A Year without resolutions – week 1

As January 1st approached I had no intention of setting any sort of resolutions. I haven’t set one in years. But then the strangest thing happened…

My January 1 became a walking resolution… days earlier I had seen that Adriene was doing her month long daily Yoga challenge starting in the New Year and I quickly signed up for that because I loved the way my body felt last year when I was doing yoga every single day. Then on that morning when I was doing my daily bible reflection I got this urge to search out plans for reading the bible in 365 days or one year and found myself starting one because well, it was day one. And so far I have completed every day.

Then I was scrolling on connect (WW app) and I saw a very basic daily challenge, pushups, squats and sits up and found myself on the floor taking part and joining in on this new challenge and agreeing to be “tagged” every day and here I am still joining in every day.

Later in the day, I found myself looking at my WW app and they decided to give me an 11k step goal each day when the plan changed back in November… a mark I’ve pretty much hit and exceeded more days than not and I hear a voice inside my head saying .. you know what I’m going to hit that 11k every day and so far I have..

I hopped on the scale and the number is up a bit from where I am most comfortable and thought, well why the heck not.. let’s see if we can drop these couple of pounds while we’re at it. But I will not diet, no restrictions, no crazy formulas, just paying a little more attention to what I am eating, how much I am eating and making sure that the balance is healthy.

I settled down to read for about an hour, my first book in the 52 book challenge for 2022 and thought to myself, you know what I should read every single day at least 20-30 minutes… and so far I have.. finished that book and started book 2.

One would think that all of these things I have decided to participate in would bring stress to my daily life, but on the contrary, these pieces are all fitting very nicely together and bringing me peace and helping me to make the most of each day.

These things are in addition to my kickboxing at least 3-4 times a week, my running – at least 1-2 times a week and my hiking which I absolutely positively am aiming to do at least 1 time a week, hopefully more when the day light hours are extended! Oh and don’t forget a 40 hour work week and sleep in there too! And my most favorite activity of all, spending time with my grandson… I’m very reliable and if I make plans with you I won’t cancel if something better comes along.. unless that something is Ryder.. he is at the top of my list.

So here I sit week one in the books. I’m thinking to myself, let’s see how this plays out and I’ve made a decision. Each week I will recap and take a look at my days and how they were filled. I will take notice of whether or not I am keeping up with these new found rituals, or if I am moving away from any. I will pay attention to any changes I may notice in my demeanor as well if I remove or if I add any additional activities to my routine. And of course I will see what Mr. scale says as well as what my body shows me.

And the results are in: Yoga every day, bible studies every day, read a chapter or two of a book, every day, kickboxing 4 days, run/walk 5 days, mini challenge 6 days. And my first hike of 2022 is scheduled for later today. My sleep patterns overall 77 with an average of 6.50 hours of sleep (2 – 5 hour nights thrown in there). My stress level management numbers 83 or higher all week. My meal focus was mainly on protein, fruits and veggies and good carbs, but included this week, a double serving of spaghetti aglio with anchovies, a bag of peanut m&ms, several Goldenberg’s peanut chews, a luxurious prime rib dinner with homemade buttermilk honey bread and cinnamon butter, same bread converted to French toast the next day, a cheesesteak wrap with some left over prime rib, some Sepculoos cookies (think fancy ginger snaps), zucchini bread, half a bagel, French fries…

I feel well rested, my mind is clear and focused, my faith is steadfast, my body feels strong and I absolutely can feel the effects on my core already which had gotten a bit jiggly the past few months. I enjoyed my life and savored my delicious meals and I do not feel deprived or restricted and that being said, the last piece of the puzzle, certainly not the most important, the scale is down .4. Slow progress, I am quite content. I didn’t take measurements last week but I will do that tomorrow morning when I wake up.

And now week two begins.. Have an awesome week.. Be kind to yourself and to others. Be blessed. Namaste.