Health and Wellness Goals for 2012

Happy New Year! Happy 2012!! I am happy to have a fresh start. Something about a new year that makes me feel like I have a chance to start over and get it right, yet again.

I hate to use the word resolutions, so I am going to use the word goals. I have a few health and wellness-related goals, and what better place to put them then here, where anyone can see them. I am all about accountability, so here goes.

1) Be nicer to myself in 2012. This is a hard one for me. I tend to get mad at my body for the things it can't do and then I don't care what I do to it. Mostly, eating. I love to eat, no surprise there, but I go through phases where I just flat out don't care how much I eat or what I eat. Screw it, I just don't care. Well, as fun as it is at that moment, I CAN'T DO THAT. I am fortunate to like and enjoy a lot of healthy foods and I should really focus on those more than the bad.

2) Do my best to stick to a regular walking/running routine even when I am too busy. This is another downfall of mine. When I get busy and have too much to do, my needs are the first to go. And ususally, any exercise I am currently into at the time goes out the window. It's the easiest thing to give up because I can't give up things like sleep, eat, take care of the dogs, etc... I CAN'T DO THAT. Everyone gets busy and it's hard to fit everything in. I need to lose my all-or-nothing mentality and remember that even if I don't have time for a 3-mile walk, 1-mile would be better than nothing. Over time it all adds up and it is good for my mental health.

3) Lose weight. I am having such a hard time with my weight these days. I'll address the "how much do I need to lose" on a later post. I know metabolism slows down as you get older and I am here to tell you that is true. But I have to find a way to make it work. I can't continue on this path of eating whatever I want, when I want because it tastes good. I CAN'T DO THAT. My short frame is not meant to be this weight. I can feel it, my body aches, and I don't like it. I know over time with proper eating and activity it will respond. It may happen slower than it has in the past, but I am confident that I can lose the weight.

4) Do more walking/running events. After signing up for my first half marathon the other day, I am already thinking about a second one. Yes, I am an over-achiever. I would like to do TWO half-marathons in 2012 and I would like to do THREE 5Ks. Here's the catch.... I want to run two of the 5Ks. I used to be able to run 3 miles at a time and I will get back there. I'm already looking into local events for the year.

5) Read more books. This one is totally non-health related, but it's something I'd like to do so it falls under the wellness category. With my current Kindle Fire obsession, I have plenty to read and I want to work towards a goal of 40 books for the year.

6) Keep up with my blog as regularly as possible. I'm not sure that when people read this they enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it, but it is so fun for me to do and makes me feel better. It's like my journal, a way to express my feelings and most of all, I can pretend to be a writer. Thank you to all who read this!

What are YOUR goals for 2012?

per·se·ver·ance

per·se·ver·ance

noun  - steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.

 

When my dad went into the hospital on Monday November 8th of last year, work came to almost a stand still. Being self-employed certainly has it's perks in that I could be at the hospital as much as I needed to during that time. But it also meant no one else could do the work for me. I struggled with what wasn't getting done when I was at the hospital and if I was at work, I struggled with the fact that I wasn't at the hospital where I needed to be. I did what was needed to get us by over those 4 weeks, also doing as much for my mom as I could. But each day, we got a little farther behind. The days leading up to my dad's passing had me thinking very much about how much things would change for the business and how ultimately, it would be me making those changes. Over the last couple years he had really left things up to me to run - and I know he was proud of me because he told me so. But the comfort of having him there if there was a problem I couldn't solve or needed his creativity or whatever may be.... Well, that's been a hard adjustment. After he passed, despite our pain and sadness, life had to go on. Things had to be done. I made a very long list of things we needed to do to get caught up. Jobs that had fallen behind, paperwork that needed to be done, on and on. I've checked things off as they've been done. And this past week, 2 months and 2 weeks later, we are caught up. My mom and I managed to get through the long list one item at a time. That is perseverance... And I know he is looking down on us and smiling, knowing that as always, we did what we had to do just like he would.