The Resolutions in Review

Hello Friends & Family!

I hope all is well and everyone is enjoying the warming weather (if you live in Minnesota) and the cooling weather (if you life in the Bay Area).  I have recently received a few calls for follow up on some of the earlier months’ goals and initiatives and what, if any, final outcomes occurred from the resolutions.  So, let’s dig in…

 

February Resolution … Embrace the Chaos, Creatively!

Overall, a huge success!  I happily threw myself into a variety of creative projects that achieved varying degrees of completion.  In order of least to most completion, I playfully dabbled in the following:

Writing a novel – 0% Complete – I spent significant time thinking about characters, plot, sub-plots, the moral of the story and then got hopelessly stuck on the minor-est of details – what to name the main character. Fail.

3D Print … my middle finger – 50% Complete – In a moment of frustration, I thought wistfully, man I wish I could send Person X a 4 hour Youtube video of my fist and middle finger being constructed micron layer by micron layer.  Essentially, achieving the greatest ‘Eff You’ ever.

I dove into the project with relish, worked many hours on digitally capturing the image – first by myself, which was disaster, and later solicited some assistance (big shout out to Adrian who was willing to take 60+ photos of my hand).  Once I imported the photos, I started creating the 3D model and almost immediately discovered my 3D design skills are less than impressive and nowhere near sufficient for the task.  … I had an odd bulbous bulge on my hand.  That being said, if anyone needs a digital model of a hand with 9 fingers, let me know.

Normal Hand … looks almost perfect

 

 

Compose a song – 75% Complete – As an homage to my Trinidadian heritage, I decided to explore my musical talent through rhythm and poetry.  Specifically, I composed more than half of an original Soca song.

I imagine this is less of a surprise to you then it was to me; but, creating beats and ‘riddims’ (<- Caribbean word for musical accompaniment) is really, really freaking hard.  Thus, I have the lyrics mostly drafted and a basic beat that underscores the music, but we’ll see how much more I can get done.  In my last listening … the song sounded more like John Travolta singing Grease Lightning (link) than Machel Montano singing Happiest Man Alive (link).

Infographic – 100% Complete – Big win!  If you haven’t checked it out yet… you should! It’s pretty sweet (link).  The only confession here, is the 15-18 hour estimate was an absolute lie.  In hindsight, this must have taken me over 30 hours.

 

Overall, it was an awesome month of dabbling in a variety of creative outlets and I am thrilled I tried.

 

March Resolution … Treat your body like a temple

The two most common questions I got throughout the month were: 1) Do you feel different?  Can you tell that your body is “cleaner”? and 2) Did you lose weight?

Do you feel different? Can you tell your body is “cleaner”?

When I started out on this journey, I had assumed that as time went on my entire life would change.  Basically, I thought I would experience something akin to the scene in the Wizard of Oz when Dorothy opens the door and discovers a world of color.

 

I thought I would spring out of bed in the morning, colors would be brighter.  Possibly, I would start ending all of my conversations with “Namaste” or I spend my time eating kale while discussing vegan recipes with the Whole Foods cashier.

Suffice to say, none of these happened.

 

Do I feel better?

Yes.

What has changed?

Two things have changed for me…

 

First, my “relationship” with food has fundamentally changed. I use to blindly eat whatever was available and the number one priority when shopping was ‘convenience’ followed closely by ‘sweetness’.

…Old Nick… bought lots of peanut butter, ice cream, and snacks.

…New Nick… is focused on “healthy” and “fresh” as priorities. Last night when I went shopping at Safeway – I purchased 8 different types of fruits and veggies, 4 different types of meat, 0 dairy, 0 gains, 0 desserts.

 

 

Second, I no longer think I am addicted to sugar. In some low points of the sugar addiction phase, I would grab Peanut Butter M&Ms for breakfast or binge eat ice cream for dinner.  There was a certain degree of lack of self-control.  After my Whole30, I bought a package of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Oreos (which are awesome!) and haven’t eaten more than two in a day.

…Old Nick… would have crushed the entire package in a day and probably added some Nutella for kicks…

…New Nick… is pretty okay having a 1 or 2 in a day and doesn’t going overboard.

 

Did you lose weight?

I think so… I didn’t weigh myself before or after, so I am not 100% sure.  I do know that I have to tighten the belt more now than before.  But, that seems a bit relative and at the end of the day I could just be sucking in.  The goal is still to “look good naked*” which means, I don’t really care how much I weigh as long as I look good weighing it.

The reason I specify naked is because I am not above purchasing Man Spanx (aka male shapewear) if I thought I would pull them off.  I mean literally “pull them off”, I am worried I will put them on and then be stuck and need to have my roommates or the fire department use the jaws of life to get them off me!