#tinyhabits #fitness #resolutions #keto #rewards

2/26/23. Increasing your steps for health, weight loss, and strength.

So I first did Keto a couple of years ago and got amazing results. I dont know what I have been doing differently this time around but I am not getting those same good results. I have lost only a couple of pounds (which would have probably happened anyway) and so I am changing course. I am going back to my roots of tiny actions instead of bursts. I wrote my book about tiny actions. I use tiny actions in other areas of my life and so when a burst isnt working (like right now) I have to go back to tiny and see if I can tweak things in order to succeed.

So the first tiny action is to increase my step count. Luckily I am in a challenge at work that is forcing me to workout 12 times in the month of Feb for 30 min each time. I have participated 9 times so far and I feel really good about my progress. My 30 min workout is a walk (sometimes its 40) and they have been outside when the weather is decent, treadmill or track at work when the weather is not decent.

My daily step count is about 8150 for the last 5 weeks (I averaged with the help of my fitbit) so I am increasing my step count by 125 steps a day so that I get to 9000 by Spring Break (first week of April) I think that will help me be on track to get to 10000 by the end of the school year. Some people balk at the 10000 step goal and say that it doesnt matter and yet a lot of people say it does. I used to know a woman that when she would walk 5 miles a day (about 10000) steps, she was at her healthiest weight. I also know that last time I was doing the keto/low carb diet, I was averaging closer to 11000 steps a day and sometimes 14000 or more (coaching after school) so if I JUST simply look at step count and add that to the weight loss (if nothing else changes) it should start to improve things.

As always, I will keep you updated on this blog.

until next time…stay tiny!

THANK YOU to my 106 subscribers and 335 social followers!

2/19/23. Weird dreams with carbohydrates.

I have been eating low carb/keto for the past 5-7 weeks and I was trying the technique in the book “Carb Nite Solution” where you eat what you want one day a week. Well, two things. The first being, I dont think I am really losing much weight so that is disappointing. However, its the second reason that I need to stop/modify what I am doing.

After I eat carbs and dessert (on Saturday nights), I have the WEIRDEST dreams that night while I sleep. Last night, my two cats were in the parking lot of a furniture store. I kept picking them up to bring them home and they werent my cats. They looked similar to my cats but they werent my actual cats. Then, my husband was wandering around the parking lot with no sock on one foot. When I would ask him what he was doing, he would reply with “just trying to get comfortable.” It was sooooooooo weird. Also, I slept 10 hours last night AND fell asleep on the couch watching TV before bed.

I believe this blog should be honest so I am being honest. I am not sure if I am going to continue to follow this program. Here are the things I do know for sure.

I feel better with lower carb eating.
I think it is weird (and unhealthy) that you cant eat fruit on Keto.
I am not sure how sustainable a really strict diet is for me.
If this carb nite is causing weird dreams, what else is it doing to me?
However, It is nice to feel like I have a treat at the end of the week to look forward to.

So where do I go from here? Well, I made low carb lasagna with egg wraps (my new discovery!), I ate eggs for breakfast and I will eat a salad for lunch tomorrow and yogurt for breakfast. So, at this point, I am continuing to eat a lower carb diet. I am also “upping my steps” which I will post about next week.

To my 105 subscribers and 335 social followers…THANK YOU! You give me a reason to keep writing and for that, I am thankful.

1/7/23 Keto/low carb-one week down (how is it going???)

So, I hate to even mention this on this on my blog because this diet is more of a “burst” than tiny steps. Yes, leading up to starting the new way of eating was all tiny steps (more water, cut down on sugar, more steps, cut out chips, etc…) but the actual low carb diet itself is a maj0r “burst.” You have to go all the way to get into ketosis, and so you cant really tiny step your way there (there are other diets like weight watchers that are more conducive to tiny changes) but Keto/low carb is not one of them.

