HUGE New Life Chapters

So tomorrow I start a really huge new chapter in my life. Tomorrow, I walk into the hospital as a brand spankin' new doctor. It's about 90% exciting and 10% pure terror. That being said, I'm sure I'll be fine. I finally get to do what I want to do and focus on what I truly love to do, so once I figure things out in fourth year soon, I'm sure I'll be having a lot of fun.

That being said, since tomorrow is a brand new chapter in my professional life, I think it should be a brand new chapter in my personal life - a chapter where I also try to work towards making myself better and happier. 

If you were a reader way back in 2010 when I started this here blog, you'll know that I made some awesome progress in my weight loss and health goals. If you followed my random posts throughout med school, you probably had to read between very wide-spaced lines to know that it wasn't going well. Med school took over my life and so did a bit of fear. I became so scared of failure in school that it slowly found its way into every aspect of my life and I just stopped trying. If I was struggling to do well in school, why did I deserve to feel good? If I couldn't find the time to study, I shouldn't reward myself with a sweaty workout. And one of the reasons I started the blog in the first place was to use it as a very public forum to help shame motivate myself into working hard toward my goals. Well, the guilt and shame for letting down my readers definitely set in and then I stopped being so public.

But here's the thing: I'm going to make mistakes - I'm never going to be perfect. But, damn it, I deserve to be happy and to be healthy. And here's the other thing: people aren't going to stop loving me or looking to me as a role model if I slip up or act like a real human. So, I'm going remember those things while I work towards that by working on my diet and trying to add in some exercise everyday. I'm going to make healthier choices. I'm going to hit the gym - there's one that is literally in the plaza where I work and another one 5 minutes from home. My gym bag is going to live in my car so that I go to the gym before I go home. My water bottle will be handy so I hydrate rather than shove food into my mouth mindlessly. I'll look at desserts as treats rather than necessities. And above all, I'll start over right away if I slip up. 

I'm also going to incorporate some things into my life that helped me lose weight: friends! I sent out an email tonight with the link to my blog to some of my close friends and family that may or may not have known about this little literary treasure so they can help encourage me along the way.

I'm also going to incorporate monthly measurements! Back in the days when I went to Curves, seeing changes in your measurements was a huge reward and motivation to keep going. So, I bought a tape measurer and got my measurements tonight. I also am only going to step on the scale on a weekly basis - no little check-ins here and there - just every Monday (with the exception of tomorrow cuz I want a legit baseline).

These are what I could remember from Curves

I'm also going to try to include some pics of the daily food choices I make so as to keep things interesting for you because pictures are the best. Here are some from the wedding I went to this weekend:

With the groom

The high school group

With my date ;-)

Aaaand, I'm going to set my first goal: I want to lose 6 pounds from tomorrow's weigh-in in a two-week period (that's 3 pounds a week). If I'm able to achieve this goal, I will buy myself a pretty pair of new shoes!

Thanks for reading! 

Have you ever set any fitness or health goals? Any recommendations or words of advices?