Honeymoon and Welcome 2015

I just returned from the most relaxing 7 day trip of my life. I was on my honeymoon at Myrtle Beach, about four hours from my home. I actually got married on November 1st, but being that my husband and I are both teachers (myself elementary school and he college) we chose to wait until Christmas break to get away and it was GREAT.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina 

If you follow me on Facebook, I posted a bit about my trip throughout the week. I tried my best not to be consumed with sharing my vacation and instead focus on enjoying it, but I did share some of my favorite places we went an things we saw. Some things we did included Krispy Kreme doughnuts, margaritas at Margaritaville, pizza at Godfather's and pretty much anything else we wanted. I had a couple people jab at me saying, "Are those healthy things?" and I responded with a laugh, "Yes, when you're on your honeymoon." In all seriousness I ate and drank whatever I wanted this past week. I had soda and mixed drinks which is out of the norm for me. I ate fried foods and greasy food. Basically if it was food, I ate it. I did not choose to spend my honeymoon counting calories, measuring portions, and logging food on MyFitnessPal. Did I exercise? You bet! We walked A LOT. We bowled every day (our resort had it's own bowling alley). We swam every day and got in the hot tub. We took the stairs when the elevators were too slow or broken (seriously). Should every day be consumed with mixed drinks, doughnuts, pizza and other treats? No, but everything is okay in moderation. One day or week will NOT kill you or your lifestyle. It is what you do after your indulgences that make the difference.

I shared this delicious, Jimmy Buffett inspired
concoction with my husband.

For me I had a home cooked meal as soon as I got home tonight. My husband grilled steaks and I made mashed potatoes and gravy. Not the best, but as you can imagine we didn't go grocery shopping before our trip. It was glorious to have a home cooked meal though. Tomorrow my husband and I will both be back on Shakeology. We'll also do some serious grocery shopping. I'll be making it my JOB to drink water since I didn't do a great job of that while I was away and I'll be back on my T25 schedule starting tonight with T25 Cardio. I started back logging my meals yesterday as it's a goal of mine to log every day of 2015.

Speaking of 2015,  I've set some goals for myself for this year. I don't like to use the word resolution, per say because resolutions have the reputation of being short lived. Did you know most resolutions are broken and forgotten by Feb.1st? Instead this year I'm making REALsolutions. That's right I've got problems (don't we all) and I want to find real solutions to fix them.

Here are my top 10 personal & fitness REALsolutions for the year of 2015:

1. Hit goal by June 1st - I still have 30ish pounds to lose and between T25 and Body Beast, I know I can kick those pounds to the curve. 
2. Be more present- I'll be the first to admit I have a slight addiction to my phone/Facebook and my husband is not shy about calling me on it. I'm working on being more present with those around me instead of allowing myself to be distracted when I could be making memories. 
3. Change lives - My goal is to help 500 people just like myself meet their personal/fitness goals this year. I must admit 500 people is a lofty goal. That boils down to roughly 41 people per month, but I'm committed to showing others that they CAN do it. 
4. Log my food every day of 2015 - Believe it or not this may be one of the more difficult REALsolutions for me. I'm really good at eating but not so good at recording it, but I know that writing it down will be key to my making goal. 
5. Increasing Positivity - This is something I've become better at over the years. Growing up I was surrounded by a lot of negativity. My parents had a bad relationship that eventually lead to a divorce when I was in middle school. The separation and divorce was very traumatic for all involved. Every day I was filled with negativity. However, through much personal development  I have learned that I cannot remain negative. Negativity is a poison that causes us to rot within. We are brought down by it and it can be difficult to escape. It clouds our vision to reality and is all around awful. That is why increasing positivity is one of my continuing goals for the year. We truly attract what we put out into the world, and I want to be surrounded by positive and upbeat people, not Negative Nancy's. 
6. Travel at least a mile every day. 1 mile a day is not a lot. For my stride that is about 2,400 steps. That is the MINIMUM I want to move each day. My Jawbone will keep me accountable to that. 
7. Love more - We have enough hate in this world that I don't need to add anything to it. We see it on Facebook, on the news, in our families, our circles of friends. Everywhere we turn there is hate for someone or something. I want to love people more. #spreadthelove
8. Workout 5 days/week - This one is self explanatory. I want to workout 5 days a week for all of 2015. 
9. Trust God - I am a Christian woman. If you're not Christian that is completely okay, but I am. I've had my trust in God tested over the past three years, and I want to continue deepening my faith and allowing myself to trust God in all situations and circumstances that come my way. 
10. Continue building my marriage - In a country where the divorce average is 50%, I went into my marriage knowing that I would have to safeguard it every day if I planned on it lasting. I wanted my marriage to be fireproof. I dated my husband for 9 years before we got married. We were high school sweethearts. I figured it was a safe bet that we'd be okay but I didn't want to get lazy on it. So my husband and I committed to celebrating our marriage every month instead of only once a year. We were married on Nov.1st so we take the 1st of every month as our day. What we do together doesn't have to be expensive or extravagant but the idea is to continually show each other we are "all in" and that the other is important and loved. For example, on Dec. 1st we took a cheat day to go out for hibachi and doughnuts. Yesterday, Jan.1st, we were on our honeymoon but we went bowling and walked on the beach. My parent's were divorced and, as I mentioned, it was devastating. I want to do everything I can to make sure that doesn't happen to my husband and I. 

What are your REALsolutions for 2015?