How did I start out the first day of 2016? Having a breakfast I wanted – scrambled egg, leftover French fry hash browns, candied bacon, toast and an orange. And guess what? It was delicious. (photo credit goes to Hannah!)
I figure that’s one meal out of the 1,095 potential meals I’ll have in 2016, so why not? And because I was lazy and slept in, it’s my breakfast and lunch. #winning
I don’t want to associate food as being good or bad. I plan on getting to the gym (I need to check if it’s open today!) or if not, getting a walk outside to get my 10k steps in.
But I am doing something. I am getting most of my inspiration these past few days from my online friend Andie Mitchell. She wrote this book. It’s the only book I’ve read cover to cover in 10 years, and not only that, I’ve read it 9 times already. She loves food as much as I do, was a night time eater like me, but figured out a way to enjoy it without binging and making changes in how she views food to eventually lose 135 pounds and keep it off.
This post stopped me in my tracks. Most “experts” will tell you “just start small and once you achieve that small goal, move on to the next one.” Andie suggests starting big to small – why not tackle the hardest thing first because then everything else will be small potatoes.
I think we all know where this is going – and what’s going is my beloved wine. My step-son Joe and I are both ditching alcohol for the month of January to kick start our year. I feel that all the exercise I do is just a wash after having just a couple glasses of wine. That’s the biggest thing I can think of that needs to change, so I am doing it!
We had a very low key NYE. Hannah and Jacob went out for a bit, and the dogs and I watched Chopped. My Mom got me these toe socks, and I absolutely love them. Even in winter I like to walk barefoot around the house, but I really shouldn’t as a diabetic – I could step on something, potentially not feel it and I don’t need any infections, thank you very much.
Hannah and I have our organizing pants on today. I need to switch out my computer today – I got to bring home my old computer from work a month or so ago – my desktop that I have now is about 7 years old and it’s really, really slow. I just need to put stuff on my flash drive and possibly delete 5000+ pics that I don’t need anymore! The Christmas decorations are also coming down. If Tony were still here, he’d be so happy about that – and preferably would have wanted the decorations taken down on December 26th. 
I bought a new scale too. My WW scale stopped working right. It would give me readings 15 pounds apart, even if I stepped on it five times in a row. I got a gift card from my bosses for Christmas and used Bed Bath & Beyond’s 20% off coupon and bought this scale. It was the top rated smart scale on consumer reports, and I have an app on my phone that goes with it.
So here’s where I am at:
And yes, my toe nails are still on fleek!
So why not start off 2016 with a giveaway! I’d love to give away Andie’s book. Just leave a comment telling me what is your “big” thing you could change about yourself if you could? I’ll pick a winner on Monday.
I love that it’s only Friday, but it feels like a Sunday 
Have a wonderful weekend! Hugs and Love.
Happy New Year Biz!
Did you change the lay-out of the blog? I love it, very fresh and light.
I am not giving up my wine for a month LOL (I have two getting 50 birthday parties and 2 dinner dates this month) but after the holidays where a glass of wine every day is more usual than an exception. I have decided I don’t drink alcohol on weekdays except if there’s a special occasion like a dinner date.
I hope to learn not to let things upset me so quickly and relearn how I should eat better as a diabetic – I’ve let things slide too much.
I absolutely love the socks. Wish that they had them in New Zealand.
I followed Andie for a while, and I’d love to read her book. I still have a tendency to think of foods as good and bad, and then think of myself as good or bad when I eat them. I am working on that. But it sure takes a long time.
Happy New Year! I love your blog!
I would change putting everyone else first and myself last. I said this is going to be the year of me!!! I started in December, I figured I deserve 13 months. (a bakers dozen) I have done OK, I’m a work in progress. I bought Oprah’s magazine to read, her cover says It’s the Year of You! Here’s to the Year of You Biz & the Year of Me, Cheers!
I think you meant “the only book I’ve read cover to cover in 10 years besides my brother’s wonderfully written book on food and dieting, currently available at Amazon.com in paperback or on Kindle.”
Happy New year Biz! make it great! Great post, always love following along with you.
My big thing is exercise. I have a treadmill downstairs, but I always have an excuse for myself to not use it — which all boil down to just being lazy!
I think the one most important thing for me is to get a handle on my diabetes. That includes losing some weight and following a healthier way of eating. Wishing you many new adventures for the coming year.
To be able to keep my weight in control and do it for me….
If I could change one thing…probably the little voice in my head that tells me to make everyone happy and put others first.
if I could change one thing, I would stop negative self talk, which hopefully help me stand up for myself against people in my life who aren’t good for me.
I would change the binging that I do on sweets. I was doing good until the holidays, and now feel that I have to something sweet every night. Guess I need to do a sugar detox for January!
Night time eating has always been my downfall. That’s what I want to work on the most in 2016. 🙂
I’ve kicked caffeine and diet soda … next is probably processed foods.
I will learn to eat to live not live to eat.
Happy new year! Would love to stop letting my own self doubt get in my way – much easier said than done, of course!
The biggest thing for me would be giving up alcohol. I did it in the summer for 6 weeks and felt great, dropped a few pounds and then slowly got back to daily wine.
