2020 Resolutions – How Did I Do?

Okay, I am going to just say it…this year was an absolute cluster of a mess!!!  I missed on a number of my resolutions but I am just going to blame COVID for most of this because I can. See below for more details and here’s to hoping 2021 can help me turn some things around.

Personal Resolutions Were:

1. Spend Less Money on Personal “Stuff”

I did a really good job with adding things I wanted to buy to my Amazon shopping list for a week before purchasing.  This helped me curb impulse purchases on a lot of things.  I would go back a week later and look at my shopping list and just delete everything because I really didn’t need any of it.  So, I will continue to do this in 2021.  I also did an okay job with keeping my “personal” spending between $300-$400 a month; I hit this about 50% of the year and had a couple months where I was under that.  Then I had a couple months where I was waaayyy over it…but you know…progress.

Let’s be honest I got bored and stressed a lot this year and the fun high I get from buying new cloths or makeup was helping to sustain me through some tough depressing times.  Not to mention that I wore leggings and lounge pants almost all year, so I ended up having to supplement my wardrobe with a lot of what used to be “non-work” clothing.  I mean I didn’t have to do this, but you know any comfort I could get was welcome.  Not saying this was a good way to cope, but it was a comfortable way to cope.

I also got really into doing my nails and was spending a lot on indie nail polish and other fun manicure stuff.  This wasn’t a ton of money but it was a lot of “stuff” that I probably didn’t need to buy.  I need to curb some of this in 2021.  I also was requesting a huge number of review items through Amazon Vine (mostly cloths) which I then didn’t like and got rid of.  I need to curb this as well in 2021, although again this was just something kind of fun to do in 2020.  It was fun to get new stuff and I like writing reviews, so that was a good way to waste time that felt like it was still helpful to people.

2. Get My Weight Down by 10 lbs

FAIL FAIL FAIL.  Yeah, I failed on this…absolutely and completely crashed into the ground and went up in flames.  I am actually 10 lbs heavier than I was at the end of 2019.  How did this happen??!!  Well the year started out pretty good, even at the beginning of the pandemic things were good.  We were doing a lot of hiking and not eating out, I was completely stressed out and convinced we were all going to die..so yeah, lots of weight loss…maybe not healthy weight loss…but beggars can’t be choosers.

So what happened?  Well, my husband and son started baking….constantly.  We always had fresh bread, fresh cookies, fresh brownies around the house…so that didn’t help.  I also normally work a really active job where I am running around a lab and lifting stuff, that all went away as my lab job turned into more of a desk job.  I tried to compensate with weight-lifting, long walks, and long hours of Beat Saber but it is hard to do.  I also just frankly stopped caring.  I stopped weighing myself regularly, snacked even when I wasn’t hungry, and oh! we discovered Door Dash…so there went the “not eating out”.  I also started drinking one beer a day again (I stopped drinking completely when I had my surgery in 2019) and am now in that bad habit.

Additionally, I tried to embrace the idea of just loving myself for who I am.  I will always have a bigger butt and a thicker waist…I am not a petite woman and never have been.  I am fairly tall and kind of love that I can buy normal size jeans now that fit my length and waist right now rather than having to find jeans I can buy that come in an extra long length.  Based on my BMI I am not overweight…I am not svelte either.  I focused on spending a couple hours a day doing activities I like that keep me in reasonable cardiovascular and muscular shape.  I’ve been walking 4-5 miles a day (I love walking) and playing Beat Sabre about 45 min a day.  Then I try to do a series of core and leg strengthening routines every night. I think I am okay with this.  It’s time to stop looking at weight goals and look at more comprehensive health goals…thank  you 2020 for making me spend a lot of time with myself and helping me to love me more than I did before.

Blogging Resolutions Are:

1.  Continue doing more bookish videos on YouTube on different topics

Success!!!  I continued to do my weekly (ish) Stacking the Shelves videos and was very good about doing my Best Books of the Month videos.  I would like to expand these videos into even more types of content in 2021.

2. Read less books this year

Success!!!  I read slightly less books than last year.  I was able to focus more on other activities I enjoy (although the volunteering I do took a huge hit because of COVID).  I was also able to grow my Youtube channel a bit which was fun.