March 30, 2012

Q1 New Year’s Resolution Progress Report

I can’t believe we’re already coming up on the month of April. The year is a quarter of the way over already! (And despite paying for a TurboTax software package back in January that I split with some friends, I still haven’t filed my taxes. So much for getting them done early!)

With time flying by so quickly, I thought it would be prudent to check in on my New Year’s Resolutions for the year, and see how I’m doing. If I haven’t made any progress, that’s fine – there are still three more quarters in which to do so – but I want to figure out why that is. Have I not set myself up for success? Or should I reevaluate the goals I have chosen? As I’ve mentioned many times on the blog, one of my favorite quotes is this: “If it is important, you will find a way; if not, you will find an excuse.” When I made these goals, I thought they were very important – but if I haven’t started them, it’s time to evaluate whether I “found an excuse” or just need to work harder on finding a way.

1. Blog daily
Ha! This one is kind of funny, in its simplified form. (I think what I wrote on the blog was something about blogging more often, but I shortened all my goals so that they would easily fit into a sticky note on my computer desktop and therefore stare me in the face at all times, and this is how #1 netted out). I actually did not intend to blog daily, but I intended to get into more of a routine. And so far, so good! I don’t think I’ve let the blog go more than a week without posting, and most days I at least have it on my to do list and have some kind of idea in my head for a post. In truth, I don’t think I ever want to be someone who blogs daily – that just means you’re writing your blog posts based on timing instead of based on when you actually have something to say – so I’m going to call myself right on track here.

2. Reconnect with old friends
My original idea for this one was that I’d spend a bit of time every day reconnecting with someone from my past with whom I’ve lost touch. And that lasted… about a week. Oops! I think this is one that I haven’t tried hard enough to achieve. It is really not that hard to reach out to someone, especially with the advent of Facebook and other social media! With 277 days left in the year, that’s 277 old friends I can still reconnect with, which is a heck of a lot better than zero if I just give up. Time to get on it!

3. Get back into dancing
Hmm, to be honest, I kind of forgot about this one. I have taken a lot of new and different fitness classes, but I’ve been slacking a bit on the dance. I did a zumba series for a month or so (thanks to a great Groupon deal for < a href="http://www.zclubny.com">Zclub), but haven’t been back since, despite loving it. I’m going to put this one as a toss up – I’d like to try to take dance classes a bit more, but I’m also getting into some new and different classes that are vying for my attention too (Kickboxing! Refine!). I’ll reevaluate whether to even keep this on the list at some point.

4. Run a marathon a month
Check, check, check! January, February, and March have all gone smoothly, and I think I’m starting to get bitten by the marathon fever again. I was starting to worry that I didn’t have a marathon in April, and wondering if the fact that I had two lined up for May (Colfax in Colorado and my annual tradition of Vermont City, where I’ll also be doing a seminar at the expo) could count since then I would still average one a month. But then I got suckered in by Jocelyn, who recently PRed at the half marathon distance on two consecutive weekends, and is a wonderful/terrible influence when we get together (like when I have 8 miles planned and she spontaneously gets me to do 16 instead). After just a few Gchats with her, I’m pretty sure I’m going to also be doing the Country Music Marathon and New Jersey Marathon, for a total of four marathons in five weeks. But hey, when I get to run and travel with friends, I really could care less how many miles I have to put in for the experience. Did you say you’re doing a 100K but that you’ll buy me all the beer I can drink at the finish? Of course I’ll pace you! Speaking of which…

5. Log 400 unique beers
It is probably evident by how much I’m working out and how little my waistline is shrinking that this goal is one of the ones that is most on track. I hit 200 unique beers right at the beginning of the year… and yet I’m already now at 307. Gulp – 107 unique beers in just 3 months? I may need to slow the pace of my drinking a bit, or set a new goal. 500? 😉

