The Monthly Practice Report – May 2012

 

 

Welcome to The Monthly Practice Report, where I detail my practice of healthy living: the commitments, goals, and other metrics!

 

 

Why I’m doing this:

• To be completely transparent – if there’s something you want to know about my health, chances are it’s down below. (if not, leave a comment or send me an !)
• To share the actual numbers with you in hopes that it makes this lifestyle (or any part of it) seem a little more attainable
• To publicly track my progress among several categories
• To provide cool resources that I find helpful
• To put my money where my mouth is and practice what I preach! :)

You’ll see information below on how I’m doing with my practices and anything else (hopefully) relevant!

I’ll also share some lessons learned and plans/goals for the future.

 

Please let me know what you think!

If anything is unclear, if you’d like more information on a certain topic, or if there’s something I’ve left out, I’m open to hearing all feedback and questions. Just leave a comment below.

Thanks – and I hope you enjoy this month’s report! :-)

 

Where was I in May?

• New Orleans, 5/1-5/8
• Amtrak (across Louisiana & Texas): 5/9
• Ciudad Juarez, Mexico: 5/10-5/11
• El Paso, TX: 5/12
• Santa Fe, NM: 5/13-5/18
• Denver, CO: 5/19-5/22
• Vancouver, WA: 5/23-5/27
• Seattle, WA: 5/28-5/31

Whew – what a busy month!

 

Onto the Numbers!

FYI: some of the links below are affiliate links that will earn me a commission if you purchase through them. If you do, I absolutely appreciate it; if you’d rather not, that’s cool, too. If you have any questions about any of the products or services, please let me know!

 

MEDITATION

• Ideal/Goal: to meditate for at least 15 minutes in the morning, before other activities
• Total: 742 consecutive days!
  • Continued the daily practice for another month
• How long did I meditate each day?
  • 15 minutes: 2 days
  • 30 minutes: 29 days
  • Most often amount: 30 minutes (94% of the time)!
    • Last month: 30 minutes (27 vs. 3)
• Continue to use my Blissitations tracks
  • They’re really helpful for concentration, and one of the best parts is that I never have to think about how long it is – I just keep going until the track is over.

 

NUTRITION

• Ideal/Goal: since December 2010, I have been following the Paleo diet, which is lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. No legumes, grains, starches, processed foods, or sugars. Dairy is OK (raw/unpasteurized is best), though I tend to avoid it.
• When a guest in someone’s home, I defer to gratitude and do not refuse meals; that does not, however, give me free reign to eat whatever I want – everything in moderation.
• There are also “non-paleo” foods I still enjoy, mostly pizza, bread, and other baked goods. I occasionally allow myself these items – I’d rather be flexible and have a good time, than rigid and mopey. :-)

• Animal Products (red meat, chicken, pork, fish, eggs, and dairy)
  • Ideal/Goal: 20% OF THE TIME (or less)
    • For the month: 11%
    • Last month: 16%
  • Breakfast: 3%
  • Lunch: 10%
  • Dinner: 30%
  • Snacks: 4%
• Not Paleo (the “no” list above)
  • Ideal/Goal: 10% OF THE TIME (or less)
    • For the month: 14%
    • Last month: 14%
  • Breakfast: 0%
  • Lunch: 10%
  • Dinner: 30%
  • Snacks: 11%
• Green Smoothies
  • Ideal/Goal: daily – mix of fruit, nuts and spinach, kale, avocado
  • For the month: 11 days (33% of the time)
    • Last month: 10 days
• Salads/Greens
  • Ideal/Goal: consume a meal of greens at least once daily
  • For the month: 30 days (97% of the time)
    • Last month: 24 days
• Sugar
  • Ideal/Goal: to avoid food with added sugar, and to limit my intake of high glycemic foods (honey, agave)
  • For the month: 6 instances (17% of the days)
    • Last month: 9 instances
• Alcohol
  • Ideal/Goal: 0-1 drinks per month
    • For the month: 3 (2 on Cinco De Mayo! :)
    • Last month: 0

**Above percentages calculated for 30 days with an average of 90 meals + 70 snacks

 

