How Are Those New Year’s Resolutions Going?

Wow!  January flew right past me!  How about you?

This year I made a few resolutions so I’ve decided each month to go back and re-visit them.  To re-cap, my resolutions were to:

1. Learn how to cook
2. Eat healthier
3. Feel better about myself
4. Train for a half-marathon
5. Lose 16lbs (get back to my wedding weight)

So how am I doing with my goals?

1. Learn how to cook
   I’ve definitely been trying and making a big effort in this department.  This has been a rather expensive little goal because previously all of our meals came from packages, so I had no spices in the house with the exception of pepper, salt and cinnamon.  Purchasing all the spices I need has been expensive, but it’s been worth it.  I’ve made a few things that my family has loved: Banana bread, Low-Fat Turkey Chili, Tuna casserole, Beef stew, Beans & Bacon Saute (These recipes can all be found on the Fitness Cheerleader site) and I’ve made some stuff my family hated: Tufu & Veggie Stirfry in a Peanut Sauce (Peanut Butter FAIL), The Best Ever Mashed Potatoes (Parmesan Cheese FAIL). I also made a Quinoa & Black Bean Salad that I love and have been bringing for my lunches.
2. Eat healthier
   This goes hand-in-hand with learning to cook.  So far I’ve been successful with this. We’ve definitely eaten a lot less packaged foods, though there have been a few nights where my kids ended up eating a bowl of grapes and a peanut butter sandwich for dinner because the meal I tried to cook didn’t turn out very well.  I’ve had a lot of healthy left overs for my lunches, and I even made healthier choices the few times I did eat out.  Oh yeah!  I almost forgot!  I CUT OUT COFFEE!! I’m now drinking decaf green tea instead.  I haven’t completely given up caffeine though – I do have one caffeinated green tea from Tim Horton’s each day.  This is as much a social thing as a nutritional day because I walk over, and line up at Tim Horton’s every day with one of my co-workers.  The nice part about this is that I now sleep WAY better!  Yay!

3. Feel better about myself
   This one has been really hard, though I’m starting to be more aware of my mood cycles and have picked out some triggers.  Such as:
   • Sleep (or lack of it)
   • Too much caffeine
   • Processed foods
   • Not exercising
   • Missing hubby

Thankfully most of these things I have control of.  I can go to sleep earlier, minimize my caffeine intake, eat healthy (clean foods), exercise.  I’ll keep working on these things over the year.

4. Stop rushing around and plan ahead
   I did well with this for the first two weeks of the year but I’ve totally slacked off in this department.  Brooke has been sleeping horribly (she’s transitioning to a big girl bed) so I’ve been “too tired” in the evenings to pack stuff up, then sleeping in because I’ve spent an hour or more listening to her whimper and try to fall back asleep each night.  I’ve done a great job planning meals, grocery shopping and having food on hand.  I really need to make more of an effort on the packing and preparing lunches ahead of time thing.
5. Train for a half-marathon
   I’ve really done a great job over the past month sticking to my training plan.  This week has been a bummer due to my calf injury, but I got my 10K in this weekend which was completely awesome!
6. Lose 16lbs (get back to my wedding weight)
   I have no idea why being larger than I was 6 yrs ago bugs me so much.  I have had two kids after all.  But I know I can be fitter, leaner, stronger with more energy – the kind I had before kids.  The training, sleeping, healthy eating and planning are all helping with this goal and so far I’m down 6lbs.  Not bad for 5 weeks!  At this rate I’ll be down to the weight by our 6 yr anniversary on April 6, 2010.

How are your resolutions going?  Have you been sticking to them?  Don’t worry if you haven’t – you can start over again any time.  Every meal and every day is a new fresh start!

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