Living like I should

I've compiled advice from many experts on how to live life.  I'm going to attempt to follow this regimen closely starting November 1, 2014 and ending April 1, 2015.

GOALS:
1. To have fun and be happy.
2. To get control of the monsters in my head.
3. To lose weight.
4. To save money.

RULES:
1. If I fuck up. I admit it here.
2. I get off Thanksgiving and Christmas family meals so I don't look weird, but I won't overdo it.
3. I get off my birthday February 20th and I will overdo it.
4. I can drink on New Year's Eve.
5. In additional to this, I am reinstating my fiscal fast challenge.  I will not spend any money on anything that is not absolutely essential.  This will mean that a few of my goals for the year will go unmet unless someone pays for me, but that's okay.  They'll just become next year's goals.


MORNING SCHEDULE

Wake up after 7-9 hours of sleep.

Say oath that centers you.

Stand tall and stretch.

10 deep breaths.

Drink a glass of water.

Do a walkthrough of schedule.

Eat breakfast.

EXERCISE

Walk as much as possible.

Lift weights twice a week for 30 minutes.

150 minutes of cardio over 2-3 times a week. HR in fat burning zone.

EATING

2 cups fruit (apples, blueberries, avocado), 3 cups vegetables (leafy greens, carrots, broccoli, red beans, spinach, sweet potato, juice), 8 ounces whole grains (wheat germ), 6 ounces protein (oily fish, almonds), 3 cups dairy (yogurt), 64 oz waters, green tea

No Pasta, Dessert, Alcohol, Fast Food, Soda, Processed Meals, Canned Soups

56 grams of protein 10%-35% of calories

EVERYTHING ELSE

Start each week with an “eat more” goal for something good for you.

Get a blood test for vitamin D and B12, iron, and folate.

Ask yourself what bothers you most.  What will fix it?  Then schedule a solution into your calendar.

Talk with people.

Brush and floss twice a day.

Inhale with diaphragm (belly) and exhale pulling belly in.

Spend time in Nature

Exercise

Spend times with friends and family

Express gratitude

Meditate

Challenge yourself

Laugh

Touch Someone

Be Optimistic

Please and Thank You

Say I Love You

Classical Music

Random act of kindness

Alone with thoughts

Learn something new

Leave gaps in schedule

Arrive early

DATA DUMP:

Dietitian: start of each week, write down an “eat more” goal: eat more fish; eat more greens.  at the start of each day, do a walkthrough of your schedule.

Sports Coach: Drink a glass of water in the morning.  Walk as much as you can and lift weights two to three times a week.

Hormone Specialist: Get a blood test for vitamin D and B12, iron, and folate.

Dietary-Fat Scientist: 500 mg omega-3 fatty acid supplement or two weekly 3.5 servings of fatty fish

Yoga Instructor:  Start morning with an oath that centers you.  Then stand tall and stretch.  Then take 10 deep breaths or better yet go for a walk outside.

Cardiologist:  Exercise five times a week for 30 minutes

Breathing Coach:  Inhale with your diaphram (belly).  Exhale pulling belly in.

Microbial Ecologist: Eat good fats (nuts and fish) and fiber and whole foods.

Holistic Internist:  Ask yourself what bothers you most.  What will fix it?  Then schedule a solution into your calendar.

Neuroscientist: Talk with people.

Personal Trainer: Cardio two or three times a week for 150 minutes total, keeping heart rate in the fat burning zone & strength training twice a week, one day upper, one day lower.

Government Dietary Recommendations: 2 cups fruit, 3 cups vegetables, 8 ounces whole grains, 6 ounces protein, 3 cups dairy, 8 8oz waters

Massage Therapist: Sleep at regular times 7-9 hours every night, do full-body strengthening exercises twice a week for half an hour, eat vegetables, especially leafy greens every day, do some kind of mindfulness practice (meditation, or meditative walks, or tai chi, etc). Feel love for others and yourself. Or at least gratitude. Leave gaps in the schedule. Arrive to appointments and meetings early.

