2010 Resolutions Recap

Last year, I decided to do something a little out of my comfort zone.  I posted my New Year’s Resolutions (I prefer to think of them as goals) on my blog!  I’ve always been pretty horrible about keeping my New Year’s Resolutions and usually by the time July hits, I can’t even remember what they were.  For some reason, putting them in writing where I could regularly refer them (and the whole world could see them), did me a world of good.  Here’s my recap!

1. Lose weight (average at least one pound/week for the year)

I lost 60 pounds this year before my body completely wacked out causing me to gain 30 pounds and lose 2/3 of my hair.  The doctors never did figure out what the issue was although they said it could be caused by my lupus, it could be thyroid related, or it could be hormonal.  In the last 3 weeks, it seems like things have started to be a little more normal.  My hair loss isn’t as crazy and I haven’t been gaining weight so I feel like we’re on the right track again.

2. Exercise at least 10,950 minutes

I am thrilled to be able to say I met my exercise goal in August!!!  This is huge for me since I started the year in such horrible shape!

3. Stick to our budget…every single month!

So this is horrible to admit, but I’ve been horrible about tracking my spending this year and as a result, I’m not sure if we stuck to our budget or not.  On a positive note, we were able to give more this year than we have in the past, we added to our savings every month, and we didn’t incur any debt….so although we didn’t stick to a budget per se, we did live within our means.

4. Track all of our income and spending.

As I said above, I was horrible this year about tracking our income and spending.  This is one area where I definitely want to improve!

5. Read through the entire Bible. (I’ll actually be reading through the entire Bible in 90 Days!)

So I actually did this…twice!  I started the Bible in 90 Days in January and anticipated finishing in March.  Things got a little crazy at our house and I somehow got off track…way off track.  I didn’t end up finishing til June!  In July, I joined another group reading the Bible in 90 Days and was able to finish on time!!!  I’ll be starting again on January 3rd!

Consider joining all the other wonderful people reading the Bible in 90 Days over at Mom’s Toolbox.

6. Take a trip with the kids to Disney World or Disney Land

Our whole family was able to head down to Disney World for a wonderful week in February.  I attended the Disney Social Media Mom’s Conference and our family stayed for an extra few days.  We had the time of our lives!

7. Post at least 5 times/week on my blog

Done!!!

8. Try 2 new recipes per month

I wasn’t consistent about trying 2 new recipes each month, but I did try 19 new recipes during the course of the year…some were great, some not so great, but I did manage to add some new easy recipes to our repertoire!

9. Read 1 book or listen to 1 audiobook each week.

Since my round trip commute to the office is a little over 1 hour, I managed to listen to a ton of audiobooks this year.  Also, having a Kindle
has made it much easier to keep up on my reading.  Even if you don’t have a Kindle, you can use these free Kindle reading apps to read from all kinds of mobile devices and computers.  Amazon offers tons of free books for Kindle so this is a great way to get your reading in!

10. Take a creative writing or public speaking class.

I joined our local chapter of Toastmasters this year and have absolutely loved it.  It’s really helped with my public speaking abilities and I’ve met lots of wonderful people too.  If you live in the Auburn, IN area, I encourage you to come join us on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of every month!

As you can see, I didn’t meet all my goals for this year, but when you consider that I’ve never kept a New Year’s Resolution in the past, I feel really good about my progress.  I’ve been mulling over my 2011 goals for a while and as soon as I have them set, I’ll get them posted!

How did you do this year?  Were you able to accomplish your New Year’s Resolutions? Was 2010 a good year for you? Have you already set your goals for 2011?

Resolutions Revisited

This year has been flying by!  I had grand intentions of posting monthly updates on my New Year’s Resolution progress, but that obviously hasn’t happened!  Since we’re almost halfway through the year, I thought I’d give you an update on where I am this year!  Since I originally linked my New Year’s Resolutions to Top Ten Tuesday over at OhAmanda, I thought it was only fitting that I link my update!

1. Lose weight (average at least one pound/week for the year)

So far this year, I’ve lost 45 pounds!  I’ve worked my tail off, but it’s been totally worth it!

2. Exercise at least 10,950 minutes

So far this year, I’ve exercised 5,490 minutes! That’s over 91 hours!  I’m pretty sure there’s a direct correlation between the time spent exercising and the weight loss!

