Today, I Went for a Walk

As far back as I can remember, I've made New Year's Resolutions. Today I realized it's January 5, and I haven't made any formal resolutions for 2012.

Would I like to fit back into my smaller clothing? Of course. Do I want to eat better? Most definitely. But 2012 crept up on me during a very stressful holiday season and I just haven't been in the mood to set any specific goals.

I loved my first semester of teacher's college, and my five-week practicum was amazing. My healthy habits definitely slipped by the wayside (when you're staying up planning lessons past midnight and getting up at 5:30 for school, it's hard to squeeze in a workout), but I'm trying not to dwell on that. I'm also not in the mood to dwell on any numbers right now. I don't want to think about the best workout plan, or the best eating plan, or losing a certain number of pounds by a certain date.

I want to focus on feeling good today. I want to exercise so I can clear my head and feel energetic. I want to eat less junk food so I don't feel sick to my stomach. I want to go to bed on time so it's slightly less painful getting up for an 8:30 seminar on Friday mornings. I don't want to worry about fitting into my jeans (although that would be nice) or being able to run for 5k without stopping again (although that would also be nice).

Doing something--anything--is better than doing nothing. And when I think too much about the "perfect" exercise routine or eating plan, I often end up doing nothing at all.

Today, I went for a walk. And I'm satisfied with that.

Summertime Blues

Hi all. Where have I been all summer? Honestly, I don't know. I kept meaning to post but I never did.

Maybe I've avoided blogging because I haven't had anything particularly uplifting to say. I usually consider myself a very positive, optimistic, happy person, but I haven't felt like that lately.

This summer has been a really transitional time for me in a lot of ways. I feel like I've just been sitting around waiting for change - some of which will definitely happen (like moving to Thunder Bay and starting school next week), and some of which depends on me (eating well and losing weight again).

Another reason I feel like I'm in transition is the fact that I've been living at home temporarily. I had been living on my own for a long time, and adjusting to being in very close quarters with my parents wasn't easy.

To further complicate matters, my dad's health has not been great. I haven't mentioned this on the blog before, but my father is disabled. He is diabetic, and has had to have both of his feet amputated (the first was 9 years ago, the second was 4 years ago). He now also has congestive heart failure after his second heart attack last summer. Needless to say, this has all been very difficult for my family. We've spent more than our fair share of time in hospitals. While I'm exceedingly grateful that my dad has made it through his health difficulties with such courage and strength, and I am inspired by his attitude, it's something that I have a very hard time coping with. Lately, this has been especially difficult for various reasons.

In other news, my boyfriend and I broke up at the end of June. (I promise I'll say something happy soon so this post won't be a total downer!) Obviously that wasn't fun, but as breakups go, it was pretty amicable, so I guess that's something to be happy about... right?

I have one last piece of bad news, and then I'll finish up with some good stuff. Last week, I found out I have gallstones! I have to see a specialist before I know what happens next, but I have a feeling it might be surgery. In the meantime, I hope to somewhat overhaul my diet (and blog about it soon), and at the very least, cut out really fatty, greasy foods.

Somehow, amidst all of this drama, I actually accomplished one of my new year's resolutions! Moping around boyfriendless means a lot of nights spent with Netflix and knitting, so I was actually able to finish a sweater!


Okay, okay, it was a baby sweater (for my cousin's new baby), which wasn't exactly in the spirit of my resolution. But TECHNICALLY, I knit a sweater, so I say it counts! (I've also finished two pairs of mittens, a lace stole I started more than two years ago, a cowl, and one sock! I've been slightly obsessed...)

And finally, most exciting of all, I leave next week for Thunder Bay! I get on a bus in Toronto on Wednesday, and I arrive in Thunder Bay a mere 20 hours later. I cannot express how excited I am at putting that much distance between myself and my current situation. I have never been more in need of a change of scenery and a fresh start.

But before then, I have to figure out how to pack enough stuff for 9 weeks in a sane number of suitcases.


Oh, and mark a huge pile of final exams. I can't wait to be a student again. :)

Resolutions Revisited.

I made three main New Year's resolutions three months ago.

So how are they going?

My first resolution was to reach my goal weight with Weight Watchers and become a lifetime member. My plan was (er, is) to achieve this by tracking, attending my meetings, and exercising regularly.

For the past few weeks, I've missed my weekly meeting because of a course I'm taking on Saturdays. The course ended today, but I'm taking another one that starts immediately. I know I can find another meeting to go to, but I've been really busy and haven't gotten around to it... so I may be meeting-less for a few more weeks.

I also haven't been tracking! Some days I will start off strong, eat a healthy breakfast, pack a healthy lunch, etc, but by the end of the day, the tracking has usually gone by the wayside.

As for exercising? After a three week absence from the gym, I finally got back to it about a week ago. But it's in danger of disappearing again, I fear... I'm wondering if I need to revisit Operation: Buff, one year later?

My other plan for reaching this goal is to focus on one or two healthy habits each month. So, yeah, that didn't happen for February or March. BUT, it's a new month, and I just so happen to have a new habit I want to work on.

• For the month of April, I will focus on getting to bed on time.
  

In order to do this, I'm going to try and be off the computer by 7 or 8 pm each night. Lately I've been sitting up late on my laptop, not really doing anything important. By the time I get into bed, I'm too keyed up to fall asleep.

A couple of nights ago, I got off the computer at 7, and since I wasn't on it, I ended up going for a long walk, writing in my journal, washing the dishes, and getting to bed at a really reasonable hour! It was amazing.

