HELLO FROM BEAUTIFUL SUNSHINE BEACH - SUNSHINE COAST QUEENSLAND

My blog has been seriously neglected over the festive season due to work being so busy coupled with some serious socialising and now being on holiday with my family. Life has been pretty good and I'm in a really happy place.

This post will have to cover a few things firstly.....

My 7 BEAUTIFUL BLOGGER revelations (thanks Charlotte for nominating me).

1. I'm anal about spelling and grammar. When I read stuff thats poorly written (often by professional people) I just freak out at the mistakes. I must have been an English teacher in a previous life.

2. I have 2 best friends that I've known for 2/3s of my life. One of them knows more about me than my husband.

3. I met Peter (my husband) through work and I initiated our relationship. After a bad first marriage I could spot a winner when I saw one and if I didnt snap him up I knew that one of the other single girls I worked with, would.

4. I'm not a fussy eater but I cant stand grapefruit, gravy (made from a packet), green tea and pork that smells piggy.

5. I had braces on my teeth when I was 36 years old. On the day they came off, I had just found out that another cycle of IVF had failed yet I smiled all day.

6. I'm a morning person (how else could I willingly get up at 5am to train every day?) and I always wake up alert with good energy and ready to tackle the day

7. I hate chocolate and only eat it occasionally if its got something in it that I like (eg Ferrero Rochers). My vice is cake and I could eat it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks in between. I wont even start to list the cakes I love, there are too many (but NEVER chocolate ones).

Secondly my REVIEW OF 2009.

Wow what  year. The most significant thing I learned was that after 3 decades of dieting and yoyoing more times than I can recall (yes it would be a 4 digit number), the answer to getting my weight to a happy place was inside me and not prescribed in a program written by somebody else. It wasnt in a book, or a magazine and it wasnt about weighing, measuring, recording and analysing what passed my lips until it overtook my life.

Although I had good success working with Hilde from Get Active On Line I was still succumbing to occassional binging episodes despite getting some expert help from a SP earlier in the year. It was then that I looked at my life and the effect that dieting was having on me and realised that I didnt want to do it any more. I wanted to take control and be responsible and accountable for what I ate. I needed to trust myself to work it out for me and to get it right.

And I've been REALLY pleased with how I've been managing this new approach. I feel great (free from the chains of the diet mentality), I'm looking better and better as the weight continues to come off slowly and I've reignited my passion for running. If I have a lapse now I dont beat myself up over it. I accept that I'm human and will make mistakes. My fundamental survival tip if I go off the rails is that I forgive myself and ask myself how I want to be living my life. The answer to this always brings me back to what I believe in now and the correct actions just follow.

On a different level, 2009 saw Peter and I change direction in terms of our house and where we choose to live. I blogged about this recently so wont repeat it all but on reflection yesterday I realised that in the last decade we lived in 5 different houses. Hopefully the new decade sees us settle into a home that we'll be happy with for the long term. The prospect of finding that magical place is exciting and I'm looking forward to the journey.

I havent checked back to my original goals but can recall them vaguely: eg: lose weight and get to a certain weight and body fat level, compete, eat well etc etc etc. Whereas I'm happy with my end of year weight, the journey to get here ended up being quite different to what I initailly planned. As for competing, my motto is never say never but its not on the radar at all for 2010.

LOOKING FORWARD: 2010

For the first time in my life as far as I can remember, I'm not starting the year with a resolution to lose weight and to be X kilos by Y (date). Its not about body fat %s or the number on the scales for me any more. So here are some beliefs, values and habits that I want to develop further. These are my versions of "resolutions" written to suit me.

1. I will continue to develop my belief in myself. I will have faith that I hold the answers to how to eat for the lean and toned body that I desire.

2. I will run, run and run some more. When my legs are tired from running, I'll lift some heavy weights to keep my upper body toned. Oh and I'll devote some time to improving my core strength.

3. I will strive to be more patient and less grumpy. My son deserves this. So does my husband.

4. I will continue to place the highest importance on my family, their wellbeing, our wellbeing, harmony, support, nurturing and caring for. Doing this makes me truly happy.

5. I will continue to nurture my friendships. My circle of friends is small and precious and I'd be lost without them.

So there it is. The things that are important to me as I face this new decade. The end of 2009 saw big changes in my life and now its time to embrace them and take them further to make 2010 and the new decade the best one yet.

Cheers all

Magda