2014 Resolution Report Card

It’s January and that means… report card time. Time to find out how I did on last year’s resolutions.

Let’s start with my 2014 health and fitness resolutions…

1. Establish good habits early and not gain weight in January/February. Go into the Spring feeling healthy and strong.
2. Up my NEAT (None Exercise Activity Time) and aim to get 10k steps a day
3. Strengthen my core with 10 min pilates every work day AND take pilates class (starting in February in keeping with the don’t try to start everything all at once principle)
4. For my mental and spiritual health- journal again
5. Improve our family’s nutrition- cook more fish, lentils, and beans! Once a week at least for each of those things. :-)

1. Well I did gain a couple pounds last January, but that’s when I got pregnant, so it’s hard to say. I definitely ate too many sweets and as always struggled to return to the healthy pre-holiday habits. Then morning sickness took over. Eating fruit and walking seemed to help so by the time I was in my second trimester I was definitely back on the healthy habits band wagon. GRADE B
2. I rocked the NEAT goal. I got an average of 10k steps every day until John was born. As I recovered from childbirth I walked as much as I could, starting back with a goal of 5k steps. I plan to go back to 10k as I get into a rhythm with John. GRADE A+
3. Pilates and core work… Again pregnancy took over. I only went to my first 5 Pilates classes but did continue getting core work through Friskis (Swedish aerobics) classes. All in all a good effort. GRADE incomplete
4. Got an excellent start, but then the exhaustion of the first trimester took over and I never picked back up. GRADE C
5. I cooked fish at least once a week all year and tried a few recipes with lentils and beans. I hope to keep this up and do even better in 2015. GRADE A for effort.

This year I tried 103 new recipes. And I ticked 5 of my must-bakes off my list.

Cookies: Rolo Stuffed Peanut Butter Cookies
Candy: Butterscotch Squares
Bars: Brown Butter Gingersnap Cookie Bars
Bread: Pretzel Challah Bread
Dinner: One Pot Wonder Mac & Cheese
Breakfast: Healthy Whole Grain Waffles for one
Ice Cream: Gingerbread Ice Cream
Fudge: Oreo Peanut Butter Swirl White Chocolate Fudge
Cupcakes: Nutella Cupcakes for 2
Muffins: Honey Cornbread Muffins

Cookies check

Bars check

Dinner check (it’s become 1 of my favourite go to recipes, and yet I haven’t taken a picture – doh),
Cupcakes check

muffins check

I tried a very similar fudge recipe, but never got around to the breakfast, candy, bread, or ice- cream. So I guess that’s just over half. GRADE C

And for the rest…

1. Blog again – I’ve missed doing it and I’ve missed the interaction with readers and other bloggers. Here’s my promise to try and get you a new post at least once a week.
2. As self-proclaimed Keeper of the Memories – email a picture a week to family and see if they’ll do the same :-)
3. Since good social ties with family and friends is a secret of happiness and we live far away from a lot of our most cherished people -FaceTime or Skype someone every week AND keep writing my gram

1. With just under 20 blog posts in 2014, I can’t really call this one a success. I started strong in January them dropped off rapidly. GRADE F
2. With baby bump pictures I managed to make this one happen for the most part. GRADE A
3. Not every week, but most weeks. Yay for modern technology. GRADE A