resolutions

At the beginning of the year I wrote this post.

You probably remember that in January I vowed to:

and it went well. I wanted to carry this resolution on. But, there were a couple weeks in the middle of February that I didn't drink as much water as I should have. Over this past week, I've really recommitted to this. There are so many benefits of drinking water and now I notice the negative side effects when I don't get enough. I had more headaches, retained more water, and found it harder to lose weight---all because I wasn't drinking enough water! psh. I'm back on track. 

And then, in February, I made one of- what I thought would be- the hardest resolutions:

NO FAST FOOD. NO EXCEPTIONS.

And how did I do:

awesome!

I even started this resolution early. I think I went to a drive thru for the last time on, like, January 25th. There were certainly days or certain times that I really craved fast food. Sometimes on the way home from church, work, and shopping- some of the typical times I used to stop. I mean, I used to stop a lot- so I had many triggers. 

But once I started and got into the month, I really couldn't break my new healthy habit. I would have been SO disappointed in myself. I would imagine writing this post and having to say I caved. I certainly didn't want to have to say that. So I stuck to it. I fought against my habits. I created new healthy habits.

I packed healthy snacks for work-

healthy lunches too.

And created delicious alternatives to fast food. Things that were fast, easy, and healthy to make so that I wasn't tempted to stop because I knew I could come home to quickly whip up something yummy.

It really wasn't so bad.
 I've actually only had fast food once in March so far. My mom and I stopped the other night on our way home from out of town. We probably would have gotten Subway or something healthy, but it was after 11pm and most places were close. Going without for that length of time helped to change my perspective. I still entertain the idea of going to a drive thru, but now I think of all the other options I have, and they win. 


Moving on to MARCH. 
My resolution:

Focus on Blog
Learn how to make the vision in my head match the actual layout and atmosphere here. Make a schedule. Post tutorials. Maybe do a giveaway. Look into Etsy further too. 

Basically learn how to do all the things that I wish I new right now. 

Well, we all see how well that has been going!! It's super hard to get on track. I love writing this blog. I like to create and share. I like to keep my friends and family in the loop (if they want to be). It really is just a matter of making it a priority.
I'm not exactly sure what this month will look like. This resolution isn't as straight forward as my last two- but I'm determined to succeed. 
So, I better get to work!

one down, 11 to go

We are one twelfth (I don't think I've ever spelt that word before in my life...I really struggled to get it out right...way besides my point---moving on) of the way through the year. I know that's kind of a silly way to look at it, but because I've set 12 resolutions for the year, it kind of seems like time is already flying. 

I posted my 12 in 2012 at the beginning of the month.

My January resolution was to 

source

So, just how did I do?!

The long and short of it- not too bad!

3.5 out of 5 stars.

Before this month, I could literally (and unhealthily) go through an entire day without so much as a sip of water. I actually began to think that I didn't like the taste of it. I drank more diet coke than anything else. Not the worst choice, but not the best either. Although, somehow this month, there were about 5 Yahoo news articles about how horrible soda even diet, is for you. nice.

I still chose to not completely deny myself soda because I don't drink coffee or juice and I knew that would just be unrealistic and, quite frankly, just plain unfair. The overall goal was to make sure that I was consuming more water than anything else on a daily basis.

I knew I was onto something the first weekend of the month when we traveled out of town to celebrate Christmas with family. They have well water and an endless supply of soda. I brought bottled water with me and stole tiny sips of soda from my sister all weekend. It was kind of a big victory for me. An, "I can do this" moment. 

As for the rest of the month, I continued to do well. I tried to start my day with a bottle of water before anything else. I used Crystal Light sometimes. I slipped up one or two days, drinking more soda than water. But, I got right back on track. 

I will definitely continue this habit. It's not like, all of a sudden, tomorrow I'm going to go buy a Big Gulp! (Not that I ever did before.) But, you know what I mean. I've started a good habit and I fully intend on getting even better and sticking to it.

So far, so good.

For February:

no fast food. no exceptions.

yikes.