For those of you who don’t know already, I’ve made 2011 into a year-long experiment, twelve month-long Lents. I called it Discipline Year, each month’s challenge designed to make me either appreciate what I’ve chosen to give up, or test my commitment. Here’s what I’ve learned.

1 GYMUARY For the first experiment, I decided that each and every day I would go to the gym. It taught me that a twelve-minute walk in January in New England can sometimes feel like that train journey in Dr. Zhivago, especially given the aggro, icy winter we were dealt this year. And truth be told, I missed three days, one because of a blizzard (I made up for it shoveling snow, I reasoned) and two from…well… Gymuary also taught me going to the gym every day is an excellent way to injure one’s self, particularly when one’s self is prone to zealous, willful overexertion. As I am. But I sure did burn a lot of calories.

2 FACE-OFF FEBRUARY In February, I gave up wearing make-up for the entire month, and I didn’t cheat once! It was hard for about two days, then I realized no one except me actually notices if I’m wearing make-up or not. Easily the most liberating month of the twelve. If you’re like me and have been wearing make-up since junior high, give it a whirl. You may just surprise yourself with your own capacity to not care what anyone thinks about your face.

3 MEAGER MARCH No frivolous purchases for the month of March. No problem. I missed eating out and going to the odd movie, but for a single month, it wasn’t much of a hardship.

4 NO #&$%@! APRIL For April, I put the kibosh on my potty-mouth, from “damn” and “hell” on up the line of profanity. I knew I’d fail, so I devised a penance system ahead of time, promising to donate a dollar for each swear that I let slip. All told, I ponied up fifty-seven bucks to charity. That’s not so bad, right? That’s less than two swears a day! As the culler of my many written blasphemies, my editor Laura can attest that that’s pretty impressive. For me.

5 MEAT-FREE MAY I went vegetarian for the month of May. It was the most fun of all the challenges, as I taught myself a dozen or more new recipes and really made the most of our weekly farm share box. We’ve since cut way down on our meat consumption, and hence our grocery bill and household’s carbon footprint. I could fairly easily go vegetarian full-time. Mmm, tempeh. Though I would miss my beloved scallops.

6 NO JAVA JUNE That’s right, no coffee. I did enjoy a rather spirited headache for a couple days, but I soon enough replaced the ritual of coffee with maté tea, and it wasn’t too terrible. I did cheat, though, once. I had a small cup of coffee at the movies, but it made me feel strung out and anxious after three weeks’ abstinence, so it wasn’t even an enjoyable transgression.

7 JUJUBE-FREE JULY That is to say, no candy. No extraneous sugar. If a food such as wine or fruit contained natural sugar, that was fine, but no candy, sweet drinks, pastries, or packaged food with sugar as one of its top five listed ingredients. I missed my nightly square of dark chocolate, but as with the meat and caffeine, once I got into a new habit, I found it wasn’t much of a chore. Though I did ogle an awful lot of pastries while waiting in line at the coffee shop… Bakeries took on a red-light district allure that month.

8 UP AND AT ‘EM AUGUST For August I said I’d set my alarm and rise promptly at five a.m. each morning. Well, I ended up going on vacation for nearly the entire month of August, and gave myself permission to take that time off from the Lents, as well. So, I can’t accurately report my findings, since I really didn’t fulfill this one. Not even close.

9 SWITCH OFF SEPTEMBER In September, I went without TV. Considering I don’t own one, this should’ve be easy, right? Hell no. Thanks to Hulu and Instant Watcher, I had a mean TV habit going on, and I needed to figure out other ways to enjoy my lunch hour or unwind at five aside from tuning in to my beloved crappo reality shows. Movies were acceptable, so I didn’t deprive my manfriend of our shared entertainment times, but no TV. And I did it! I wound up reading a lot more, and generally hanging out in my kitchen, listening to music and working on crossword puzzles.

10 OMMM-CTOBER For October, I’d committed to practicing yoga either at home or in a class for at least forty-five minutes each day. I failed a bit, only doing twenty or thirty minutes some days, and a few days, not at all. I’d begun to lose steam by the time October rolled around, the novelty of all this nonsense having worn off some, and that coupled with a bout of food poisoning sort of dampened my motivation. Still, I definitely felt better those days when I did make the time.

