How's 2021 Going for Ya?

2020 seriously feels like "the year that never was." Even my little sister seems to forget that she got a year older; when our grandma asks her how old she is now my sister's reply is firmly stuck on her age in 2019. When my friends and I were discussing the last time we went to a local art installation festival I could have sworn it was in 2019 because ABSOLUTELY NOTHING happened in 2020...but then one of the girls scrolls through her photo history and disproves my statement. 2021 seems to be more of the same, sadly. I cannot believe almost 2 months have gone by already. I started a new habit, I guess it's a resolution really though I do not like making New Year's resolutions. Actually I started several habits. They're all ticked off in my journal each day. I may as well list them here to keep myself accountable in another place. In January I started walking for 45 minutes on the treadmill each day. I also started doing dance workout videos (at least 20 minutes) from YouTube each day also. To try and be more mindful I also tossed in daily meditation and my Rosary. I weighed myself every Friday just to see if that would be some added motivation to keep going. So far I average a pound off a week. I'll take it. In February I started picking up the pace on the treadmill a little more. If it was a day where I had to break up the walk (ie. I walked 25 minutes before work and then 10 minutes at a time during my breaks) then I would also pick up the speed even a little more. But there was that one day where I thought I would try to take it into a run because I only had 3 more minutes to go...wow that was a struggle/bad idea! But hopefully, eventually, I will be able to run at a comfortable pace for a long period of time or distance. I decided if I can run 5k without slowing into a walk at any point then I will have "earned" myself an iPad so I can watch my shows on a larger screen on the treadmill. Treats! I have also tried to return to some sort of semblance of a skin care routine. So back to the R+F Redefine products day and night, my needle roller and serum on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. My face scraper/spatula on Mondays and Fridays. And a pleasant mask on Sundays. What I had not anticipated is that, although I thought I was taking better care of myself and the weight is creeping down, somehow my blood pressure is creeping up. How in the world is my blood pressure getting worse when everything else is supposedly getting better?! My doctor ramped up the medication but so far it does not seem to be having any effect. Not cool. Good thing it's Lent, I guess. The boyfriend is being supportive of both the season and my "mission" and suggested I try going keto for the 40 days. I need to read up on it (a lot) more. I had assumed it was pretty similar to my good old South Beach. The joke was on me when I made us pork chops and veggies for dinner but after the meal he pointed out the sauce was so sweet it was definitely not keto-friendly. Oops! I didn't even like the sauce! Weird Kid's girlfriend is selling a nutrition program called Thrive and gave me some samples...but given the latest concerns with my blood pressure I thought, for once, that I would do the whole "consult with your doctor to find out if (Thrive) is right for you" before giving it a shot for the three days. But her and Weird Kid say I shouldn't have coffee while I take it. Oh, the humanity! They know I love my coffee. Anyway, I find out tomorrow when I have my phone appointment with my doc whether I can try this stuff out or not. I'm curious about it but I'm definitely not a smoothie fan and I'm against the whole abandoning coffee schtick. Still, it's worth a shot.