I mentioned that I might upload this in my last post and here it is. Please excuse the extreme close up of my big head and the lame ending (hey I tried!). I literally had 10 minutes to figure this out before I had to leave for Sunday step class (‘cuz Amber’s class rocks and I don’t miss it unless I absolutely have to). I wanted to appear on the blog with my hair down (although not “done-done”) for once because y’all always see me sweaty and crazy looking LOL.

I make a big announcement in the video and I am referring this post about my goals for the year. Enjoy!

So everyone has a New Year’s post of some sort and so do I.  I’m a little late with this, but I’ve had these goals in mind for a while.  It is time for me to stop talking about doing some of these and start *doing* them.

Fitness

• Muscle-Up (A kipping one ‘cuz I’m no gymnast.  This is my ‘09 version of a pull-up!)
• Stop using blue bands for pullups during CrossFit WOD.  (I can do a few deadhang pullups but when the workout contains 30 pullups – I’m back on the band.)
• 6 deadhang pullups in a row without dropping down from the bar. (A requirement for for Navy SEAL Challenge next year!)
• Get a brown shirt in the 2009 Navy SEAL Challenge
• Learn to swim (enough to swim 500 yards)
• Complete a Sprint distance Triathlon
• Complete a 1/2 marathon in 1:45

Financial

• Stop the credit card creep and go back to cash-only.  No more using Bill Me Later at Amazon or Sports Authority websites either!
• Eliminate 50% of debt load this year

Body

• Finally meet weight loss/body fat goal
• Baby!?! (Hmm…that might prevent me from accomplishing the previous goal though LOL)

Home

• Get back into meal-planning routine
• Study Fly Lady intro materials and start to incorporate into daily routine
• Complete master bed/bathroom redecoration

Brain

• Finish introductory Spanish lessons and look into a more in-depth continuing series
• Complete basic Java Programming certification.
• Maintain a “Need to Read” list.  (How many more times am I going to say “I”ve heard of that book and I wanted to read it?” but I forgot to write it down so I never do?)

More than half of 2008 has passed so it is time to re-examine the goals that I set at the beginning of the year.

Do at least one full pull-up

I’ve done a few assisted chinups and can do a few unassisted chinups if I jump up onto the bar from a step box. I want to be able to do a traditional pull-up from a straight hanging position. I want to do it like the big boys! I found this link from CrossFit about how to develop pullups while blog surfing a while back. I had thought about trying this process from Stumptuous but I would prefer to work on this at home. I just ordered the Creative Fitness Door Gym from Amazon which should work nicely with the CrossFit training method. I will start working the CrossFit plan into my weekly workouts in August after I’m done focusing on circuit training.

Run a marathon

I am on track to complete this goal in Richmond on November 15. I am currently in Week 2 of an 18 week marathon training program.

Run a sub-2 hour half-marathon

I completed the ING Georgia Half Marathon back in March in 1:53:51. Sweet!

Reach goal body fat of 20% (17% for wedding!)

I didn’t even get close to 17% for my wedding, much less 20%. In fact, I know that I am higher than my lowest body fat now. Oh well, my wedding dress fit perfectly and I felt great on my special day. As to the 20% goal, this is definitely do-able by the end of the year. At the end of the month, I will go for another BodPod body fat test to see exactly where I am starting.

Develop and sculpt arm and back muscles for my halter/low-back wedding gown

I worked hard with a trainer from January to May. I think my arms looked great! I definitely noticed progression over that time period. I’m pretty happy with my arms. I remember being mortified at the thought of wearing a sleeveless mock turtleneck for my flag girl costume in high school. I’m not that girl anymore.

Continue journey towards a clean-eating lifestyle

Ugh. I haven’t been doing so good on this one. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about food and diets and trying to come up with something that works for me. I don’t know that I will ever be able to adopt a truly clean Tosca Reno approved clean diet. However, I think I am OK with that as long as I eat mostly good foods that fuel my workouts.

Becoming the best wife that I can be

I’m trying my best! This is all new to me and I’d imagine this is a lifelong work in progress.

Maintain financial self-discipline and continue process of becoming debt-free

Just like weight loss, this has its ups and downs. Due to an unexpected setback close to the wedding date, we weren’t able to cash flow everything like I anticipated. However, we are on track to pay off all wedding related debt by December. We should be debt-free except for the house by April 2010. That seems like forever away, but I feel like cheering when I compare my current debt level to that of late 2006. This is definitely an area that I could tighten up further though. I haven’t had the giselle intense that Dave Ramsey preaches about so this process has been lagging some.

Complete at least two of the Sun Java certification tests

Honestly, career-related stuff has been so far off my radar this entire year. I have made zero progress towards this goal. I am very happy with my current job and don’t anticipate job hunting any time soon. But you never know what may happen, so I do need to keep my skills sharp and being a Sun Certified Java Architect is a very good look on the resume. I may push this one out 2009 though.

Develop a routine to maintain/organize my household better

I joined Flylady at the beginning of the year and have done nothing towards implementing their plan. Since things have settled down a bit, I have gotten better about cleaning up but I need improvement here. I am always playing catch up on Saturday when the marathon cleaning sessions could be avoided by doing small things daily.

I feel good about what I’ve accomplished so far this year and what I am on track to accomplish over the next six months. And if I don’t hit every goal – so what? I tried!