This year I set personal health goals as well as business goals!

I am not usually one for New Years resolutions, although I am a proponent of written business goals - both short and long term ones.  I have done that for 2013 and devised a business plan to aim for achieving them, but this year I have written some personal goals as well - not resolutions, but real goals.

Over the last several years I have gone from someone who has always been slender to someone overweight.  In analyzing what has happened, I have realized that each time one of my family members has died, I have gained another few pounds, and have never really lost the weight. My blood pressure is also considerably higher than it ever used to be.

Within several years, I have lost both of my parents, my sister, my last aunt, my last uncle, three cousins, and my wonderful mother-in-law, and 7 of our cats.  All of those cats had been in our family for anywhere from 10 to 17 years and were mourned as family members too.

We just lost our beautiful Charlie this week.  You may remember seeing some of my blog posts featuring him.  And a few months ago, Oscar was killed trying to protect our sweet little girl kitty, Lucy, who was being attacked by an aggressive feral cat.  Oscar was a tough loss because he slept every night with his head next to mine on the pillow, and if I was seated, he was on my lap.

We eat a healthy diet, and not much junk food or sweets, but I admit that I do sometimes do some stress-snacking.  Even then it's normally healthy stuff, but the extra weight then doesn't go away.  I also have gotten by on very little sleep over the last few years - not a good thing.

It's frustrating and disappointing to look and feel this way, and since for most of my life I've been thin, the extra weight does affect my stamina, as well as my blood pressure I'm sure.

Our daughter Cathy and I are planning a two week girls' getaway to Greece this autumn, and will spend much of our time walking up and down the steep hillsides of Santorini and other Greek Isles.  We have both decided to lose weight and get in better shape so we can better enjoy our trip.

We both joined Weight Watchers 3 weeks ago, and our allotment of daily points is 26, with an additional 49 points that we can use any time during the week.  We are doing it all on line, and the system is great.

So far she has lost 14 pounds and I've lost 10, and we've just begun to fight!  The thing is - on our plan, I'm never deprived and in fact I have some days struggled to eat all that I am supposed to.  It's so easy that I don't see any reason to stop eating this way even after I reach my goal weight.  Once I'm no longer trying to lose, my allotted points will change, but I love the flexibility of this plan, and hope to keep it up.

One interesting thing I've noticed is that some prepared foods that are not affiliated in any way with Weight Watchers have their points value right on the package.  And fruits and vegetables have few or no points, so you can eat all of the apples, oranges, bananas, etc you want.

It does take some thought and planning to make sure you have meals with points values that allow you to ration your points throughout the day.  But I have gotten a good feel for that and have learned how to do that pretty well.  Eating out and grabbing food on the go can be a danger if I'm not careful, but I hope to use what I am learning to stay on track no matter what.

I have also made it a priority to get 7-8 hours sleep a night, which usually means going to bed pretty early, since I'm always up around 6 a.m.  But that's why they invented DVRs, right?  If there is a program I want to see, it will be recorded so I can watch when I have time.

My father-in-law is not doing well and I dread losing him.  He is such a sweet, loving and kind man.  He was ever patient and loving in caring for his wife through her struggles with Alzheimers until her death last year. I know he will be another difficult loss for us, but I hope that I can avoid the weight gain this time.

Most people who know me consider me to be energetic and always on the go, and I guess I am, but when I was thinner I know that I was even more so, and that is what I hope to recapture.  My goal is to lose at least 25 pounds before our trip this fall, and lower my blood pressure along the way.  Wish me luck!

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Susan Neal
Broker / Realtor

Susan Neal Fine Properties
Century 21 Noel David Realty
Fair Oaks, California

Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 30+ years experience. 
I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction.

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