Making Resolutions (and sticking to them!)

I've never been big on making resolutions. I'm one of those people that doesn't believe in waiting for the "right" time to make changes. If you want to make a change, today is the day to start! Not next week or anything like that. However I'm going to change my tune this year. 2012 wasn't a particularly great year and I'm determined to change that and make 2013 wonderful!!

So here are my resolutions (some of them have already been in the works, but now I MUST accomplish them). This is why I like blogs, it holds me accountable.

* Get a new job. I've been kinda sorta looking, but now it's time to turn it up. It's time for a new challenge for me.

* Pay off my credit card. After getting money from my generous family for Christmas I was able to officially pay off one of my credit cards. (Under no circumstance am I allowed to use it from now on). Now it's on to the next one. I plan on paying it off in the next three months. By May 1 2013, I will have no more credit card debt!

* Once my credit cards have been paid off, my plan is to save $800 dollars a month out of my paycheck. So it all goes to plan I will save over $6,000 this year.

* Hit my goal weight! I've come so so far in my weight loss. I am not even close to the person I used to be, but I've gotten a little too comfortable lately and I'm up about 10 pounds right now. Now that's not even close to what I've lost, but I'm not happy. Everything is just way too tight right now. I want to lose these stubborn last 25 pounds already. They WILL be gone this year!

* Run my very first half marathon. Scheduled for the first weekend in May!! CAN"T WAIT!!! It's been on my bucket list forever.

* Run 1,000 miles (running, bike, elliptical, anything). Last year I attempted to run 1,000 miles and ended up falling short over 300 miles. Hopefully I'll hit 1,000 but being able to count all my other cardio!

I love my resolutions and I am confident I'll be able to accomplish all of them!! Here's to a better year for me and for everyone!

New PR!!!

This past weekend I ran a 2 mile race. I haven't yet broke a 10 minute mile so I was hoping I would be able to do it with this race. I really wanted to finish in 20 minutes. I was nervous though because a quarter mile of the race was on the beach, in the sand.

The weather was perfect for the race. Since it's February, I figured I would be freezing. It was mid 50s that day and sunny. I couldn't believe how many people were running this race.

Once the race started I had a pretty great pace. It was a little strange though for me. I am usually all the way at the end when I'm running. Very little people around me. This was the first time I was surrounded by tons of people. I was right smack in the middle of everyone. That felt pretty cool. I had initially thought the sand part wouldn't be until almost the end. It ended up being right in the middle. Which was probably better.

I have never ran in the sand before and holy crap was it difficult. My thighs were BURNING. I felt like molasses running. All I wanted to do was walk. But I pushed forward. Finally the sand ended. It took me about a minute before I could pick up my pace again. My legs were hurting bad.

Finally I could see the finish line. I really picked up my pace. I passed a bunch of people which made me feel good. lol. I couldn't believe my time when I crossed the finish line.

18:50!!!!!!!!

EEKKK!!!! I smashed my goal for getting a 10 minute mile. I was so overwhelmed I teared up a little bit. This time last year I could never ever imagine being able to run a mile under 10 minutes. My first 5K I've ever did was last May and I finished in 39:50. I've come so far in a short period of time. My next goal is to get my next 5K in under 30. With this past race I now know I can do it! YAY!



Here is a little picture of my gym family and I after the race. I right smack in the middle wearing a pink long sleeve shirt.

Making Resolutions (for the first time)

Happy New Year!

I'm officially back to blogging regularly. My week off was so nice! I got to catch up with a lot of people. Lots of lunches out. Highlight of my week was going to see Jersey Boys on Broadway! It was my Christmas gift for my mom. She's been dying to see it for years. I got amazing seats too. The show was awesome!! I found out a lot about the Four Seasons that I never knew either.

I don't usually make resolutions. I believe if your going to make a change, do it NOW and don't wait. However I am making some this year. One in particular had to start on the 1st.

I am aiming to run 1000 miles this year! About 20 miles a week! EEK! About 30 of us from my gym are aiming to do it. It will be so awesome at the end of the year to say that I ran 1000 miles. I'm about 7 miles in, only 993 to go. lol

Also I plan on hitting my goal weight this year. I hit a plateau that last few months, but I'm back on track and I want to hit my goal by the summer hopefully. Only 25 pounds to go!

