2014 Letter To Myself

Dear Me,
   Another year gone.  You did great 2014 year.  When you look back at what you've accomplished you feel good.

Health:
* You finally got back into the 120s and have stayed there.
* You followed the Weight Watchers Simply Filling technique and made it word for you.
* You continued to attend your monthly WW meetings.
* You managed to accomplish your personal 365 Days Of Fitness challenge.
* You continued running and finished your 5K improving each race.

Personal:
* You enjoyed traveling several time throughout the year.
* You enjoyed working in the gardens.

Financial:
* You managed to get all by 1 of your credit cards paid off and the last one is almost gone.
* You trimmed you grocery bill so you now have extra money to spend on your wishlist.
* You started drawing you SS and that has also helped with getting your bills in order.

Here's to continuing these and adding many more accomplishments in 2015.

Good work,
Me

Reflecting back on the year.

In January 2013 I wrote a letter to myself as if it was written today.  Here's the link.  Reflecting back I did pretty well in predicting my future.

 Health:
I did continue going to Weight Watchers no matter what the scale would say.

I did continue to maintain my weight and ended up losing a half pound more over the year.  I didn't make it to 125, but I almost made it not too long ago, bur gained the weight back to a little less than my goal weight.

I do work out almost everyday.  I continued putting stickers on my calendar.  I love seeing them add up as the month goes along.

I didn't track my food like I should, but I plan on doing the Simply Filling plan so tracking shouldn't be a problem.

Retirement:
Ron is a lot move fun to be around now that he's retired.

We have traveled more.

The eating schedule is something I'm still working on.  It's getting better.

Personal Life:
I did do a lot of gardening.  It is a work in progress.

I wish I could say the house is still nice because I follow FlyLady.  It's not terrible, but it could be better.

The blogging has not be steady.  I hope to work on that this year.

I am going to write another letter to myself tomorrow and see how well I predict my future for 2014.

The Last Week Of December

Here it is the last week of December.  I can't believe this year is gone already.  I haven't written on here since December 1st.  I really need to get better at posting more regular.  My last post listed some end of the year goals.  Here's a link to that post.

Now, how did I do with these goals?

1. I didn't want to gain weight.- Well my last weigh in at WW will be on Tuesday, but as of today on my scale I'm up 4 pounds.  I have a few days to try and correct that.  I do know I won't be in the 120.  That will have to be my goal for 2014.

 2. I wanted to get in activity every day.-  I did get at least 20 minutes of activity in, but I did not get 100% on my ActiveLink.

3. I wanted to limit my snacks.-  This was a total FAIL!  I ate way too many cookies.  They are going in the trash today and I will only eat fruit the rest of the year for snacks.

4. I wanted to attend my WW meeting every week.-  I missed 2 weeks so that was also a semi-fail.  I will go next Tuesday for my final yearly weigh in.

5. I wanted to enjoy the holidays and not stress if I messed up.  The holidays were fun.  I did mess up and I tried not to stress about it. 

I'm not happy that I didn't accomplish all these goals, but I'm not perfect and I haven't given up.  My next post will probably be on January 1st.  I will look back at the year and look at my letter to myself I wrote last year.  I will probably write another one for 2014.

Goals for the month of December

I can't believe it's December already.  Where has the year gone?  With all the Christmas goodies, that are sure to be around this month, it might be a good idea to have a plan and set some goals to finish out the year.  You all know that I am a goal setter.  So here's my plans for December:

1.  I don't want to gain any weight.  I would love to be back into the 120s, but will be happy with a maintain.

2.  I want to get some kind of activity in everyday this month.  I'm going to work on getting my Active Link to 100% everyday.  I did very well doing this, this year, but didn't really keep track in November and didn't  get there several days. 

3.  I know I will be making cookies and other goodies, but I will limit my intake to 1 serving of  goodie a day.  I enjoy a cup of tea and some kind of treat in the evening while I'm watching TV.  I will not eat any treats during the day except for that special time.

4.  I want to attend my WW meeting every week.  Attending the meeting really help me stay on track.  I really need the accountability of the WW scale and sharing my week with my leader. Even though I am a lifetime/at goal member doesn't mean I don't need to attend meetings.

5.  Most importantly I want to enjoy the holidays and if I mess up I don't want to stress about it.  If I slip up I will move on and try to do better.  Tomorrow is another day and why stress over something that is done.

What are some of your goals for December 2013?

Another 5K done!! That makes 3.

I ran my 3rd 5K this morning.  It was really cold and it was hard to breathe.  My calves got stiff near the end.  I walked for a little bit in the middle, but the unofficial finish is 34.14.  I don't have the final numbers, but I think this is what the finish line said when I crossed it.  I got a medal for the top finisher in my age class.  Of course it's easy to win when you are the only woman finisher in you class.  My thinking is that I beat all those 61 year old women sitting on their couch at home.

