2011 - A Year In Review

No, that's not a typo in the post title.  I took inspiration from MizFit's recent post and decided to write my New Year's resolutions/goals/to-do-list/whatever-you-want-to-call-it from the perspective that it is 12/31/11.  So sit back and let me tell you all the wonderful things I did and achieved in 2011.

First off, I am now 100 pounds lighter.  That's right, I hit the century mark as of 12/31/11.  Being 100 pounds lighter feels amazing.  I no longer have back pain when I walk or when I wake up in the morning.  I can shop and do normal everyday things without breaking into a sweat. My ankles don't swell anymore and even the callouses on my feet are improving.  While I still have quite a bit of weight to lose, I now know I can enter a room and meet new people without feeling like they are taken aback by my size. 

Being 100 pounds lighter has made me feel so much better about my appearance and as a result, I've started putting more effort into my clothes, hair, and makeup.  I take more time in the morning making sure I look professional at work. Yes, I'm still shopping at the usual big girl stores, but I am no longer busting out of their largest sizes and I have more choices because more things look flattering on me.  I now own more than just black pants!

Losing this first 100 pounds has given me so much confidence in myself and in my ability to make a lasting change and to choose a healthier way of living.  In prior years I agonized over my weight and doubted myself while doing nothing but gaining.  But those days are ancient history now.  And the best part is, I am not doing anything different that what I have always known I needed to do....eat less (and more healthfully) and move more.  Simple, simple, simple....once you get your head right, that is.  And my head is definitely right.  No, I am not perfect.  But the days where I make the more healthy choice far outnumber the days that I don't.  And on the days that I don't, I no longer berate myself and allow it spin me out of control for days/weeks/months.  I just shrug it off and move forward.  And about all those years of struggling?  Well, I don't regret those.  I look at those as part of what I had to go through for things to finally click.  It's all been part of the journey.  I can see that now.

Another wonderful change I have made in my life during 2011 is that I learned to set boundaries at work.  Crazy long hours, working every weekend, giving absolutely everything to my employer is done.  They no longer own me 24/7, they just rent my time for a limited number of hours a week.  At the beginning of 2011 I began tracking my working hours everyday so that I would be completely aware of the hours and help me to not slide down the slippery slope of excessive work again.  For the most part I worked 40-45 hours per week, occasionally as much as 50 but only when there were some really big things going down. 

I learned that much like counting my WW Points to make sure my eating is in balance, counting my work hours helped to keep my work/life in balance too.  And since I know I have a limited number of hours at the office, I spend them more wisely.  I spend 30-60 minutes each morning when I first arrive at the office just planning and managing what needs to be done.  Getting a grip on the day, so to speak, so that I can most effectively use my time to continue to produce the high quality work that I want to while still getting the heck out of there at a reasonable time each day.  I delegate more and have increased the expectations I have for my employees and from this I learned that people, in general, will rise to what is expected of them. 

I took every single one of my vacation days this year and didn't feel guilty about a single one.  I had to work consciously on this one because I do work around, with, and for, some very competitive and workaholic people and that has a tendency to rub off on me.  But I was able to remind myself whenever tempted to cave into that pressure that that is THEIR choice on how they want to live their lives.  I want to live mine differently.  I want more in it than just work work work and now I have it.  This change has probably made me happier even than losing the 100 pounds.  Heck, I couldn't have lost the 100 pounds if I hadn't made this change.

I also completed my MBA in 2011.  I was so thrilled both with the accomplishment and with the additional time that this freed up in my schedule that I threw my very first soiree since moving to my new fabulous place back in 2009.  I just had to celebrate!  My good friends came and we ate, drank, and were merry.

There was so much good stuff in my life during 2011 that I hardly even recognize my life now compared to 2010 (and that's a good thing...a very good thing).  I am healthier and live a much more balanced life.  I instituted "Sunday Funday" into my life.  This was a committment to myself to take time weekly to recharge my batteries and spend an entire day doing only things that I WANTED to do and nothing that I NEEDED to do.  In committing to take time for myself, I started doing things I used to enjoy - I read 12 books this year just for the shear pleasure of it and ended up joining a local book club which expanded my horizons not only literarily, but socially.  I went to movies again.  I started cooking more again and enjoyed trying new recipes every month.  I became a regular at my local farmer's market.  I reconnected with friends that I have neglected in recent years.  I booked regular facial appointments with Miracle-Worker Maria, my favorite esthetician, and my skin has never looked better.  I spent time discovering the Dallas-Ft Worth area.  I was overlooking so much that has been in my own back yard for over 15 years.  I experienced the joy of the lazy Sunday afternoon nap.

I walked in the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure in Fort Worth in April just like I did last year.  But this time I did it without huffing and puffing and resting.  No old ladies passed me by like they did last year and no one offered me their water bottle with a look of terror in their eyes that I might keel over right in front of them.  I enjoyed it so much and it's such a good cause, that I walked again in the Race for the Cure in Plano in October.  I've even started making plans to walk the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk in 2012.  The only question is what city and which of my blogger friends can I get to do it with me?   :)

I took some trips this year.  In April I visited my friend Julie in KC.  She just had her second baby.  Last time I was there was after her first and her first is now 4 and a half years old.  A shameful long time not to visit good friends, but we enjoyed ourselves immensely.  I took a short weekend trip to the Texas Hill Country during bluebonnet season and came back with some beautiful photographs.  I took several long weekends throughout the year to go back home to Iowa and spend time with family.  And I finally did something I've been wanting to do for awhile now and spent a week at the Biggest Loser resort in Ivins, UT in September.  It was a great experience working hard with some kickass trainers and connecting with other similarly minded people.  The hiking was amazing.  Not just the beauty of the surroundings, but also the fact that I could actually DO IT! 

 I love my house and this year I made it even more of the oasis that I feel one's home should be.  I finally found the perfect art piece to go above the mantle in my living room.  I had Kim, a decorator I know, help me do something beautiful and restful in my master bedroom.  It is now a truly calming respite, just as a bedroom should be.  Another thing I did to make my house an oasis is I spent time throughout the year decluttering and organizing.  I got rid of alot of stuff that I never use.  I organized my home office and went paperless with as many of my bills and bank statements as I could to limit the paper that comes into my house.  I even got the junk in my garage out of here!  It's so freeing to come into a house where the only things in it are things that I actually use and things that I love.  I'll say it again.  I LOVE my house.  Even more now than when I first bought it.  I couldn't be happier here.

Whew!  Big year for me.  But I guess you can do and enjoy more when you have the time and the health for it. Life is good.  And it's only just begun.