Here’s to 2010!

Morning!  So, apartment guests and a very long late afternoon nap interfered slightly with my posting last night — many apologies!  I promise to prioritize blogging in the New Year and not leave you guys hanging

Speaking of which, it’s time for my 2010 New Year’s Resolutions!  As opposed to my relatively boring and crummy 2009, 2010 is going to be a HUGE one for me/us: I’ll be running my first marathon, Matt is getting his Ph.D., we’ll be taking a big vacation to celebrate Matt’s graduation, we’ll (more than likely) be moving out of our apartment, and hopefully starting to think more seriously about adding to our family. 

I’ve divided up my resolutions into a few different categories, and I’ve added some mini-goals to a few resolutions that will take longer to achieve (paying down debt and losing weight, for example).  I really like lists!    I’ll re-post this list a few times during the year — maybe even the first of every month? — to see how I’m doing and where I can improve. 

Here goes:

Fitness

• Run a sub-2:30 half-marathon, either the Buffalo Half in May or maybe the Philadelphia Distance Run in September
• Go to the gym at least 3 times per week
• Do yoga at least once a week
• Train for and complete the 2010 NYC Marathon, ideally in under 5 hours
• Become a certified Spinning instructor
• Incorporate strength training into my workout schedule at least once per week, either at the gym or at home on the Wii.

Weight Loss

• Get into the healthy weight range for my height.  I’m 5’5″, so that would be between 120-150 lbs., totally reachable in 2010.  I think I’ve failed in the past because I set unreasonable weight goals for myself, so this time I’m going to just focus on the range and then find my happy weight within it.  Mini-goal for January: lose 5 lbs. of holiday nonsense weight to get back on track with a bang!
• Finish 2010 lighter than when I started it.  This is one of my huge regrets about 2009 — right now, I’m about 10 or so lbs. heavier than I was on 1/1/09, and it’s frustrating to think that I “wasted” this year, weight loss-wise.
• Track everything I eat.  If I don’t track [and exercise], I don’t lose.  Period.

Financial

• Stick to my budget/saving plan and significantly pay down my debt in 2010, in preparation for merging our finances, house down payments and babies.  I’m hoping that thinking about the long-term will help me stick to my budget; while I’m in pretty good shape financially, I do have some debt and don’t want to be the reason we get a bad mortgage rate or anything like that.  Also, babies are expensive!  We can’t be thinking about paying off credit cards on top of paying for day care, baby clothes and all sorts of other stuff.
• Don’t use credit cards at all in 2010.  My only exception to this rule will be if I lose enough weight that my clothes don’t fit anymore, and I need to buy some new ones.  If that wonderful situation comes to pass, I’ll set a strict budget for myself and have some fun!
• Make sure $$ in savings STAYS in savings.  I’ve got a direct deposit into my savings account for personal stuff and Christmas 2010 (I realized this year that I should start saving NOW), but I have to pretend this money is under lock and key until December.  
• Try to find a part-time job of some kind to pay off debt faster/pad our savings account.  I’ve got too much free time in the evenings, and you know what they say about idle hands (you use them to shove food in your mouth), so finding some low-stress part-time gig, maybe even some freelance writing, sounds like it would make a ton of sense for me.  Anyone want to hire me?
• Limit take-out to two meals per week.  This will be good for our wallets and my waistline!  Mini-goal: limit take-out to 3 meals/week in January, if it is too hard to adjust for both of us.

Health

• Go 99.9% vegetarian!  That 0.1% will be locally and humanely raised meat enjoyed on a special occasion only.  And who knows?  Maybe I’ll lose my taste for meat altogether and stay veggie 100% of the year…
• Commit to eating locally grown foods in season.  I know I won’t be able to do this 100%, but I would like to visit the farmer’s market and reduce my carbon footprint as much as possible this year by becoming a locavore.  Plus, fresh foods in season taste SO much better than their scary available-year-round counterparts!  Mini-goal: hit the farmer’s market at least twice in January.
• Track everything I eat on the blog.  I think the hardest thing will be to remember to take pictures of everything!  I’m sure I can do it though.
• Cut out certain “dangerous” foods from my life, at least temporarily.  I’m going to cut out chocolate, peanut butter and all sweets (candy, cookies, etc.) for at least the month of January, and maybe longer.  It is too hard for me to have these things around without bingeing on them, so I’m just going to stop cold turkey. 
• Pass my certification exam to be a Nutrition and Wellness Consultant.  One of the items on my to-do list today is to write up a reading/study schedule, and I can’t wait!  Mini-goal: finish the Nutrition textbook by the end of February.

Life/Happiness/Etc.

• Make blogging a priority.  I’m committing to blogging at least once a day for the year — I think that’s totally manageable!
• “Come out of the closet” as a health blogger.  I’ve only really shared my blog and weight loss journey with a few close friends and family members, and that needs to change.  Even though I’ve made substantial progress, I’m still pretty ashamed of how overweight I used to be.  Part of getting over that and really owning my journey is sharing my story with the world.  I’m going to post links to my blog on Facebook, continue to comment on other health blogs, and generally work on getting my name out there in the world.
• Watch less TV/read more.
• Cook more/experiment with new ingredients.  This is going to be a BIG one now that I’m going vegetarian.  I’m excited to try new fruits and veggies, new cooking methods (I think the crockpot will be my new BFF), and generally have more fun with my food!
• Improve our apartment organization/toss clutter.  Our one-bedroom apartment is getting a bit too crowded, and most of that is my fault.  I need to stay on top of messes (if there’s an available flat surface, I’ll pile some crap on it), clean more regularly, figure out a better organization system for our stuff, and stop bringing more stuff into the apartment (the “don’t use credit cards” resolution will help that for sure).

Alright, that’s my list!  I know it is exhaustive and a little bit intense, but my frustration with my lack of progress in 2009 is really motivating me to start 2010 with a bang and make it a great year.  I want to be in amazing shape — physically, emotionally and financially – for our summer vacation (UGH bathing suits!), the marathon, the move and (maybe) trying for babies.

Do you make resolutions?  If so, are you successful at keeping them? 

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