We had veggies & hummus for an appetizer last night with champagne, and then ordered PF Chang's delivery for a special splurge. Sam loved it! Nick made himself pasta & meatballs, because . . . he is a very picky eater. ;-)
And, now we're off to kick off 2017 by doing a family fun run this morning! Here's a look at our goals.
1) Financial - Save $160,000 for my "leaving work" nest egg ($100K to offset expenses, $45K for taxes, $15K for travel) - Yes!!! I crushed this. I'm at $230K. Our life plans area bit more in flux, but just yesterday we emailed our tenants in our Seattle house to determine if they may be interested in buying the house from us. If so, that would free us up to buy a house here. Without selling that house, things will be insanely tight. I'm proud of the savings for 2016! By far the best we've ever done on this.
- Decide what to do with our Seattle house
- Build/follow a 2016 "interim budget" (until I leave my job)
- Build/follow a 2016 "post-job budget"
- Do a minimum of one fun activity/month with the kids
- Be more present with the kids & M - play games, minimize computer time, exercise together, etc.
- Have two dates with M per month (one lunch, one evening)
I finished the year with 9,750 cardio minutes, 72 strength workouts, and 35 stretching workouts. I averaged 3.5 fruits & veggies/a day, so this is definitely an area of focus!
- Run a 5K, 10K, 15K, & a half marathon, as a 40th birthday gift to myself. Not all in the same day. ;-)
- Track my food/exercise every day.
- Eat five servings of fruit & vegetables (combined) per day
- Complete 10,000 minutes of cardio
- Complete 100 strength workouts.
- Complete 75 stretching workouts.
- Keep better perspective at work/reduce stress (until I leave)
- Leave my job in June.
- Take the summer off
- Find a new, flexible job in the fall.
- Learn a new skill. I'm thinking of learning a new language, but would be fine with anything: sewing, knitting, expanding my baking, etc.
- Make time for my friends. Do something social at least once per month.
- Read 50 books.
It's not perfect (never is), but overall, I feel good about what we accomplished as a family. 2017 needs to be a year where I focus more on my fitness. I have a few tweaks to my goals, which I will post about, which will hopefully bring me closer to a healthier weight! More on that to come. How about you? How did you do with your 2016 goals?
A work in progress for us both. Health needs to be a 2017 focus.
ReplyDeleteMost definitely! I've made huge improvements in my sleeping habits, & now have "good sleep hygiene", as the fancy people call it. It's been a big lifestyle adjustment (and, not without downside), but the upside has been amazing. I need to take the learnings from this & apply it to other things.
DeleteLove, love, love your blog! Believe me, the secret to losing weight and keeping it off is carbs. Good luck with this goal as it will really help you health wise. Exercise is great (I'm a yoga fan) but unless you are a professional athlete you will never burn enough calories to lose weight. Reduce your carbs and the pounds will drop off.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I love blogging (most days). I work out because I feel good, and it helps trigger that healthy eating habit. But, totally agree. Weight loss change is earned in the kitchen (or, not, I suppose). This year I'm focusing less on calorie counting, and more on making better food choices.
DeleteHappy New Year! And look at all that green!
ReplyDeleteOkay, reading 50 books is awesome with how very busy you are. Fantastic on that one!
As for your red, I'm sure it's frustrating to you that you are ending this year the same place you started with weight BUT generally people gain a few more pounds each year. You didn't. Statistically that's kind of like weight loss, right? I think I might actually be turning into an optimist after all these years as a hard core realist. Haha!
The reading has been a critical part of my getting better sleep plan. I get in bed about 20 minutes before I'm ready to go to sleep, read, and then I'm able to fall asleep much easier.
DeleteAnd, LOVE your perspective. Maintenance is the new loss! :-)
When I read this, all I see is success - with finances, health, family, work, stress levels, reading, etc. You've got ahead in so many areas and maintained in others. That's fantastic!
ReplyDeleteAhh, thank you! That is super kind. I definitely have more room to improve, and more balance to be achieved in my life. But, overall, not too shabby.
DeleteHappy New Year to you and your family. Looks like you did quite well in 2016! Cut yourself a little slack for not having a perfect year. None of us did!
ReplyDeleteSince we are on the adult side of the children mountain my main regret is not spending more time with them, and we were very active in their lives, but the time passes so quickly and suddenly they are on an independent path. It is as it should be, but we have found time is the only thing we can't manufacture more of. Enjoy all you have right now!
I totally agree (although, am at an earlier phase in the parenting timeline) & it's a big part of my desire to work less. I can't get that time back.
DeleteWe did relatively ok this year, on a personal level, though not too well financially. I'm still working on our review and making up my mind :)
ReplyDeleteI love that you've also made career choices based on your health like I'm going to need to do, it's good to have some company in that boat.
It's been hard to make all of the mental adjustments, more than anything else. I know I'm going to have a bit of a midlife crisis when I actually pull the trigger, so I will make sure I post all about it, so you know what to expect. ;-)
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