How Are My New Years Resolutions Going?

We're nearly six months through the year now and...once again, I'm not where I thought I would be six months from the beginning of the year.

First of all, I want to show you a quick photo here. Both of these were taken this year, although it has the months on there, so I'm sure you can figure it out.

I'm am just completely stunned by how different I look in a not even 6 month time period. I hardly even look like the same person.

I set up some New Years Resolutions at the beginning of the year hoping that I would stick to them if I posted them publicly and had a place to look back on them. I set 10 goals for myself.

1. Get down to a healthy BMI. Lose 20 lbs.
2. Quit Smoking
3. Learn to crochet something other than hats, scarves, and purses.
4. Eat breakfast as often as possible.
5. Keep blogging
6. Work more
7. Write letters to my aunt Janet
8. Write to my future self at least once a month via www.futureme.org
9. Maintain healthy relationships
10. Don't get pregnant

If you want to see the original post, click here.

We're halfway through the year now, and although I haven't stuck to all of these, most of them I have. Let's take a look see.

italics=original post
Bold=my new words

1. Get Down to Healthy BMI. As of right now, I'm 5.3 and weigh 158 lbs. This is not something I'm terribly thrilled about considering I was down to 145 lbs in Summer 2011. As of right now, my BMI is 28, which is considered overweight. To get down to a "healthy" BMI, I would need to get down to 140 lbs at most. So my goal over the next year is to get down to...138. 20 lbs over a whole year. That's less than two lbs a month, doesn't seem too terribly hard. I'll start by doing sit-ups everyday. Amount to be determined.

I didn't start this at the beginning of the year. Losing weight on your own is an extremely difficult task. You have to change your way of eating and you have to make time to exercise. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to look as though I had done the hard work without actually doing so. By time I finally chose to do something about my weight this year (about 2 months ago), I had gained another 7 lbs (which isn't at all surprising looking at how I used to eat) leaving me at a grand weight of 165 lbs (BMI: 29.2--.8 from being at an "obese" weight). I give all credit to kicking me into gear to Lance Elshaug. Together, we decided we were sick at looking at ourselves in the mirror and wanted to do something about the weight we had gained. Since then we have changed out eating habits (as you have probably read in my recent blogs) and began exercising. He has pushes me to work harder and longer even when I feel like I've had enough. He encourages me to keep going and not fall into old habits again. Since the terrible weight of 165 lbs, I have lost 18 of those leaving me now at 147.2 lbs (BMI: 26.1--1.2 away from being "normal" weight). This is extremely close to my lowest weight (since I became adult height) of 145 lbs and I am extremely proud of myself. My new goal for the end of the year (or better yet, the end of the summer) is 130 lbs. So, I now have another 17 to lose, but I will surely get there with the progress I've seen in just these last two months. If I keep dropping, then gain muscle, I understand that I will go up in weight. That will be just fine though as long as I feel good and happy in my body (which I'm already getting very close to, so I think I'll manage).

2. Quit Smoking. I would really like to quit smoking. It's going to be extremely hard, because well...smoking is addictive. I'm going to try, throughout these next twelve months to stop. I always said, "I'll stop smoking when I get pregnant." If I wait that long, 1.) it's going to be even harder to quit when I've got a baby inside of me to keep safe and healthy and 2.) smoking ages your eggs, so I don't want to not be able to have children at all just because i'm a smoker and waited too long.

More or less, I have completely failed at this. I have another 6 months to go though, so a lot could change between now and then. I do have a bit more motivation to quit now with beginning this healthier lifestyle, because I know if I do quit I will be able to breathe better, run longer, and have more endurance overall. I tried slowing down and quitting a few times over the course of this year, but working at Accent will sure cause you to pull that cigarette right back up to your lips. Things have been stressful with having to get rid of our cat, get into a new place, and work more to get the money that we're going to need to afford our fancy new apartment.

3. Learn to crochet something other than hats, scarves, and purses. I really want to learn to make winter gloves, sweaters, gnomes, and just about everything. I've known how to crochet for about three months and have only learned to make three things. I'm really hoping to get some variety in on this.

