2016 - A fresh start

Hello 2016 and Happy New Year!!!

I hope you have all had a wonderful Christmas and fun filled, slightly over indulgent New Year celebrations!

I have had a nice relaxing Christmas, lots of food (far too much) and alcohol. Good company, good TV and a few games (I won at Scrabble for the first time ever!). And now I am facing with the beginning of a Brand New Year.

I LOVE New Year. The 1st of january screams a fresh start to me. The days are slowly getting longer, the weather, well the weather remains balmy (cheers el nino and global warming), the lifeless plants begin to awake and green shoots start to appear and trees begin to blossom. Every issue, every struggle of the past year, is offically in the past. It is an opportunity to make a change, to set new goals, aim for new heights. Have new experiences, meet new people and go new places. All of these things, can of course, be done at any point in the year, but for some reason to me, it always feels as though the start of a new year means any ambition is completely achieveable.

In a previous post i set out my goal to sculpt my body. This remains my goal. In a few days when i have plucked up the confidence i will put up a brutally honest blog with pictures. I'll put my weight and measurements up. I'll hide nothing. I'm not going to lie, i do not look great. To create the best version of me by my 30th Birthday is my resolution.

But I have other goals to achieve. I want my brown belt in Judo. To run my second half marathon, to run a 10k in under 50 minutes. To learn to have guilt free time, where i actually rest, a day where i do not go to the gym, where i do not do PhD work (unless completely unavoidable), where i enjoy tidying the garden and growing my own food, or curl up on the sofa and read a nice book. Or just to go out with friends for a coffee or lunch and not worry about everything that is waiting for my attention. Honestly I am probably going to find this more difficult to achieve than sculpting my body! I'm not good at going guilt free.

I hope that you all have a fabulous new year!!

New Year Resolutions!

Well Christmas and merriment is almost upon us!!! Huzzah!

I like millions of people am looking forward to presents, booze and lots and lots of booze. Wine a plenty, but my tipple of choice is definitely Baileys!!! :D 

My decorations are hanging, my tree is up and my gifts are wrapped. My list of foods to buy or make is almost complete. I am very excited. Only a week and a half of work left to survive!! That includes two days of listening to presentations (and giving one...eek!) and a training day (yawn!). But then, it is time to switch off, catch up with the family and chill. Play games, walk across snowy fields (ok muddy ones) and be merry. But most importantly be thankful for everything i have and the people in my life. 

It gets to this time of year and i can almost taste the New Year. And with New Year comes New Year Resolutions! It is said that most people who make new years resolutions will break them before the month of January is out. The most commonly made and broken resolutions are:

• Lose weight and get fit
• Quit smokin
• Learn something new
• Eat healthier and diet
• Get out of debt and save money
• Spend more time with family
• Travel to New places
• Be Less stressed
• Volunteer
• Drink Less

Well tried and tested (and failed resolutions) seem the best so i'm going with lose weight and get fit...or a twist on it anyway. I'm a fairly healthy person, i go to the gym 4-6 days a week. I eat well (ok too much chocolate and too many carbs, but who is perfect?). But i want to take things to the next level. I want to scuplt my body, kind of like body building but without getting so massive. I don't want to be a stick insect, i want a 6 pack, i want the muscles, without looking ridiculous at the end of it all. A minor target is to hit my 30th Birthday in the best shape of my life. I have until March to get into awesome shape and start the next decade with the best version of me. 

So i guess that covers lose weight and get fit, eat healthier and diet and drink less. 3 for the price of one!  If anyone has any tips let me know. Otherwise come back in January to find out how my starting point and how well i do!

GOALS!!!