Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful start to the new year. I was able to weigh in today, so here's the info:

Starting weight: 218.6 (10/28/2009)
Last week: 190.8
This week: 189.0
Difference: -1.8
Total: -29.6






I am very excited about having a loss through the holiday season. I would have loved another .4 just so I'd have made it to 30 pounds gone, but to get there and past it will just have to be my goal for this week. I know that I was definitely struggling with things this week as I was trying to adjust to my new schedule at my new job.

I would love to be in the 170's by my cousin's wedding at the end of February. That would be 10 pounds in 5 weeks, and I'm just not sure that 2 pounds a week for an extended period of time is a realistic goal for me at this point in my journey, especially since I am only now hoping to start adding in exercise, and that will be one day at a time. 

Aside from the schedule adjustments, and trying to remember how to plan our all my food for a day/week when able to bring real food with me to eat for lunch/snacks, I am absolutely loving my new job so far. Still have lots to learn about various parts of the position, but I really enjoy the environment and my supervisor's vision for how she wants to reshape the program. 

And now for the traditional start of the new year type info. 
Things I accomplished/learned in 2010:
 - I learned that I am capable of continuing to lose weight even when I have to move unexpectedly and my world seems as though it has crashed down around me.
 - I (officially) lost 27.8 pounds (I count this as all happening in 2010, even though I technically signed up for WW at the end of 2009). [I could this week's weigh in as the start of counting for 2011]
 - I figured out a more solid list of foods and food additives that my body can not tolerate and worked hard to eliminate or severely limit my intake of these. They include MSG, high fructose corn syrup, artificial sweeteners, sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, and trying to eat organic when it comes to the more pesticide sensitive foods (those that absorb more pesticides like lettuce and berries. My stomach is sensitive to these).
 - I made strides in limiting my consumption of processed foods (this was definitely aided by my trying to eliminate the above items from my intake).

My goals for the new year fit into several categories. Some of these goals do not have a specific point to hit so that they are identified as achieved, but they allow for a flexible scale of measurement.

Healthy Living Goals for 2011:
 - I want to work hard to make eating more fruits and non-carb dense/starchy vegetables part of my regular foods that I eat.
 - I want to make exercise part of my weekly routines.
 - I want to lose weight consistently through the course of the year. I say this versus setting a specific goal because I want to create a maintainable healthy lifestyle for myself, and in doing so I do not know what a realistic rate of loss would be for myself, therefore I choose not to try and guess. If I am able to lose an average of 1 pound per week I would arrive at my goal weight by the end of the year. That would be amazing to me, but I refuse to set a goal that is potentially unrealistic, and therefore unobtainable.

Personal Life Goals for 2011:
 - Obtain "permanent" full-time employment. This may come in the form of being able to stay at my new position past June (the end of the current grant period) or in the form of finding another position. (My supervisor seems confident that I will be able to stay on, but I would like to have that in writing before I consider it so.]
 - Move out of my parents' house into my own place.
 - Become financially stable and independent.

Purchasing Goals for 2011:
 - New computer, either a laptop or desktop
 - A Total Gym (I really feel that having one would help me increase the number of workouts in my schedule, and would allow me to more easily add in strength based routines)
 - I would love an iPad as well
The iPad is the only item that I could buy while still living with my parents, though cost-wise should probably be the last item I purchase for the year. The Total Gym has to wait until I get my own place because I won't have space for it until then. The computer isn't needed until I move so it can wait too.