Why do I like a low carb diet? 1. It is easy as far as what you can/ can not eat. 2. It REALLY curbs my hunger. 3. It seems to provide me with more energy than other diets. 4. It brings down my cholesterol, sugar, and triglyceride numbers. (I have been able to avoid medications by eating this way)

Why don’t I like a low carb diet? IT IS NOT FUN-It is boring and repetitive and strict. It is difficult to eat with others (like if everyone is ordering pizza)

So…in order to make it more fun and hopefully stick to it long term, I am trying a technique called the carb nite solution. It is a book that professes you can eat low carb for 6.5 days and have what ever you want for dinner at the end of the week and it wont derail your progress. (I am picking Saturday night.) Tonight will be my first try at this. I will let you know how it goes.

Also, I am taking part in a lot of other bursts today such as deep cleaning the house (need to reset before school starts again Monday), taking down and putting away Christmas decor (including tree), washing all the laundry, towels, and bedding, washing the carpets (our cats like to dribble their food).

Today isnt really a tiny action day. It is a day of many bursts but it is a day I feel needs to happen every once in a while in order to have tiny actions work the other 99 percent of the time.

THANK YOU to my 99 followers-got a new one this morning so thank you to that person! Stay tiny my friends!

1/1/23. Happy New Year! Easing into Keto in a tiny action way.

I feel better when I dont eat a lot of carbohydrates. I just do. I also know that my “health numbers” are better when I eat a lower carbohydrate diet. Sooooooo…back to Keto I go. However, instead of jumping in with both feet (which is a real burst that burns out quickly), I am easing into it this time. Here are the steps I have taken or will be taking.

From Dec 10-28 I drank more water and got more steps in. That is all. Very tiny.
On Dec 27 I bought a magazine with a lot of good looking keto recipes.
On Dec 28, I went to the grocery store and bought eggs, cheese, meat, avocados, vegetables, nuts and seeds, etc…
On Dec 29 and 30, I made egg burritos with low carb tortilla shells in my sister’s air fryer (it is on loan from her to see if I want to purchase my own) and cut out the chips and cookies I had been eating a few days prior. I still ate some popcorn.
On Dec 31 I ordered a steak and asparagus for dinner. I had a glass of red wine and about 3 bites of peanut butter pie.

Today is Jan 1, 2023 and I KNOW that a ton of people start diets today and a ton of people burn out by February. I had an omelette for breakfast (no toast or potato) and am heading to the treadmill after writing this post. We are eating chicken for dinner. I have already had 3 glasses of water on top of my morning coffee. As you can see, I have been “starting this diet” for about 21 days now. Little tiny actions. I am ready for the next step of cutting out carbs.

I challenge you today to try something new-DONT start the new diet today. Start the tiny steps that will prepare you to start the new diet in a few weeks. Get yourself ready. Think of it like an adventure. Take the pressure off of today and of trying to be perfect. What are all the little itty bitty things you can do to get you ready for the better eating plan? I believe it will help you to not burn out and to stay the course. You cant go from 0 to 100 in 24 hours which is what almost everyone tries to do. You will flame out. Make this year different! Make this year a “tiny action year” and keep chugging along slowly.

To my 98 followers-THANK YOU! I hope you have a restful and inspiring start to the new year! Stay tiny!

December 23,2022. Update on “Declutter December” and a few holiday tiny actions leading into a big burst.

Declutter December started out great. I was able to get rid of/give away/recycle about 35 items before I started to fizzle out. This might have been a super aggressive task considering the upcoming holidays. I didn’t follow through with the whole month, but the stuff I did get rid of, I feel really good about. Maybe I was being too ambitious? Maybe I don’t have as much clutter as I thought?

What am I most proud of? The tea that I wasn’t drinking and took into school and someone who loves tea took all of it and it is making her happy!

What am I most disappointed by? The fact that I kind of fizzled out mid month.

So what is next?

Well, tiny actions to get through the holidays are drinking more water and trying to get more steps in any way I can (we are currently experiencing a blizzard in Michigan so walking outside is not an option).

