Dodo Diary September 2015: Self-improvement challenge, Month #7

I had a bit of a shock this month.

I was at my sister’s party, and afterwards the photos were all over Facebook.

I saw one of myself, sitting in a chair, with my flab bulging over my waistline, holding a cigarette in one hand and a glass of Diet Coke in the other. Although it’s a party, I’m not mingling and chatting, but sitting with my partner.

“What a perfect ‘Before’ picture,” I thought. “It shows all the things I wanted to change.”

And then it hit me.

This isn’t ‘Before’. This is over HALFWAY THROUGH my Dodo to Dynamite in a Year self-improvement challenge.

Which is why I’m blushing!

Okay, I have a few excuses. I fell down and damaged my knee a few months ago, and I’m still limping. My doctor advised me to rest it, so I couldn’t use the exercise bike or do much energetic activity, and after three months of pain I’ve finally had it x-rayed.

After three more weeks (I love the NHS!) I finally got the results – “No action required.” But.. but… it still hurts!

I want to see results quicker than this – and that means more commitment to my self-improvement targets. Watch this space!

Dodo to Dynamite in a Year Progress Report

• Weight: Lose 40lbs.  I’m back trying at my diet, despite having made a huge and delicious Hawaiian Luau cake for my sister’s birthday. And I’ve managed to lose another 1lb this month – total weight loss so far 23lbs.
• Smoking: Quit. My smoking habit soon built back to 20 a day at the beginning of the month, which was very disappointing. It wouldn’t have been so bad if I had lost loads of weight while I was smoking, but of course I didn’t. However, halfway through the month, I cut back down again, and although it’s still not really good enough, I’m still doing my best to give up. I’ve also switched to a cheaper (and nastier) brand. Money saved so far: £443.90.
• Self-Control: Beat addictions to sugar and caffeine. I’m maintaining my success with my sugar addiction, but still not ready to  cut down on caffeine. Wimp!
• Hoarding: Clear whole house. Cleared loads more stuff. Good.
• Relationships: Rebuild relationships with partner and family. Improved my relationship with my partner a lot. Some of my family links aren’t as impressive as I’d like, due to family issues, but I’ll work on this more next month.
• Success: Build Ebay business/increase income. Improving sales on Ebay, but my other plan has had to be put on hold this month.
• Writing: Refocus blog and add a new blog post every week. Another poor month – there just isn’t enough of me to go around!
• Friends: Make 3 new friends. Still thinking what to do about this one – but first I need more money so I can afford a social life!

Next month, I’ll be concentrating on my smoking and building family links, and trying to sort out my secret money-making plan.