It isn’t as pretty as this version (which makes me sad).  But I am calling it a work in progress.  It will get better. I promise.

This one will stay here so that all of the old links continue to work.  Because broken links suck.  And I don’t want to be the cause of suckage.

But all future posts will be over on the new site.  Come on over! Send your friends!

Sure, Jillian is a bad-ass and all – but maybe I would be better off following something with an integrated diet/fitness plan like the new Self Challenge.

Or maybe I should be following along with my friend Kirsten who is adding one new healthy habit to her life each week.  That sounds like a good idea, right?

Or maybe I should be working on running (#34).  Or the whole 10K steps a day thing (#39).  Or a different approach to my diet (#18, #22, #26, #32).

The beauty of this whole one-month-at-a-time approach is that I get to switch and try lots of things.  But it also is making it challenging to commit to something that doesn’t seem to be working for me – since I know I am changing in a few weeks/days anyway.  And even if it was working like crazy, I would be changing to something new.

I think I am just making a lot of excuses.  I do that.

But I am still trying to stick to 400 calories X 4 meals a day.  And Jillian is still shredding me.  And both of those are going to continue for another week.  Because I CAN follow the plan.  I think I can…I think I can…I hope I can…

So when I looked at the list of things to do next month and realized I had to quit caffeine AND technology, I realized that something fun needs to happen soon or ALL of us are going to lose it!

So I rejiggered my list and moved “Watch 15 Classic Movies” into March.  And now I am excited again!

I still have to quit the caffeine and turn off the BB and the computer by 8, but at least there is something FUN on the horizon.

I have been working on my movie list since January with the input of several experts (Mike, my parents, my friends) and I opened up the 43 Resolutions Facebook Page (are you a fan? You TOTALLY should be!) for suggestions yesterday.

The idea here is to fill the gaping hole of movies I SHOULD have seen, but haven’t.  I am well versed in 80s-Coming-of-Age Movies, 90s Chick Flicks and 00s Kid Movies.  But I missed a bunch of the old things and apparently some recent and significant ones. So this will be like a Adult Degree Completion program in Film…but without the education part.

So here is the list:

15 CLASSIC MOVIES I HAVEN’T SEEN

1.) Some Like it Hot

2.) Gone With the Wind

3.) The Wizard of Oz

4.) Casablanca

5.) The African Queen

6.) The Wall – Pink Floyd

7.) Rebel Without a Cause

8.) The Sting

9.) Star Trek (2009 version)

10.) Citizen Kane

11.) Spinal Tap

12.) Wuthering Heights

13.) Rebecca

14.) The Best Years of Our Lives

15.) North by Northwest

Fun, right?

And now I get to SHOP.  YAY!

I have a few of these already, but now my challenge is to find the rest without totally breaking the bank.  I am going to check out Swap a DVD to see what they have!

So what do you think? Good list? Missing something significant?  Want to bring popcorn and watch with me??

But what to play?

Sprout voted for another round of Apples to Apples, but Mike instituted a new rule – we can’t play the same game two weeks in a row – so that was out.

I suggested Yahtzee, because, well…why not?

Sprout was on board with this, but Tater suggested a few rounds of Wii Sports Resort.  Apparently he had bested Mike at fencing the other night and was quite anxious to do so again.

That would have been fine – I like the archery (with no chance of actually killing anyone, which is my gripe against REAL archery and the reason I failed that gym class in college) and throwing a virtual frisbee to a virtual (obedient) dog.  But in order to avoid a tied vote, Mike sided with us on Yahtzee and we tabled Wii Sports Resort for next week.

So Tater went and got out the Yahtzee box and I think he was somewhat stunned by how little STUFF there was in the box.  A cup.  Five dice. Paper.

Where’s the GAME?

Where are the batteries?

How do you turn it on?

But once we sat down and started playing and he got the hang of it, he loved it!  He was like a little Vegas craps player – blowing in the cup on the dice before every role.  He got that from his dad.  Such a play-ah.

And what do you know – he won!  Much to his sister’s discontent.  She added up her score about five times with the calculator hoping for it to come out to a higher number, but no such luck.

But she had fun, too.  We all did.  FGN rocks!

I have to go practice my fencing for next week – gotta be a contender!

So I was trying to think of ways to make sense of my 43 Resolutions Experience – because honestly, that’s a lot of resolutions.  Doncha think?

And it seems like there should be much to be learned from that kind of huge experience.  And it can’t just be me whining about how much I don’t want to go to bed.  Although I know you secretly love that part.

I am cute when I whine.

Maybe not.

Anyway…I started playing around with ways to chart my experience…and here are two potential views.  I would appreciate any feedback you’d like to share.

Be kind.  I am a fragile flower.

So here is the “Matrix”.  It divides things into high/low effort and high/low return.  More visual.  A more traditional consulting model-type view.  I like it.  Does that make me a nerd?

Then here we have a more quantitative view.  I am rating effort and potential return and calculating a ROE (Return on Effort), including both what I think the ultimate return could be and what I actually accomplished.  Because if I fail at it, that doesn’t mean it automatically wasn’t worth doing.  Although that would be convenient, wouldn’t it?

I sorted them by ROE in this view.

