This weekend I walked over 40,000 steps (according to my FitBit) and a great deal of that was outside in the sunshine. It is definitely a winter where the weather is something I can’t complain about. Yesterday I walked the loop around a lake and saw deer, geese, and an Eagle! Quite magnificent.

Also contributing to my step count was two Jazzercise classes (one Saturday morning and one on Sunday morning). That is where the rest of the steps came from. It’s about 5000 to 6000 per class depending on the type of class. As far as making improvements to my life, if there is one thing that I have learned it is that I do better with concrete goals. Saying I am going to walk more or get more exercise does not cut it. I have to commit to 12K steps a day (up from 10 last year that I hit only about 33% of the time) and 4 Jazzercise classes a week. Some of those classes are less cardio and more strength training. They use weights and balance balls and sometimes other EQ to get the job done. I started with 5lb. weighs. My new goal is to go up by 2lbs by June 30th. Five months to the halfway mark of the year. I wonder what else I can get done in that amount of time.

Mid January I started reading a book, “A Mind of Your Own”. I’ve not made much progress but when I get through it there is a promise of some pre-set plan to healthier living involved. I have such a hard time with these sort of books and I really want to learn from it. I told myself that I needed to read all the content and not just skip the supporting chapters and jump right to the 30 day plan. Again, saying I want to read it and then try the “plan” is not cutting it. I’m going to have to commit to a goal to finish reading it by February 24. This gives me about 2.5 weeks to get it done and then 4 days to do any “prep” so that I am ready to start the plan by March 1st (provided I decide I am actually going to do whatever it is). It’s not that long, so this is not an unreasonable objective.

What else? Oh yeah, sleep. That’s a tough one. I’d like to at least up my average to seven hours a night. Eight would be great, but I have no idea how to manage doing that. With everything else, it seems incredibly difficult. I’ve gone backwards on this lately and last week my average was 6 hours and 10 minutes. I think that extra hour would make a world of difference on how I feel each day. I just have to figure out what to sacrifice to get that hour (the reading or writing I’ve already got on the agenda is not an option, and neither is the exercise). On the bright side, I have not needed to take anything to aid my sleep in about a month. Perhaps that’s good enough for now.

Yeah.. that IS enough for now. If I commit to too much, then I will lose my focus. I will end up wavering on all fronts and not hitting any targets. I need to channel the 2014 Miss SugarCookie and pick one or two things at a time and just keep on it until I meet with success. I guess time will tell.