Finally I need to get back on track with saving. The last few months I've spent way to much and dipped into my savings account, which I rarely allow myself to do! UGH. My goal, is to save $10,000 this year. About $800 a month. Thankfully I live at home so I don't have to pay rent. I'll use that to save save save!

I have a feeling 2012 is going to be great. I already have so much to look forward too. My trip to Italy in a couple of months! Running my first half marathon in May. My good friend getting married in June! It's going to be great!

How's your 2012 shaping up? Any goals you are working toward?

I can see the finish line!

Since my birthday, I've been indulging a little too much with food than I would like. Even though I've lost a lot of weight, I'm not quite where I want to be yet. I would like to lose about another 40 pounds. It's frustrating to basically lose a whole person and still have to lose more weight!

To get myself back on track I've set up some mini goals to hit. The first is to lose 20 pounds by September 10. Me and three other women at my gym came up with this together. We figured it was a decent period of time and September 10 is the date of a local PBA beach party that we are all going to. So the party would be our reward for a job well done. Well my trainers found out about our pact and ran with it. Now there are I think 12 of us doing this 20 pound challenge. Whoever loses 20 pounds first, the gym will buy our ticket for the party! Now that's some really good motivation! Plus it actually boggles my mind that when I lose this 20 pounds, I'll be smaller than when I was a senior/junior in high school!!

I would like to hit my goal weight, by Thanksgiving. Which means if all goes according to plan, I will need to lose about 18 pounds after September 10. I know I can do this! I just need to buckle down again and stop going out so much! The past few weekends I've been going out way to much and drinking more than I should be. I've become a social butterfly since losing all this weight! lol. While I love that I have a much more active social life, I need to find a balance.

Now my only problem is I don't have a reward for when I finally reach my goal weight by Thanksgiving. I'm thinking it needs to be something big! I mean it has to be! By Thanksgiving if all goes according to plan, I'll have lost almost 140 pounds!

Here's what I've been thinking about what I should do.

1. A trip somewhere with friends. I've never been to Vegas and I'm dying to so that would be the first place I'd want to go.

2. A new tattoo. I really want to get a tattoo of a Phoenix. I love the symbolism of rising from the ashes.

3. A huge shopping spree (like $1000 worth) ala "What not to wear" style.

What do you think? Do you have any other ideas?? What would you do?

Solid B

My effort to curb my online shopping and spending was pretty good. I did slip a few times, mostly because I am in desperate need for workout clothes. However they were really cheap and I felt like I couldn't miss a deal like that. Seriously Old Navy kind of rocks in the workout gear department. I got a sports bra for like $15 bucks and active pants for only $8 dollars on sale!! Also the quality is really good, which makes it a steal.

I also bought a pair of boots, but that was mostly because I forgot about my goals for the month. lol. The boots are amazing and I know they will be worn many many times. It is almost impossible for me to find boots that actually fit my calf. So when I saw these and tried them on I knew I couldn't pass them up.

So minus the boots and workout gear I did pretty great this month!! I'm now back on track (mostly) with my budgeting and saving. Definitely a solid B for my efforts. lol

SUCCESS

Another one of my goals for September was to lose 10 pounds. I was already halfway there when I made my list of goals. I mean I want to lose 10 pounds per month until I eventually reach my goal weight, I just didn't think to make it a goal on my blog. Then I realized it would hold me accountable to actually follow through.


Anyway even though I had 5 more pounds to lose, they did not want to come off!! It was a bit of a battle and struggle but in the end....

I WON!!!!

That brings my total weight loss to a little over 20 pounds!!

Which I am insanely proud of. I've never really tried to lose weight before, mostly because I was afraid of failing. Now I really feel like I have a rhythm and I hope to keep this up!!! By next summer I want to be able to finally go shopping in a regular store, no more plus sizes for me!

It is so difficult to lose weight. I force myself to the gym 5 to 6 days a week and it never really gets easier. Sure I can do more and don't get out of breath as easily now, but I still get sore the next day and sometimes I just want to quit.

