Somewhere around this time last year, E and I started talking seriously about some practical changes in our lives for our health and wellbeing. We had both changed out lifestyles quite a bit after we got married - gaining weight, and not exercising at all - and we generally felt physically poor. I was, without realizing it, cooking lots of carb heavy, cheese laden, meat dishes that were packing on the calories. We spent more time at home and greatly decreased our physical activity.
So, right after the holidays (how cliche!) we started on a plan. I would cook healthier, purchase more produce and make more fresh food. I blogged out about
the plan as motivation.
Things were going really well for the first month. We felt somewhat better (Admittedly, the working out was much harder for me to start, and I didn't do much). But we has both lost some weight and were fitting into old 'skinny' clothes, which was encouraging. I wrote
an update about how things were going with some renewed/modified goals. We were doing well.
And then things kind of stalled; life got busier and our progress slowed down. It was harder for me to be motivated when I stopped losing a pound a week. I didn't step up to the next level, I gave up.
We went to Italy. We had a busy fall where I traveled, E was in night classes, and I did very little healthy cooking. And we both stopped working out. While we haven't gained the weight back, we will soon if we don't change something, again. I'm still 7 pesky pounds from my goal weight and far, far, far from where I'd like to be endurance-wise and generally feeling healthy. I have felt pretty terrible for the last few months-weak and tired. My immune system must be much weaker too as it took me two and half weeks to get past a cold which took E four days to recover from.
E and I haven't talked specifically about a plan for this year, but we do know we have a plan to get back to, soon! Generally I hope to do better at meal planning to buy fresh food that doesn't go bad. I need to come up with a workout plan that fits for me (i.e. not in the morning, and not running outside because its dark when I get home from work), even if it's not as intense as it could be. I tend to set really high goals and then give up because I cant meet them, rather than setting small realistic goals and building up. Hopefully we'll get a chance to work on this over the holidays and get started again.
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Along with other friends, I'm participating in #WEverb11, organized by Kim. I'm excited to reflect on this last year and look forward to what's ahead. We'd love to have you join us!
The 12th prompt is: Thrive. What was your healthiest habit of 2011? What would you like to change or do differently in 2012?