NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS & RESOLUTIONS

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

So, it's the start of a New Year and I think it really is time for a new me, as stereotypical as that sounds. I'm writing this because I can use it as my list to look back on over the year, see the things that I have achieved and the goals and resolutions I still need to work on. 

2016 was a really successful year for me but I plan to make 2017 by far my best year yet... 

LOSE WEIGHT

This time last year I know I felt exactly the same, I hated the way I looked and decided it was really time to do something about it. However, after that losing weight over a few months early last year, I have now put it all back on and more. I've never really found any diet that's stuck - the way I lost weight last year was by monitoring calories on MyFitness Pal, however I became really bad at this and still am, constantly feeling guilty and not really wanting to add in the foods I'm eating. I know a lot of people wouldn't consider me to be overweight, however I know myself when I look in the mirror I just don't feel good about myself anymore. Clothes I've always loved and worn are just becoming so much harder to squeeze into and they just don't look the same and more importantly I don't feel good about my body image, which is why most days I end up wearing all black.  

For that reason I have decided that this week I am starting Slimming World. I have heard so many great things about Slimming World and after seeing my cousin lose over 2 stone, I thought I would give it a go. I'm so excited to get started and get back to feeling good again. 

EAT BETTER / LEARN TO COOK

Another reason I really am excited about Slimming World is it will give me the opportunity to learn how to cook properly and eat properly. Since starting my job back in August my eating habits went  downhill, I started skipping breakfast - opting to breakfast biscuits and quick sugar filled bars instead just to eat on my drive to work. As for lunch, I would never take anything in and instead go and buy something either from our canteen or one of the high street fast food places, such as Gregg's or M&S - to be honest there's nothing wrong with that but for me I'm constantly tempted by the quick and unhealthy option. 

The plan from here onwards is to take in breakfast and lunch to work, fruit and yoghurt for breakfast is really simple and I can have that at my desk and I am excited to learn the best options to prepare for lunches and dinners / snacks. I've already noted down a few recipes to try but if you have any healthy recipes, I would really love it if you could share them with me! 

EXERCISE

Again because of the lifestyle change with my blog, I now get very little exercise and that's something I want to change. Even if that means going for a 20 minute walk on my lunch break to get my steps up for the day, it's something I need to do. The company I work for encourage a healthy lifestyle and run fitness clubs at lunch and after work so I think I should sign up to one club this year at least. Also I used to love swimming and that's one sport i'm good at so I will try and do that once a week. 

WEEKLY BLOG POSTS

Blogging isn't something I'm a pro at, lets be honest yet it always surprises me to see that people do actually read my posts. You may be able to tell, as I do go on a little bit, but I've started to write like no one's reading, using my blog as a little space I can share all my thoughts and ideas. 

I do love writing and sharing posts though so that's a new goal for me, to get at least one post up a week, if not more. I would love to be a daily blogger but I'll just see how my target of blogging weekly goes so far.

SOCIAL MEDIA

That being said, I really need to up my social media game too. This will be something that is going to be involved in my job everyday too so I will start doing more research into top trends and attempt to post something daily on my social platforms. 

TRAVEL MORE

My job now means I travel a lot more and I'm so excited to visit different places. The last place me and James visited was Edinburgh in December and we plan on doing lots more little trips this year. Nothing is booked yet but I plan on writing a separate post about the places I'd love to visit. 

GET OFF MY PHONE AND MEET PEOPLE

My business idea of SN:APP (connecting bloggers & photographers) is still something I'm working on in the background and although it might never happen due to finances, I do really want to at least have the opportunity to meet more people from the blogging community and connect people together. I would love to work with other bloggers and get to know you guys personally. It would be so nice to build relationships with new people but without social media for once, face to face - let's grab coffee, take blog photo's.. how knows, I just need to learn to have fun without my phone sometimes. The ultimate goal this year would be to plan and run a networking blogger event but I've already got so much I want to work on so I'll take this one goal at a time. 

GET ORGANISE / LET'S DO THIS! 

So I've been de-cluttering my room whilst I've been off and i've learnt that I am a bit of a hoarder- realising this after finding about 5 different bags of bags - I mean I love nice shopping bags and they're always handy but I soon realised this is a little crazy. I've binned the lot, something stuff has gone to charity shops - i've sorted old clothes, shoes, homeware and some pieces are up on Depop and Vinted. This is all part of my mission to become super organised this year.

COMING SOON

Ok, I think I've really gone on quite enough in this post, so I'm going to leave it here. I will be doing separate posts based on some of the things I have discussed today, keep your eyes peeled for those. For now, have a great week! 

Lots of Love 

Amy xo