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Wednesday, January 22, 2020

My 2020 Resolutions



Hello, dear friends.  I have been blogging for almost eight years now, and I have never written a post on my New Year's Resolutions.  The reason could be that I don't usually make them.  Not this year though, it's a whole new me.  When I conquer these goals, I will be pretty close to perfect in my eyes.





Keeping It Off

Last year's resolution of taking 20 lbs. off is the only resolution that I ever kept.  Ever.  In my whole 40++ years of life.   As a matter of fact, I went beyond, which is rare for me - I exceeded my goal by two pounds.

If it weren't for the Royal Wedding and Weight Watchers, I would never have been able to do it.

I have been on every diet in the world.  Everything from  Cambridge to Stillman.   When I was in college, I even designed my own custom diet consisting of Tab and Marlboro Lights.  If you need the specs on this one, feel free to email me.  And send me a cashier's check for 200 bucks.

A friend asked me what I did this time to make it click.  One of my biggest motivations is the fact that I have entered that scary decade where anything could happen.  At this point, I will do pretty much anything to avoid dying young.  I want to be a hot grandma someday!

Weight Watchers works on a point system and gives you a list of hundreds of foods that are zero points, meaning you can eat as much of them as you want.  The majority of the list are fruits and veggies.  Everything that is good for you.  So I was achieving two goals - losing weight and eating healthy.

Now it's all about keeping it off.  I'm not worried for a few reasons.  The Mister and I don't have children living at home, so there are no fun snacks stocking our cupboards.  So if the Mister brings home some junk food, he knows that he has to hide it from me.  If there is one thing I don't need is temptation.

I have never felt that I denied myself of anything.  I still drink wine, use creamer in my coffee, and enjoy the occasional dessert.

I took off the weight very slowly.  It took me nine months to take it off.  The good part of that is, during the holidays I ate pretty much what I wanted, and I only gained a pound. At my tender age, the weight comes off slowly, and it also goes on slowly as well.

I highly recommend this dressing, which I take everywhere in these containers, this scale, this popcorn, and this 1 pt muffin recipe if you are looking to take off a few LBs.  You can find my post on Weight Watchers and some of the other strategies that I found helpful right here.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on dieting - what works for you and what doesn't.



Charlotte Carlson

Struttin' & Liftin'

I have been pretty faithful to my walking regime.  I actually look forward to it if I am listening to a good book.  I have done a less than a stellar job however when it comes to sit-ups and lifting weights.  I promised myself that I would concentrate on this area at least 3 times a week.

How am I doing so far?
On a scale of one to ten, I give myself a two.



Less Salt More Peppa

I am a raging saltaholic.  Is there a support group for that?  On one of our first dates, the Mister sweetly asked, do you always season your food before you taste it? I answered, you bet I do!

But I have noticed that when I stay off the salt, the weight goes down.  I'm not giving it up entirely.  Probably just the night or two before I weigh myself.





Less Chat More Listening

This one will be one of the most difficult for me.  I have a tendency to get so excited about what I want to say while the other person is speaking, that I stop listening. This year, I am going to make a conscious effort to listen more and talk less.

This does not apply when it comes to the Mister because I need to guide and correct him a lot. 



Posture Makes Perfect

I mentioned my new posture corrector on my last favorite things post.  I want to have perfect posture by 2021.  Both my Mother and Grandmother suffered from Osteoperosis.  The odds are pretty good that I will inherit it.  So, if I get the big O, I'd rather skip the hump. 

Why didn't Mom and Gram have long legs or a big chest that I could have inherited from them?


Reading Outside the Box


There was a lot of hype around this book.  This is not my typical read.  But I thought, why not give it a whirl?  I did, and I must say, I enjoyed it.

Every so often, I am going to choose a book to read that is out of my realm. 

I give myself a four out of ten on this one.


Shop one/ Purge one



This is a section of the Mister's closet.  For as long as we have been married, he has prescribed to the buy one/ purge one theory.  If he buys 2 pairs of socks, he purges 2 pairs.  Same with every other article of clothing. 

As you can imagine, this has never been my practice.  I have five different sizes hanging in my closet.  You might even spy a moth-eaten argyle sweater tracing back to my college days in the bowels of my closet.  

But 2020 brings a whole new me.  I am going to try this for a year and will report back.  

Just don't tell the Mister because he'll want to take all the credit.


No Love/ No Buy



My new mantra is if I don't absolutely love it, I won't buy it.  I have so much stuff in my closet that was a good buy or has an impressive label that I never wear.    

I get an 8 out of 10 so far only because everything has been picked over after Christmas. 


