2013 resolutions

I waited all of January (and most of February now) to post my resolutions this year because I wanted to have a test-run and make sure I was setting attainable goals for myself.

I had several ideas this year for things that I wanted to resolve to do, and have narrowed the list to 3 things.

So... I have a much higher probability of failure this year considering each resolutions accounts for approximately 33.33% percent of my goals.
I think I deliberately made less resolutions this year to help me truly focus and work at attaining these goals.
I wanted to ensure they were in my "TOMA." (Top Of Mind Awareness) Or, in other words, always on my mind.

Here they be:

1. Loose 20 pounds.
I've never set a goal to loose an actual number of pounds of weight before. This resolution somewhat scares me actually. I don't like to exercise in the traditional sense. And, in general, I have a very hard time motivating myself to have any sort of healthy habit.
However, my BMI is 27.5, putting me in the overweight category. Loosing 20 pounds would put me at a BMI of 24.5 (24.9 is the max BMI for the normal weight category).
I currently weigh 181 pounds.
I would ideally like to weigh 130 pounds (BMI of 19.8).
That's a 51 pound difference.
I didn't want to set 51 pounds as my goal because I've never lost weight before in the traditional sense. I've only ever lost weight after having a baby (for obvious reasons).
I figured 20 pounds was not only attainable, but it also gave me room to overachieve if I truly get the hang of this weight loss thing.
Cross your fingers for me! My 10 year high school reunion is May 2014 - this gives me more than a year to be a healthy weight by then.

2. Put at least $1000 into savings
$1000 truly isn't a lot. But over the past two years Jay and I have not made a single contribution toward our savings account. Quite the opposite in fact. We went from having more than $7000 to just a little over $300.
Unemployment, moving, and hospital bills take a lot out of you.
However, we are not "in debt" in the traditional sense.
The only loan(s) we have out is on our minivan (and some float money my daddy lent us to be able to cover some medical expenses that couldn't be covered through a payment plan).
We pay our credit card in full every statement.
We pay our bills on time.
But if Jay lost his job.... we'd last less than a month.
My focus this year is to truly cut our spending in half (I have a bad habit of shopping and spending money I don't need to when I'm feeling stressed) and start re-building our savings account.
If we ever truly plan on purchasing a home of our own - we need to have money for a down payment.
I want to have that down payment available in savings, and a separate savings account besides that. At least a 3 month emergency fund if the worst should happen and Jay did loose his job.
That's a lot of money we need to save.
Again, $1000 is not much, but it's attainable. Much like my weight loss goal, it leaves room to overachieve.

3. Create and keep a schedule
Obscure isn't it? But really when I think about it, the hardest transition for me when I became a stay at home mom was no longer having a schedule. I swear, the only days I feel like I accomplish anything is when I have a doctor's appointment to take myself or one of the kids to (you know, a schedule to keep).
Ironically enough, one of the blogs I follow just touched on this very topic earlier this month here: http://wantingwhatyouhave.com/2013/02/a-daily-schedule-for-stay-at-home-moms-revisited.html
I have a lot of respect for this blogger and am constantly uplifted by her way of practicing what she preaches. She's not an "idealist" blogger. She's a factual one.
I've had a very hard time feeling like a good mom to my girls because I don't have a personal schedule. I don't get up at the same time every day (or week for that matter) and I just kind of go with the flow.
Well, when you have young children that flow can be very disastrous to your mental, physical, and even spiritual health.
I realize that I need to change this pattern and take charge by setting a schedule for myself. I need to be proactive, not reactive.
I think this will have many positive outcomes for me in the future if I really dig deep and stick to it.
My biggest challenge will be setting one in motion and not succumbing to my natural tendencies of "doing nothing." The "nothing" monster is the biggest mental tormentor of mine. It seems like even when I do have a full blown day of cleaning, etc, he's there to remind me that I was lazy for the past however many days and what I did accomplish today doesn't make up for any of that. Basically he destroys my self esteem.
Time to put an end to him.

So that's it. My three resolutions for 2013. Wish me luck. I'll do a few follow-ups with these goals throughout the year as I did this past one.
I put them on my blog for the world to see, and for my readers to hold me accountable.
(Having others know my goals truly is one of the best ways for me to stay motivated to keep them)