December Wins, Challenges, and Goals for the New Year
Hello! Let me reintroduce myself and say hi for the first time.
I’m Jessie. As of right now, a 30 year old who feels like she’s starting over with her life. After 15 years of health and fitness, and about 10 years of coaching and training, I’m starting to look at health differently.
I’ve tried Health Coaching for about 8 of those years, and got distracted with “high ticket” that stopped all progress I was making and lead me down some dark years of struggle, lack of self worth and feeling like I had nothing to offer the world.
But we’re changing that!
Long story short, December I started a part-time baking job with a 3 am start time. I’m about 3 months into this blog, and working on taking more Pinterest Management clients on. All while readjusting my health and proving to myself that simplicity DOES work, and I just need to get back to that.
Life happens, things change, and if you want to enjoy the journey you’re on, you need to be flexible with the new chapters or side-quests you take on in your life.
My goal over the next year is to prove that to myself, document the journey, grow my blog on Pinterest Management and eventually write a book about all of it.
That feels a bit scary to type out!
There could be hundreds of people that read this, or no one at all. But I know what I have to share and do is of importance to at least one person, and I want to do that. Because I know what it’s like to be alone, questioning everything you see online, and I want to be the hub of simplicity to help people reach their goals or just find more balance with health and life.
So on that note!
Each month, from now on, I’ll be doing a Monthly Recap of what I did for food, workouts, books I read, hobbies I tried and what did and didn’t work with it all. I’ll also keep you updated on what I’m doing for my “side-hustles”, what is and isn’t working, what I’m trying and why.
And here’s the plan for January after what happened in December, and how you can create your own plan or adjustment as well!
What’s next:
Diet
Workout
Hobbies
Side-Hustle
Intentions for January
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Diet
Was there a diet? No, not at all! December was a bit of survival if I’m honest. After job searching and trying to grow my Pinterest Management with more clients after about 2 more pivots in what I wanted to do (I do this more often than I’d like to admit, so committing to all of this will be a HUGE thing for me!), I needed to get a job in the meantime.
I had the privilege of my boyfriend helping me over 3 months when I quit my 9-5 so we could take a vacation and I could find something that I enjoyed, or at least didn’t suck the life out of me and left me barely existing. But I can’t do that forever and funds were running low.
Enter, the bakery shift! That started in December and has been me figuring out when to eat, how often and what will keep me going throughout the day. I found out I get a free sandwich after working 4 hours, so I’ve found that is beneficial to grab after my shift.
Other than that, I did a lot of Goodles and Buffalo tuna, chicken sandwiches, and whatever else I could get myself to eat and stick with. Oh! Taco in a bag is a game changer!
So all in all, not the best month, but I know exactly what I want to do and try now, and I’ll share that at the end.
Workout
Could you guess that my workouts were basically non-existent this month either? But what has been good about that, is taking an overall look at what fitness needs to be for me now.
I’ll be honest, my joints are TIRED! It’s all the little things that change with a new job, or any physical labor that makes you readjust how you approach things.
So my new goal with fitness is how can I help my body recover, get stronger and be overall healthy to do my job and support me in life.
Fitness for the longest time was for weight loss and building muscle. Surprise there right?
But it’s the weight loss portion that I need to look at differently. After work, I’m tired, I’ll be honest. Those early mornings and enough moving and lifting over 8 hours does take a toll.
So fitness isn’t about how hard I can go in the gym, how many calories I can burn or how shredded I can get. After getting through this first month, I want my fitness to be more laid back and support me.
Because health is meant to take you through life, not take it over. So I’ll share more at the end what that workout plan looks like after a bit of trial and error.
Spoiler Alert: I did day one yesterday and almost passed out from not enough calories, and the routine being just off. So this will be a NEW update!
Hobbies
Another big surprise that I didn’t do much for reading or exploring new fun things to do? If you haven’t read my Home or About Me page, then real quick, hobbies are a new thing for me.
I got sucked in hard to the hustle culture, so much so that if it wasn’t making me stronger or pushing me to my goals, then it didn’t belong in my life.
