The Art & Poetry of Mary Coleman

I achieved my main goal last year which was to run 13 half marathons. This year I need to set new goals and I have eight in mind: three creativity related, two health and fitness related, one finance related, one relaxation related, and one routine related. Anyway, here they are with a bit of a game plan below each one on how I plan to achieve them:

1. Get better at drawing and draw in the mornings at 6am. Try to get 4 drawings in a week. Be ready for Inktober next year.

Progress: Started doing this the last week of February

2. (Achieved!) Do some more PPE paintings and finish the series.

Plan: Break each painting down into small, achievable, 30 to 45 minute goals.

Progress: Have finished one PPE painting in January and started another one. – Finished another PPE painting in February and finished the series.

3. Write a book of poems and have my close friend illustrate it.

Plan: write a poem a day. Not all will be winners but I should compile enough for a book by the end of the year.

Progress: I started writing a poem a day in February.

4. Lose 36 pounds by July 4th and maintain that weight for the rest of the year (I know weight fluctuates by 2-5 pounds so I’m okay with going up and down a little bit).

Plan:

1. Cut out desserts and reduce added sugars to as little as humanly possible
2. Follow intermittent fasting as a lifestyle with eating windows between 8am and 10am in the morning and 4pm-6pm at night.
3. Eat home cooked meals 6 times a week.
4. Eat out once a week but avoid fast food and go to restaurants that cook.
5. Try to aim for 1500 calories a day.
6. Cut out ultra-processed food entirely
7. Get 25+grams of fiber a day and 60+ grams of protein a day

Progress: Introduced calorie counting at the end of January and have been intermittent fasting. Introduced fiber and protein goals at the end of January. Only had desserts twice in January.

Introduced calorie goals in the second half of February, reduced takeout to twice a week. Cut out UPF the last two weeks of February. Only had a dessert twice in February. Sugar cravings mostly gone.

5. Introduce strength training to my workout routine and run 4 half marathons (one each season).

Plan:

1. Eventually do strength training twice a week for 66 minutes total. Introduce it in the second half of January. Start with 20 minutes sessions and work up 5 minutes a week.
2. Slowly increase my weekend long run starting in March. Work up to 10 miles before the April half marathon.
3. Continue to run three miles three times a week or use the elliptical if the weather is terrible.

Progress: Introduced strength training and have been running in January. Upped strength training to 66 minutes a week in February, increased aerobic exercise to 4 times a week. Doing 4 mile runs once a week in February.

6. Read 14 chapters of a book a week and play my steam deck for 30 minutes each night. Do Instagram each morning before breakfast. Meditate daily. Finish most the books in my house that have not been read. Start writing a poem a day in April.

1. In the second half of February introduce reading
2. In the first half of March introduce playing my video game
3. In the the first half of February re-introduce Instagram
4. In January re-introduce daily meditation
5. In April introduce writing poetry each day and reading a poem a day from anthologies.

Progress: Introduced meditation in January because I was having high anxiety and I needed to do something about it. Reading will be introduced in February instead of January. Introduced reading and poem writing the second half of February. Introduced video games the last week of February.

7. Stick to a budget and save money.

Plan:

1. Cook at home 6 times a week. (5x a week for the last week of January and the first week of February, then 6x after that)
2. Only have takeaways once a week.
3. Only order off Amazon or other places online if something is absolutely needed and try to limit orders to once a month.

Progress: In January I limited my Amazon purchase to one time this month (and things I really needed no impulse buys). In the second half of February I limited restaurant food we pay for to twice a week. In the last week of February I limited it to once a week.

8. Establish a routine in the morning and evening in preparation for working.

1. Get a drawing, a poem, and exercise in every morning and be ready for work at 8:30am. That is if I start at 9. If I start at 8, then get up at 4am and have everything completed by 7:30am.
2. In the evening do Instagram, meditation, reading, and play a video game. Start doing this at 7pm and go to bed at 9, but if I get off of work at 6, then start doing this at 8 and go to bed at 10.

Progress: Started doing this on February 24th.

Books in my house I need to Read this year:

1. Dust by Hugh Howey
2. Parable of the Sower, Parable of the Talents, Lilith’s Brood, Wild Seed, Kindred, and Fledgeling by Octavia E Butler (all gifts from my uncle)
3. Filth by Irvine Welsh
4. The Pox and the Covenant by Tony Williams
5. The Fall of Hyperion, The Rise of Endymion, and Endymion by Dan Simmons (I’ve read the first book of the series Hyperion)
6. The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (started but still unfinished)
7. A Book of Luminous Things (poetry compilation I started awhile back but have not finished)
8. The Great Influenza by John M Barry
9. The Black Death by Philip Ziegler
10. The Complete Short Stories of Roald Dahl (volume one I started already)
11. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Tool (started but unfinished)
12. The Complete Poems of Anne Sexton
13. Nothing to Declare (a poetry compilation by various authors)
14. Feral Creatures and Hollow Kingdom by Kira Jane Buxton
15. Sylvia Plath The Collected Poems