My December goals, like most of my life, weren’t perfectly executed.  Different in December was intended to take me gliding into the new year without feeling over-everything.  Overfed, over-wined, over-sugared.

The month certainly wasn’t without stumbles, but I’ll give myself some credit:  I feel better today than a year ago.  Progress over perfection – I’ll take it.

Here’s a recap of how my month went:

Goal #1: No leftover dessert.  I tend to stray from strict nutritional plans because I always find a way to cheat the system.  Whether it’s counting points, forbidding foods or creating eating time cutoffs, I justify my way around the rule without breaking it.  

I thought no leftover dessert would be clear cut, but I forgot about the batch of fudge I make every Christmas.  Is that dessert or just an accompaniment to holiday fun?  Shockingly (not really), I chose not to define it as an official dessert and snuck some in here and there.  Whatever.  I make it once a year and didn’t go overboard.  My best decision was to outsource desserts.  If I had people over and they offered to bring something, I asked for items with sugar as the main ingredient and told them they had to take leftovers home with them.  Even dessert at our main Christmas Eve meal was compliments of Costco.  The chocolate-cakey-moussy-creamy-yumminess was fantastic the first night on Christmas Eve.  Oh wait, I did have a small piece Christmas Day, oops.  But still, I hadn’t slaved hours over it and it was easier to dump on my human garbage disposals without drooling.

Goal #2: SheReadsTruth Advent Devotional 2016.  I forgot December doesn’t end on Christmas Day, so this one only lasted until December 25.  I spent time in the word every morning and cherished learning how God prepared His people for the King.  

Goal #3: Meditate three minutes in the morning.  This was going great  until December 17.  Once school was out and I wasn’t intentionally waking up early for my quiet time, I’ll admit, it felt awkward.  I don’t mind breaking into a 1990’s-style running man or busting into a ridiculous, made-up, off-pitch song in front of my people.  Risking my family walking in the room while I was sitting still with my eyes closed felt too vulnerable.  I did like meditating and have picked it back up this week.  Maybe my confidence will grow over the year and I can continue next year without apprehension.  Or maybe I’ll just make up a goofy song about meditating.  That would be a treat for everyone.

My other goal that didn’t make it on the official list was to race strong in the RunHouston! 5K.  As I mentioned previously, this is where I wanted to put my fitness efforts.  Honestly I can’t decide if I liked having a January 1 fitness goal.  On one hand, it kept me accountable.  But it was almost too constrictive for the season.  I knew if I didn’t fuel correctly I would pay for it on my next run.  Sometimes I wanted to not worry about what was going in my mouth. Admittedly I never regretted making the right decision, but still! Sometimes a girl wants just a little more! Perhaps having that on the back of my mind was a good thing.  The payoff was I beat my goal time and get this…I won my age group!  Yep, I was the first of the 40-44 year old women to cross the finish line.  What I enjoyed more than anything, though, was completing it side-by-side with my 11 year-old, Speedy.  

I talk a lot about balance and grace.  I feel like I received a good dose of both over last month. Each new year is exciting and offers so much.  I’m looking forward to where 2017 takes me. It will definitely include the aforementioned balance, grace, and chocolate.

What are your hopes for the new year?  Any health goals?  If you’re in the Houston area, I’ll be at the next RunHouston! at Minute Maid park on April 1.  Join me!

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