Day 20: January Retrospective!

Well, we've hit the end of January. The coldest month on average, and one of the darkest as well. For a person that's never done New Year's resolutions before (or at least never kept them), I'm pretty proud of the way these last three weeks went. I've done many things differently and tried some new things as well:

- Drank a green smoothie (almost) every day
- Drank honey/cinnamon tea every morning
- Added ground flax seed to my diet
- Reduced processed food and sugar intake
- Paid attention to the nutritional breakdown of my daily meals (fibre, protein, sodium, etc)
- Reduced alcohol consumption
- Eliminated carbonated, artificially sweetened beverages (I'm really proud of this one!)
- Stuck with my committment to write in this blog! (That has helped with my accountability)
- Stopped buying my coffee in the mornings (I gave in twice...not bad)
- Used the "oil method" of cleaning my face for the last week

I definitely feel healthier overall, and have avoided any full-blown virus in the season when EVERYONE is sick with one thing or another. This is the first January where I haven't had a chronic sinus headache/ infection and chronic sore throat. My skin is clear and hydrated for the first winter EVER (and it hasn't been this smooth since I was probably 10 years old.) On top of all that I managed to lose 4 lbs of post-holiday weight; an unplanned side-benefit. It's a pretty impressive picture overall. I'm looking forward to continuing with these new habits, continuing to reduce the bad habits, and working more on my mental wellbeing, which the longer days will help with. For the month of January I award myself a B+. Bring on February! (I will be dispensing with the day count in the titles from this point forward, as I never really figured out if I should be accounting for the days when I don't make a blog entry. Day 20 seems a nice round number to stop at.)