New Year's Resoution #2: Building a Better Me

Here is resolution #2 in my Monday series on what I am doing differently this year! If you missed last week's resolution, click here!

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Last semester really kicked my butt. I was burning the candle at both ends. I ate whatever I wanted when I wanted (hello, pumpkin muffins from Dunkin Donuts!). I was studying all the time so I was sedentary for what felt like 95% of my day. I was guilty of negative self-talk. I just wasn't focused on taking care of myself whatsoever. While I was really successful in school, I was limiting my own physical well-being. In my nursing classes, we are always talking about how major disease processes are brought on by poor diet, sedentary lifestyles, stress and other negative influences. I don't want to find myself falling into these diseases and I need to instill better lifestyle habits in my routine. Here are some additions to my routine that I will be working on this year: 

1. Eating better. Pizza for lunch and trips to the all you can eat dining hall will be minimized this year, for sure. More time and money will be spent on food that will make my body feel energized and healthy. I got a crock-pot last week and I have been obsessively looking up healthy recipes that I can make in it!

2. Drinking more water. More water = better skin, more energy, cleaner body!

3. Exercise. I want to be able to run with my mom this summer! She is an avid runner and I would like to work up to her speed. Right now, I am doing T25 to get back in a bit of shape all over before I start to run in the spring! I have heard a few good reviews about the Couch to 5K app...has anyone used it before, and if so, what did you think?

4. More sleep. Nothing good comes out of not getting a good nights rest. If I don't get much sleep, the next day I am exhausted, cranky, craving carbs, and unfocused. I would ideally like to get between 7.5 and 8 hours a night! 

5. Cleaner space. I have a tendency to be a bit messy, but I am hoping that if I follow the "organized space, organized mind" saying, I might be more successful in keeping my space tidy. I feel as though a disorganization space probably contributes to stress, so anything I can do to get rid of stress is a good thing!

6. Dedication to skin care routine. My skin is extremely temperamental...If I go one day without scrubbing/cleansing/moisturizing in the morning and at night, I break out all over my face for days. During the last few weeks of Fall semester, I found that my stress level and lack of adherence to my skin routine left me with horrible breakouts that took until the end of winter break to clear up. Must stuck to routine...no excuses!

7. Positive self-talk. I don't care if you are making resolutions or not, I think everyone needs to work on being self-encouraging! While scrolling through Twitter/Facebook throughout the day, I find that people can be so negative about themselves and their lives. I hate when I let myself fall into the traps of negative self-talk! This year I will encourage myself and say "I can"!

Did you have any resolutions similar to these? Let me know how they are going!