3. Stick to our budget…every single month!

I am horrified and ashamed to tell you that we haven’t been doing a great job of sticking to our budget.  Although we haven’t been overspending, we haven’t really been tracking like we should and we haven’t sat down for a “budget update” in months! {hanging head in shame}

4. Track all of our income and spending.

This ties directly in to the above resolution!  We definitely need to get back on track with our budget meetings and tracking our spending!

5. Read through the entire Bible.

I made it through the entire Bible, however I didn’t make it in 90 days as planned.  It took closer to 150.  I’ll be starting the Bible in 90 Days again on July 5th.  Feel free to join me!

6. Take a trip with the kids to Disney World or Disney Land.

In February, our family headed to Disney World for the Disney Social Media Moms Conference!  It was an absolutely amazing trip!  I can’t say enough good things about Disney!  I wish we could visit Disney every month!!!

7. Post at least 5 times/week on my blog.

Although there are a couple of weeks where I missed the mark on this one, for the most part, I’ve posted at least 5 times each week!

8. Try 2 new recipes per month.

I’ve tried at least 1 new recipe each month, but I’ve been in a terrible rut with our busy schedule!  Hopefully this will improve over the next few months!

9. Read 1 book or listen to 1 audiobook each week.

I’ve made it through 17 books this year (so I’m a little behind schedule), but I’ve been much more consistent lately with the audio books, so that’s definitely helped.

10. Take a creative writing or public speaking class.

I didn’t sign up for a formal class, but I did join Toastmasters.  I’ve been amazed at how much my public speaking has improved.  My husband, my mom, and my dad all joined as well and it’s been so fun to do this with them!

So there you have it!  Overall, I’m pretty happy about what I’ve accomplished so far this year!

I’d love to hear how are you doing with your New Year’s Resolutions! Leave me a comment!   If you’ve blown it, it’s not too late to get back on track or start over with new goals!

I’m Losing It: An Update

I shared a few weeks ago about my weight loss journey, but didn’t check in and update you last week.  Part of the problem was that I was in Phoenix and had absolutely no idea how much I’d gained or lost.  I was pretty sure I gained (and I did), but since I didn’t take my little weight watchers book with me, the number on the scale at the meeting in Phoenix didn’t mean a whole lot. When I got home and found my little book, I realized that I had gained 2.2 pounds.

The good news is that when I weighed in at Weight Watchers yesterday, I weighed the same thing I weighed 2 weeks ago, which means I lost 2.2 pounds this week.  I know…that’s not really impressive, but I’m not gaining weight each week.  Oh yeah…and tomorrow will make 3 weeks that I’ve been soda free!

I have some really good news about future weight loss that I will share with you in a post very soon, but I’m waiting til I have a few more details.

Here are my goals for this week:

1.  Drink at least 10 cups of water every day!

2. Get at least 3.5 hours of exercise in.

3. Not buy any Chocolate Fudge Pop Tarts (I think I might be addicted to them…and I’m pretty sure I could lose a lot more weight if I ate a lot less Pop Tarts.)

To see who else is Losing It, head on over to Giving Up On Perfect!

Request A Free Fitness Plan from Curves (and get 30 free days when you join!)

Losing weight and exercising regularly (or 10,950 minutes) both made it on my list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2010. If either of these made your list, you may want to check out this deal from Curves. You can go here to request a free fitness plan. They are also offering 30 days free when you join (this is for new members only and there is some fine print at the bottom that you may want to read).

Free Sample from NicoDerm CQ


If you’re trying to quit smoking (or if you’re planning on making it one of your New Year’s Resolutions), check out this deal from NicoDerm CQ. They are offering a free sample of NicoDerm CQ and a $7 coupon for NicoDerm CQ with Smart Control.

Go here to get your sample!

Request A Free Fitness Plan from Curves (and get 30 free days when you join!)

Losing weight and exercising regularly (or 10,950 minutes) both made it on my list of New Year’s Resolutions for 2010. If either of these made your list, you may want to check out this deal from Curves. You can go here to request a free fitness plan. They are also offering 30 days free when you join (this is for new members only and there is some fine print at the bottom that you may want to read).

Free Sample from NicoDerm CQ


If you’re trying to quit smoking (or if you’re planning on making it one of your New Year’s Resolutions), check out this deal from NicoDerm CQ. They are offering a free sample of NicoDerm CQ and a $7 coupon for NicoDerm CQ with Smart Control.

Go here to get your sample!