Winter Shed 2013

It’s that time of year when many of us are looking to make some changes in our life. Often that includes resolving to exercise regularly and find more balance within how we spend our time.

When I think about the New Years Resolutions that I made for 2012, it is frustrating to admit that I am not where I hoped and intended to be now, not even close.

Three of the most glaring areas that I fell short are:

1) Keeping Fit & Shedding Weight

In December 2012 I was determined to try to lose the last 5-10 lbs. of my postpartum/IVF weight to get back where I was around 2006.

When I made that resolution I was 5-8 lbs. from my goal weight, but in pretty good shape from regular exercise.

Now I am about 10-12 lbs. from where I want to be AND have managed to let regular exercise become less of a priority than it had been in recent years. Not exercising consistently over the past few months has led to weight gain and more stress, as running, group fitness and practicing yoga typically helps me to keep both in check.

I am going to get back on track.

2) Housekeeping

I won’t bore you with my excuses, some of which are valid and others, not so much. The bottom line is that I have not been doing enough as often as it is needed.

I can and will do better.

3) Balance & Harmony

I want to strive to not let any one area in my life outweigh the other priorities. I want to be a good, even better, woman, wife, mother, writer and group fitness instructor. I know that it is possible for me to do all these thing well, but I don’t have to attempt to do each them perfectly, which often trips me up when I am trying find that “harmony” as Brooke from Redhead Reverie wrote about in her “My One Word” post this week.

I want need to find balance and harmony in my life.

Which brings me to my plan to make/be the changes that I want to see in 2013…

When I reflect on what has helped me to shed weight, get/stay in shape in the past, prioritize housekeeping tasks and find more balance in my life, accountability is huge!

I have kept myself accountable various ways in the past, but this time I am going to do so publicly here on my blog.

Once a week, on Fridays, from now until at least mid-March/Spring, I will check in and share how my week has gone in the key areas I am working on. My hope and intention is that knowing I have this self-imposed report card to file will motivate me to stay focused on my goals.

If any of you want to join me in this “Winter Shed,” I will add a Linky Tool to my weekly Friday posts and you are welcome to link up to your Winter Shed blog entries, and/or you can comment here on how you are doing from week to week, so we can support and encourage each other, as well as share what works and what doesn’t for each of us when it comes to striving towards our goals.

Please join me and we can cheer each other on as we start 2013 strong (and stay the course long past February 16th)!

We can do this — TOGETHER!

See you next Friday!

In the meantime, if you know you are going to participate, please do an introductory post, on your blog and link up here or share about your intentions in the comment section, so we can learn about you and your goals for your Winter Shed.

You are welcome to grab the code for the Winter Shed button by clicking here and put it on your blog. The link will take you to a Google Doc where you can copy the code. If your browser does not allow access to your computer’s clipboard, you can use Ctrl-C for Copy and Ctrl-V for Paste, or use your browser’s Edit menu.

1. Kimberly B.