The Year in Review, part 1

This year, I am going to do two more in-depth (forgive me any overlap from my last post) "Year in Review" posts because I have two different year-ends to celebrate.  The first is the one that everyone else is celebrating (or did celebrate, really, since I am a few days late)...the end of 2010.  In many ways, 2010 was a good year for me.  I worked hard at one part of getting my shit together.  I ended 2010 about 45 pounds lighter than I started it.  However, my goals also included being better at keeping things in order at home (I am a pack rat who does not mind clutter.  My husband is the opposite of this.  This causes occasional arguments.) as well as getting my finances in better order and laying off the credit cards.  I even downloaded a spreadsheet to accomplish that last goal with the help of Dave Ramsey's debt snowball method.  Unfortunately, to do the debt snowball, you actually have to put the process in motion, and I didn't do so well with that.  I used my shrinking waistline as an excuse to spend way too much on clothing this year.  And I am not a fancy dresser.  Most of what I bought came from Old Navy or deeply discounted from the Gap.  However, the quantity of the items I bought means that I did not end the year with less debt than I started it with.  It was probably a wash, actually, because I did continue paying some cards off while building up that Old Navy card.  However, this year, I have to do better because I am sick of letting my (negative) net worth rule my life.

The first thing I did this year that I am proud of is that I got my previously disordered eating patterns into much better order.  I had some missteps along the way, but for the most part, I started paying a lot better attention to the fuel I was giving my body and the way it was making me feel.  I also consistently did a better job of hydrating my body, which is huge for me because I was a soda addict in a major way.  Now, I might drink a soda every week or so, or I might go several weeks without it.  This is a HUGE change for me!

I also started, in April, to move a LOT more!  It started out as an attempt to do the C25K program, which I eventually dropped.  However, it segued into the use of cardio equipment that I was previously scared of and an increase in my physical fitness to a level that I have not seen since my college years and the year or so right after I got out of college.  And now that I have made my time in the gym a habit, there is nowhere to go but up!  As I have shared before, this year I plan to restart and complete the C25K program, and by the end of 2011, I hope to be able to regularly jog a distance of 5K, with the possibility of working up to an even longer distance.  Because of my work schedule (I work every weekend, for the most part), I probably won't be able to be much of a racer, other than someone racing against herself, but it will be such a huge accomplishment and signify so much to me if I can become a runner again!

And my final big accomplishment was that I started learning more about where the food we eat comes from and started making informed decisions regarding the role that organic and humanely raised foods were going to have in our household diet.  Even the dog eats organic food now!  The majority of fruits and veggies that I buy are organic or local (or both), and I buy only organic and/or humanely raised meats.  I still buy traditional cheese, for the most part, but I buy only organic milk.  I also buy a lot MORE fruits and vegetables than I used to, and that is even more true now that I follow Weight Watchers.  "Free" fruits and veggies take up a lot of space in my food journal, and I couldn't be happier about it!  And this year, I plan to start ordering from Suburban Organics, which is an organic produce delivery service that serves the area in which my parents live (although they don't deliver up here in the mountains where I live).  I am at my parents' house at least once per week (definitely every Friday and sometimes more often than that), so I am going to arrange for my delivery to go to them each week, so I can pick it up.  It's a great way to get organic produce conveniently and at a great price.  I can't wait to start this out!

One really hard thing that happened in 2010 is that my grandfather passed away at the age of 89 after developing Alzheimer's disease and eventually kidney failure.  The last time I saw him, he was still pretty intact neurologically, but he apparently went downhill quickly (within about a year of his Alzheimer's diagnosis).  It's hard to lose a grandparent at any age, and although I did not spend as much time with him as I got older, he was still a special person to me, and I had many wonderful memories of him in my childhood.  I am fortunate that both of my grandmothers are still living, and I was fortunate to have one grandfather until the age of 34 (the other one, who was no less special to me, passed away when I was in eighth grade).  In the last couple of years, however, I have lost my closest aunt, an uncle I hadn't seen in a long time, and my grandfather.  I know that as I get older, I will lose more people close to me, and I hate to think about this happening!

Anyway, let's talk about what my second "Year in Review" is going to entail.  On January 4, I will weigh in at my usual weekly Weight Watchers meeting.  And this weigh in will commemorate the exact one-year anniversary of when I first started changing my eating last year.  Therefore, ignoring the fact that I have weighed in on a couple of different scales through the last year, it will be after this weigh in that I will be able to report the sum total of weight I have lost in a year's time.  Right now, as my ticker reports, I am at a total of 45 pounds of weight lost.  The last three-ish month, I have fought hard to get the scale moving down again, and for about the last month, I have been using Weight Watchers to help me meet my goals.  I am in love with the new Weight Watchers program and can finally see myself as someone who will reach my goal weight.  The PointsPlus program is giving me the tools and information I need to enact this change in myself.  I can't wait to see what this year in Weight Watchers will do for me!

And now I am off to my first gym workout in the New Year!  I also am planning to take a yoga class at the gym tonight if I don't have to work, which will be a new (and slightly scary) experience for me...but I can do it!  Make it a great day, everyone!