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Friday, November 6, 2015

Looking back - Moving forward


In just over 18 months my husband can retire with a pension and then we will sell our home and move across the country back to California. I am going to use the next year to prepare myself and our home for these changes as much as I can by myself. Then we will hit preparation hard together.

First I want to look back at our California life and style of almost 20 years ago and see what I would like to recapture right now as well as when we move back.

- I liked being out and about more. We lived outdoors much more than we do in Atlanta as the weather and our home were very conducive to that. I walked most mornings for exercise, we hiked and biked and generally were more physically active. Part of that was being 18 1/2 years younger as well as having active young teen and young adult children living with us, but it was mostly that our environment encouraged it.

- I liked being thinner. I weighed somewhere around 115 - 118 instead of the 133 I weigh now. Again, I was younger and hadn't reached menopause BUT I see women my age who have managed to stay thin. They probably don't eat muffins, biscotti and cookies LOL. Losing 5 pounds would be great; 10 would be amazing.

- I liked that we spent more time having fun with friends and family and a lot less time watching TV or reading. We seem to have hunkered down by ourselves on a daily basis these past 10 years or so.

- I liked that we had a less stuff in a smaller home that housed more people as well as a larger dog. We spent less time cleaning and did less home maintenance. A larger home and yard with more stuff is harder with each year that passes. My husband remarked recently that it is amazing that we have kept up with this house and yard for 18 1/2 years as we do most of the work ourselves.

- I was out and about more doing meaningful things not just running errands and that was better. True, I was working at a professional career, but still I did a lot of other things and wasted less time.

So what changes can I make in the next few months to start living more like that again?

Exercise daily rain or shine, hot or cold!!! Preferably getting outdoors but inside if the weather is too inclement.
- A long challenging walk, Pilates session or a stretch or strength video inside.
- I want to include a strength workout 3 times a week - Pilates counts as one time. I need to rearrange the study so that it is easy to do this early in the morning without bothering my husband.
- If a weekend has decent weather take an urban hike together.
- If I need to acquire clothing to make outdoor exercising easier then do so.

Develop eating habits that will reduce my weight to what it was when we moved here 18 1/2 years ago. I read that to lose 1 pound a month you need to cut about 250 calories a day. Half will be exercise and so that leaves cutting 120 calories a day from my diet each day. I should be able to do that.

Invite friends to dinner/brunch or out to lunch.

Seriously Marie Kondo my own stuff using her method. Encourage Hubby to do the basement and shed jointly so those aren't such a big chore closer to selling the house.


4 comments:

  1. This is the very first thing I read today and I'm so glad that it was. I'm not moving across the country, but all that you wrote made me think abut what I liked about the past, what I miss about it, and how to go about "living more like that again". Thank you for this. It's just what I needed.

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    Replies
    1. I'm so glad it helped you today. I find it hard to motivate myself at times and think a vision of how I want to be and why may be what was missing.

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    2. I am a transplant from California too except north to Seattle instead of South to Atlanta. That was a HUGE move so I feel your pain. Moving cross country is major but you seem to have the planning under control. Good luck!

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    3. I'm sure you can relate. The move from Los Angeles to Atlanta was easier logistically (moved by Hubby's job) but harder culturally and friendship wise. This time the logistics are all up to us but we are going back to family and friends so the emotional support will be there.

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