I really think that getting more sleep will have a huge impact on my eating habits. I always notice the correlation between my sleeping patterns and my eating patterns, but I never succeed in doing anything about it.

My second New Year's resolution was to knit a sweater. I actually have started doing this! Yay, I'm not a complete resolution failure. :)

My third New Year's resolution was to get organized. This encompasses organizing my finances and, it turns out, organizing my life. After a lot of soul-searching, I had to make a big decision.

I'm moving!

I've decided it would be best for me to move back home with my parents for at least a few months to pay off some debts. So, deciding and preparing for that is partly why I've been missing from this blog (and obviously not paying enough attention to my healthy living habits).

After I decided to move, I started to do a lot of thinking about what I want to do career-wise, and if I'm satisfied with my current prospects. I still don't know the answers to those questions, but there may be changes in the near future! Once stuff is decided, I will fill you in. ;)

How are your resolutions going?

In 2011.

In 2011, I will reach my Weight Watchers goal weight and become a lifetime member.

No more messing around. I know I can do this! This is my most important resolution for 2011.

How will I do it?

Well, tracking, going to my Weight Watchers meetings, and exercising regularly are definitely part of the plan. I'm also going to choose one or two healthy habits to focus on each month.

For the month of January, I will focus on the following:

• drinking enough water each day and tracking it
• finding time each day to meditate, even if only for 1 minute (inspired by one of Angela's "Eleven in 2011")

These are simple things, but I think they will make a huge difference.

To help curb night-time eating out of boredom (I hope!), I plan to spend more time on activities that de-stress me and make me happy. Which brings me to my second resolution:

In 2011, I will knit a sweater.

I love knitting, and I love starting projects (including sweaters)... the problem is finishing them! I don't want to think about how many times I've started a knitting project and not followed through. I think it will be totally rad to have a sweater that I've made all by myself! I'm pretty sure I'll tackle this one.

And my last resolution, which is hopefully not too vague:

In 2011, I will get organized.

I love my apartment, but right now it looks like a tornado swept through it. I plan to set up some new shelving and have a place for everything!

I also need to get my finances organized. I'd like to continue to pay down my insane student debt and help get a better handle on my pocketbook.

One thing I think will help is to go grocery shopping only once a week. It's not an exaggeration to say I love going to the grocery store! I'll often stop in several times a week to pick a few things up. I'm very good at only buying healthy groceries, but I find myself throwing out food that's gone bad much too often.

By planning my meals (at least partially), writing out a grocery list, and shopping once a week, I will keep my kitchen organized, save money, and help my healthy eating efforts.

So far, I think I'm off to a good start! Today, I went back to the gym after a hiatus of over two weeks, and I got a bunch of healthy groceries and cleaned out my fridge!

I'm really excited to see what I can accomplish this year. :)

Eating Real Food & Weigh-In

Bitch Cakes has a great post today on how she completely cut out processed foods.

This is one thing that I have made big changes in over the past few years. I haven't eliminated processed foods completely, but if I think back to things I used to consider "dinner" (like a Lipton's Sidekicks), I'm really proud of my diet (i.e. the way I eat) today. I definitely try to eat real food more than fakey, full-of-sodium-and-chemicals, processed foods.

One of my New Years Resolutions was to eliminate the artificial sweetener in my coffee. I think it's time for an update on how that's going! I used to get three sweeteners and one milk in my large coffee from Tim Hortons... I'm VERY PROUD to announce that I'm down to one sweetener!!! That's one-third of what it was just two months ago.

Surprisingly, cutting back on the sweetener was not difficult. I really don't need as much sweetener as I thought I did to enjoy the taste! I know that I'll be down to ZERO sweeteners very soon.

In other news, I had a weigh-in today: up 1 pound. To be honest, I was relieved. I've really been struggling with my eating lately. This week, I was able to somewhat reign it in and only gain 1 pound (as opposed to several pounds, as has happened in the past). Last night, for example, I was very tired and, consequently, wanted to eat everything in my house.

I ended up making a pizza for dinner, and ate the whole thing (it wasn't a huge pizza, but half certainly would have sufficed). I knew that I was going to spend my entire evening just snacking, so I went to bed before 8 pm. What my body really needed was sleep (not multiple spoonfuls of peanut butter). I really think going to bed is what saved me, and what prevented me from being up even more this week.

New Year, New Blog

2010, baby! Who else is excited?? I love starting a new year!

Like many people, I usually make New Year's resolutions. And, also like many people, my resolutions are typically related to weight loss.

This year is no different. In the past two and a half years, I've lost around 85 pounds. In 2010, I plan to reach my (to be determined) goal weight with Weight Watchers and become a lifetime member.

I have another resolution: to eliminate artificial sweetener from my coffee and tea. I LOVE coffee with a fiery passion, but right now I drink it with an embarrassing amount of sweetener. So, despite the fact that the ladies at my Tim Hortons have memorized my coffee order (large with one milk and *gulp* three sweeteners), which makes me feel very special, I'm going to slowly cut back. Hopefully, by this time next year, I'll be taking it with just milk.

How will I reach my goals?

I plan to work out an average of 3 times per week (at least), continue to attend Weight Watcher meetings, and focus on tracking my food.

To eliminate artificial sweetener, I plan to cut back gradually: to two and a half packets, to two packets, to one and a half packets, and so on.

Do you make New Year's resolutions? Why or why not?