Saturday, January 5, 2013

Drop Your Shotglass and Put Your Hands Over Your Head!

I came home from work early on New Year's Eve and had a chance to watch Dr. Phil for the first time in a long time. The episode was about New Year's Resolutions and the guests were 3 couples with different goals for 2013. One couple wanted to have sex more often but didn't have time because they were consumed with the responsibilities of parenthood. One woman wanted to lose weight but her husband was enabling her bad habits. The third couple had a failed business, were upside down in their home and dreamt of financial freedom. All I could think while watching was, "What the hell Doc? Where's the 4th couple? You know, the one with the wife that's addicted to everything?" All 3 of those things are on my list of resolutions! Well... not really the sex thing but a person can always use a little more sex, right?

Too bad Dr. Phil couldn't hear me.

It's no secret that I'm over-indulgent. No matter what I'm doing, drugs, eating, drinking, even working out, I do it to the extreme. My long time friends know that I go in lengthy spurts where I am extremely motivated to be a healthy person. I get so into the lifestyle that I can't ever imagine living another way. When we were living in Gilbert (post-Mesa, pre-Holy-shit-we's-movin'-to-Mexico) I would get up at 4am to go to my favorite Les Mills classes at Fitness Works, then go to work, and then hit the gym again in the afternoon. I know the calorie count to practically every food on the planet and can teach you how to strength train like a pro. My newer followers/readers probably have trouble believing this because I've been living the life of a gluttonous sloth for quite some time now, but I swear it's true.

I'm a happy indulger though. I don't eat or drink because I'm sad. Sure I've gone through some horrible things in life but I don't have low self-esteem or feel lonely or have some sort of pent up emotional issue that drives me to eat chicken wings. I wish I could unearth some inner-demon in a tearful set of push-ups with Jillian Michaels, but I think the truth is that I just like to celebrate. I like to eat and laugh and drink and be with my friends and not be stressed about the crazy realities of life.

The biggest change in me since moving to Mexico is that I have become a genuinely happy person. My outlook on life has changed and I feel so optimistic. In some ways that new take on life has backfired on me because now I seem to be able to find something to celebrate every-freaking-day. I've practically spent every day of the last 2 years like a superstitious Mayan on December 21, 2011. Whatever-I-Want-Wednesdays and Thirsty-Thursdays and Four-Shots-Fridays? It was a busy year with all the parties I was having in my head.

You know you have a serious problem when everyone on Facebook starts tagging you in pictures of bacon and wine.

My husband had several health scares in the last year that have made me think that I really do want to make some changes in my life. This time around though, I want them to be more balanced than the changes that I've made in the past. I am going to revisit the Faturday concept (or the 80/20 approach) because I think it's the most realistic solution for me. I dabbled with the idea last year but honestly never really put the plan to action. I don't think I was ready. I hadn't fully embraced my new life and was still in the adjustment and acceptance stage of it all. I feel like I'm ready now. I realize that I don't need to celebrate every single day and that if I continue to do so, I'm not going to have that many days to celebrate.

With all that being said, we will be making some big changes this year. My old friends at Spark People will probably be seeing me again. Although I'm not sure I will go back to blogging over there, I do realize that I need to journal things and track my progress to hold myself accountable. After all the medical issues he had last year, my husband is finally on board the Resolution Boat this year. He seems motivated to walk alongside me in this new journey and I think that having a partner in this new challenge will make all the difference.

We also have a big master plan to pay off our credit card debt which is a huge financial responsibility for us every month. We've devised a plan that will allow us to pay it all off in 2 years. Once that's taken care of we will actually have room in our budget for emergencies or maybe luxuries once in a while. I'm sure buying less Tecate will help too.

I'm super excited about this year. I want it to as amazing as 2012 was, but in a completely different way. I hope that everyone has had a chance to reflect on the past year and I want to wish you all a happy, safe and successful 2013!

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