Now that the new year is here, and I’m starting to feel my health return again (darn you, flu!) I want to share with everyone my overarching goal for 2013 and some steps I’m going to take to get there. This year I want to dedicate to living a more stress-free lifestyle. For me, 2012 was anything but stress-free and I knew that it would be. Planning me and my husband’s wedding, starting this blog and then getting a new job gave me a lot of great memories, skills and you guessed it, stress. Over the years, my personality has shown me that I’m predisposed to falling down the rabbit hole of stress, but this year I’m determined to change some habits that could trigger stress. I intend on sharing some of these experiences on this blog, successes or failures. A few things I am going to try right away are:
1. Going out to eat only twice a week. The idea behind limiting meals out is because not cooking at home and spending money on going out makes me feel stressed about what I’m eating and the kind of money I’m spending, also if meals out are limited then when Christopher and I do go out we can really enjoy ourselves.
2. Spending time outside every day. This one seems so simple that I’m surprised I haven’t thought of it before! While I’m at work during the week I find it hard to pull myself away from my desk, even when I know it is perfectly fine to do so. The few occasions that I have left to run an errand or grab coffee with a friend I remember coming back and feeling very refreshed. With that said I am going to leave the office to go outside every day (and going to and from my car in the parking garage doesn’t count). Fresh air and sunshine really do help to clear the mind.
3. Floss 3 times a week. I know it’s simple and it might not seem like it will reduce stress but I do know that flossing will make my mouth less stressed about my next trip to the dentist.
What are you striving for in 2013?
By Dad 01/30/13 - 8:00 pm
Was this picture taken at your apartment, Abby? Nice picture – you both look happy – GREAT!
Dad
By Amy 02/17/13 - 5:50 pm
Abby I recently started doing bikram yoga and it has changed my life! I am more calm, gaining flexibility and sweating out all the stresses of the day. I highly recommend adding it to your list!
By Abby 02/19/13 - 8:43 am
Awesome! I did recently start taking a pilates class that I absolutely love and a spin class. Actually when I started the spin class I thought about you and how much you’d like it
Exercising more really helps mellow me out more during the day. Thanks for the suggestion, I’ll look into it! <3
By Jeff 03/21/13 - 6:06 pm
I like these 3 goals! Like you, I eat out WAY too much, my Foursquare Check-ins are proof! I work a very busy job with lots of stress and I use my lunch break to leave campus and have some time away from the chaos. Sometimes, home life is just as busy, so we end up picking up food to go or go out to eat. Although I could make good choices eating out, I rarely do. Up until about a year or two ago, I was eating out sometimes for every meal… daily. I’m sure it took a toll on my health (yes, I’m type-2 diabetic, so I shouldn’t be eating most of this crap anyways). Slowly over the last year I’ve slightly reduced how often I eat out, but it’s still not what I (or my Dr) would consider acceptable. Anyway, please continue to share your great food photos on Instagram/Twitter/Blog whatever… maybe I’ll be inspired to eat REAL food rather than the processed food I pay high prices for eating out.
By abbyabbyabby 03/22/13 - 12:22 am
Oh I will! It helps me to feel good about what I’m eating when I photograph it all. I use an app on my iPhone called The Eatery and it helps me stay honest with myself. Having that reality check keeps me in line, most of the time
Good luck! I might from time to time put recipes up here too, we’ll see!