11 NOVEMBOOZE That’s right, no alcohol for the month of November. I love a glass or wine or beer when the writing day is done, but I was very pleasantly surprised to see how easily I could swap them for a mug of hot tea and still unwind just as easily. It’s the symbolism of the drink that I was really attached to, not the buzz, and it turned out a cup of just about anything was enough to trigger in my brain that it was time to relax. Though full disclosure, I did cheat and drink wine at Thanksgiving, though I’d given myself permission to, ahead of time. It was a premeditated caving, not a moment of weakness

12 DONATE DECEMBER Each day in December, I’m going through my clothes and other possessions and choosing one nice thing to give to a Salvation Army-type donation center. Actually I’m doing it every five days, grabbing five things and walking them to the drop box down the road. It was easier at first, but it is a bit more challenging now, with the month half-over. Still, feels great to be getting rid of things I don’t need and helping people who do need them, all in one go.

So, we’re now eleven and a half months into Discipline Year, and I’m truly glad I did all this nonsense. That said, I’m also not planning to do it again, not next year, at least. Sticking with my simple New Year’s resolutions instead for 2012—run ten miles without stopping for the first time ever, try one new recipe a week, read one hundred books, and land an agent. Still ambitious, just a bit less…relentless.

I hope everyone has a safe, healthy, happy holiday season, and a great start to the new year! See you in 2012!

xoxo,
Meg

Hi, everyone! I’m Meg Maguire, brand new to Blaze (my first book debuts in April), and even newer to this blog. Thanks for having me, everyone! I’ll be popping up on the 17th of each month.

I’ve noticed lots of posts recently about resolutions, so I thought that as an introduction to my oddness, I’d share my own ambitious goals for 2011 with everyone…

When I was a kid, I was always secretly jealous of my Catholic friends who, in my mental wording, “got to do” Lent each spring. It seemed so romantic to me, this notion of doing without for a month. So noble and selfless. My consciousness of Lent started in the late eighties as well, which meant I was also being bombarded with media mentions of “dieting”. How grown up the women on TV were, always suffering for their diets! Suffering and going without seemed so sophisticated. Clearly Irish Catholicism is genetic, as I was raised agnostic yet inherited all the guilt and self-loathing enjoyed by my foremothers.

Already, I’m going off topic. The point is, I’ve decided to do an entire year of Lent-like experiments. Every month in 2011, I’m going to either go without a vice or luxury, or else commit to doing a certain positive thing each day. No moral I’m trying to prove, here—there’s no point to this exercise aside from challenging myself and giving myself a healthy shove toward the edge of my comfort zone. I’ve come to realize in past few years just how adaptable humans are, and I want to explore that a bit more, and hopefully surprise myself with my own flexibility and will.

Here’s the schedule for what I’m calling my Discipline Year (you may take that in either the punitive or reverent sense, as I expect it’ll be both):

1 GYMUARY For January, I decided that each and every day I would go to the gym, a twelve-minute walk from my house here on Boston’s North Shore. Confession time—between the blizzards and a predictable running injury, I will not complete this challenge. I do hope to make up for a couple of missed days later in the month, though. Between cardio and yoga and Zumba, already my body’s changed shape, though that wasn’t actually the goal. Also, as I only own two jog bras, perhaps a more apt name for this month would have been Janulaundry.

2 FACE-OFF FEBRUARY In February, I will forgo wearing make-up the entire month. There is a reason, aside from consonance, that I picked this shortest month to not wear make-up. I like the stuff and I’ve been wearing it since I was about fourteen or fifteen. But I’d like to see just how differently I’ll feel about myself if I go without it for a few weeks.

3 MEAGER MARCH No frivolous purchases for the month of March. That means clothes, silly stuff from CVS, coffees or drinks while I’m out and about, iTunes or book downloads…spending on necessities and groceries only. (Alcohol counts as a grocery item, however, as the hideousness that is temperance is coming later in the year.) I’m not too worried about this one.

