New Week's Resolution - Week 28 (May 5 - 11)

nossmf
nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member
edited May 5 in Challenges

Welcome to the first week of the rest of your life! Now seems like a perfect time to select a New Week's Resolution.

What is a New Week's Resolution? It's exactly the same as a New Year's Resolution, with two important distinctions: it only lasts for one week, and you can start one any time you want, rather than just once per year.

So what's wrong with New Year's Resolutions? According to some quick Google research, just one thing: they DON'T WORK!

  • 23% of people quit within the first week
  • 43% quit by the end of January
  • 80% quit by mid-February
  • 92% fail to make it a full year

Why such high rates of failure? Probably because most resolutions fail to follow these simple steps from the SMART method:

  • Specific - "exercise more" is vague; "hit the gym twice this week" is specific
  • Measurable - did I go twice? Yes or no?
  • Achievable - "drink a gallon of water per day" may not be realistic; drink 8oz is
  • Relevant - if it doesn't matter to YOU, why bother?
  • Time-bound - keep your goal for this week something quick you can reach THIS week

With these thoughts in mind, what is ONE thing you want to do this week? Some examples may include:

  • Hit the gym two times this week
  • Cook a meal from scratch three times this week
  • Go to bed no later than 10pm every night
  • Limit myself to one alcoholic beverage this week
  • Finish two pages of my family photo album

...and so on. While this is very similar in nature to the famous "Just Give Me 10 Days" series, that challenge focuses primarily on weight loss and diet control, whereas this challenge is of a broader nature, including interpersonal relationships, home improvements, health and fitness and more. Just pick something specific you wish to focus upon, set a number goal you can reach (or not), and make status updates to document your progress. This will be a judgment-free zone: if you do not reach your goal, take the time to figure out why not (too big a goal, life happened, etc), and forgive yourself, because you can always try again next week.

Replies

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Getting setup for this week. My plan is to continue what I started in previous weeks, and add one more focus item every week as I go. Eventually older items will drop off the list, not because I no longer want to do them, but because they will have become so ingrained a part of my daily routine that I no longer need to record them to make sure they get done.

    Past focus items successfully transitioned to un-monitored habit:

    Floss every night before bed
    Clean litter box every night before bed
    Kiss wife within one (1) minute of arriving home from work, gym, store, church, etc
    Wearing my glasses every day, all day
    Park in furthest spot available
    Read 10 minutes daily
    Wash dinner dishes the same night they're used
    Get at least six hours of sleep every night
    Check parakeet water daily
    Record receipts same day spent
    Wash hands before preparing ALL meals
    Spray down counter/oven after every meal
    Fold laundry same day it gets washed
    Shave daily
    Stretching 10+ Minutes Daily

    Tasks completed thanks to this weekly challenge:

    Complete digital cookbook
    Clean outdoor grill

    Ongoing focus items:

    Flossing daily

    New focus item:

    Missed two days flossing last week, not good enough. Another week as my focus should help.

  • clementine003
    clementine003 Posts: 11 Member

    Hi, just posting my goals for this week. I couldn't reach some of my other goals every day, so I made more adjustments.

    Goals for this week:

    • Run ~1 mile 4x a week

    • Lift weights 2x a week

    • Study in 40 minute intervals

    • Take multivitamins every day

    •Stick to higher protein/fat, lower carb diet (this is for health reasons)

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Hello, @clementine003 ! Question on your "higher protein/fat, lower carb" goal: do you have actual numbers you aim to reach (minimum of x grams of protein, for example)? Something you can measure against and say with certainty "I did" or "I did not" make goal for the day?

  • clementine003
    clementine003 Posts: 11 Member
    edited May 6

    Hi @nossmf, I am aiming for <100g of carbs per day. Unfortunately I have surpassed that today, but I still reached my some of my other goals.

    Run 1 mile ✅️

    Take multivitamins ✅️

    Eat <100g carbs ❌️

    Study in 40 minute intervals ❌️ (intervals varied in length)

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Monday

    Floss…check!

  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 3,188 Member

    Getting a late start, but my goal this week is to stay hydrated and drink more water than coffee/tea!:)

  • clementine003
    clementine003 Posts: 11 Member

    Hi @Nessabenitez and @AdahPotatah2024, good luck with your goals!

