Final Thoughts on 2016

Hello all!
I decided that I was going to do one last blog post for 2016 and I finally decided that I was going to give my final thoughts on 2016 in general. This is going to include my own personal experiences of 2016 and what I think of 2016 in general. I also am going to include some goals that I want to achieve in 2017.

My personal experiences of 2016 have 3 major events that occurred. Two of them where amazing beyond belief and one almost spiraled me into a depression so let's start with the two happy events first.

First I finally opened up an Etsy shop where I began selling planner supplies. It's still a small Etsy shop but I have got big plans for it in 2017 so I'm really excited to see how much I can make it grow.

And even more amazing event that happened was that I became an aunt! My sister gave birth to a happy bouncing baby boy at the end of June and I am so in love with my little nephew! He's so cute and already has the entire family wrapped around his fingers.

The event that almost spiraled me into a depression took a toll on not only myself but my entire family. My father passed away on Nov. 14 and it hit us all very hard. He had been in ICU for almost an entire month due to liver failure from years of drinking alcohol to excess. For the last 2 months before he was administered into the hospital, he lived with me and I became his main caregiver along with my grandfather and uncle who has down-syndrome. It was hard, I'm not going to lie but it was worth it. Over the years, we've grown apart because he was a man of harsh actions and even harsher words. But in the end, we did make up and bury the hatchet. I was able to tell him that even though I will never forget anything he has said over the years but that I could forgive him. And in fact, I forgave him the moment he said those hurtful things and even forgave him for things he never said out loud; but spoke with this eyes.

Okay that's enough of that because emotions are still raw on that one.

Sadly this year has been horrible when it comes to not only deaths of close family but also of celebrities. I cannot believe that some of my favorite actors, musicians and authors are no long with us. And we seem to be losing more and more every day and I just want 2016 to be over with.

I am so excited for 2017 to come and I can't wait to see what I accomplish in the coming months. I have several goals that I want to achieve and if I'm honest some of the goals aren't just a want but a need. I'll list them below but keep in mind I change my mind like the wind changes direction. But I do want to keep these this year.

My Goals for 2017
1. Lose weight!
2. Expand my Etsy Shop
3. Finish writing at least one book, if not more.
4. Budget better
5. Grow my blogs
6. Spend more time with friends
7. Do things that I say I'm going to do and don't go back on my word.

And that really is all that I have in mind for goals next year. I'm pretty sure that I will add more to my list and that it will grow as the year progresses. But I really do want to achieve all of my goals this year. I just hope that I can cross off a few of these by the end of next year.

Thank you for reading my blog(s). I will list my other blogs below so feel free to check them out!

Until next time!

Reviews & First Impressions Blog
http://reviews-and-impressions.blogspot.com/

My Experience as a Caregiver
http://my-experience-as-a-caregiver.blogspot.com/

Daily Zenscape
http://dailyzenscape.blogspot.com/

Not continuing this blog until 2017

Sadly I haven't kept up with this blog at all and for that I apologize.

I rushed into it and I didn't feel that I could keep up with it. That and there have been developments in my personal life with family members and dealing with their health that I must give them my full attention at this time.

I hope to plan on restarting this blog in 2017 where hopefully my mind will be clearer and I will be in a better state of mind than I was when I first started this blog this year.

Again I apologize for not keeping up with this blog but circumstances.

Week #2 Update! (Jan. 11 - 17, 2016)

Hello again!

I can't believe it's already the end of the second week already! I can't believe it but at the same time I'm not gonna act like I'm not excited, which I am!

There isn't much else to update about how week #2 went for me, only that I found myself looking forward to when I would walk outside! I love that feeling! I can say that I do notice a difference in how I feel after I walk, it's like I can't get my day started until after I have walked on my walking days.

Granted the other days are proving to a bit more of an issue for me to do and I find myself not looking forward to it like I do my walking days, which are Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I think I need to change what I do on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays because I want to feel excited about doing exercise and I need it to be different from just going out and walking, because then I know that I'll get tired of walking which isn't something that I want to do.