This is another more or less situation. Within this year, I did crochet a blanket (which is not a hat, scarf, or purse), but it's more or less like crocheting a really wide scarf, so I'm not entirely sure it counts. I do intend on soon trying to make myself a nice little summer tank top to wear to the beach, so I'll give you the update on that when I get to it. As of now, I suppose I fail at this New Years Resolution.

4. Eat Breakfast as Often as Possible. Breakfast starts up your metabolism. This is a good way to start on the whole losing weight thing as well. Also, I need to work on taking my vitamins daily. This will help as well.

This has been yet another thing that has been directly affected by achieving a healthier lifestyle. I do eat breakfast whenever possible because a) it boosts your metabolism and b) it stops me from getting so hungry at work before lunch and c) egg and turkey sandwiches are extremely awesome to have in the morning and they are full of protein and vitamins. I still slack on taking my vitamins daily, but...I'm getting on that right now. Thanks for the friendly reminder, past me.

5. Keep Blogging. I want to keep blogging. It makes me happy. I get to learn about new things and even about myself. This is definitely something I want to keep doing throughout the rest of the year and hopefully for a few years following. At least until I get caught up in a full time job, school, and/or children and a family.

At the beginning of the year, my intention was to continue blogging every single day as I had been. I gave up on that because it began stressing me out trying to find new ideas to blog about (although Lance's step-dad, Jason, gave me a few that I really should tackle sometime soon). I haven't stopped completely though (obviously). I stopped for awhile, because there were other extremely hectic things going on in life, but I'm back up and going now (although mostly with fitness related things) and blogging (usually) at least once a week.

6. Work More. I want to work more in 2013. Actually, I don't want to work more, I just want to make more money. More money=more work. In any case, I want to work enough so that I can put back $20 for every paycheck. This will give me $520 by the end of the year. You can do some mighty fine things with $520.

This one I completely failed at until it was entirely necessary (about a month ago, now).  I continued calling out of work and taking up all the ATO (approved time off) Accent had to offer. That place is overall stressful and depressing the moment you walk in the door. When we found out we were more or less getting kicked out of our apartment (it was move out or get rid of Edgeworth) a month ago, we gave our 30 days notice and starting picking up all the overtime they had to offer to get in enough hours to find us a new place. Now, we're working at least 30 of our 32 hours a week (if not more) and will be moving into a lovely 2 bedroom apartment with washer, dryer, and a dishwasher at the end of this month.

7. Write Letters to my Aunt Janet. I have fallen nearly completely out of touch with my Dad's side of the family since my Grandpa died. I'm not much of a phone talker and I don't venture to Fredricktown unless I'm actually there to see that side of the family. So, I'd really like to start writing letters to my Aunt. I know it would make her happy and I like writing and receiving letters. There's something nice about having to wait for the response instead of getting it hours after you've sent yours.

I have 100% failed at this. I haven't even managed to get my Aunt Janet's address. If I did, then I've lost it. So...I should jump on that.

8. Write to My Future Self at Least Once a Month. There's this website, it's called Future Me. You can write e-mails to yourself, and then the website sends them to your e-mail address whenever in the future you decided you wanted to send them. For example, I've got a letter coming to me tomorrow (actually, it will be sent tonight at midnight) that I wrote to myself on July 8th, 2011. I'm fairly excited to read it, actually. I'll definitely be logging into my e-mail at midnight tonight. I'm always excited for these letters, which is why I want to write a letter every month to my future self. I advise you to create an account and do the same. It's really neat.

I did really well with this the first couple of months out of the year, but alas I did fall away from it. I do have it on my favorites tab at the top of my screen and think about doing it often enough; It's just that once I actually get to the page I can never think of exactly what I want to say to my future self. I'll write one very soon and send it two or three years into the future as a gem for the 23-24 year old me to find. Oh boy, It's strange to think that it will seem like no time at all until I'm in my mid 20's.

9. Maintain Healthy Relationships. I want to ensure that my relationship with Lance stays healthy. I want to make sure we continue to talk before we go to bed. I want to be silly with him and make sure to tell him I love him as much as I do. I also want to make sure to maintain healthy relationships with my friends by being honest with them and spending as much time as possible with them.

