August
August was perhaps the hardest month of the year for me. There was a lot of turbulence in my personal life and it took a toll on me. I heaved a sigh of relief as the dust settled. I’m all set to have a peaceful and joy-filled September.
Despite all the emotional turmoil, Aug was a success in many ways. My theme for the month was self-care. I particularly focused on cleaning up my diet and my body definitely feels in a much better shape thanks to that. I drank one green juice every day and consumed zero caffeine. On Aug 6th, I started eating salad for dinner.
- My skin became better. I used to have these large breakouts on my cheeks which stopped once I included lots of raw veggies and greens in my diet.
- Eliminating caffeine made me feel less jittery throughout the day. In June, I had increased my caffeine intake to 3-4 cups of coffee or tea per day. Taking a full month off of caffeine gave me the space to reset my relationship with caffeine. It was the first time after many years that I had gone without any caffeine. So now I have this as a reference point. I know that if I want to, I can completely do away with caffeine and be okay. That feels like a superpower, haha.
- Eating salads at night makes me feel super light. Additionally, making salad one of my meals tilted the raw to cooked ratio much higher. Essentially, two of my three meals in the day are mostly raw. With this change, I’m able to contain my calories to less than 1300 a day. Given that my goal is to reach a minimum 112 pounds by the end of the month (I’m at 115 right now), this will help me reach that goal without any problems.
Apart from adopting a better diet, I’ve been sleeping way better too. I get at least 7-8 hours of unbroken sleep which makes my days so much better.
September
After an overwhelming August, I think I’m ready to slow down and have some space in September. I wrote more about my current state of mind in this post. If I had to pick one theme for the month, it would be ‘No obligations’. I want to change my life from running on ‘have to’s’ to running on ‘want to’s’. To this end, if something feels like an obligation, I will drop it. I’ll be doing all the things I genuinely want to do while allowing myself a lot of space to do whatever I please including doing nothing.
I think the consequence of this theme will be days filled with joy-sparking activities. Starting Sept 1st, I’ve been making a note of all the activities that gave me joy at the end of every day. I’d love for my journal to show me how joyous this month was when I review it at the end of September.
I can already see that this month is going to be one of the best this year. I’ve let go of a number of commitments and obligations. We’re just two days in and I’ve managed to dedicate time and energy to pursuits I truly enjoy. I’ve completed the first draft of my novel (yay!). I’ve been reading a lot of fiction (I just finished reading The Golden Compass. What an amazing book!). I’ve been working on my business idea. I’ve been connecting deeply with those close to me. I watched a movie with my mother (The Knight before Christmas. Was so-so but mom loves such movies. I still enjoyed it because I was watching it with her). I’ve started studying Physics again which is an old love of mine.
Maybe I should just call September #themonthofme, eh? 😉