Sadly that got to rest, days off, friends and even family that I really enjoyed. From the moment I woke to the moment I FINALLY went to bed (at one point it was just 3-4 hours a night), I was hustling for success.
Spoiler alert again, it didn’t work! 30 here and feeling like I’m starting from square one! But it feels a lot better now, and I’m sure I’ll share more of that in future blog posts.
But this month for reading was going back through past reads or short novellas. I couldn’t commit to anything over 200 pages in the last few weeks, but I read!
And those were (if you’re my mom, these aren’t books I would recommend to you!):
Take Her to the Grave by Dana LeeAnn
Slaying for Sloan by Dana LeeAnn (I didn’t realize they were both by the same author!)
What’s A Girl Gotta Do To Get On The Naughty List by Kimberly Lemming
Mistlefoe by Kimberly Lemming (this was an intentional reread)
The Never King by Nikki St Crowe (also a reread to get things started again)
Looking back, I intentionally wanted to read more Christmas themed books, and I actually did a bit!
Were they Christmas smut and a little aggressive in some cases? Yes. But it got me reading again! And I have a plan for more reading in January that I’ll share soon.
Side-Hustle
Again, this month was all about survival. My blog wasn’t as consistent as I was deciding to pivot but wasn’t sure exactly how I wanted that to look. And then my Pinterest Management jobs stopped all together. I currently have 2 clients, not counting my own Pinterest account that has brought all the engagement to my blog so far.
But December was figuring out how I was going to balance everything with part-time bakery.
Again, the whole theme of December was really just seeing how I felt, what days were going to be like, survival and how I wanted to move forward with everything.
All my 20’s were about hustle, push through, doing it all and rest was for the weak.
Literally, I feel so bad for her! And that’s a big reason why I want to share more about this side of life. It would’ve been SO good for me to find someone who was growing a business, working part-time or full time, staying consistent with their health and it looking different than what’s normally shared online, and how to make it all work together.
So this month was pin-pointing how my non-bakery days were going to look with doing blog work and still getting client work done.
It wasn’t always easy, and I did have to force staying awake because some days I was ready for bed by 4, but again, it’s all a learning experience!
I still got work done, I’m getting settled into this new routine, and it’s not a negative that life is going this way.
I will say, I did have to intentionally start and go through this with a positive and different mindset. Because, again, before this would’ve meant that I was a failure, it was going to set me back and send me spiraling.
But now that we’ve got the basics set up, here’s how we’re moving forward in January!
Intentions for January
So, with the goal of keeping things simple and committing to the process, here’s how I approached the changes and plan for the next month.
We always start things as an experiment. Because with an experiment, there’s no success or failure, there’s just an outcome. And with that outcome you get to decide what to do with it. Do you keep it, toss it, try something new. But ultimately it’s up to you, and puts the control back in your hands.
So with that, let’s dive into each one:
Diet
I do still want to focus on weight loss, as I have gained about 20 pounds over the last year, and I know I just feel better when I’m around that lower weight (and lower weight being about 160 at 5’4” right now).
But we aren’t going to be approaching it in a restrictive way anymore. Starvation and bad relationships with food are behind us now! I’m fine if this takes longer to do, because I also need to fuel myself for the job I’m doing and the fitness I want to still be able to do after long and tiring days.
So food is going to be as much wholefoods as I can make work, and as simple as possible. Because I’m lazy.
So we’ll be starting with prepping breakfast, because even taking 10-15 minutes in the morning doesn’t allow for as much relaxation and chill as I would like to start the day before getting to work. So I’m working on prepping little egg muffins and adding in oatmeal for energy.
This too is another thing I’m still actively reminding myself of. Carbs are energy, and even when you’re trying to lose weight, they are not the enemy. If I want to still go to the gym and perform well, I will need to make sure I keep my energy up, otherwise we start seeing stars and we don’t need to fall down that rabbit whole making almost blacking out in the gym “normal” again.
I’m still playing around with what snacks I bring with me on my working days, but I’ll get a sandwich after, eat half, go to the gym and have the other half once I’m back. So far that’s working and I’m excited to see how it continues!
