New Year, New Start!

Welcome back... or more like, I welcome me back to you. Haha. It's been quite a few weeks... and how did I fare during my absence from The No Food Fun Life? Um, not too bad but not too well.

I'm going to just say that I indulged in quite a few carbs - delicate tea sandwiches, petit fours, at least three greenbean casseroles with extra crispy french fried onions, turkey tetrazzini, a two-cheese baked ziti, and some delicious Chinese Dim Sum. Oh yeah, and one day I had an extra-large slice of purple potato pizza... my excess serving of carbs was topped by little thin slices of starch. Yeah.

But! Now that I've listed my momentary lapses over the holiday season, I've had successes too. For example, we tried a new Italian restaurant for take-out one night, and instead of ordering the seafood linguine that I truly wanted, I ordered a Caprese Salad (tomato, mozzarella, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar) and a side of meatballs. It was a guilt-free fancy meal at home! I also discovered that Atkins have a frozen foods section. I purchased the Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo and it was really yummy. I heated it up and poured the contents over a bowl of Miracle Noodles... winner! Of course, I don't make it a habit to eat highly processed foods, but this was a real life saver. At 26g Protein, 9g Carbs, 1g Sugar... it really helped me stay on track on those nights when I came home super tired from work and had no motivation to cook.

So, onward to 2015... it's time for the real deal. I busted open my bottle of Kevita Probiotic Tonic and drank half the bottle. That's the size of 1 serving and contains 5g Carbs and 4g Sugar... is it that much of the bad stuff? Meh. It's kind of marginal... and I take that hit because it's worth it! I seriously have a love affair with probiotics. The good bacteria keeps everything moving and grooving along on the inside, and they're super awesome for the immune system as well. So, I guess I'm kind of toasting myself to a healthier New Year? Cheers!

Now, for the next part. I stopped my 30 Day Yoga Challenge about 1/2 way through because of a rib injury last month... and I didn't pick it back up because of something else that's aggravated - related or unrelated? Who knows. It's a supra-scapular nerve impingement... it's painful to put any weight on my right arm, and my range of motion has been reduced. However, I won't let it stop my fitness goals for 2015. I need to find other things to do! And... CARDIO is the name of the game this year.

I did one of those body fat analysis thingies... 32% body fat. OMG. I can't believe I typed it... so embarrassing! I'm just going to trust that nobody here is judging me as hard as I'm judging myself. :( And increased body fat content is scientifically known to mess up hormone balance in females. I may have lost "weight" last year, but I need to work on this body fat situation. Stat!

Another confession!!! One of the things that I'm notorious for doing is using my scoliosis and neck/back pain as HUGE mental blockers against my own success. I know why I do it... there were many occasions over the past 16 years when I went to high-impact classes like Bar Method, Jazzercise, or Kickboxing... or just went jogging, did a high-intensty workout, or whatever... and my low-back has locked up and I get crippling sciatica pain. I mean, it does happen. But it doesn't ALWAYS happen. I think I'm afraid of taking on new activities based on the history of pain. However, I've got great insurance and a new wonderful chiropractic office that takes said insurance... so I vow to venture forth and take a little more risk in my activity choices this year.

Alright! Confessions have been made. Goals have been set. Here's to 2015 - a year of fitness and good health!