4 NO #&$%@! APRIL For April, I’m putting the cabash on my potty-mouth, from “damn” and “hell” on up the line of profanity. This will go for out loud swearing as well as tweets and blog posts, though my characters are still allowed to cuss their everloving heads off in my manuscripts, as always. I honestly have no clue how hard this will be, and since my swearing is more habitual than willful, I will have to come up with a penance system for when I inevitably slip up…a dollar to charity or something like that.

5 MEAT-FREE MAY I’ll be going vegetarian for the month of May. For now this means no meat, including poultry and seafood. I’m open to tossing eggs and dairy into the mix and upgrading to vegan… I’d miss having cream in my coffee each morning, but if I’m feeling brave at the end of April, I’ll up the ante.

6 NO JAVA JUNE That’s right, no coffee. I’m dreading this one. I’m allowing caffeine, but substituting rooibus and green tea and maté will not make my grief any more bearable. Coffee is as much a comforting ritual to me as it is a chemical fix.

7 JUJUBE-FREE JULY That is to say, no candy. No extraneous sugar. If a food such as wine or fruit contains natural sugar, that’s fine, but no candy, sweet drinks, pastries, or packaged food with sugar as one of its top five listed ingredients.

8 UP AND AT ‘EM AUGUST For August I will set my alarm and rise promptly at five a.m. each morning. Normally I get up around six thirty, but I want to see exactly what I might get accomplished in those bonus ninety minutes before the rest of the world wakes up and demands my attention. Perhaps it will just be a lot of yawning, but perhaps it will be an entire extra novella.

9 SWITCH OFF SEPTEMBER In September, I will go without TV. Considering I don’t own one, this should be easy, right? Hell no. Thanks to Hulu and Instant Watcher, I’ve got a mean TV habit going on, and I’ll need to figure out other ways to enjoy my lunch hour or unwind at five aside from tuning in to my beloved crappo reality shows. Movies will be acceptable.

10 OMMM-CTOBER For October, I will commit to practicing yoga either at home or in a class for at least forty-five minutes each day. It’s something I used to do before writing became my sacred daily practice, and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with it.

11 NOVEMBOOZE That’s right, no alcohol for the month of November. I’m dreading this almost as much as the coffee month. And I did pick a holiday month on purpose, just to make it tougher. If I wind up with a contract or a release date in November, I’ll just have to get creative with my celebrating. Perhaps a cupcake or a new necklace in place of the usual champagne.

12 DONATE DECEMBER Each day in December I will go through my clothes and other possessions and pick one nice thing to add to a Salvation Army-type donation box. December’s usually stressful, and this is an easy one for me. Getting rid of older stuff feels good, and it makes room for new and exciting things to come into one’s life. Seems like an appropriate choice for the end of the year and the holiday season.

So that’s the deal! Throughout 2011, my blog will be like my 12-step meetings, so if you come to visit, expect lots of whiny posts as I struggle through my various withdrawals and am tempted by seductive relapses. The first week of June should be especially entertaining, as you watch me break up with my precious codependent lover, coffee. Oh how I will plead to get him back! Tune in and watch me crumble. Or if you’re similarly masochistic, join me for a month! Misery loves company.

A miracle has happened to me. Yes, a flat out miracle. I’ve found a diet that WORKS for me. Believe me, no one is more shocked. I’ve been on lots of different diets, most of them somewhat half-hearted. Mostly, my theory has been exercise to death and then eat what you want. That worked for a while until body parts started breaking. Knees, wrist, hip, feet. You name it, I’ve had pain there. And medication.

But the moment I started empty nesting, I began shifting my eating habits. Not out of intention but laziness. Yup. LAZY. That’s me. I hate cooking. Let me restate that. I HATE, DESPISE, DETEST and LOATHE cooking. So, I began eating fruits and vegetables because they required no cooking. My husband is a gem in that he will make a sandwich for himself or happily pick up semi-fast food on his way home. So, if I don’t want to cook, I don’t have to. And guess what? I didn’t want to.

So I began eating what I later learned was called a RAW DIET. All live food. Fruits, nuts, and veggies. And it turns out, it’s one of California’s newest diet crazes. Who knew I was being trendy? I thought I was lazy.

