’m a serial self experimenter. Trying out new fitness crazes, health trends and productivity gadgets is my chocolate but you probably already know that if you’ve been here before. Smaggle is all about being the star of your own life and I post every day with tips and tricks to help you get there. I realised the other day that I rarely do retroactive updates. If I find something I love that works, I tell everyone about it but when I stop doing that thing, I just stop doing it. And that’s that. So today I thought I’d do an update post on where I’m at with a few things I’ve recommended to you guys that I’m no longer doing.
I batch less
I’m not back tracking on batching – I freaking love it so much – I’ve just adjusted the way I do it. The concept of batching is where you do several of the same kind of task at the same time. For instance doing a weekly shop instead of going to the supermarket every day. I have to batch some tasks, otherwise I’d never get anything done but I’ve relaxed a bit on blog post batching. I now leave at least one day in the week where I write my post the day before it goes it live. It just keeps things fresh and joyful and less scheduled. I like it. It’s working for me. I also shop every day instead of weekly. A massive supermarket opened just across the road from my house and I duck over grab what I need for dinner most afternoons. It’s a good way to end the day when I work from home. I get to wander around and listen to a podcast. Technically it’s a waste of time but I don’t care. Sometimes you’ve just got to do that.
I’ve ditched the 5:2
I did the 5:2 for most of last year and I really liked but I’ve ditched it this year because it’s having a negative effect on my productivity. I achieve a lot less on fast days than on non-fast days. Which is sad because it was super effective for weight maintenance and I’m still ironing out that issue but I can’t keep having two days a week where I’m only working at half my strength. One main benefit of doing the 5:2 though is that I’ve learnt not to be afraid of hunger, which is an excellent skill to have. So no regrets on that front, just a bit of a re-adjustment.
I’m cutting down on dairy
My doctor told me there’s been some interesting research linking dairy consumption to very painful period pain in some women. Just to over share, my monthly period pain is BRUTAL so I thought I’d give this a go. I’m an enormous yogurt lover (seriously the words ‘yogurt enthusiast’ used to be in my bio) but I’ve ditched all dairy except for a teeny sploosh in my tea. I’m not sure if it will effect my period pain but I feel better in general. Life without cheese is slightly sad but I’m coping and my pants aren’t getting tighter so that’s always a good thing.
I’m writing down two affirmations before bed every night
I’ve tried keeping gratitude journals but I’m already a very grateful person so gratitude journals become tedious for me very quickly. Isn’t that the most privileged bullshit you’ve ever heard? I hate me right now. Anyway I got given a beautiful gratitude journal last year and I never made it past the front few pages and I felt bad because it’s gorgeous. I’ve re-purposed it into an affirmation book. I have two strong affirmations I write down every night in the book. It’s just a great way to remember my goals and make sure I spend time each day trying to achieve them.
I’m caring about fashion less and less
That’s not entirely true but I’m very seriously considering turning my cupboard into a permanent capsule wardrobe. I tend to wear very similar things most days so I might as well just embrace this and try to streamline it. Don’t worry: I’ll still do outfit posts they’ll just be more minimalist themed than usual.
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
What about you? Have you made any changes recently? Anything you use to do and love that you no longer do anymore?
[divider type=”standard” width=”1/1″ el_position=”first last”]
Oh also I have a newsletter you might like – you can sign up here – it’s not boring I promise.