Resolution Reboot

I am moderately ashamed to say that I bought my first "tummy control" swimsuit the other day. To me, this is a bit of a KPI that I am not on track to achieve the resolutions that I set at the start of the year so it's time for a bit of a reboot.

One of my favourite quotes (or at least the quote that allows me to slow down and take a breath once in a while) is some variation of:

"You can have everything you want, but not all at once"

In that vein, I think the only way for me to be successful this year in attaining my new year's resolutions, is to break them into manageable, trackable bite-sized chunks.  And then to apply laser-like focus to those chunks.

So here is the two-month plan (May till June), focusing on three of my resolutions:

A Penny Saved is a Penny...Saved

I have a big trip coming up in June (Scotland to celebrate the anniversary of my Mom coming to Canada, England, Morocco I hope and Iceland) and for that and many other reasons I need to save a bit of extra moula. This requires a bit of strategic planning as I am one helluva shopaholic. I definitely don't have the money for the excessive, clutter-creating things that fill my apartment, but buying definitely has always filled any holes that crop up.

So for the next two months, I'm initiating the "Carrie's Closet" project. 

I have way more than enough STUFF! I have enough:

•  scarves to tie together and rappel off of the CN tower, twice.
•  nail polishes to give everyone in the country a manicure.
•  teas to invite everyone I know over for one insane tea party (and enough hats to outfit everyone mad-hatter style to boot).
•  clothes to wear a new outfit every day until next May.
•  pots and potions, blushes and brushes, to keep me pickled and pruned well into my forties.
•  unread books to be read well into my 80s.

You get the idea…

So for the next two months, instead of constantly amassing new things that I don't have time or space for, I will only buy necessary objects (i.e. toothpaste, food, and other sundries.)  Beyond that everything that I put on my body or in my head is something I already have or can borrow.  That means I will:

• wear three entirely new items from my closet every single day. I will photograph my favourite new combinations and pick an outfit of the week. If I don't like something I wear, I will donate or sell it.
• give myself a manicure every week with some exciting new colour from my collection and I will use up all of the beauty products (in a spa-like fashion), sundries, teas and vitamins that I already have before I figure out a replenishment strategy.
• read one new book every two weeks from my pre-existing collection.

Control Top or Control

As mentioned above, I'm taking a trip in June and travelling with the extra pounds I've put on is not something I want to do. I would also really like to wear some of my wardrobe this summer without having to invest in an entirely new one, so here is the plan:

Exercise:

• Five cardio workouts a week of a minimum of 30 mins.
• Two transit-free work days (walking or taking my bike to work).
• A minimum of 15,000 steps every single day on my Fitbit. Fitbit is awesome if you haven't already heard. I actually lost my Fitbit and they sent me a replacement free of charge. That's right. I lost it, they sent me a replacement. Awesome, awesome, awesome customer service and the product is phenomenal as well. If you’re on Fitbit, add me and we can duke it out for the top steps in a day.  Healthy competition is..well...healthy! 
• One to two weight classes a week.
• One yoga class a week.

Eating: I have a much harder time with cutting food than with getting the motivation to exercise, so my only goals here are to:

• cut out all the little snacks in between that add up (I.e. no more indulging in "the fancy English biscuits that my colleague’s friend snuck in her bag from England," or the chocolate-covered almonds and figs that my favourite workmate’s husband packs in her lunch just for me).
• try to have two gluten-free meals a day and stop eating after 8pm in an old-school Oprah rule.
• drink Less: when the guy I'm seeing lives in London (where I've heard they like to drink?!?) and he says that I drink a lot, maybe I need to cut it back a bit. I feel like a nice glass of wine with dinner is the nicest thing on earth, but in the interest of getting into one of my many bikinis, I'm going to try to limit any alcohol consumption to the weekend period (and that includes Thursday, the new Friday).
• try to make one new recipe a week to wean myself off of my frozen dinner addiction.
• try to fit into the number of calories that Fitbit (that awesome tool above), tells me is the right amount for me to reach my goal.

 General Well-being

•           I vow to give myself 7 hours of sleep a night (this might be tough).
•           I will use the facilities at my gym that detox my body (saunas, whirlpools, etc.).

And if after a couple of weeks, I’m not on track, I will turbocharge my efforts by going on a more structured plan.

I Love Here (working title of my creative non-fiction)

By my date of departure, I will have completed draft two of my book. Even if this book ends up just being a relic that my grandchildren relish, I've gotta finish it. To do that, I will need to spend a good 4 hours a week editing. 

Encore: Sing Me a Song, all Night Long

And of course, amidst all of this, we have our big Newchoir concert on May 31st, which means I will need to be spending a good chunk of time memorizing away! This and my regular annual spring cleaning will keep me busy as a biz-school kid.

If I seem to be on track with most of this stuff, I will reward myself with a small treat (e.g. massage) every two weeks.

The Blackout List

AND THAT IS ALL. This means I am officially giving myself a break from everything else that I think I should be doing on my mountainous to-do list.

My first week of new outfit combos...

For the next two months, I am giving myself permission to not have to worry about finding my life's purpose, settling down, figuring out a focus for my blog etc, etc. There is freedom in that. In saying that I can't do it all at once, and I will accomplish more overall if I just focus on some key things during that period of time.

And as for said tummy control swimsuit. I wore it to the spa on Friday (my first time wearing a full piece in years) and it was so difficult to pull up after using the facilities that I ended up losing my grip and punching myself in the face. That’s right…that happened.  Bikini-land here I come. For safety purposes at a minimum.

#resolutionreboot

#budgetscanbefun

…at least not at once

And for some fun reading on things you should start doing…check this out: http://www.lifebuzz.com/start-doing/?utm_source+email#!FzZRa