I can't say really whether I've failed or succeeded with this one. My relationship with Lance has definitely grown stronger. We don't always talk before we go to bed, but when we do we end up doing so for a couple of hours before we finally look at the clock and decide we should probably shut our mouths and get some sleep. We've definitely gotten closer on this journey to a healthier lifestyle. We spend a lot of time talking about foods that are good for us and why, recipes we should really get the ingredients for to try out, and what different exercises can do for us. We also spend a lot of time talking about who we are and where we might be a few years from now. As far as my friends go, I can't say it has been as much of a success story. I haven't been able to spend as much time with them because I've been so wrapped up in my own life and they have been pretty wrapped up in theirs. Between me, Adam and Dani, we're all at different points in our lives and going through and doing different things. We're still all great friends and love each other until the world's end, but we don't get to see each other or hang out nearly as often as we used to.

10.) Don't Get Pregnant. Always a good resolution. I am not planning on getting pregnant in 2013. I need to have awhile to be 21. I've got to have all the fun I can. Settling down and having a family at a young age can lead to a lot of regrets and I want as few of those as possible.

I am 100% winning at this one. We're 6 months into the year and I am definitely not knocked up. I'm 20 years old and I keep seeing all my peers I went to high school with popping out two and three kids. I don't know how or why. Don't get me wrong, kids are great...sort of. I definitely do want to have a child someday and be the best mother I can be. That's exactly it though, I want to be the BEST mother I can be. I would be terrible at being a mother right now. I've barely got my own life figured out, much less can I handle having to take care of another life and putting someone else's every need and want before mine. I want to turn 21 and be able to go out and drink with my friends at the bar without having to find a baby sitter. I want to freely be able to go on hikes and out to lunch without having to worry about a rambunctious child. Mostly, I just want to be able to go to Wal-mart or out walking at 3 am. Children are supposed to be asleep at 3 am, not at Wal-mart. There are so many things that a child prevents you from doing. Again, this doesn't mean I don't ever want children, but this is something that I'll be looking forward to a few years down the road and definitely not anytime soon. I want to live my own life before I have to focus on molding someone else's.

Achieving A Healthier Life Style

My blog is going to temporarily turn into a weight loss/diet blog.
For many of you, maybe this sounds terrible and you're thinking "I'm out of here."

I'm thinking that I have not been blogging enough.
Partly, it's due to the fact that I have just been busy and haven't had a whole lot of excess time on my hands. Mostly, it's due to the fact that my life has been completely revolving around working out and getting fit these last couple of weeks.

So, let's start from the beginning.

Lance and I have both gained quite a few lbs since we got together. Most people would just label it as "comfortable relationship weight" and go on their merry way. We may have dismissed the first few lbs that way, but after awhile it was really getting out of hand.

I had gained 20 lbs since I met Lance and was no longer particularly comfortable in my skin. I went and bought a one piece swimsuit last year. I haven't worn one of those since I was 13 years old. Finally, just a few shorts weeks ago, we decided we were going to do something about it.

The concept of "dieting" for me has always been hard. I like very few fruits, no vegetables, and the only meat I eat is chicken. I have a hard enough time trying to find things I enjoy eating when I'm not looking for anything particularly good for me. Therefor, the idea of getting in shape seemed impossible to me because people always say that you can't just diet or just exercise to lose all the weight you'd like to.

I'm here to tell you that I didn't give up all the foods I love and I don't go to the gym for 6 hours a day and I'm still losing weight.

This is no scam, guys. I'm here to give you some helpful tips and stop in once a week for updates on how well their working and photographic proof of my progress.

I started at 162 lbs, but didn't think to take any pictures until I got down to a tad bit under  160.

__________________________

Here was week one:

When I looked at myself in the mirror, I really didn't think things looked this bad. When Lance took these photos of me, I realized that I had to start pushing harder and doing better if I wanted to get the majority of this weight off of me by the end of June (for a float trip I'm going on). My goal is to get down to 140.

Lance and I both downloaded this application called "MyFitnessPal." I know it's for free for android, I'm unsure if it costs for iphones. It is a super easy application that allows you to count calories (along with protein, vitamin A, C, iron, sugars, carbs, and sodium) and add in exercises to see how many calories you burn doing them based on your weight and gender. The great news for you is there's really no math that you have to do like in real calorie counting. The application does it all for you. It also gives you goals to meet.