Gosh, what “Big” thing would I change? Probably would like to be more accepting of reality – I think it would cause me less stress. One of the hardest things for me the last few years is that I hit the “glass ceiling” at work. If you’d told my 22-year old newly-minted engineer and Navy officer self that one day my upward mobility would end because I’m female? I would have laughed.
Though I want to fight it, I think I would be happier if I just accepted it.
You know I gave up wine for November, 2 years in a row, and it was a good experience. The rest of the year, mostly, I don’t have wine open in the house. I will have a glass out, or will take wine to potlucks or parties. Wine is only a sometimes thing that way. (1-2 glasses a week).
Happy New Year Biz to you and your family! Cute toes! 😀 I’ve got a long list of changes but my biggest change is to stop using food & alcohol as a comfort & reward each day. I did WW over a year ago & lost 30 lbs. It didn’t take long to find 20 of that back again. I don’t have a problem with exercise cos I love it! But as soon as I get home from the gym I grab a beer & that usually turns into 2 or 3 – along with handfuls of chips, nuts, popcorn, etc. And that’s before supper! All that exercising I did a few hours earlier was nullified by useless unhealthy calories. It’s a viscous habit that I have somehow got to break to live a healthier life. So I can totally relate to ditching the alcohol!! My goal is to begin the lifestyle change on Monday. I’ll be honest – I’m dreading it. But hopefully with baby steps I can begin seeing all my workouts paying off!
Happy New Year Biz. One change would be, after losing 40 lbs last year….after my hernia surgery I gained back 10 since September. Need to lose those 10 lbs AGAIN!!! Also the negative talk to myself, like Kimberly I don’t give myself the grace I give others.
Happy New Year Biz. One change would be, after losing 40 lbs last year….after my hernia surgery I gained back 10 since September. Need to lose those 10 lbs AGAIN!!! Also the negative talk to myself, like Kimberly I don’t give myself the grace I give others.
I need to get organized. Finding things that are ten years old in the kitchen.
I’ve gotta ditch the damn wine too!
🙂 It always comes back to weight for me. So if I could change 1 thing it would be that I would be at a healthy weight.
2016 is going to be great! The biggest thing I would change about is all the negative self talk. I don’t give myself the grace that I give others. It’s become a bad habit of mine.
Happy New Year! I think that is a great idea to give up alcohol for a while! I decided to go all year without it in 2015 and it was the best decision I made for myself. And it definitely made weight loss a lot easier. I hope it makes you feel awesome.
I guess one thing that I want to change and that I’m going to work on this year is following through. I always plan things but then just kind of never do them. I’d sure like to stop doing that and make things happen more!
Happy New Year!!! The biggest thing I would like to change is my constant procrastination. It could be weight loss, a work project, putting up the Christmas tree, taking it down, cleaning out a closet, etc….. I seem to always procrastinate with everything in my life.
Happy NY Biz! If I could change one “big” thing it would be to exercise consistently. As a teacher (who also attends grad school part-time!) this is a constant struggle. I have seen many reviews and write-ups re: Andie’s book. I definitely need to check it out!
It’s going to be a great year. My challenge is something I would rather not share publicly but take this goal out of my heart and put into action. Life is too short to not follow your dreams.
Your brunch sounds and looks delicious. I am totally with you on seeing food neutrally – not good or bad, just food. I worked on that quite a bit in 2015.
I recently read an article that I can’t find right this minute about a woman who did a no alcohol January and talked about the benefits. The first year she was feeling so much better at the end of the month, she went through February as well. Now she does it every January. According to her experience, the first two weeks are the hardest and once you get past that, it seems to not be an issue. Kind of makes sense, especially if pouring some wine has simply become a habit.
The biggest thing I need to overcome is perfectionism and all the things that happen to me mentally when I don’t feel I’ve done something perfectly. I’ve been working on that too but like most others, I am still probably my own harshest critic.
Happy New Year! Good luck with your Drynuary or is it Janupause? 😀
Happy New Year !!!!!! The main thing I would change about myself would be to slow down and not be in such a rush all the time, everything I do is Hurry up and I move to fast. I would like to walk a little slower and stop being in such a hurry. Take a little time for me and still get everything done, taking car of my 93 year old Mom and my sweet husband, whom I’ve spoiled over 30 years and I have to wait on hand and foot. Pamper myself some, but I am very thankful to have them and love very much.
I would change the way I see food….not as entertainment or comfort, but merely as fuel for my body! Perhaps then I would make the healthier choices more consistently.
Happy New Year! I love your festive toes! The biggest thing I’d like to change is the way I talk to myself in my head. I am so critical and often downright mean to myself. That’s a BIG one.
Thank you so much for this blog it is a true inspiration. I personally appear have been battling with my body weight all my life, even as a teen I was always a little on the chubby side and got picked on regularly. But as an adult things changed for even worse as I gained all the more excess weight particularly after my first pregnancy. But recently I have lost almost 35 pounds, after a friend of mine shared a weight-loss e-newsletter from a German diet expert with me, therefore with the intention to give back here is a link to the free newsletter for women: http://bit.ly/1kxNYvM