Make This Year Your Healthiest Year Ever With a 12 Month Challenge

It is the time of year for resolutions, goals, and promises for the future. I have made them myself and often posted on this blog about plans and resolutions for the upcoming year. I managed to accomplish some of what I wanted and at the same time I lost momentum and gave up on other plans. I think the biggest obstacle is that we write a list of resolutions or goals and then try to tackle them all pretty much simultaneously. We end up running out of gas because we didn’t break things into smaller more manageable goals.

For instance if you want to lose 50 pounds this year why not set the goal to lose 4.5 pounds per month instead. And to break things up a bit more why not plan to start January and February with a better diet plan and wait to address the fitness aspect until March or April. That way your eating plan becomes habit before you jump into another difficult transition, such as weight training or exercise.

I am going to go this route myself this year and instead of making a list of goals I am going to use one word to guide my journey this year…

HEALTH

That one word has resulted in a 12 month plan of action that will work harmoniously to help me reclaim my health after a few really rough years.

A couple years ago I went through some tumultuous changes. I was a happy stay at home mom who was at a healthy weight and doing crossfit 4-5 days a week with my husband. I could strict press 115 pounds over my head and deadlift 250 pounds. I loved my life and daily routine.

Things began to change though when I made the decision to take an outside the home job. Being self employed brought me happiness but it it was also stressful to keep my income at a certain level, especially since we were paying quite a bit for CrossFit and paleo food. I thought getting a “real” job would help with that stress. It helped with income but brought a whole different set of issues. I was not able to work out with my husband in the mornings anymore. I had to work out in the late afternoon and I hated it. Not only was I tired from working a full day, I disliked the huge crowds of people that were at the gym during those hours. The morning hours had lots of moms and professional men getting a workout in before work, usually no more than 10-12. I liked the people and the atmosphere. The afternoons were full of 30 or more college age athletes (some professional) who put as much energy into looking hot and hitting on each other as they did their workouts. It just wasn’t a place I liked to be anymore.

Plus, I was starting to struggle physically for some reason. Thyroid issues that I had previously gotten under control came back with a vengeance. My vitamin D and B12 levels were in the tank. I started to gain weight no matter how healthy I ate and how dedicated I was to working out. It wasn’t long before the eating habits started to slide and I stopped doing CrossFit altogether. It was just to hard to manage after work and I now hated the environment I once loved. To drop a grenade in an already bad situation my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer…a type so deadly that she was given only a 4% chance of survival.

Fast forward to a couple years of working two jobs…my day job and my home business. Much of my time off was spent with my mom and dad, who lived in another county. Since we were away from home we ate out a ton and I would spend my days laying on a couch next to my mom. She eventually went into hospice and passed and I was left struggling with depression.

Mid 2017 will mark the two year anniversary of her death and I think that also makes this year a good time to get back on track with my health, mental and physical. It may seem like a very broad goal and that is why I am breaking it into twelve steps, one for each month of the year. And none of those monthly themes will include losing weight (even though I need to) because that will hopefully be a happy side effect and not the outright goal. Better overall health is the goal.

Each month will address a different aspect of my healthy transition and it all starts with January 2017 which will address…

SLEEP

Look for a new post this week about why I need to get better sleep, why I think that is the most important first step, and how I will create a sleep sanctuary. By the time February rolls around I will have hopefully established new habits and be getting much better sleep so that I can conquer my next goal with a solid foundation.

I hope you tune in every month to see where my journey takes me!