I am the type of person who makes all the lists in the world of the things I want to do or achieve, but I never make the necessary changes to get my shit together. 2017 is a new chapter for many people, and I am a big believer in fresh starts. I know that you can start fresh any day of the year, but the new year is just that extra special step forward to starting a new chapter in your life. To bring in the new year I thought I would share my goals for 2017 not only to maybe inspire others, but to also hold myself accountable. You will notice that after I state my goals I will have a section called 'Action'... This is where I will give little examples of HOW I am going to achieve my goals.

1. EXERCISE

BIGGEST goal for me for 2017 is to work on my health and fitness. I am overweight and not all that healthy, especially mentally. I really wish to get to a point where I don't even think twice about my exercise routine. I have a gym membership to an AWWWWWESOME local gym with some amazing friends and trainers, and I also plan on taking part of a few different challenges to keep me motivated. I have picked up a new water bottle from Big Bottle Co (another MAJOR goal for me for the new year - DRINK. MORE. WATER.), along with my new wireless headphones that I got as a Christmas present.

ACTION: - Workout 3-5 times per week with 3 sessions being the minimum!
- Don't buy soft-drink when doing groceries. FORCE yourself to have to drink water instead.

2. Read more & set up a routine

These two goals kind of go hand in hand. I used to be a huge reader, however I slacked off when I wasn't in a good routine like I am now for my everyday life. I work full-time, and I used to think that if I am waking up at 7am, I need to be getting heaps of sleep and be in bed by 9pm. I have adjusted my routine, and now I actually stay up an extra couple of hours per night as I can generally function off less sleep (don't stress I still get enough!). I want to work on getting into a routine that maximises the hours of the day I have, including more reading time, time to do blog work, as well as for my exercising.

ACTION: - Stick with my Bullet Journal to plan and organise my life so that I stay following a routine.
- Set aside time each night to read a chapter or two before bed.
- Spend Sunday afternoon/night preparing for the week ahead (Blog post coming soon!)

3. Establish my blog more and grow my base.

I have slacked off MAJORLY this passed month, just due to some personal issues that were honestly more important than working on my blog. However now that my life is starting to come back together I really want to put more time and effort into growing with this community. A top goal would be to double my followers on Instagram (which would be roughly 1600) and start putting up at least 1 post per week. Ultimately I don't care if my 'followers' don't go higher or lower or whatever way it goes, but I would like to prove to myself that I can stick with something, and express some creativity.

ACTION: - download a preview app for Instagram (THANK YOU KATE @themintedblog !!) so that you can schedule posts.
- Talk about what you are passionate about and share that with others.

4. Live more.

I tend to make excuses for a lot of things. I don't want to leave my house because I would rather be in bed on Netflix. I don't want to do blog work cause I am tired after work. I don't want to make plans for the weekend as I would rather be lazy and rest. I make excuses all the time and I want to learn to say YES to more things. We weren't put on this earth to work, sleep, repeat, and die.

ACTION: - Set aside allocated times for date nights.
- Create things to do with friends and family during the week, not just on weekends.
- Go to a few concerts and let your hair down!
- Visit Melbourne and Tasmania this year for an adventure! 

My goals for 2017 are quite simple and are very heavily based of Self-Love and working on myself, my body, and my mind. I would love to hear what your goals are for the new year down below in the comments! x

Technically I am past the middle of my 8-week challenge, but so much has changed that I just wanted to make an update on my progress and what not. 

Not everyone agrees with the whole 'new year, new me' notion. I think its a beautiful thing, that on the same day, many people come together to work on themselves. Of course you can make a change any day of the year, it does not need to be January 1st. My 'wake up call' just so happened to be around the new year, so it is perfect timing.

I am going to share with you my goals for 2016 and how I break my 'main' goals down into more realistic and precise goals. It is important to break down your goals so you have things set to work on. If you say you want to lose weight, HOW are you going to do this? By setting goals within goals, you are giving yourself something to grasp and work on. I also have a bucket list for the year at the end, where I have a few little things I want to get done in 2016.

Lose Weight & Work Out

It's the end of my first week of this "healthy journey" and I thought I would create a little snapshot into what went down (inspired by Allys Bubble). It is currently nearly 10 pm on saturday night, and i have 7 men in my lounge room watching a League of Legends World Championship....and then I am waking up in the early hours of the morning to watch the Rugby World Cup Final! (GOOOO AUSTRALIA!). Anyway, carrying on....

