Resolutions Off to a Great Start in 2013

The first month of 2013 comes to a close today. It’s already been a busy year, and if the weather for the month of January is any indication, this year is going to be a doozy when it comes to weather. Temperatures in the 70s one day, then plummeting to the 20s with snow the next day. Just this week, we’ve had 70 degrees and sunshine, rain, severe thunderstorm warnings, and now 30 degrees and snow. You can’t help but wonder what the rest of the year will hold.

Despite the weird weather patterns, however, I have been able to make some progress on those New Year’s resolutions that I set just 31 short days ago. I’ll update you on the progress I’ve made, partly to satisfy your curiosity and partly because it’s a way to help me stay focused and on track.

My first resolution related to my writing. Yes, I intend to write every day, but mainly because that has now become a habit for me, and I intend to post a blog every day, which is also habit. I did miss posting a blog a couple days in January, but sometimes things just come up, and there doesn’t end up being enough time left in the day to get it done. My real resolution for writing is to finish the mysterious project. I have made a little progress on that, not nearly what I should have by this point, but I can say that I have worked on it a bit, which is better than having to say that I haven’t worked on it at all. As I rededicated myself to another resolution about mid-month, I find that I do need to rededicate myself to this resolution, and I need to take steps to ensure that despite my busy schedule, and despite my other resolutions, this one gets some of my time, so that by the end of the year, a short 11 months from now, I will have the project completed. This one is a lofty resolution, indeed, but if I focus, I can do it.

My second resolution related to my reading. Because I failed to hit the 75-book mark in 2012, I’m trying to do so in 2013. In order to stay on pace to reach 75 books by the end of the year, I need to read at least 6.25 books a month. As of the writing of this blog (around 1:00 P.M. thanks to a snow day), I have read five books: Many Waters and An Acceptable Time by Madeleine L’Engle, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Macbeth by William Shakespeare, and The Education of Hyman Kaplan by Leonard Q. Ross. The first two by L’Engle finished up the five-book set in her time travel series. I reread The Hunger Games because my English 200 class has been assigned the trilogy, and I needed to reread it so I could write test questions and discussion board topics and so I could remember enough to be able to answer any questions the students might have. I read Macbeth with my English IV classes. Finally, I read the Ross book because my “other” son, Jeremy, suggested it and let me borrow it. It’s a very funny read about an immigrant in the 1930s who is attempting to learn the very confusing English language.

I’m aware that five books is less than 6.25 books. However, I have read one-fourth of Catching Fire, the second book of The Hunger Games trilogy, again because the English 200 students are reading it, and I need to write test questions and discussion board topics. And according to my Kindle, I am 60% finished with Dracula. My hope is that by the end of the day today, I will have finished Dracula. If I can do so, then I will be at exactly 6.25 books, which is right on target. I believe this is doable, and I will come back to the blog later today and leave a comment letting you know whether it happens. On January 2, I posted a blog “Read the Bible in a Year,” and though I didn’t mention it in my January 1 resolution blog, this is part of my reading resolution. By the end of the year, I want one of those 75 books to be the Bible. I included in that blog, a daily reading plan to make that happen. I have followed that plan and have read every day in January. Thus far, that means I have completed the books of Genesis and Matthew. I’m a third of the way through Psalms, half way through Romans, and a few chapters into Exodus. This plan is so simple and easy to follow, as long as I stick with it, reading the Bible in a year won’t be a problem.

My third resolution related to weight loss. Last year, this one was a major fail. I ended the year at the same weight I began the year, though I had wanted to lose 20 pounds. I knew it was something I needed to work on, but I just simply failed to do that part. I started 2013 with a slightly different goal, lose five pounds per month, for a total of 60 by the end of the year. By January 21, when I weighed in, I discovered I was still on the 2012 track. I knew if this was going to happen, I had to be the one to make it happen. At this point, I did a blog about my weight-loss goal, “Diet Food for Thought.” During my grocery shopping that day, I bought more fruits and vegetables, and I set my mind to achieving this goal. Ten days after that blog, I’m very pleased to be able to say that I have lost a total of 6.4 pounds, which means that for January, I have met my goal of at least five pounds for the month.

