My Goals For 2016

Happy Monday everyone! How was your weekend? Mine was a pretty good one I am happy to say. Although it was filled with a lot of mixed emotions for me. One of my best friends who eloped last year for her wedding had a big celebration for their one year anniversary up in Lake Louise. It was super fun! It was so great to get to celebrate and share their love with them. Their happiness is just palpable and they have been so amazing for each other. However, there is nothing quite like a wedding to bring up the painful memories of a recent breakup. I have definitely shed more than a few tears this weekend.

It was also really nice to get out of the city for the weekend and spend some time in the mountains. Other than the fact it was freezing! Brr! Think -25 C both days. Not ideal if you ask me. It just meant extra long underwear, my trusty Sorels and my down parka that's for sure. On Saturday we spent the afternoon snowshoeing and the friend who I was staying with brought her 1 year old puppy. And boy did he love the snow! There is nothing that can put a smile on your face quite like a puppy bounding through a snow bank.

Here are a few photos from my adventures this weekend! (And yes my hair is frozen - that's how cold it was!)

Today's post is a little different than normal. Nothing food or health and wellness related here. This one is all about me and the things I would love to accomplish this year.  Now, I am not one to set new years resolutions. I don't really believe in them to be honest. I know they work well for some people but I am not one of them. However, I do believe in constantly setting personal goals and working on self-improvement. There are a few things I would really like to focus on this year, so with that in mind I have put together My Goals For 2016.

1. Live in the Moment

This may sound silly to some of you but this is a really important goal for me. I have always been a planner and have never done well with last minute changes in plans or spontaneous decisions. It's just the way I am wired. However, I do believe that I miss out on certain things because of this trait and probably have less fun because of it. So one of my goals for 2016 is to try and be more spontaneous and be open to change or things that I haven't planned on happening. I am excited to see what opportunities this change in mindset opens up for me!

2. Stop Skin Picking

This is a hard one for me to write about. It's not an easy thing to admit: I am a skin picker. And while I have never been formally diagnosed I am sure that I have what is called skin picking disorder (also called excoriation disorder). This is a condition characterized by repetitive skin picking, squeezing, pinching or scratching that leads to physical damage of the skin, emotional distress and/or functional impairment. The condition is more common in women and the prevalence ranges from 0.03% to 9.4% depending on the study you look at. It is also a very hard condition to treat. I have started using habit reversal training strategies and once I am finished residency, and have more time, will likely try cognitive behavioural therapy if it is still a problem. I have already seen improvement in my condition and have been able to stop picking the keratosis pilaris (KP) lesions on my arms. The next goals for me are to stop picking my face and cuticles. It sounds gross even writing about this and I am extremely ashamed and embarrassed to admit this about myself, but I hope that by admitting it here I can open a dialogue that will help others who may be suffering from the same problem. Another strategy I am using is self-love and appreciation. A lot of skin picking is driven by the need to "fix" any little imperfection on the skin, and I definitely have this tendency. I also notice that my skin picking is worse when I am under any kind of emotional stress. So one strategy I am using is that any time I find myself about to pick my face, instead of picking, I will either give myself a face massage or apply facial oil so that I am still "fixing" something, but in a positive, rather than negative way. I also remind myself that "my skin is perfect just the way it is, and can fix itself." Repeating this mantra in my head really seems to help. I plan to do a full post on this topic in the future but wanted to introduce it here first as this really is a huge goal of mine and probably the one I would be happiest to achieve this year.

3. Spend More Time with Friends and Family

Throughout residency I have had to miss out on a lot of events with both my friends and family. It is something I regret on a daily basis and it definitely makes me resent my residency training and all the sacrifices I have made. However, I only have 6 more months of residency left and my schedule this year is much more reasonable than in years past so I have already been able to see my friends and family more this year than in the last five years. I can't wait to continue this trend in 2016!

4. Improve my Photography Skills

I am constantly looking to improve my picture taking skills, and would really like to focus on this over the next year or so. And not just my food photos for the blog (although improving these is also really important to me). I would like to start taking more photographs in general. Think people, scenery or whatever catches my eye. I recently bought a new lens for my camera and it has made a world of difference in my photographs already! I have had many people comment on what a difference they have seen in my pictures lately and I owe it all to this lens. I would also love to take a photography course one day, but I think that will probably have to wait until residency ends. A goal for 2017 perhaps?

Alright everyone, there you have it. My personal goals for 2016. Can you related to any of these? What are you hoping to accomplish this year? I would love to know! 

Until next time, happy eating everyone!