March

I know that it's Sunday and I ought to be doing that "I Have Been" meme that I did last week and said I'd do on Sundays, but I didn't post earlier this weekend and I've been thinking quite a bit about what I would like to accomplish during March...

I am participating in Allie's Modernist March event and I'm really excited about it.  I did a bit of research on the Modernist movement and I love the idea of it, the concept, the themes, the style, the challenge.  So I thought about the books I want to read for the event and I decided (this morning over coffee, where many of my strokes of brilliance occur) to read The Great Gatsby, one Hemingway, one Faulkner, and Mrs. Dalloway and then work on Ulysses afterwards (which I ordered today, along with Ulysses Annotated).  I thought this might be a good order so I can kind of ease myself into the mess that Modernist writing can become.  I figure that Gatsby and Hemingway will (re)introduce me to the themes prevalent in Modernist writing, Faulkner will get me in the stream of consciousness state of mind, and Mrs. Dalloway will immerse me in it before I sink or swim with Ulysses.  Best part?  All of these books are on my Classics Reading List.  Because I plan on doing a good bit of reading over Spring Break, I have a couple of other Modernist picks by EM Forster and Katherine Mansfield coming in as well.  So...those are my reading plans.

I can now admit that I have found a yoga DVD that I love and have committed to doing five days a week--Bethenny Frankel's Body by Bethenny.  I think that it's a really good routine that is comprised of the basics, but is still challenging.  I have several poses to work up to being able to hold, though the pose in and of itself isn't terribly challenging.  I really have no upper body strength whatsoever, so a lot of the "hold your arms up for a million years" poses and the "balance yourself using your arms and legs" poses are ones that I just cannot do for very long.  In other words, I will be doing this video for quite a while.  I feel like I am already seeing results after about two weeks of doing it, which is really encouraging.  

I've been using this DVD in conjunction with Frankel's Naturally Thin and SkinnyGirl Dish books.  They've really helped me become more conscious about how much and what I am eating.  I'm still far from perfect, especially if I let myself get too hungry, but I am doing quite a lot better.  I still use other cookbooks, but I am living with the principles she espouses--stuff about balance and choosing they foods you really want over what you can actually live with out (did this last night at the Chinese buffet).  I think that the important distinction (at least for me) is that this really isn't a diet, but a way of retraining my thinking about food.  Nothing is forbidden, so I don't feel deprived.  If I want to make sure I don't eat something (namely, chips), I just don't buy any. I can have everything I want to eat, just not all at once.

Now that I've found these really simple approaches to food and exercise, I feel like a total sucker for all of the crap I've bought for diet and exercise.  Yesterday, we took the Wii exercise games I bought to the video game store and I sold them back at a pretty big loss.  I guess that getting some cash for them was better than nothing.  And they aren't mocking me any longer.  The next time I go to my parents', I want to go through the exercise and diet books and take them to the used book store.  I may also do another purge of my other books.  I'm trying to lighten my load...and not be mocked by inanimate objects.

After my 15-ish-item wardrobe turned out to be such a success, I've decided to do another clothing challenge of my own making.  I want March to be jeans-free.  I have lots of cute pants, skirts, and dresses that I usually pass over in favor of comfy jeans.  I'm also kind of at the point where my jeans are getting pretty loose and I don't have the next size down (but I have the size after that).  I don't really want to buy more jeans, especially to wear temporarily.  So, no jeans in March and hopefully by the end of the month I can wear jeans I already own.  Like with February, I'll try to remember to post a picture of the day's outfit on Instagram.

For my writing, I've been writing in my journal more and more frequently.  And last week, I did a pretty good job of blogging.  I want to keep this up.  What helped with the blogging was writing down each day's topic in my planner at the beginning of the week.  Journaling became an item to cross off on my daily to-do list.  I didn't write every day, but the reminder was there (just like with the yoga).  I think that the reminder is what helped me actually sit and write.  As I told Zach on Friday, I think I'm almost back to the point of being able to write creatively.  I got so out of the habit of being super in my own head that I stopped writing.  Also, I want to do a better job of reading blogs and commenting.  If I do just a little bit each day, it won't feel like a chore, because I really try to avoid the computer after being on it at work and doing my school work.

I guess that's about all in terms of my plans for March.  I feel like I got a lot of things sorted out in February and am more on track with where I want to be and want to be going.  The only thing left is to keep moving forward.