I write great stuff in my head.

Among the other changes I need to make in my life, I need to become a morning writer. I craft great paragraphs with my morning coffee, in my head, while walking Sophie and cleaning the cat box and packing my own lunch, etc. I sit down here in the evening and...poof! Gone.

Right now I'm feeling like that thing going around Facebook: I want to stay up until midnight tonight just so I can see 2016 DIE!

Not that I think 2017 is going to be better, but really, this year has been an epic rolling dumpster fire of tragedy and insanity. I'm exhausted by it all. Shortly before the "election" of that "president" I had started to tinker with setting up a new blog, a positive, energized blog of fun things, a fresh start. Then the runaway train in flames went off the broken bridge and crashed into the canyon, and I am forbidden to even THINK that again. The last time I had that bright idea, the year I decided to "retire" Bossy Little Dogs, I started a new blog and promptly nearly died of a brain aneurysm a month later. Yeah, I think I'll stick with BLD. I will retool it and revive it, and see what happens.

I really fell off the healthy living wagon in the last year, and it's time to get myself together. The death of Carrie Fisher was a horrible shock to everyone, and for me it reinforced my commitment to the plans I've made. I've let myself go in the last year, and I can see it and feel it, and it's not good. I've gone from whole food plant based eating to a convenience food vegetarian. I haven't been walking regularly, and my weight has been creeping steadily upward. I'm drinking too much wine. I snack all day at my desk, where I sit way too much. This is bad at any age, but it's time for me to quit pretending I'm a kid and get serious about this.

As I mentioned the other day, a number of opportunities for a fresh start presented themselves to me almost simultaneously, and I decided I need to quit screwing around and get serious about my health again.

I've committed to do the Engine 2 Diet 7-Day Rescue Challenge.
The hardest parts for me will be breaking the snack-at-my-desk habit and passing up the wine. I know I need to do both; I have a closet full of nice, professional work slacks and blouses that I cannot wear; there's a couple of inches of me keeping the waist from buttoning. My wardrobe is limited to a few things that still fit/have plenty of stretch, and those things are getting shabby. This cannot continue. The 7 Day Challenge is what I need to fix my head and remind myself that I feel infinitely better when I eat WFPB. (The idea of course is to continue eating whole food plant based forever, but the challenge is a sort of fun sort of group project, with a Facebook group, etc.)

Another part of my program: Revolution. Again, this isn't a "quick fix" or just for a month, but it's a way to focus myself on a short term goal to get back on track. I LOVE Adriene to pieces - I think I found her via a mention by Rachael Herron, but whoever turned me on to her has my undying gratitude.

And as usual my very smart daughter is a source of inspiration. She'd also put on weight over the past year and is working hard to get back in shape. She's doing a couch to 5K program and is preparing to run a 5k at Disney this spring as part of the runDisney Star Wars Half Marathon weekend. As part of her training she and her buddy have been doing virtual 5k runs. I'd never heard of this before, but it's cute as all get out - you register online and run (or walk, or jog, or a combination of the above) your 5k at your convenience. You get a "medal" and get some exercise, and a portion of the money goes to a charity. I'm not sure my knees will ever let me be a runner, but I can easily walk a 5k. It seems like a fun way to get more exercise. And by "more" I mean "any exercise at all", because if I get any more sedentary I'm going to become a beanbag chair.

So that's what I'm doing for 2017 - getting my head out of my ass and my ass moving again. I'm done pretending this is optional.