Having a Plan & Sticking To It

Monday, January 4, 2010

Happy New Year lovely readers!

I hope the first few days have been good to you. Have you set some juicy goals? What steps have you taken to work towards your goals so far? I’ve been anticipating these first week of January for quite some time now as I’m starting school on Wednesday! I can’t believe that it’s actually happening. I will be doing a post on Wednesday about my scholarly preparations. It would be easy if I were just starting school, but instead I’m also:

  • Training my replacement at my office job during a very busy time in the office (my last day is January 15-yay!)
  • Beginning rehearsals for my new show. Read through is on Tuesday, followed by rehearsals on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday
  • Leading 6 Weight Watchers meetings

Ahhhhhhhhhh!

I’ve been a bit of a stress case to say the least. It’s been challenging to wrap my brain around it and to ensure that I don’t fall apart I’ve reunited with an old friend: my Time.Mine plannerSANY2935 I bought one last year on one of my excursions to Buffalo and absolutely fell in love. I used it daily to keep track of my life. I listed appointments, meetings, budget info, rehearsals, dinner dates, blog ideas and whatever else I needed. I loved all the space for me to write, the full sized monthly calendars and the fact that it was normal paper and not glossy so that I could use pretty pens. When the new year was approaching, I tried to find a new TimeMine, but realized that they weren’t available in Canada. I searched other stores looking for a comparable day timer and was unable to find one that could compare to my previous love and I was not about to settle!  After tweeting to the TimeMine folks about my inability to find one in Canada, they offered to send one to me – score!! I was thrilled when I got it in the mail. SANY2933I’ve already defaced my planner with details of school, rehearsals, WW meetings and work info. SANY2934 It’s such a great way for me to keep track of my life and I would definitely be lost without it! I’ve tried using online day timers, but I really like having a hard copy and find that I used it more.

Knowing that things were going to be really busy this week, I made a comprehensive meal plan, and dragged Joey out in yesterday’s snow to do a big grocery shop. Meal Plan Pic I’ve just taken to doing my grocery list and meal plans in excel now that we have a home printer (to print schoolwork – yaaaaaaay!) I made a master list (similar to the ones Meghan gave us in her cooking classes) and then a new file for the week. Here is the menu for this week:

Clean Eating Minestrone soup w/ quinoaSANY2931Baked falafels w/ kugel and asparagus
Squash chickpea lentil stew
Warm rice & lentil salad
Marinated tofu salad
Curried chickpeas, cauliflower & spinachSANY2784Going with some old favourites, simple salads and a slow cooker recipe. Many of these recipes will make lots of leftovers giving me things to stock up my freezer with as well as pack for lunches. I made the minestrone soup for supper last night and it was amazing. I used zucchini and omitted and fennel. It’s one of those soups that gets better with every bite and I really liked the white beans and the quinoa. Tonight I’m going to be making some muffins and pick up a few snacky things at a different bulk store, and then I feel like I’ll be set for the week. It’s such a relief for me when my food is taken care of!

My last couple strategies include getting enough sleep and taking some time for myself. I’ve been getting into the habit of getting up early in the morning to do my morning pages, and so far I’m 4 days in and it’s a lovely way to start my day. Amid everything I am committing to working out twice this week. I already had one awesome workout yesterday with Kate. We went to BodyFlow and Zumba together and it was awesome! I can absolutely make it to the gym one more time this week, so it will feel great to accomplish that goal.

I’ve been waiting patiently for school and my show to begin and with a plan and some great tools in my pocket – I feel ready. EEEEEEEEEEEEI’m a teensy, tiny bit excited… can you tell?

What does your plan for the first full week of January look like? Am I the only person who is totally crazy about what type of planner they have?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Ashley!

I recently stumbled across your blog and have really enjoyed reading it. I love your enthusiasm and positive outlook on food, health and life!

Funny enough, I did the exact same thing and planned out my meals for the week (in excel!) and scheduled in some workouts into my busy routine. We must be the same kind of personality - organization junkie! ;)

Have a great first week at school!

Darryn

GF Gidget said...

I may not be crazy about my planner, but I am crazy about your meals! AH-MAZING!

Allie said...

I am super jealous of your gorgeous planner! I've been looking for one that has enough space to write and a calendar like view instead of a day by day view.

I got a calendar for my room not to long ago that I put everything into and I've also tried using Google Calendar.

You'll have to pencil me in soon for that dancing date. If you know of any good places let me know.

:)

p.s. your meals for the week sound delicious. I got a slow cooker for Christmas and need to get on using it asap.

Pure2Raw twins said...

Our goal for the new year is stay better organized!!

We have tons of excel spreadsheets...Lori loves excel ; )

Linz said...

EEEEEEEEEE!!!
I am so excited for you -- new school = such fun!!!!!

You are going to have a GREAT time, and I am so proud of you already.

:D

Unknown said...

School rocks and you will love it. Great meal planner and grocery list. Did you get the minestrone recipe from the Clean eating Mag? Its amazing. We're making the pesto and roasted tomato pasta for dinner tonight. Yum:)

Karen Beth said...

Hello,

I just came across your blog and am so glad to have found it. I've decided to try WW this year but am not going to actually join. Rather, I'm going to try to find information and count points on my own. I hope it will work.

Right now I'm stumped on a very basic thing... What can I eat!?!? I'm sitting here at my desk not sure what I can eat so I'm not eating anything. Not good, I know.

Are you doing The Artist's Way? I lead a group through it some years ago.

Cheers,

Karen Beth
msred5@yahoo.com

Florida Food Snob said...

I always make a workout plan for the week but I never comply with it completely. I usually substitute workouts here and there but this week that is not happening! I am going to follow that schedule, even if pigs fly! I put so much effort into it, why not? I love how ORGANIZED you are, I am totally “that girl” who has her shopping list in excel. <3

Meghan (Making Love In The Kitchen) said...

I am pretty sure I offered up that whole foods shopping list at some point on my blog- if anyone can find the post in amongst the 400 or so, a prize will be won. Yay for school! Love that you and J are going back together.

Crabby McSlacker said...

Oh my goodness you're so organized! And I love the meals you're planning--healthy, and they sound so delicious too.

Anonymous said...

Hi I linked your blog from Tasha from Girlstuckinarut. I'm so glad that I found it! I love your positive attitude, especially your knack for planners. I too, am addicted. In fact I spent $50 on one. It wasn't the greatest, but it fit me at the time. Now, I'm looking for something new. Thanks for the link to dotmine. :-)

Ceres said...

Hello! I'm spending my first week of the new year being diagnosed for Crohn's, though looking back I realize I've probably had it for years. Your blog is a great find--being positive, and seeing other people making it work, makes such a huge difference!

Anonymous said...

I love your positive outlook on life. I love how neat you write in your planner. Very pretty! How do you decide what to write in the monthly vs. weekly sections? It's inspirational how organized you are. I will continue to view your blog. I've lost 25lbs on WW, but would like to learn more about healthy eating. Thanks for your site!! p.s. I'm going back to school in 2010 too, so I relate to your excitement. cc

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