A burst after the holidays? I am going Keto again. I have a LOT of plans for this summer and I need to be in better shape. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Keto works well (in my opinion) if you have total control over your own food at all times. You may be asking…well when dont you have control over your own food? Well, get togethers where there are carbs, pizza dinners with friends, traveling (fast food usually has carbs), etc… I am going to embark upon “modified keto” and see if that is effective. I also dont love that true Keto cuts out a lot of fruit so I may try to figure out how to incorporate that.

To my 96 followers-thank you! May you incorporate one tiny little action that keeps you happy and healthy!

October 30,2022 Maintenance is just as important as tiny steps

When working on achieving a goal, most of us want to make progress at it every day. We tend to become impatient and want things RIGHT NOW (Hello, Amazon!) However, maintaining progress is just as important so that we make keep charging ahead when we are able. We don’t want to wind up completely back at the start and lose all of our hard work!

I had a step goal of 10000 steps by November 6, 2022. I am holding steady at an average of 9000 steps per day. I could beat myself up and be discouraged. Instead, I am choosing to look at where I came from (7000 steps a day) and realize that I have held this number for a few weeks now. (I have even made it to 11000 on a couple days!) So, I am going to focus on maintaining it (I would try to increase it but right now, 9000 feels difficult for me so I want to wait until it feels a bit easier).

This maintenance is important. It is important to stay here and not slide back to 7000. or even 8000. It is important to not lose all of the hard work I have been putting in and the progress I have made.

A burst I have been working on is “no candy, sweets or desserts until Halloween.” Well, Halloween is tomorrow and I feel kind of “meh” about indulging in sweets tomorrow. I have felt pretty good the last 20 days and I am not sure that I want that to go away. There have been tempting moments but overall, it hasn’t been too bad. So, I may pick a day to indulge (Thursday night cheesecake factory) and then wait again until Thanksgiving.

Also, I may reduce how much bread I am eating. I am not ready to go full keto ( I love bread and missed it so much during my keto diet time). However, my husband suggested that maybe I could cut down how much I eat. So this week I will count all the pieces of bread I eat (chips and tortilla shells count) to evaluate where I should place my goal using tiny steps. For example, if I am eating 5 pieces a day, I will not reduce it down to zero but maybe reduce it to 3 instead? I will keep you posted on this.

To my 90 followers, THANK YOU! Have a great week!

July 12-starting another 30 day sugar fast

I have indulged. A lot. It started when my grandma got sick and continued until July 5 (so almost a month). Unfortunately you can do a lot of damage in a month. I was tired and worn out and eating everything I could get my hands on. So I decided to do a 30 day NO SUGAR challenge. Here are the questions and observations after week 1

Why isn’t all the weight just falling right off?
I do think I have more energy.
I do think my body is less stiff and sore from general life tasks.
I have taken a walk most of the last 7 days and it feels pretty good.
I haven’t really missed sugar too badly ( I am allowing myself fruit-blueberries)
I also am letting myself have ONE SMORE if I find myself around a fire (we don’t get a ton of great campfire nights in Michigan)
Sugar is my kryptonite (just like Superman-the minute I am around it, it weakens me)
Why haven’t I lost any weight yet?
I think my body feels better.
Why haven’t I lost any weight yet?

So as you can see, I am frustrated that I haven’t lost any weight yet. IN fact, I have gained. There are days when the human body amazes me and times like right now when it just ticks me off. I am not quitting but I am not happy. Hopefully week 2 will produce more positive results.

To my 86 followers-thank you! This sugar fast is a “burst” and NOT in the tiny step family in case you have been reading my other posts.

May 22-we don’t like to talk about failure.

Failure. The reason I started this blog was because I believe in the tiny habits and tiny steps toward a goal. However, I also wanted to “see failure.” So many books and stories tell you “I just did one or two things and now I’m successful.” And I KNOW that there are more ups and downs than that.

So I wanted to start this blog to document everything. And guess what? I know why people don’t want to document failures. Because it’s embarrassing. I didn’t want to fail this week and as I got ready to write his post, I didn’t want to write it because I feel as though I have failed at some things.

