I was supposed to be posting a long overdue review again today but I keep putting it off because…well, I just don’t feel like writing reviews right now. That feels terrible to admit but it’s the truth and I’m not going to bother hiding it now after talking about how being in a blogging slump over the last couple of weeks lol.
So I thought I’d take this opportunity to talk about a few things I hope to accomplish this year. Also, wow, I can hardly believe it’s April and we’re already a quarter of the way through 2021. After 2020 dragging on forever this year seems to be flying right by. Time is still wonky in this age of pandemic.
- Book blogging. I’d like to get caught up and get back in my groove. I’d like to ignore review requests altogether going forward (once I get caught up) and just concentrate on mood reading 100%. This has low-key been my plan for a while but I keep accepting books! And browsing netgalley once in a while. Bad Lisa! But seriously, I just want to have fun with this and not have it feel like a chore. 🙂
- Work on my health and fitness. This isn’t something I talk about much here but I’m stupidly obese. I know that’s not an actual term but let’s just go with that. I’m 5’4″ and I weight approx. 257 lbs. While I’m in *relatively* good health my weight doesn’t do my knees and ankles any favors and last couple of times I had my blood drawn my cholesterol was getting a bit high. Now when I go all into something, whether it be book blogging or something else, I tend to focus intensely on it and go *all in*. So I started exercising a bit more (working up to things) by walking at the track and using my stationary cycle. I’m also changing my diet. Eating healthy non-processed foods and cutting out fast foods, making better choices when eating out. I don’t always have great days (why hello there ice-cream) but I’m doing a lot better overall, have lost about 7 lbs so far, and hope that when I go back to the doctors I’ll get better results. I am eating SO MANY veggies and fruits! And Greek yogurt. And I even made overnight oats last night. I discovered a love for soy milk!
- Continue my reorganization projects around the house. I’ve been slowly going through closets and bins and getting rid of things, purging, reorganizing things I’m keeping. Eventually no drawer will be untouched. And when I get the last one done I’ll probably have to start over again because things keep accumulating! How do we always manage to accumulate so much stuff?
- Better self-care overall. Last year I started reading The More or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care by Anna Borges. And then I put it down and haven’t picked it back up again. I think a large part of self-care is just being MINDFUL that you even need to do self-care. Like, so much of the time we don’t even think about taking care of ourselves. With my depression and anxiety issues I feel like it’s even more important to make some time, even if it’s just a few minutes a day, where I can just worry about me. I feel like this could make a huge improvement in my overall mental health.
So I know most of this wasn’t about books but I feel like if I work on most of these things it’s going to impact my blogging in one way or another. More time spent on other things means less time for reading/blogging, but maybe that balance is what I need. I still plan on posting every day but maybe I’ll have less reviews a month if I’m reading less. Or maybe less stress will mean I’ll actually read more and feel like blogging more–who knows? Either way, these are things I’m working on to make myself feel better and hopefully they will help me to get my groove back here too!
Way Too Fantasy 
Good luck with these goals! And also good job on already doing so well with your health and fitness goal!!
(www.evelynreads.com)
Thanks, Evelyn! I guess we’ll see how we’ll I’m really doing next time I check in with my doctor haha.
Good luck with all your goals!!!
Thanks, Susy!
There’s certainly nothing wrong with taking a break from reviews. I get like that too and just want to read sometimes. Good luck on your health journey too, Lisa. ❤️ HUGS
Thank you! Yeah, I’d like to get these reviews out but I’m just not in the mood right now, hopefully soon though. For now I’m happy reading.
I think its good to write down your personal goals. I personally find I have better luck actually doing them when I write them down, hopefully that will work for you too. Good luck, Lisa!
Thanks, Tammy! And yep, same here. I am a very list oriented person lol!
Congrats on getting more healthy! That’s a continuing goal for me. Cause sometimes I just want cake (or ice cream) for breakfast (every day if I could). The goal has its ups and downs but overall I am trending in the right direction these days. I don’t want to be old and decrepit. I too am also having trouble following me rule of writing a review for every book I read. I just want to read and be a bum about the blog. But I know I will annoy meself if I don’t write those reviews. Well I will annoy my future self! Arrr!
x The Captain
Oh I would totally eat ice cream for breakfast every dang day if I could LOL. I’m not huge on sweets, ice cream is my one huge downfall in that direction. What gets me with my eating is just too much fast food, too much junk food, too much processed food, and not enough exercise. I feel like making an effort to improve my diet will go a long way but it does take a lot of willpower.
I don’t want to be old and decrepit either! I already have some troubles with my knees just because of my weight, so I really need to nip this in the bud.