When I got the application, it gave me a goal of 1200 calories. When I first saw that, I flipped out thinking that 1200 really isn't a lot of calories; I used to go over 2,000 daily. Then I realized that if I eat 1200 calories, then do a 2 hour hike, I will burn roughly 1,000 calories leaving my net calories at 200 or so. This would allow me to eat more if I still felt hungry or if not, leave be for the day knowing that I am under my calorie goal and will lose weight.

If I'm not eating fruits and veggies, you're probably curious as to what I am eating.

Let me first tell you what I was eating before I started counting calories and exercising.
1. Michelina's Zam 'Em Pizza Rolls
 We would bust open the bag with 40 and split them in half and eat the whole bag in one sitting between the two of us. In 20 of these pizza rolls lies 440 calories...over 1/3 of my daily goal.
2. Ramen:
 280 calories in just one block with the seasoning.

3. Spicy Nacho Doritos
Lance and I would eat most of the bag in one sitting--or at least in one day. 12 chips is 150 calories, so I'm wanting to say we would get at least 500 calories from this alone.

4. Mountain Dew-- We were drinking at least 60 oz of Mountain Dew per day after getting 2-3 bottles at work at least 1 32 oz or 44 oz fountain soda after work. Overall, this ended up being about 850 calories. This doesn't even include all the cups of overly sugared tea I was drinking.

5. We ate a lot of Taco Bell. We used to get 2 bean burritos each when we went, which totals about 740 calories.

On top of all of this, we weren't exercising. We used to believe we weren't eating as bad as a lot of people did or as bad as we could. We didn't eat McDonalds every single day or even go out to eat every single day. We didn't deepfry things at home or eat huge meals with thousands of calories.


Now, we have seen the error in our ways.
Here is really the key to it all, guys: Portioning.

We made small changes at first. We stopped getting soda at and after work and started drinking water instead. We substituted our soda craving with zero calorie Rip-Its, which are full of vitamins you need. Then we just stopped making tea all together and started drinking water at home as well. This has saved us overall about 1,000 calories a day.

Then we started paying attention to nutritional facts and exactly how much we were taking in. Instead of buying Doritos, we bought wheat thins. Instead of eating the whole damn box in one sitting, we looked at the serving size and made sure to only eat one serving in one sitting. So instead of getting over 500 calories from eating half a bag of Doritos, we get 140 from eating 15 wheat thins.

Then, we stopped eating pizza rolls and ramen and looked for a less calorie filled alternative.We started to choose things that took just as little time to make, but were overall still much better for us. We started making one can of tomato soup and splitting it between the two of us (half a can with water is only 150 calories) and dipped our serving of wheat thins into it instead of bread (or we get 100% whole grain wheat bread and dip that into it). We also starting making tuna salad the simple way. 1 can of tuna, 1 table spoon of lite miracle whip and one table spoon of relish and eating that for work: a wonderful, filling meal under 200 calories if you bail out on the bread.

We rarely eat out anymore. When we do, we eat less than we did previously.
When we go to the store now, we look at nutritional facts before we buy anything.
Most of all, we exercise now.
It's simple really.
If you don't think you have time to exercise, you do.

When we have our 15 minute breaks at work, we walk around the building at work. Even if we only walk around 10 out of the 15 minutes, that is 20 minutes just between our two breaks. At lunch, we eat our lunch, then we walk. We can usually get in another 25-30 more minutes here. On our off days, we drive to the local Pickle Springs and do a 2 mile hike. We've gotten to the point now where we can do the hike, take a little break and do it again. We've seen pretty good results already in the 5 days apart that we took pictures. We intend to take them every Sunday from here on out...or at least until we're happy with how we look. At that point, we'll continue with the healthier lifestyle we've begun, but will just no longer need photographic proof of where it has lead us.

Here are the pictures, just five days apart of my weight progress. Expect a new one to be posted next Sunday or Monday. I'm going to put the first one up again just so you can see progress side by side.

and here is Lance's progress.

We've come some way since we started this whole thing, but we still have quite a ways to go. I'll keep you updated on how we're doing and how we're getting there. So...make sure to check back.