MMM #12 Second Check-In

June 14th, 2010 - filed under: Furthermore » Monday Monthly Mission

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Well! We’re just about halfway through our mission this month, 2 weeks into our new and improved selves. And since this particular task is so personal, so close to the core of us, we’re continuing our periodic check-ins again this Monday. I hope this will provide you with a space to admit your difficulties, revel in your accomplishments, and pose any questions that you may have. Most importantly, I hope this space will allow us to come together as a community to share our stories and discuss our struggles. A mission like this requires a support system!

Personally, I had a salty relapse yesterday. I was doing very well and without even really trying . . . come to think of it, perhaps that’s why I fell off the wagon. I may have let my guard down. Regardless, last night I was snacking on some raw cashews and it occurred to me that the flavor would really be enhanced with a little sea salt. So I begin to sprinkle, and, well – I’m quite certain I added more salty goodness than could be considered ‘reasonable’. Whoops!

So that was my one transgression, brought on by simply not checking in with myself. Not being mindful. It’s a very difficult practice, remaining in the moment at all times. But I’m getting better at it, and you’d better believe I’ll keep trying!

I think, fundamentally, mindfulness is the key to most of our issues this mission. Food for thought . . .

So, what about you? Going good or spiraling downwards? Somewhere in between? What do you think you need to do to stay on track? (and can we help??)

Good luck to all of you! BONZAI!
sign-off

  • http://flightsofthevalkyrie.blogspot.com/ Valerie

    Since changing my are to work on things have been hard. I am getting to bed earlier and I am getting up earlier, but I am still sleeping in. I am however not sleeping in as much. I am also getting tired at a decent time at night. I can see a change starting to happen, but it’s not going as well as I would like.

    Thanks so much for checking up on us every week, it really helps!

  • Melisa

    Started “Becoming Vegan” and am really liking it. Right off the bat they answered my burning B-12 questions. :)

  • Melissa

    Blah!!! This has been a seriously stressful couple of weeks! And well, my nails are paying the price!!! I am realizing that the urge to bite my nails is often times subconscious. I will be going about my daily routine and BAM I realize that I am biting them again. It is such a gross habit :-(.

  • Minna

    My mission is to always be “in the moment” as you said, to remind myself to be present and aware of what I’m thinking and feeling – by doing so to stop falling into old patterns.

    As I’m still not able to be present at all times (even if I actually realize that I’m currently NOT in the moment, it’s sometimes much easier to continue doing things automatically and not taking control. It’s so crazy!), I do find myself checking in with myself more often every day. I guess it’s not supposed to be easy, so I’m still really happy about working on that mission even if those moments don’t come to me as often as I’d like.

    I’m definitely not going to be able to “finish” this mission in the end of this month :D, it’s going to be a matter of years before it becomes the only way of existing. But I think the first months are probably the hardest; it’s the very beginning, the idea of “being present” is only slowly becoming clear and I’m still sort of testing how stubborn I can be and how hard I’m going to have to push myself.

    I truly enjoy this battle!

    (On your mission > Isn’t sea salt actually beneficial?)

  • http://tabularasahealth.com Hope Hughes

    Still struggling with the getting up early, but it’s getting better!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Valerie – Sometimes it takes a little extra effort to get that ball rolling, but once it’s going it may pick up speed pretty quickly. That’s awesome that you’re starting to see and feel the change, even if it’s all happening at a slower pace than you’d hoped. At least it IS happening! Your work is paying off, so try to keep focused on that part. Luck!

    @ Melisa – Oh I’m so glad you’re liking it! I <3 that book – so thorough yet so straightforward. I saw Vesanto Melina speak last year and she is crazy smart (and quite charming!) What were your B12 questions?

    @ Melissa – That’s mindfulness! (or lack thereof) That’s exactly what I’m talking about – the struggle to stay present so that we don’t realize halfway through that we’re doing something negative. Try to keep checking in with yourself. Good luck, I know it ain’t easy!

    @ Minna – Yes exactly! I’ve had those times too, where I realize that I’m not being mindful, but sort of ‘decide’ to stay that way and keep doing what I’m doing. I used to do that a *lot*, way back in the day. Man, human behavior is so strange.

