Three years after I had graduated, moved out of my parents house, got a job and gotten married I was settling into my adult life... and it was good.

It was good, but it wasn't great.

Don't get me wrong. I loved life with my husband and our puppies. My workplace is awesome and the people are good. But I was kind of stuck.

I was gradually putting on weight because I was eating badly and my metabolism was no longer that of a teenager. I was bored watching tv constantly and doing nothing with my life. I've always been predisposed to melancholia and the non-habits of my day to day really didn't help.

So it was very timely then, when I came across this TED talk by software engineer Matt Cutts.

Try something new for 30 days.

Matt had gone through a similiar 'rutt' in his life and, inspired by documentary film-maker Morgan Spurlock he decided to challenge himself to try something new for 30 days.

He went from a "desk-dwelling computer nerd" as he self described himself, to "the kind of guy who bikes to work... For fun!"

Matt's talk struck me at the right time, and I was inspired to give it a try.

And so I began trying various things throughout the year.

First, I journaled everyday for a month.

I had journalled quite a lot during college but it had fallen by the wayside after I graduated and got married. I really enjoy having snippets of periods of my life captured in writing to look back on. Plus journalling is an excellent way to process ideas and feelings. It can even become a springboard for future articles.

Then my husband and I ate vegetarian for a month.

I learnt a great bean burger recipe in the process!

I gave up all drinks except water for another.

I think this was the hardest honestly! This was probably when I discovered soda water, and grew to love the flavour of a soda water with a twist of lime which really helped me cut out soft drinks from my general diet.

Over the course of the year I challenged myself to go hiking and I started spending more and more time outdoors.

Eventually the 30 day Challenges fell by the wayside but by then I had "unstuck" myself.

The experiment had infused me with momentum and I started to pick up other hobbies and habits which bit by bit transformed my life.

I began a vegetable garden that over the year produced loads of herbs, vegetables and fruit including: cilantro, chives, basil, lettuce, arugula, sweet potato, eggplant, tomatoes, sweet peppers, spinach, beans passion fruit and more.

I decided to get more serious about my health.

I changed the way I ate, and I started exercising more than I had ever exercised in my teenage/adult life and most importantly, for the first time ever I started to enjoy it.

I may not have run any marathons, climbed any mountains or won any medals, but in reflecting back on a year that can blur by in the business of mundane day to day activities I still felt as though I did something with my year.

I feel as though I can look back to that year as a pivot point in my life. I started to feel happier and healthier.

I started living more.

I didn't adopt all of my 30 day challenges for the long term. But I learnt new things, had new experiences and I discovered how small, seemingly insignificant habits or experiences can really transform your life.

And with these new skills for living happier and healthier I was able take the plunge with my husband, @jamtaylor and make the decision to have a child. Now we have someone brand new to share all the amazing wonders of life with - even if we take it 30 days at a time.

As Matt says "The next 30 days are going to pass whether you like it or not! So why not think about something you have always wanted to try, and give it a shot for the next 30 days!"

What have you always wanted to try?