The only difference is I'm not letting myself quit. Even though sometimes I'm just not motivated, I still go to the gym. You know why? Because it's written into my schedule. Simple as that. Every day after work, I head to the gym. Whether I want to or not. Even if I have my period, or had a bad day, or it's raining, I'm there.

It's a habit and one that I really do love. I've noticed that I'm sleeping better, I'm happier, and I feel amazing after finishing a particularly hard workout.

Even though I am slowly starting to see a difference in the mirror, I see it more in my clothes. Pants that used to be tight and I would have to squat in them to make some more room, are now baggy and actually falling off of me! Shirts fit better and lay better on my body. That's the most amazing part. Feeling clothes that used to be tight that are now loose. It's an incredible feeling.

Even though I'm waiting for other people to start noticing a difference, I notice and that's all that matters. 10 more pounds (maybe even less) I should be able to go down a pant size!! Which will be my new goal for October!

Fail

Today is the last day of September! This month flew by! Since it's almost October I decided I should talk about my goals that I had set for myself in the beginning of the month. Since I don't want this post to be super long, I am going to break them down into three separate ones.

Karen had asked me about the online dating, so I figured I should start with that one.

Getting a love life has been a big giant FAIL. I don't know what it is, but I've haven't have any luck on e-harmony. Not one person messaged me, and everyone that I sent out a list of questions to (which is the first step) never responded back!!!!! WTF.

On the one hand, I thought I would be more upset about the fact that absolutely nothing has happened, but I'm not. At all actually. Maybe it's because you are online, so the rejection isn't as serious as it would be face to face? Maybe because even the guys I messaged I wasn't exactly over the moon about. Who knows.

I just think it's kinda hard to feel any kind of chemistry, spark or feelings about a person over a computer. I thought this would be easier, but maybe I'm better suited for face to face interaction. The thing is. it's freaking hard to meet people!

When you are in school, it's so much easier. There are guys all over the place! Now that I'm older, it's a lot harder. Sure you can meet people at bars, but they are usually creepers who aren't looking for anything serious. So where do you go to meet new men? Seriously, if you know please help me out!

I almost deleted my e-harmony account, but I decided to give it another month. I tweaked my profile a bit, so maybe that will help. Honestly I would like it if just one person effing messaged me so I can feel like less of a loser. Even if they were a total tool. lol. That must sound really sad and pathetic but deep down that's how I feel. I definitely need to work on my self-esteem.

Help a girl out! Where can you find decent guys???

P.S. - If you have any questions for me please ask!!

Setting Goals

I’m pretty bad at saving money. I’m just always tempted to splurge and spend it on something.

While in the last 2 years I have saved money, it’s not nearly as much as I wanted to put away. Since the apartment hunt didn’t work out and I haven’t seen anything worth responding to on craigslist I decided to do a little experiment.

My goal is to put away the total amount that my rent would have been if I had moved. That’s about $800 dollars a month. It will be a good test to see how good I am at budgeting, and if I really can move out and still go out and have fun. Now I know in reality moving out would cost way more than $800. I didn’t factor in any bills or food. I just wanted to do a solid number.

Bonus, if I am able to do this I will have put away a lot more money. This can be used as a cushion if I do move out, or as a down payment on a car since mine seems to be slowly dying on me. It would be a used car, but I am tired of the one I’m driving now. I’m convinced it’s bad luck. Seriously, I’ve had so many problems with it it’s unbelievable. Anyway more on my car later…

Or even better, I can use SOME of the money I saved and buy myself a little treat! I have to start thinking of something I can do to treat myself if I do this. Any suggestions??

The only problem is I’m so bad at resisting temptation. Especially at work, when I get bored I shop online. I’m constantly buying clothes, books and makeup online! It’s bad. While I still plan on going out with friends and buying stuff, it won’t nearly be as much as I’m used to doing. This will be a HUGE test for me. One I’m determined to stick with!

I’m starting with this month February. My goal is to save $4000 by the end of June!! I hope I can do this. I’ve been pretty good at putting some money away. But this is really kicking it up.

Wish me luck!