For those wondering, yes I do walk outside as the road that I live on basically makes a loop that is a quarter of a mile in length. As of right now, I walk two rounds/loops which means that for 3x a week I am walking half-mile. Now to some this isn't a lot but to me, I can tell a difference in how I feel and my energy level because last year the thought of me walking a half-mile of anything was downright laughable. I am not going to keep walking half-mile throughout this year however; I plan on increasing my walking by half a mile whenever I feel that my body is becoming to use to the distance.

I am also very lucky in the location of which I live. I live in a nice neighborhood where I pretty much know all of my neighbors, which is nice because I want to know that I am safe whenever I go out for my walks. And since I live in the South then I don't have to worry about snow keeping me from my walks; granted it's still gets cold down here but for me the colder it is, the faster I'm going to walk which is better for me.

I'm going to be doing a post later this week on what I bring with me on my walks, what music I listen to and how I stay safe, so be on the lookout for that.

Anyway, I need some other exercise(s) to do on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. I've been thinking about doing Blogilates but I honestly wouldn't know where to begin with it. I do follow her channel on YouTube and I have heard some great things about it but I have never tried it out for myself. So if anyone has tried it and they think I should give it a shot, let me know! Or if anyone has a different exercise that they think I should try, then please feel free to leave a comment below!

Well that's really about it for this week! As always I will insert a picture of what my Fitness Planner looks like for this week...on another note I need to get some fitness stickers so if anyone knows of a good Etsy shop then please let me know! Thanks!

Until Next Time!

Week #2: Jan. 11 - 17!

Week #1 Update! (Jan. 4 - 10, 2016)

I took this pic while walking this week.

Hello Everyone!

So in short, Week #1 was very successful in my own personal opinion. Granted there is always room for improvement, which is the case in some things that I didn't achieve in week one but I must say that I am proud of myself. I have also included a picture to the left which I took while I was out walking this past week and I just had to share it. Despite it being so cold, it was really a beautiful day to be out walking!

I managed to walk three days last week, granted I didn't walk a mile each day but I did get in half-a-mile for three days last week. That was on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday, I did 30 minute meditation and some stretches. Now I'm gonna be honest and say that I didn't really do any form of exercising this weekend and I am disappointed in myself so I've come up with a different exercise plan than what I had last week and I plan on keeping it. Which I have since I have already been up and walked my half-a-mile this morning.

The reason for the change from a mile to half-a-mile is because I talked to a close friend of mine, who works in a gym and she told me that I need to work my body up to walking a mile or more. Because since I'm not used to exercising then my body could overwork itself which isn't too good. Now I know that everyone has opinions on exactly how much exercise one should get but I want to take her advice because I really do trust her as a friend and as someone who cares about me getting healthier. So as of right now I am walking half-a-mile three days a week and the moment I feel that body is becoming used to that distance then I will be increasing the distance by a quarter-of-a-mile and so on and so forth.

Anyway, the diet thing is going okay but there is much room for improvement. I am currently looking for a protein shake that will ease cravings and one that I can replace a meal with. I am going to be trying Vega Pro in about a week so I'm excited about that. I will be posting a review of it on another blog that I have and I will put then link on my weekly update for this blog so that others can read it!

As I stated in my previous blog post, I will be posting a picture of my workout planner that I used during the week to keep up with my exercise, meals and water intake at the end of this blog so keep a lookout for that!

Other changes I'm going to be making will be to my exercise plan, which will now consist of workouts on Tuesday, Thursdays and Saturdays. I will be taking Sundays off on a side-note.
New Exercise Plan: 
Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays: Walk half-a-mile
Tuesdays,  Thursdays and Saturdays: Meditate for 30 Minutes, 10 Jumping Jacks, 10 Sit-ups, 10 Bicep Curls, and 10 Triceps Curls.

Now I will be increasing the distance and amount of exercise I do when I feel that my body is becoming used to it. The walking will be increased by a-quarter-of-a-mile and the other exercises by 10. I won't be increasing the meditation amount because I think 30 minutes is perfect for me, though I might increase it to more than three days a week but right now I feel comfortable with how it is.

Well I think that about does it for this update this week, and once again if anyone has any advice that they think I can use then please feel free to leave a comment below.

Until Next Week!

Shot of my Fitness Planner. Sorry if it cannot be read & sorry for my handwriting.

2016 Weight-Loss Plan!

Hello all!

