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

Amazon

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...

Photo by Fredrik Öhlander 

Linking up with:
My Girlish Whims
Wonderful Wednesday
A Little Bit of Everything
Welcome Wednesday
Party in your PJ's
Wonderful Wednesday
Little Things Thursday
Home & Garden Thursday
Creative Inspirations