Happy New Year! We had a pretty casual celebration since apparently everything closes at 10pm in our town ? It took me forever to come up with a title for this blog post. I was trying not to be lame with “Saying Goodbye to 2017” or “2018 Resolutions” but I might just delete this sentence and go with one of those if I can’t think of anything better ?
Highs:
- We moved out of the craziness of Southern California and back to the Central Coast, where Mike and I met and got married and where most of his family still lives. When we started looking for places to move, the Central Coast wasn’t really even on our radar. I was convinced we were going to move out of state, so we did a few road trips exploring other places, all were so beautiful but nothing felt right. I had some concerns about moving back here, but the Lord has been really faithful to us and it seemed clear that this is where we should go. I still have hopes that someday we’ll move out of stay… I need mountains and green and SEASONS! But for now, we have really enjoyed being back and the slower pace of life we have again.
- This really goes along with #1 but essentially, since the move, I’ve been a lot less stressed!
This was a big one for me because I had tried other ways to not be stressed while we still lived in Orange County and all were very temporary. I knew it was going to take a lifestyle change or other big change and I was so ready to do that.
Since moving back, I now work from home full time which has been a huge blessing and has made my job less stressful ? (it’s still stressful, but WFH has taken the edge off! lol).
- I got back into running! When we lived in the OC I was so bored with the trails, which were all paved straight paths. I’m not a fast runner by any means but for reason I need some twists and turns and hills if I’m doing a long run (4-6 miles for me) otherwise I get really bored. If I see a long straight path ahead of me and concrete all around me, I just want to stop. It might also have to do with the scenary. I used to run a lot before we moved to the OC, but it was pretty inconsistent when we lived there.
- We visited Colorado in the Fall! It’s no secret I love Fall (and Christmas) so getting to visit the beautiful state in my favorite season was so exciting. I’m already starting to think about where we can visit this Fall.
Lows:
- In July we had some friends visiting us and we took them hiking on Bishop’s Peak, a hike I’ve done so many times before, but this time I stepped wrong on my foot and twisted my ankle. I did get x-rays after 1 month of being on crutches and it was clear, although I believe something was fractured which I heard doesn’t show up on x-rays. Either way, it was a painful and a loooooong recovery. In fact, I’m still not fully recovered and I have considered going to physical therapy. It took about 2 months before I was mobile again but I still wear an ankle brace when I run or work out and I still have a limp when I wear shoes that have any sort of heel. I don’t have the full range of motion in my ankle anymore, so I think that’s why it’s hard for me to walk in tall shoes. It basically just looks like I don’t know how to walk in my shoes, lol. About 2 weeks after my ankle injury, I threw my back out badly. I believe it was because I was putting all my weight on one side of my body. The two injuries combined were really hard to deal with because I basically couldn’t do anything on my own and simple tasks like taking a shower or getting dressed became a big production. I’m so happy to not be in the place anymore.
- Middle of December, just a few weeks ago, I had another injury working out. I’m not exactly sure what happened but my foot caught on the cement when I was running slightly down hill and I took a really bad fall, falling primarily on my face, shoulder and knee. I was in shock sitting on the side walk for a few minutes and at first I was certain I had broken a tooth. Thankfully I did not but I had a fat lip for a few days, lots of scraps and bruising on my face and two painful burns/cuts on my knee and shoulder. That accident, combined with the one over summer, made me a little scared to go running again. I have gone a few times since then but really slow.
2018 Goals: I’m not going to go too in depth on each of these because I’ll probably do a separate blog post on the health aspect to talk about it more since there’s so much to it. All the health related stuff won’t start until around the 15th of January because we’re going out of town next week for 4 days and it will be too difficult for me to maintain it during that time.
- Nutrition: Before Thanksgiving I was doing really good giving up sugar. Honey and maple syrup were the only sweeteners I would use in anything and I checked labels on everything to make sure I wasn’t consuming anything with hidden sugars. I did notice a difference in the way I felt but there’s a longer explanation on why I decided to give up sugar which I’ll talk about later, but essentially I knew this was something I needed to do for awhile. Since Thanksgiving I’ve fallen off the wagon but I’ll be getting back to it, not as a temporary cleanse, but as a lifestyle change. Along with giving up sugar I had also been doing good with limiting dairy. Sometimes I feel fine when I have dairy and sometimes I don’t. I think it does depend on the amount I consume, but either way, I had pretty much cut it out (besides the occasional pizza), so this is another thing I’ll start again. Now, I am considering giving up gluten or at least cutting back a lot. I don’t have an allergy to it, as far as I’m aware but I have heard that it affects your thyroid which is already a concern for me. I will most likely do a cleanse to jump start all of this and then do paleo or something similar after.
- Skin care: I have always taken good care of my skin, even in my early 20’s… I’ve never gone to bed without washing my face or taking off my makeup. I’ve been using a Clarisonic for the past 4 years or so and I use it every morning and every night. What I want to do better with is investing in good skin care products, in addition to being consistent. I have purchased 1 or 2 items over the years but I haven’t stuck with anything and a lot of times it takes months to see results. Being consistent with my nutrition is a big part of maintaining healthy skin as well, so I’m not just focusing solely on products. I started taking collagen powder every day a few months ago, but then I ran out and didn’t buy more, but it’s so good for your skin so I need to start doing that again as well as being consistent with vitamins.
- Less cardio: I tend to just do cardio and be done with my workout. Cardio is obviously very good for you and it feels great after, but I don’t even stretch or warm up, let along do any strength training. Losing muscle as we get older is a problem for women, so I’m aware that I need to be doing more to build muscle. I’m going to plan on doing 2-3 strength training workouts per week which means I’ll probably do a day or two less running.
- Read more: This one is probably lame and it seems like it’s on everyones list, but I really do love reading… BOOKS! I already started on a book, but last night I stayed up to read a chapter and ended up being on my phone the whole time ? So I need do better with this and I’d like to commit to 1-2 books a month.
What are your resolutions? Share them with me in the comments below!
Thanks for reading!