So, what have I done these last ten days? Exactly what I should have been doing the first 21 days, and then perhaps I would have actually lost more during the month. I started exercising on the morning of January 22. Using Denise Austin’s Daily Dozen DVD, I got up a half hour earlier so that I could do the 12-minute exercise for that day. This video is great. It has seven days’ of exercises, each lasting just 12 minutes. Each minute, there is a different move. There are exercises for cardio, for toning, and for yoga. It’s a great variety so you don’t get bored. It’s fast and easy so you can work it in. I did these exercises on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of that week. On Friday, we had a snow day, so I did the Daily Dozen routine, and I added the one-mile walk from the Walk Away the Pounds DVD with Leslie Sansone. It takes just 18 minutes to do the one-mile walk. I did the same routine on Saturday. I did skip exercising on Sunday and Monday, went back to it for Tuesday, but skipped it again yesterday. Today, with another snow day, I did the Daily Dozen routine but not the walk. The point is I am exercising. I can’t do all the moves, and I sometimes go a little slower than they do, but hey, I’m terribly out of shape. I’m at least trying to work myself up to the level that they do on the DVD. As I get better at it, I’ll add more to the routine. In addition to exercising, though, I am using the Lose It! app on my Kindle, and keeping track of what I eat and how much I exercise. This keeps me on track. I stay within my daily budget for calories. It also forces me to make healthier eating choices. Finally, I weigh every day. It’s great motivation to see even a half-pound drop in the weight, and it’s helpful for staying on track as well. I also wrote down my measurements as they were on January 21, but according to the Denise Austin plan, I won’t do measurements again until February 11, which is three weeks from the original date. Right now, having met my goal for January, I’m feeling very good about moving into February.

My fourth resolution related to movies. There is a list of classic movies I have not yet seen, and I identified ten classics that I would like to watch at some point during the year. In January, I haven’t watched any of them. Jimmy did bring The Shawshank Redemption for us to watch one night, but there was something on television that we’d forgotten was going to be on, so we ended up watching that instead. I’m thinking, though, that with the snowy forecast ahead for the weekend, Saturday night would make for a great movie night.

My final resolution related to food. I’m still trying new recipes and finding keepers. At some point I’ll share with you some of the recipes I’ve tried this year. However, this year’s goal was to try at least one new restaurant every month. This was successful. We tried Mi Pequena Hacienda in Lexington, Texas Longhorn Steakhouse in Lexington, and the Big Blue Smokehouse right here in Jackson. I would return to all of these restaurants. We called in the order to the Mexican restaurant, and though there were a couple mistakes (it was a huge order), the food was really good. We dined in at the other two, and the food and service were both good. I’m already thinking about what restaurant we might want to try in February.

All in all, I’ll have to call January a successful month in regard to my resolutions. Yes, there are some things I need to improve upon, such as spending more time on the project and watching a classic movie, but I’m confident I will finish Dracula by tonight, which will have me on track for the reading goal, and I’m also confident with the success I’ve had in just the last ten days of January, I will remain motivated to continue my weight-loss plan through February. I’ve no doubt the restaurant goal will be met; we love to eat out when we travel. Keeping a resolution is a matter of making up your mind about what is important to you. We can all do it. I’m looking forward to following through with my resolutions during the remainder of the year.

Looking Forward to Several Things

Tonight’s one of those nights I’m just not feeling the love for writing. It’s not that I suddenly don’t love writing anymore. It’s just that I’m tired and would rather do something else. However, since I’ve already missed a couple days this month, I feel like I should write something, so I’ll write about a few things I’m looking forward to.

I’m kind of looking forward to tomorrow’s blog because it’ll be my update blog for how well I’m doing with the New Year’s resolutions I made, and since I’ve been a little more successful this month than I was at the end of the year last year, I’m looking forward to actually getting on paper what my progress is.

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to another snow day, and I hope this one turns out to be just snow with no ice. I don’t like it as much if the snow interferes with the kids coming in on the weekends, but I don’t turn down a snow day.

I’m also looking forward to warmer weather. Yes, I know I just said I was looking forward to a snow day, but that’s just because it’s so cold. If it’s going to be in the 20s and 30s, then it needs to snow. If it’s not going to snow, then it needs to warm up. I’ll enjoy snow days as I get them, but I hate going outside in the cold and since the snow days will be few and far between, meaning I’m having to go outside in the cold, I’m looking forward to warmer weather.

