2011 Directions

Resolutions are cliche... but I think I need to do some anyway. I need some direction for 2011 and posting them here will help me remember them. When thinking about where I want 2011 to take me, I know that I don't want to make arbitrary wishes for the upcoming year that would be lost in shades of gray and forgotten by March. Therefore I came up with some basic ground rules for myself. I want my goals to be attanainable, practical, and more than that- measureable. I want to come back on December 30, 2011 and evaluate myself and how I did, so her we go!

1. Get back into running: Too vague as it is, so the measureable portion of this goal will be to run a 10k and a half-marathon this year. The 10k will most likely be in the spring, then the half will be in the fall. I started training again last night and it took me 20 minutes to run 1.5 miles. EMBARASSING!!! I guess that's what happens when you abandon your $100 running shoes for three months, but I will do this.

2. Eat more vegan meals: I call this the two-thirds rule. I want 2 out of 3 of my daily meals Monday through Friday to be vegan as much as possible. So on "normal" days (meaning I'm not out of town or somewhere it's just not feasible to eat vegan), I will follow this rule as much as possible. Now I will say that I'm mainly talking about dairy here, so if an egg finds its way into my lunch, it's no big deal. I don't think I'll ever become full vegan because I have no moral opposition to consuming ethically harvested eggs and dairy. In fact, if the whole world stopped eating those two items, cows and chickens would go extinct. They cannot survive away from humans. However, I think the extra fat I get from dairy wreaks havoc on my body. I feel like a mostly vegan diet would help me reach my weight loss goals, focus my attention on plant based nutrients, sever my addiction to cheese, and just feel "cleaner."

3. Read my bible cover to cover: I probably have read the entire thing in pieces (I grew up in the church after all), but I've never read it through front to back. I need to spend more time on my spiritual life and my relationship with God, and I think this is a no pressure way to do it. My goal will be to read a little each night, and have the entire book finished by the end of the year. If there are some nights I can read more, great. If there are some nights I read one chapter, that's fine too. I just hope I'm not frantically trying to read all of the New Testament in two weeks next December, ha ha!

4. Reach my goal weight with Weight Watchers and make it through the maintenance period: I haven't been updating much about my WW journey, but I will go ahead and tell you that I gained 7 pounds in 7 days while I've been home. Not cool. But what was cool is how I reacted to it. I sucked it up, tracked it, and moved on. So my graph now shows I'm over my starting weight by 3 pounds? Who cares. Don't cry about it, fix it. And I'm now doing just that. Hopefully goals 1 and 2 will contribute to this, but I really need to buckle down and PLAN AHEAD when it comes to my daily meals!!!

5. Become certified to teach Physics and start a Masters program in Curriculum and Instruction: It's time I pushed myself a bit in my career, and this will be the year for that. I will be re-taking the physics praxis this summer, and I'm fully confident I will pass after having the chance to teach the class. My Masters program will start in the fall, and I'll use this spring and summer to decide where it will take place.

Alrighty then! I think five goals will suffice for now. I'll be sure to keep blogging as my one year blog-iversary is coming up very shortly! Hopefully I wont be so busy this spring that I can't touch base every now and then. I hope you all have a great New Years and enjoy the blank slate that is 2011!