January's Changes
- Swap to reusable grocery bags- I have a ton of these bags. Sadly, I'm guilty of never having them at the moment I'm at the grocery store. So, my goal is to get these in the van and start using them.
- Begin drinking diet sodas- Note the word "begin". The plan this month is to swap some of the full sugar soda that I drink for sugar-free versions. I'm thinking this will happen something along the lines of 1 sugar free soda for every 2 full-sugar sodas I drink. I hope in later months to introduce more change.
- Write a bi-weekly menu- I do this often, but with fibromyalgia, I'm rarely certain which days I'll be able to stand long enough to cook a full meal. So, I'm going to start writing a fibromyalgia based menu of meals that require minimal prep or prep than can be done sitting or broken into smaller sessions.
- Use lotion- I have the world's driest skin. It breaks out in weird rashes and spots from being so dry. I buy expensive lotion... and never use it. That's a real waste of money and skin cells.
- Zone Cleaning- I've tried FlyLady and I've got to say... it doesn't work for us. (It assumes that the other members of the household CARE that the house is clean or dirty.) However, zone cleaning has always worked well- I just stopped doing it when we moved because I took forever to unpack. Now that I'm unpacked, Zone Cleaning will be restarted again.
- Establish a writing schedule- I've pared back from 60 hours of writing per week (mostly for others) to a manageable 2 hours per day. I'm going to develop a better writing schedule and begin planning ahead.
- Eat Lunch- I rarely eat anything I cook. Even worse, I end up grabbing a soda for lunch and forgetting to eat until dinner. So, in January, I will eat lunch. Plain and simple.
- Brush my hair- I confess, I'm a clean person. I shower daily (sometimes several times a day). I always wear clean clothes. But, yeah... most the time I don't have time to brush my hair. It's longer than ever now and is such a pain to brush with all the curls and thickness. Most days I can get away with it. But, once in a while, I get a knot and then don't have the time to take care of it. I wear a lot of buns and ponytails. So, brushing my hair WILL happen.
- Use an alarm clock- I wake up currently when the kids wake up. I want to get back on a sleep schedule, though. So, the alarm clock (which is unpacked) will be plugged in.
- Clear off the counter tops- I'm guilty of letting dishes dry on the rack overnight. No more. I will have clean counter tops every night.
- Label everything- This is huge for me. I'm one of those weirdos that LOVE to label things. I'm going to label as much as I can get away with before my Husband stops me.
More changes to come in February.
So, what changes are you looking forward to in the New Year?
I find, for dinner prep stuff, that making and freezing casseroles is a massive time and energy saver. I usually throw them together on the weekend, and then thaw and put in the oven on a weeknight for quick, easy dinners (and a great way to recycle leftovers into something new).
ReplyDeleteWhat is Zone Cleaning? I have never heard of this before....
I honestly have a deep freezer FULL of dishes I pre-prepped. I just rarely have even enough energy to pop something like that in the oven.
ReplyDeleteZone cleaning is a method I came up with to focus on cleaning without getting bogged down in extraneous areas of the house. I focus on one zone of the house 4 days of the week. I take the 5th day off. Day 6 and Day 7 are used to focus on "to do list" things like laundry or large batch cooking, mowing the lawn or washing the car... those sorts of things.
I'll try to post a bit more about it later in January.
Hate to be a bummer...but really think about the diet soda - it's full of junk and is just as addictive. I've been off Dr. Pepper for a year since Thanksgiving 2009 and it really helped with pain management. For some reason, I picked back up with my habit this holiday season (after a year!)...just one a day... and already, the pain in my neck, shoulders, head and hands has returned. So ~ it's back to cold turkey for me. Good luck this year - Stacy in Texas
ReplyDeleteSadly, no soda is NOT an option. I have another medical condition and soda is cheaper than the medication for it (and does the same thing). I've tried to quit sodas four times now using various substitutes- I'm not even supposed to drink diet soda because of the sweetener- and I always end up back in the hospital.
ReplyDeleteI am hoping to swap to a Soda Stream later this year, though. At 35 calories per serving instead of nearly 200, it's definitely an intriguing option.