Finally, I’m looking forward to getting to cook supper tomorrow. Monday was a late day. After my doctor’s appointment that morning, I had to come back here and attend a PD. By the time I got home, I was too tired to cook. Yesterday, we made the trip to Powell County to make up the Governor’s Cup competition that was postponed from Saturday. I got home about 10:45 P.M. Obviously, there was no cooking to be done then. And tonight, it was about 6:30 P.M. when I got home, thanks to another PD. Once again, there was no cooking. After suppers of grilled cheese, a ham and cheese sandwich, and pigs in a blanket, I’m ready to cook something to eat.

It doesn’t have to take a lot to make you happy. As long as there is something to look forward to, you should be a fairly happy person.

Balance Test a Dizzying Experience

Today I had my videonystagmography (VNG) test done. It wasn’t as bad as I was afraid it might be, and the doctor doing the test did manage to make me dizzy, but hopefully that means that when I go back to the ENT in three weeks, he will be able to tell me what caused my labrynthitis problems to begin with. Telling me how to avoid it would be even better.

I had been told to dress comfortably so I did. The doctor doing the test got me back at my scheduled appointment time, which is amazing. I had been told me to allow an hour and a half for the test, and it was finished in about an hour and fifteen minutes. Most of the rest of what I knew about the test was gathered from reading about VNG online.

The test started out simply enough. Look to the left, the right, up, and down. Do any of these make you dizzy? The answer to each of those was, “No.” After that, I was told to stand with one foot on each side of a taped line on the floor, to put my arms out in front of me, to close my eyes, and to march in place. It felt like this lasted forever, and I felt like I was starting to get wobbly, but in reality it probably lasted a minute or less.

Afterwards, I had to take my shoes off and allow the doctor to place a harness on me. Then, I stepped into this booth-like structure. I’m not really sure what to call it. It was like a three-sided booth, brightly colored in oranges, blues, pinks, and greens, with a small monitor at about eye-level.  Nothing came on the monitor; I suppose it was just there to give me something to look at. There were two straps hanging from the top of the booth that the doctor attached to my harness. This was all done to keep me from falling should I get dizzy during this part of the test. The doctor told me that she could tell me when something new was about to happen but she couldn’t tell me what the new thing was. For most of the tests here, I had my eyes open, but there were a couple times I had to close my eyes. At any time, if I touched the sides of the booth, it was marked as a fail, and we had to do it again. I failed about four, maybe five, times.

The test here involved moving the booth on me. I wasn’t moving, but the booth was, and a couple times it made me feel like I was losing my balance, and automatically, before I could stop it, as a complete reflex, my hands immediately went to the sides of the booth, so we had to repeat. After that initial time, though, when I knew what was coming, I could use my hands to balance myself without touching the sides of the booth. After a few times with the booth moving, the base where I was standing started moving. I had a major fail when the base tilted me forward, or at least it felt like that’s what it was doing, and both hands went straight to the front of the booth. Of course, she reminds me I can’t touch the booth, but I’m telling you, you just can’t help it. That reflex is when you feel like you’re about to fall to reach out and try to stop it from happening.

When we finished that part, I put my shoes back on, we went to another room, and I spent the remainder of the test sitting on a table. Sounds simple enough, right? That’s what they’d like you to think. I had to put on goggles, and that completely blocked my peripheral vision. All I could see was what was directly in front of me. Then she told me not to blink. They had to take pictures of my eye movements to check my balance. Yes, you read that right. I’m having a balance test done on my ears and they have to take pictures of my eyes to get the results. And by the way, do you have any idea how hard it is not to blink after you’ve just been told not to blink?

First, I had to follow a red dot around the screen. That part wasn’t too difficult. It was easier to do that part without blinking so much. It was those parts that seemed to last for as long as a minute that not blinking was quite the chore. There was a little bell that chimed when we reached the end of a testing phase, and I was as bad as one of Pavlov’s dogs waiting to hear that chime so I could blink. Of course, had I been one of Pavlov’s dogs, I would have been in trouble if there had been any retaliation for blinking.

