My 2010 - Goals, hit or miss?

I've nearly neglected my personal blog in favor of keep up with Eric and I's public blog.  I posted some loft goals last year and I've been wanting to review them, create new ones and reflect on my personal 2010.  Eric didn't want me to do this on our blog.  So stay tuned for a series of blogs.

My 2010 Goals are in black and my comments are in red :)

1. Weight Loss Goal:  Lose 40-ish lbs
1. Go to weekly WW meetings: meet their weekly resolution! 
2. Track food 75-80% of the time
3. Limit alcohol to 3 drinks a week (no more than 2 in a night!)
4. Exercise (see exercise goals)
5. Stick to meal plan (see Money)
6. Celebrate little improvements - like not parking myself next to the buffalo chicken dip,  skipping the queso at a mexican restaurant  or having to tighten the arm band of my iPhone running case

Overall - this gets a "fail".  As I lost the same 10 pounds twice. I gave up on Weight Watchers.  I didn't like the plan any more. It had changed from the time I was in college (and it's changed again - with all the improvements I was looking for). Anyway.  I do have small celebrations to make regarding this:  I no longer park in front of food at parties.  I don't always order the cheese dip. I've cut back on sodas and big desserts.

1. Exercise: 3-4 days a week and complete Iron Girl race in June
1. Join 10k running club and stick to their training plan
2. Join swim team at gym
3. Do Wii Active on days when I just can't make it to the gym or outside
4. Follow the 12 week Iron Girl training plan
5. Search for work out buddy
6. Complete the following races:
1. March 6:  GSU (short) Sprint Triathlon
2. April 24: Country Music Half Marathon
3. June 27: Iron Girl (long) Sprint Triathlon

I did complete the following races, AND a few others :)  I did look for a workout buddy, but none of them worked out (pun intended).  I did the running group, and it was great. The swim team disband.  I'll give this one an 80% because I was in awesome shape until August and then I just failed.

1. Money:  Now that Eric's car is paid off, and my school is paid in cash - pay off credit card
1. Scale back our budget on "extras" by another 10-15%
2. Limit buying alcohol out (see Weight Loss Goals)
3. Have bi-monthly budget meetings with Eric to evaluate our progress
4. Re-listen to Dave Ramsey CDs for monthly motivation
5. Continue to meal plan, and clip coupons for items on menu/shopping list
6. Don't be a brand loyalist - seek deals
7. Find simple substituions.  ex: organic half and half is a dollar cheaper than Coffee Mate

This gets at 100%  My car is paid off and we're down from 8 line items to 1 on the debt snowball.  Eric is great for accountability. We regularly seek ways to trim down the budget.  We dropped our gym membership in favor of cheaper alternatives. And we eat mostly whole foods.  Have a strict cash budget for eating out.  And started doing beer dinners at home to save on our beer out budget.

1. Time: Set boundaries on work, school, exercise and chores
1. Write in all of the above on calendar
2. Follow through 80% or better
3. Set aside homework time
4. Set aside a weekly cleaning time for bathrooms and floors
5. Clean kitchen before bed
6. Clean bedroom/make bed before work
7. Set work office hours and keep them!

I'd say, 70% on this one.  I did a great job with school work in the winter.  Eric and I set side time for the two of us.  We did better about our work/social/family boundaries.  Our keeping the kitchen clean on a daily basis was not great, but not terrible.  My biggest fail was on work office hours.  However, I did create a day off once school was over.  That's been a LIFE SAVER.

Post list of goals some place to be reviewed every few weeks!  Re-evaluate in a few weeks :)

Overall, I think I did pretty well on my goals for 2010.  Most are rolling over to 2011.  My weight loss one is taking a bigger priority now that my financial self-control is better in place. I have a hard time working on self-control in many areas at one time. I think this is why both usually fail.  Having good accountability has been key in my life.  Eric is great for my financial self-control, but not good with food/weight loss.  We have such different bodies and different relationships with food.  He could careless about it.  For me, it's life, comfort, love, joy, and a way for me to express myself.  Needless to say, I've had to change that relationship before I can really "diet".  It's been a bigger project for me than I expected.  This is why I need the accountability.  And the last few weeks I've found the people to help with that.  They suffer the same things and have the same goals. Together, we're able to make small changes and celebrate them.  


My name is Elizabeth and I haven't had a soda since Thanksgiving.  I was an addict.  Do I get a gold star? hehe