"We cannot do everything at once but we can do something at once."
– Calvin Coolidge

I really love this quote. To me it is a reminder that even if I can’t do it all at once I can at least do something towards it. That is a reminder I’ve needed. I have been having trouble focusing. Today my focus is better. In fact, the last week has been better. In that time I started to be more consistent. I am not trying to do everything at once now. I am focusing on doing one thing, just one tiny thing at a time. I am finding success in this.

First, my kitchen is cleaner than it has been in a very long time. It is not done yet, but I can see the difference. It all started with a shiny sink. Instead of letting the laundry pile up for weeks, I have started washing a load a day, as needed. This includes hanging/folding and putting them away. This means I will no longer have to spend an entire weekend day doing laundry. I can use my weekends for other things.

I was having trouble eating within my calorie range. For about a month. So I went back to my first step on this healthy living journey. I just started tracking the food again. I did not worry about the numbers, just getting it logged in. This week I have eaten in range for 6 of 7 days so far. I had not been exercising consistently. I let my pain dictate my life. Now I lay out my clothes the night before and tell myself I can stop in after 10 minutes if I need to. I am building the foundation for my healthy active life.

Today I crossed 17,750 exercise minutes logged into Spark People. When one of my friends noted it and congratulated me, my first thought was to say how little that actually was. I mean, when I compare (and here’s a big mistake I often make) myself to others here I haven’t done nearly as much as they have. I know people who spend hours exercising every day. What must their fitness points look like after three years? Well, I chose not to exercise that way so I don’t have the extra points. Still when I divided the 17,750 by the three years (well nearly three) it comes out to about 6,000 minutes of exercise per year. Not too shabby huh? I mean I went from 0 exercise to 6,000 minutes on average. I am proud of this achievement. Wait…

The world didn’t end, I wasn’t struck by lightning, and I didn’t lose my job. I am allowed to be proud of the success I have. I think when I cross 20,000 exercise points I will have to reward myself somehow. I am not good at that. I will praise and reward others but not myself. I am working on that. Perhaps I will reward myself with a book. One I wouldn’t normally buy, but looks interesting. I’ll thing about it.

Since starting the bootcamp all these good things have come to pass. I don’t know how I’m doing weight wise. I think I’m still about my starting weight. If it comes off fine, if not, also fine. I am working at fitness of mind, body and home this year, not a number on a scale. The weight will come off when it’s ready. I am preparing the way now by building that solid foundation.