After that, I had to shake my head to keep up with chimes. I was told not to worry about keeping up with the chimes because nobody could do it. Then it was nodding my head with the same situation. The doctor then asks pleasantly, “Dizzy?” My response, “You think?” Then there were several other things involving watching the red dot, closing the eye covers making it completely dark inside the goggles, which really isn’t a lot of fun for someone who is slightly claustrophobic. I had to recline and look over my shoulder. I had to roll to my left side then my right side and look at the wall. All the while the little camera in those goggles kept snapping pictures of my eyes.

The really fun part was at the end when she took the ear-checker-thingy and blew hot air directly into my right ear, then asked me to count to 100 while waiting for the little chime and while trying like crazy not to blink so we wouldn’t have to repeat it. Then the hot air went into the left ear and we talked about girls’ names for each letter of the alphabet. As if that wasn’t enough, she then had to do cold air into my right ear, and I had to count backwards from 100, and then the right ear, and we did boys’ names. And finally, we were finished.

The doctor took the goggles back and advised me to sit up slowly. I had to sit there for a few minutes to get my bearings. The air in the ears definitely made me dizzy. Needless to say, I walked very slowly back out to the waiting room, where Jimmy said that I looked quite woozy. I may have been dizzy, but I’m grateful I wasn’t nauseous since he took me to Carino’s for lunch. I slept on the ride home. It rained, and when we first got back in the Explorer and he turned the wipers on, I knew I couldn’t watch them going back and forth for the next hour and a half.

All in all, I’m glad the test is finished. I’m anxious to find out the results. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. If you ever have to have one done, it will be fine; it’s not anything really to stress or worry about. Just be sure that you do dress comfortably, be sure to take a driver, and be sure to walk very slowly when you leave. After a few hours, you should be fine again. I’m still moving a little slow, trying to avoid fast movements that will make me dizzy. I should be fine to return to work tomorrow.

Don’t Let a Dream Become a Regret

Dreams are an important part of life. Dreams keep us motivated, provide us a path to follow, and keep us young. John Barrymore once said, “A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams.”

One of the most important things in life is to live each day as if it could be our last on Earth. Another important thing in life is while you’re living, pursue your dreams. Don’t let opportunities come and go so that 20 years down the road you discover that your dreams have been replaced with regrets.

We’ve all heard that anything worth having is worth fighting for, worth working for. That would be our dreams. These dreams will not come true without a little work and perseverance on our part. We have to make the decision to actively pursue our dreams, not to assume that they will come to fruition just because we will it to be so. Nothing really works that way. Therefore, when we are presented with the opportunity to achieve our dreams, we need to look inside that open door before we close it again. Sometimes closed doors don’t reopen. Don’t let that become a regret down the road.

As long as we have dreams to look forward to, we can stay young at heart. The things that keep us going in life are those things that we have to look forward to; those are the things that give us hope. Don’t ever give up on your dreams, and don’t ever let those dreams become regrets.

A Little Break before a Busy Week

I know I mention a lot about how time flies, but it really does seem that the older I get, the faster it goes. Who can believe that it’s already the last week of January 2013? I’m already thinking ahead to the New Year’s resolutions update blog that I will be writing on Thursday, as well as trying to determine exactly what I need to do to make sure that I am on pace to make them all happen. As usual, some are going better than others.

It’s been a pretty peaceful, long weekend. I thoroughly enjoy days when I can stay at home all day, especially during the school year when those days are rare. Thanks to a snow day yesterday and the cancellation of Governor’s Cup activities for today, I managed to get two days in a row here at home. I’m very grateful for that. I accomplished a few things, though not quite as much as I would’ve liked to, but that’s par for the course considering it’s real easy to get a little lazy when I get to just stay home.

Tomorrow will find me back in the world as it is Sunday and we’ll be going to church, and then Monday, I get another day off work, but I’m thinking I’d probably rather be at work. I have to have a balance test done on Monday so my ENT can identify the source of my vertigo issues. The good news is that since he took me off the medicine, I’ve had a really good three weeks, and I’ve felt more normal than I have in quite some time. I just hope the balance test doesn’t make me terribly dizzy. I’ve gotten rather used to not being dizzy, and I like the way that feels.