I also do a review for every book (well, every speculative fiction book but that’s *mostly* what I read anyway). It’s tough to keep up but also I feel bad if I don’t get to things so I totally get it haha.
good luck with all of your goals!!! and congrats on eating more healthy!! it can be so hard to stick with a healthy routine which…i should probably develop myself soon😂 you’ve got this!
Thanks, Kaya! It’s tough but I’m gonna keep working at it. 🙂
Sometimes writing a review – even for a book we loved – feels like a chore, so there’s no need to feel guilty about it: when it happens to me (and it does happen!) I know that if I don’t force myself, the drive will come back. It’s just a matter of the right feeling at the right time…
And good luck with all your goals! 🙂
Yeah it can totally feel like a chore sometimes. I know I’ll get back into the mood eventually, it’s a little frustrating in the meantime though lol.
Thanks!
Good luck with your goals. I just started to change my diet as well and put in some more exercise to work on my health and get some of that overflowing fat of. I’ve tried a few times in the past, but could never sustain it. Now I’m done with cutting out certain foods since I know it is not sustainable for me to go without chocolate. I am now just trying to be more mindful about the amounts I eat and I think this might work for me.
Thank you! Change is hard but I think it will be worth it in the end. I have problems sustaining as well. Pre-pandemic I was actually about 10 lbs lighter than I am now but I’m trying not to be too hard on myself because, well, pandemic. I think that’s a great approach! It’s really about portion control and just eating slightly more healthy foods. Even chocolate can be good in moderation.
Sometimes I don’t feel like writing reviews either, so I totally get you on that. I wish you all the best on your goals.
Thanks! I did finally write one review this week so maybe things are looking up, I hope so because I’m really behind lol.
Congrats on your progress! I’ve slowly been decluttering too and have kind of turned it into a weekly thing! 💕
Thanks! Decluttering is a huge project but also it somehow feels super nice? Like ‘yay, progress!’
All the best on your goals moving forward! Everything sounds very sensible and just in reviewing what you want and need you’ve done a little self care already! Have you ever read Atomic Habits by James Clear? I really loved his small habits approach to big life changes, and after the birth of my second kiddo last year, focusing on small, stupidly-doable goals really helped me get back to healthy and productive habits while avoiding the overwhelm. (In the past I’ve been a zealously over-optimistic goal setter, but the smaller habits definitely help avoiding burnout when the initial motivation flags!)
Thank you! I haven’t read that, but it sounds like something I should check out for sure. I really do need to get better about self-care. It’s one thing to recognize you need it and another thing to actually do it haha.
I am very familiar with being a over-optimistic goal setter, LOL. Thanks for the tips!
Don’t forget that things are good in moderation, too! If you just completely cut out yummy things like ice cream, it’ll creep back up and pounce on you when you least expect it. I’ve struggled with food and weight pretty much my entire life, and this past year is the first time I’ve stopped exercising so that I can eat certain foods, and am instead just eating yummy things in moderation and working out when I want to, not as a reward/punishment. Balance all around is a wonderful thing to strive toward!
I’ve been trying to do more goal-oriented rather than weight-oriented things this year, like getting the hang of a certain yoga pose rather than jumping on the scale a lot. But it fluctuates, and there’s always good and bad days because we’re human, and it’s important to remember that you ARE enough, just as you are, and anywhere you go from here is just bonus points on top of an already amazing person.
Oh, I am still eating yummy stuff as well once in a while, just trying to control those portions better instead of pigging out. It’s tough because restaurant portions are huge! I always have left overs.
Definitely balance is key although I am very sedentary and also have some ankle and knew issues so working out a lot is tough but I still could probably do more than I currently do. And because I am so heavy it’s going to take a lot of discipline and work to get into an okay weight range for me. Like…I would be happy to get down to a 1x (extra large sounds like a dream, I think I was probably in high school last time I fit into an extra large).
I’m cool with my weight as far as my self confidence, I got over being the fat girl a looooong time ago. Now I’m just trying to make sure I can stay healthy. (Honestly for a person my size I have relatively little health issues but I’m trying to keep it that way haha).
I love all of this! ❤ May we conquer the world together in all our glory!
Indeed!
I’m also trying to be good with my eating. I usually find that cutting a lot of the carbs works best for me as I don’t really have a sweet tooth – but then sometimes ice cream just calls to me.
Lynn 😀
Yeah, I cut a lot of carbs too. Sweets I’m okay with it’s bread and pasta and rice that always gets me! So far since March I’ve lost about 20 lbs now.