The latter part of 2017 wasn’t fun. Shortly after starting the anti-anxiety medication I had a bad experience with a new GP. If you find a good GP, don’t move, even if you have to travel to see them. I was described as a drug addict by the new GP and refused a new prescription because he doesn’t believe in prescribing certain medications. I’m guessing he has never experienced depression and anxiety. I have complained, it knocked the stuffing out of me. Couple that with a hectic end of the year at work and I didn’t seem to have time for self-care.

So, over the Christmas Period, I have been re-evaluating things and doing some self-care. 2018 is the year when my weight comes down, and I start to build up muscle again. So, I have five areas of focus; these areas of focus all part of my self-care routine, if I make progress in these, I will feel like I’m doing something for me. I want to matter to myself, yes, that sounds selfish, but I think I need to be and deserve to put myself first for a while.

Tattoo’s

I have big plans to get lots of work done this year. I’ve been planning to get them done since I had my first hip replaced. But, I’ve never gotten around to it, as I convinced myself that there was no real point to doing it, and the expense was too high. What I’ve realised over the break is that I shouldn’t feel guilty for wanting things for myself, so f**k it, let’s do it.

Dental Work

Several years of illness left me financially unstable and not able to afford some of the work I could have done. Plus my avascular necrosis has an impact on teeth. I’ve already had a 2hr session in the chair, and it was OK. I know I can do this, and my new dentist was very confident that we can get everything sorted, and that my teeth are actually in excellent shape. Phew.

Gym

Its always a chore to fit gym time around work, but I used to love going to the gym. I was something of a muscle bear :-), and I was so close to having a decent body. Well if I’m not spending money on going out drinking (I’m not a massively social sort) why not spend some on my fitness. It all adds to my general well being. One thing that helped me in the past was a personal trainer if I didn’t make it to the gym three times a week I felt like I let him down, which is good for me. I have arranged to meet a local PT on Monday; once I have gone through my medical background, I hope that he can put together a new program, and push me to be a physically ‘better’ me.

Diet

Exercise is one thing, but I needed to get control of my diet. I seem to overeat when I’m stressed, down and anxious. So I’ve had to consider how I tackle this. I’ve thought long and hard, and I’ve decided to join a food delivery scheme, once a month they deliver the critical components of my meals. I know it sounds lazy, and it is, I want to avoid the temptation to order junk food as I have something easy to prepare for that meal. All in all, it should be cheaper than lots of takeaway food.

Blog

I want to get back into blogging, it helped so much last year, and with all the other stuff going on I think it’s going to help me focus my thoughts. So here we go again. I’ll let you know how the diet is going, the good and bad stuff and most importantly I will be cooking many of the recommended dishes, I plan to review and improve on these.

So here goes, 2018, please, for the love of ‘bob’, don’t suck as much as 2017.