Happy First Day of International Women’s Month. (Is it bad that I can’t get Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It”) out of my head?) Here in the States we were hoping 2021 would suck a lot less than the dumpster fire fluster cuck that was 2020. But it’s been a year already: insurrection at the US Capitol; inauguration of the lawfully elected 46th President (who quickly began steering the ship of state away from the rocky shores with some pretty righteous executive actions); impeachment without conviction of the ousted one for inciting said riot; the vaccine rollout happening but mostly botched (largely due to the last guy); and the new guy before bombing some places in Iraq. (Meet the new boss, same as the old boss, at least when it comes to war and the military.) Then there was epic Winter Storm Uri (a Russkie?) which led to ultra cold temperatures, blackouts (the weather kind and I’m sure booze-related ones, too), near record snow, ice, and in Texas especially, the loss of electricity, heat, and then water for millions. Yeah, pretty sucky, 2021.

But hey, there ain’t much a dude can do about all that but to survive and Just Keep Livin’. And that means doin’ some stuff, makin’ moves, and what not. Thanks to the boss man over at Sorryless saying I inspired him to take 10,000 steps every day but starting Februrary 1st, now that March has arrived, I figure it’s time to review my vows to suck a little less. It’s a lot to hope for, but maybe some of my very modest but important marginal gains will rub off on y’all, and on the year at large. OK, suck it up, we got some stats to update. I’ll try to keep it short.

Riding Bicycles — I passed 500 days of bicycling in a row a couple of weeks ago. Despite pain in a couple of areas, the aforementioned Snowmaggedon, and that whole neverending story of the pandemic mishegoss, I’ve somehow managed to keep the streak going. For February I eked out 400 miles and with a bit more in January, I’m 281 miles ahead of my goal at over 800 miles. That puts me on track to keep my six-year average over 5,000 miles. I’m actually trying to make myself ride less, but it’s always easier to bike than do things like clean house. Hey, don’t judge! I swept the floor today. Well, some of it.

Calorie Counting — I’ve got a 60-day streak going with this, and am batting easily .950 in terms of logging everything, for the moment. A few items I may have missed or had to guess the few times I brought some cooked food home. It’s been a hassle, but it gets easier since the app remembers what you eat, and it is instructive. Two main lessons, no spoilers here: I often eat more calories than I burn, and I can do much better with WHAT I’m eating. To that end, I’m adding a new challenge in, at least for this month, which is…

Eat More Friggin’ Veggies — Often the voice of wisdom will say silently inside my head, “Hey, Dude, would it kill you to eat a friggin’ salad or somethin’?” My answer is usually, “Well, probably not, but there are other, yummier things to throw down my grocery hole.” Anyway, tonight I made a big salad, and kicked it up a notch with a can of tuna and some cheese. I splurged on an organic cucumber and got some baby tomatoes that literally tasted like buttah, I s#it you not. Which is ironic, because later I’ll probably be on the Sir Thomas Crapper eliminating said salad. OK, maybe that’s a little too much, but you can handle the truth.

Flute Tootin’ — I let this slide (to make a trombone pun) for February. No particular reason, though the aforementioned cold didn’t help. Nothing like holding a cold piece of metal and blowing icicles out the end. (Yes, I mean inside, where two of the unheated rooms were below freezing). I picked it up again today. My idea is to practice 15 minutes every day for the month of March instead of 30 minutes two or three times a week as I was. But I ended up doing 30 since I enjoy it, there’s warm up, and finding some music I can sort of Handel. (Ha! A classical music pun. I’ve really hit a low note now.) Anyway, it’s not fitness habit, but neither is writing, except when it’s about fitness. I suck so I won’t be playing Carnegie Hall in this lifetime; it’s just for fun. That’s important during the plague.

Foam Rolling — I’m going to try using this hard cylinder for my site spots five minutes a day in the month of March. We’ll see how far that goes. A massage would be better but I need a sponsor to pay for a sports masseuse. Torture device it is.

Reading Books — A corporate algorithm figured out what I like (a lot of tv and movie articles) so it clogs my feed. I also tend to read way more news than I want or need. As for books, I’ve knocked out at least four. The latest was a bit deep so took a while and was the subject of my previous post, a review of Yoga and the Quest for the True Self. I’m not keeping good track in Goodreads, but in addition to my other review of Heft on Wheels, I finished Stephen King’s Full Dark, No Stars, a Lee Child Jack Reacher page-turner, and maybe a couple of others though I think I started them last year. Now I’m into a short story collection edited by Judd Apatow which is good. This is a good habit I hope I will continue, even if it means less televised stories.

Sleep Cycling — This wasn’t a written resolution, but how often do you meet people who complain about sleeping too much? Never. I’m doing better in this regard in terms of how much I’m getting. It’s resisting the still small hours of the night that is still my challenge. So I aim to keep working on not burning the Midnight Oil. (The name of a great 80’s band from Australia, too.)

Strength Building — With the aforementioned pain, I can still bike, though often slowly and gingerly. When it came time to use my resistance bands even for 15′, I just wasn’t up for it last month. Cold muscles and all, and waiting too lstye. So this month I’m restarting, and thinking I’ll try to alternate arm and leg days every day for March. That’s partly penance for skipping. However, if I can safely access an outdoor pool on days it’s warm enough, I’ll substitute that. Swimming was something I began right before COVID hit, so I’m hoping to get back into it since it’s such a great low-impact, full-body strengthening and cardiovascular work out. But I need to build strength to swim. Here’s hoping this time it sticks, but I suspect it’ll just be two or three times a week. Which is way better than none, so that’ll hafta do, pig, that’ll do.

Walking (Not Dead) — I’m doing this but usually right at 30 minutes. I got some new shoes I haven’t worn yet. I may switch them out for a more sporty model. It would make sense to walk quicker but injury says no. Maybe as it heals I can do that. But whatever, I keep at it, slow is better than no.

Writing Book and Blog — This habit continues, too. With a few people who have agreed to be beta readers for my book, I will have some work to do on that. However, I’m waiting on comments so I can’t do much. When I do, this blog may go down to twice or even once a week for a while. I’ve watched a few Writers League of Texas webinars, which reminded me that I have a lot to learn. So I’m thinking of taking a few online writing classes. Maybe I’ll be sure to journal for just a few minutes every day, too, since I gave up the daily gratitude journal on New Year’s Eve. It wasn’t working for me, not that I’m ungrateful. (See my post about that.) I just felt it wasn’t having the promised results. But editing, rewriting, journalling — it’s all good, so writing of whatever kind counts for this. Amd hopefully will be a solid chink of time.

Yes, Yoga — This is my practice with the longest streak going. It’s really so much of a habit I seldom struggle to do it, although it’s often not vigorous, I don’t care about that. So I do it daily without fail, although usually at night after biking is the best. Maybe adding a bit in the mornings or splitting the 30 minutes into two halves will help. I could move it all to the mornings eventually. Perhaps classes someday or Yoga With Adriene videos again. Or not. Point is, I practice yoga, and it’s a good thing.

Well, that’s about it. Good thing I’m without employment. Well, it’s not good for the wallet. But at least I have the time to try to keep working on improving myself, for now. Again, don’t judge. I’m a work in progress like most people.

How about you? How YOU doin’? Any New Years Resolutions still active?

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