Mind:

• I read: I’ve been reading a ton of books this year. As of right now I am reading my 160th book of the year. However, I think this reading is coming at a cost and I am starting to think that maybe there is such a thing as too much reading. I feel like reading is comfort food for my mind. It’s my easy go-to activity and I think that it’s stopping me from doing some of the things I wanted to do for myself. Like take online classes or even hang out with friends. I always find myself comparing the activity to reading and reading always wins hands down. I need to be willing to let go of this mentality and do some of these other items. Previously, I’d mentioned I’d block out a time to do some of these other items but I haven’t blocked that time. In fact, I don’t block out my personal time at all. This also matters for exercise. I think it’s something I will experiment with during the summer since the summer schedule is a tiny bit easier. 
• I learned: A lot about nutrition this week by reading Body Love. More on this below in the food section. 
• I watched:  I watched two stupid movies on the way to Australia and then while we were there, in one of the houses we stayed, there were a lot of DVDs so we re-watched two of my favorite movies: Jerry Maguire and Good Will Hunting. Love them both so much. I’ve also started watching The Shack.

Body:

• Exercise: I exercised once in Sydney and then my knees hurt for about three days. My knees have been hurting for over six months now. I’ve had Xrays done and have gone to both the doctor and the sports medicine. It appears I will have to so Physical Therapy but in the meantime, I’m trying to be careful. It was really sad to see how much the 7-minute exercise hurt. Having said all of this, I am thinking of trying to go to both Barre3 and Yoga this week. I want to see if going out will help me exercise a bit more. I am not sure if the former will hurt my knees but I think I won’t know unless I try so I am going to try. Let’s see if I can pull it off.
• Food: So I read the Body Love book. A lot of what she talks about was also in a book I read earlier this year called Why We Get Fat. Similar ideas around maintaining a lot insulin variance. Eating a lot of fiber, protein and greens and some fat. Very little to no fruits. (this is the hardest part for me). I woke up thinking, OK I will give this a try if it will help with my joints and my vitality like she claims. The first step was to do one of her drinks so I went to TJs and got vanilla protein. I came home and made a shake and the smell was incredibly overpowering. The taste was so bad, I had to throw out half of it. It looks like I have some sensitivity to the protein. I made David smell it and he didn’t react as strongly. Whereas I feel like throwing up just smelling it. So that really broke my heart and made me feel completely lost. I ordered a bunch more stuff but these things are 30$ each and it doesn’t seem like there’s a way to sample it. Which makes me really really upset. That derailed me for a few hours but I decided I could still easily do the lunch and dinner options of having those food combos and no snacks in between which I was able to do without a problem. I didn’t really even miss the fruit to be honest. Of course, this doesn’t mean anything about its sustainability just that I am giving it a shot for now. I know she says it’s not a diet but that’s not true. Saying that you can only eat a tiny amount of fruit and that you should avoid dairy but x times a month, etc,etc, is a diet. To me, diet doesn’t mean it’s calorie counting or specific menus. It means there are foods you can eat and foods you can’t eat. This is exactly that. But alas, I think it’s worth experimenting with and I’ve been wanting to increase my protein and vegetable intake so if this can encourage me to give it an honest shot maybe that alone makes it worth it. And if I can’t find a protein powder I can drink, I’ll have to find a way to do this without the shakes. 
• All the others: I want to do better here. I think I still need to take better care of my teeth, my skin and I need to sleep better. I would love recommendations if you have a particular skin routine that you swear by.

Soul:

• I rested: I haven’t rested in months now. I am sleeping weird this week due to jetlag but even before then I sleep intermittently and wake up each night. I am considering taking Melatonin but I don’t like the idea of taking something regularly so I think I will try and see if the food changes impact my sleep, first.
• I connected: Well the last two weeks were all about family. I did connect with my friend Gabi in Sydney and it was wonderful. I also have plans to go to book club this week and two trips to work.
• I journaled: quite a bit of journaling in my travel notebook and have plans to start a new journaling from a book this week.
• I made art: I worked on my travel journal the whole time i was in Sydney. I loved it.

Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

Mind:

• I read: nothing at all online this week. Lots of fiction but nothing else.
• I learned: I completed the Glow class. I journaled a lot. I learned new things at David’s school.
• I watched:  A bunch more TV this week while I was really sick and exhausted. I’m looking forward to watching Anne Lamott’s TED talk. 

Body:

• Exercise: I exercised none. not one. boo.
• Food: Considering how sick and bust I’ve been, I think I’m doing okay here. 
• All the others: still doing ok on all other things. 

Soul:

• I rested: I am better with being sick (though still a bit sick) but I do feel exhausted. I think I need to understand what’s stopping me from getting a good night’s sleep.
• I connected: with parents in nathaniel’s new class. with parents in david’s class. with parents at the school in general. I’m working on this. 
• I journaled: a lot! I am so proud!
• I made art: a lot of fast art this week. It was interesting to see what I could do in a short amount of time!

I’ve been thinking about these posts. They are too repetitive making me realize that I am not doing too much here and not trying new things and not expanding or going deeper. I will have to figure out how to change this when I am back from my trip.

Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

Mind:

• I read: I feel like i am in a bit of a reading slump. Still nothing amazing lately. Any good ideas? I loved this article on keeping journals. And Gretchen’s advice for college graduates.
• I learned: I still didn’t watch more of my class on Happiness and I didn’t do math but I did all my Glow homework and I am looking forward to June OLW.
• I watched: no TV this week except for a few episodes of Silicon Valley. But I watched this incredibly powerful TED talk. And here’s another good, thought-provoking one! And one more for you. If you’re interested in brain science, you’ll like this one. If you aren’t sensitive to curse words, you might like this one. 

