New Year Musings & Focus

I mean, it's really nuts how the last four years have flown by.

It didn't help that we were locked in our houses for two years during the pandemic, but then 2023 seemed to fly by as well.

January is now over :) and behind us.

The time between the start of December to the end of January is a strange one, really, when you think about it.

There's a load of festive stuff going on, total over indulgence on food and drink, socialising, parties, glitz, sparkles and glamour.

Then January arrives and it's dark, bleak and not very inviting (and very different from the previous month).

Getting back into a routine can be a bit of a struggle to start with, after some time off.

The world is going through some dark times and it's soooo dark in the mornings!

The light is coming back though, day by day, and the sunrises are very pretty in winter.

Did you take part in dry January? I didn't because January is depressing enough.

We did cut down on the amount of booze being consumed though (considerably).

And we started to eat a bit more healthily - making things from scratch, rather than buying shop bought processed foods.

Did you make any New Years resolutions and if you did, how are they going?

My resolution this year is to be a bit kinder to myself.

I'm going to try and finish work at 5.30pm every day (there, I've written it down so hopefully will be able to keep it up).

Work is busy and that's great, but it can be very easy to be sucked in to working longer hours when you work for yourself.

I'm getting back into the old routine and exercising in the front room in the mornings, before starting work.

This was 2023's new year resolution so I've been relatively consistent all year.

It's great because by 8am my exercise for the day is done and I don't have to think about trying to fit it in later on.

Plus it's a little bit of me time before work.

Running is also back, as my foot injury is finally starting to feel much better after six long months of not being able to run.

It's been a long, patient wait to finally get back to something I love.

Short runs and incredibly slow times to start with.

It's more of a quick walk really.. haha!

I'm hoping to get more sleep too by minimising screen time later in the evenings, and reading a book in bed (rather than looking at my phone).

My new big thing is tea!

Ok, so the Chinese have been at it a long time but it's relatively new to my daily routine.

We bought a reused tea pot from Stroud Market last week and some loose tea from the health food shop... so middle aged!

We've also started enjoying a green tea every morning and I've been having a decaf coffee at the end of a meal out.

It's really nice, no idea why I never went for it before.

Intermittent Fasting is something we're trying in the mornings so that we eat in a 10 hour window during the week, Monday to Friday.

It's like the 16:8 fasting plan but we're going for 14:10 to ease ourselves in.

Hopefully, the extra pounds put on during lock down by gorging on too much banana bread, will finally shift.

And we don't eat too many home made imitation takeaways at the weekends.

It's all about balance :)

We enjoyed watching Traitors which got us through the month and got back out on our bikes, when it stopped raining for a minute.

January didn't actually feel that long for once, but it's great that the light is coming back and spring will be here soon.

That's all for now, musings over and out. Have a good rest of week.