Monday, January 23, 2006

My 2006 Resolutions

So far, the resolutions I had made for myself have been working. I can't say I've been perfect at the changes I set out for myself, but I have done better than normal. It helps that some of these goals my husband and I set as things we both want to do. Here is a summary of where I am at this point in the year.

1. No TV. We watch movies in the theater and from our NetFlix queue, but no actual broadcast television. I've made one exception when I went to a party to watch the UT/USC National Championship game, but that's it. And I can rationalize that one.

2. Lose 10 pounds. I know, I know, everyone puts something like this on their list. I am doing it by having sub-goals, and that makes it more manageable for me:
  • Eating better when I go out. I eat more vegetables, less fried stuff, and always get a salad (they take up space in the stomach).

  • Not going out nearly as much. I have a limit of 2 lunches a week, and 2 dinners a week, which I have been adhering to religiously. I have been cooking 3-4 times a week, and eating leftovers most of the other nights and lunches. It's much less sodium, and as an added bonus, it's generally cheaper (though don't look too closely at how much my salmon dinner cost me to make last night).

  • Limiting my coke consumption to 2 per week. I've actually slipped on this one a bit this weekend, but in general I've been sticking to this well. And getting less and less interested in the taste of them as a result.

I am pleased to report that at last weigh-in I have lost 4 pounds so far this year, and my clothes are feeling looser. That is really the motivation. See, I'm cheap, and I refuse to go out and buy new clothes. Especially new bras -- do you know how expensive those darn things get?

3. Train to complete the Danskin triathlon in 90 minutes. My best time has been 111 minutes, so this is a bit of a stretch goal, but it would get me into the appropriate bracket with my age group. I've also sucked my whole family into doing it with me this year, and it would be just terrible if they finished faster than me. My current estimation is that the swim will take me 20 minutes and the run will take me 30 minutes. So, I have 40 minutes to do the bike. That will be tough (around 19 miles per hour, with tons of hilliness). Plus, I'll need to fit in about 5 minutes for the two transitions. Maybe I can shave a few minutes off my swim, and a few more off my run......

4. Train to be ready to run the Freescale marathon in February, 2007. This is a huge thing for me. I'm not much of an endurance athlete, but I'm as stubborn as they come, and I know lots of people that can give me training tips. I've never run more than 6 miles without stopping, so I have quite a bit of training to do to be ready. Conveniently, Austin has tons of races to lead up to the big one, and if I train properly I should be able to do it. Mmmmmmarathon.

So, that's what I'm working on. I hope your resolutions have led to positive experiences for you, too.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Congrats on the weight loss. Almost half way there before the end of the first month isn't too shabby.

I wouldn't even be able to begin the coke thing.

And I'm confident that with more than a year to train you'll nail the marathon. It's well worth the work, especially for someone like yourself who hasn't done much distance. You'll certainly amaze yourself, and there's few things that beat that.

James Brush said...

I'm always amazed by people who can run that far (6 mi!) so a marathon just amazes me. You go! About Coke, I don't know how much you drink but last year I lost five pounds over a few months without changing anything other than switching from Coke to Iced tea.