Reflections from 2014

As the new year has started many people begin to look back on 2014 and decide if it was worthwhile or a bust.  As I think back to last year I remember distinctly some of my goals.  My first one was to lose weight.  Classic I know, but this has been an ongoing struggle.  Thankfully this past year the mystery had been solved.  After 2 years of constant working out and trying different diets to see if anything would kick start my weight loss I finally had my blood drawn and was diagnosed with borderline Hoshimoto Thyroiditis.  Cool.......not really.  However I guess the upside is that we have found the problem and now we can get on the right track to fix it.

Now with that right track comes some slightly annoying lifestyle changes.  I have to take a hormone replacement every morning an hour before I eat.  That's all great and dandy except I normally forget until my stomach is screaming at me to pound the leftover pizza in the fridge from the night before.  So I'm working on that.

It also means I need to limit my gluten.....damn you gluten.  So with hoshimoto thyroiditis pretty much what is happening is my thyroid antibodies see my thyroid as bad and attack it.  Fail antibodies.  Gluten increases your thyroid antibodies so it makes sense to limit or eliminate it from your diet so it doesn't continue to attack my thyroid.  They also said to limit dairy but that ain't happening so I will do my best with the gluten.  Give and take right?

You don't realize how much gluten you eat until you aren't supposed to anymore.  I have found some great alternatives but sometimes you just want that bacon cheeseburger on a pretzel bun from Wendy's.......ya know what I mean.

My second goal was to pay it forward more.  I feel I did a decent job at this.  I always try to remember that we don't know what is going on in someones life so if they are cranky with you at the checkout line maybe all they need is someone to smile at them and tell them to have a great day.  My favorite pay it forward of the year was when I was pumping gas and this nice older man came up to me and said "ma'am this is really embarrassing but i left my wallet at home and I just need a couple bucks to be able to get home.  Can you help me out?"  Well I rarely carry cash so I told him I would swipe my card and he could fill up as much as he would like.  He began to cry and said "no no no I'm not asking for anymore than I need.  You are too kind.  I didn't even think you would help".  My first thought was well what's that supposed to mean?  Do I not seem friendly?

I swiped my card, told the man to have a lovely day, and drove off.  It wasn't until later that day I was checking my bank acct to see if a check posted and noticed that the man in fact only took what he needed.  $3.67 worth of gas.  Sometimes you just have to have a lil faith in humanity and that man restored mine.

My last goal was to travel and challenge my mind and thinking.  That I pretty much nailed.  This past year I traveled to Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Texas, Nebraska, Missouri, Nevada, Colorado, and Illinois.  I attended many conferences and heard from inspiring speakers that left me yearning for more and wanting to take on the world.

This is my year to take on the world and help make some positive changes. Oh and I'm going to attempt to do better at this gluten free thing.  Against my every desire for yummy pasta and domino's pizza.   What are your goals for 2015?