EXERCISE

• Ideal/Goal: some form of movement every day; could my morning options (see below), hiking, biking, or walking – something to keep me fit, to maintain and sustain me! 
• At least 20 minutes of activity before meditation
  • Includes one or more of the following: yoga, energization exercises, tai chi warms-ups, balance poses, pull-ups, and stretching
  • Days: 28 (90% of the time)
  • Last month: 29
• Other Exercise
  • Walking: 45 miles for the month!
    • That’s about 11 miles per week, or about 1.5 miles per day!
  • Hiking: 2 miles
  • Biking: 25 miles (22 in one day!)
  • PLUS: Kundalini Yoga and Core Classes!
• Stationary
  • I do look for opportunities to stretch, change my seating position, or just to get up and move around whenever possible, particularly on the train.
  • Cars: ~4 hours
  • Buses: ~7 hours
  • Trains: ~3 hours

 

JOURNAL

• Ideal/Goal: to express my Highest Goal, my Path, my ideal Partner, my Hell Yes’s, my Strengths, my Zones of Genius, my Gratitudes, and any Big Ideas.
  • Days: 17 (55% of the time)
    • Some of the content:
      • What I love to do and what my unique gifts are (lots on this)
      • What I could create around what I’m learning (videos, articles, etc.)
      • Where is their energy in my life (what is pulling me), and what is happening organically
      • Pilot idea for a TV show :)
    • Last month: 22
  • If I don’t get to journaling in the morning (before email/work, etc.), it usually doesn’t happen.

 

WEIGHT

• My Stats:
  • 5/13/12: 130 lbs.
  • 5/20/12: 129 lbs.
  • Average:  130 lbs., 18.65 BMI
    • Last month: 133 lbs., 19.08 BMI
    • Difference: -3 lbs, -.43 BMI
• Weight/BMI
  • I weigh myself (usually) on the same day of the week, first thing in the morning – before eating or drinking anything.
  • According to the BMI data, I am within the healthy range (18.5-24.9 for men and women)
    • For my height, underweight would be below 127 lbs, and overweight would be above 174 lbs. (see this article from Livestrong.com for how to find the weight range.)
    • Formula to calculate your BMI: ([your weight in pounds] x 703)/ [your height in inches]²
      • Example:  (150 x 703) = 105,450/ (70 x 70) = 21.5 (within the healthy range)
  • It’s tricky because I found many charts online where according to those, I was underweight – it’s tough to know the validity of those sites, so I think BMI is a much more reliable figure.
• Body Fat (when available)
  • For body fat %, I’ve used scales that send electromagnetic pulses through the feet to determine body fat. With any device, I’m going to assume there’s a ± 2-3%.
  • Average for men is 18-24%; athletes typically compete at 6-13%

 

SLEEPING AND AWAKE

• Sleep Hours
  • Ideal/Goal: to sleep for at least 7-8 hours each night
  • Average for the month: 7.26 hours
    • Last month: 7.29 hours
  • Most often amount of sleep: 7-7.5 hours
  • Longest sleep: 8.75 hours
  • Shortest sleep: 5.67 hours
  • Number of days where sleep time was < 7 hours: 7 days
    • Last month: 7 days

• Naps
  • Number of days with naps: 6 (19% of the month)
    • Last month: 8 days
  • Average amount: 20 minutes
  • Mostly occurred on days with lots of walking/biking or being in transit

• Awake Hours
  • Ideal/Goal: to be awake for 16-17 hours
  • Average for the month: 16.85
    • Last month: 16.72
  • Most often wake hours: 17-17.5 hours
  • Longest day: 19.25 hours (bus from Albuquerque to Denver!)
  • Shortest day: 14.25 hours (the next day—catching up on sleep—ha!)
  • Number of days where awake time was > 17 hours: 15 days
    • Last month: 11 days

• Going to Sleep
  • Ideal/Goal: go to bed around 11 pm
  • Average for the month: 11:35 pm
    • Last month: 11:30 pm
  • Most often sleep time: 11:30 pm-12:00 am
  • Earliest sleep time: 10:10 pm
  • Latest sleep time: 2:00 am (arriving in Denver and staying up late to talk nutrition!)
  • Number of days where sleep time was past 11:15 pm: 10 days
    • Last month: 17 days