Alton Brown

Daily: Fruits, Whole Grains, Leafy Greens, Nuts, Carrots, Green Tea

3x Weekly: Oily Fish, Yogurt, Broccoli, Sweet Potato, Avocado

1x Weekly: Red meat, Pasta, Dessert, Alcohol

0x Weekly: Fast Food, Soda, Processed Meals, Canned Soups, “Diet” anything

Always Eat Breakfast

Mayo clinic superfoods

1. Almonds
2. Apples
3. Blueberries
4. Broccoli
5. Red Beans
6. Salmon
7. Spinach
8. Sweet Potatoes
9. Vegetable Juice
10. Wheat Germ

7 Hours of Sleep

56 grams of protein 10%-35% of calories

Nature

Exercise

Spend times with friends and family

Express gratitude

Meditate

Sleep

Challenge yourself

Laugh

Touch Someone

Be Optimistic

Please and Thank You

Say I Love You

Classical Music

Random act of kindness

Alone with thoughts

Learn something new

1 cup of fruit is:

1 banana

1 small 2.5” diameter apple or .5 large 3.25” diameter apple

1 cup applesauce

32 grapes

1 pear

1” thick watermelon slice

8 strawberries

1 cup 100% fruit juice

1 cup of vegetable is:

1 cup vegetable juice

2 carrots

1 tomato

1 sweet potato

1 ounce of protein is:

1 ounce of meat

.25 cup of beans

12 almonds

1 egg

I got a bookshelf!

Hunter was climbing this bookshelf so I had to move it out of the playroom and appropriated it for myself.  So many of my possessions fit on it!  Let's count shall we?

On the left, my IKEA bed with underbed storage (that I have nothing to put into it).  On the right wall, a framed print of Rene Magritte's Son of Man.  Bottom right corner, the edge of my dirty clothes hamper.

Between the bookshelf and bed are a folding chair and tv tray (for when I have serious writing to do), a giant bag with a winter coat in it, and my day bag that has the majority of my stuff in it next to my Rainbow sandals.  Hanging off the left are my three dress shirts.  Hidden behind the chair is actually the heads of my golf clubs peeking from under the bed.

Roof shelf: Vitamins, pills, sunglasses, chopsticks in a mason jar, and a picture of my son.
Top shelf: Top hat (with belt wound underneath), water weights, and Gamma World roleplaying game
Top middle shelf: Jeans x 2, pants, chromebook, chessboard, shoulder brace
Bottom middle shelf:  Briefcase (with medicine and documents), tank tops x 3, shorts x 2
Bottom shelf: Bowling shoes, soccer ball, and bag containing X-mas outfit and menorah

Besides that I own a Halloween costume (Son of Man) and a Roku and a WD Live on my wife's tv in the bedroom. Oh and a tux and a suit.

I also own the house and my business, my wedding ring, my awards, two more posters in the playroom, a chair and a table, a box of keepsakes, my tools, my motorcycle (with helmet and jacket), a bonsai tree, baby wipes, a toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, floss, shampoo, a toilet brush, a plunger, tea, tea biscuits, chicken, cereal, ramen, 2 sporks, a knife, 2 mugs, a water bottle, two plates, and a saute pan.  I have a gym bag with a change of clothes and some gym stuff too.

But this is the most of my stuff I've been able to get in a single picture.  Maybe one day I can get everything in one picture.

McDonald's Floor Planning

At my local McDonald's there's three areas you can sit in.  The playplace, right in front of the counter, or the back half.  The back half always have weird people who have set up their desktop (not laptop!) computer at a table to get the free wifi.  So normal people have two options.  Either eat staring at the employees and listening to idiots try to figure what they want to order (it is MCDONALD'S! it's been the same menu you're whole life!!) or eat with the kids in the playplace.

You wouldn't believe the number of child-free people (solo, couples, and groups) who wander into the playplace trying to find a table.  Rarely do they take a table away from a child-laden family; I'll give them credit.  Sometimes if they're done eating and just nursing a soda and checking their phone, they'll hurry to clean up and offer their spot.  What usually happens though (at least when I'm here with King Terror who is making dinosaur noises right now) is that they wander in looking for a table, assess that this would be an unpleasant place to eat, and resign themselves to whatever corner of the front area is most hidden from sight.

