast yesterday, I had a salad for lunch. I budgeted to eat badly. And I did. But, that doesn’t define my week. In fact, it pushes me to be even more on track. I had my meal of overindulgence. It was good. Now back to eating right.

So how about you? Maybe January wasn’t the best. Or your February isn’t off to the best start. You can fix it. You can start now. Because it’s about the choices you make.

I realized I didn’t share with you my goals for February. So my main goal in January, the Whole30, was a success. My goal for February is to continue to follow the guidelines, eating right and trying to add in more exercise. I started the couch to 5K app last week and while I’m doing a 5K on Saturday, I’m not going to be able to run all of it, but my main goal is to run the 5K I’m doing on April 7th. That’s one I’m working toward. My other stuff goal is two fold. I didn’t quite finish in the garage in January, but our youth at church are having a garage sale, so I can take stuff up there. Along with that, I want to tackle the office. It’s a mess. So that’s my 2 main goals for February.

So where are you at this week? Has your 2018 been off to a great start? We’re only 5/52 into the year, so you’ve got time. Get after it!

Oh, something random I decided to do last week. I recorded some music I’ve been working on and uploaded it to Noisetrade.com. You can listen to it for free or download it for free there. http://noisetrade.com/craigharmann/lent-and-easter-demos

Week 4 check in

Wow! We’re 4 weeks into the new year! How have your goals and resolutions gone? Did they go by the wayside? Or are you still going strong?

For me, with my primary goal, it couldn’t be better. I’ll give a more detailed wrap up of Whole30 in my post on Wednesday, but I feel amazing. My clothes fit and people at church yesterday said I should be called “The shrinking man” and “Slim”. I don’t know if I’d go that far.....yet, but I do notice a difference. I have plenty more to go, but slow and steady wins the race. Except that my slow and steady plan of losing 8 pounds by now (2 pounds per week) was totally blown out of the water by losing 16.6 pounds. Now, I knew I’d probably lose more than 8, but had I made my goal 20 pounds, I’d be frustrated and probably quit, because I “failed”. Nevermind that I’ve lost weight, clothes that I couldn’t wear now fit comfortably. My psyche would have told me that I missed my goal and I was a failure. That’s what my friend Jon Acuff talks about in his book “Finish”. When you’re setting goals, you want to have your goal, then cut it in half. When you feel like you’re beating that goal, it helps motivate you to continue on. But the Whole30 has helped immensely with that. More on that on Wednesday.

As for my garage project, that didn’t get much done on it this week. But it has definitely improved since the 1st of the year. There is less stuff and more space to walk around out there. And there has been progress inside the house as well, because of the colder weather outside. But there’s lots to do as we have our deadline to be out of this house by the end of June. Plenty will get done! It will just take the same process as losing weight. Slow and steady.

So how about you? What were your goals for this month? What are your goals for next month? What’s your plan to be successful? Mine are to lose 8 more pounds, and to bring order and decluttering to our home office, which is a total catch-all space. Comment with what you’re going to be working on or your success story from the past 4 weeks!

Week 3 check in

Here we are. Week 3. 21 days since January 1st. Things seem like they’ve flown by. So how are you doing with your resolutions/goals? Still keeping up? We’re almost there, so keep going strong!

For me, the Whole30 has been exactly what I needed. I’ve got only 9 days left, and it’s made so many changes. On the scale, I’m down 4.6 pounds since last Monday, and down 16.2 pounds for the month so far. My goal was 2 pounds a week, so according to my goal, I should be down 6 pounds. This weekend was the biggest challenge for me, which I met with flying colors. I went to my mom’s Friday afternoon and came back Saturday. Traveling is usually the time where I want to be snacking. So I took along diet friendly snacks, and made it just fine. Once I got to my mom’s I got some steak and potatoes, and made my dinner, breakfast and lunch on Saturday. And it was great! The off the scale things have been so much more. I have so much more energy throughout the day. My clothes fit better. I’ve had to tighten my belt....as well as regularly wear a belt! I’m excited to get up in the mornings. I’ve had many people come up to me and say that I’m looking good. Overall, this journey has been off to a huge start. And that’s been my priority for this year. When we’re talking about minimalism, the primary focus many go to is stuff. And that’s important. But if you’re not taking care of you, you won’t have the mental or physical energy to deal with the stuff, and most importantly, you may not be around to deal with the stuff.

