Updates on Lifestyle Goals, One Little Word and New Year Resolutions

New Year Resolutions. I don’t usually make the traditional resolutions but usually set myself goals in terms of projects I want to complete, places I want to visit etc. However, this year will be a combination of the two types. I still have to sort out my list of places I want to visit but have decided on a few other things:

• Choose own books, or to be more accurate, choose at least 30% of the books I read this year. Looking back at my reading list for 2018 there is very little that was my own choice, the list consisting mainly of book group choices or the books passed to me by my sister. Now I know I'm lucky to have such a massive quantity of books passed to me for free and up to a point we like the same things but ... I've seen reviews for books that I'd love to read but which I know my sister will have no interest in, so this is something I plan to remedy. I'm aiming to read 80 books in 2019.

• Reduce my use of single use plastic. Pretty self explanatory and hopefully reasonably easy to achieve.

• My big project for the year is to finish off the work on the house, complete the decluttering and get the garden up together. I'll be recording this through a daily photograph in the hope it keeps me focused and accountable!

• The new skill for 2019 is calligraphy. 

One Little Word. I've decided to keep the same 'one little word' for the time being, so I'm starting 2019 with my focus on 'fulfil'. It proved to be the right word for me for 2018 and I think it's still applicable to what I still want to achieve. I wrote about it here back at the start of 2018 and reading through that post I can see that I still haven't fully achieved all that I wanted to.

Update of Lifestyle Goals. 

Music and Photography. I don't plan to continue with monthly updates on these because I feel that I'm in a good position with both. With the music, I am playing regularly, have my name on a waiting list for a daytime SATB choir, and have my involvement with the youth band. With the photography I'll be doing a daily photo, have the WPSH and a monthly scavenger hunt and am considering organising some photo walks again.

Health and Fitness. I started using the My Fitness Pal app to record calories and was shocked to discover that I'm not consuming enough protein on a daily basis ... sometimes as low as 6% but never achieving anywhere near the 20%- 25% daily amount recommended by the hospital. I didn't have this problem last time I tried to lose weight and was eating a sensibly healthy diet so I'm not sure where I've gone wrong. It's obviously a priority to turn this around so for January at least, that will be my main focus. I've been busy googling recipes and have already made some portion controlled high protein meals for the freezer. I've followed Joy's example and have cooked and frozen a variety of pulses that can easily be added to soups and other recipes to bulk them out and add protein at the same time, but any suggestions on how I can increase the amount of protein in my diet will be appreciated. I can't have dairy which is one of the issues and although I occasionally risk having some cheese, it's not much and not often. I'm also trying to reduce the amount of meat I eat as this will help improve the painful symptoms of diverticulitis - I'm pain free if I eat very little meat and drink plenty of water.

I'll be adding my own solo 30 minute walks back into my day and have decided to count the walking for health groups, if I ever get to join them, as an extra activity.

Socialising. In one way this aspect of life is progressing well, but I'm still left with the need to arrange some form of daytime socialising. I've tried a couple of the local U3A groups but they haven't really suited me, so I've applied to join the Bath U3A who seem to have a lot more going on. I've highlighted a couple of groups that I'd like to try out and will contact the organisers next week to see if I can join them. I've already put my name down for the SATB choir but have been placed on a waiting list as they have an abundance of sopranos and I have no idea how long I'll be waiting to join. 

Time Management/Organising. I need to establish a daily routine now that I'm retired. It is so easy to just let things drift and to keep putting things off, and I know that I have the sort of personality that will benefit from having an element of structure in my day. What that structure will be I have no idea yet but I hope to come up with the bare bones of it during January and it will include:

• Awareness of screen time. I've decided to replace the broken iPad with a small Windows tablet as this will not only allow me to have a kindle app rather than buying a kindle reader, but will also enable me to update band info at the practice sessions rather than when I get home (so ‘do it once’). I am very aware that I need to ensure that I don’t get back into the habit of browsing when I’m watching TV/reading.

• Organising personal life. I need to review my budget, set reminders for birthdays etc,  review contacts list/Facebook friends and just generally get myself organised!

• Housework. I want to stay on top of the house work so that the house is always tidy enough for visitors. This may mean getting a cleaner if I can make the budget work!

• Music practice and exercising. Make sure that I make time for my 30 minutes of walking and at least one music session every day.

My five tasks for December were:

1. Bulk cooking to finish filling the freezer - DONE
2. Advertise at least five items for sale - DONE
3. Review band finances and order new music - STARTED
4. Complete tax return - STARTED
5. Finish removing files from the old computers - DONE (but they all need to be organised properly on the new laptop!)

My five tasks for January are:

1. Review budgets, personal and band,  and submit my tax return.
2. Advertise at least 10 more items for sale
3. Plan meals for 4 weeks
4. A trip to IKEA Bristol to buy shelving & picture frames for living room
5. Make a list of places to visit in 2019, booking tickets and accommodation as necessary