Happy New Year!!! New Year’s Day is a great time to take stock of what is most important to you. Resolutions encourage us to lose weight, save money and get rid of clutter and get organized. Trying to achieve all of these goals at once is challenging; therefore, I encourage you to KISS– Keep It Simple Sweetheart and focus on your goals to be Your Best Self in 2019.

I offer you ways to be more comfortable in your own skin. Look at your life and decide what you really want to accomplish in the new year. Take baby steps towards making small changes that are important to you and will help you live a fuller life.

My goal is to lose weight, so I have been watching the portions of food that I eat and also following a low-carb diet. I gained weight due to the medicines I must take to be mentally healthy. I can’t stop taking these medications; I am on them for life!

I was diagnosed with being bipolar about four years ago. I am also the caregiver for my 86-year-old mother who has also been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Heredity is a factor in being bipolar. So, look closely at your family history.   We’ve switched places now! I am now the mother figure and try to be calmer and more sympathetic towards Mom and her needs. To say that this is a challenge is an understatement!!

Being bipolar means that we both go from one emotional extreme to another in a short period of time. Even with our medications trying to keep us on an even plane, we both need to keep our emotions in control. To make it even more of a switch-a-roo of our roles; I am now the overweight middle-aged woman and Mom needs to gain weight at only 100 pounds!

So, while I try to eat less and make better food choices– Mom needs to eat more fattening things and gain weight! Therefore, I have decided that this is the most important resolution for me to focus on in 2019. I am making my number one New Year’s resolution to be conscious of what I eat and what I feel.

I have decided to keep this year’s resolution somewhat simple. This will help insure that I can work towards losing weight and being calmer with both myself and my Mom. I went to the doctor’s for bronchitis and was told that I am overweight according to the BMI scale. I knew this; yet it was humbling to see this on paper and spelled out for me.

When I researched the medicines that I am on, I learned that weight gain is almost inevitable. What a bummer!! This has encouraged me to be much more diligent with whatever I eat and in what portion.

I need to be more realistic of everything I eat and how much. I am fifty-eight now and I am certainly not the only middle-aged woman to face this challenge. However, the bipolar diagnosis has added even more of a reason for me to make weight loss and inner calmness my New Year’s Resolutions for 2019.

I guess what I need to do is eat less and take a deep breath more often. This is surely easier said than done. However, by choosing to focus on my most important challenges, my physical and mental health, I have set myself on the road to a happier and healthier Meg for 2019!!