Refocusing & Resolutions…

It seems as of late that I’ve been getting side tracked with holidays and thoughts meanwhile my New Years Resolutions have gotten lost in the mix.  So last night as I recovering from noodle legs (a result of running 2.75 miles on treadmill then doing 30 minutes on the elliptical machine), I started to look over my New Years Resolutions that I had finally came up with at the beginning of Feb.  And here’s what I came up with…

"Breaking Dawn"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper that I did last week.

1)      Save More Money- I’m doing really well on this one.  In fact, thanks to getting back a tax refund that I opted to put part of in savings I’m ahead of the game by almost $200.  Yahoo!

2)      Unclutter My Life- Well, this one I really have not been working on.  I was hoping that by putting it closer to the top of the list that I would be better about it.  Nope!  That is not the case.  However, I have started a small pile for the Good Will.  I just really need to get on this one more.  Who knows?  Maybe this weekend I will try to work on a closet and go through boxes and what not that are just collecting dust.

3)      Learn Spanish- I have found a local community education program that offers a Beginning Spanish class on Monday nights which will fit in nicely with my schedule.  The registration opens up on March 12 and the class begins on the 19^th if there is room available.  I hope there will be.

4)      Reach My Goal Weight- Can you say… “Ouch! OUCH! And Ouch!”  I’m up to needing to lose 14 lbs. instead of the 12 lbs. that I had at the beginning of the month.  After seeing that on the scale yesterday morning, I got rather angry with myself.  Then, I pushed myself last night to do 2.75 miles running and then 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.  OMG!   It was noodle leg time on the three flights of stairs on the way up.  This last month, the temperatures were so mild for winter time that I was able to get in some extra miles on the bike and I still tired to get a good amount of time in at the gym and I did go to the last of my pilates classes.  But I really need to work on watching what I eat.  Course, it probably doesn't help that my boxes of Girl Scout Cookies got delivered today.  Awwwww.... talk about a weakness!  But they are SO yummy!  But I'll try to pace myself! If that's possible with Girl Scout Cookies?!?

5)      Cut Down on Eating Out- I started off the month of Feb. pretty good.  I limited it to once a week.  Then, as the month continued on I loosened up and it was nearly as pretty.  I had one week where it was about 5 times in a week.  Thus, leading to more money being spent out and more weight that I need to lose to get to my goal weight.

6)      Do One Century- I really can’t work on this yet.  However, I did register for a BIG ride.  I signed up for RAGBRAI. (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa)  It’s a ride that takes place over 7 days in late July and covers a total of 472 miles distance.  It starts in northwestern Iowa and works its way toward southeastern Iowa.  I find out the results of the lottery entry on May 1^st and then I’ll know for sure whether I am in or not.  Keep your fingers crossed!  I'm really hoping to get in because the ride is going through my hometown of Cedar Rapids this year.  A great deal of my friends and relatives can't believe I haven't done this ride already but the timing usually never has worked out before.  But this year I'm hoping that the planets align and I can get in! 

STATS FOR THE MONTH….

Biked 123 miles

Ran 25.50 miles

Spent 2 hours & 47 Minutes on Elliptical

&

Up to 10 books read so far this year!(10 out of 60 not too bad!)

Weighin In & Girl Scout Cookies...

I’m down 12 lbs. over all. I lost 1.5 lbs. compared to last Friday. I was good for most of this week until last night when I got into those darn Girl Scout Cookies! The Berry Munch Girl Scout cookies were calling and I was not wishing thank you very much to the Girl Scouts of America! Why do they make them taste SO good and only make them available at one time in a year? It’s like double trouble for a person who is dieting. But I guess its smart marketing on their behalf.

Oh the choices they have for Girl Scout Cookies—Thin Mints, Samoas, Dulce de Lech, Trefolis, Do-Si-Dios, and Berry Munch. They stopped selling my favorites though. They used to have these cookies I think they were called Lemon Zingers. They were a lower calorie tangy lemony cookie that had a bit of powder sugar dusted on them. I LOVED those cookies! Oh, the things I wouldn’t do for a low-cal tangy lemon cookie! It would be a short list much to my Mom’s chagrin.


I remember selling those Girl Scout cookies as a young girl. One year with the help of my Dad, I sold 200 boxes. I got some kind of an award – a white t-shirt with a giraffe on the front and it stated, “Mississippi Valley Big Seller” – or something to that nature. I wore the oversized t-shirt a few times but it lacked the luster I thought that it should have had. I won the right to wear a t-shirt. A big whoopee do! The next year I just sold the bare minimum. I also always wondered why a giraffe was on a Mississippi Valley t-shirt; didn’t make much sense to me.


Needless to say, last night I felt quite guilty about eating all the rest of the box of Girl Scout cookies. I pushed myself even harder at the gym. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and put in 40 minutes on the elliptical. When I got home my clothes were not just wet but DRENCHED! It was like I took a dive in a pool. But I will say my conscience felt a little bit better. The good news is that I only bought the one box so there are no more Girl Scout Cookies to tempt me at home. Now, if only, some of my co-workers would stop sharing them with me at work.