Ah, the holidays. I love this time of year. Special memories with family, seasonal good cheer, laughter, delicious food … and the post-holiday surprise of extra pounds when we step on the scale. Um, yeah, not so fond of that last part. No wonder getting in shape is such a common New Years resolution! This year, I’m hoping to keep all the good parts of the holidays, but not feel the regret in the mirror. So for the next weekly Friday challenge, happy holidays can still be healthy holidays!

This challenge is actually very personal to me. It’s not that appearance is the most important thing at all!! But over the last couple years, I’ve put on some weight. And at the same time I’ve been going through a style dilemma. And I’ve not been as active or as healthy as I wish. And I don’t like the results. So this autumn, I’ve started working out again and trying to get into some healthier habits, and finally have been starting to make some headway. WooT! But I don’t want the holidays to stop (or reverse!) my progress.

This series is *not* going to be a weight loss advice series. It is going to be about my attempts to become more healthy, and to improve my appearance in the process. I definitely am not going to be giving any medical advice! I’ll be just sharing what is (or isn’t) working for me. Some of it will have to do with getting in better shape, while some of it will have to do more with style and poise. I feel like I’m muddling through some of that right now, and I intend to share my thoughts, foibles, and even perhaps some occasional successes. But I can pretty much guarantee there will be opportunities for you to laugh at me. :)

And, right as we are getting started, I’ll have an exciting announcement on Monday for a special opportunity that I think you’ll be excited about! So stay tuned for that. :)

But in the meantime, here is one thing I’m going to try to be working on this week: posture!

Posture can have a huge (and immediate!) impact on your appearance. Even if your outfit is well put together, and your hair looks great, if you are slouching, that can make you look so different. Whereas even if you’re not perfectly put together, good posture can give your appearance a boost (don’t you always stand with great posture when you’re looking at yourself in the mirror?) – plus it is healthier for your body.

I’m fairly tall (around 5’10” or 5’11”, plus I wear high heels), and I do like being tall. But I don’t always have very good posture. My grandmother was also very tall, and I remember her saying to me, “Don’t be ashamed of your height, stand up tall!” I remember being surprised to realize I wasn’t standing up straight – I didn’t feel like I was slouching. But as soon as I stood up straighter, I could feel it.

It wasn’t until I went to the chiropractor when I was older that I realized part of why I didn’t stand up very straight. When I was small, we were hit by a drunk driver, and it did some permanent damage to my neck, making it lean forward. My chiropractor urged me to work on standing up straighter and retraining those muscles, and not holding my head so far forward. He said that one of the biggest differences between how healthy and limber his older patients were was in what kind of posture they carried through their life.

I realized in talking to him, just how little I realized what good posture actually felt like! I found this interesting little info article thing that helps to define exactly what good posture is.

So! I need to work on better posture. Hm. I’m suddenly overwhelmed with how ironic it is that I’m writing this while slouched back on the bed.

Ahem. Excuse me. *adjusts position*

Much better. I think in addition to just trying to remind myself during the day to have good posture and build better habits, I want to work on stretching and doing more yoga/pilates to help practice good posture.

Plus, as a friend recently said to me, “The quickest way to look 10 pounds lighter is to stand with great posture.” So true.

How’s your posture? And what do you think of this overall idea for the new challenge? I’m excited about it – it will definitely give me some accountability during the holidays. Leave your thoughts and comments below! :)