Last month I achieved 3/4 goals that I had set for myself. The obvious lesson here is that if I set goals, I am more likely to achieve a happier, healthier life than if I don’t set goals. Now it is important that those goals are realistically obtainable. I want to be pushed, taken outside my comfort zone, but not so far that my chance at success is minimal. With that in mind, here are my goals for April 2008:

1. Try The Great Walking Experiment: Steph over at Back in Skinny Jeans just posted her conclusion of The Great Walking Experiment of March 2008. Steph is hilarious in her reviews of her walks and also has an interesting summation of the project as a whole (she stopped after Day 13, but left knowing a bit more about herself and her exercise preferences). I want to try what Steph tried: walk 30 minutes per day for 30 days, with 4/7 days being outside of the gym. I will still go to the gym and do some cardio and strength training. I’ll start today, which means my last walking day will actually fall on May 1. I make no promises of posting about all of my weekday walks as she did, but will try to post a few. Thanks to Steph for the idea!
2. Find and Make a Healthy and Nutritious Dessert: You may have already seen my post on Quadruple Chocolate Cookies. Those were some very, very tasty cookies. But those cookies were also high in fat and really contributed nothing nutritious to my diet. I would like to find a really tasty but also a nutritious dessert. This will probably involve fruits and would still include some sugar, but I want ti to be better for me than those really delicious cookies.
3. Meditate, Meditate, Meditate: Meditation is something that I have always wanted to do more of. I enjoy having that quiet time during my day where my mind is focused and cleared of the baggage and stress that accumulates. This month, I want to meditate for just 5 minutes a day everyday. Daily meditation will help me to become a more centered, grounded, and happier person.
4. Wake-up at 6:30 am Every Morning: This is a tough on for me. I am not a morning person, not even a little bit. My brain kicks in in the afternoon and runs me into the evening. But I know that I need to start getting up earlier so I am not so rushed getting ready in the morning. Sometimes I wake up late enough that I end up having a LunaBar or Peanut Butter and Crackers for breakfast. Now that is not a balanced breakfast! So I need to make it a habit of waking up early enough every morning to relieve the frustration of running around like a mad woman on some of these busy mornings.

There you have it: my goals for the month of April.  Every one of these goals will help me to live a happier, healthier life.

It seems that the answer could be ‘yes’ or ‘no.’  Some fruits - like bananas - lose their nutritional value the longer you keep them around.  Others - like dark plums - seems to get a little bit more nutritious with age.

Either way, get your 4 servings of fruit every day.  And if those bananas start looking a little less nutritious, you can always make banana bread.

Source: RealAge.com