Farewell 2014, Welcome 2015

This morning I was laying in bed thinking about what I wanted to say on the last day of the year. I quickly realised that it was going to be an awfully long Facebook status update. Should I do three or four separate ones, plus upload photos, or one big status update. As those thoughts flitted around my head, a quiet little thought forced it's way in. You know you have a blog right? You can say as much as you want to say, upload photos and then say some more if you need. You think you remember how to do that?

So, I have a blog! And I can write a post! Although apparently I am very easily distracted by stupid facebook games and online conversations.

So, here we go.

2014 was a pretty good year for me.

I reconnected with some people from my past who helped me understand the things that happened back then from their perspective, which was actually a lot different from my perspective of things. I strengthened friendships with other people who have become really important to me now and I met some new people too!

Some of those events and people then helped me to get my head a little bit straighter, as did taking some active steps towards that which then helped me with......

The single most important thing I did this year is that I finally figured out what I need to do to lose weight!! I end the year weighing 38kgs (around 80lbs) less than I started. Maybe it's more, but that is how much I have lost from the heaviest weight I remember. And for the most part, it has been relatively easy, or at least it was until the last few weeks when some bad habits have started to creep back in again and I also eased off being so strong in resisting things like Lindt chocolate balls.

For me weight loss comes down to this. If you watch what you eat (make better food choices) and how much of it (portion control) and move more (exercise) then you lose weight. No shakes, or super, super restrictive diets or anything like that. I am also keeping a food diary which is very powerful in terms of being accountable and trying to find recipes that approximate things that we like to eat anyway.

I have been told that I need to get my eyes fixed though because I am not as good at seeing the effects as other people are. I have dropped lots of sizes, and so can see it in my clothes but I am not that great in seeing it in the mirror or in photos. For example, in the now photo below I don't see as big a difference as I would like to! So, the photo on the left was taken in February 2014 and the one on the right on Christmas day.

One of the consequences of feeling better about myself and having more energy is that I feel much lighter in my spirit.  That doesn't mean to say that I don't have days where I feel down but those days are much fewer and don't feel any where near as oppressive as they used to.

In terms of the other major issues in my life, money is still tight and will continue to be for a couple of more years more at least, but there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel.  And no, no bloke yet but I did get picked up a few months ago at a car wash of all places. Unfortunately I had to say no to my first pick up in 20 years (a very funny story) but it happened!

It's not quite all good news. 2014 also seems to have been the year where I forgot how to read and how to blog. Goodreads proudly told me I had completed 62 books this year which doesn't sound that bad until you realise that I generally easily exceed 200 books in a year. And no reading means no blogging. I could have been blogging other stuff I guess but I am not sure where either blogging or reading fits into that. I want it too. I need it too. Just have to figure it all out.

Other highlights for this year included spending some time in Adelaide earlier this year. That trip gets easier and easier every time I make it. A few years ago I dreaded it but this time I was actually very excited about it and was almost reluctant to leave!!

The boy turned 16 which is impossible to believe. He made the training squad for the state volleyball team and now has made the rep squad for basketball in our area. My Friday nights for the next 12 month are pretty much taken up with basketball and that is before we start talking about training, about tournaments or anything else. He just got his learners permit a couple of days ago so now I have the trauma of teaching him to drive to look forward to.

I went to a couple of concerts this year and thoroughly enjoyed them both. I couldn't possibly missed seeing Keith Urban when he is in town and then I saw Queen with Adam Lambert which was an awesome show, although I could have done without the pre-show drama that I had with some of my friends. Oh well. All's well that ends well.

So what does 2015 hold in store?

I am hoping to continue losing weight and then to have 2015 be the year where I work out how to keep the weight off and not regain it! This is especially important seeing as I just recently cleaned all the really, really fat clothes out of my wardrobe so if I do regain it all then I will have to spend a lot more money on restocking the wardrobe.

Goodbye really fat clothes

After I had started the weight loss process I was confirmed as having diabetes. I have posted a bit before about this and it still seems to be under control. I am hoping to have it under control enough to go off medication, at least for the time being but I think I need to find a new doctor so that we can have that conversation. Last time I saw my current doctor he kept calling me dearie (which I hate) but most significantly when I asked him about coming off meds he basically said I would need to do something drastic like have lap band surgery. At that stage I had lost 25kgs so I was like how much more drastic does it need to be and he wouldn't believe me until I stood on his scales!

Another things I am hoping for 2015 is that I get to leave the country! I am hoping to either visit the US or New Zealand this year, but I need to get my passport first. I have no idea why, but in my mind I had always said that if my weight reached a certain point then I could give myself permission to go and get my passport. I am now past that point so in theory I just need to find the money and go and do it! The boy gets to go to New Zealand with school first though.

I do have a couple of trips within Australia too. I am planning to go to Canberra for the Australian Romance Readers Convention, to Sydney for the Historical Novel Society Australia conference, to Perth for either my grandmother's 95th birthday or for Christmas, to Adelaide in September and to Mildura for my godson's christening. Phew. No idea how I am going to pay for all of that but we will work it out I am sure.

I guess overall, if I was to summarise what I hope for next year, I want to consolidate the changes I have made in my life so that I can continue to be happier and healthier. Oh, and if a decent man wanted to come along for the ride too that would be awesome!

See, way too long for a Facebook status update!!

I wish everyone a very happy and safe new year! And hopefully I will see some of you around blogland once I have figured out where blogging fits into my current life!