Balance - My February Progress

Last month, on my Inside the Pomegranate blog, I had a post on my One Little Word. (Click to see my original post on my other blog)  I chose the word "Balance" as what I was going to work on this year.  Balancing work and play, sleep and awake time is one of my biggest challenges.  I tend to overextend myself, committing to to much, and then getting burnt out.  So you can see how that word, Balance, is a good one for me.  It also has to do with my food choices.  Balance = moderation.  Balancing my choices is a challenge too.  So the whole idea was that by choosing this word, I would kind of make it my mantra for the year.

So we're one month into the new year and I wanted to check in and report on my progress.  How is my balancing going.  Um....well.....It's not really the best it could be. But I am a work in progress, right?  And it's all about small changes.  And I have another 11 months to work on this.  So let me report how things are going as of today.

Exercise:  I am still walking the 6 blocks to the bus stop and 6 blocks back.  This is going really well, and I'm liking that I am leaving a smaller footprint on the earth by doing this. BUT the downside is that I do have errands to run and do need my car for that, so I am averaging walking to the stop 4 x a week, and thenat 5th day I'm driving there, leaving my car and running errands immediately after I get off the bus.  I'm saving a lot of money on gas too.  Oh, and I signed up to walk the 39 mile Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in September, so I'm going to start my walker training next month!

Diet:  Last week I joined WeightWatchers.  And I'm on day 5 of the program and tracking EVERYTHING. Weigh in day is Thursday.  Because the plan has a 0 points values for fruits and vegetables, this works great for me.  I am learning that I have to measure out my portions for now. Because they were out of control.  Did you know that a serving of rice is 1/2 cup?  Tracking my intake is keeping me honest.  So that's going well.

Sleep:  This is where it all goes downhill.  I just have too much to do in the course of a day. But over the past month I've tried my best to get to bed by 11:00 p.m.   okay...11:30.  I even started making myself switch to decaf at night so that it would be easier to get to sleep.  I wake up at 5:00 a.m.   So I need work in this area.

Overextending myself:  This part is getting better.  I have an upcoming show for Pomegranate & Eye on March 2 so I'm getting ready for that.  And I'm coordinating a youth event at our church for Darfur awareness.  And blogging.  And my friend Suzie and I are still coordinating our homeless outreach.  But this part is okay.  :  )

I'm going to continue with this.  For February, I'd like to make more of a conscious effort to REMEMBER to BALANCE.  Because all too often my one little word becomes is an afterthought.  What's your One Little Word...and how's it going for you?