Where Were You 50 Years Ago Today?

I remember the day Kennedy was shot.  I was in school.  I was in the 6th grade.  I remember the principal getting on the loud speaker and telling us that the President had been shot and that we were all to go home.  I walked home from school that day, not knowing what to think.  That was a very sad day for Americans.

My Second 5K Done!

I ran my second 5K this morning.  The temperature was 35 when I left my house.  I dressed the same as I did my last race.  I was comfortable.  This run was on the Akron downtown section of the towpath.  We ran along the Ohio Canal.  I didn't win my age category again, but my speed was 4 minutes faster than 2 weeks ago and my pace was 1.58 faster. Here's a picture on my finish times.

New WW Location

I attended my new Weight Watchers meeting this morning.  Everyone was very friendly and my leader came up and hugged me.  What a a nice feeling.  We both said that yesterday kept feeling like something was missing.  I would always go to my meeting after I attend my morning Jazzercise class.  Yesterday, I just came home.  This morning I couldn't go to my Jazzercise class because I have to travel farther to the WW meeting and I wouldn't have time to do both, so when I weighed in all things were different.  I hadn't worked out, I was wearing different clothes (it's getting cold, so I'm back to long pants) and it was a day later than I usually weigh in.  I was down .4 nonetheless.  I'm still not back to my all time low, but I'm getting there.  Today, I weighed 130.8.  That is a total weight loss of 55.8 pounds.  My goal for next week is to be back in the 120s.

After the meeting my husband and I went to have breakfast at Eat 'N Park.  Tuesday is Senior Day so we could have eaten off the buffet for $4.99.  Everything looked so good when we walked by it on the way to our table.  I knew I would not be able to portion control if I went to the buffet, so we ordered off the menu.  I got  breakfast off the Eat'n Smart menu. There was a lot of food and I wasn't even able to finish it.  The extra $1.00 was worth it.

Today's WW meeting was about "Slowing Down" while you're eating.  This is very hard for me to do.  I have always been a fast eater.  I like my food to be hot.  This is a habit I'm going to be working very hard on this week.  I need to put my fork down between each bite and chew my food slower.  I really think this habit will help me get to my next personal goal.

Halloween Candy and Other Goodies Be GONE!!

Halloween is here and gone.  I didn't hand out anything to the beggars this year or last.  I spent the evening baking Halloween cookies for my grandson to take to work and or to his girlfriend's birthday party.  I do have candy in the pantry for the same grandson's lunches.  I ate way too many cookies, because they were just sitting there asking to be eaten.  I packed them up and sent them on their way last night.  The candy is still in the pantry and I find myself opening the pantry door and taking out 2 mini Kit Kats at a time and eating them.  I know that I shouldn't be eating them, but they are right there asking to be eaten.  I have decided I'm going to put them in a Ziploc baggie, so it will be harder for me to get to them.  If I have to open the baggie to get to the candy it will give me time to double think my action and hopefully I won't eat any.  I enjoyed an apple today instead of the candy.  I gave up candy before on my own and I can do it again.

OK I just put the candy in the Ziploc and I wrote my grandson's name on it, so when I see it I will remember I bought it for him and NOT me. What ever it takes.  I use little mind games to keep me in check.

My WW Monday Morning Meeting Has Closed.

Today is a very sad day for me.  We were told last week that today was the last morning meeting to be held at my meeting location.  They will still have a night meeting, but I REALLY like going in the morning.  I have a few options.  I can travel 20 minutes in 2 different directions to attend morning meetings.  This will cut into my Jazzercise class before the meeting.  I can attend a night meeting, which I don't want to do.  I can go weigh in only once a month, since I am a lifetime member and keep my free status and get free etools.  I have been attending the same meeting for almost 3 years.  In January it will be 2 years of being at lifetime again.  I REALLY like my leader from this meeting and to follow her I would have to drive an hour to attend her meetings on Tuesday morning.  I know that it is important to attend the meetings.  I know that my success has come from attending the meetings every week for the past almost 3 years.  I also know that it is important to connect with the leader and other members.  My locations has an evening meeting, but I really don't connect with that leader.  It is also a VERY large meeting and it is hard to form any personal relationship with the leader and members.  I used to attend the night meetings the first time I went to WW.  I would starve myself all day so the scale would be good to me and then stuff myself after the meeting and go home to go to bed shortly after.  Not a good thing to do, I know.  I managed to get to lifetime, but it took a lot longer and I didn't stay there long and quit from the frustration.  I promised myself this time that I would not quit and give up.  I discussed my option of just weighing in once a month and not staying for the meeting with my leader and she was very stern that I was not to do that.  She is a super lady.  I have a week to make a final decision if I want to continue attending weekly meeting and a month if I decide that weighing in to continue my free lifetime status.  Any feedback would be very much appreciated.