Looking back on 2012, a health goals progress report

Last year, I set some health goals for myself. 

#1 - Plan out menus and stick to them.
#2- Only buy what's on my grocery list.
#3- Actually eat the fruit and vegetables that I buy.
#4 - Take my vitamins
#5 - Exercise

I started out really well.  I had some folks step up as accountability partners who kept me moving and I was on the right path.  Then I fell off the wagon, as often happens when things get busy around Lent/Easter...but was still doing better than I was before I set the health goals.  In June, I started working with a trainer and was doing amazing. I lost some weight, my "circumference" (for lack of a better term" were going down...if I remember right, I lost 1 inch off my thighs and .75 inches from my waist...I was doing amazing.

Then came the big fat positive in early August...Look out world! The Kiefer's are gonna be parents...

Since then, my health goals have been focused on keeping myself healthy while growing a healthy baby.  I still work with my trainer, but with a focus on keeping my body from getting out of whack posture wise and keeping myself strong while my tummy gets bigger and bigger.  My goal to actually eat the fruit and veggies I buy has been super easy to keep, they've been my big cravings...especially apples and pineapple...and tomatoes (I actually paid $3 for 1 beautiful, pink, heirloom tomato I found at the Merc the other week...totally worth every penny, if you ask me).  I've also been a faithful pre-natal vitamin taker...and water and milk drinker.

Here's where it's harder: I will admit (forgive me Manon!) that I don't exercise as many days a week as I should...on the days I don't, I sleep instead because that's what my body is telling me to do.  Also, grocery shopping in the midst of food cravings is tough! But I've figured out that if I go right after I've had a meal or a good snack, I stick to my list a lot better than I do if I'm hungry (hungry is hard enough in the grocery store...pregnancy hormones AND hungry = lost cause).  I also do a lot better at sticking to my list when I'm by myself...my husband enables my cravings.  Last week he bought "the baby" some Little Debbie Swiss Rolls (Tip: "it's for the baby" is code for things we want).  I've mandated he come with me from now on, though, because bending over to retrieve things from the shopping cart is becoming increasingly difficult (and apparently, some grocery store cashiers have little patience for slow retrieval of items at the bottom of the cart...long story).   

One addition: Pray more.  This happened naturally.  I'm not necessarily one who sets aside a certain amount of time to pray, but I do pray constantly throughout the day, depending on what's going on.  But since I started feeling jellybean move around, I've spent more quiet time marveling in my little acrobat/tae kwon do superstar/yoga master (depending on the day) and praying. It's become our daily ritual, and I love it.  

The moral of the story is this -  Life sends us on little detours, but in them we can still accomplish our goals.  I may not have reached my ideal weight...and it may take a bit to get there after Jellybean arrives...but I've decided to care less about that and more about staying as healthy as I can.  In the end, that's the most important thing.