This is an update to a post I shared on January 5th about how I am making 2023 my best year ever.

I shared a few weeks ago that my goal this year is to get into the best (physical and mental) health of my life and to really up-level in all areas of my life and business – so I thought I’d do a little update for anyone interested in following along!

A few of my physical/health goals are:

• Lose 35 lbs.
• Get 7-8 hrs of sleep EVERY night.
• Have more energy, better endurance, and feel physically stronger.
• Fewer hours sitting each day (it’s supposedly as bad for you as smoking – yikes!)
• More water, less Diet Coke

How it’s going:

• Down 9 lbs so far!
• 7+ hours of sleep every night
• 90+ oz water daily

What I’m doing:

Exercise and Movement throughout the day…

I’ve gotten exercise every day this month! Twice a week I do a 20-minute HIIT workout (I use Les Mills On Demand for this and I’ve been switching between a step class and BodyCombat which is like kickboxing without a bag). Twice a week I walk for 60 minutes, and three times a week I walk for 30-45 minutes.


So nothing crazy with the workouts, but it had been a LONG time since I’d worked out at all. (My foot had a problem last year that was making workouts hard and then I had surgery on my foot in September and that was WAY more intense than I bargained for. My foot is still painful/swollen some, but I can work out again at least.)

I can definitely notice a difference in my endurance and energy since starting the workouts and diet in early December (and getting way more consistent in January).

I’ve also been getting up every 50-60 minutes to stretch and walk around and then shutting my eyes for a few minutes throughout the day. (I read that a lot of our mental fatigue is actually visual fatigue and it does seem to help!) 👀

I’ve ordered a standing desk to use periodically throughout the day and it arrives soon, so that should help reduce my sitting time as well! I have hit my “stand goal” every day on my Apple watch though, so that's good!

I also bought an infrared sauna bag for Christmas and I’ve been using it two to three times per week and sweating out toxins. It’s also good for nervous system regulation, so it's a win-win!

Diet…

I’m doing the Mediterranean diet (way of eating) –– which is basically lots of veggies and fruit, seafood twice a week, whole grains, nuts, and very little red meat and no processed foods.

I would say I’ve been 90% compliant so far this month if I’m being extra strict about it. I’ve had VERY little red meat or processed foods, so that's a big win!

The hardest part has been wanting something sweet at night. I bought some dark chocolate this week to try to help with that which I am going to call good enough/better than ice cream. 😆 My goal is to be at least 95% compliant each week by the end of February.

I probably need to cut back grains just a bit too to help with weight loss, but I am eating WAY MORE fruits and veggies than I was before, which has been great!

All in all, especially considering I am not a fan of cooking or meal planning, I feel like it’s gone well. I’ve not been weighing, measuring, or tracking anything and still losing weight so far. Slow and steady! 🎉

Also, I was drinking 2-3 cans of Diet Coke a day before. I usually just have one a day now. A couple of days I did have two, but never more. I need to track my water more closely I’ve realized but I am drinking at least 90 ounces per day which is about where I think I should be.

Sleep…

I have a ‘no screens an hour before bedtime' rule now and I read a book instead. Cutting out blue light before bed is something I've known I should do for a long time, but honestly struggled to enforce it before. It has definitely helped my sleep quality, in addition to other habits I started two years ago to clean up my sleep routine.

I have some other lifestyle and career goals as well and I’ll share those in another post so this doesn’t get any longer, so that’s the update for now!

Not perfect, but pretty dang good start to the year! I'll keep you all posted!

UPDATE: You can now read about my lifestyle and career goals here.