    I don’t think any of us will be ‘finishing’ our missions this month, and that’s okay! It’s good even, we should always be working to improve. Hopefully this month will just provide a very solid platform to jump off from.

    Sea salt is good in that it has good minerals . . . just not in the quantities that I’d prefer to ingest! =D

    @ Hope Hughes – Getting better is all we can ask for! That’s great, and I’m sure it will just get easier as time goes by. Luck!

  • Stephanie

    I’m making an improvement, however I don’t think I’m working hard enough at it. I’ve stopped imbibing every day, now it’s more like every 2 days.

  • http://agreenspell.com A Green Spell

    Still working on it. I have my sodium slips from time to time! ;)

  • Callie

    I’m sort of doing two things: stop chewing my nails and giving up milk. The milk is pretty easy since I’m trying multiple substitutes and just not buying regular milk (suggestions welcome! I’m currently trying almond milk, but I’m really interested in oat milk, which I will try next). The nails, well, I slip occasionally and realize, like Melissa, that I’m chewing them. But so far I’ve gotten them past the quick and nearly to the point where I can file them, which really helps.

    I’m so glad that you did this MMM now, since I really needed to reset back to not chewing my nails. I’ve chewed them since I was little, but when I started smoking I stopped chewing. But then I quit smoking a while ago and started back in on the nails (it’s a bad habit, but at least it’s not going to give me cancer!) that was nearly two years ago at this point, so it’s about time I get off this whole oral fixation thing. Good continuing luck on the salt!

  • Meghan

    I am not doing great, but have done ok on some days! I’m sort of torn about how I want to divide my time. On one hand, I like my original idea of just some time in the morning and some time in the evening. But sometimes there is just stuff to be done during the day! Friends I am making plans with to talk to on facebook, or recipes to find in vegancooking. So I really like the chrome extension erosan posted. I dunno. I think I might ultimately have some combination of these methods, a time set aside in the morning and a time set aside in the evening, then during the day I can have some small amount of time (5-10 minutes) that I can use if I need to, using the chrome extension. Then I’d have to use a different browser (or computer) for each of these things though. I am probably way overthinking this. In conclusion: Some days are better than others. I’ll keep working on it. :-)

    I am going to be in spain for 2 and a half weeks in July without my computer, that might help. I’ll also be in Cape Town in August for 3 weeks… I’m taking my computer with me, but I’ll have to pay for internet, so that’ll help too. :-) With luck I’ll be a disciplined internet user before I start grad school! (and then it’ll either be really good that I don’t waste so much time online… or I’ll totally fall off the wagon!)

  • http://kpapoulias.blogspot.com/ Kathryn

    I saw this article and I thought you’d find it interesting:
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127880219&sc=fb&cc=fp

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Stephanie – It can be really tough, but remember that going from every day to not every day is actually a big deal and a huge first step! Now you just need to set a new small challenge. How about starting your week off right, and abstain for all of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday? See if you can do that three day spell (you can!) and it’ll show you how manageable this actually is. And I do speak from experience here. =)

    Good luck! Remember that a *little* progress is still progress!!!

    @ A Green Spell – We all slip up once in a while. Hey, maybe you’re just a supertaster! (see Kathryn’s link)

    @ Callie – Oat milk is good, and Hazelnut is my favorite storebought alt milk, by far. But have you looked into homemade? I’ll be posting a tutorial soon. Homemade almond milk is sooooooo amazing!

    I totally feel you on the oral fixation/smoking thing. I never really had a sweet tooth until I quit smoking, at which oint I totally used food to get me through it. I no longer smoke which is great, but now I have a raging sugar addiction to deal with! I guess we replace larger vices with lesser ones, and on and on until we can kick them ALL, for good. Ahhh, it’s all a process. ;-)

    @ Meghan – Well, I think there’s a huge difference between logging in to chat with someone for a specific purpose for specific plans, or to find a recipe for dinner, or to find a movie time or something, versus mindlessly surfing the net. If you can trust your self control I don’t see why you couldn’t do the former during the day without feeling guilty about it. It’s the sort of aimless internet wandering that requires a time budget, right?