I have to be completely honest with all of you...I am so excited to get started on my weight-loss journey this year! I have literally been counting down the days and I can't believe that it's finally here.

This post will be pretty much my setup for the next, my goals that I want to achieve, the exercises I want to do, food that I want to eat/avoid eating, etc.

I am also happy to say that I will be keeping a Fitness Planner from Happy Planner/MAMBI, which I will post a picture of at every update in order to hold myself accountable for what I have done that week and what I haven't.

Now I want to do a post every week on Sunday because the Fitness Planner goes from Monday-Sunday. Now I know that the post will become mundane and boring very quickly because my diet and exercise plan won't vary much at first during the first few months and so. I do still want to post every week, if only for myself; so that I know that I was accountable for myself during that week. I just hope my readers will understand this and not become annoyed with me.

Anyway, as I stated I will using a Fitness Planner throughout this year in order for me to keep up with not only diet but my exercise and water intake. I have already taken a photo of what this upcoming week looks like, Jan. 4-10. This is how every week will begin so I'm only going to post this picture once.

It's blank now but by next Sunday it'll be filled! :-)

As you can see above, the Fitness Planner is very detailed. Each week includes four slots food journal per day, a exercise section for each day and water intake for every day. There is also a Goal section in the margin as well as a small notes section. As you can see I have already decorated this week with motivational stickers, which came with the journal and some stickers that I got from a store on Etsy.

I don't know about anyone else but stickers just make me happy and knowing that I have decorate my Fitness Planner with stickers just seems to motivate me to work a bit harder. But anyway, enough about the planner for now; next up is what I plan on eating during this year on my weight loss journey!

-Diet-
Now this is something that I have spent long and hard on, mostly because I rushed into so quickly last time I tried to diet and I ended up always over-eating or not eating what I had planned to. This year is going to be different, as I am going to stick to my diet and be happy about it.

I do not plan on drinking anything other than water, Green Tea(cold and hot), green juice(Bolthouse Farms and/or Green Machine), smoothies, almond milk and the occasionally cup of coffee, and Sprite. The main reason behind this is because I really have lost all taste for drinking anything too carbonated and that includes coke. That and I feel that even though I have lost my taste for them that I still drink them way more than I should. I am also replacing milk with almond milk, which I will only be drinking as a smoothie base for my protein shakes. The reason behind this is that I feel that I personally need to cut back on drinking milk because I have noticed that my stomach tends to feel sick whenever I drink too much of it.

I plan on eating three meals per day and one snack. The meals may vary from time to time but they will remain pretty much the same. I will go into further detail about my diet in next week's post.

-Exercise-
Now exercising was something that I struggled with for a bit but I think that I have come with a routine that I can easily get into a habit of doing and keep up with.
- Walking: Walk one mile 3x a week. (Mon, Wed, and Fri) Increase by one mile every month.
- Do 10 Jumping Jacks daily. Increase by 10 every month.
- Do 10 Sit-ups daily. Increase by 10 every month.
- Do 10 Biceps Curls daily on each arm. Increase by 10 every month.
- Do 10 Triceps Curls daily on each arm. Increase by 10 every month.
- Deeply Meditate/Yoga for no less than one hour 2x a week. (Tues and Thurs)
- Sunday: Rest

Now as you can tell I pretty much have it planned out and I am very happy with all that I have planned out. My only concern is with Saturday. I want to be able to do something that day other than walking so if anyone has any ideas then please feel free to suggest them.

-Vitamins-
Along with diet and exercising, I will be taking vitamins this year. So far I am only taking two different vitamins but that may change as the year progresses. Currently I am taking Hair, Nails and Skin Vitamins from Nature's Bounty and GNC Woman's Vitamins for Energy and Metabolism.

I have been taking both of these vitamins since the middle of December and so far I am loving them.

-Protein Shake-
I will also be drinking a daily protein shake as a meal replacement. While I know that I will be getting a Whey Protein Shake Mix, I do not yet know which brand I will chose as I am still deciding. But I am planning on a final grocery store prep tomorrow so I will update you guys on which one I have chosen in next week's post.

Well, I think that's it for this week. I really am very excited about this upcoming year! I feel that this year will be my year in not only weight-loss but in other things as well.

Until Next Time!