How I'm Failing at adulthood and how I'm changing my ways...

(disclaimer: For those of you readers who know me personally, you know I generally try to appear like I've got my act together. But it's just that...an act...cause I totally don't.)

It has come to my attention recently (within the past few months) that I am epically failing at being an adult. It's not that I'll be paying off my student loans til I'm 35. It's not that I'm living with my parents (what recent college grad can afford to live on their own these days anyway?). It's not even that I stay up til 1:00 a.m. most nights. (Although that can be contributing factor.) So here's a random personal post about what I'm doing wrong, and how I'm going to fight to make it right.

I oversleep. Just about every morning. Like seriously oversleep. Oversleep as in I have 20 minutes to shower, get ready [and look somewhat professional], and get myself to work on time. I don't know what it is about my body that loathes mornings. I can stay up til 3:00 a.m. and I'm fine. But no matter what time I go to bed (and believe me, I've tried the going to bed early thing) I still just hate getting up in the morning. Just this morning, I literally hit snooze every 8 minutes from 6:30 until 8:00. I know. So pointless. But when you're bed feels like a fluffy cloud, it is just so hard to get up.

I am overly caffeinated. Right now, I'm averaging at least 4 caffeinated drinks a day. That's a lot. Correction, that's too much. Which is probably why I have trouble sleeping. Or sitting still. It's now a running joke with some of the teens in our youth group to ask me how many cups of coffee I've had every time they see me. (This may be because they rarely see me without a coffee cup attached to my hand.)

I am pretty sure I have some of the worst eating habits. Like ever. I know I'm picky, but that's not excuse for the epic fail that is my eating. Fast food, junk food, and candy are basically what I live off of most of the time. And this is not good. And my body knows it's not good. But I do it anyway. It's so tempting to just run over to one of the multiple fast food places a block or two from the office. And then I feel gross the rest of the day. But I do it, anyway.

Like many Americans, I have a gym membership. But until last night I hadn't been to the gym in a solid 2 months. Some of this was unavoidable. When you're pulling 80+ hour weeks, it is just impossible to squeeze in gym time. But a lot of it was lack of motivation and lack of discipline.

So, in a nutshell, that is a lot of how I'm failing. But I have a plan. I like plans. Especially when they involve making lists. I am a HUGE list-maker. So here we go. Ali's Plan to Start Being a Real Adult.

1) Oversleeping - This is not a problem that is going to be fixed overnight. (No pun intended). My goal is to work up to getting up at a decent time this month. Starting this week I need to be out of bed no later than 7:45. Next week it will be no later than 7:35. Small goals produce a greater outcome. I've also started setting out my outfit the night before. That way I'm not groggily staring at my closet trying to figure out how to put a business casual outfit together.

2) Caffeine- I am limiting myself to 2 cups of coffee in the morning at the office. Obviously, there will be an occasional exception to this one. But as a general rule, 2 cups and I'm done. I want to start getting into drinking green tea, so that will be my afternoon pick-me-up.

3) Eating habits -  This one I'm going all in. No more fast food for lunch at the office. Majorly cutting back on the candy intake. I went to the grocery store last night and stocked up on healthy things for lunch at the office, like oatmeal, granola and yogurt, and whole wheat bagels. Drinking more water and less of everything else is also on the list, as is drinking green tea, lemon water, and Naked Green Machine juices. I hate green veggies, and realistically, I'm never going to sit down and eat a salad, so Green Machine is my way of getting all those healthy green nutrients.

4) Gym Time - I've recruited one of my goods friends to help me with this one. We're gonna keep each other accountable on gym time and make sure that we're both following our goals. Yay for friendship!

Well, there you have it! I'll try to keep you updated on my successes and failures. October is my month for changing my life and it's exciting! I spent an hour at the gym last night, and just finished my whole wheat bagel. I'll eat my apple after I run some office errands.

How are you trying to be healthier, or manage time better, or be a better adult?

-A.A.