Resolutions

How are you all doing on your resolutions 11 days into the new year?  I have read about a million blog posts and articles about resolutions.  Some give strategies about making resolutions or keeping them.  Others say we should avoid them altogether and have mantras instead.  That seems a little crunchy or goofy to me.  But to each his own.  I made resolutions this year and decided to share.  1.  Get healthier.  2.  Cook more.  3.  Pay down debt.  Not necessarily in that order.  Actually I would say number three is the most important.  And all three of my goals this year work together.  The more I cook, the less we will eat out, and the more money we'll have to pay down debt.  Also presumably, I'll cook healthier food than restaurants, and it will help me to get healthier too.  So it might be cheating that my goals are all connected, but it will also give them more teeth.  I'm either going to succeed big or fail big! 

One week in I'm doing pretty good and still feeling upbeat about them, so I think that's success.  Usually I've quit by now :)  Here's what I've (we've) done so far to ensure that we are successful this year:

1.  I worked the budget this year much tighter than I normally do.  I am spreadsheet gal, and so I get some kind of weird enjoyment out of crunching numbers and running scenarios.  I tell Matt that it's my "artwork."  I ran a year long scenario based on last year's expenses showing results if we execute on our plan this year.  I think the results motivated both us to commit to the plan.  I was initially motivated by Jenny at Mama Needs Coffee.   Like Jenny, we also took Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace several years ago but have never been gazelle intense about it.  And we won't be debt-free in 15 months like Jenny, but more discipline in our lives cannot be anything but good.

2.  Meal planning has become a normal part of the schedule.  I actually started this to some degree last year.  And I did cook more last year than the previous, but I am going to be much more vigilant about it in 2015.  I know that there will be nights that I just don't feel like cooking, and those nights we are probably going to eat cereal or sandwiches.  I also have a huge advantage - my mom is here two days a week, and she cooks.  I know how awesome that is, and I do not take it for granted.  So that means if I can cook three other days during the week, then we can eat leftovers one day and cereal/sandwiches/soup/whatever another day.  It's really quite doable.  No excuses.

A big part of meal planning is recipe hunting.  I have finally acquired a group of recipes that I like (they aren't organized!), and I'm constantly hunting new ones.  My kids hate it when I try a new recipe!  But they like it when I cook something good.  I get recipes from a myriad of places.  I mentioned on here before that Southern Living's Easy Weeknight Favorites is one of my favorite cookbooks.  I also get emails from My Fitness Pal, and I find recipes in magazines like Real Simple.  Really anywhere and everywhere.  And then there are some nights when I just make something up.  Put some olive oil in the skillet and throw in whatever is in the fridge! Practice makes perfect, and I have found that I am better cook than I was in 2013 or the years before.

3.  What have I done to jump start getting healthier?  Well, I actually started this one last year too.  I started exercising in the morning before work most days back in August or July.  I am NOT a morning exercise person, but it's just the time when I have the most chance of doing it throughout the day.  Obviously, I am work during the day, and the evenings are busy and chaotic with homework, dinner and baths.  By the time the kids are in bed, I just want to sit down with a glass of wine and unwind.  So I started to force myself to get up in the morning.   I do the best when Matt gets up too.  I hate to be the only one waking up in the morning!  Of course, I have a read a few articles recently that have found that morning exercise is not as good for you as night exercise.  Go figure.  Oh well, any exercise is better than none in my stage of life. 

I also have used My Fitness Pal on and off to count calories and drink Slim Fast Shakes for some meals to control and track calories.  They work well when I don't have time to pack lunch or fix breakfast, which is most days. To lose weight, I can only eat between 1100-1200 calories per day.  Ugg..that is not much, especially when I'm saving calories for wine!   Hopefully, once I meet my goal, I can go back to 1500-1600 calories per day.  Oh to be old!  Aches and pains and no food!

Well there you have it.  Those are my resolutions for 2015.  Hopefully I'm not wallowing in failure in December!

Here are some pics of the kids to hold you over!

Epic battles

Hannah's crazy morning hair