Well, this January I ended up going 100% raw. The reasons for this change are myriad, but it comes down to the energy work I do in my spare time. Everything has a vibrational rate. The higher the rate, the easier energy healing goes. Living foods have the highest rate. Dead foods have low rates. Ergo, eat living/raw food. Plus (added benefit), live foods tend to be alkaline (basic) as opposed to acidic. Diseases including cancer have a hard time living in alkaline environments. Since raw food reduces body acidity, it can have enormous health benefits.

In any event, I went raw. I bought a blender and have a smoothie for breakfast, huge salad at lunch, and whatever I feel like in the evening. Oh, and nuts all day long. (I LOVE NUTS!) I can eat all I want, whenever I want. But I’m not nearly as hungry, and the weight has been coming off. About 2 lbs a week which is a steady, safe pace. Plus, my energy work is better than ever. By a huge margin! Caffeine and dairy were the hardest to give up, but I really haven’t missed them that much.

Here’s my problem. This is supposed to be a LIFE STYLE choice, not a temporary diet. I’m doing fine because I’m sitting at home, writing my newest novel and going no where. Easy to not eat pasta and cheesecake because no one is offering it to me. What do I do when I travel? What about when a friend asks me out to lunch? My good writing reward was usually a lunch out with Elizabeth Hoyt at the end of the week. That’s gone now too. Do I really want to eat salad every day? That’s no fun when there’s chocolate mousse in the offering.

So…my question to you is what have you done when dieting AND dining out? Does the diet go out the window? Or do you typically find a compromise? And what about conferences? A week away on rubber chicken? Forget the diet, that gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it!

While visiting a friend-of-my-boyfriend’s house recently, I was presented with a horrifying scenario. It was a warm, sunny day, and the friend in question had a swimming pool and hot tub. I had not come prepared to immerse myself in any body of water, so the wife of the friend immediately coaxed me into a bedroom and began pulling bikinis out of a drawer.

“This one will fit you!” she declared, waving at me with a tiger-print scrap of fabric.

I eyed the swimsuit in question and cringed. Sure, it might fit technically, but it was one of those Euro cut numbers designed to cover approximately 1/8 of the behind.

And I hadn’t even been mentally eased into swimsuit season yet with the obligatory torture trip to a department store dressing room to regard with sober despair the results of a winter spent writing and consuming pastry products.

Before giving me a chance to argue for a bit more modesty, it was decided by the wife that I would indeed put on the tiger-print micro-bikini and present myself to a small crowd of people already waiting by the pool. She hurried me into a bathroom to change, and a few minutes later, I was staring at myself in the mirror, horrified to find that the tiny sides of the bikini bottoms virtually disappeared beneath a newfound set of love handles.

Never one to be called a bad sport though, I pulled my summer dress on again over the offending bikini and headed for the pool, praying I’d have a good excuse not to do the big reveal. The water would be icy, I was sure, and I would be able to lounge poolside with a glass of wine without ever having to show any serious skin.

And no, I didn’t have to get in the pool, but I did take a dip in the hot tub later (shrugging off my dress only when no one was looking, then doing a mad dash into the water), where I sat regarding my newly expanded waist and promising myself I’d run six miles a day for the rest of the spring and summer.

I haven’t quite gotten around to that running-six-miles-a-day resolution. Too many writing deadlines at the moment. In the meantime though, I’d like to suggest to pool owners everywhere, if you’re going to keep extra swimsuits on hand for guests, please, please get the full coverage kind. No bikinis bought while visiting the topless (and apparently virtually bottomless) beaches of the Greek Isles.

I’m also posting this story as an official warning to those of you, like me, who’ve failed to notice swimsuit season creeping up on us. It’s almost here. My resolution is to lay off the donuts and, okay, probably not run six miles a day. But I’m going to do something physical most days of the week. Yeah. That sounds good.

How about you? Do you dread the first big reveal of the season? Do you have a strategy for getting into summer-wear shape? And have you ever been forced to wear someone else’s tiger-print micro-bikini, or is that just something that happens to me?