Hello Spring!  Where have you been all my life!?  Or at least that’s what it feels like over here in the icebox that is Connecticut.  The winter of our discontent is how Bostonians feel about this situation.  And who can blame them? To put it bluntly? This snow? Well it can take an all expenses paid trip to HELLo! It’s going to be 50 degrees here this week!

Rant over.

Moving right along, yes.  We’re approaching Spring.  The days are officially getting longer thanks to daylight savings time, the thermometer is actually not stuck at zero, and I can actually hear birds chirping as I get ready in the morning.  This has been one really long and hard winter for all of us, myself included.  I had been in this cold winter funk for the longest time- too many Ugg boots in my OOTD, too many nights huddled under a fleece blanket with a bowl of Chex Mix and Goldfish crackers, and not enough sunshine and short sleeves.  I was starting to feel like I was just dragging along, going through the motions of winter life in New England.  I couldn’t even recall the last time Mike and I took the kids out of the house on a weekend day.  How sad is that?  And, to make matters worse, my hunkered down comfort eating was starting to add up.  On my butt.  And then I caught a cold.  It was like being kicked while I was down!  What else is LEFT to pile on to this cold and crappy winter???? Oh yeah, 4 extra pounds! YAY!

This is our brand of family fun in the winter.  Stacking Kleenex boxes.  Can I please push a child in a wagon? PLEASE?!?!

I’d had it.  Something had to give.  So last week, I decided to hit the Reset Button.

I cut out all of the processed snacks that I’d been housing.  No more Goldfish, no more Chex Mix, no more packages of the kid’s fruit snacks, and dear God, no more of that damn leftover Valentine’s Day candy!!  I quit cold turkey.  I have always been a morning workout lover.  Every day I’m in the basement on my treadmill with my pals Savannah Guthrie, Natalie Morales, and Matt Lauer.  But I added more to my routine- I vowed a stairs-only policy at work, and I walked more, and sat less.  And at the end of the week?  My efforts paid off on a monumental level- The 4 pounds that have hung around since Christmas? BUH-BYE!  Gone!  Off the scale and never to return!  I could not have believed it unless I’d seen it with my own eyes.  And not only do I feel awesome about that, and fitting into pants and skirts that haven’t made a cameo since before Thanksgiving, but I feel awesome in general.

Not only that, but I took down all of the winter decorations in my home- no more white lights, no more snow men, no more greenery and squirrels.  Down with fake snow!  Up with Easter!  Pastel silk flowers, stuffed Annalee lambs, and about a kazillion Easter bunnies, stuffed Peter Rabbits, and dozens of colored plastic Easter eggs!  Spring freaking SPRUNG inside my house this past weekend.  The house looks brighter, the pastels and sweet stuffed bunnies and chicks all over my house have been putting everyone in a brighter mood.  Heck, I may even start dipping a few Peeps just for the FUN OF IT!

Sometimes it takes a big life event to give you a wakeup call.  For me, getting hit with a cold at the end of this winter mess was enough for me.  I had to change something.  I had to hit the Reset Button and re-evaluate my habits.  I’m happier, I feel positive, and am looking forward to warmer weather and longer days.