New Year... New Goals & A New Me!

"Self-delusion is pulling in your stomach when you step on the scale"

-Paul Sweeny

Over the holidays it became apparent that my weight gain has gone past the acceptable 1^st year of happy marriage belly weight… gone past the excuse of but I was pregnant- weren’t future mommy’s supposed to gain weight… gone past me just saying well I’ve been a bit depressed and with little energy after the miscarriage of course I have gained some weight. Let’s be honest now, I haven’t gained “some” weight. I’ve gained 30 pounds in a year! That’s the 20 pounds I lost for the wedding plus 10 pounds more. That’s no longer just my clothes are a bit tight, it’s the I can no longer button the pants I bought that are 2 sizes bigger. So instead of feeling sorry for myself any longer I’ve decided it’s time to get this under control… time to do one of the things I love best- make a to-do list and get some new resolutions & life goals going!

Life Goal #1: Keep writing.

I use to love writing and blogging… It kept me sane during my oh so tumultuous single years. But after Dan and I started dating I sort of lost interest after I lost all my angst and drama. But it helped me through some really rough patches so I think it may be able to help me now. And I know it will especially help me stick to my weight loss and health overall if I have to be accountable to someone other than my own scale!

Life Goal #2: Get Healthy.

This means a lot of things need to change this year. I need to go back to my completely organic lifestyle. Last year was easy to be sidetracked with visions of cupcakes at work, fabulous dinners with my hubby, lots of good wine to drown my sorrows… so this year it’s back to the basics. Real Food. Dan and I are starting the 100 days of real foods challenge. Well technically we will be doing 2 back to back 100 days.  If you haven’t checked out the 100 Days of Real Food blog you should, the author is amazing and has shown that it really easy to get your family to eat healthy and unprocessed: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/ . For the first 100 days we will be doing the ease yourself into it easier one- 100 days of mini real food pledges… which if we can survive that by the end we will be able to do a full 100 days of real food. Now I know there will be a few setbacks, but I’d like to try to stick with this for the next 200 days! The first one we will be starting on Saturday and seems pretty easy- Week 1: 2 fruits/veggies with every meal. We pretty much already do this so it should be pretty simple… though last night in a fit of exhaustion and my respiratory infection I did have dinner that consisted of 3 types of ice cream & gelato…. And I wonder why I can’t’ fit into my pants!

Life Goal #3: Get Active.

I love yoga. Plan vacations around world class hiking spots. I belong to an amazing gym which sometimes feels more like a spa than a place to go get tortured. I was finally up to running 4 miles at a time. And for our wedding I actually had abs, for the first time in pretty much ever! And then last year I took a nice and lazy break… well that break is over! So this year it’s going to be all about trying new classes, staying activate with my husband, and get back into the water- surfing and swimming. I usually have a tendency to jump into things head first so this time I’m not starting with a 30 workouts in 30 days challenge, instead I’m going to make it simple and easy. For January, since I haven’t’ been active in quite a while I’m going to do 3 active days a week for the month.  Now this can be yoga, or hiking, maybe trying a new class or can be as simple as getting away from my computer for 30 min to go use the elliptical in our Gym Trailer at work.

Life Goal #4: Focus on our family.

Last year a lot of time was focused on so many other things. First it was focused on my family and being with them and my grandfather in the last few weeks before he passed away. And then it was focused getting pregnant, then staying pregnant, and then trying to accept not being pregnant. And somehow I lost focus on the little family I already have- Dan & myself.  I have an amazing husband who not only takes great care of me but really accepts me and all my little faults. He has really been put through the wringer this last year and it’s time that we focus on us for a little while. It looks like it may be a bit before we can really start trying for a little one, so instead of dwelling on that I need to enjoy what little time left we have of being just the 2 of us. While I will never be thankful for my miscarriage I do have to admit that God works in some mysterious ways. Being pregnant I would never have been able to have some of the adventures that we have had lately. I would never have been able to face my fears in a frozen river in Utah. I wouldn’t have been able to sit back with my family and enjoy some amazing brie and blue cheeses over the holidays. I wouldn’t have been able to fall in love with yet another amazing wine from Napa while we were in Vegas. And yes those may seem like small little insignificant things to you, but in a year where I lost my grandfather and lost our baby sometimes you need to really appreciate the small things in life. And although some days it’s really hard to accept that things happen for a reason, deep down I know that they do. Maybe I needed to learn a few more things in life before I’m ready to be a mother… and for now I am happy to learn all of those hand in hand with the true love of my life.