Last year I managed to gain 15 lbs over the winter and early spring. I lost all of it, and this year I'm determined to keep it off. I found this great article with a lot of good tips!
http://www.fitsugar.com/Why-Youre-Losing-Weight-Guides-Help-12930303
As usual, hyperlinking doesn't like me....you'll have to copy and paste...sorry!
Showing posts with label resolution. Show all posts
Showing posts with label resolution. Show all posts
Monday, January 3, 2011
Sunday, January 2, 2011
2010->2011: Reflections and Resolutions
Now that it’s a couple of days into the new year, I feel it’s time to properly reflect the past year and look forward into 2011.
On 2010:
It was a good year. I traveled a lot and saw a few new places, including Athens and London. I got over a lot of stuff that’s been bogging me down the past few years and I started to work on becoming a more confident, happy person. I still have a ways to go, but it was nice to make good progress! I finished my first year of my Bachelors in Business Administration, and decided that Marketing was a good career pathway for me. And I started to think about which kinds of careers I might like to have, and what my life might look like for the next few years (though I’m flexible! Never turn down a great opportunity!) Overall, I feel that 2010 was one of the best years I’ve had in a long time, and definitely my best since I moved to Germany.
On 2011:
I’m optimistic and since last year was so good. I have a feeling that 2011 is going to rock my socks. I’ve made a few resolutions:
-Build confidence- I want to work on becoming a more secure, confident person
-Work on my communication skills- I talk too much, or not enough, depending on the situation. I’d like to balance that out.
-Communicate more in German- I always close up in my second language. I can speak it, but I –don’t- speak it really.
-Visit at least one new country or city.
-Shape up- I lost weight and started to get fit again, now I really want to get in shape!
-Get first class honors in as many courses as possible
-Get a job or internship- I want to work on getting work experience that relates to my future career!
-Build up a more professional wardrobe- Since I haven’t worked for a while at a job that required professional attire, it’s kind of all mismatched and half doesn’t fit. This kind of goes with the “job” goal. Even if I don’t really end up needing it, it’s good to have.
-Go to more concerts- Not just classical, which I’ve managed to do over the past couple of years. I used to go see bands ALL the time. I hardly ever go anymore!
On 2010:
It was a good year. I traveled a lot and saw a few new places, including Athens and London. I got over a lot of stuff that’s been bogging me down the past few years and I started to work on becoming a more confident, happy person. I still have a ways to go, but it was nice to make good progress! I finished my first year of my Bachelors in Business Administration, and decided that Marketing was a good career pathway for me. And I started to think about which kinds of careers I might like to have, and what my life might look like for the next few years (though I’m flexible! Never turn down a great opportunity!) Overall, I feel that 2010 was one of the best years I’ve had in a long time, and definitely my best since I moved to Germany.
On 2011:
I’m optimistic and since last year was so good. I have a feeling that 2011 is going to rock my socks. I’ve made a few resolutions:
-Build confidence- I want to work on becoming a more secure, confident person
-Work on my communication skills- I talk too much, or not enough, depending on the situation. I’d like to balance that out.
-Communicate more in German- I always close up in my second language. I can speak it, but I –don’t- speak it really.
-Visit at least one new country or city.
-Shape up- I lost weight and started to get fit again, now I really want to get in shape!
-Get first class honors in as many courses as possible
-Get a job or internship- I want to work on getting work experience that relates to my future career!
-Build up a more professional wardrobe- Since I haven’t worked for a while at a job that required professional attire, it’s kind of all mismatched and half doesn’t fit. This kind of goes with the “job” goal. Even if I don’t really end up needing it, it’s good to have.
-Go to more concerts- Not just classical, which I’ve managed to do over the past couple of years. I used to go see bands ALL the time. I hardly ever go anymore!
Friday, December 17, 2010
2010 Resolutions
Ok, I realize that 2010 isn't -quite- over yet, but it's close enough that I think I can post about the progress I made on this year's New Years resolutions.
