Thread: Am i doing this right?

Sup.So i have recently taken up LD-ing again.I have been doing it for about a week or so.I have been keeping a dream journal and doing reality checks but i have not been meditating.Im still not sure if thats even necessary.My real question is about the way i do reality checks.Im not sure how to convey it so im just going to write down my thought process every time i do one.
Also,i use my phones stop-watch app to time the moments when i do reality checks.Here i go.
P.S.- Any advice on anything related to LD-ing would be greatly appreciated regardless of the question at hand.

First,i ask "Am i dreaming?" and i look around the room I'm in.I check the time and date,look away and back again to see if it has changed.If nothing has changed significantly i move on.Now,the difficult part about my house is that my mom has a shit ton of unnecessary nick-nacks all over the shelves in almost all the rooms where we spend most of our time.Perfume bottles,fancy bowls,souveniers etc. and it seems like it would be a pain to examine all of those things so i just pick the bigger elements in the room and go with that.For example,Im in the living room,so i look at the couch and sofas.What kind are they,what collor,texture,how many people can fit,wether or not anyone is sitting in them(if so,who,do i know them,are they part of my family,friends from school?) and so on.After I'm done with that i look at the table.Same thing,collor,refflectivness,texture and material.

I look at the cabinets and cupboards.Same.Then i look at the walls.I examine the collor,what material?Wood,bricks,stone,maybe concrete?I go over the surface of the nearest wall and feel the texture.I try to push my hand through it a couple of times.After i made sure its the room i thought it was i move on to the next RC.I try to turn on and off any lights that are near me.When im satisfied i move on.I look at my hands and feet,how many do i have,are there any extra limbs growing out anywhere?If it dont see anything i move on.

I feel the texture of my skin,what collor,do i have any tatoos,weird shit sticking out etc.Then i look at the texture of my hands.I examine all the creases and run my hands over them.When im satisfied,i look at my hands and count my fingers.The way i count them is i have them all extended upwards and then i look at each one and keep looking as i lower them onto my palm where i double check the ammount i counted.Then i check 2 more times and move on.I try to push my index and middle finger through my palm a couple of times(i forgot to mention,every time i do these physical RC's,i imagine the scenario in my head where it works and i also try to imagine how it feels).Once satisfied,i move on.Then i try to strech my skin to see how far it will go.I move on.I do the pinching RC on both arms as an extra precaution.Then i do the one where you pinch your nose closed and try to breathe.After i do that and have double checked that my environment hasnt changed,i take a deep breath and say a mantra like:"I have to remember my dreams"(I'm working to get my recall back up) about 20 times and then open my eyes and go on my way.
Now,sometimes in my dreams i play video games or i am a character from one,so i sometimes do a reality check where i check if im wearing some kind of armor,wether or not i have a Heads Up Display or not etc.

Thats basicaly how i do reality checks.Now,i would like to get some advice on how to improve the way i do it.If anyone has ANY advice please feel free to share.

Also,sometimes i have dreams where its more like im watching a movie and I am not actualy participating in the events.Im basicaly a passive observer,so advice on that would also be appreciated.

Now,i tend to eat almonds and sunflower seeds almost every time before i go to sleep since they apparently have a lot of melatonin in them.If anyone has any other foods that they can recomend i would be gratefull.

Cheers.

:edit: - I forgot about this but i would like to know how i could deal with people interupting me while dong RC's by talking to me and distracting me, and doing them when there are a lot of people around me and it would be highly obvious if i start looking around randomly and banging my fist on shit to see if its solid or not and so on.
I have ALLWAYS struggled with these,a bit less now but its still an issue.Tnx.