1. Under 200 pounds by my 32nd birthday.
I've been back on Weight Watchers for a month and I've lost almost 10 pounds. To get under 200 by my birthday (11/23), I need to lose 40 pounds. That should be completely attainable. If I lose more than that, it's just the icing on the cake. And it will be better than actual cake. Except maybe Coldstone Red Velvet/Cake Batter Ice Cream cake, because that shit is delicious. ANYHOW. How am I going to do this?
- Stick with Weight Watchers. Count every point - bites, tastes, snacks, meals, all of it, even if I feel regretful afterwards. No food goes unwritten.
- Cooking again - continue meal planning and shopping with a grocery list every week. Try at least one new recipe each week along with old favorites.
- Planning for challenges at the beginning of each week. I'll notice when I have a party, a dinner out, a book club or whatever coming up, and I'll plan for it. I can save weekly points. I can eat something filling before I go. I can control my portion sizes. I can look at menus and figure out points before I'm at the restaurant.
- Be accountable by posting weekly updates here every week.
2. Exercise at least 3 times a week.
Even if it's just walking for an hour or two around the mall, get some exercise at least 3 times a week.
- When it gets nicer outside, I can go on more walks outside.
- I'm looking into joining a gym that has a pool because I'd like to be able to swim for exercise.
- I will dig out my Wii Fit and my Just Dance game and my Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD because those are perfectly good options as well.
- As with food, I will plan at the beginning of each week - write down which days I plan to exercise and how I'm going to get it done.
3. Reconnect with my friends.
I realize this sounds less than specific, but that's because there are different parts to it.
- Spend one night a month overnight with my friend Brooke in Seattle. I've already talked to my Mom and Justin about this, and about having her take at least one of the kids to help out. I'm going to sit down and plan out the dates ahead of time so that it can be on everyone's calendars.
- Email my other friends at least once a month. There are 3 women in particular I've been friends with since high school who I don't talk to much anymore. I'm going to make a point to email or write letters/cards to them once a month to keep in touch.
- Arrange to see those friends at least once this year. I'm working on it already.
- Have monthly girls nights with my friends in Bellingham. I used to do this, and it's stopped happening. I'm going to make an effort to plan it even if only a few people can make it.
4. Schedule special time for Sam.
As soon as we were pregnant with Danny, Justin and I talked about making sure that Sam always got time with us alone - without his little brother. We have failed at this completely. So this year, I am going to get a calendar and schedule one night a month with Justin and one day/night a month with me for Sam time. This works out well with #3 because I think on the night I go to Seattle, my Mom will take Danny and then Justin and Sam will have a whole night of Dad/Son time together to do whatever they want. Then another day or night I'll do something with Sam while Danny stays home with Daddy.
5. Learn how to use my camera for real.
I have had my Canon Rebel for over a year now and I have not learned too much. My goal this year is to really get to know it. I read my entire manual the other day, and I plan to do that again. When spring comes I get really excited about taking photos outside - I love taking macro photos of flowers. I'm going to make a point to experiment with the manual modes and teach myself as much as I can. I would love to take a class, so I'm going to keep my eye out for one that's affordable and will fit int he time I have. I now have 3 lenses, the 18-55 kit lens, a 50mm macro lens, and a 70-300 telephoto. Any advice in this area about resources would be highly appreciated.
6. Read 50 books.
This is an ongoing yearly goal. I managed in for 2011 (yay!) for the first time in several years. I'm already well into 2 books for 2012, so I'm on the right track! Just like last year, I have the Goodreads widget tracking my progress over there in my sidebar.
7. Write at least 50 pages of my novel.
In 2011, I got the bug to start working on/finishing the novel I started 10 years ago. I didn't do much. For a little while, I was making a point to work on it each week, but I've stopped. I need to spend at least an hour each week when I have my day off working on the book. I hope that by the end of the year I'll have at least 50 pages. I realize that's not a ton, but I also want to make realistic goals for myself.
8. Improve my marriage.
This was a goal last year, and it did not happen. I don't write a lot about this here, because it's really personal and if this was an anonymous blog maybe I would, but I also realize it's not just my story to tell, it's also Justin's. So, I'll just say that it needs work.
- Reinstate weekly date nights. I'm going to talk to my Mom about having a regular night for it again, and if she doesn't want to do it every week, get a babysitter to come on the weekend so we can go out.
- Take a trip with Justin, and my Dad gave me 2 plane tickets for my bday (awesome) so we can use those to actually go away somewhere for a week - something we have not done in a long time, but I think that Danny and Sam can handle it.
- Do at least two overnight trips with Justin to either Seattle or Vancouver.
9. Use a budget.
We have struggled a lot financially in the last 5 years. It's time to sit down and make a real budget and stick to it. Sometime in the next week I'm going to write down all of our expenses and figure out a budget, then go on the envelope system - cash only. We need to be more responsible and really think about every dollar we spend.
10. Be a better pen pal.
I got a pen pal last year, and have been absolutely crappy about writing to her in any reasonable time period. This year, I'm going for a 2 week turnaround time with the letters - this means that within 2 weeks of receiving her letters, I'll write back and get it in the mail. No more procrastination.
Whew. I think that's enough... I hope that next January when I look back at this list I'll be able to check off way more than I did this year.
What are your goals for 2012?
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