Body:

• Exercise: I exercised none. not one. boo.
• Food: I’ve been eating okay for the most part but too much coffee and not enough nutritious food. Fridge is full, I just need to take the time to make it.
• All the others: still doing ok on all other things. 

Soul:

• I rested: I am still a bit sick and still quite tired. my jaw is hurting. but i am sleeping.
• I connected: with parents in nathaniel’s new class. people in seattle. people in my class. i’m connecting!
• I journaled: a lot more due to glow. and i have some plans for more.
• I made art: yes, i made more art this week!

taking it all one day at a time still.

Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

Mind:

• I read: I read less than usual this week. Did some idle surfing but it’s ok. 
• I learned: I still didn’t watch more of my class on Happiness but I did a lot of math with both kids.
• I watched: I watched some TV this week finally. Not a lot but some! I also watched Glennon’s Soul Sessions speech. I’m still thinking about it.

Body:

• Exercise: none this week except the hiking on Saturday.
• Food: I had protein almost every morning. I ate a lot of salad. I ate some veggies. Things are getting better though I am still drinking too much coffee, not enough water, too much soda.
• All the others: still doing ok on all other things. still love my new shiny makeup. 

Soul:

• I rested: Had a few rough nights of sleep but feeling okay. I am frustrated with waking up in the middle of the night too much.
• I connected: with new parents, old parents, and good friends. Good connecting this week.
• I journaled: no journaling outside of here and the shine cards but I have some plans.
• I made art: yes, i made some art! 

still slowly up-sloping here.

Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

Mind:

• I read: I’ve had a full week this week. I’ve spent almost no time on Facebook and have had a lot of time reading. I haven’t surfed the internet at all. Well, I opened a lot of tabs but didn’t read any of them. It’s books all the time for me.
• I learned: I finally signed up for and started this well-recommended class on Happiness and I’ve read several non-fiction books this week, I hope they count as learning!
• I watched: I watched no TV this week at all. Didn’t even turn it on. Nor did I watch netflix. I did watch the awesome beer commercial but that’s all!

Body:

• Exercise: I did one day of exercise. It was great. Let’s see if I can do more.
• Food: I did what I had planned to do last week and just ate a lot more nutritious food this week. I had protein every morning. I ate a lot of salad. I ate some veggies. Things are getting better.
• All the others: still doing ok on all other things. Though I’d still like to drink more water and I’d like to cut out the coffee to only when I am at work and once a week outside of that. Can I pull that off? 

Soul:

• I rested: Feeling more rested this week. Still more tired than I’d like but not terrible.
• I connected: I did a lot of connecting all day Saturday with the parents of all the kids. Plenty of connecting at work, too.
• I journaled: I have been writing a lot here. I think that will have to count for now.
• I made art: I did make some art this week. I have plans to do more, so let’s see if I can pull it off.

Things are getting better very very slowly but still at least on a positive trajectory here.

Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.

Here are some thoughts per category:

Mind:

• I read: I’ve been reading a tremendous amount this year. I’ve read 87 books already. What I need here is actually to slow down. I need to be more selective about my reading. Books that don’t speak to me have to be abandoned more easily. I am totally done reading books about conniving women/girls. I am done reading about cruel main characters. I am done reading about things that don’t feed my soul. 
• I learned: I’ve done a lot of non-fiction reading this year so far which I’m enjoying quite a bit. I’ve reduced the mindless internet reading. But I also seem to have lost some of my patience along the way. I’d like to restore some of that by slowing down. I also still want to take a class. I haven’t taken the step here that I’d like. I am not sure why. Maybe it’s one of those things that you have to just start. So maybe I will schedule 30 mins a week to do this. 
• I watched: I’ve watched so so little TV this year. This is because I am spending all my time reading or working. This is ok with me. However, I think I’d like to watch more TED talks, more lessons, etc. so maybe I will schedule 30 mins a week to do this, too. 

Body:

• Exercise: I’ve pretty much stopped exercising. At all. There’s no story here. Yes, my knees are hurting. Yes, I’m tired. But really none of those are excuses that make any sense. I just stopped and I need to start. Now that the weather is good again, I think I will start by taking walks.
• Food: Food’s been a mess too. I still crave and love the fresh food. I still also crave and love desserts, chocolate, coffee. I miss eating healthier. I will start with lunch. And water. 
• All the others: I am paying attention to my skin, flossing and what needs to be done most of the time. I think if I can get the other two right, I will feel so much better. This stuff is simple but not easy. For me.

Soul:

• I rested: I need a lot more rest. I am not sure what it is but I feel exhausted all the time. I don’t want to keep drinking coffee to feel more awake. I want to work from bed more when I have stuff to do but no place to be. I will be more diligent about going to sleep on time. I might have to experiment with cutting out the coffee (or even tea, gasp!) to see how tired my body really is.
• I connected: I want to be more mindful with my connecting. I would like to take the time to get to know a few parents in David’s class, and a few in Nathaniel’s class. I want to connect with a few friends from work. And a few friends online.  And that’s it for now. 
• I journaled: This is definitely falling by the wayside. I need, want, desire to journal more. Journaling is how i connect to my soul, my thoughts, my heart. I need more of it in my life. I need to quit obsessing about the reading, and journal more. 
• I made art: Art is also good for my soul. It’s something that makes me happy. I used to have a discipline of art and lately I’m either not doing it or just getting it done. I want neither. I want to go back to having the discipline of it. I need to think about what this means for me a bit more.

Here are some of my thoughts. My body and soul need this so much and I want to start with my body. What I put into it, how I move it and how I rest it. It’s how I get the strength to do all the other bits. 

Nourish Me Week 2017 is a year-long project for 2017. You can read more about my projects for 2017 here.