Day 123: One thing a day

I'm trying something different. I've decided to do a minimum of ONE thing a day, related to improving my health, of which I can feel proud. It has to involve making an intentional effort or conscious choice of some sort, rather than at the end of the day suddenly realizing I "accidentally" did something healthy. The idea is that I realize I need to retrain both my thoughts and my habits, and I have to start with intentional, conscious effort.

Today, I needed to go to the electric company to deal with something. The nearest office is either 1 or 2 bus rides away and could take up to 20 minutes, depending upon which route I take and how much traffic there is. I also needed to do some food shopping. There is a good supermarket next door to the electric company offices. So, instead of taking the bus, I decided to walk to the EDF office, and I took my grocery cart so that I could do the food shopping afterwards. Depending on how I felt at that point, and on the weather (it was threatening to rain), I thought I might even walk home but gave myself the option of taking the bus back.

I timed myself on my walk. I took my time, and even stopped and looked in a few shop windows here and there. I actually wasn't feeling 100% this morning but I did it anyway, and THAT was a victory. When I got to the EDF office, I took a look at my timer, which said 58 minutes!

After I got the EDF situation taken care of, I did the food shopping. As I got to the checkout I realized it was pouring rain and I had not brought an umbrella. So, I would take the bus. But to get in a little extra activity, I took the direct bus which was a 10-minute walk away, instead of the first of the 2 buses where the first stop was right outside the supermarket. With my packed grocery cart, I knew I'd burn a few extra calories, and I still had an additional 3 minutes of walking PLUS hauling the cart up the stairs when I got home.

I figure all totalled, I had about 90 minutes straight on my feet, including walking around the supermarket. That's more than I get in an average "normal" day, and I did it intentionally! I also, when doing the food shopping, did NOT buy any of my usual "trouble" foods. We do keep some cookies and snacks in the house for my step-son and husband, but since I do the shopping, I chose things that I don't actually crave at all so I'm unlikely to eat what we DO have.

I also faced the music and got on the scale this morning: 224.5 which means UP again. But it is what it is and I'm not dwelling on it.

I'm keeping a little chart here where I will check off each day I keep my commitment to doing one intentionally healthy thing a day. If I do more, even better, but for now I'm focusing on the one-a-day approach as a starting point. And allowing myself to feel proud of whatever that effort entails.