now I'm off to eat zero-point soup

I love new beginnings. I love a reason for a fresh start. I love a second chance and an opportunity to be a better person.

Today is the 12th of January and so far so good. Almost all of my resolutions are going great. Now I may have a different story by the end of this week, but at any rate I've stuck to them all pretty well so far. Let's hope it lasts!

I've lost nine pounds since January 1st. I've never lost this much this fast, but then again I've never had this much to lose either. I'm counting points Weight-Watchers-style, but not actually going to meetings. I've exercised every day of this year except for one. I've finally worked myself up enough to where I can run again. Last night I ran for 25 minutes and while I didn't run the entire time, it was pretty close to the entire time and I felt great afterward.

We went to McDonald's one day last week and I was able to resist the temptation for the fries (another one of my goals). I will admit that I was STARVING that night before bed since I had wasted all of my calories on a hamburger happy meal with apple dippers. I won't be going back there again soon just to save the hassle (or rather, heartache). I do think it was a great learning lesson though. It was good to be able to go and stick to my plan and it was also good to be able to go and see what negative consequences it has (being hungry right after the meal and not feeling satisfied afterwards). So YAY for that one too!

I've obviously been blogging more which I think helps me tremendously with state of mind and I've been reading some every day. I really enjoy both of these so they're not hard to do, but it is hard to make them a priority.

Also, I've been trying to make sure that I meal plan each and every week. This helps me eat healthier and save money on grocery shopping since I end up making less trips to the store and buy ingredients that I can actually make a meal out of. On Saturday I made several meals. That will help out a lot this week and so will the fact that my fridge is stocked up with healthy foods.

What's weird to me is that one of my goals was to not drink soft drinks at all this year. I've done that before so I know I can do it, but over the past two years I've really struggled with cutting them out altogether again. For some reason this year, it's not been that difficult. I haven't had a single drink of soda since New Year's Eve and I haven't really missed it. I just hope it stays that way.

Last year I got pretty slack with taking vitamins. Part of that was because I was off birth control for the entire year so I didn't have that routine established and I would forget to take anything. So far I've taken my vitamin every day this year and I would definitely say that it is a routine already to me again. Easy peasy.

I'm doing great with the scripture memory even though I sort of cheated and started with a verse I already mostly knew. I will start learning a new one on the 15th. I'm excited about this resolution because I can already see how it's impacting my life. I think of the verse I'm working on (Galatians 6:9) several times a day and not just when I'm working on remembering it. I think about it at totally random times when I'm working on other things or exercising or whatever and I can tell that it has had an affect on how I live my life and even on the small daily decisions that I make.

I'm working on finding something to do volunteer-wise but I was hoping for something that Jules could do too. That is proving to be a little more challenging so we shall see.

There are a few other things, but this is a good summary of how I'm doing. If you're still around to read this, I'm surprised. Anyway, thanks for holding me accountable and cheering me on everyone. I really appreciate it!