Every month I pick up this free little publication at the library called Book Page. It has interviews with authors and reviews and summaries of lots of books for the month. I always find a handful to add to my reading list. In January, the magazine had a special section on books related to New Year's resolutions. I don't typically make a resolution. I tend to make resolutions throughout the year rather than on January first. Like the time in college that I resolved to no longer hit snooze on my alarm clock. Yes, at age twenty-one. Yes, when my average bedtime was like 2:00am. And I DID it for like a whole semester!
The six books recommended in the "building a better you" section were:
-Younger Next Year: The Exercise Program (if you resolved to be more active)
-Thinner in 30: Small Changes That Add Up to Big Weight Loss in Just 30 Days (if you resolved to lose weight)
-The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to Be Complicated (if you resolved to manage your money)
-Simple Giving: Easy Ways to Give Every Day (if you resolved to be more giving)
-52 Small Changes for the Mind (if you resolved to live more mindfully), and
-The Big Bucket List Book: 133 Experiences of a Lifetime (if you resolved to live your dreams).
All six sounded fun to me. But when I tried to find them in the library system, well, I couldn't. I came across two variations. 52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier, Healthier You and Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond. So, considering I don't even want to live like I'm 50 for quite a few more years, I decided to try out the variation of 52 Small Changes by Brett Blumenthal.
The six books recommended in the "building a better you" section were:
-Younger Next Year: The Exercise Program (if you resolved to be more active)
-Thinner in 30: Small Changes That Add Up to Big Weight Loss in Just 30 Days (if you resolved to lose weight)
-The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to Be Complicated (if you resolved to manage your money)
-Simple Giving: Easy Ways to Give Every Day (if you resolved to be more giving)
-52 Small Changes for the Mind (if you resolved to live more mindfully), and
-The Big Bucket List Book: 133 Experiences of a Lifetime (if you resolved to live your dreams).
All six sounded fun to me. But when I tried to find them in the library system, well, I couldn't. I came across two variations. 52 Small Changes: One Year to a Happier, Healthier You and Younger Next Year: A Guide to Living Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond. So, considering I don't even want to live like I'm 50 for quite a few more years, I decided to try out the variation of 52 Small Changes by Brett Blumenthal.
I'm clearly not starting on January 1, and I doubt I'll be able to keep up with this weekly, but I thought I would do the best I could and share my result with you. And if you feel like following along, that would be awesome!
One thing I found interesting when reading the introduction to this book, was the research on change. I had always heard, and for some reason believed, that it takes 21 days to make a real change or break a habit. Apparently a University College London psychologist (Phillippa Lally) conducted a study on this and found that last and permanent change actually takes between 18 and 245 days. So, on average it takes 66 days or 9 1/2 weeks to make a change.
As the title says, this book's plan is based on small changes, not extremes. The changes are divided into four categories: diet and nutrition, fitness and prevention, mental well-being, and green living. Also, the book doesn't focus on issues with alcohol, smoking, or drugs.
Before beginning, you can take an online assessment to reflect on where you stand today. Although I feel very happy and pretty healthy, I did this and I'm embarrassed to say that all four categories "could use some attention" according to my assessment results. But I guess if they didn't need some attention, it wouldn't be any fun to try this process.
So, the first challenge: Drink Up! Drink an adequate amount of water each day to maintain a healthy level of hydration.
Whew--I'm starting off in the red zone because I fully admit that I do not drink enough water. I wish I did, but I just don't. As a matter of fact, I don't drink that much in general. I usually drink milk with breakfast, tea with lunch, and a soda (yeah, I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to stop that somewhere along this process) or tea with dinner. Sometimes I'll have another glass of milk at night. But that's it. That's all I drink all day long. I just don't drink in between meals for some reason.
In order to get myself to even attempt this change, I knew I would need a couple of accessories. I bought a new water bottle and Cliff surprised me with another one. I also bought some lemon essential oil. So now, I fill one of my new water bottles every morning, add a drop of lemon, and take it in the car and in the office and leave it on the kitchen table at home. It has helped so far! I'm definitely drinking water throughout the day, which is an improvement. The book suggests drinking the amount of water in ounces that equals your weight in pounds divided by two. I'm not drinking that much yet, but hopefully I'll get there. They also suggest drinking eight ounces of water each hour and setting up a reminder system. A reminder system may work for me, but I also think that making myself drink a certain amount at a certain time will end in me giving up or ignoring the reminder. So, I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing and hopefully increasing the number of times I refill my water bottles throughout the day.
I'd say I was about 40% successful with this change so far. To be continued with week two.
Oh, and I still think the other 52 Small Changes book sounds awesome, so if you come across it let me know. And if you're participating in these changes along with me, let me know how you're doing!
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