For the physical stuff, this week I didn’t really get much done in the garage. This week was messed up. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday, followed by no school Tuesday and Wednesday, along with ice and cold. I did get a good bit done in the garage on Monday, and got my bags of pine needles out of the garage on Friday. So it’s looking much better, but there’s still more work to do. Which I’ll get to this afternoon. But we were able to get things done inside the house while we were stuck inside for a little while. It’s all about progress and making baby steps.

Keep up work on your goals! We’re almost there! Comment with how you’re doing!

Week 2 check in

I know I haven’t posted since last Monday. Getting back to routine kicked my tail, but I’ve been making progress. So let’s get to it.

The Whole30 diet is insane, but I haven’t had much trouble with it. After my big drop of 9.2 pounds from January 1st through January 8th, I dropped 2.4 pounds from last Monday to this morning. 11.6 pounds in 14 days isn’t bad at all!! Especially when my goal for that point was 4 pounds. 2 pounds per week. I’ve been drinking a lot of water daily, and ended up getting 101,465 steps last week. Not the best, but it was the first time over 100,000 since the end of November. This week may be a bit tougher on steps because we’re supposed to get a cold snap and possibly ice over the next couple of day, so walking the dog may not happen like I want.

The garage is my other goal for the month. Today had been and still is my main day of focus. I had forgotten that my wife was off of work today, and so she’ll be doing some things with the girls (and we’ll do some things together as a family), so that I can focus on the garage. The biggest thing for today is getting the boxes from Christmas broken down and in the recycling, and putting things back in the places that I had previously had them. That will make a huge difference and a big starting point to make progress.

So how about you? How are you doing 2 weeks in to the new year? Are you on track? Comment with how you’re doing!

Week 1 check in

It’s been a week into the New Year. How are your goals going? Still crushing them? Feeling a little stagnant? They’re totally blown?

Here’s how mine are going. First goal was to lose 2 pounds per week. So, last Monday morning, I stepped on the scale. 278.6. Fairly typical. I have resided anywhere between 270-290 over the past 3 or so years. Not good. I started the Whole30 diet for the month of January, so that started on the 2nd. Over the past week, I have felt amazing. The Whole30 diet is insane, but it’s a reset. No beans, no dairy, nothing processed or added. It’s forced me to look at labels and plan a whole lot more. But the food I have eaten in the past week has tasted amazing. And so, when I stepped on the scale this morning. 271.4. Down 7.2 pounds in a week. My goal was 2. I figured that with starting a new diet, and something this intense (and drinking a LOT of water), I’d probably lose more than 2 pounds. But, 2 pounds was my goal. So, why didn’t I say 4 or 5 pounds, especially for this first week? Well, our bodies can do strange things, and what happened if my goal was 5 pounds....and I lost 2. I’d feel like I failed and giving up would be a whole lot easier. But, I’ve absolutely crushed my goal. Do I expect to lose 30 pounds by the end of the month? Nope. Only 8. Because that’s my goal.

My second goal was to spend the month of January focused on the garage. It’s a disaster area. Well, the first step was to get the Christmas decoration boxes out of there. And in a couple of hours, those will be back in their storage space above the house. So that’s a good first step. Then I’ll spend a bit of time this afternoon on the Amazon and other boxes that threw up in the front of my garage. Every bit of extra time I have, that is where I am going to focus. Not just on organizing the junk that is out there, but figuring out what is needed and beneficial.

That’s it. My goals for the month of January. Comment on how you’re doing with your goals!