2007-08-08 Groundhog Day Resolutions

It’s August 8th (08-08) and time for another Groundhog Day Resolution review. David Seah, creator of the GHDR, sums up the whole thing in his latest review entitled Groundhog Day Resolutions Review Day 6.

Since I’ve been slacking the last two months (in posting an update, at least), I’ll get right to it.

Be Fit

Last Month:

Six days a week I get up entirely too early (between 5:00 and 5:30 am) and hit the gym. Well, the gym in our basement, anyway. I alternate my exercise routine between strength training and aerobic exercise. Traditionally the aerobic exercise has been brisk walking on our new treadmill. While I was hoping to be able to jog, I unfortunately have a bad ankle which has prevented me from doing so. On strength training days, I switched to less reps at a higher weight back in May. For some exercises, I’m still dialing in the correct weights.

For my diet, I have switched to a low-fat, low-cholesterol diet in accordance with my doctor’s recommendation. This has been easier to do now that The Wife is also watching my diet and purchasing foods that are better for our whole family. I was tracking my foods online, but the app I was using has just become too cumbersome for daily tracking.

The weight goal I set at the beginning of the year was to lose 30 pounds by my birthday. That day is approaching quickly (toward the end of this month), and I still have about 9 pounds to go. Unfortunately, that means I will not make my goal by the intended date. Ultimately, though, it is healthy habits I’m looking to instill in myself over an actual weight. Goal Status: Fair (Good on exercise, poor on diet).

This Month:

I will continue my morning workout routine. So far it has been successful. On the diet side of things iI need to do a better job of ensuring the foods I eat are within my dietary restrictions. For example, while shrimp are low in fat, they are high in cholesterol. Also on bad eating days, I tend to skip the tracking, which (I think) leads to even more bad eating.

Write More

Last Month:

Blogging has pretty much been out of the picture for me. Ever since I started exercising in the morning, I’ve found it difficult to make any other time for writing. I’ve continued to maintain a list of potential blog posts and have even done some mind mapping exercises to determine what I might write on a few topics. Alas, nothing has come of that. Status: poor.

This Month:

I’m stealing an idea from Gretchen at the Happiness Project, by starting a One Sentence Journal. I’m using my moleskine notebooks and making sure I write at least one sentence in each (one personal and one business) each day. My goal is to use this as a springboard back into the world of blogging. I’m one day into it.

Remember significant events

Last Month:

I called or sent cards to everyone on my calendar last month. I guess that’s a win.

This Month:

Keep on truckin’… This goal can probably be moved into a maintenance mode going forward.

Deliberate Dates

Last Month:

I might mention the night The Wife and I went to see Die Hard. Unfortunately, that was the month before. Time flies. As a family, we bought a bike rack and have taken the kids on family bike rides on local trails.

This Month:

Uh… I dunno. I need to make time, as usual.

Previous series posts

Posted on August 8, 2007 in GTD and Lifehacks. 2 comments   

2 Comments

  1. Dave Seah said:

    Looks like progress is being made, month to month, so that’s great.

    I was commenting to someone the other day how it’s hard to “make time for romance”, and we were wondering why that was. What if we reframed romantic activity as a CHORE that needed to get done, to help maintain the household? It’s not really a chore, but maybe we need to weight it with the same importance so it gets equal consideration. Just a thought :-)

    August 9th, 2007 at 1:42 pm
  2. John said:

    Thanks, Dave. Some progress *is* better than none.

    For me, its especially hard to plan an official date with The Wife… she’s the logistically talented one. Besides, I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that *she* would want to see Live Free, Die Hard.

    Romance is something that needs to be prioritized at the level of, or higher, than chores, that I agree. But the problem is that most people think of romance as a chore in and of itself. That is the problem. I see my role as a husband to serve my wife, putting her needs before my own and providing a place for her to grow. She sees her role the same way. When both people in the relationship look at it that way, I think romance happens almost effortlessly.

    The dates are mostly to get away from the kids for a bit. Finishing a sentence without interruption makes for much better conversation!

    August 9th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
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