Worry Less/Pray More

 This one has been one of my resolutions since my children were born.  I've got the praying down, but the worrying continues to be my struggle.  I used to think that I would stop worrying when the girls became adults.  

Au contraire
as my practically bilingual Monsieur would say.

I'd love to hear your resolutions/comments on weight loss!


Until next time...





Preppy Empty Nester
Preppy Empty Nester

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Feel free to contact me through comments and email. I love to hear from my readers!

25 comments:

  1. You can do it!! Most of those goals have often been on my list, too, but I forget about them at convenient times! I need a walking partner to motivate me...ughhh!

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  2. Katie, I think we are secret sisters. I could do every one of your resolutions. I lost !5# in one year using intermittent fasting. I would like to lose 15 more but I have gotten lax about snacks and sweets. I blame it on the grands and all their snacks.lol Again, Listening is my problem as well. You nailed that on the head for me as well. And Worry....oh my I inherited that from my grandmother. I do pray alot but worry is my enemy. I am like the Mister when it comes to clutter...I do purge a lot and I am determined that I will not bring anything new into my home unless I get rid of something as well. I will say the Thrift Store was delighted with the car load of things I took there last week. Hoping someone else will enjoy them.

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  3. My resolution - decided last night - is to walk and listen to books like you. Would you do a post on HOW you do it? What device and applications you recommend etc., it is all so complicated! THANK YOU in advance.

    P.S. I love your blog, I work from home and having your light hearted life to read about makes for a modern version of water cooler chat! I look forward to Wednesdays, drinking coffee on my 'break' and seeing what is new with you. Thank you.

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    1. Your P.S. is so charming and thoughtful. I am sure Katie will love reading it. I did.

      Annie

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    2. Hi Jane...Thank you for your sweet words. Yes, I will definitely do a post on my walks and audible books. I love when readers suggest topics. Especially during boring, bitter January when there is not a lot going on. Have a wonderful weekend, Jane.

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  4. Fun post Katie. You have made great resolutions. I lost a bunch of weight after retiring from teaching. Got healthy and felt so much better. Walking is the one thing I will keep up with. I have quit going to the gym since keeping my grandson and I kind of miss those light weights. I am trying to add some bodyweight exercises at home but I swear they are worse on soreness than the machines at the gym which might mean they are doing more. I really have maintained my weight loss which was done probably over the same time period as yours. I would love to lose 5 more, but those have been a wee bit harder. I think if I buck up and get there I can maintain it. Willpower needed!
    I took a wonderful wardrobe of Talbots clothing to our Goodwill after that weight loss. That was my go to shopping for teaching and I treated myself often. I hated losing all of it, but I have to tell you I liked my closet with less in it. Now, I will never be one of those capsule wardrobe people, but I have adhered to the buy one purge something pretty much myself and I must say I really like most of my clothes these days.

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  5. This is a great post. I know about 20 people who could learn to listen more carefully. I plan on dropping hints about this post! My resolution again is to purge all the unnecessary items from every room in the house. That might count as exercise too? Well done on the wt. loss and maintaining it. You look fantastic.


    Annie G

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  6. These are great resolutions! I joined Weight Watchers last year too and love that I have learned to eat healthy and in moderation; something I have always struggled with. My husband salts his food before tasting too which has led me to cook without using any in the hopes that he'll not overdo it.

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  7. Absolutely fantastic! When the kids were little I was on a medicine that made me gain 25 pounds, I did the low-carb you know the South Beach diet back in the day and I lost 36 pounds in three months. It’s not as easy now. I lost 10 pounds this summer when my dear Daisy passed away but I put it back on, my Mr. Nine said it’s fine, LOL but I got to say, my body felt better less the 10 pounds. Well, if you feel as good as you look lady, and you are going to have an absolutely wonderful 2020 especially with these resolutions in tow!

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  8. Hi Katie, I am hesitant to comment on this as I def have a few pounds to lose, but I also realized last fall that walking alone wasn't going to keep me fit. I found Robyn (Robin?) Long of the Balanced Life through Instagram and decided to do her 10-day pilates challenge. I did it, every day, from home, and even after only 10 days I could tell a tiny bit of difference in flexibility and strength. So I decided to subscribe, and now every morning, I have some prayer time, drink some coffee, and then hit the floor for either a 15-min or 30-min "pilates class." The Balanced Life is a subscription ($24/mo), very easy to follow, and the mantra is progress not perfection. I've been doing it 5 days a week faithfully since the middle of September. I do not look anything like a super model, but I can hold a plank, my hips don't hurt, and my shoulders aren't up by my ears. I think my clothes look better because my posture is definitely better. So, I would say, give it a try if you are looking for strength and flexibility. I want to be a grandma that can get on the floor and play! xx

