New Years Resolutions: Twenty-Eleven

Ah, yes...it's that time of year again. What goal am I going to set for myself that I will inevitably end up forgetting about by Lent.

Actually, to give myself some credit, I didn't do too poorly last year sticking to my resolutions. At least I did better than I had previous years.

This year is simple: I want to focus on my health. My weight has been like a yo-yo all my life and, mark my words, this year, 2011, that stops. And I mean it. My boyfriend and I have decided to focus on our health together and hopefully we can support each other in reaching our individual goals. Tonight I am rejoining weight watchers as it has done wonders for me in the past. I lost over 55 lbs before and have managed to keep most of that off.

One goal I have set for myself is to run in a 10k by the end of the year. I have already registered for a 5k on April 3rd and I'm pretty excited about having something to work towards. I used to run a few times a week last year and a 5k would have been no worries....but that habit has fallen by the way side and I want to get back into it.

Next year I'd like to run in a half marathon....but right now I am focusing on my 5k in April and a 10k by the end of the year...baby steps.

I've also made a very hard decision that I think might be the best for me at the moment. I've been a vegetarian for 2 years now. I've loved it and it's been surprisingly easy. However, I have found that since my change of diet, I have been eating much more pasta and many more carbs (things that DO NOT agree with my body and weight loss goals). It's been especially hard living with my boyfriend (who loves meat) and coming up with things that we can both eat .... enter pasta. He's been such a good sport about eating my 'fake meat' (think sloppy joes with fake meat, chili with fake meat, chicken sandwiches with fake chicken) but it's definitely been hard. I'd like to focus more on eating "whole" foods. Say like veggies with grilled chicken. And I obviously can't do that sort of a thing if I'm not eating chicken. I know I could eat beans, or tofu to get protein, but I can't cook tofu for the life of me and I'm not a huge bean fan. I've tried using substitutes but I keep finding myself eating pasta....

So, with that being said, as of 1.1.11 this girl will no longer be a vegetarian. Trust me, I am a bit sad about this. I don't like the thought of eating animals and it's certainly going to be a bit of an adjustment. But I think this might help me achieve my goals and I can always go back to vegetarianism in the future. To be honest, I'm a bit nervous how my body might react-it's been two years and I'm afraid I might get sick or something.

What are your New Years Resolutions?

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I'm still here....promise. Just been crazy busy lately. Quite a lot has gone down actually....

Matt and I spent Thanksgiving up in Valencia with his family and had a really good time. (Photos here) I learned how to play poker, and I took all the winnings. No joke. Watch out Vegas.

Proof, in case you didn't believe me.

We will be heading up to The Bay for Christmas and I can't wait! I miss my family and friends and am absolutely ecstatic about spending the holiday with them.

Matt and I went down to the Hotel Del Coronado recently to partake in some holiday festivities. They have The Del all lit up in white holiday lights and during the holiday season they have an outdoor ice skating rink that overlooks the ocean. That's right, oceanside ice skating. This is why I love San Diego. The night we went they also had Santa there with his elves, an awesome fireworks show over the beach and THE BEST (complimentary) hot chocolate I have ever had in my entire life! I am serious-so thick and creamy...it couldn't have been good for me ;) More pics here.

Speaking of the holidays, Matt and I just competed in a bake-off for his work. One of my bffs made these SUPER CUTE cake pops for her son's birthday from Bakerella and I decided to give it my best shot. We made the reindeer cake pops and while it was fairly difficult, they were a HUGE hit and we only lost the cake-off by ONE VOTE and it was to an awesome hazelnut pavlova. (pics here of cake pops)

But probably one of the most interesting things that has most recently happened is work related. I've been working 30 hours a week at my HR firm. Someone just resigned (very sad about this) BUT that means that yours truly just got bumped up to full time and tons of extra responsibility. My boss and I are discussing all the details this Friday. I am SO EXCITED for this opportunity to prove what I am capable of and grow within the company. It's so funny how many things have finally fallen into place since I have moved to San Diego. I truly believe this was all meant to be.

Well, that about wraps it up. It's 3:30am and I can't sleep....my mind is too busy. Thank goodness for coffee :)

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Day 13: Goals

Some goals I have for myself:

• Finally reach my goal weight by next summer.

• Eventually get my HR certification.

• Take an awesome vacation next year to somewhere I have never been before.

• Start cooking from scratch more.

• Get back to focusing on my photography.

• Ideally, I'd like to take (another) photography class in the spring, and maybe guitar too.

Let's do this! :)

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