However, failure is a good time to regroup and scale back. I have come to believe that if you find yourself unable to make progress, then your actions/steps/habits are “too big.” You can NOT compare yourself to others at this point. Instead you need to scale back to what YOU can accomplish.

Here. is an example. Two weeks ago I went all week with no sugar, without chewing on ice. This week I have eaten sugar and have been chewing on ice. Each day I start again and I can’t help but think about “30 days of no sugar or even 1 week of no sugar.” and I immediately think it will be impossible. It is because I am thinking too big. I am imagining a place where I am not. A place that feels unattainable. And so I must change something and try again. Therefore…

I need to scale back. I will try to just eat one meal without sugar. Then two meals. Then three. Then a whole day. Then two days. Same with the ice chewing. If I am awake for 15 hours a day, I will try to go one hour without chewing it, then two, then three and so on.

Failure makes us vulnerable. It makes us feel weak. It doesn’t have to. Instead it can make us reevaluate and try again. We only fail when we stop and don’t keep striving to improve. I will let you know how it goes!

To my 83 followers…THANK YOU! And stay tiny! Scale back your actions so far that you are successful. Even if it feels silly. It will work. Save $1.00. Floss one tooth. Eat one healthy meal. Wash one dish. Do one load of laundry. Get to work early one day this week. You can do it! See you next week!

May 17-how quickly can you bounce back from a mistake? Tiny actions are the key

On Monday I started rewarding myself for not eating sugar and not eating ice. Eating ice has become a terrible habit that I started during the pandemic and I can’t seem to stop. SO I thought I would reward myself for the days that I didn’t eat ice.

I would pay myself 5.00 a day for every day I didn’t chomp on ice. I put a sticker on the top of my water bottle lid that says 5.00 and every day that I could accomplish it, I transferred 5.00 into a separate fund. Everything was going awesome until this morning. I am stressed out about something at my job, had insomnia all week and I started chewing on some ice this morning. I also treated myself to a couple of scones.

So technically I have failed. However, using tiny actions, I was able to get right back on the healthy eating track and have asparagus and eggs for lunch. I told myself I didn’t have to be perfect, I just had to start again. I had to break the day into three parts, move on from the first part and focus on what I could do for the second and third parts.

I accomplished the eating healthy, the chewing ice, not so much. I’m a work in progress. We all are. I will try again on the third part of today. That is all we can do, is try again. Start again. For my new readers, this blog is a real life documentary of striving for better. The ups and downs and all the in betweens.

I will keep you posted as I continue to grow and make mistakes. thank you to my 81 followers!

May 8-Mother’s Day, a Gala, and a graduation

Mother’s Day/a gala/ a graduation and an award for my father and grandfather

So starting last Thursday night, I had to drive to my moms (about 2 hours away), get ready for an award ceremony at the community college (dad and Grandma were being honored), head to a 6oth anniversary GALA for a foundation that I donate to and was on the board of directors, and celebrate Mother’s Day.

To say that my weekend was busy was an understatement. Also, Since I wasn’t home, some things did not get done (the laundry, clothes put away, etc…)

HOWEVER, I am writing this post to show you how even when you are super busy, the TINY steps can add up and help you out.

The bathroom daytime and nighttime bins have kept my bathroom completely picked up. I did not unpack my suitcase last night because I was too tired but I put my dopp kit in the day bin after I got ready this morning and bathroom is clean
Washed coffee travel mugs (they cant go in dishwasher) by hand while husband when to grocery store. THEN after we ate dinner, I ran the dishwasher so we woke up to no dishes in the sink.
Taking something from every room with me every time I leave the room made it so I got the dining room table cleared and we could eat dinner. Also I got my car cleared out.

However, our bedroom became the dumping ground for everything. And tonight we wont be home after school until late so it wont get picked up tonight. BUT I was able to put a pair of shoes, sweatpants, and a dress away before heading to work. So its not too bad.

Remember the tiny steps keep you from drowning and even if only a few of them are in operation, it will keep your head above water until you can do more of them and next week I am going to talk about a reward system I am putting into place.

Thank you to my 81 followers!