The beginning of a New Year..resolutions and highlights :)

We rung in the new year with a balloon drop and champagne + a pool game at our local bar. I love balloons so that was the main draw for me :) And I wanted to wear my sparkly gold dress!

I get this excited about balloons!

However- I detest new years in which I have uncool birthdays. This year I'm turning 26...not cool. 25 seemed quite old enough, thank you very much! Ideally I would have liked to stay 25 for a few years and sorted myself out, figured out my career and finished my schooling....but noooo, I just have to turn 26 don't I...darn! Time goes by so fast :(

Before I share my resolutions for this year, I'd like to first share my fitness accomplishments from 2011.

The BIGGEST accomplishment - I reached my weight loss goal! It is the first time I've ever consciously made a weight loss goal, and achieved it AND maintained it! I wanted to get to 135 pounds and I got all the way to 125 pounds! Wow :)

I feel stronger as a person for having done this, and it makes me feel like if I make new resolutions, I can actually achieve them, they aren't just day dreams..

I also discovered Green Monsters - fruit smoothies with spinach in them and used them in my diet

I gave up coffee!! (holy crap..)

Towards the middle of the year, I brown bagged 80% of my work lunches with at home cooking and had several months where I didn't eat out at all!!

I did Jillian's 30 day Shred

I did Dr. Ian Smith's 3 day Diet cleanse + quite a few of the modules from the diet - until I had wisdom teeth out and had to just drink my food LOL

I actually started working out at the gym that I was about to cancel my membership to...and now I go at LEAST three times a week and feel SO much more alive and have less aches and pains from sitting in the office all day - and I maintained the gym visits while working and going to school full time

I completed a nutrition course at college and got an A in it

I watched 'Forks Over Knives' and read 'The Engine 2 Diet' and watched "Fat Sick and Nearly Dead" whichjust reaffirmed my faith in vegetarianism and healthy eating vs. the typical American diet. BTW This is the best speech I have ever heard http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=es6U00LMmC4

I started blogging to keep me on track with my progress. And it REALLY helped! Reading the posts of other healthy minded people is a big motivator too, especially living in Florida where I'm surrounded by a lot of unhealthy people eating the traditional southern diet!

And I didn't get sick once this year! Last year I had a whole week at home with a  cold, and several days I left the office early feeling sick. Im convinced that eating healthy and working out really helped with this- I ate like I did back when I'd feel like I was about to get sick- fruits, smoothies, vitamin C- but all the time :)
In other big news- my braces are coming off in 12 days!!! WOOOOOT! :) Cant wait to chew gum and eat corn on the cob again!

New Years Resolutions:

Fitness:

Lose 5 more pounds to get to my ideal weight of 120 pounds... calculated with this website http://www.halls.md/ideal-weight/body.htm   Actually, over the past 3 days I've gained TWO pounds from eating out constantly so its going to be lose 7 pounds...

I cant believe how the weight piled on right after NYE and Xmas- I guess I thought I'd gotten past the holidays and relaxed too much- I also ate several tubs of guacamole and LOTS of chocolate + nutella! Oh- and I treated myself to a jar of Marmite which I miss (as a Brit- and I miss Vegemite which is the Australian version too)

 which led to a bit of a bread fest as I took a tasty trip down memory lane with one fresh hot piece of  buttery toast after another.. Its actually kind of shocking to have GAINED weight, its been a year since that last happened!

Develop biceps (which will lead to rock climbing I hope!) I saw a girl out at the club on NYE that had THE biceps I want- defined, but not too bulky- something to work for!

Go to the gym four times a week at least until I achieve the above two goals...if not the gym at least a session of Jillian's 30 Day Shred DVD!

I tracked my workouts over the past 7 months and tallied them all up, and I noticed a pattern. When I went to the gym four times a week I lost weight. Three times a week I maintained my weight. Once I get to my goal of 120 I can go back to the easier to achieve 3 times a week but its going to be 4 a week for now! Which is kind of hard with two evening classes after work, but I can do it! :D

Life:


Decluttering- I've been in the USA for over three years now and though I only arrived with a suitcase of stuff, I know have an overflow of clothing in my wardrobe etc...so I want to go through my stuff and donate anything not worn in the past 6 months.

Less procrastinating

Get an 'A' in Math this semester  and maintain my 4.0 GPA! I'm scared, this is my first college math class wish me luck! P.S. - Im still pretty proud of myself for actually going to college :D

Get a tattoo. I dont have one, and I wanted to get one 'once I got fit' That time is near people!! Im not a big fan of pain but I love artwork and I'd love to have something done...still need to design it though!

Start Writing again.  I loved writing as a teen, and wrote a whole 70,000 word novel once. I want to get back in touch with my creativity (despite deamind job+essays sapping my imagination) It is something that makes me happy.

Travel:

Last year I went to Mexico, and Ashevill N.C. as well as trips to various springs/nature parks and beaches in Florida.

Im itching for international travel- such as seeing my family in Australia (its been 4 years) but I feel obliged to actually see more of the USA before I go abroad. I have Australian friends who have been stateside and seen more of the US than I have. What would the point of travelling home be when I've barely covered the 50 states... I want to go to New York, any of the National Parks...and feel free to suggest any other destinations!
I also realize that some of my happiest memories of 2011 are from my trips! Travel is my addiction and right now I'm torn between being 'grown up and responsible' and studying+ holding down a job vs. selling my possesions and moving around like I've done most of my adult life!

Career:

Well. This one is a toughie. I feel blessed to have a well paying job with people I like when so many people don't. But two and a half years into the same job and something has got to give. Lets see what opportunities 2012 brings...



Favorite 2011 memories:

Visiting the mountains of Puerto Vallarta, Mexico and ziplining + tasting fresh tequila!

finding our way around Mexico, anti-resort style and loving the authenticity of it

Waterfall rappelling despite my fear of it lol

suprise camping trip plus Daytona beach for my birthday!

Ty finally graduating from Paramedic school and getting a job :)

Seeing hundreds of dolphins and whales by our boat, including a baby whale!

Fall foliage in Asheville, North Carolina. This pic is on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Getting an 'A' in my photography class!

Buying a new (secondhand) fun car!