My 2024 ‘overhaul my life’ thread

[thenewaveragebear1983]

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/4695746-i-need-to-lose-23lbs-in-2023-and-overhaul-my-life

last year I did a big life overhaul and thought I’d do the same in 2024 to keep me on track. Feel free to comment or join in!

stuff that went well

• i did lose weight, I was 153lbs at my last weigh in so I lost 17lbs although I think my post Xmas weigh in will see a few of those returning
• i got a new job
• I got my puppy 🐶
• I got put on hrt for my anxiety and my mental health is a lot better
• I climbed snowdon, ran 950kms and did 60 gym classes

Goals for 2024

• continue with slimming world. I have 3 weighs left on my countdown, and I will then buy another. My aim is to get any Xmas gain off before this countdown ends, then average 1lb a week in my next one. I’d then be 10st - I think that’s my target.
• Dry January, leading to 100 days dry. I really want to give up drinking both for my weight and my health
• Self care routine- I need to get some sort of skincare/ grooming routine in place
• my dog has put paid to my gym classes as I cannot get to the morning classes now, so while I am walking a lot, I’m not doing any strength stuff so I am going to build in a home workout schedule, starting small.
• I enjoy my job, I want to do some training and consider where I can go within the company
• i have some cardio issues and thyroid issues, I want to consider coming off HRT and pursuing a diagnosis for this.
• Snowdon really gave me the wanderlust and I want to do more
• I need to get some friends. I have realised this Christmas that I actually don’t have anyone, I’m so very lonely and I don’t really know why I don’t have anyone. So I want to find hobbies/other ways to meet people and socialise. (Need to give this some thought)

Impressed with all the goals you achieved in 2023, good luck with 2024! Inspired me to set some too, I really like the idea of a goal of a number gym classes and a number of km ran.

I thought of 2 more goals….

• cut down on my social media and general phone usage, especially in the morning. Leave my phone upstairs during the day to stop my distracted ‘checking in’
• cut back hugely on my spending, (links to above as well as I impulse buy on Vinted and end up with lots of things I don’t need/want)

I would like to lose weight…. About four stone. I will do this by carrying on with SW. I am intending buying a countdown. I need to drink more water. I already do a fair amount of exercise but going to try and do some form every day. I walk a lot, dance and do yoga.I also intend to cut down on social media!!!

The first one HAS to be one of my goals for 2024, my screen time is utterly ridiculous 🤦‍♀️

@Littlebitpsycho I can literally feel myself getting a little dopamine hit from it, it’s so bizarre. I am a terrible doom scroller and it’s got to stop. Think of all that wasted time! I’ve decided I am going to keep a book on my desk and read a page when I need a screen break but I will need to keep my phone upstairs in order to break the habit I think.

@bossybloss I went back to sw in September and I’m really enjoying it, it’s the longest I have successfully stuck to a plan in a long time. I need to stop drinking though really as it just kills the syns. My plan is to do a 12 week countdown and not drink for those 12 weeks 🤞

Great thread OP.

Have you climbed Ben Nevis or Scafell Pike? They are both brilliant challenges too. I've done all three (not in one weekend!) and love remembering those climbs - great fun and sense of achievement. Scafell was my favourite. Ben Nevis is tough!

I have similar goals. 165lbs when I last weighed myself (probably more since Christmas) and want to get back down to under 10st as I am not tall.
Doing Dry Jan (usually do) and would like to reduce alcohol in general this year.

I really want to get back to fitness classes as I let them slip last year.

I want to eat very healthy nutritious food, cut back a lot on meat and only eat really ethically sourced animal products.

I really want to cut back on social media - down to a quick 15 mins check a day.

I want to visit old friends and family.

I have a private project I want to finish and a couple of work projects I want to launch.

And declutter and tart up our house as it is looking a bit tired and old fashioned.

I've decided to concentrate on three 'pillars' of 2024. Mind, body & soul. I've had an awful year of trauma and death and putting my own needs last, so much so I feel totally disconnected from my body. So this year is about connecting with it through walking, yoga, strength training, better nourishment (more whole foods, less haribo) which will hopefully help me grieve. For my mind, much less phone time, more reading, more films, more music, some writing, some silence and stillness without constantly finding something to do. For my soul - self care, taking care of my hair and skin, my teeth, my eyes, finding where I'm deficient. Declutter, focus on home improvements. Pay off debts.

@OwlWeiwei no I’ve not climbed any other mountains, I only did snowdon as my friends took me for my 40th but I genuinely loved it and I want to do more!! We do live near the Malverns so I intend to get out with my doggo and just walk more.

@CatalogueOnVinylFlooring I did a few whole30 after/during lockdown abc I can honestly say that the switch to whole food was an absolute game changer for me. I just felt so alive. I felt like I had more time in the day because I just was operating on such an efficient level, and as a result I was so much better at my ‘routines’ - teeth, grooming,yoga etc.

@CatalogueOnVinylFlooring i will add, I stopped the whole food thing which is probably why I now feel crap again 🤦‍♀️

I love this idea. You've got me thinking I need to do something similar.

You've had an amazing year!

I recommend the Caroline Hirons book for a good skincare regime. I've been following her advice for a couple of years now and I can see the difference. It feels like a lot of faff at first but is honestly worth it.

Good luck with all your goals for 2024!

Great idea for a thread OP. I went a bit off the boil this year, for various reasons, but particularly due to an unexpected and tragic bereavement.

I've been lounging on the sofa tonight thinking I need to give myself a shake.

I'd really like to:

• get back into a good exercise routine, with strength 3x per week. I know it's good for me, especially at my age.

• lose the stone I've wanted to shift for the last couple of years. I need to stop sabotaging my diet at the weekends with booze and snacks.

