It's New Year's Day!!

Every fat girl's favorite day of the year. Filled with all the hopes and possibilities of wearing skinny jeans and tankinis. (Yes, that's right, tankinis. I have no delusions of grandeur. My bikini days have long since passed, not that I ever really had them!)

A year ago, I started this blog, with the same resolution I have this year. Health, fitness, and weight loss. So, that leaves me wondering what I accomplished in a year.

Basically, the year went like this. From Jan until March, I made steady progress by counting calories and eating more healthfully, losing about 20 lbs. During March and April, I went off course, gaining back half of the weight I had lost in the first few months of the year. In April I began Medifast and lost weight quickly and steadily through August, when I was at my lowest weight of the year (down about 65 lbs). Since then, I have gone up and down using a variety of different strategies (or none at all), gaining and losing and gaining again at least 15 lbs. I haven't done my first official weigh in of the year, but I am pretty sure it is not going to be pretty as I have eaten with reckless abandon for the past two weeks. In fact, I suspect that my first weigh-in would not be a true reflection of my ending weight for the year, which is why I am going to give it a couple weeks of "normal" eating before I proclaim my final weight loss for the year. Oh, the mind games we play! Regardless, I think that I probably finished out 2011 with a total loss of 40-50 lbs. My positive self says, "Not too shabby." In an attempt to silence my negative self, I think I'll just leave it at that.

Now, on to 2012. I have several resolutions for this year, but they all fall into the general category of BALANCE. I'd like to find MIND<BODY<SPIRIT balance that I have not experienced in a long time, if ever. This, of course, includes weight loss, but more importantly a diet and exercise plan that I can maintain. There are several other areas of my life where I am aiming to create balance, but more on those another day. As part of my new balanced life, I am also going to try to balance my blog posts. While the primary focus will still be diet and fitness (although less focus on the scale and more focus on the lifestyle), I plan to include other posts about this whole MIND<BODY<SPIRIT connection. So, I hope you continue to read.

By the way, if you have any recommendations, such as books or web sites, related to this topic, I'd love to hear them.

Wishing you all the best that that this year has to offer, and all the best that you have to offer yourself! You deserve it!