Thursday, December 20, 2012

Evaluating the last year

Since it's now the new year, I figured it was about time to evaluate these things (and because I'm procrastinating HARD on things I really need to get done), here is 2012 in review:

 New Year's Resolutions

1. Lose 15 pounds by my friends' wedding (May 18th). I'm MOH, and I refuse to feel like I look chubby in the pictures (or, worse, actually be chubby). Plus, I'm creeping up towards the heaviest I've been and I don't like it. It is also probably good for me to exercise and eat better, considering how often people (ok, mostly the Boy and our mutual friend at school)say to me, "I can't believe the things you put in your body." I will be using this app to help me. It's amazing, it's free, and it is basically one of the best apps I've ever seen. If you're trying to lose weight, I highly recommend it. You put in your starting weight, your goal weight, and then it gives you different recommendations on calorie limits depending on how fast you want to lose it, you can scan the bar codes on your food, it has full restaurant menus, and it tracks your exercise and progress. It's brilliant. 

This one was semi-successful. I lost about half of that, so I'm still 8-10 pounds above where I'd like to be, but I'm no longer worried about how heavy I'm getting. I'm actually pretty proud of myself for not getting morbidly obese in the last semester, because it's been incredibly stressful and I've been eating out for pretty much every meal. I also stopped exercising at all in October, because I noticed that excess movement made whatever is wrong with my stomach hurt worse. I wasn't too happy about that one because I feel kinda sluggish and gross being so purposefully sedentary all the time, but I don't know what else to do until they figure out what's wrong. They say it's IBS, but I don't believe them. I don't know anyone who has ever gone to the hospital over IBS, and the medicine they give me to help with it doesn't actually make the pain go away.

2. Go to bed by midnight ~5 nights per week. This should help with the weight loss (getting enough sleep makes people eat less). Plus, getting enough sleep should make me healthier, happier, and less stressed overall. 

HAHAHAHAHAHHA yeah, no this one did not happen.

3. Go/do/try at least 1 new thing per month. This month was Zumba with the bride from the aforementioned wedding. We burned 700 calories in an hour. I'm exhausted. My arms feel like they're going to fall off. I want at least one month to involve going to a city/state?/country? that I have never been to before. Considering I live in an entirely new area now, this should not be an issue, but you know how New Year's Resolutions go.

I don't know that I was 100% successful on this one, but I was pretty close. In the last year, I've met The Boy's family (which went way better than I expected), I went to DC (twice!), I learned how to shoot, I wrote an article for Wikipedia (and because of the semi-anonymity of this blog, I won't tell you which one), I threw/attended my first Bachelorette party, had Bestie visit me (twice!), went to Myrtle Beach, finished my first year of grad school and started my second, was in a wedding, had a really great birthday, applied to PhD programs (again...), went to NYC, switched advisors, went to Savannah and Gainesville, had a health scare, found a new restaurant that I love, made new friends with the first years, and probably 100 other things I can't even think of right now. This year was really fun, and despite the fact that there were some shitty times, I think that I'll look back on 2012 as a year of growth and accomplishment.

 4. Better time management. I want to schedule work out time at least 3 days per week and finish my work by 8 PM every night. I'm going to use this app to track my time. I think my plan is to get up around 8, exercise for 30-60 minutes, come back, get ready, catch the 10 or 10:30 shuttle, start work by 11, and finish by 7 or 8. If I am going to do a group exercise class like zumba or yoga, I will go into school earlier and finish up for the day in time to go to the class. I will work/work out on the weekends as necessary.

 Yeah, this one didn't really happen either. I think I did better in the spring, but this semester was hellish and there were a lot of 12 hour days and not enough sleep and no exercise whatsoever.

5. Recognize when it is time to say "Fuckit" and actually say it. I really need to dial back the crazyeyes. It scares other people, it isn't good for me, it doesn't improve my performance, and frankly, I'm tired of being the craziest person in the class.

This one was and wasn't successful... I did learn a lot about what I could and could not tolerate, and I made some changes, but there were definitely plenty of crazyeyes moments this past year, including one major panic attack that really lasted like a week and a half.

6. Read at least 1 fiction book per month. The roommate has me reading these books now, and the Boy (he needs a nickname, Bestie) is insisting that I read these books immediately so we can go see the movie. I'm mildly concerned about the rape scene. In general, I really hate reading/seeing people who are just cruel to one another, but rape/abuse scenes are especially hard to stomach. Anyway, I digress. I plan to read fiction books this year, because it's good for me to unwind and gives me something to look forward to.

I did pretty well at this one. I did spend like 6 months reading the 4th Game of Thrones book because it was God-awful, but the others were all fantastic. I also read all of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo books, Dune, Lamb, Ender's Game, Learning to be Good, and I think a couple of others. It may not have been one book per month, but some of those books were monstrous. I'm counting this one as a win.


Anyway, here is to a year full of love, laughter, growth, and joy. I'm going to get rid of some of the bad stuff and integrate more of the good stuff and hope for the best. I hope all of you make the best out of it, too. I think I did ok at that. How was your year? Did you do everything you wanted to?