It's a little funny and a little sad and a good lesson in floor plans.  If you encourage an undesirable element to stay for a long time in one section with your amenities, you reduce your available seating for the general population.

I wanted to find the store number of this McDonald's but it isn't listed to exist on the website.... Ghost McD's!

Like... ZOINKS!

100 ways to simplify your life and make yourself happier

http://www.missminimalist.com/2010/08/100-ways-to-simplify-your-life-and-make-yourself-happier/

I like lists and Miss Minimalist has one of 100 ways to simplify your life and make yourself happier.  I do most of these.  Here's what I don't do.

2. Cancel magazine subscriptions. They were free one year subscriptions and I'm not renewing them.
3. Read news online, instead of on paper. I just don't read the news anymore.
4. Get rid of excessive furniture.  6. Get rid of excessive décor. I get rid of what I can, but Kiri doesn't like an empty house.  I haven't sold her on giant white spaces.

10. Have a place for everything. This is hard since most of the stuff isn't mine, but I've been thinking that if I do a good job, maybe Kiri won't mind me organizing a little.
14. Buy enough socks and underwear Problem solved!  I don't wear socks and underwear!
18. Adopt the “one in, one out” rule. 20. Get rid of one item every day.  I don't think this is necessary when you own less than 100 things.

21. Hang up clothes, or put them in a hamper, as soon as you take them off. Negative.  There are varying degrees of laundry, not just clean or dirty.

27. Don’t buy “fantasy” clothes. I have a heavy English pea coat in Florida and a top hat.  I wear each two days a year, but I feel fabulous when I do!

36. Love those leftovers. 37. Cook a week’s worth of meals at a time. 38. Plan your meals in advance. Bullshit.  Know what happens when you do this?  WASTE!  You get sick of leftovers and your planned meals call for ingredients you don't usually use so the leftovers go to waste.
41. Pare down your dishes, cups, and utensils to what you regularly use. Haven't sold Kiri on this, but really we do entertain a lot.
42. Purge unnecessary gadgets and seldom-used equipment. 44. Keep your countertops clutter-free.  Big Kiri love here.  She loves these things.

45. Develop a set of standard dishes (like a pasta, chicken, or tofu dish), and vary the sauces. Good idea actually...

54. Stay out of debt. Easier said than done.  I had to replace the A/C.
55. Purchase bundled services. Unnecessary and expensive.
61. Quit Facebook (or don’t join). 64. Check and answer email during defined periods. 65. Take digital sabbaticals. I have 30 friends on FB.  I get zero junk email.  When my phone dings, it's something I want to hear badly because I'm watching the same episode of Doc McStuffins for the tenth time with my son.  The internet is life.

80. Make it a goal to do less, not more. Uh... no.  I'm bored.

95. Enjoy without owning. I actually have a trick for this.  Take a picture of the thing and you'll feel good, like you own it.  And if you still want it when you get home, you have the picture to price compare.

96. Downsize your digs. Kiri's not big on the idea of a trailer.
97. Go car-free. I don't know.  Maybe?  At least partly?  When Hunter is a little more well behaved?

Three months of being good.

Going to expand my three month fiscal fast to other parts of my life.  For January, February, and March, I will follow a set of restrictive rules.  At the end, I hope to be healthier, wealthier, and more transcendent of my temporal, geographical, and socio-political conditions. 

General Rules

1. If, at any time, I go against my rules, I will confess to it.

2.  I get February 20th off for my birthday, which is nice cause it's smack in the middle.


Fiscal Fast

1. No new stuff.

2. No fast food or eating out (exception: not going to hold back group).

3. Medical costs, travel costs, and repair costs are okay.

4. Food will consist of whatever's already in the house.

5. This is just my stupid project so I'm not restricted from buying for my family.


Very Low Calorie Diet

1. 800 calorie limit per day

2. Only lean meats, eggs, milk, water, whey protein, veggies, and fruits

3. Occasional water fasting

4. Exercise every day either treadmill, weights, water aerobics, aerobics, or sports

5. Adderall, vitamins, and fish oil every day


Improvement Period

1. Draw one picture every day

2. Shower, brush, floss, mouthwash, shaving every day

3. Blog every day