6. Read 100 books
This one is fairly close on track (20 books where I should be at 25, and I’ve been reading some long ones). Not much to say here except that I’m reading some good stuff lately. If you liked the Hunger Games (aaah I haven’t seen the movie yet – too busy!), check out another cool fiction book I recently read, Divergent by Veronica Roth. I also couldn’t get through The Sorcerer’s Apprentices: A Season in the Kitchen at Ferran Adrian’s elBulli fast enough, and am currently enjoying Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Butter, and Bones in preparation for my foodie book club at her restaurant, Prune, tomorrow night. (BTW, foodie book club is pretty much the best idea ever. Read a great book and then discuss it at the author’s own restaurant? So cool!)

7. Keep a stable weight
I am shocked that this one is so far so good, but it is. Hard to believe when you consider that I sucked down about a cup and a half of M&Ms during a particularly long meeting today! Fortunately, binges like that seem to be more the exception than the norm lately, and I’m pretty happy with how my eating has been. Of course, I just got staffed on a yearlong assignment in Dallas, a city which is not exactly known for its healthy cuisine, but I’m going to try to take a weekly quiet night to myself where I get a salad at the hotel restaurant and also hit up the gym in a big way. After all, the key is not cutting everything out or going all out with the calorie counting (despite my love of numbers, I learned a few years ago that calorie counting just makes me go crazy and obsessive), but about finding balance. I’m sure trying!

8. Make more fitness friends
This, this goal is what has made me so happy over the past few months. If I achieve nothing else this year, I am so happy with how this one goal has gone. I started trying to achieve this by reaching out to New York running/fitness bloggers, and in doing so, I found a group of girls that I just adore. We plan friend dates to watch the Bachelor and eat cookie dough hummus, we all run to a preplanned meeting point at 16 Handles, or we go for a 10 mile run to a mac & cheese cookoff. I love having Gchat buddies to get me through a boring day, and I love that when I’m traveling for work, they’re emailing/tweeting me to come home ASAP. All in all, I can’t believe how much we just “get” each other on so many levels – and I think I owe them a toast with rum-spiked protein shakes this weekend 🙂

How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Are there any that have become less important to you over time? I say, if it’s not working, change it up! Focus on what’s most important to you and the rest will come in time.

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16 thoughts on “Q1 New Year’s Resolution Progress Report”

  1. First, I love your foodie book club! What a great idea. Congrats on hitting so many of your goals! I love your approach – super realistic and meaningful! xo

  2. Lol, I like the beer resolution. I think mine were to dress better and to keep the house clean. I have been trying to tell myself that I need to wear something to work (I work in a casual office) that I would feel like if I was asked to an impromptu happy hour or dinner after, I wouldn’t have to change. It’s sort of working. The house cleaning, not so much.

  3. Caitlin – you’re welcome to join the club! We’re picking a new book tonight; I’ll email you details.

    Carrie – I set a goal of 100 last year and was able to achieve it without a major problem, so I’m keeping it. I’m an avid reader!

    Lee – I could definitely use a fashion makeover too. I think I have good taste but I don’t shop very often, so I have a lot of old stuff that I don’t like to wear anymore… but I only have a few outfits that I REALLY like, so I end up having to wear it over and over or wear stuff I don’t like.

  4. Foodie book club??? AWESOME!! I’ll be running the Country Music Half Marathon so maybe I’ll see you there! although that would be weird since we live in the same city, so it would make more sense to see you here 😉

  5. I’m doing pretty well on goals! Not eating any office candy = check! Well, unless it’s super fancy stuff that’s brought in for a birthday. But everyday stuff, nope. Also getting serious about running, dropping some residual post-college weight, and trying to blog consistently. Nice job on yours!!

  6. I love the last one! I’ve loved hanging out with you these past few months. More please. I can help with the beer goal.

    I also like the foodie book club…

  7. Helen – it certainly could! With any list of goals, it’s up to you to set/define them. For me, I don’t listen to books on tape, so it’s not really a question – but you could make that your goal!

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