A New Year, A New Focus…

It’s that time of year again – the time for new beginnings, fresh starts and resolutions.

Since September it’s been pretty quiet on Urban Thirty Something and I’d like to explain why. You see, I’ve been going through a bit of a transition.  If you followed my blog, you would know that while I covered everything from hot yoga to photography classes to delicious meals at great restaurants, my focus was often on food (discovering it, making it, buying it, and eating it).  It turned out that after almost a year, all this dining out had two major impacts: 1. I gained 30 pounds and 2.  I was spending way too much money (ah, duh).

After our spontaneous road trip to the East Coast this summer, my jeans and my bank account were feeling the effects of a year of living what I thought was a life worth writing about. After finally stepping on the scale and realising that things were indeed as bad as I’d thought, I knew it was time to shift my focus to creating plan for healthier eating, activity and spending.   

My last post of 2011 was in early September, around the time I realized I needed to take time to focus on my physical, mental and financial well-being, as well as my career development.

To start my physical transformation, I went back to what worked for me a couple of years ago in my quest to have a great beach ‘bod’ for our destination wedding in Curacao.  Are you ready for my big secret to weight loss and getting fit? 

Okay, here it is… eat less and exercise more! 

There. Now you can thank me for changing your life. You’re welcome.  Seriously though, I went back to the only “diet” program that has ever worked for me (Weight Watchers) and started running – an  activity that turns out, I really enjoy.  Since August 15^th, I’ve lost 20 lbs!  I also went from not being able to run 1k to running 15k (all at once, I might add).  The important thing to note here is that I found success because I found a weight loss and exercise program that worked for me.  Weight Watchers works for me because it teaches me about portion control and healthy eating while allowing for indulgences as well.  Running works for me because I can be outside – I enjoy being in nature – and measure and track my progress.  A great side effect of the weight loss and fitness efforts is that my mental and financial well-being has been positively impacted as well.  I still have a lot of things to tackle this year but as they say “Rome wasn’t built in a day”.

Does this mean that Urban Thirty Something is back? 

Yes, it does and I need to set a more steady and realistic posting schedule (more like once a week vs. trying for 2-3 times per week).  Does this mean that I will only be posting about running and Weight Watchers? 

No.

But my goal is to have a wider variety of lifestyle posts that focus on being healthy, spending time with friends, personal and professional development, being active, spending wisely, and sometimes, indulging (I have a killer cupcake recipe that you must try).

No, this is not a New Year’s resolution. Instead it’s about me sharing what I’ve been up to, publishing my goals and continuing the momentum.

Happy New Year,

Erin

Photos: The pictures in this post were taken during my runs near The Beach in Toronto.