2015 New Years Resolutions: My Results

At the end of 2014, I set myself some very specific goals for this year and I am delighted to confirm today that every single one of these goals has been achieved and surpassed in some cases. It's been a fantastic year as a result and one I'm proud of too. The full post about these goals is here but in summary, I had the following goals:

2015 New Years Resolutions 
1. Read 10 books
2. Update the blog 4 times a month
3. Fully pay off overdraft
4. Lose 6 stone
5. Have a dental check-up
6. Drink at least 2L of water a day

1. Read 10 books
I'll admit that I slacked on this one a little bit until about halfway through the year where I learned to utilise my lunch hour for reading rather than binge watch Netflix. However, I managed to achieve this one in the end and have a post coming out tomorrow with a short review of each book read. This goal felt second nature for me in the end because I really do love to read, it was just a matter of making this more of a priority.

2. Update the blog 4 times a month
This one was a struggle. Again, it was about making it a priority but I found that I ended up writing all four posts in one day with them all releasing towards the last few days of the month. It was an ambitious goal but one I'm proud that I kept. I can still say that almost no-one actually reads this blog but it felt really good to do a bit of writing and force myself to make time for it too.

3. Fully pay off overdraft
I'm going to say that this is definitely one of my achievements that I'm most proud of. It was difficult to do but I have not only managed to clear the £2,000 of debt I was in through my overdraft but actually put away savings in excess of that amount too. I scrimped like a trooper of course, but most of this came down to being very fortunate with overtime hours at work. In fact, since January of this year, I have been starting at 07:00 every morning right the way through to my last week before Christmas break. This included at least one five hour Saturday shift a month. This meant an extra 10 to 15 hours a week at work which definitely made a difference in my ability to save as well as the quality of my work too. Win-win all round!

4. Lose 6 stone
I did it! On 22nd of November this year, I got down to my lowest weight and a total of 84.4lbs lost which is the equivalent of 6 stone (84lbs or 38kg). I managed this through the simple act of calorie counting using the MyFitnessPal app. It's a free app that I believe most people have heard of or used before, but it just makes keeping track of my food and drink so easy that it became second nature. I've still got a few more stone to go until I reach my goal weight but this 6 stone chunk has been such a massive chunk off  that I'm well on my way to this goal.

5. Have a dental check-up
I actually felt a bit ridiculous once I'd had this check-up. I can't imagine why it was such a big deal or why I put it off for so long. I'm not scared of dentists (well, not that much) nor was I worried about the cost. Again, I think it was a case of making it a priority which is something this resolution forced me to do. So in May, I called up my local dentist's office, got myself registered and went to see the dentist. I needed one filling and had my teeth polished to perfection by the lovely dentist there. In November, I saw her again for another polish. I intend to keep going every six months as recommended and feel that I've set up a new healthy habit that is easy to keep.

6. Drink at least 2L of water a day
I actually bossed this one. I've never been more hydrated in my life and I feel so much better for it. I've got a little cup at work that I was getting through several times a day. I tried to stick to plain water where possible. However, I found this sugar-free 2-calorie squash in Aldi that doubled my water intake because it was so delicious in November. I'm fairly confident I've been doing 3 or 4 litres a day easily, particularly as I found I was less hungry the more hydrated I was and it was therefore easier to stick to my calorie goals too.

All in all, it has been a very productive and very rewarding 2015. I definitely feel like having specific goals really helped me keep my resolutions and I'm genuinely so pleased with myself. I've had a tremendous year and I'm grateful to everyone that supported me with these goals.

Tabitha
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