This week will be a long one, though. After the balance test, I have to get back to Jackson in time to attend a PD at 3:15. Tuesday, I’ll have to go with the academic team to Powell County after school to make up the Governor’s Cup quick recall that was cancelled for today. Wednesday, there is another PD and Bible study. I’m pretty sure, that as of now, I get to come straight home on Thursday and Friday after work. Though earlier when I looked at the extended forecast, there was snow on Friday, so we might get another long weekend. With the long days on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I wouldn’t object to that. Of course, I’d prefer it just be snow this time. The ice can stay away.

For now, though, it’s time to go read a book. The only real question is do I read the one that I’ve assigned to English 200 so I can write some test questions and discussion board topics, or do I read the one I’ve started on my Kindle? Maybe I’ll read a little of both.

Snow Day? More Like an Ice Day

We finally get a snow day, and while some areas have gotten snow, around where I am, it’s more ice than snow. Is it really too much to ask for just a little bit of snow on a snow day? I really don’t like it when we get ice. Snow might be bad, but ice is evil. I just hope that everyone who must be out and about today arrives safely to his or her destination, and everyone who doesn’t have to be out and about today will stay home.

This is our third snow day. The first, if you remember, was in October, and in the middle of the week; I don’t remember what I did that day, though I’m sure it wasn’t much, and if it was, then it was probably catching up on stuff for school. The second was the Friday before our Christmas break was to begin, so I spent that day making final preparations for Christmas. Today’s snow day leads us into another three-day weekend, and since I have a doctor’s appointment on Monday, I get a four-day weekend. The only thing about that is I didn’t leave lesson plans yesterday when we left school since I’d planned to do that today, so one thing I will have to do this weekend is write out Monday’s lesson plan and email it in so my sub will have assignments for my students.

Other than that, I’ve just been sitting back and taking it easy. I did get up and exercise for the fourth day in a row, and I did a double session since I got to sleep in and had the time. I’m proud of myself for that accomplishment, and I’ll tell you more about that in next week’s resolution-update blog. I’ve also done a few little housekeeping items such as hanging up the clean clothes and emptying the dishwasher. I’ve even gotten some chicken out to thaw so I can try a new recipe this evening for supper, a chicken taco casserole. I’ve also checked Facebook, Pinterset, the weather sites, and the news. The rest of the afternoon will be comprised of reading. I have a book nearly finished, and I’m sure I’ll finish it soon and can start another. The biggest disappointment of the day is that because of the slick, icy roads, I won’t get to have all the family here this evening, but it’s better to use wise judgment and stay off the roads than take a chance.

Hopefully everyone is home, or gets home, safely. While today is not good for getting out and about, it’s perfect for hanging out in the recliner with a blanket and a good book. That’s where I plan to stay for most of the day.

We All Just Need to Chill

I saw a Facebook status update earlier today from a former student, and I have to say that she’s one smart cookie. She may be just 19 years old, but she has more common sense than a lot of adults more than twice her age.

Her status related to having to sit and wait for a car accident to be cleared away. The ambulances and police were still there working to take care of those who were in the accident. She commented about how others who were sitting and waiting were also busy honking their horns and otherwise being rude. She also commented about how those same folks, even though they were being inconvenienced, were having a better day that the folks in the wreck.

How many of us have reacted the same way? Whether we’re running late or whether we’re just so caught up in ourselves we aren’t paying attention to anything else, we’ve all become frustrated by having to sit and wait for an accident to be cleared or for construction workers to do their jobs or for a new driver who’s taking his/her time. Basically, we all need to just chill.

Accidents happen. When they do, they will cause disruptions. It’s just something we have to deal with. Honking your horn isn’t going to make the emergency personnel work any faster. Sitting there either cursing under your breath or blatantly complaining aloud isn’t going to make anything happen any faster. Instead of spending our time sitting there, frustrated and aggravated, wouldn’t a much better use of our time be to be thankful that we weren’t in an accident, and even if we are late, we’ll at least get where we’re going without taking a detour to the hospital? And after we give thanks for our good fortune, it wouldn’t hurt if we offered some prayers for the safety of those who were involved in the accident.

