A New Year ~ A New Start

For the majority of 50-some New Years past I've begun the year with resolutions. I've resolved to lose weight, exercise more, read my bible every day, encourage more, criticize less. I muster up a burst of fortitude and shoot out of the gate at a full sprint. But somewhere around Valentine's Day (or earlier, if I'm truthful) I run out of steam. It's a discouraging and demoralizing cycle. So this year I'm taking a slightly different approach. No resolutions, though I intend to make some significant and lasting change. I'm starting at the end. I'm crafting a battle plan; one that includes specific strategies. I'm taking small, and measurable steps. Like the tortoise, slow and steady wins the race. And win I will.

I'm calling 2012 "The Year of the Battle." It is a year that I'm going to stop feeling defeated. I'm going to rise up, take arms, and beat the crap out of the enemies (many of my own making) that threaten my health and well-being. Enemies like bad eating habits, a sedentary lifestyle, fear, discouragement, anger, complacency, and prayerlessness.

In January, I'm beginning Optifast - a medically supervised weight loss program. I'm investing a significant amount of time and money into myself. This program will begin as an 18-week "reboot" of my physical health. I view this as a prerequisite to the rest of the work that needs to be done. It means that I will need to do things very differently. It means that I will not be participating in the annual February Birthday Bash (or at least not eating the food.) I hope that everyone will understand.

In this battle, I am surrounding myself with a team of supporters. Some are friends and family; others are fellow soldiers in the same battle. I hope you will be one of my supporters. I may occasionally blog about how the battle is going. There will be defeats along the way, I'm sure. But I'm not planning to quit. I'm giving you permission to give me the kick in the pants I may occasionally need. And once in awhile, a hug would be nice too.

Mind mapping is simply a way of brainstorming. Wikipedia defines a mind map as a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks, or other items linked to and arranged around a central key word or idea. Here is my mind map that outlines my word for 2012 - Victory.

It is Time

I'm not one for New Year's resolutions, but I do know when a job just needs to get done. So I hangin' it all out here folks, and letting the entire world know that I am going to be working on some serious self-improvement. Hopefully about 40 lbs. worth. It's a slow start to the new year, I know, but hey, I didn't want to be in the throngs of people lined up to join health clubs or Weight Watchers. Here's what I'm going to do...I'll post my progress at least once a month (and maybe a little whining and self-pity in between) just so you can hold me accountable and gossip about whether I'm lying about how much weight I've lost. And just to prove I'm serious I'm going public with my starting point.

Drum roll, please.....

175!

What's in a number anyway? Well, as my coach at Weight Watchers used to tell me, thats a LOT of sticks of butter! If anyone has any great healthy, low cal recipes please email them to me. I'm up for trying anything, especially if it has "Better than Sex" in the name (you know, Better than Sex Brownies, Better than Sex mashed potatoes, etc.)

20 Small Things

I'm taking an online class over at http://www.jessicasprague.com/ that is helping me learn to be a better storyteller in my scrapbooking. After all, photos are great but it's the story behing the photos that is the real treasure. About a year ago I went through some very old Miedema family photos with Al's aunt, Marilyn. She was able to tell me who people were, where and when the photo was taken, and always had just a little bit of a story behind each photo. If I hadn't spent that time with her, those stories would someday be lost! So, here is one of the pages I've done so far.