2008 Resolution - Keep Moving!

2007 was an odd year for me. I'd already lost the weight in 2006. In 2006, I also faced my anxiety over swimming by taking lessons and losing the panic over having my face under water. I also started guitar lessons back in November of 2006. I didn't really have any definite goals for this last year. I wanted to exercise and be fit, not just "not fat". I wanted to work on healthier eating habits, too.

Here's what happened:
Started cycling.
Took our summer vacation in the mountains, tent camping. Proved kids can survive full week without cartoons & xbox.
Ate more veggies, less meat.
Ate breakfast more than half the week.
Cut my caffeine intake from two pots of coffee per day to one cup of coffee or a cup or two of tea.
Switched from generic guitar lessons to classical.

Sometime this fall I started running, too. Not sure how that happened. Maybe it was as part of a plan to jog next to my 6-year-old while she's trying to get rid of the training wheels. (She's not quite tall enough for her new bike, so training wheels are still on. Oh well.)

And the healthier food has caught on with the family. The kids might not be ready to dig into sweet potato curry with spinach yet, but they've been very good about trying new things alongside the normal main dish. They like the cauliflower, tolerate butter beans, hate black-eyed peas, and love when we pick up a sampling of three or four different types of apples to slice up for a taste testing as a snack or side. Or when we get one type of apple from three different countries and compare (fuji is great for this).

The healthier eating meant more homemade food. This lead to a drop in the money spent on eating out. The change in diet also made a difference in the number of people taking allergy meds. And in the number of colds, all good for the budget.

All good things. I'm happy with what's been accomplished. There's not that much I want to CHANGE this year. So, 2008 is going to have to be about momentum. Need to keep going on this path, and to see if I can pull everyone else in this house along for the ride. Not in a kicking-and-screaming way. More like the way the trail-a-bike allows the kids to pedal along while attached to my bike.

So, for 2008:
Health/Fitness Goals - I'm going to start training now for the Thanksgiving Half-Marathon. Signed up for a Monday morning running clinic with the Atlanta Track Club that starts January 7. The group is training to run the Atlanta Women's 5k on March 22. On my own, I'll be prepping for the Chattahoochee Challenge 10k. That's February 9, so the next four weeks are the first big push for this year. (Reminder - SIGN UP this week!) I'll pick another few races for between now and fall, but one of them will not be the Peachtree on July 4. I prefer the bike when temps are over 90, thank you very much.
I'm also going to ride a half or metric century later this year. I remember seeing a few listed in my area last year, but will have to do my research for 2008. 30-40 mile rides were the norm for my summer Saturdays, so I should be able to take it (gradually) up to the 50-60 mile mark.

House/Home Goals - Stick with "try something new" with the kids. I'll keep working in new fruit/veggie combos, and see if I can work in a meatless day or two for everyone each week. Simplifying is another area on which we all need to work. It's easier with the boys than with my daughter, but the one toy in, one (or more) toy out policy needs to be enforced. I'm applying the same rule to myself, as I'm replacing more of my now oversized wardrobe pieces.

In addition to the items above, I'm going to work on planning. Mini-goals, checkpoints, calendars. This one will have to begin once the kids are back in school. Between, school, music/sports lessons (theirs & mine), travel, work, and life, there's too many variables before we settle into the new schedule.