Saturday, 7 January 2017

New Year Resolutions Review week #1 : So far so good !


Well, the first week of the New Year has been and gone - hopefully we're all still sticking to those New Year's resolutions ! I've decided to do a quick weekly stocktake to see if I'm on track with my own personal New Year challenges.


1. Get Fit(bitting) !
With hindsight, I was a bit silly when I set up my FitBit because I signed up for a new account and started wearing it at 10.30pm on New Year's Eve. In my head, this meant I'd be ready to start tracking on January 1st but what it actually meant was that my first day's and month's stepcounts were stupidly low and this has messed up my averages. Never mind, I can still follow it on a day-by-day basis and see that I hit my 10,000 step target every day this week except Wednesday, which was my day off and ended being used for a mini room makeover so I only got to 8200 steps. I've decided to focus on steps (which I can control) rather than weight (which I can't) so I was delighted to see that I've lost 0.7kg this week ! I'm loving the Adventures - you can walk around routes on a map using your daily steps. So far, I've done a mini route around Manhattan, a quick loop around Vernal Falls in Yosemite and I'm currently halfway across the bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn to walk the complete New York Marathon route ! It tells me how many steps away from the next landmark I am (which unlocks a new photo) which usually inspires me to get off my bum and go upstairs to sort out the washing or have a quick tidy in the kitchen !

2. Get cooking bookmarked recipes ! 
I haven't really been cooking much this week because I had lots of festive nibbles to use up but I did make a triple layer vegetarian lasagne and cod with scrunchions (crispy bacon), which were both #readcookeat recipes that I had bookmarked. I've also put lots of bookmarked recipes in my next couple of menu plans (yes, I've been organised and created the next two week's menu plans already !) so I should be working through lots over the coming weeks.


3. Get geocaching !
We had a mini geocaching adventure last Sunday and managed to find two microcaches before it started raining. That's taken my total finds up to 199 - aaaggghhhh I want to get into the 200's. Hopefully that will be on the cards tomorrow, if it's not pouring hard.

4. Get comping !
I've grabbed a quick 5 minute comping session on twitter every night before bed but haven't had the time or energy to do more. Unsurprisingly, I haven't won anything yet so if I'm aiming for at least one win per month, I need to get my finger out !


5. Get reading !
I'm on track for my book a week. I finished reading festive chicklit Miracle on Regent Street by Ali Harris at the start of the week and I'm currently in the middle of sizzling BDSM bodice-ripper, Brand by Sierra Cartwright. I have to put it away if anyone sits next to me on the bus though to spare my blushes !

6. Get FLYing !
This week's FlyLady zone was the entrance, hall and dining room and I followed most of the missions, shaking out the doormats and tidying away the junkmail and paperwork on the hall table. This developed into a full blown mini makeover of the hallway, which has turned from a dumping zone for schoolbags and general junk into a designated homework area. I threw out all the doggy chewed cushions from an old (and slightly chewed) wooden sofa in their sleeping area and put out an old quilt to cover it up. It's made a real difference (I wish I'd taken before and after photos now !) and inspired me to keep up with the missions next week. I just have to get the kids on board as planned now !

8. Get bloggy housekeeping !
I haven't had time to go through any more of my old posts to remove dead links or swap old follow links over to no-follow, but I have been making a concerted effort to chat more on twitter and join in with more linkies, which is always good for bringing in new readers too. My Klout score has gone up from 55.89 to 56.68 and my statcounter ratings from A+/C-/C/C to A+/B+/C/C+.

9. Get French !
Madhouse Daddy has requested his birth certificate but I will be honest, I didn't do anything at all on this front this week. In my defence, there are only so many hours in the day !

What about you? Have you set yourself any targets, challenges or new year's resolutions this year?

10 comments:

  1. What a great start to the New Year, my aim is a bit vague "to be healthier and happier" but this week I hope to get it nailed down a bit more with daily trackers for step counts, water drunk and fruit/veg (this week has been shocking with hospital appointments and bad news for hubby but by taking care of myself will help me in the long run care for him - hope that makes sense).

    Wishing you a happy and healthy 2017

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    1. Sorry to hear you've had bad news and trips to the hospital to deal with and yes, it makes perfect sense that looking after yourself will help take care of others. Fingers crossed that next week (and the weeks to come) are less stressful xxx

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  2. i need to start eating better, i lost a lot of weight this year and my clothes are almost falling off hehe

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    1. I did the opposite - need to shift it again this year !

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  3. Didn't realise you were a "flyer"! I have fallen off the wagon big time over the last few years and was thinking of getting back into that sort of thing - noticed there is now an app for it which might not be quite as overwhelming as the emails
    Hope all your plans go well this week

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    1. I'm pretty sure there are less emails than in the past - mainly seems to be a daily digest now whereas I'm sure they came in several times a day before which was too much !

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  4. I need to tackle the blogging housekeeping too, and go back to the first years and clearing the broken links.
    Good luck with comping and all your resolutions! xx

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    1. It's a long job - and always ends up at the bottom of my to-do list !

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  5. I have started doing 3 keep fit youtube videos a week for my get fit part. I think you are quite right to count activity rather than weight, up the first and the second should go down.
    I also need to get in some decent comping time so hopefully I can start winning again as well.
    Blogging housekeeping must be a nightmare for you with doing so many review posts cos links will change. I did some in September but none since as it is boring.

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    1. I don't mind going through links but I need a few extra hours in the day to do everything ! Roll on the next holidays (the Christmas holidays are anything but restful as we visit both sets of parents so there's lots of travelling !) ;-)

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