• Waking Up
  • Ideal/Goal: wake up around 7 am
  • Average for the month: 6:50 am
    • Last month: 6:45 am
  • Most often wake time: 6:30-7:00 am
  • Earliest wake time: 6:00 am
  • Latest wake time: 9:30 am (sleeping in from Denver arrival)
  • Number of days where wake time was later than 7:15 am: 4 days
    • Last month: 2 days

 

PRODUCTIVITY

• Working Hours
  • Ideal/Goal: 6-7 hours per day, with each chunk being only 90-120 mins.
    • Days worked: 30 (97% of the time)
      • My days offline (see below) may go from one evening to the next, rather than one whole day, so I may end up working a little bit every day
      • Last month: 28
    • Average hours per day: 5.47
      • Last month: 6.08
    • Number of days where work was > 7 hours: 9 days (29% of the time)
      • Last month: 9 days
    • Most hours in one day: 9 hours
  • Blocks of Working Time
    • Ideal/Goal: work for no longer than 90 minutes or two hours at a time
    • Number of blocks > 2 hrs: 15 instances
      • Longest working session: 3.5 hours
      • Last month: 8 instances and 3 hours
  • In February, I began tracking  as part of my $100 a day goal
• Days Offline
  • Ideal/Goal: one 24-hour period off the computer each week
  • Number of days: 4 (100%)
    • Last month: 4 days
• Morning Creativity Practice
  • Ideal/Goal: waking up an hour earlier to focus on creative work (before exercise and meditation)!
  • Days with Morning Creativity Practice: 24 (77% of the time)
    • Last month: 22
• iDoneThis – a simple online tool that helps me record what I did everyday!
  • My streak as of the end of May: 121 days

 

OTHER HEALTH

• Contacts
  • Ideal/Goal: to wear 8 hours or less per day
  • Days worn: 24 (77% of the month)
    • Last month: 23
    • Average hours per day: 6.85
      • Last month: 6.86
      • Average time I pop them in: 4:15 pm
      • Average time I take them out: 11:30 pm
    • Number of days where use was > 8 hours: 8 days (26% of the time)
      • Last month: 4 days
    • Most hours in one day: 9 hours
• Vitamins
  • Flaxseed Oil
    • I began taking 1300 mg once/day. The bottle states this is “a premium source of Omega 3,” and then I recently read that our body can’t really use what’s in flaxseed.
    • It gets a bit technical, but essentially our body can’t convert what’s in these pills, and so it appears that Fish Oil pills (or directly eating fish) might be a better source of Omega 3’s. Check out this article for more!
    • How much to consume also has much to do with your ratio of Omega 3’s to 6’s; so, it looks like this journey will continue…

 

What I Learned + What’s New:

• NUTRITION
  • Reducing Animal Products + Non-Paleo even further
    • I think I might see if I can get both number down to around 5% each.
    • If I’m truly a hunter-gatherer, then I’d probably eat meat only once or twice a month.
  • Eating Salads!
    • Really thrilled to see that I ate greens just about every day in May – so important!!
• SLEEPING + AWAKE
  • Getting up early (before 7 am) is getting pretty easy, and fairly regular.
  • I’d still like to see my bedtime be earlier on average; I need to just wind down earlier, and get off the computer! I’ve recently begun reading for an hour before bed, and as long as I have a book I enjoy, I want to fit that time in!
• PRODUCTIVITY
  • I’ve really been pushing myself lately with blocks of time, as I’m finding there’s more I want to crank out (like all the posts appearing here)—there’s so much I want to share, and I don’t want it to take three years, ya know? :)
  • The Morning Creativity practice continues to be amazing—read more about it here!

 

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OK – that’s the monthly report for May!

 

How are your practices going?

 

I’d love to hear your response + any other comments you have below!

And if you have any feedback or questions about something you’re tackling, feel free to share!

 

Looking forward to learning more!

 

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