What beneficial changes to your lifestyle have you made in the last year or so?

I bought some indoor flowering plants on Friday, this is supposed to help my spirituality and nurturing… I feel a bit ‘meh’ about it at the moment, but they are pretty.

This year I decided I would try to be a bit more average and less of a perfectionist… but given my current mental state which is worse than it has been for a while, I’m not sure this is working.

I’ve started going on longer cycling journeys into the very beautiful countryside to the north of where I live. This is good exercise for the body but it feels more than that as it refreshes me mentally and even spiritually as well.

Getting a new life after my husband left which included losing weight, making new friends, becoming a leader in the walking group I joined and becoming ever and ever more my own authentic self. Quite a year – although there is still much loneliness and sorrow….

I am planning very soon to start the @janbb© diet.

If I walk eight miles, I can have a hot fudge sundae.

Yup – and I lost 10–12 lbs. doing it!

Well, at least this summer, I’ve been trying out a lot of new healthy salad recipes. My cousin turned me on to a nifty quinoa salad with lime and garlic. I had never had quinoa before I tasted her salad. It got me into looking up other types of salads with grains and veggies and fruits that I either hadn’t eaten before, or could have never imagined the combinations. It’s been a yummy summer : )

Reduced my work week from 60–70hrs/week to <40/hrs/week.
Bonus: Making more money.

Started tracking my blood sugar more closely with this great diabetes app for my phone.

I finally put something behind me that had been destroying me slowly from the inside out. I have been working on budgeting my money better. I changed my major to something that I really want to do.

What a cool thread, @Hawaii_Jake.

Since I returned from France, I’ve been very serious about improving my diet (both to keep off the weight I lost while eating 2 meals a day and walking 10 miles a day there, and to show gratitude for the fact that I have the money to buy good food now). I’ve probably cut carbs from my diet by about half, which is a huge improvement for a type 1 diabetic, and I am eating 5–6 servings of fruits and vegetables daily, instead of 1–2. I am also much more sparing with fat when I cook now, and I drink lots more water. The only snacks I keep around now are low fat popcorn in single serve bags, low calorie licorice or ginger candy, and fruit, and that in itself is a lifestyle change for me, because I’m a hardcore fan of savory snacks.

I’ve been exercising at least every other day, 40–60 minutes of cardio and half an hour of weights every time. On days when I don’t exercise, I try to walk to or from work one way, or at least get off 3–4 bus stops early.

Physical health aside, I have been pushing myself to be more sociable. I cultivated pretty bad social anxiety for years and I am only now breaking out of it, because I’m much happier and have more energy. I just got back from a monthly academic seminar tonight. I’ve been here 3 years and never attended one before, and it’s in my field. I even gave some comments although I was nervous! I’ve started working at a local food-related volunteer job that I’m very excited about, and meeting new people that way. I’ve made new friends in the area and am doing better at keeping in touch with my wonderful old friends.

I have gotten back into doing artwork and have taken up oil painting. It is so relaxing to me and it makes me feel productive as well. I have increased the vegetables and significantly reduced red meat (pretty much bison only at this point).

I’ve been lucky to get free local and/or organic fruits and veggies for almost a year now as a benefit of my job. Actually using it all (or most or some) has been tricky due to bad habits, busy schedules and manufactured cravings for manufactured food, but now I’ve definitely got good traction on using all this great and healthy food. Last year, for example, I blanched at all the winter lettuces, because I couldn’t fathom eating salad in cold weather, but now I’m hot to get some wilted lettuce soup going, if not full on salad.