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New Years Resolutions Updated
By Jay | December 29, 2007
A while back I wrote a couple posts about my resolutions for the upcoming year. Those resolutions were:
1. To put myself first , and
2. To stick to my budget. In fact, I want to learn not only to stick to a budget, but to live frugally this year.
I’ve been working at both of these resolutions through December, and I have made some progress in the way I think about both myself and my money. I’ll write more about this in upcoming blogs, but now I want to list my third resolution. This is to lose weight.
I’ve written several times on this blog about my desire to lose weight, and I even stuck to a diet over the summer — the South Beach Diet — and lost 12 lbs. I kept it off, too. Until the last couple weeks. My mother’s Christmas meals seem to have been the final straw to a gluttonous holiday season as I have gained back 6 lbs. I now tip the scale at 245 lbs.
You’ll notice a new addition to my blog, on the upper right corner of this page. This is my weight, and I will update it monthly for the next year. My goal is to lose 60 lbs, getting myself down to 185lbs. I’m naturally muscular and big-boned, so 185 lbs will leave me looking almost gaunt, but at my age, this would be a good thing.
As far as dieting goes, I plan simply to eat and drink less. Diets work, but I can only stick to a limiting diet for three months or so, and what I really need now is a lifestyle change, not a short-term diet. I like my wine, and to lose weight I quit drinking for three months this Summer. I believe this was a big factor in my weight loss, so I will cut back or even stop my drinking again. (This will also help on the budget front.) I will also give up all sweets and baked goods. I’ll also give up red meat, sticking to poultry and fish, and will eat a lot more vegetables. Dairy products have to go — no more butter or regular milk; especially verboten is cheese. I LOVE cheese, and this is probably the biggest sacrifice of all.
Lastly I plan to up the intensity of my exercise regimen. I work out at the gym 3-4 days per week, but I have been getting a bit lazy while there. I find myself sitting more than working, daydreaming rather than pressing my muscles: this has to stop. I also will rollerblade and bike more, for aerobic exercise.
That’s it — three simple resolutions. Now I need to stick to them. Each resolution involves inner change which is difficult, but each will bring simplicity and self-discipline into my life.
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