The Yearly Refresh

So, upon the turn of a new leaf and another year after, I turned 31 in November (Yay Scorpios!!), and after settling with the COVID-19 routines, I had gained about 30-ish pounds (raise your hand if this happened to you too...). *Rolls eyes* Coronavirus is severe. It is just one of those things everyone needs to follow protocols on every day of their lives until it either (somewhat mysteriously) disappears *or* until things feel natural even with the protocols.

Resolutions are a tricky beast. Sometimes you make them and never follow through (guilty), you make them and seriously follow through, or you never make them at all ( also guilty). I am not one to take many actions regarding my health. I have never really had to. I had always been a lean and muscly or kind of squish girl. I was especially ‘squish’ after I had my daughter. But luckily for me, I never really weighed over 170 pounds. Man, those were good days.

This time of year, around when it is cold and such, I do a mental refresh. A mental refresh is basically when you hit that refresh in your mind to make new things happen. I do it every year because my mind gets bogged up with crap like old feelings or old habits. Lately, I have been chewing on my cuticles, not the nails, just the skin around my nails. Nasty, am I right? I kicked the habit plenty of times, but each time it was tough to do. Then I started to paint my nails, and it had helped. I had stopped. I also had a habit of getting on my phone anytime I was bored out of my mind. I had, at one point, kicked that habit too. Back at doing both now. Time to kick them again. Mental Health Milestones is what I will mark this one.

Next, I need to kick food habits. I have a terrible addiction to resort to candy and other junk food to comfort myself. This is the root of all evil, my friends. Junk foodstuffs. Anything with a non-negligible amount of sugar and sodium was and is the devil. LOL. I had found that when I was lighter, I did not eat hardly any sweets at all in the past. And now that I am older, I find myself eating it way more. Thus, the weight started getting weightier. I am currently a super squish girl. I would not mind it except that now every joint in my body hurts, and then I have gained plantar fasciitis and have had about three back injuries, according to my chiropractors. Yes, there is an 's' on end. I have seen two separate chiropractors upon the onset of an extremely sore back. I could not walk that far without my back and foot shooting pain through my body to the point of nausea. Oh, did I mention that I also have sciatica? Yup. Add that to the mix of discomfort. By doing what I have planned to do, I hope to reduce or eliminate the pain via weight loss and management. Along with being able actually to walk correctly again. Phase two of the yearly refresh. This entails what foods I eat and do not eat. Reduce sugar, increase healthy fats intake, eat more fruits and veggies, and eat smaller portions. And with all of that, I will also reduce sodium and carbohydrates intake. Healthy Foods Milestones is what I will mark this one.

Phase three is simply doing more physical activities like walking and exercising more. I will also be drinking more water and showering more often because that plays into the mental health aspect. I have also already been doing this one as of August.

I have been making slow progress. I was up to 206 pounds, and now I am down to 197 pounds. Baby steps. This is my design.