Do Not Repeat the Nightmare of Last Year: Procastination

While most people can certainly diagnose themselves with this "disease," they don't. Why? Because it is hard to admit that one procrastinates because it is usually tied with laziness, and who wants to be considered lazy?? Yet this was the nightmare I experienced last year and I will not go back there. Yesterday, I procastinated. So much that now I am very nervous for my studies. But the reason is not laziness but more so fear. Fear can be stimulating up to a certain point. But beyond that it becomes unhealthy and perhaps even detrimental. Yet the only way I know to decrease that fear, is by doing what I am afraid of--failing. I am worried the test may be extremely hard. But there will be no way to know how to handle the test if I do not simple study. It may be scary to go through life on risks, but there is no other way to live. Therefore, without further ado, I will list my goals for the day below, for I am a fighter to the death and am determined to keep at least three of them this time.

S. Sleep: I've been going to sleep at 1 a.m. every night. Yikes. It needs to be 11 p.m.tonight.
S. Study: I need to time myself every hour and remind myself that I can do it and that my ultimate goal is to understand this material.
Eat Right: To maintain my 26 points again today.
E. Exercise: A good time to exercise would be at 7 p.m. at the track field, but again, I am postponing going to the gym until I can fit in a time.

While these are just general goals, I do make a more personal and extensive list of goals I must accomplish before the day is over. Here I go.

Late Bloomer

Food Fight: To Eat or Not to Eat

So I did not keep my word and follow the goals I had set out to keep on Tuesday, July 16. However, today was different. Yesterday I had a thorn on my side, which did not allow me to carry out my goals successfully--the cafeteria. Indeed, it is the modern day "Chocolate Factory" for highschool students, college students, and even for some work environments. Irresistible in what it offers, it is easy for people to overeat or make unhealthy choices in cafaterias if they have not practiced discipline in their life diet--and no, it is not enough to have grown up in an environment where all you were allowed to eat was healthy stuff. Temptation can lead to temperance or temporay pleasure with longtime risks--take your pick. Therefore, today, I chose to avoid the cafeteria completely altogether; at least until my disciline turns into habit which in turn lets me override my impulses at the cafeteria. I chose instead to go to the Oasis restaurant across the street from La Sierra University, in which I had planned to try a new dish a friend had introduced me to; the fiesta bowl of rice, black beans, pico de gallo, and avocado came with an amount of food I considered small. But what I thought was "small" was actually large! Once I took out my measuring cup I was horrified to see myself robotically throw away half of the bowl's rice and beans. Even at the end of the day, I felt beyond sad, throwing away half of my huge beans, rice, and potato burrito. Life is so unfair! And yet, at the end of the day, the feeling of satisfaction that comes from eating in a healthy manner will last longer than the temporary pleasure I would have gotten from finishing that entire chipotle-sized burrito. Indeed, the trash bag has become my new best friend.
Now some of you out there may think that life's too short to decrease portion sizes, which is the only thing I am doing. That's right! What other's deem starving, I label my salvation. My obsession with eating healthy has been mental for far too long--it's time to release that mental agony into the permanent practice of considering food portions before embracing pot bellies. And so the war begins in my brain--for it is there, and not my digestive system, where the real war wages.

Starting at New Heights

Tuesday, July 16


Starting these entries is like starting a resolution after a New Year has started--it seems scary to do because one thinks one will not go through with it but at the same time one hopes one will. Each morning I will take ten or less minutes to type out my major goals go the day. I recognize that my health is the most important aspect of my life--for if it is wrong, it will prevent me from doing what I want to do and accomplish. So without further explanations, I will walk of this platform of waiting and doing-nothing, to walk off into the air--nerved but certain I'll land in the water's cushioning waves.

Morning Goals according to S.S.R.E.:

S. Sleep: Take a 1 hour nap during the day to make up for going to sleep at 1 p.m.. Get ready for bed at 10:45 p.m. and be in bed sleeping by 11 p.m.
S. Study: Time every hour I study and record the total number at the end of the day--my goal is to study between 6-9 hours, with three-hour intervals of mini rest.
R. Eat Right: continue following Weight Watchers with eating 26 points; although there are snacks in Palmer hall, only take the fruit. If I must take something else, make sure to record the brand name or nutritional facts, otherwise leave it, especially if it is unhealthy for you. For lunch, get fruit from the supermarket, a cereal box, and get food from the cafe. Take one hour at most to eat and relax for a total of two relaxation hours--1 at noon and 1 at 7 p.m..
E. Exercise: To get at least thirty minutes of exercise I'd say the best time to do this is in the afternoon but the sun is too hot for that. Therefore, I suggest exercise is post-poned until an understandable time can be reached.