New month. New start.

August just started, which wipes the slate clean for another 31 days. With each new month, we get another opportunity to build a new, healthy habit, break an old, bad habit, try new things and find ways to grow and learn.

I can’t believe it’s already August. This year is seemingly flying by, and it feels like I was just celebrating New Years, and then just celebrating my birthday. Now here we are, kids are getting ready to go back to school and fall is right around the corner (yay!).

I thought I’d take a moment here to talk about my plans for the month and what I want to focus on with this new beginning.

My goal all year long has been to find ways to be healthier and more active. Since I traded teaching fitness classes for a desk job as a writer, I’ve found it’s much harder to make time to move each day. And this past year has been incredibly stressful in many ways, and I’m a comfort eater. So not only am I trying to be healthier overall, but I also have some extra weight I’d lose. Turns out too much Nutella and comfort foods makes it challenging to keep fitting into your pants. Go figure. This month I plan to try new (healthy) recipes and explore new food pairings. I recently discovered a newfound love for mashed sweet potatoes, and I’m obsessed.

In terms of fitness, I’m really excited to try a new fitness program. A friend of mine is a Beachbody Coach and she turned me onto some of the programs. I’ve done CIZE and 22-minute hard corps, both of which I enjoyed. But I think this next one is going to be my favorite. It’s called Country Heat, and it’s a dance fitness program all choreographed to country music. Two of my favorite things are dancing and country music, so this is right up my alley. Really excited to get this one started. It should arrive on Friday, so stay tuned!

My (continuing) intention and focus for this month (and year) is to try and live more in the present moment and be more mindful of my thoughts. I’m cynical and a bit pessimistic by nature, so positive thinking doesn’t come naturally to me. I’m working on that, because I really do believe in the power of positive thinking. I’m striving for an attitude of gratitude, if you will. To that end, I plan to get back in the habit of writing in my gratitude journal. I try to list five things every day that I’m grateful for. I’m also working on enjoying the moments of my life. Sure there are always bills and things to worry about, but if I focus all of my attention on that, I’m miserable. Instead, I’m trying to focus on what is currently happening, enjoying each little moment, and I’m looking forward to the fun things I have planned in the near future.

What about you? What are you excited for with the onset of a new month?