The Cherry Post

Well, here is the cherry post. I'm 29 and married. Children may come into the picture at any point. Like a lot of women, I think about my family, my fitness, and my finances. These three things are so intertwined. For instance, I want to cook healthy meals and have healthy food stocked in the house, and this can lead to a healthier me, but this also means I will spend more on groceries. I may decide that family is more important and cut back my working hours, but this can affect the finances. I may decide to save money by cancelling gym classes, but this can affect my fitness. The relationship of these three things is so integrated that you cannot change one without affecting the others. So as I approach 30, I've decided to tackle the balance of these three areas of my life and share the story with you.

So here is the state of things now:

Family
It's just me and hubs right now, and I'll admit - I really like it that way. We've been married just over 5 months and are in pure newlywed bliss. We lived together for several years so we have already worked out the kinks of who gets to shower first in the morning. We talk about children and are not opposed to the idea, but until they appear, we are really enjoying each other's company.

Fitness
O.M.G. I stepped on the scale in January and saw a number that I hadn't seen since high school. I'm about 25 pounds heavier than what I need to be to fit into all the clothes in my closet. So, I have started a regimen of bootcamp 3 days a week, volleyball 1 day a week, and....well, I'm working on the "and" part. The goal is to get in 30 minutes of activity every day. Currently, four days are covered. Getting in some activity on those other three has been a real struggle for me. I've only been doing the bootcamp 3 days a week for ONE week. So, this is far from the norm and a far cry from habit. I'm hoping to stick to these classes as I come up with home exercises for the other days.

Fitness is two-fold, you have activity and you have healthy eating. I cut out all sugar and all processed food two days ago. I am eating fruits, vegetables, unprocessed meats (no deli meats or sausages), and grains like rice and quinoa. Of course, I'm drinking a ton of water. So far, I'm feeling good. I have energy and I'm not obsessing about my calorie-intake. Everything I am eating is contributing to a healthier body, so I am allowing myself the freedom to eat as much as I want without regard to portion but with regard to satisfaction.

Finances
Hubs and I lived together with 100% separated finances for several years. Combining them completely after the "I do's" was a little scary for both of us. We have decided to combine them as of this month - January - and are working through the angst of feeling a little loss of control. We have been meeting at the end of every month to discuss the next month's budget and have February almost ready to go. We'll look it over once more before deciding to commit to it. Once committed, very few changes occur unless something unforeseen happens.

So there it is, a brief snapshot of what is going on this moment. During this year, I'm hoping to keep the closeness that hubs and I now share, increase my overall health and fitness (would love to lose the 25#!), and pay off the student loans. So here goes!