It’s easy to forget sometimes that the world does not revolve around us. There are other people out there, and many of them have worse problems than we do at the moment. Even when their misfortune interferes with what we want to do, we need to be polite and thankful that we aren’t having the same, or a worse, misfortune of our own.

Keep Your Cool Safely

It is cold. For two days, the temperatures have barely hit the freezing mark. When you have to let your car warm up because it’s 10 degrees before you leave for work, it’s just too cold to be out and about. And frankly, there’s no reason for it to be this cold if there isn’t snow involved. I hate having to get out and about in these temperatures. Days this cold make for perfect days to stay in the recliner with a blanket, a good book, and a cup of hot chocolate.

Weather this cold is dangerous, especially for the elderly or those who live alone and need help taking care of themselves. When the temperature drops this low, it is definitely the time to check on your neighbors, especially those who have trouble taking care of themselves. A quick phone call or visit is all that would be required to make sure our elderly or handicapped neighbors have all they need to survive and function in these extremely cold temperatures. If these folks don’t have enough heat or food for these drastic conditions, be a good neighbor and share.

This is the time of year to be sure that you are prepared for these days of frigid arctic temperatures. If you aren’t prepared, you won’t be much good to your own household, and you definitely won’t be much good to your neighbors if they need you.

If your only source of heat is electricity, be sure you have plenty of warm blankets for everyone in the house. If you have other sources of heat, such as gas or a wood- or coal-burning stove or fireplace, be sure you have plenty of wood, coal, or gas on hand.

If you only have electricity as a source for preparing food, be sure to have enough foods on hand that do not need prepared, something you can eat without cooking, such as lunch meats and bread for sandwiches, peanut butter and jelly, or cereal and milk.

Be sure to have extra water on hand, especially if you have a well as your source of water since the pump won’t work if you happen to lose your electricity. Frozen pipes are a hazard during these arctic times as well, so keep some water available for drinking and some available for brushing your teeth, sponge bathing, or washing off some dishes.

In addition, make sure your car is prepared. You should have a couple big blankets when it is this cold, even if you aren’t traveling far. It doesn’t take long to freeze. Also, be sure to have a flashlight, flares, jumper cables, an ice scraper, snacks, and water, especially if you’re taking a long trip. The last thing you want is to be stranded by the road in the middle of nowhere (or even somewhere) with no way to stay warm until help arrives. If you’re going to make the news, it’s better to do so as a survivor than as a fatality.

A little preparedness can go a long way towards making a difficult situation a bearable one. Don’t forget to be prepared as the arctic temperatures may be around for a little while.

Diet Food for Thought

I considered not doing a blog today. After all, it is late. I’ve only been home for two hours after spending all day in Lexington. I already missed yesterday, so it’s not like I’ll have a perfect streak going. But despite all that, I decided that I’d try to get something up before I went to bed.

This week is a new week for me. It’s just halfway through the month, but I’ve rededicated myself to my weight-loss goal, which is not going to be an easy goal to keep. If I didn’t like food so much, it would sure be a lot easier. But I know it’s worth it in the end, so I’m going to try really hard. I’m going to start by getting up a half hour earlier in the morning and doing some exercises. I’m hoping by stating it in such an affirmative way that when the clock goes off, I will indeed get up and exercise. In theory, based on everything I’ve read, I should feel better all day just by exercising in the morning. I’ll have to let you know sometime if that’s the case or not.

I also made a point of buying fruits and vegetables when I went grocery shopping today. That way when I want a snack, I can eat an apple and hopefully that will take care of it. I also bought a box of Weight Watchers Chocolate-Dipped Strawberry Ice Cream Bars to have as a treat or snack throughout the week, but I’m hoping the fruit and veggies will work out well for me. I bought whole-wheat sandwich-thins bread to use for making sandwiches to take to work for lunch. I plan to take baby carrots to eat with the sandwich so I’ll have something crunchy but it won’t be chips. I bought a jar of salsa so I can spice up my omelets. By adding more veggies to the omelet, perhaps I’ll add less cheese.

Ideally, I will get to the point where I actually plan, and stick to, a weekly menu. I know doing so would allow me to stay within an acceptable range of calories each day. If I can get to that point, I could even use Sunday afternoon to do a lot of the prep work so that cooking throughout the week would be easier. I don’t have a menu for this week, but I think I’ll try to sit down and plan one for next week.