When I’m not at the bakery, I’ll prep some kind of protein, rice, veggie dish. Still working out the specifics, but I’ll share exactly what and how that worked next month.
Dinner will be a stir fry of some kind, ramen or fish tacos. I want to keep this “lighter” just because I have to go to bed so early (or at least try to if I want more than 4-5 hours of sleep).
But as of now, that’s the plan so far!
Workout
Like I said above, day 1 of my tentative plan didn’t go as I had originally planned. Seeing stars, feeling like I had no strength and just getting to my second round of exercises before calling it a day.
So here’s my current thoughts:
When I was really struggling on all cylinders a few years ago, walks were all I could do or afford at the time. Still working on the running stuff, but walks are good! I just purchased a weighted vest and am looking into hiking shoes for the winter and spring times. I want to focus on long walks, exploring my local trails and getting more steps in. On top of that, the gym will look at more stability and mobility exercises. I want to focus on body-weight, joint support and strengthening the muscles around there, and light strength.
Right now, I just don’t have the energy for a whole lot, and it’s not my main focus. So I’m going to need to approach it differently, and that’s exciting!
Because I’ve done CrossFit, and would like to get back into it in the next 6 months, I’ve done intense 3 hours workout sessions and fitness classes. And old me was very much if I’m not dripping sweat or can barely walk the next day, I didn’t go hard enough.
But the current me, is I’d like to make it an entire shift without my back being on fire, my joints being sore all week and having no energy.
The focus right now is on simplicity and mobility. And I’m excited to take a more relaxed approach to fitness and explore a bit more!
Hobbies
Reading is going to be a focus right now! And trail walks, I’d consider that a hobby too (fitness yes but I’m more hesitant because it used to be my identity and I feel it should just be a part of your life when it’s general like this but anyways!) if we want to broaden our horizons.
And I’ll be honest, spicy adventure books are my go-to. They’re what got me into reading super consistently, and I enjoy the most.
But I’d like to broaden that horizon and be able to enjoy other genres without it taking me 2 weeks to finish where I could binge a romantasy in 3 days if I really like it.
So I’m starting with Start Like Acid by Marisa Lupe, and mine’s that fancy special edition from Satisfiction box. Not sponsored but I’d highly recommend checking them out!
My other goal is to try and read at least one mystery or finish a book I DNF this past year that I really want to see through. And I’ll be sure to share in my January breakdown.
But reading is something I’d like to be more consistent with, rather than reading 6 books one month and not touching even my Kindle for 2 months.
Side-Hustle
This is the one that will take more intentional work. I’d LOVE to get one more Pinterest Management client and I think that’s all I could handle as of right now.
Then I want to explore and test out more Instagram engagement and get my account for the blog and Pinterest Management up in followers and engagement. Ideally they both bring me business in some way, but I want to test out a few things as one of my Pinterest clients may be interested in me managing her Instagram account too. But I want to make sure I have a solid plan before accepting more jobs.
I’d also love to sell at least one of my fitness ebooks (I’ll link it if you’re interested in checking it out ;)). I was able to sell 2 holiday fitness printouts which was SO exciting! Make $3, but that’s progress! Coming from years of people saying no to even free offers, I’ll take any progress I can!
But all in all, that’s my goals!
And the biggest thing when setting your intentions is being realistic. It should never be completely changing your life and implementing 10 things at once.
If the goal is a life change, then small changes that you solidify and add to over time is what will keep it consistent and allow you to see the lasting results you crave.
But the big questions you can ask yourself in any area that you’re wanting to change is:
What result am I wanting to achieve?
How will that result make me feel?
How can I realistically start making changes to achieve that goal?
And be brutally honest with yourself!
I could say that I’ll still get to the gym and complete my intense workouts like I did in the past, but honestly, if I can get myself to go to the gym after an 8 hour shift on 4 hours of sleep, that’s a win! So I need to have a routine that I can physically AND physiologically do as well. Because half the battle is getting yourself to go or get started. So the easier you can make it for yourself, the better.
You will still have to force yourself to get started. But after 2 weeks, it should just be a part of your routine.
So stick it out, be honest with yourself, and I’m excited to see what happens in this next year for us both!
