Recap of my 2017 Intentions

It’s time for a recap of my 2017 intentions! How did it go? What was good, what was bad, and would I do anything differently?

In January this year, I wrote a post about my intentions (not resolutions) for 2017. I was very particular about not putting pressure on myself by calling it resolutions or goals. I didn’t want to set any demanding rules for myself, and definitely nothing to do with dieting or losing weight. Been there, done that.

So, for my 2017 intentions, I outlined five topics that I wanted to keep in mind throughout the year. Most of them pertaining to a particular type of mindset rather than a specific activity or action. Now that we’re done and dusted with the 2017, it’s about time to fess up and tell you how it went.

1. Less Netflix and Social Media, More Reading

If you’ve been reading the blog throughout the year, you might have noticed that I’ve been doing quite a bit of reading. I’ve managed to get through 43 books in total (currently on my 44th book), which has got to be some sort of record for me. I’ve never kept track of how many books I’ve read in a year before, but I know I’ve never spent as much time reading before as I have this year.

As far as not watching so much Netflix or scrolling through social media, I’ve improved on that part too. However, I definitely started strong on that part and then kind of fell back into old habits toward the end of the year.

I took a proper break from Instagram some time in February or March, and didn’t open the app for about two weeks, but then slowly got back into checking it as often as I used to. I’ve continued to steer clear of accounts that I notice trigger me or otherwise are harming me more than they’re benefitting me.

I’ve got so used to reading a lot now so it feels natural to me to keep up with this intention during next year too.

2. Embrace Body Positivity

With this intention, I said “I want to work on … body acceptance and body positivity” this year. I was fresh out of recovery from an eating disorder late last year, and even though my therapist was a godsend and cheered me on into recovery, I knew I had work left to do. A year on and my mind is in a completely different place than it was a year or two ago, but combating those negative thoughts is still something I work with on a daily basis. They don’t just go away, but it does get easier.

When I wrote this intention, I knew I wasn’t going to suddenly wake up from one day to the next loving everything about my body and shape. I still have days when I struggle with liking myself, when I feel wrong, or gross, or uncomfortable. However, keeping the right mindset has helped me so much and I am so much quicker to recover from feeling bad about myself. I can much easier brush it off and move on, and my focus is most often elsewhere than on my body and how it looks and feels.

In hindsight, I think I would change the wording of this intention a little bit. I’d like to keep self love in mind, rather than body positivity or body acceptance. Body acceptance sounds so harsh somehow, and body positivity is a little too ambitious – I’m not really at a place yet where I can go out and flaunt myself and feel one hundred percent okay with all my squishes. Self love, however, is more where I’m at now and where I intend to continue being. I am no longer putting myself through pain and starvation in an attempt to force my body into being a way culture, society, or media has convinced me is the correct way of being. I listen to my body and needs in a way I never have before, I have a much more comfortable relationship to food, exercise, and my own body.

Would I consider this intention fulfilled this year? In the conditions explained above, yes, it very much was.

3. Keep a relaxed relationship to exercise

In my original post about my intentions for 2017, I said “It still takes constant and conscious effort to beat off the anxiety or guilt I feel about not exercising, but it’s something I definitely intend to keep working on this year.” That statement still stands, however it is better now than it was a year ago.

I still exercise regularly and at an extent that many would call a lot, but that’s something that is probably never going to change. I like exercising, I like going to the gym. The difference now compared to before is that my workouts are most often because I enjoy it and want to go, rather than feeling like I have to go. I am also much more relaxed about taking days off from the gym or skipping several days if I’m away on vacation for example, without feeling bad about it.

4. Less stress about Banana Bloom and my social media channels

I definitely lived up to this intention. I’ve put both this blog and the social media channels connected to it on the back burner this past year. I started a new job in February and that kind of naturally shifted my focus from Banana Bloom to diving wholeheartedly into my new job. Devoting much less time to Banana Bloom hasn’t come without a pang of guilt though. Seeing my follower count on social media dwindle and my social media feed get inconsistent and messy has made my neat freak personality twitch. I’ve been itching to get back into it and intend to do so these coming months.

5. Treat myself

My intention was to not feel bad about treating myself to new clothes, makeup, or spending time pampering myself. I have definitely got back into the fun of getting new clothes, painting my nails and feeling okay about pampering myself. Although I’ll never be a big spender, starting my new job in February gave me reason to want to dress up more and naturally got me back into my old ways of enjoying and having fun with makeup and clothes.

In conclusion, I think the few intentions I set for 2017 have been a success! Although I didn’t have them consciously in my mind all year, I clearly set the right intentions as they’ve subconsciously lead me through this year.

Recap of my 2017 Intentions