Happy New Year 2015!

Happy New Year! What are your plans for 2015?

There is an increasing trend for people to denigrate the idea of making New Year's resolutions. This makes no sense to me as I don't see anything wrong with taking stock in the new year and looking at what we have achieved and what we still want to achieve. "Resolutions" is just another word for "goals." What is wrong with making goals? 

Some of the nay-sayers point out that many people make these resolutions and then forget about them. While it's sad that they forget their resolutions and don't make any strides towards achieving them, that doesn't make resolution-making (or goal-setting) as a whole a bad thing. Some people are better at sticking to their goals and working towards their goals than others - It doesn't matter what time of the year you set your goals; this fact will still be true.

So if you are making new year's resolutions (and it doesn't matter if you call them resolutions, goals or a to-do list), just keep one thing in mind while you do; these goals you are making are meant to be worked towards throughout the year, not just set and then forgotten.

So here are my fitness, health and Skinny Dreaming-related goals for 2015:

1. Get back down to my goal weight. I've gone up a bit in the past year and struggled to get the weight off. It's not impossible to do though; I just need to keep my head in the right place. I will achieve this by managing to:

2. Get a grip on my sugar-cravings/binge eating. Yes, I have let my control slip way too much this year. Although I managed to drop a bit of weight over November and December this year, I am still not completely in control of my eating habits and I need to get them back under control.

3. Exercising daily. this is another thing I have let slip in the past year. While I don't want to go back to where I was - with over-exercising every day - I do need to fit in some everyday fitness.

4. Finish work on "The 28 Day Fitness Challenge" book and its accompanying food journal and get them published in 2015. I meant to have these completed in 2014, but I had some trouble with the interior illustrations/photographs. I was undecided about whether the book needed photographs or illustrations to show examples of some of the exercises. I have decided to include photographs which show some of the exercises being done.

5. Think up a new challenge to run in 2015. In 2012, I ran the 7-Days Sugar-Free Challenge. In 2013, I ran the 28 Day Fitness Challenge and in 2014 (on Facebook), I ran the Lose a Stone by Christmas Challenge. What will it be this year?

What are your goals for 2015?
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Healthy living in 2014 - Letting Go #newyearsday

(a design I created many years ago)
Wishing you a happy 2014!

I've been living a mostly-healthy lifestyle for several years now, and I have to admit that it never becomes easy. It gets easier after a time because the little things you do to be healthy become a habit, but it doesn't become completely easy.

There will always be temptation. And you will not always win against temptation. And that's okay as long as THAT doesn't also become a habit.

The hardest thing to do is to relax about it all. Let your healthy choices become so much of a habit that you don't have to think about them as much any more.

That's my personal goal for 2014.

Confession: I obsess about whether or not I have done my daily exercise or if that one treat that I let slip past my defences will show on the scales the next day. If I gain a little weight, I feel like a failure, and I feel the urge to hide my body in bulky clothes. None of this is normal behavior or even healthy behavior.

So my goal for this year is to learn to let go: let go of having to be perfect, let go of having complete control over everything from my diet to my fitness regime, and let go of weighing myself every morning.

And added to this, I intend to love my body, whatever size or shape it's in. And this will start by making a conscious effort, even when I am not feeling lovely, to act confident and to dress confidently.

Is there anything in your life, any habit or thought-process, that you hold on to which is not helping, or possibly even harming, you in some way? Will you try to let go of it this year too?

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2013 - The Year To BELIEVE

A friend of mine (Joanna Marple) was asking what my "word for the year" was going to be. She had decided that hers was going to be "centered," and she encouraged me to take risks this year. I hadn't really thought about what my word for the year would be before she asked. I took my time thinking about it. In 2010, my word for the year was "courage." I was determined to have the courage to reach for my dreams. In 2011, although I didn't specifically pick a word, it would have been "dream." I was ready to dream big. And in 2012, due to all of the challenges I participated in and started and goals I challenged myself to complete, it would have been "challenge."