Exercise:
On monday I completed the first day of Kayla Itsine's BBG 1.0 pre-training week one. I couldn't get through it all as I wasn't feeling well due to my monthly "visit" making me quite unwell. I then had a big day wednesday so I skipped my wednesday workout, but I managed to squeeze it in on thursday. It was arms and abs AND JESUS can I just say my stomach is still hurting! Like getting out of bed is so painful that I literally have to roll onto the floor. I am going for a walk with my mum tomorrow, so that will make 3 workouts...which is a good start!

Food:
I actually surprised myself this week with how well i did with what i ate. Dinners usually consisted of plenty of veggies and meat. However, EVERY day for lunch I had a salad. We have a cafe at work, and prior to this week i would have like hotdogs, hot chips, pies etc (not in one day obviously). Instead I ordered a sweet chilli chicken salad, with one boiled egg. They make it fresh and it is honestly the tastiest slice of heaven. 

Working on:
Still need to work on my water intake. I swear you will have NEVER met someone as bad at drinking water than me. I am hopeless. I have however still had no coke, and i even cut out my lunch time soft drink. I have been having powerade instead (i know its full of sugar, but until I can force myself to drink water, it will have to do). 

Mental Health:
Surprisingly i am feeling quite happy this week! I think it's because I was a bit more social! On tuesday, Brad took me out on a date, and then on friday, we went out for dinner. Usually I hate doing things during the week, but it felt good to do something instead of coming home, watching tv and then going to bed. My boss has noticed a difference in my personality, which honestly makes me feel like i am improving and i am changing. 

Reading:
I picked up "An Abundance of Katherine's " the other night, but I can't dwell on it too much as I passed out after a couple of pages. I do however really want to start reading this book my mum gave me called 'A New Earth' by Eckhart Tolle.

Loving:
Painting! I am painting everyone some art for christmas presents (managed to get all my canvases and paint for 150 dollars ) and I have been loving how cathartic (is that the right word?) it is. I feel relaxed when its just me, music and my paint brush.  I have also been loving playing around with makeup more. I feel like when I get so focused on my health and fitness, my passion for beauty takes a breather. I really want to make sure I keep multiple passions alive during this journey, as I believe its possible to be both a fitness freak & a beauty lover. 


That is all for this week! I am looking forward to a new week, for new improvements and new goals. x

I have found recent motivation to get serious about getting fit and healthy, and losing some weight as a bonus! I thought I would compile a few of my goals that I will aim for in the next coming months. There is only a couple of months till 2016, so its the perfect time to make a change, so then maybe my new years resolution might stick for once!


Exercise:
 - workout 3-5 times a week

- go for walks, try Kayla Itsine's BBG again!

Nutrition:
 - continue to not have ANY Coke or Energy Drinks... 4 weeks without it, no point going back now!

- DRINK MORE GOD DAMN WATER....I am so bad at drinking water, that every day i have my partner, my mum, and my mother in law on my back asking me how much water I have drunk.....yeah i have issues.

- incorporate more fruit and veg, and start meal prepping for the week ahead so that i don't go off track and eat that hotdog.. or 3.

Mental:
 - Continue to make progress with my anxiety, by finding ways to reduce it and to not sweat the little things.

- Find something good in everyday...this will be my motivation to keep going and to stay happy.

Weight: I haven't weighed myself in a long time, but i am sitting somewhere between 100 and 110 kilos. Ultimately I want to weigh around 70, but to start, my initial goal is to just get to 90 kilos. It's achievable if i seriously stay determined.

My inspiration:
 - Demi Lovato and her confidence with her body, and how she has overcome an eating disorder and has worked on her health and fitness.

- Lorna Jane ... one day I want to walk into a LJ store and buy something thats not in an XL, and to be able to fit into their leggings and shorts, cause right now that's not an easy feat.

- to not only be able to walk past a mirror or window and not hate what i see, but to also feel HEALTHY and ENERGETIC!

I hope these goals offer some inspiration or guidance for your journey also! Remember that everything is a process to where you want to be and its up to you whether you progress to that point.