Before I start, I want to mention that when I make a resolution, it's not really an empty thing I do because it's New Years and everyone else is doing it. When I make them, I intend to stick with them. I don't save goal-setting for New Years as well either...I make goals throughout the year, some of them short-term and some of them long-term; however New Years is a convenient time to set new goals because of the "new start" symbolism that goes with it. Anyway my resolutions were:
-Spend less time on the computer
-Get back to the healthy diet I kept in the summer of 2009.
-Quit buying books on Amazon.
-Save money.
-Learn better housekeeping.
-Practice French.
I did pretty well. I'll list progress in point form:
-I do spend less time on the computer, and the time I do spend is used more wisely (looking up and printing articles for school, doing other research that could be helpful to my studies, such as a growing interest in demographics, blogging, writing other stuff).
-After I made my resolutions post in January, I went on a fat binge that especially got larger after I went to Athens and decided that copious amounts of olive oil makes food taste AWESOME. By the summer, I had gained 15 lbs and didn't fit into any of my "fitted" clothes. I decided to renew my commitment to eating healthy, exercising and losing weight. It was a slow start at first because I had just made progress on the exercise and not the diet to go with it, but after I got sick in September I was able to change my eating habits and moderate my cheese and olive oil intake. Today (yes, TODAY) I weighed myself and I've hit my weight goal! Go me. While weight isn't everything, I also fit into my clothes again, and the mirror is showing me my good work as well. so yep...check!
-While I never -quit- buying books on Amazon, I do buy significantly less of them than in 2009. As a reader I'm always tempted to actually OWN all the books I want to read, but I've learned to just buy some of them and put a halt as I catch up on actually -reading- them and be more content with keeping a wishlist on Amazon should I decide to read more later. I also check my online spending on other products by avoiding impulse purchases and only buying things that fulfill a specific and genuine need, and I still compare prices both on and offline before I make them.
-I've assessed my spending and cut some things, and in the fall I reassessed my budget. Unfortunately this reassessment showed me that even on my basic needs, costs are more than I had originally budgeted. Trying to cut this further is proving difficult. for example, basic food doesn't really do it for me. For one, because of my allergies I have to eat meat at least a few times a week to get enough protein, and I can't seem to curb buying nicer, high quality foods. I do buy seasonally and this saves me money, and gardening in the summer helps. Though, these things don't seem to make a massive enough impact to help my budget all that much. My household costs are also higher than I originally thought. Going into this place being a first-time homeowner, I didn't really think of all the expenses that I'd have for maintenance and such. Things like deck oil every year (3 cans for 2 coats, over 90 Euro) to protect the balcony...stuff like that. As a renter I never had these expenses. Anyway...
-I HAVE learned better housekeeping. I'm still no Martha Stewart (or even as nitpicky as I was in Canada) but my house is cleaner and tidier than it was this time last year and I'm working out better long-term organization solutions for my stuff.
-I enrolled in a French class in the fall. I intend on continuing in January!
So...not half bad!
I have to think of what my resolutions should be for 2011.
Before I start, I want to mention that when I make a resolution, it's not really an empty thing I do because it's New Years and everyone else is doing it. When I make them, I intend to stick with them. I don't save goal-setting for New Years as well either...I make goals throughout the year, some of them short-term and some of them long-term; however New Years is a convenient time to set new goals because of the "new start" symbolism that goes with it. Anyway my resolutions were:
-Spend less time on the computer
-Get back to the healthy diet I kept in the summer of 2009.
-Quit buying books on Amazon.
-Save money.
-Learn better housekeeping.
-Practice French.
I did pretty well. I'll list progress in point form:
-I do spend less time on the computer, and the time I do spend is used more wisely (looking up and printing articles for school, doing other research that could be helpful to my studies, such as a growing interest in demographics, blogging, writing other stuff).
-After I made my resolutions post in January, I went on a fat binge that especially got larger after I went to Athens and decided that copious amounts of olive oil makes food taste AWESOME. By the summer, I had gained 15 lbs and didn't fit into any of my "fitted" clothes. I decided to renew my commitment to eating healthy, exercising and losing weight. It was a slow start at first because I had just made progress on the exercise and not the diet to go with it, but after I got sick in September I was able to change my eating habits and moderate my cheese and olive oil intake. Today (yes, TODAY) I weighed myself and I've hit my weight goal! Go me. While weight isn't everything, I also fit into my clothes again, and the mirror is showing me my good work as well. so yep...check!
