Monday, February 1, 2016

UPDATE: The Cup, The Chart and The Money Jar - And The 2016 A-Z Blogging Challenge - Should I?

I completed the first of my twelve 2016 goals.   January's goal was to drink more water.  My aim was eight 8 oz glasses a day.   My incentive was a money jar.  I would reward myself  16 cents for each glass of water I drank.

Here's how it went:

Week one:
56 glasses (448 ounces) $8.96
Yay, I met my goal!

Week Two:
28 glasses (224 ounces) $4.48  
oops.  I had my reasons.

Week Three:
46 glasses  (368 ounces) $7.36 
That's better.

Week Four + one Day
48 glasses (384 ounces) $7.68
Not bad.

What I learned and gained from this.
I realized I had been drinking a very small amount of water.   Before this, I would only consume about 16 ounces of water a day. 
Even though I was not as successful on week two, I did not quit. 
Blogging about my intentions, keeping a record, and rewarding myself was a definite incentive. 

The bottom line is that I feel good about being able to continue.  I wouldn't say that it has become a habit but I have already started a new chart for February.  
Oh yeah, the negative was having to pee every hour, which is okay as long as I was at home.
I quickly learned to stop drinking after 5:00 p.m.  
February's goal is to post on my blog twice a week.  Specifically, Monday or Tuesday and Saturday or Sunday. I am trying to decide if I want to participate in the  2016 A to Z Blogging Challenge.  I figure this will be a good trial. 

I've decided that my posts will be worth $5.00 each.  

My money jar has $28.48 for drinking all of that water, plus $5.00 for this post.  
I'd say I'm on a roll!







9 comments:

  1. Great you did well with your January goals with water; even on the "off week" you still did drink a lot of water :)

    $5.00 for a blog entry; pretty good pay :)

    A/Z is fun (did sign up) but it can be hectic indeed; wise to decide if you want to participate this year.

    betty

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    1. Thanks. Yes, I think five bucks is pretty good. I'm pretty sure I will sign up for the A-Z. I've done it before. It can be a little stressful but I have a sense of accomplishment when I complete it. And I have found new blogger friends. :)

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  2. You mentioned what you gained (congratulations!) but while you were drinking all that water, did you lose any weight?

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    1. You know, Gail, I did not lose any weight. But, I did the water thing for health reasons. I was hoping a side benefit would have been the loss of a pound or two, but it didn't happen.

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  3. Nice. Glad you stuck with the water thing. I hope it sticks.

    One thing about blogging--you can always post ahead. Plan things out and set them to post at a later time. I find that helps me.

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    1. The other times I have done the A-Z challenge I have only planned a few days ahead. If I do it this year, I will definitely try to plan at least a week in advance.

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  4. Personally, if I were aiming to post twice every week, I'd probably go Monday or Tuesday and Friday or Saturday, because then you have a couple days between. Otherwise, you might be doing Sunday and Monday every week, which would count....but not much happens. At least a different spacing would give you more material to work with :)

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    Replies
    1. Good suggestion! Thanks. That's what I'm going to do. :)

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  5. Well your post on how to up your water intake has been my inspiration and I now drink a lot more water than I ever used to and likewise more trips to the ladies' room but that's life :) I think it has really helped me with my healthy eating now as I managed to cut out snacking really quickly because I was taking on more fluids and I now do sipping instead of munching so a BIG thank you :) Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace

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