i really CAN'T believe 2012 is almost over. so much has happened this year, even just related to SP. i was talking about it with my mom the other day; we both agreed that joining this site is one of the best decisions i ever made. i'm down to a weight that i definitely haven't been since starting college, and probably haven't been since some time in high school (not sure how much i weighed in high school actually). i flux about 4 or 5 pounds a lot of the time, but when you realize that you were 180-something only 7 months ago and now you're 160-something, the fluxing starts to not matter as much (as long as i stay below about 170, that's ok with me). even though i get discouraged when people ask me, "that's ALL you're eating?" or say that calorie counting is "bad for you," i'm going to stick with SP, no question.

when i restarted my weight loss plan, i decided not to have a hard and fast goal. i said that i wanted to lose a pound a week until the end of the year, but that was mostly just so i could put something into the system and have a plan to stick to. i said that on 1/1/13, i would go to maintenance, regardless of where my weight ended up. i'm interested to see what that will look like.

the more i think about it, the more i realize that some things will still need to change. for starters, i'm no longer on a regular exercise schedule. when i get home from class, it's so easy for me to just say "i'm too tired" or "i really need to study." even on Saturday morning, which was supposed to be the time that i'd exercise no matter what, i can so easily talk myself out of it. i'm not sure what it's going to take, but i need to stop making these excuses.

i also want to start strength training. i really need to start toning up--currently i'm living proof that you can lose weight and still be a cream puff. the issue is that i'm not motivated to just grab some hand weights and do exercises myself. i have DVDs, but i haven't done them in the past because a) i get bored with them easily, and b) they're basically impossible to track on SP (i'm not buying a heart rate monitor, and trying to track individual exercises is clearly not happening either). basically, more excuses. but i need to figure out a plan.

aside from that, i've been a bit lenient with myself diet-wise of late. some days it's accidental. other days it's because i've stopped caring (stress will do that to you). there was a time when i didn't let that happen, and i WILL be getting back to that time.

my time on SP so far has shown me that hard work will yield results. i just need to keep working hard, figure out a plan, and stop letting the "i don't wanna" attitude get in the way. call it my New Year's resolution (or revolution. i think i like that better).