-While I never -quit- buying books on Amazon, I do buy significantly less of them than in 2009. As a reader I'm always tempted to actually OWN all the books I want to read, but I've learned to just buy some of them and put a halt as I catch up on actually -reading- them and be more content with keeping a wishlist on Amazon should I decide to read more later. I also check my online spending on other products by avoiding impulse purchases and only buying things that fulfill a specific and genuine need, and I still compare prices both on and offline before I make them.
-I've assessed my spending and cut some things, and in the fall I reassessed my budget. Unfortunately this reassessment showed me that even on my basic needs, costs are more than I had originally budgeted. Trying to cut this further is proving difficult. for example, basic food doesn't really do it for me. For one, because of my allergies I have to eat meat at least a few times a week to get enough protein, and I can't seem to curb buying nicer, high quality foods. I do buy seasonally and this saves me money, and gardening in the summer helps. Though, these things don't seem to make a massive enough impact to help my budget all that much. My household costs are also higher than I originally thought. Going into this place being a first-time homeowner, I didn't really think of all the expenses that I'd have for maintenance and such. Things like deck oil every year (3 cans for 2 coats, over 90 Euro) to protect the balcony...stuff like that. As a renter I never had these expenses. Anyway...
-I HAVE learned better housekeeping. I'm still no Martha Stewart (or even as nitpicky as I was in Canada) but my house is cleaner and tidier than it was this time last year and I'm working out better long-term organization solutions for my stuff.
-I enrolled in a French class in the fall. I intend on continuing in January!
So...not half bad!
I have to think of what my resolutions should be for 2011.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
2010...New Start
It's now past the halfway point of January 2010. I've decided to start blogging again, which I can add to my millions of New Years Resolutions that I may or may not keep. The list so far goes as follows:
-Spend less time on the computer (I realize that blogging might not be so conductive to this goal, but I can blog on my phone, which doesn't involve being on the computer.)
-Get back to the healthy diet I kept in the summer. So far, so good. I've had the odd junk food indulgence, but I never intended to cut junk food out of my life completely.
-Quit buying books on Amazon. So far, so good. Only books for school have been purchased so far, though it's only 3 weeks into January.
-Save money..we'll see how this goes in the long run
-Learn better housekeeping....going ok
-Practice French. Haven't really got started on this one yet.
I also made a commitment to do well in my studies, but that wasn't so much a new years thing as it was an 'I don't want to fail' thing. Studying via correspondence suits me well though. I can always find motivation to read and I learn well by reading. Statistics is a bitch though. I can do the math (it's really just simple algebra) but I'm not really sure sometimes why I'm doing it. I get the basic concepts fine (sample, population, blah blah blah) but some of the more invested concepts seem to only be skimmed through and I'm not sure what relevance they have in the greater world of statistics.
-Spend less time on the computer (I realize that blogging might not be so conductive to this goal, but I can blog on my phone, which doesn't involve being on the computer.)
-Get back to the healthy diet I kept in the summer. So far, so good. I've had the odd junk food indulgence, but I never intended to cut junk food out of my life completely.
-Quit buying books on Amazon. So far, so good. Only books for school have been purchased so far, though it's only 3 weeks into January.
-Save money..we'll see how this goes in the long run
-Learn better housekeeping....going ok
-Practice French. Haven't really got started on this one yet.
I also made a commitment to do well in my studies, but that wasn't so much a new years thing as it was an 'I don't want to fail' thing. Studying via correspondence suits me well though. I can always find motivation to read and I learn well by reading. Statistics is a bitch though. I can do the math (it's really just simple algebra) but I'm not really sure sometimes why I'm doing it. I get the basic concepts fine (sample, population, blah blah blah) but some of the more invested concepts seem to only be skimmed through and I'm not sure what relevance they have in the greater world of statistics.
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