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    1. Thank you so much for your note. I thought that you had to have special equipment to do pilates - that's how much I know! I will definitely check out robing site. I think that pilates may help me with my other goal - perfect posture. I appreciate you taking the time to read my blog. Have a wonderful weekend! xx

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  9. Losing weight can be a Challenge. When I want to lose weight, I go on the apple diet. Two scrambled eggs in the AM. Mid morning snack, 1 apple or 1 orange or a handful of strawberries, blueberries. Lunch 4 oz turkey, chicken, or steak. All the green vegetable you want to eat, lettuce, green beans, broccoli, just 1. Make. Salad with it and add 1 carb dressing. Another snack mid afternoon. Dinner the same. And then another snack. No potatoes, bread, rice, chips. The weight comes off pretty fast. No salmon or tuna, but you can have cod.

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  10. So wise to extinguish the unwanted behaviors with new and better actions. I want to pay more attention to my posture in 2020 as well.

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    1. Hi Michele! I have my posture corrector on now as I type this. We can do this! Have a wonderful weekend!

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  11. Every single one of these is fabulous! I like the one about reading outside your zone. I don't do that enough unless book club makes me! I need to buckle down and move more, eat less. Now, I must move "need" to "will."

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  12. Good for you! Some people, especially at my age give up on improving themselves. I have finally gotten those last 10 lbs off....by going low carb. Also can’t keep snack foods about...since they call to me. I do keep dark chocolate pieces in the freezer and a little square keeps me happy. I also have a big bag of blueberries in there. I eat a small bowl of frozen ones with a dollop of redi -whip on top and tell myself that it is ice cream. My go to snack is a handful of raw almonds and I try to keep hard boiled eggs in the fridge. You low wonderful Katie....

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  13. Darn auto correct. That was to read...you look wonderful...

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  14. I am so appreciative of this post and thought about writing you to ask about your obvious weight loss and how you did it. I can take it off just can't keep it off so please do updates on your maintenance. And, I could certainly do better with healthier choices. I also need to pick up your, uh Misters rule on purging. I have done well this past year but need to do more. Sill have a few school girl clothes in the storage closet :( Thanks Katie for putting it out there!!!

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  15. Congratulations on your weight loss. My body just laughs at me when I try to take the weight off. I am bound and determined though. The doctor told me I have to eat 1200 calories a day. SIGH!!! xo Laura

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  16. I am trying to keep the buy 1, purge 1 going since the downsize (except it doesn't work when you buy a set of 4 and only purge 1...of anything). We walk almost every day, and love it, but I've lost my walking buddy for awhile (long story that involved someone falling this week) and need to enlist a sibling or two to step it up with me. Junk food is a staple in our house (dessert after every meal), and that's not going to change. I am seriously trying to pray more, worry less, but sometimes I feel like that rote catechism from way back impedes real praying, do you know what I mean?
    Great post, with lots of great info, several pinned for me, the Mr. and my girls. Thanks!

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  17. Great resolutions - good luck with them! I am going to try and slow down a little, and enjoy monthly date night with my husband :)

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  18. Katyie I am a big weight watchers fan. I basically eat healthy (most of the time) and try to stay away from carbs as much as possible. I am not a sweet tooth so that is not an issue. I too have struggled with my weight since my teens. That tab brought back memories! I used to drink tab slushies for a treat. I did weight watchers in high school as well. At any rate whenever I put on a few pounds I go right back to weight watchers. I agree it is slow, but healthy and really not that hard to stick to. I do however cheat on the wine (alot!!)

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  19. Katie, love love your blog. I, like many of your readers, see myself in your posts! I am recommitting to WW (for the millionth time) and you have given me encouragement. Although I do not like making salads and eating them. Haha. I’m curious what kind of Uggs you wear for your walking. Just the short slip ons! I love mine too and am amazed how comfy they are even on long walks! A podcast I would recommend is called Chasing Cosby - very good investigative piece. Also loved The Dutch House On Audible - read by Tom Hanks. Have a great weekend!

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  20. Congratulations on your successful weight-loss journey; slow and steady is the smart way to do it. It's difficult to diet in my house because my slim and trim husband keeps our house stocked with plenty of carbs, snacks and treats :(

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  21. Resolutions are so hard - that's why I gave up on them. I did lose 17 pounds, though, over a year and a half. I feel so much better! Thank you for sharing at Party In Your PJ's!

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