Good morning everyone! HAPPY NEW Year!! It's a new year and a new decade and I am making plans! I am mainly making plans because, well, that is what Capricorns do! We make plans for the year, plans for projects, and daily lists for the day. In fact, I make decorative pillows with quotes and one that sits in my office says "A Goal Without a Plan is Just a WISH! lol We just LOVE planning!

So I begin my year with looking back: I have lost 38.2 lbs for the year, 2.6 lbs for the month, and 108.4 .lbs total. I have discovered the JOY of fasting and of controlling my rheumatoid arthritis and my health in general by modifying my diet instead of taking pharmaceuticals! I am so grateful that the internet (which I consider to be both a wonderful and terrible thing) provides an ongoing wealth of information that allows me to do that! Support groups continue to give me strength and at this point I feel so much in charge of my choices. I start every day with a gratitude list!

And I also begin my year with looking forward. I do not exactly do New Years Resolutions, but I do begin my year with what I call my List of Ten. These are ten things I intend to accomplish during the coming year and I post it in my office and check them off as I complete them. The ones that are related to my health and fitness are: 1) continue the combination of intermittent and alternate day fasting that is working well for me. I want to lose 20-25 lbs in the coming year. Then I can start with the challenge of maintaining! 2) With the RA I will always have challenges with joint stiffness. (This past couple of years I have focused on my steps and after my recent RA flare I have just come back to 7k steps a day. I want to be back to 9k by Spring and ready to tackle some hills and some walking in the woods). So, I am going to start experimenting with Yoga, Tai Chi, Chi Gong. I am not sure which is the right path is for me here, but I know it has to do with flexibility and balance. I have been looking at some videos on Youtube and am going to do a Yoga for Seniors today. I did yoga when I was younger and I believe its time to take this or a similar path again. 3) I want to get back to my art. And that is part of a spiritual/mental health path for me.

I hope everyone is having an amazing day, filling with gratitude and blessings. I don't come in here as often as I once did because I no longer do things like count calories, but I think this is an amazing group with has lasted a lot longer than almost all of the groups I have seen! I have been coming in here since 2013! Thanks to Retirehappy, who does a fantastic job, it just keeps going on! Once again, HAPPY NEW YEAR everyone!

Just need to finish the goodies so s can start properly!

retirehappy wrote: »

I am grateful I started the new year and the new decade within my goal range. Was nice not to join the average Americans who gain 10 lbs. over the holidays.

Great! I have put a few pounds on but still within my goal too