This year's word is "BELIEVE." I believe that good things are going to happen this year. I believe that 2013 is going to be the year I reach several of my goals. And most of all, I believe in myself and in my ability to reach my goals.

What's your word for 2013? Think about it and then post it in the comments below.

And here are my health and weight-related goals for 2013:

1-Losing the extra pounds I added back on after reaching my goal weight. I have still lost buckets of weight, but my weight went up a small amount in the past two years, and, although I reset my target to where I am because I have been maintaining for so long, I was happier with myself at the lower weight, so this year, I will make an effort to return to that weight.
2-Maintaining my weight (within 6 pounds either way) once I reach my renewed target weight. There will be no slacking off from my healthy lifestyle just because I become more comfortable in my own skin.
3-Eating more fruit and vegetables. I haven't been as good about that this year as I was in years past.
4-Getting moderate exercise six days a week. You might think that this is because I haven't been doing the exercise, but actually, it's the opposite. I have been doing too much exercise and I have been obsessing over it to the point where I won't even let myself skip a day during the week. I actually found myself not wanting to do things with friends because it would take away from my exercise time. This is a very unhealthy attitude, so this year, I am trying to be more moderate and less obsessed, and I am making myself take one day a week as a day of rest.
5-Cooking more of my meals from scratch. This past year I have found myself turning to convenience food more often, and I know I feel better, healthier and stronger when I make food myself using all fresh ingredients.
6-Making sure I eat at least three meals a day. Again, this past year, I found I was eating less and less as the year wore on and that is very unhealthy, so I am making sure that this year, I eat plenty of good healthy food and get all the nutrients and sustenance I need.
7-Adding strength training to my fitness routine. I don't do enough of this and I know I am happier with my body when it's stronger and has more lean muscle.
 8-Doing or learning something new and fun that's good for me. I haven't decided what this will be yet, but I'll figure it out.

I believe that I can achieve all of these things. I have done them all before and made them all a part of my lifestyle (until I let them slide), so I can get back to that lifestyle again. I believe in myself and in my ability to do what is best and healthiest for my body.

Happy New Year! May your 2013 be full of success, happiness, health and magic!



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Tips for Sticking To Your New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year! I hope 2011 is going to be a wonderful year for us all.

It is that time of year again when everyone starts to think about what they have achieved over the past year and what they hope to achieve in the new one. A lot of people will make new year's resolutions now. And most of those people will not stick with them any longer than next month.

Just how are you supposed to go about making resolutions and then making sure you achieve them?

Here are some quick tips, just from the top of my head.

1. Make realistic resolutions. Don't over-reach your abilities. Yes, you might be able to lose the extra 100 pounds you want to lose, but you can't expect to lose them by March. You might be able to fit into those new jeans you bought (that are a size smaller) by March though.

2. Resolve to WORK towards your goals. You will never reach any of your resolutions if you are not willing to put in the effort and take the steps needed to get attain them.

3. Believe in yourself. It is very important that you believe in your ability to reach your goals. Without that belief and confidence, you run the risk of sabatoging your own efforts.

4. Surround yourself with people who support you and believe in your goals. There is nothing more helpful than supportive friends and family who believe in you. The last thing you need if you are trying to lose weight is a friend who encourages you to "cheat" or is always giving you chocolate and sweets or taking you out for fast food.

5. Reward yourself for every step closer you get to achieving you goals. It is easy, on a long journey, to lose sight of how far you have come and to instead keep dwelling on how far you have left to go. Try to focus on what you have already achieved and how it brings you closer to your ultimate goal.

6. Write it down. Don't just write down your resolutions, but write down each step you need to take to get there. Reference this note whenever you feel tempted to slack in your efforts. Also, journal your efforts. If you are exercising, keep track of how much you are doing. If you are eating healthy, track what you are eating. Writing things down has a sort of power over our subconscious.

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