Ending the year right

Happy New Year's everyone! 2008 brought us some blessings and some hardships but I think the blessings far outweighed the hardships so all in all, not a bad year for us. As I look to 2009 I have set a couple of New Year Resolutions. I WILL LOSE WEIGHT! In fact I decided not to wait for tomorrow and decided to implement my lifestyle change today. I joined sparkpeople.com and I ate a healthy breakfast and have already done a small amount of exercise today. I also logged my food so far today. Sparkpeople.com has all kinds of tools to help you lose weight such as diet plans, exercise plans, forums for support, etc. It also helps you set goals and track your progress and it is all free which fits nicely in my budget. I went ahead and set my goal today and I am nervous as I admit what it is as it is a large number, and its hard to admit you need to lose that much weight. I also have a fear of failing and having it out there that I was trying to do this, and it didn't work out. Well in the interest of accountability here is my goal:

*Lose 100 pounds by 12/17/09 putting me at a much healthier 141 pounds*

That is an average of 2 pounds per week. Which I think is reasonable. I am focusing on outcomes such as:

• Feeling better in general
• Not having issues with my blood pressure
• Being able to tie my shoes more easily
• Keep up with the kids better
• Be a good role model for my kids
• Looking better
• Wearing normal sized clothes, not plus sized
• Not having a huge belly sticking out.
• Having more energy
• Having 1 chin the way God intended.
• Being happier with my pictures.
• No more rolls of fat!

I am setting up an exercise area in the garage that I hopefully will visit daily. At Christmas time I set-up a play area for the kids in the garage as well so that we can all go out there and have some active time. I got the family an air hockey table, and a train table so they are both in the garage to occupy the kids while I exercise. I thought about putting the elliptical in the living room but in the past when I have had it there I didn't use it more and it takes up A LOT of space. So if my garage plan fails I will move it into the living room at that point.

So I feel good about my plan and have high hopes that at this time next year I will not be worried at all about my weight. My next resolve is to get deeper into God's word. I have done better this past year at doing that. I attend church regularly, and go to my small group on Thursday evenings, but I have a lot of room to grow and get stronger in the word of God. To accomplish that I have decided to do the Tuesday Morning Woman's bible study at my church which starts this coming Tuesday. The study we will be doing requires homework of studying the word 5 days a week which I think will be really good for me. In order to balance this new commitment I will need to drop out of MOTs which is another church group I am in and love, but I don't think I have time to do both and still fulfill my responsibilities of homeschooling. So I will probably just finish out this MOTs session which ends in January and be done. A lot of the ladies that are in the MOTs group are also in my Yucaipa Moms meetup group so I will still be able to fellowship with them regularly which makes me happy.

So here is to a New Year of promise! May God bless your family and have a wonderful 2009!