I am so ready to kick off this new year!
 

So now that the holidays are over, I can completely forget about all the stress that revolves around them for at least the next 10 months! I had an amazing Christmas with my fiance and his family. So it has put me in a fantastic mood and I am ready to jump into 2009!!

To make things better, my fiance has decided to change his eating habits along with me. Not only will this make things easier for me but it will be cheaper doing our food shopping so I won't have to shop separately for some meals. I am going to plan my meals every 2 weeks, portion lunch sandwiches and snacks every Sunday [thanks to PhotoChick for her words of wisdom on this amazing idea!]. I thought I was crazy to want to do this, but it seems to work! I invested in a slow cooker, so I can make homemade meals more then 4x a week. I will no longer have to dread coming home during night shift and having to prepare a meal - I will come home to nice meal! I can even make my own soups and portion them for lunches.

I also invested in a BJ's wholesale membership. I was blown away by the prices. I have been in a BJ's before and have shopped there (STILL HAVE BOXES OF PASTA, MASHED POTATOES, ETC from March!). But now that I am cooking more meals, I haven't realized the money I would save. Especially since I recently moved to the city. A pound of boneless, skinless chicken breast is about $6!!! At BJ's they had a 10lb bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts for $22. That is my whole month of chicken dinners + more. Not to mention they now carry a lot of healthier items that are low-fat, made with whole grains, and so on.

My fiance and I also are getting a gym membership together (a yet another expensive piece to this puzzle for $70 a month, thank-you Philadelphia!). I believe it is worth it and I'll kick my butt if I slack off and waste that money. It has a lot of amenities such as 100 free classes every week, a full pool, jacuzzi, sauna, tanning/massage/tailoring, a rock climbing wall, tennis/basket ball courts, it's open 24-7, and much more. :dizzy:

So I am fulling super positive about this year and I'm ready to shed the pounds. Who is with me?! :twirly:

Damn, I wish I had a gym like that close. I have access to a YMCA and the membership is $35 for just spinning classes, pool, free weights, and cardio machines. Ugh, and it also has specific hours (only open 5 hours on sundays.. wtf?)

Good for you!! I am new here but have lost 130lbs in the last 2 years! Tho I have gained about 40lbs back so starting Jan 1st I am also kicking my own @ss! My fiance is also going to be doing it along with me with eating better/exercising on the Wii! Good luck to everyone!!

Whoo hoo! Way to go. You have made some good decisions and everything sounds doable. Even motivated me! ;)

Sounds lik eyou have a GREAT plan for 2009!

I too am ready for the New year!

yayyy! I'm super excited for the new year too, your energy is infectious! As soon as I have a few extra bucks I'm going to sign up for a gym membership as well. I'm really lucky, I have a 24 hour fitness literally 1 block from my house so even though I work night shift I will be able to workout everyday after work. So my plan is to stick to it 5 days a week. Mabey we can help eachother stay motivated and on track?

i am so lucky we have a anytime fitness gym that i have a key card for so can go anytime i want

I am ready for 2009 because 2008 has just sucked due to me losing my job and being unemployed. I just know 2009 has to have something good in store.

Also, I feel that I am in a good place with my journey now, and know that I am going to lose the rest of the weight and be successful.

As far as the gym goes, I'm on a trial until the 15th with 24 hour fitness about 30 minutes away, then I'm going to get that 30-day with Bally through the Discovery Channel's health program. At least that will help me have access to a gym for awhile while I'm broke and jobless. :)

It's time for a New Year - for health, fitness, the stock market, business... everything! 2008 wasn't "the best" especially for those in business. Stress got to me and I regained so 2009 is a FRESH START for me. I'm doing a mini pre challenge before Jan 1 then I start officially the Body for Life plan again. Here's to 2009! Bye bye to 2008, for good!

So do we, and it's super convenient! :D

I'm am SO glad the holidays aRe over, now I can focus on continued weight loss in 2009!

WormwoodDoll: I'm going to try prepping/portioning my lunches/snacks for the week on Sunday too ... thanks for the idea!