I recently heard someone talk about their dislike of New Year's Resolutions in that there are certain things that just cannot be resolved, and that instead of resolutions per se, they state their intentions for the new year. That struck a chord with me. Taking a page from their book, I am hereby stating my New Year's Intentions as they pertain to health and weight loss.



I intend to get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a night.

I intend to take my vitamins and drink a minimum of 8 glasses of water a day.

I intend to track my food daily-even if/when I do not eat according to plan.

I intend to do some form of exercise 1 hour/day.

I intend to lose at least 52lbs this year.

I cannot really function with less than 7-8 hours of sleep, I've made the vitamins a part of my morning routine now, and I usually drink at least 10 glasses of water a day anyway, so those intentions will be easy to follow through with.

I don't mind tracking when I've eaten well, but I seem to avoid it completely when I haven't. Part of holding myself accountable is tracking everything I eat, no matter how (un)healthy the food was. I guess it's part of the "if I don't see it/track it, it didn't happen" mentality-but if I get on the scale and it doesn't go down, I want to be able to look at my food tracker and be able to say "oh, that's why" or "well, it wasn't because of the food this week" and really know and be aware of what I'm putting in my body. This is going to be the most challenging intention for me because food is my major issue when it comes to weight loss. I feel that if I make this a priority though, I'll be holding myself accountable every single time I put something in my mouth and moreover, I'll be wanting to make sure that what I'm eating is healthy because I'm going to HAVE to track it and see it in print. This will be challenging, but I intend to follow through!!!

I realize that some may look at my intention of exercising at least 1 hour/day as excessive, but I really do love being active. Even if I don't go to Zumba or do some activity at the gym, I'm either hiking or walking around a nearby golf course (5k) with a friend. And I just bought a swimsuit and goggles so I can take advantage of the heated pool at my gym as well, so I really feel that this is going to be easy to follow through with as well.

Now. As long as I am following through with all of these intentions, theoretically, I should be able to lose weight at a slow and steady pace. As such, if I average a weight loss of 1lb a week, losing 52lbs this year is not unreasonable. I've readjusted my goal to be 175lbs by my 33rd birthday (June 2014) and losing 52lbs this year will be on pace for that.

If you've read this far, you'll realize that I mention "following through" a bit. Why? Let me tell you-I am the best Starter there is. I will roll up my sleeves, gather all the necessary magazines/healthy foods/workout gear/you name it and get started on a project/resolution/intention/c
hallenge/etc like no other. I'll START so hard you don't even know! I LOVE starting.

But I am also the biggest flake/non-follow-through-er when it comes to projects/goals that I am working on purely for myself.

Work? I got this. I'm rather proud of my work ethic. That assignment you need me to finish will be done hours before you need it and I will have paid so much meticulous attention to detail there'll be no need to double-check my work.

School? Piece of cake. I've been a classic overachiever in the land of academia my entire life. (Though I am a bit nervous about starting grad school-but mostly excited!!!)

But when it comes to weight loss and my health-I have started and stopped. And started and stopped. Rinse and repeat. So. Many. Times.

And let's just take a quick little gander into my closet over here. What's that? Oh yes-those clear containers?

Yes, those are each full of clothes I've either worn at some point in my life or purchased because "I'll fit into this someday" and yes, thank you, they are separated by size. One for 18, 16, 14 and under? Yep. Why yes, you're right-those ARE just like the small containers under my bed, thank you for noticing. You’re so observant!

And that coat that's hanging?

That coat that I sat in traffic for and drove over 2 hours the day before Thanksgiving to go 20 miles to that one Target that carried it because 7 others did not and I couldn't purchase it online and I HAD TO HAVE IT? That coat that ended up not quite fitting and that I still purchased and my boyfriend asked me why in the world I would keep it? I LOVE that coat. And yes, I will be wearing that this year on December 31st, thankyouverymuch. Yes, I need that out where I can SEE it because I WILL be wearing it on New Year's Eve. And I will be posting a picture when that time comes around.

I really should rename my closet into my Incentive Closet because quite frankly, the majority of clothes in there are too small for me right now. BUT. I intend to be wearing clothes from at least 1-maybe 2 of those containers by the end of the year.

And now come the before pictures. And measurements. I am actually fully embracing (yet still cringing) putting these up as this will be my point of reference to which I will compare all future success.



Current Measurements:

Chest: 48''
Waist: 44''
Hips: 51.5''
Thigh: 32''
Upper Arm: 17''

I'm 5'9'' and currently wearing a size 20 top and a size 20 bottom.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my starting point. I look forward to following through with my New Year's Intention to follow-through. =D