Wow, where has the month of January gone?  It seems to me like time has flown by, and a lot has already happened in 2018.  I thought this last weekend in the month was a good opportunity to do a quick check in on my 18 in 2018 list that I shared back at the beginning of the month, 18 in 2018!.  It’s a pretty ambitious list and honestly I hadn’t looked at it since I published my blog, but rest assured things are happening. While I am going to spare you a run down of the entire list (you can read my original post at the link above,) I thought I’d do an update on the things that are in progress. So here we go:

Return to Lifetime Membership Status with Weight Watchers – This one is definitely a work in progress. I joined Weight Watchers Online back in December.  Honestly I’ve not been very focused and the week right after I finished the Dopey Challenge there just wasn’t enough food available, my appetite was insatiable and I wasn’t doing any activity so I am grateful I’ve pretty much held my weight stable.  And then there was my birthday with lots of cake and celebrations, but now I am focused in and feel good about how I am working the program.  I am focusing on reducing my cortisol levels by slower heart rate based runs, getting more sleep, increasing weight training and making certain I spend about 5 minutes each day meditating.  I have an interim goal through February and I am going to reach it.  I really like the new Freestyle programming and have found a lot of support through the online community.

Meditate More – So not a very good goal as I didn’t define a measurement.  Right now I am doing 5 minutes each morning using the Mindfulness App.  I am going to challenge myself to work up to 10 minutes by the end of February.

Reduce Stuff – The big news is that I am moving to a smaller apartment in March.  I have put a deposit down on  700 sq ft apartment in the same complex where I currently live.  Right now my apartment is 886 sq ft and the floor plan is very different.  I am also mixing it up by moving from the top floor to the first floor.  I am starting to tire of carting everything up 3 flights of stairs and I worry that my aging Corgi might be having some trouble with the stairs.  So now the purging begins, I don’t intend to move anything that I am not going to use.  Yikes!!!

Read the Bible – This one I am really excited about.  I am planning a specific blog post about this topic, and while I got off track during my trip to Florida for the Dopey Challenge; I’ve found a plan and feel like this is becoming a habit.  For anyone interested I am using the Bible In One Year 2018 plan from the YouVersion Bible App.  It is not a linear plan; most days you ready a Psalm or Proverb and then a New Testament selection(currently Matthew) and then the Old Testament (currently Genesis).  There is a devotional for the day that provides a connection to the themes found in the passages. I am also using the Common English Bible for this project, but again I’ll share more about this in a separate blog post.

So overall not a bad start to the year, but I have a lot more work to do and some challenging items on my 18 in 2018 list.   Reviewing my list and writing an update post has served as a reminder that I need to start focusing in on some other items on my list.  I have a feeling that 2018 is going to fly by and I can’t wait to experience some new adventures!