The Rededication of Starfruit

Happy New Year…10 days late! I hope everyone is enjoying a prosperous new year thus far. This post signifies my official return to blogging after a very long 3 month absence. I’m back and better than ever. Just like last year, I am going to devote my first post in 2008 to my New Year’s resolutions. And again, I am going to try not to get crazy :-).

Last year’s resolutions:
1. Reaffirm my commitment to losing weight and continue to lose weight. I was completely on track with this goal until summer hit. In May, I was at my lowest weight since my sophomore year of college and I was 1.7 lbs. away from the ever elusive 50 lbs. star. And yes, it is the same star I have been talking about since I started this blog in August 2006. Unfortunately, the last 6 months of 2007 were not great months for me on weight loss front and for the first time since I started WW in 2001, I left a year heavier than I began it. That is an extremely difficult truth for me to face, but face it I will, and here’s to better luck in 2008.
2. Train for and complete the Indy Mini Marathon on May 5, 2007. Been there, done that, have the t-shirt (literally). Finishing the Indy Mini is one of my proudest moments. Who knew I could jog/walk 13.1 miles, especially with a sprained foot? I certainly didn’t. I’m signed up to do the Indy Mini again this year on May 3, 2008. Training begins this coming week!
3. Get employed full-time. Another resolution successfully completed! For anyone who doesn’t know, I finally found full-time employment as a lawyer in July 2007. Yay for me! Now, if only I could get a raise.

Two out of three isn’t too bad, I guess. I’ve definitely had worse years.

Resolutions for 2008:
1. Reaffirm my commitment to losing weight and continue to lose weight. Sound familiar? I figured. I will end 2008 lighter than I began it. That is non-negotiable for me. I have a plan of attack: (1) I will attend WW every week and stay for the meeting; (2) I will follow WW program (not the Starfruit hybrid of the WW program); (3) I will begin exercising again; and (4) I will make myself accountable by blogging at least once per week. Who knows? Maybe I will hit my goal by December 31, 2008. Only 75 lbs. to go. I would need to average a loss of 1.5 lbs. per week. Not unheard of.

2. Train for and complete 2 half marathons in 2008. As I mentioned, I am already signed up to do the Indy Mini in May. But I also want to do at least one other 1/2 marathon this year. Now I just need to pick one.

3. Get out of debt. I should probably clarify – I want to get out of consumer debt. I would love to completely eradicate my law school loans, but it’s completely unlikely that I’m going to be able to pay off $100K in school loans this year unless I win the lottery. Since I don’t play the lottery, it’s even more unlikely. In any case, after living on credit cards for 2 years after law school while virtually unemployed, I’m enslaved to Bank of America and Citibank. I’m too embarrassed to say how much though some people know. However, I am determined to get out of debt, or at least take big steps in that direction, this year. So far, I’m working on moving to a cash-based system. It’s been a little rough. There never seems to be enough cash :-).

4. Move out of my brother’s house. I am extremely grateful to my brother for letting me live with him for the past 1.25 years rent free at first and now at an extremely reasonable rate. With that being said, I desperately want to move out for a couple of reasons: (1) I’m tired of cramming all of my belongings into 1 room just like I was in college; (2) I miss all of my furniture, pictures and knickknacks (It will be like Christmas when I move into my own place again); (3) I miss having my own space that I can do anything with; and (4) I want a shorter commute to work – 60 miles roundtrip is getting old. The real trick will be convincing my brother to let me take my pretty princess (the dog) with me as she technically belongs to my brother. She loves me more though.

Alright, four resolutions are more than enough to work on right now, especially since two of them involve multiple steps. And so 2008 begins…bring it on.

P.S. I’m turning 28 on the 28th in 2008. For some reason, I think this is extremely important :-).