    So basically I think your ‘a little of both’ plan sounds perfect, and it actually sounds to me like you’re doing good!

    @ Kathryn – I saw that! And I SO WISH I could use that excuse, but alas, a supertaster I am not. =)

  • saundra

    unfortunately my mm is only working halfway i’ve cut back on my drinking which is one of the many reasonsi can’t seem to wake up in the morning but still can’t seem to wake up before 9 unless someone really needs me to get up aka rainy day and hubby would like ride to work… but i have been getting up earlier some days at like 7 so even if it’s half and half it’s still better.

  • Stephanie

    You are so sweet, and make me feel so much better about this! Thank you for having these missions!

  • http://thismomentinfrance.blogspot.com/ Diana

    it’s been going okay – I think I have been more moderate about sugar, especially in terms of not seeking it out as much. But if it’s in front of me, I still have such a hard time resisting!

    The great news, however, is that my partner just admitted this afternoon that he needs to cut down on sugar for health reasons! So we talked about different strategies to do that, and while he’s reluctant to give up his tea and cookie habit, we agreed that we would try to make our own desserts more, using much healthier ingredients. So I just made a peach clafoutis using rice four, almond butter and a very small amount of organic whole cane sugar – much less than the traditional super sweet recipe. It totally satisfied our sweet tooth, and I didn’t have a crazy sugar rush afterwards despite the fact that we finished it all (it was only a half recipe, after all!)

    So hopefully that’s a good direction to head into, and with kevin being more conscious of his own sugar intake, I think my mission will become so much easier!

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ saundra – It sounds like you’re making the necessary steps to get you there, ad even having some success! 7 am on some days is great. Unfortunately it just takes a ton of willpower to *make* yourself sit up in bed in the early morning (believe me I know!) But sitting up is the hard part, and I know you can do it. Remember that the MORE you do it, the easier it will get, until one day it will actually feel good!

    @ Stephanie – Girl, it is truly my pleasure. I am just so thoroughly impressed and inspired by all of you!

    @ Diana – Oh wow, that’s so awesome that your husband is on board! That makes *such* a huge difference. Congrats, that’s really great news.

    And I think you’ve got it exactly right, if you can make all your sweet treats homemade, you will be doing a world of good for your body. I’m so happy for you, what a huge step!

  • http://thegreengeek05.wordpress.com Courtney

    I’ve realized a vice I have and am working on. A coworker of mine keeps marshmallows in her desk for us. I was eating them just because I was hungry and nothing else sounded good that was at hand. Now I’m keeping fruit, cheese, and a variety of crackers at work to keep me from eating too many marshmallows. Every once in a while they still sound good, but it’s specifically marshmallows I’m wanting. And even those desires are going away.

  • Staar

    So at the beginning of this mission I had no idea which vice to work on, what habit to change etc. So yes I didn’t work on anything specifically until last weekend I realized I had an hiatus hernia and I had 2 really horrible days of not being able to eat and stuff. Anyway needless to say I realized I had to change something dramatic or this thing wouldn’t be able to heal. So I’ve kicked my coffee habit. BEST THING I EVER DID! It’s been about 8 days without the substance and I’ve had the best sleep I’ve had in about 5 years every single night this week. I feel super happy and peppy in the morning it’s almost scary. And now I’m trying out all the fun teas you can get. Anyway I also don’t feel the overwhelming control coffee had over my life. I was hard core addicted had about 5 cups a day and couldn’t go out of the house without a cup of it. Anyway I’m now in line with my bodies natural rhythm, I wake up without an alarm and the anxiety I felt from constantly pushing my adrenal glands has gone away significantly. Thank you for doing this Monthly Mission.

  • http://bonzaiaphrodite.com Sayward

    @ Courtney – Ahhh, good ol’ sugar, it’ll get you every time. Smart of you to keep healthier snacks around. Nuts are great too. I’m such a snacker . . .

    Good luck with breaking the marshmallow spell!

    @ Staar – Wow! What a transformation. I am impressed, and so happy for you!! Congrats and keep it up!

    Celestial Seasonings ‘peach passion’ herbal tea is one of my greatest guilty pleasures. Highly recommended if you can get your hans on it – and even better iced for summer!

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