It’s been a while since I’ve been able to update this, but a couple of weeks ago I completed number 17 on my list, which was to sponsor a child in a developing country. This is something I’ve been wanting to do for ages, so when I got my first wages in my new job I had a little look and found a lovely little 5 year old girl in Ethiopia in need of sponsoring. Very excited now to write her my first letter and hear back from her!
I also ticked off a slightly moderated goal off my list. When I first started my list, I had been determined to lose a stone, despite not actually being overweight (my BMI is right in the middle of my healthy weight range). I think I just thought I would feel more comfortable and confident at the weight I chose. I started off with the best intentions, eating less, exercising more, and I slowly lost some weight. However, after 4 months (and a pound over my target weight!) I broke my little finger and had to have it operated on and put in a splint. Here’s a lovely pic of my splinted hand:
Now, I know it sounds really over the top for a broken little finger to affect my weight, but I couldn’t do a lot of the exercise I was doing while it healed (Pilates involved too much of using my hands, running jolted my arm around too much and hurt and netball was out for obvious reasons), and I couldn’t go out much for walks as I couldn’t get sleeves over the splint and it was January and really cold! I also had to eat a tiny bit more so that I was getting enough nutrients for it to heal quickly, as it was a right pain having the finger on my writing hand broken.
Consequently, I quickly went back up to the weight I was before after all my hard work! After my finger was healed, I tried again with exercising and eating a bit less, but as I’m not overweight and don’t eat loads anyway it’s quite hard to lose weight. So I tried an extreme smoothie diet, which just made me feel a bit sick after a few days. I also contemplated a 5:2 diet, but I read it can affect your hormones and give you spots, and I’m already struggling with hormonal skin!
So, after a while, I just had to accept that without embarking on an extreme and unhealthy diet, I am just meant to be this weight. However, although I may not have lost weight this year, what I have done is improve my fitness levels, and better fitness is probably more important than being skinnier! So I have decided to have that as an achievement for my list instead. This year I have started doing more Pilates classes, started tennis lessons, ran a 5k and bought a bike, amongst other things, and I am quite proud of that. So I’m counting that as another goal ticked off my list!
As an aside, I have also had to moderate two other goals due to circumstances and preference. One of the goals is seeing the Northern Lights. I still really want to do this and am trying, but I had to add a substitute goal to my list as unfortunately I didn’t get my new job (and money to travel to see the Northern Lights) until April and it’s my 30th this September, and between April and September isn’t a great time to see the Northern Lights. I have found somewhere in the UK where you can go and they give you lessons on how to spot them and have equipment and stuff, so I’m going to go and try there in a couple of weeks, but I’m not holding out much hope! If it’s not to be this year, I have updated the goal to stargazing at the top of a volcano (which sounds almost as exciting) which I am going to do when I’m on holiday this summer!
I have also changed skydiving to paragliding, as I decided I would rather do this.
So here is my updated list – only 12 goals left!!:
1. Start a blog
2. Learn how to play chess
3. Have a bath with candles and champagne
4. Have a 12 hour DVD-athon
5. See the sunrise
6. Create my own ice cream flavour
7. Run a 5K in less than 30 minutes
8. Knit something
9. Take part in National Novel Writing Month
10. Win a competition
11. Read War and Peace
12. Cook Christmas dinner
13. Go to an Opera
14. Create my own perfume
15. Learn how to make candles
16. Go on a long bike ride
17. Sponsor a child in a developing country
18. Improve my fitness levels
19. Go paragliding
20. See a Shakespeare play at the Globe Theatre
21. Go to an ice bar
22. Do a night-time sponsored walk for charity
23. Have a moonlit picnic
24. Raise £130 for charity
25. Visit another city by myself
26. See the Northern Lights / Stargaze at the top of a volcano
27. Watch 50 of the top films of all time
28. Read the top 10 of the Guardian’s 100 greatest novels of all time
29. Read the Bible all the way through
30. Plan some extremely amazing 30th birthday celebrations
30 things to do before I turn 30 