How many times do you talk about things that you want or need to do, but somehow find every way to not actually make it happen? I am an expert at putting every single thing in front of what I actually want or need to make happen for my own future and happiness.
I know I shared about birthdays last week, and my struggle to find joy in my own birthday, for many reasons. And, one of those was the element of reflection that I felt the pressure of each year, and nagging feeling of not being where I want to be as each year passes.
This time around, I’m determined to have a different story to share as I celebrate my birthday in 2022. I’m no longer stuck in a job or company that controls or dictates my future. I am creating my own company, that focuses on my and my client’s health, wellness and self-care through fitness (sharing experiences), meal planning (for healthy choices and budget) and food prep (to save time for more fun activities).
Meal plans and food prep have been a consistent part of my life for most of my adult years, and that comes easily for me. Fitness and workouts, which I do consider something we should all be doing for our health, not because we “deserve it”, have always been inconsistent for me. For a majority of my life, I associated taking time to workout as something I had to earn, or do when I didn’t have something else to do (work is more important, family is more important, school is more important, etc.), which is a behavior I learned as part of a less active family and centering our entertainment around food and family/friends. I would go in spurts of going to the gym daily and eating healthy meals every day, but then slip when I allowed my mindset to determine my actions. I am determined to change this once and for all in the next 365 days.
My goals (in addition to maintaining meal plans and food prep) for now are:
- Get outside >30 minutes a day (barring dangerous weather)
- Walk >10,000 steps a day
- Swap one snack a day with a smoothie (perfect for food prep too)
I accomplished Day 1. I had my Fitbit set-up (even had a new one since my old one broke a few weeks ago), and got it done. Took a little bit of realignment of mindset….I had errands to do, I had work to do, I had calls to make, I had normal activities to complete. But, I found my friend who doesn’t live here also planned to walk, so we coordinated; and I did it. We talked for a couple of hours, and I walked the whole time. I completed 3.5 miles and had my first 10,000 step day in months (barring any event days).
Day 1 wasn’t so bad, the weather was beautiful and I had a quieter day (despite my long list of “to-do’s” that clearly were not as urgent as I made them in my head, so I could take in the sunshine and blue skies, and catch up with my friend on hundreds of topics, the way old friends can do, and by default seemed to make better meal choices, which benefitted my fridge and budget, using ingredients before my big shop for the week, as well as used fruits and vegetables that probably would have gone bad otherwise.
I work on my mindset daily to help support my goals and to increase my chances of having more days that aren’t “Day 1” again. There’s nothing wrong with starting over again and again, but I’ve done that enough that it’s time for me to have days 2-100 and beyond, before there’s another Day 1. Will I be able to do it? I don’t know, but I hope so – and I’m invested in making this year the healthiest and happiest year yet, with some surprise (happy) changes that might come along too.
Tell me what your goals are for 2021, can I help you achieve your goals, whether with planning meals or helping show you the way to saving time in the kitchen so you can also be outside and with family/friends? Comment below or email me so we can work together to make this next 12 months different than before!
Alexis