2017 Goals Week 5

I took an inadvertent breif hiatus from blogging for the past few days.

I've really enjoyed blogging on an almost daily basis for the past several months and was swimming along just fine throughout January, feeling optimistic and proud of my small accomplishments, but then February hit and suddenly so did a major case of the blahs.

Ever have one of those days where you can't face life and just want to go back to bed? I did a few days ago. I went to lay under the covers around noon and 40 minutes, 2 phone calls and a loud weather alert later I had to face the fact that I wasn't going to be able to laze the day away. So I got back up, showered, and did some household chores. I was glad I didn't waste the whole day but didn't really get joy out of anything.

I did stick with my no buy through January, and have so far made 2 wax purchases and no nail polish purchases in February. My hubby has been having less hours at work recently so money problems are starting to creep back up and nag at my conscience again. I probably shouldn't be buying anything I can't afford out of pocket; I feel bad for putting those items on credit. It wasn't that hard to resist buying things in January because I'm pretty good at sticking to short term commitments, but now that that specific self imposed time limit is over I suddenly want to celebrate by treating myself, but that really defeats the point of being mindful with my purchases. 

In my defense I could do a lot worse though; there are several things I'm holding off on getting.

I had only intended to make one wax purchase this week, but I happened to go on Facebook right when the Glitterati flash sale lots became available and threw my name in on a whim, not expecting to win.

For those not familiar with Glitterati, they are the "unicorn" of the wax world and their products are only available by signing up at certain times, mainly their weekly flash lot drawings.

I last won a lot back in October and found it to be wonderful quality wax. I hadn't entered many of their drawings since, but low and behold I won this time, not really expecting to. I could have passed on it, but as anyone in the vendor wax world knows, you never say no to Glitterati!

My food goals are still going fairly well; I'm still avoiding buying sugary and fatty snacks at the grocery store and have been cooking most of my meals from scratch. I may get the occasional saccharine Starbucks drink or something when I'm out, but I don't make it a habit anymore. I weight myself for the first time several months and while I'm not really focusing on the number on the scale, I was pleased to see I didn't weigh as much as I thought I would. I may be down about 10 pounds from my highest weight. 

I've been trying a few new recipes every week and I think I'm a decent cook, but I must say I don't feel like I've picked too many winning recipes lately. Things that look/sound good in recipes and photos keep ending up not tasting great to me. I make dishes basically because I have to eat, but I'm feeling disappointment that I'm not getting the same creative enjoyment out of cooking as I used to. I'm not sure if it's my tastebuds or poor attitude that's got me down recently, but to be honest I'm struggling with a profound lack of motivation to want to do anything lately. I sleep pretty well but still feel exhausted a lot and sometimes take a nap in the middle of the day. I dread doing the basic chores necessary to survive every day and anything additional or unexpected makes me feel really stressed.

My husband and I have finally scheduled an appointment with our family doctor for tomorrow to discuss some of these issues and possibly get a referral to a therapist. I've never spoken with a professional before, but I feel like it could really be helpful to receive some guide. It also makes me anxious though because while we have insurance, I'm still worried about any costs this may incur. I guess we'll just have to take it one step at a time. My husband also is interested in speaking with someone because he too is feeling some feelings of inadequacy and melancholy that could be linked to depression. Wish us luck I guess.

Here are a few of the recipes from this week in case anyone is interested.

One thing I was happy with this week was that I discovered baking rather than frying produces delicious crispy hash browns. This recipe was actually a hit.

These Paleo breakfast/snackbars however were not. They didn't taste terrible per se, just so bland and taxing to eat. I ended up tossing out half the pan and felt bad because I hate wasting food.

I've been eating these slow cooker beef gyros for dinner. The meat turned out pretty well; the flavor is good but it's not super tender.

This is a recipe I've posted a couple times previously, but this honey walnut shrimp dish is great comfort food. Not particularly healthy, but one of the fee dishes I've enjoyed making and eating recently.

How are your goals for 2017 going? Any interesting happenings in life recently?