First of all, to whomever nominated me for the BlogHer Heroes contest, I’m sending out a huge, teary thank you–that means so much to me! You have no idea how much you just totally made my day…

And now, a few random odds & ends…

• I completed the Daily Routines 21-Day Makeover. I highly recommend implementing morning, afternoon or after-work, and bedtime routines–they have really changed my life!
• I just finished the first week of my Alcohol-Free 21-Day Makeover. I absolutely do not miss drinking at all. I spend so much less money when I’m out, and I consume far fewer calories! People seem to get a bit uncomfortable when they drink and I don’t, but so far, it hasn’t been a huge issue.
• Today is Day 1 for both the week of zero complaining and the month of no shopping!
• I was going to start getting up at 5am to meditate this morning, but we were out late last night. I’ll start that tomorrow.
• I’m starting to work on memorizing my poem. I chose “anyone lived in a pretty how town” by ee cummings.

I have a few balls in the air vis-a-vis personal development experiments. I wanted to take a minute to update you on how things are going…

6WBMO: Yesterday started my fourth week of the Six Week Body Makeover. I’ve been following certain principles of this program (eating frequently, eating more protein, carrying pre-made meals with me, 5 days of low-to-medium intensity cardio per week, 2 strength training sessions per week) pretty faithfully. I’ve substantially altered others (eating meat 5 times per day). The biggest changes I’ve seen have been increases in strength and stamina. If I were following the program as it is written, I’d expect to see more weight loss than I have.

One thing I’ve learned from this experience is that I do well with a more flexible and less prescribed approach. 6WBMO tells you to eat at your given mealtimes regardless of whether you feel hungry. As an emotional eater, I’m trying to train myself to eat only when I’m hungry, so that rigidity regarding meals doesn’t really work for me.

Daily routines: Sunday was the first day of my third and final week for the Daily Routine 21-Day Makeover. I LOVE my routines! I feel so much more organized and less chaotic using them. I highly recommend that you consider establishing morning, after-work (or afternoon), and bedtime routines if you don’t already have them.

Alcohol: Today is Day 3 of my no-alcohol makeover, and I feel great! I got a few emails asking why I chose to do this, so I’d like to explain my reasoning…

1. Alcohol is nothing but empty calories. I’d rather “spend” my calories on FOOD!
2. Alcohol has been shown to significantly raise your risk of breast cancer. Even though I had the surgery, there’s still a very slight risk for me. After all I’ve been through, why take the chance?
3. When I look back on most of the bad social experiences of my life, alcohol was involved.
4. I still have just as much fun when I don’t drink.
5. I’ll spend so much less money on dinners out without the accompanying wines.
6. Speaking of dinners out, I read that alcohol consumption can actually (over time) diminish your sense of taste!
7. I have a tendency to use a glass of wine to “relax” instead of doing something healthier like going for a walk or meditating or reading or talking to someone.
8. I want to have kids in the next few years, so that means I’ll have to stop for at least 9 months. Then I’ll have a baby and I won’t want to drink around the baby. So if I’m going to wind up stopping anyway, why wait?

Cheerleaders: My personal cheerleader and I  kicked off our Get Fit for the Marathon program yesterday! We’re doing weekly checkins on Mondays, in addition to emails, texts, and phone calls whenever one of us needs some additional support. We’ve established both ongoing goals and goals with deadlines to track our progress, and we’ll reward each other as we reach our goals. How are you doing with your cheerleaders?

So there you have it. What’s new with you?

A few days ago, I asked for your help in deciding what to wear to a wedding this weekend. Dress #3 was the clear winner, but I had an unforeseen technical difficulty. It wouldn’t zip over the new boobs. Yep. The last time I wore it was spring of last year, and that was pre-surgery. Sigh.  I was going to default to #1 or #2, but I was going through my closet and found a great and simple little black dress (that was luckily made of stretchy satiny stuff and not of stretchless and unforgiving shantung like #3). So here’s what I wore…

We had a great time–it was so much fun! A friend of mine who was at the wedding decided to stop drinking alcohol a few months ago–nor for any particular reason other than the health/weight loss benefits. She and I talked about it for a while at the reception, and I’m going to give it a try. Tomorrow (Sunday) will be Day 1 of a new 21-day makeover. I’m interested to see how, if at all, removing alcohol affects me physically and socially. Anyone else want to play along?

I started my Daily Routine 21-Day Makeover today, albeit in a more relaxed weekend-ish fashion. I often have after-work engagements for either business or social purposes, so I’m allowing myself the freedom to shift afternoon items to either the morning or the bedtime routine when I have evening plans. So far, I’m off to a great start! I’ll post periodic updates on my progress.

Morning Routine:
Exercise (walk, run, or body sculpting)
Make breakfast and pack lunch
Unload dishwasher and wipe down kitchen counters
Shower and get ready for work

After Work/Afternoon Routine:
Meditate (at least 10 minutes)
Write tomorrow’s blog post
Work on a creative writing project for at least 30 minutes
Laundry
Straighten living room
Make dinner

Bedtime Routine:
Decide what to wear tomorrow (on workdays)
Straighten bathroom
Wash face
Brush & floss

Do you eat the same thing for breakfast every day? Work out at the same time every day? Have standing plans for Sunday afternoons? If so, do you consider your patterns to be a healthy routine or a rut?

I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately. One of my New Year’s resolutions this year was to do a better job at keeping our apartment clean. My mom suggested that I visit the Fly Lady website for motivation and organizational tips. (I highly recommend it, by the way!) One of the first things that the Fly Lady system asks you to do is develop routines for your morning, after work (or afternoon for SAHMs), and bedtime. I created my routines and implemented them faithfully for about 6 weeks. I was doing a great job! Then I had crisis after crisis at work, and I got derailed from my system. I’ve been doing an OK job at cleaning, but my progress has definitely stalled.

I’ve noticed the same thing with the Six Week Body Makeover. The program advises you to try different food combinations for meals and snacks, and when you find that something works well for you, to repeat it and stick with it rather than keep coming up with new meals.

I’ve also seen daily routines recommended by other programs and resources. This leads me to the conclusion that daily routines are a valuable personal development tool. I’ve decided to test this thesis with another 21-day makeover. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to use morning, after work, and bedtime routines. (I do have some post-work engagements coming up–tomorrow night, for instance–but on those days, I’ll just do both the after work and bedtime routines whenever I get home.) My goal is to determine whether the routines improve my productivity and time management.

Morning Routine:
Exercise (will vary–walk, run, or body sculpting)
Make breakfast and pack lunch
Unload dishwasher and wipe down kitchen counters
Shower and get ready for work

After Work/Afternoon Routine:
Meditate (at least 10 minutes)
Write tomorrow’s blog post
Work on a creative writing project for at least 30 minutes
Laundry
Straighten living room
Make dinner

Bedtime Routine:
Decide what to wear tomorrow (on workdays)
Straighten bathroom
Wash face
Brush & floss

What are your thoughts on daily routines? Do you have any? What are they?