Happy New Year!

Happy 2012 everyone! I spent last night stuffing my face with tortilla chips, queso, and margaritas at my favorite mexican place in Dallas, Banditos. I also saw Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which was amazing - Tom Cruise may be completely nuts but he's still fabulous. 

This morning I woke up and after what has been a very prolonged break, I reintroduced myself to the scale. Yikes. Not unexpected, and deserved, but still. Ouch. But it's not just the weight I've put back on, it's how I've been feeling lately with all the snacks at work that suppliers are sending in for us. With the exception of some Harry and David pears, the month of December was a parade of neverending chocolate deliciousness. My pants are tight and I don't feel comfortable wearing some outfits I wore a couple of months ago. I practically lived in yoga pants while I was at home over Christmas and now I don't want to wear real pants. Yuck.

Now that it's the new year, everyone will be cracking down at work again which will be great for me. I spent today cooking my crockpot chili and some turkey sausage gnocchi to eat over the next few days. I measured everything and after I ate I tracked every calorie. I also reset my goals through May...7 pounds a month to get me to 35 pounds by May 31st. I'm already cranky from counting calories today. Here we go...

And just to cap the year off, here is a fun survey for 2011:

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

Ran a 5K. Went to California (3 times!). Went to the US Open. Visted Boston. Went to Kansas City. 

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I did not reach my goal for weight loss, but I did not give up and ended up smaller than I was last January...by a lot. I also ran a 5K and attended a young alumni event for the Notre Dame Club of Dallas. Woohoo! For next year I am going to continue losing weight and go to at least one (new people) event a month. 

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Two of my coworkers had babies this year, and so did my friend from undergrad.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Yes, my granma. It will be a year ago on January 7th. 

5. What countries did you visit?

Just the US. 

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you lacked in 2011?

Opportunities to meet new people and more success in my weight loss efforts. Also, more dancing. 

7. What dates from 2011 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

January 7th, when granma died. December 10th, when I ran my first 5K. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

My weight loss and my promotion at work (whatever, I can pick two).

9. What was your biggest failure?

Probably my weightloss...I let myself get out of control in November/December so I am going to have to work really hard to form the new habits again.   

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I hurt my back pretty badly during kickboxing class (it flared up again the week before Christmas) but I'm doing fine now. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

A membership at 24 Hour Fitness. New clothes in smaller sizes. Gift cards to Starbucks with my credit card reward points. A last minute plane ticket to Providence to see Lady Gaga. 

12. Where did most of your money go?

STUDENT LOANS, rent, traveling, new clothes (!!). 

13. What did you get really excited about?

All my November traveling: Halloween in New Orleans, Boston, Notre Dame, and home. Football season. 

14. What song will always remind you of 2011?

Could it really be anything else?

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

– happier or sadder? Happier!
– thinner or fatter? Thinner!
– richer or poorer? Richer! 

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Meeting new people, working out, saving money, and cooking. 

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Being lazy on the weekends. Eating. Complaining about work. 

18. How did you spend Christmas?

In Arkansas with my family. 

19. What was your favorite TV program?

It's a close call between Vampire Diaries and Revenge, but I'm going to have to go with Revenge on this one. 

20. What were your favorite books of the year?

The Gift of Fear and the Cases that Haunt Us. Also, Cold Turkey was really cute. I'm excited because I just recently got back into reading for fun in November. 

21. What was your favorite music from this year?

Adele and Gaga are my girls, and as much as I hate to admit it, LMFAO kept me working out. 

22. What were your favorite films of the year?

This is a hard one, but I'd have to say The Muppets because it made me smile the WHOLE time I was watching, and Horrible Bosses, which was underrated and made me laugh more than Bridesmaids (OMG yes I said there was a comedy better than Bridesmaids!!).

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 26 and I went to lunch at Breadwinners, had a happy hour with people from work at Gordon Biersch and did dinner afterwards...But my big celebration was my trip to New Orleans!

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

I would've liked to have met my weight loss goal.  

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2011?

More tights and dresses and belts. 

26. What kept you sane?

Going to the gym with friends, the Keurig machine at work, Starbucks, and caffeine generally, Southwest's $5 wifi on the plane, and visiting my friends spread all over the country.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Sometimes people aren't who you want them to be, but you have to accept it and get over it...or move on.

My Birthday!

So...I didn't meet my birthday goal. Wonk wonk. I totally lost my mind the past month with lots of traveling to New York and Kansas City and Arkansas and basically did nothing but eat and sit around. I honestly thought I had gained about 10 pounds, but it only turned out to be like 3 pounds...phew.

My birthday was fabulous with a delicious lunch at Breadwinners, happy hour with a lot of work friends, dinner at Goodfellas with more work friends, and then Banditos on Saturday. Mom even sent me beautiful flowers!

Of course I went to the gym this week trying to be good, and I went to a kickboxing class for the first time. I walked in and the instructor girl asked if anyone was new. It was only me and one other girl, and the advice we got was "Just keep punching." Okay...apparently everyone else had been in the class since Week 32 and they were on Week 47. Yikes. I stayed through the whole hour, but around 45 minutes something was feeling off. Since then my back has been hurting - pretty sure I pulled something, and I had to stay home from work Thursday afternoon and just lie on the floor. I did go work out this afternoon (just on the elliptical) but I'm definitely still feeling some pain after being up and about all day.

So a lot happened in September. I went to the U.S. Open in New York while on a business trip and got to see my favorite tennis players (Nadal, Roddick, and Isner) and bought a bunch of presents for all my jealous family members.

I went home to Arkansas for a weekend, hung out with Rivka at her awesome new place and ate lots of delicious indian food, and watched football with the family.

I went to Kansas City for work, conducted a training class, and made some new friends at our teambuilding venue. (Also ate delicious apple cider and apple cider donuts...I may have ordered both a cider slush AND a hot cider. No guilt. And I traipsed around a corn maze for 45 minutes, so they were also well deserved.)

The cutest earless goat you will ever see. 

As far as goals...I'm pushing my ultimate goal out to December 31st. I haven't really lost anything since June, and I haven't tracked my calories or been to the gym (besides the kickboxing incident this week) so I'm rebooting. My only travel plans for October are the 11th-13th for our teambuilding event, and then at the end of the month I will be going to New Orleans for Halloween, woo!! I can't wait!

I revamped my goals/rewards sheet in case anyone is interested in reading the updated breakdown. November is going to be a lot of traveling (going to visit Meaghan, Alicia, and Johnny) so I'm pretty much hoping to break even over that month, and then go hardcore through December.

Hopefully more consistent updates now that I'm back in Dallas for a while!