This January has been a particularly positive month, probably because I approached it as such. In the past I hated January because of the length of time it took to reach pay day. Add to that, the cold, long and dark nights as well as the lack of anything much to do except give stuff up. The result is pretty miserable. I am extremely grateful to be financially secure these days, plus I ‘m paid weekly which is a definite advantage. Last year was depressing because of lockdown and I make no secret of the fact I struggled. So, this January I decided to turn the page on last year and be as positive as I can. It’s paid off
January has been a good month in many ways, below are a few of the highlights.
Health / Weight Loss
I’m often good at losing weight in January. After all there is always a certain gain from over indulgence. But this month I’ve gone at the thing single-mindedly. The key reason I need to lose weight is to protect my health. I’m 60 later this year and I am over weight (indeed I fall into the obese category) and un fit. I’m at risk of heart disease, diabetes and probably other illnesses. I’ve been drinking too much alcohol and not doing much exercise.
For 20 days of January I drank no alcohol, sticking to tea, coffee and water. I don’t drink fizzy drinks, with or without sugar and haven’t for a few years. The exception is tonic, for gin. But until last weekend I hadn’t had any gin either. Now Graeme and I have moved onto a more maintenance approach, where we have wine at weekends. I guess the only thing I do need to remember is that Thursday isn’t actually the weekend. So, I’m work in progress. The key change this dry January to others is that we both did it. I’m really happy and proud he was so supportive.
By cutting out alcohol and reducing my carb intake I’ve lost 7.5lb this month and I’m really please with myself. I’ve also lost some inches and that’s what I’m really looking for. My clothes are fitting better and I have lots of clothes still to fit back into, so all good.
When it comes to exercise I’ve been less good. I’m on track with my weekly swimming (and walking to the pool and back), this week I’ve been twice. But other than walking I’ve not been doing much else. I started yoga but haven’t kept it up. I want to restart that during February though.
I’m also interested in taking up some gym work, so I will explore that.
Travel
We’ve been nowhere this month and won’t travel next month either. I’m not too fussed as it’s winter time. But we have lots of plans going forward from March. We’ve even booked some of them. There are two classical music festivals in March and April that we plan to go to and have apartments / houses booked for those. It’s interesting that the pandemic has made us choose to stay in hotels less and instead to choose rentals. Then in May we are off to France to go house hunting which will be exciting. There will be more, but that’s far in to the future!
I’m excited to use this blog to document our travel this year, so watch this space.
Wedding planning
We made the decision to get married at the the end of last year and so I’ve pushed on with that this month. If I left things to Graeme, it would never happen. I decided on the venue before I saw it in person and when I did I loved it. Its a small country hotel with beautiful grounds and it will be perfect for a summer wedding.
My son, but manly daughter in law are helping with planning. This is so far helping my relationship with her develop and I’m really happy about it. When I got married before, I was young and just did what people thought I should. Plus, there was an element of me not really knowing what I wanted. This time I am clear. Graeme wants simple and no fuss. I’ll be looking for a little bit but not too much fuss.
Last weekend I told the date to our lovely friend over in Amsterdam and she has already booked her flights. So, it has to happen! I’ve bought a lovely dress which doesn’t quite fit, I’ve worked out I need to lose 4.5 inches from my waist, in addition to the 3 already lost. I think that’s probably another stone or slightly less. This sounds like pressure but isn’t since I do know I can buy a bigger size.
Tomorrow I’m meeting someone I used to go to Slimming World with. She has a small design company and I’m hoping she will be making all my stationery.
The ceremony and venue are booked and I’m in discussion with a lovely photographer, and hoping to finalise that soon.
So, all in all, the wedding planning is so far making me very happy and there is plenty of time to get everything done and make sure we and our guests have a lovely time.
Looking back on January, it’s been better than the average start of the year. I intend this positivity to continue.
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