  • clementine003
    clementine003 Posts: 11 Member

    Tuesday update:

    Run/lift weights ❌️

    Take multivitamins ✅️

    Eat <100g carbs ❌️

    Study in 40 minute intervals ✅️

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Tuesday

    Floss…check!

  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 3,188 Member

    ✔️ for yesterday!

  • clementine003
    clementine003 Posts: 11 Member

    Wednesday:

    No run but I walked over 10,000 steps yesterday!

    Took multivitamins ✅️

    Studied in 40-50 min intervals ✅️

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Wednesday

    Floss…check!

  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 3,188 Member

    ✔️ for Thursday

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Thursday

    Floss…nope…totally lost track of time before bed

  • rbelfiore0262
    rbelfiore0262 Posts: 62 Member

    I'm really late to the party! My goals for this week are/were

    Do not smoke - log into quit website and pledge each morning

    Get back to actively participating in MFP

    Low Carb, High Protein diet and try to keep sodium down (I'm a saltaholic)

    Log all food/drink daily

    Exercise 30 mins each day

    Meditate as needed for anxiety stress - we have website at work with 2:30 and 5 min meditations

    Keep up with set tasks for household.

  • clementine003
    clementine003 Posts: 11 Member

    Hi @rbelfiore0262, welcome!

    Thursday update:

    Studied in intervals ✔️

    Took multivitamins ✔️

    Didn't run, but did brisk walking (8k steps)

  • AdahPotatah2024
    AdahPotatah2024 Posts: 3,188 Member

    Fail yesterday ❌️

    I'll try again next week..I had to drink just water, less sugary coffee and alcohol, for a few weeks after having my wisdom tooth pulled and it really made a big difference in my energy levels!

  • rbelfiore0262
    rbelfiore0262 Posts: 62 Member

    Log for Friday

    No smoking👍️

    Log all food 👍️

    High Protein - Low Carb 👍️ although having trouble with all the protein

    Exercise 30 minutes 👎️

    Meditate as needed 👍️

    Keep up with set tasks for household.👎️

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Welcome, @rbelfiore0262 to both MFP and to this little corner of it! That's a lot of goals to tackle all at once. Easier to introduce at most 2-3 new priorities at a time, and make sure each has an easily trackable number associated so you can tell if you are successful. "High protein" is not enough; 100g per day is a number you see did you reach, yes or no. (Number chosen as an example.)

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Friday

    Floss…check!

  • rbelfiore0262
    rbelfiore0262 Posts: 62 Member

    @nossmf I'm tracking through macros MFP Targets Protein = 122 Carb = 81 Fibre = 21 and Sodium < 2300. Am I doing something wrong?? I don't know how/where those targets came from (may have been me?😐️)

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Those macros could be just fine, but I don't know your weight and eating goals (lose weight, gain muscle, etc). MFP sets up initial default numbers for you based on the stats you give when signing up (age, weight, desired change, etc). Those defaults are based upon statistical averages of millions of people, so are a decent place to start. But they are only suggestions; if you have a reason to change one or more of the numbers, you can.

  • rbelfiore0262
    rbelfiore0262 Posts: 62 Member
    edited May 11

    Log for Saturday

    No smoking👍️

    Log all food 👍️

    High Protein - Low Carb 👍️

    Exercise 30 minutes 👎️ Did a couple of MFP routines and 30 day fitness challenge but not 30

    Meditate as needed 👍️

    Keep up with set tasks for household.👎️ Although I did get through a lot yesterday. I'm hoping to catch up today.

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Saturday

    Floss…nope…note to self, brush/floss BEFORE reading in bed before bedtime, because when I get too tired to focus on the page I do not want to get up and head to the sink

  • rbelfiore0262
    rbelfiore0262 Posts: 62 Member

    Sunday

    I went over all my macros today because of Mother's Day but I'm OK with that.

    No smoking👍️

    Log all food 👍️

    High Protein - Low Carb 👎️

    Exercise 30 minutes 👎️ Did a couple of MFP routines and 30 day fitness challenge but not 30

    Meditate as needed 👍️

    Keep up with set tasks for household.👎️

    See you guys next week!!!

  • rbelfiore0262
    rbelfiore0262 Posts: 62 Member

    @nossmf I realized my macros were changing with exercise so I went to settings and turned off that bit so the macros stay consistent regardless of exercise/walking. They are 70 carbs, 70 fat, 110 protein and 26 fiber.

  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 14,025 Member

    Sunday

    Floss…check!

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