New Year resolution = warning, alittle long and personal

I have been thinking a lot about how the new year brings a sense of starting over. Re-commitment. Hope. Maybe even a desire to finally accomplish what we have been putting as our new years goal for years now. This year will be it. As I thought more and more about what I was going to set as my goal I have been able to think about what this past year has brought me.

Last Jan I decided this year was going to be it. I was going to lose weight and I would be healthy and basically look like super women. ;) I decided it would have to start with me working out with someone else. That is where I got super super lucky. I became friends with Carlee. Carlee is super woman and so amazing. She became my personal trainer and was nice enough to let me trade her training for babysitting a few hours a week. So we started.

In April I ran my first 5k. I will preface this with I don't like running. I have never been one to enjoy it or have a desire to do it. But Carlee said I had to so I did it. ;) I finished the 5k and was hooked. I ran 2 more races, then life started getting in the way again. At this point I had lost 11 pounds and about 10 inches. I went from size 12/14 to 9/10. Then we moved, twice. Started school and getting settled into our new area.
In Aug and Sept I decided I need to get back in my exercise routine and keep working on my goal. I kept track, I ran daily with my new friend. I gave up most treats. Then the end of the month came and I weighed EXACTLY the same as the first day I started. Talk about depressing. I just gave up. In October I was talking to my friend and told her I was giving myself until next summer to lose the weight I wanted to and if I didn't lose it I was just going to be happy with the weight I was and just try to maintain that. We then decided to start counting calories and keeping tabs on each other.
This is where I hope this helps any of you whose New years goal is losing weight. We started tracking our calories on Livestrong.com It is a free website where you can keep track of your calories. The best part is it will tell you how many calories you can eat if you want to lose 1 or 2 pounds a week. It has been amazing. We have been going since the end of October and as of today I have lost 10 more pounds and just bought a pair of size 6 jeans. I love that I no longer start feeling bad when I slip in my diet, then eat the whole bag of candy because I messed up. so I will "start over" tomorrow. I now just have to count it in my calories and then I just can't eat other things. I feel like I have a new found freedom.

Overall I feel like I have actually accomplished what I set out to accomplish this year. What a fabulous year! I hope 2011 brings just as much sense of accomplishment. On my to do this coming year: Half Marathon. I will let you know how it goes. Happy goal setting. Ciao.