• take more time for a bit of self care / pampering.

• get more fresh air. Long walks, getting out at lunchtime. I came across an article today linking lack of vitamin d and dementia. Now it was a news article, it might have been a bit of guff, but it it reminded me of the importance of getting outside.

• read more. I find hours to scroll on my phone. Why can't I find time to read a book?!?

• not spend my evenings slumped on the sofa. Working on the other goals helps with this.

• sort out all the jobs that need doing around the house that I have been putting off forever. Again, working on this will help with the sofa slumping!

I had some lovely Liz earl for Christmas so I have put that, plus my dental floss, in a little basket in our downstairs loo and instead of waiting til bedtime when I’m knackered and can’t be bothered, I did it at 7pm when I needed a 10 minutes peace locked in the loo away from the kids and puppy. 👍

I've decided to go with a numbers based approach. As my old boss used to say, what gets measured gets done!

0 social media 📱

75 Zoe weekly average 💛

150 workouts 🏋️‍♀️

1040 miles of walking 🚶‍♀️

So I'm going hardcore on the social media and logged myself out of it all last week as my scrolling was out of control and moderation isn't my strong point. I totally agree on the dopamine hit issue.

I've been doing Zoe nutrition for a few weeks now (not cheap but I've really found it helpful and it's encouraged me to make changes). They get you to aim for a score out of 100 for each day (100 being ideal) and average it across the week. 75 seems a good aim.

I'm also on a new workout app called Ladder which I love. It has a set programme which I've been following since September so I want to keep that up - three sessions a week.

I generally aim for 10,000 steps a day which is around 3 miles. I want to be more consistent with this and movement in general.

Thank you for the inspiration.

@thenewaveragebear1983 I did my evening skincare around 8pm last night. I'd got into a rut of waiting till bedtime and not really being bothered.

We had plans for today that have been impacted by storm Gerrit. Instead of sitting around on my phone for a couple of hours drinking tea while the rest of the family has a bit of a lie in, I'm going to finish one cup of tea and then go and do something productive!

I’m aiming to reduce my waist measurement to half my height for health reasons. Had success this year with consistently exercising but I don’t have a great relationship with diets. I think that would take me around 15kg to achieve, so I want to walk/run, consistent strength training Pilates and gym, dry January and healthy diet and focussing on less stress/better sleep.

I’m joining too but slightly different.

I joined weight watchers at the start of last year partly to give support to 2 other friends who are much more overweight than I am. I’d like to lose but haven’t got a huge amount to lose.

They both stopped going probably after Easter/early summer. I was doing the tracking foods but it gets so tedious, the only things I was really going for was motivational talks, tips and members in person.

It put me off (and not really just for me), I’d mentioned about a meal out or drink out for Christmas and there were mumblings about it but nothing arranged. I’d have helped to arrange. Anyway one night I noticed a few people were dressed up and hanging around and turned out they were going out for this meal (only about 6 people). It didn’t bother me that much but there was another member who was walking to the supermarket near where they were going, I got the feeling she’d have loved to have gone but they left her out. It seemed quite cliquey.

Spoke to one of my friends who used to go and she said she found it cliquey.

I did lose about over half a stone around Easter but it was part tracking and part me.

Haven't ready the full thread yet but I will just wanted to pkacemark what a great idea.

The friends thing in the same I literally have nobody. I'm limited as I'm in a situation where I have hardly any spare time and the time I do have is not always great for hobbies etc. how do people make friends when they are older??

I need to come up with a list too. I like the idea of breaking it down into mind/body/soul as a previous poster suggested.

If you want to get out doing more walking/exploring I recommend joining the Hiking Buddies UK group on Facebook. There's always walking events being put up, it's a great way to meet people and walk in new/different places. There's lots of other similar groups, but that one is a good starting point

@clpsmum its so hard isn’t it? I have a lot of people I’m ‘friendly’ with- gym buddies, running buddies, mum friends, work colleagues etc- but I don’t have any actual friends. As in, people who check in on me, people who invite me to things. I’d never really noticed before and then this Christmas I just thought, no- I’m not doing all the running. Well, not a single person even messaged to say merry Christmas. So now at least I know, except where does it actually leave me? I feel very sad about it tbh.

anyway- I’ve had a good day today. I had a lie in (unheard of since getting the puppy in October, she wakes at 6 every morning 🤦‍♀️) , took her for a nice walk, went to town- tried on several pairs of jeans as a barometer, bought none. Next time I shop I will be in a size smaller, that’s my goal. I did buy a nice sports bra in tk though. Came home, had a turkey pitta and salad, and did some housework. I couldn’t face a run, it’s blowing a gale and heavy rain here.

@SilkandSteel1 thank you, I will look them up.

Thank you, OP, good thread!

Goals here:

1. boost up health. Movement, strength, stamina, flexibility, nutrition, sleep, skincare.

2. boost up social life and connection

Can I join please?

I did 2023 goals and met quite a few of them and so want to do it again for 2024

2024 Goals:

• Lose 10lbs
• Start running again - aiming for 2 runs per week (I could probably do 4k now, but never keep it up long enough to extend my distances)
• Run a 10k
• Read 30 books (did this in 2023, and found the goal plus using Goodreads to track my books was great for motiviation)
• Study and pass an industry exam (won't bore you with the details of this!)
• Text/reach out to my friends more and be more pro-active with keeping in touch

Sorry to hear that the lack of messages has been getting you down @thenewaveragebear1983 It's hard to make friends as an adult. My closest friends all live quite far away. I do have more local friends, but I'm the 'organiser' which pisses me off the older I get.

So instead of wasting my day, I've done a couple of chores (my sock drawer is very today 😂) and shortly going to get everyone together for a board game.