The past 1,5 month we were blessed with visits from our family who came all the way from Belgium to Cartagena to see us (and this beautiful country). It was amazing to have them close and being able to chill with them again! There is just one downside of having visitors here. It brings me out of balance.

My life, as it was, partly stopped. I know it’s my own fault, but it’s just so nice to pretend I am also on vacation with my visitors. I loved it, but at the same time it is not an ideal situation. Because now the visitors are gone, it takes a great amount of energy and discipline to get back on track. Before, I was exercising 3 to 5 times a week, doing yoga twice a week, eating healthy, arranging stuff in the house, etc. Right now, I am hardly exercising, doing yoga irregularly, eating a lot (when did I start eating so much? I thought the heat made you eat less instead of more, guess not!), being lazy, drinking a lot of alcohol (downside of living somewhere where it feels like vacation all the time), and thus I’m gaining weight and I’m not feeling like myself.

So today I decided it's enough. I want to get focused again. So, for the same reason I wrote down my dreams, I am putting my goals here, black on white:

• Stop drinking alcohol during week days
  > Alcohol makes me sleep badly, which makes me tired and lazy, which makes me want to eat comfort food – so I’m hoping that this goal will help me a lot.
• Exercise every day with a minimum of 15 min core/abs training – preferable in the morning to start the day with a good feeling
  > When I exercise, I feel good about myself. And when I feel good, I have a lot more motivation to maintain my goals and to eat healthy. Besides, I will feel good even if I only do those 15 minutes of workout, anything more will make me feel great! So easy..
• Go to my Yoga class twice a week, no excuses!
  > This one is just an obligation for myself because I belief that the benefits of yoga are enormous and reach into every part of your life as it strengthens the emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual capabilities.
• Tackle at least 1 task of our domestic to do-list each day
  > By allowing myself to feel good about doing only one task a day, it doesn’t feel like a major assignment. Dividing the to do’s into small tasks that can be done each day, makes it very easy to progress. This way, it doesn’t feel like I am standing in front of a giant, rough mountain but more like I’m standing in front of a simple staircase. It is easy to get one step up, knowing that’s all I have to do that day!

Nope, you’re not mistaken, I didn’t include a diet as a goal! The reason is very simple:
(1) I don’t believe in them, they are too crazy to stick with forever,
(2) Once you stop, you just put on the weight again, and
(3) I don’t like having eating restrictions, they require too much energy
I believe in eating in a balanced way. Sometimes chocolate pie, other times carrots and cucumbers. And I think that when I meet my 4 goals, it will automatically lead to eating more healthy!

Well, now that this is said (and looking pretty easy) lets go over to action, the hardest part!

I’ll keep you posted!