The seven weeks of my 7 Week Plan have come and gone. I didn’t
do everything that I set out to do, however, I don’t feel like any of it has
been a failure. Here’s why:
To Do Every Week
1. Stick to my Isagenix program
I did pretty well at this for the first month, then I
started to fall off the bandwagon. Wanting to eat actual food got in the way. Being
really busy at work fueled off-program decisions. An abundance of pre-holiday
and Goodbye celebrations rounded out my social calendar and my waistline. I
have no regrets though. I’ve started to change my thinking and find myself
making better choices more often than before. In terms of long term change, I’m
happy with baby steps. I’m also pretty proud of myself for sticking it out
through a total of four cleanse days. I have enough stuff left to do the
program for probably about two more weeks when I get back from holiday, which I’ll
use to try to get back into the healthier mindset to start off the New Year
right.
2. Exercise 2 hours per week
I did pretty well at this, achieving three or more hours
each week (except for Week 7, cause that just wasn’t going to happen), mostly
with thanks to my exercise buddy Penny. Penny has returned to Australia now,
having finished up her time in the Sols, and though she will be missed in so many
ways (not least of which are her baking, sour dough bread making abilities and
general awesomeness) and is irreplaceable, I’ve already started to pull
together a few friends interested in being exercise buddies in the hopes that
we can work out some kind of schedule in January. In related news, exercising
is hard but it also started to feel good (even when I was sore, it was the
good-sore way).
3. Connect with at least one friend that I
haven’t been in contact for awhile
This was fun and the list of people I want to write to
outnumbers (by far) the 7 weeks that I had to achieve it. There is literally a
list, and I intend to keep making my way through it. Just making the list was immensely
gratifying – there’s something really fulfilling about being able to name so
many awesome people that I’m connected to even though I don’t get to keep in
touch with them as much as I’d like, and to know that I’m doing something about
it. Also planned for the future: getting better at responding to the messages I
DO get.
(Sharm, I swear, I’m
going to respond soon – you’ve been up to some seriously interesting stuff!)
4. Extend an invitation to do something with
someone
5. Do at least one fun thing on the weekend
I’m putting these two together because I never got
particularly creative with my invitations or weekend plans, but the whole point
of including both of these was to recognize that although I’m a homebody and am
perfectly content (and somewhat inclined) to stay home, there’s a difference
between being content and being happy. I may find contentment napping all
weekend and watching tv, but I get much more active enjoyment out of hanging
out with friends, catching up and having a few activities or events on
throughout the week. That said, most of my invitations to do things were to go
to dinner, often on the weekend, so in terms of the Plan I killed two birds
with one stone on numerous occasions. The end result was the same: a lot less
time in my room, and the good people of Honiara now know that I am, indeed, still
in the country.
6. Update this blog
Well, I was here more than I had been in the weeks and
months before The Plan, so let’s call that a success too. Thanks to everyone
who has been following along and being part of my cheering squad. You rock. As
a thank you, I promise at least one post about online dating fails early in the
new year.
To Do Before the End of the 7 Weeks
7.
Host a dinner party
8.
Find a hobby or start a project
9.
Learn Twitter
10.
Learn how to do something new
11.
Make a new friend
12.
Figure out what the heck I’m going to do for
Christmas
My tortilla making dinner party was a success and I think I’ve
managed to make our Google Gourmet Goddess thing ‘stick’ – we’ve got the third
one planned, though the theme is yet to be decided (I’ve been arguing for menu
with tofu as the main ingredient, though I think I’m going to be outnumbered by
a the majority, who want to learn how to make bagels and different types of
cheese – I’ll be on deck to lead the ricotta making.)
I’ve figured out Twitter but certainly haven’t integrated it
into my usual social media consumption. I don’t know why it doesn’t do it for
me, but I’m going to keep trying.
The app is still in the planning stages and Paul is trying
to get some information about privacy to make sure that we have all the
information we need to make sure that we don’t get into trouble, while I’ve been
busy sketching things out. I should be buying a URL soon, which will make it
feel like it actually might happen. It continues to be a fun project to have on
the go.
I can’t say that there’s any new people that I became friends
with during the 7 weeks, but there are definitely a few people that I transitioned
from being ‘friendly’ with to actual friends, and that’s pretty awesome. Some I’ve
even got as facebook friends now, so that makes things officially legit.
Last but not least, as I’m writing this much past the actual
end of the 7 Week Plan, I can now tell you that my Christmas plans ended up
being an excellent blend of Brisbane, Bon Jovi (with a first kiss captured on the jumbotron and therefore witnessed by 40,000 people), getting blown away in windy Wellington, a coach tour of the
North Island, geeking out on Lord of the Rings and getting to play around with
some online dating (more on some of that to come).
Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year,
and thanks for following along!
Xo
H
Everybody needs somebody to love
Everybody needs somebody to hate
Everybody's bitching
'cause they can't get enough
And it's hard to hold on
When there's no one to lean on
Faith: you know you're gonna live thru the rain
Lord you got to keep the faith
Faith: don't let your love turn to hate
Right now we got to
Keep the faith
-- Keep the Faith, Bon Jovi
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