Hi, All!

Well, I survived the holidays. I didn't lose any weight, but I didn't gain any, either. I should have considering all the junk I put into my body. I'm thinking I need to go back to phase 1 and start over. I know it is my own fault for eating the things I did, and to be honest, I really didn't do as bad as I have done in the past. I did exercise a limited amount of self control, some days more than others. Clients were mailing goodies to our office by the ton and after a while, I allowed myself to wear down.

Have any of you watched the documentary called "Supersize Me"? I watched it and was mortified by all that I saw. I also read the article someone else posted here on trans fat. Now my son calls me the Food **** because I'm always grabbing the package and reading the label, scouring for any of the forbidden ingredients. LOL I don't think I will ever eat fast food again after that one.

I've been giving some thought to my New Year's resolutions. I'm not really one to do those, but I think this year would be a good year to start.

What are yours?

Mine are (so far):
1. Reach my goal weight by the end of 2005
2. Be more than halfway to my goal of being debt free
3. Learn to take better care of myself and put me first for a change

That last one sounds a lot easier than it is.

I look forward to hearing what your goals are!

I hope you are having a good day today!

Namaste'
Aileen

New Years resolutions, thats a tough one.
1. Reach my goal weight
2. Do some 'me' stuff - read some books, watch some movies ...
3. Get a real job.

Hmmm ... I'm sure I will add to it. I have just completed five years full time study so I am really looking forward to work being my focus rather than something I fit in around my varsity and family committments. Also really want to read something that isn't a textbook or journal article so I have joined a book club. I am sooo looking forward to reading some novels this summer but that doesn't fit with my new active lifestyle.

My New Year's Resolution is to lose 30 lbs this year. Total. A totally attainable goal. The other was to get my finances in order, but I started that early

Good luck to us all!!!

Hi, Great idea for a thread.

My resolutions are:

1. Exercise. Make some form of physical activity part of my every day life.
2. Reach goal weight.
3. Stop procrastinating.

I'm sure there are more, but ... wait for it! ... I'll figure them out later LOL!

Hope everybody is enjoying some down-time.

My resolutions are:

1. Lose 40 pounds
2. Bellybutton piercing (after 20 pounds)
3. Work on getting debt free
4. Putting me first
5. Being a better person

I don't really have any resolutions..this year has just been about realising that changes need to be made in my lifestyle and to gradually change my habits for the better.... all I want to do is keep going.. little by little it will get better.

Hmm, New Years Resolutions...

Well, Like Tubamom, one of mine is to be at goal before the end of 2005. Truthfully, I'd like to be at goal weight by my birthday in June.

Another resolution is to not let my daughters make me so crazy. They get along like two roosters slung over a clothesline and I'm the one who gets stuck in the middle.

Third is to not let perfection get in the way of "good enough". I'm a perfectionist and tend to spaz out and not do anything at all if I can't do it perfectly. So instead of Martha Stewart in the kitchen, I tend more towards Peg Bundy. Yikes! I resolve to mend my wicked ways in 2005.

Mamacita

A lot of my friends frown on resolutions, saying that resolutions should be a continuing thing--not something you focus on just once a year. I say, as long as you're focusing on them, who cares when you're focusing on them?

The debt-free goal is a great one. I'm into my second year with a debt management program, which has been wonderful. I don't want to be independently wealthy, I just want to be independent--as in free of debt.

The lose-weight goal is a great one. I binged horribly for three days leading up to Christmas, then got myself together on Christmas day. Luckily, I only put on a few pounds, and it seems to be shedding quickly now that I'm back on track.

I'd like to find more freelance editing/writing jobs to supplement my income, but that's going to require digging. I resolve to be a better mole.

And I resolve to surround myself with healthier people--not fitter people or skinnnier people--just happier, calmer, more mature people. This has taken a long time to figure out. =)

May you all have a healthy, happy year.

~Julie

My goals for the upcoming year are:
lose the weight
excersize daily ( I joined Ballys with my family to make sureI get there)
be kind to myself ( no beating myself up over small things)
take an hour a day to take care of myself
dont sweat the small stuff
Cook more/ eat out less

Okay so here goes:

1. Make my health the priority.
2. Reach 190 by December 1st of 2005.
3. Spend more time doing what I enjoy doing rather than jumping when others say jump. part of this is remembering that the employees are there to make my life easier not vice versa.

Hi ladies,

I'm liking this thread - seems as though I have similar goals (weight, debt - eek!) as many of you.

My overall goal in the weight department is 50 pounds down by my birthday next year (12/22). That's about a pound a week, which I think is do-able.

In the debt department, my goal is to create a budget and stick to it, and to cut up my credit cards entirely - except for the one I leave in my wallet for emergencies. So far I've been good about not using that one unless I asolutely HAVE to.

BTW, ChickOTB, you said "I am sooo looking forward to reading some novels this summer but that doesn't fit with my new active lifestyle." - I have found that I can read while I'm on the elliptical machine at the gym, and even more easily on the recumbent bike. If that's where some of your activity is, then try bringing a book!

Good Luck all (even me!)
Solarmama

Great idea for a thread, Aileen. Thank you!

My resolutions for the upcoming year are:

- to reach my goal weight. This is it. No more fiddle-farting around.
- to continue my efforts to fend off my mother's dumping. She's very skilled at it.
- to get my finances back in order. I have no idea what I'm spending, and I know I'm wasting a lot.
- to get back to the Y on a regular basis. 3 times a week, even if only for 1/2 hour.
- to cook more! My new kitchen is (will be) beautiful, and I may even take a cooking class!
- to start writing again on a regular basis
- to get these darned mice out of my house!

That doesn't sound so daunting! (other than the mouse thing) I think we can accomplish these things, girls!

My goals for 2005 are bascially a continuation of 2004:

-increase my fitness level
-maintain good eating habits and if that leads to more weight loss I'll be happy.
-make connections with people/family instead of filling my empty heart with food.
*write snail mail letters to elderly relatives more often then a christmas card, maybe monthly or every 2 months.
* send an occasional snail mail letter to friends who I email regularly. (I learned how nice that was when my cousin's computer died last year and I hadn't heard from her in a couple monthes, I sent her a nice newsy letter and she was so excited that she actually wrote me back.)
* once a month/or week invite someone from church that I don't know well to dinner at my house just to get to know them.
-work on the house clutter, become a real flybaby not just read the emails. http://flylady.com/

-learn to like myself the way I am now, accept my shortcomings and successes and just like me for me.

Last year at this time, one of my goals was to become a happy and less anxious person. Well, maybe I was thinking more along the lines of "anxiety-free." Yes, of course I knew that it was impossible to be in a constant state of happy, stress-free goodness. But somehow, regardless of this knowledge, I secretly hoped to achieve this Utopian Bliss, somehow!

Well, this year, I've given up the ideal, impossible dream of Utopian Bliss. My goal now is to become more skilled at coping with my unhappy and anxious days. I am going to "embrace" those days that I always tend to rail against and dread and face kicking and screaming. I don't know exacty how to do that yet, but my resolution is to figure it out as I go. I guess that is my main resolution. Other ones I have are:
1) To learn self-acceptance now, not when I reach my goal weight.
2) To become a healthier, leaner, stronger me. (Hoping to reach my goal weight by my 36th birthday in July.)
3) Exercise regularly.
4) Be kinder, gentler and more compassionate to myself and others.
5) Write regularly.
6) Meditate daily.