I have an exercise plan. Starting this week, I will get up and do one exercise video before getting ready for work. After all, I’m only starting with a 12-minute video, but, hey, it’s a start. Then, before going to bed, I’ll do another exercise video for 18 minutes. Together, that will total 30 minutes of exercise, which for somebody like me who usually does absolutely none, that’s impressive. I don’t want to shock my body to death, so I’m going to ease into this. Hopefully after a couple weeks, I can increase both the morning and evening exercise routines. That’s the goal at least.

If I start, and then keep, doing the exercises, and if I plan my meals appropriately and stick to the menus, then I should start to see some results. It won’t be easy. I can promise you that I won’t want to get up when that clock goes off in the morning. However, I owe it to myself to do so. They say nothing worth having comes easy. I’ll just have to keep reminding myself of that as I make this journey. According to the calculators I’ve used, if I can lose one and a half to two pounds each week, I can reach my goal weight sometime between December 2013 and February 2014. That sounds like such a long time from now, but I didn’t put this weight on overnight, and it’s not going to come off overnight. But I am determined to make it happen. I would love it if this time next year you are reading a blog that details my success story.

Put Forth the Effort and Meet Your Goals

Making up your mind to do something is half the battle in getting it done. Sticking with it is the other half. Actually doing it usually isn’t the biggest part of the problem.

Consider studying for a test, especially an important one such as the ACT, SAT, MCAT, GRE, other college-admissions-based tests or tests that determine whether you’ll get a certificate to practice the job you just spend four years studying for. There’s usually a lot of stress involved with these tests, and those who study or take practice tests often score higher. This, however, takes a lot of time. It is a commitment. Making up your mind to do the studying takes some effort. Once you’ve done that, though, the battle isn’t over. You then have to start and then stick with it. That requires a lot of determination on your part. Whether you do or don’t ultimately depends on how bad you want to achieve a certain score. Let’s face it. There are some students who can do well and get the high scores without a lot of effort. They’re lucky that way. But most of us would have to work for it, and that requires a lot of time. There may come a point where you’ve put in all you can and the score you have will be the best you’re going to get. If, however, you have done your best to prepare for that test and that’s the best score you’re going to get, be proud of yourself for having done your best. There’s no shame in what you’ve done, if that’s the best you can do.

Consider dieting. Many of us are yo-yo dieters. We diet for a while, lose a little weight, and then, for whatever reason, give up and gain back what we lost. We’re actually lucky if we don’t gain back more than we’d lost to begin with. This is another case of getting out of it what you put into it. This is one of the hardest things you will ever do. It’s best if you try to do it with a buddy or with some sort of support system in place. However, after you make up your mind to lose weight, and you’re serious about it, you will begin to put the effort into it that is required to be sure you actually lose some weight. The hard part here will be when ultimately you reach a plateau and go a week or two without losing a pound. That will be the time when it is most difficult to stay with it and follow through. Don’t give up, though. Hang in there, and make a few adjustments so that you start losing again. Maybe you need to cut a few more calories or add a little more exercise to burn some more calories. I’ve discovered that making up my mind to lose weight is easy. It’s the following through I have the most trouble with, which ironically actually means that I’ve not fully committed myself to losing the weight. In reality, I think I’ve made up my mind to do it, but I haven’t actually done so. If I had, then I would be doing more to make it happen. I’d be putting more effort into it. I’d be able to stick with it longer.

The point is anything worth having is worth working for, whether that’s a good score on a test or losing 20 pounds. If you want something bad enough, you’ll work hard to achieve it. One of my resolutions for the year was to lose at least five pounds each month. That sounds simple enough. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds. I’m going to have to work at it, even for that five pounds. I’m going to have to make it happen. It won’t happen just because I want it to. The month is more than half over, which doesn’t leave me a lot of time. Given that, I’m going to renew my efforts to make sure that it happens. I wish it were easier, but then I remember that the things we work hardest for mean the most to us, so if this requires a bit more effort, then perhaps it will mean enough to me that I’ll actually keep the pounds off.