As we enter February and say goodbye to the first month of the new year, I figured now is the best time to come back to my goals for the year and let you know how I did on Month 1.
I have 2 goals for this year -
Goal 1 is to lose the 25 pounds that my body has accumulated in the time period that M. and I have been together. Oh what love does to you . . . it makes you fat and poor. It's worth it, but still!
When it comes to diets, I always work hard at them for about a month but abandon ship once a plate of french fries or a bagel comes my way. However, I told M. that I'm not dieting, I'm making a lifestyle change. To be successful, I got back on board with Weight Watchers and I decided to set monthly lifestyle/diet goals for myself.
My goals for January were to get on track with Weight Watchers and stick with it; no more soda and reduce artifical sweeteners; and to reduce alcohol. A little later into the month, I also decided to quit fried foods, which means no more french fries and potato chips, which are easily two of my biggest weaknesses.
And how have I done? Big check mark! With the exception of one weekend of weakness, I stuck pretty close to all of my goals. I wasn't perfect . . . we went out for dinner with friends or family once a week during the month (thanks to a month of birthday celebrations). Last week we had pizza for dinner on Friday, I drank lots of beer on Saturday and on Sunday we indulged in wine and brownies. However, when we went to the bar on Saturday, I ate french onion soup and a spinach salad, despite being tipsy and everyone else around me eating delicious fried food. So, I might not have been perfect, but I am proud that I still practiced self restraint.
And, excitingly enough, the scale at the end of the month was kind to me. I have lost 8 pounds, which means I am 17 pounds closer to my final goal. I tell you what, I was giddy about that weight. I could not stop smiling on Monday and bragged to everyone about my weight loss!
Now, I need to keep moving and keeping losing! My goals for February include introducing consistent exercise to my weekly routine (I have started by waking up forty-five minutes earlier every morning and doing yoga as of yesterday), reducing white carbs and reducing sugar intake. I am hoping to lose at least 5 pounds this month.
Goal 2 was to drastically reduce my personal spending and to save money for our trip to Greece, our future home and the future in general. Despite having to buy gifts for 3 birthdays this month, I did really good! I was so proud of myself. And then I exchanged some Christmas items at Garnet Hill, which resulted in them withdrawing almost $400 from my personal account, to be reimbursed when they received my exchanged items. I didn't realized that they would take money from my account, so imagine my shock one day when I expected to see $500 in my checking account, only to have $36. Not cool. So, about 2 weeks later, I am still waiting for them to return my money. Once they do, it'll be moved into my savings account.
The good news is, other than that exchange, I have only used my personal account to buy gas, birthday presents and lunch one day in the month of January. So, I am willing to say that despite all the online window shopping that I have done, I still drastically reduced my spending compared to other months, which means I have been successful.
I am really proud of myself for sticking with my goals for my first month. I tend to stay motivated but find excuses to still break goals and promises that I make to myself. However, I stuck to it, with the idea that I want to wear a bikini in Greece and not be looked at as "the fat American" and I want more money! That alone has really made me excited this month and kept me motivated.
I know that some of this stuff will get more difficult as we get further into the year and as I get farther away from making my inital resolution. I hope that by establishing monthly goals, I can keep it up for the rest of the year!