Ten Goals for 2011

Whew.  Can't believe Christmas is over...and we're just a few short days away from 2011.  Yikes!  I've been pondering my goals for next year over the last while and was keeping a rough list in my daytimer that I kept adding to and deleting from...but I think I've finally come up with a list that I'm pretty happy with.   I'm definitely a goal driven type of person so really found that setting goals last year helped keep me on track - and of course, posting them on my blog helps to keep me accountable.  So here goes - my ten goals for 2011:

1. Run a marathon - SURPRISE!  Betcha didn't see this one coming, right?  Ha ha!  I hate unfinished business and it still really upsets me when I think how close I was to knocking this one off my bucket list.  I am determined to do it this year.
2. Incorporate more weights into workouts - after I finished training for my almost-marathon, I was completely shocked at how my muscle tone and strength levels totally went to hell.  Sure, I could run until the cows came home...but I was jiggly, soft and weak.  I could barely do pushups and I was so incredibly sore after the first few bootcamps that I did in the running off-season.  I've been doing more weights recently and have noticed a big difference in muscle tone and overall strength so I'd like to keep this up.  And of course, more lean muscle mass means more calories burned at rest.  Yes! 
3. Maintain a consistent weight - this goal is two-fold...lighter means faster when it comes to running, and I feel best when I'm at my goal weight.  The first step to this goal was doing the Ten Pound Challenge - hopefully starting 2011 at my goal weight (and if I don't make the goal weight by Dec 30th, I'm going to continue until I do), and maintaining that weight throughout the year.  No more yo-yoing!!!  My biggest challenge will be balancing my food intake when I'm training for the marathon again - I need food/carbs to keep my energy levels up for the long runs, but I really want to avoid the marathon weight gain that I put on this year. 
4. Eat mindfully - instead of saying "no dairy", "no eggs" or "no junk food" which isn't a positive way to look at food, my goal is to eat more mindfully and really think about what I'm putting in my mouth (and consequently what Hubs is putting in his) and making sure it's balanced from a multitude of perspectives - particularly carb/fat/protein breakdown, balancing food sources (see goal 5), being mindful of sustainability and balancing clean eating/treats.    Doing the Ten Pound Challenge really made me see that food is the key - I can exercise until the cows come home, but I can't exercise away a bad diet.
5. Start Meatless Mondays - yippeeee! A cooking challenge. Even though I think a lot of Hubs' cholesterol issues are due to his carb intake, I'm sure cholesterol from animal sources isn't helping the issue.  Hmmm...is this a reason to buy some more cookbooks?  Heh.
6. Write in my gratitude journal daily - 2010 was an epic fail for this, so I'm trying again.  When I started it last year, I found that it really changed how I viewed things and I started thinking more positively overall...and it became easier to focus on the good stuff rather than the shitty stuff. 
7. Volunteer - I've talked about this a few times this year, but I'm going to go for it in 2011 and do my part to give back to the community.
8. Keep up with supplements - yep, I'm a bad, bad girl.  I was doing really good at taking supplements up until maybe the Fall and then I totally fell off the bandwagon. Gaaah!  We ran out of stuff and never got around to stocking up so I got out of the habit.  I found it really made a difference in how I felt so I'd like to make sure I keep this up.
9. Read 15 books - Hubs bought me a Kobo for an early Christmas present, and I loooooove it...looooooooooooooove it!!  *in Oprah voice*  I've been reading a bit every day and really enjoying getting back into books again.
10. Be more aware of finances - even though I'm an accountant and good at looking at how an organization runs their finances, I will admit I don't pay enough attention to how my own finances are doing, namely in how my stuff is invested.  Every year I think I'll get on top of things but I tend to get lazy and just leave things in the hands of my financial planner.  Hubs and I did take a first step this year and had an assessment done of where we were at in terms of retirement and other long term financial goals, so I'd like to take it to the next level and take a more active role in working on our financial goals and making sure we reach them.

Alrighty - these are now posted in the permanent record of the interweb.  2011, here I come!

PS.  Weigh in is in two days - got on the scale today and it's not looking so great for the ten pounds - where is Jillians Michaels when I need her?!