This one is, I think, even nerdier.  And busier.  I don’t like it as much.  How about you?

And this is what I did instead of working out.  I will have to go do that now.

Let me know your thoughts on the analytics here.  Is this the lamest idea EVER?  Or is it brilliant?

The nerd wants to know.

And I was so busy trapped in my house doing nothing that I didn’t get to write anything.  Which is admittedly lame.

So I am going to be all efficient here and update you on EVERYTHING.  Aren’t you excited?

So…

RESOLUTION #1 – Current Events

My new assignment is to write about the Olympics.  The business end of the Olympics.  I will have to figure out what that means.  I guess sponsorships and licensing and Canadian tourism.

Did I ever mention that I am strangely fascinated with Canada?  It’s like an exotic (and cold) version of America.  I think.  I’ve never actually been there, but it is so very enticing to me.  French accents and socialized medicine and staying out of drama.  Love that.

But probably not in the winter.

RESOLUTION #6 – Game Night

As I mentioned on one of the few times I did get my act together to post, we had a successful round 2 of Family Game Night.  I think round 3 is tomorrow. The kids just went back to school (YAY!) for the first time in a week…so I don’t know what the homework situation is going to be.  Could be ugly.

RESOLUTION #7 – Follow a Fitness Program

Well…I am sort of doing OK on this one.  I did the “Shred” 4 days last week and shoveled snow on a 5th day.  I know this because I went out a week or so ago (when travel was still possible) and purchased a little pocket-sized weekly calendar.  And every day after I do my workout, I write it in the little book.  Easy accountability.

I did this a couple of years and found that it was really helpful to keep track of how frequently I was exercising.  It’s easy to tell yourself that you just exercised a day or so ago – but if it is written down, you will see when you have gone days and days without moving off of the couch.

At the end of the year, it was interesting to sit down and calculate an average # of workouts per week.  I was up to 4.5 on average a year or so ago…but I don’t think I am there now.  We’ll see!

I am getting a bit bored with Jillian.  There are three different workouts on the 30 Day Shred DVD and they are all good in a kicking-your-ass sort of way. But doing the same three workouts over and over is a little dull.  I am resisting my urge to self-prescribe some other form of exercise.  The whole point here is to FOLLOW A PLAN, not make one up as I go along.

The 400 Calorie Fix thing is going OK, I guess.

Pros:

• Having a specific goal for how much to eat at each meal.
• Having a specific number of times to eat per day.
• Flexibility
• Easy rules

Cons:

• Challenging to eat out – we went out for dinner on Valentine’s Day and I just tried to eat a reasonable amount of a reasonable sounding dinner.  And I skipped my “snack” that day since we ate lunch late…but I have no idea how many calories were involved…
• Too easy to justify eating junk – as long as it’s only 400 calories of junk it’s OK.  Which I guess is better than 800 or 1000 calories of junk.  But it’s still junk.  Fabulously delicious junk.

And then there is the fact that I keep wanting to fiddle with the rules.  Again with the self-prescription.

And yes, I could have a smaller snack and a bigger dinner.  Or a bigger breakfast and a smaller lunch.  But the point here is not to lose the weight (although that would be fun), it’s to FOLLOW THE FREAKING RULES.  Really.  And it’s just ONE RULE.  Am I so defective that I can’t do that for one month? THE SHORTEST MONTH??? Geez.

I have stayed steadily about 2 pounds down from my normal range…which isn’t huge, but it’s something.  I would love for some lightning bolt to hit and to be down 5…but it seems unlikely.  Maybe in vegetarian month (#17)…or whole foods month (#21).

I am scared of those.

RESOLUTION #8 – No Multi Tasking

Well, I am sitting here eating lunch, typing and monitoring dogs.  So not all that single-focused.  But I don’t have my Blackberry in my hand.  And I am not checking People.com every few sentences.  So that’s progress.

I tried REALLY hard to keep the BB pocketed while at home – and that is a work in progress.  I am looking for a job (gasp…horror!) and I am quite frantic that I am going to miss some key piece of information.  I also have a new Social Media client (www.funandfunction.com) and I don’t want to drop the ball on them.  So there are (sort of) justifiable reasons for checking in.  But I am working on it.

This was especially hard with the kids home for days and days and days.  I don’t want to ignore them completely to do other things. But the world can’t come to a halt because they are here. Right?

RESOLUTION #9 – Tea Ritual

“Ritual” makes it sound far more involved than this actually is.  Like we are wearing kimonos and bowing to one another or something.

Not so much.

Mike has been making the tea (yay, Mike!) and we have been hanging out before bedtime.  It isn’t a “ritual” yet, and there are nights when it just can’t happen in a couple-y sort of way.  But then I just have my tea myself and read a book or watch the Good Wife with the dogs (they can’t get enough of that show).  And Cougartown.  Dixie LOVES Cougartown.

Mike’s two (yes TWO) bands (this one and this one) had gigs this past weekend.  So I was on my own Friday and Saturday nights.  Well, as “on my own” as you can be with two kids and two dogs.  Which is actually not all that alone.  So my tea was a lone event, but that was OK.

I purchased the DVDs for the first season of Mad Men and our plan is to watch that a couple of nights a week during tea time.  We’ll see how that goes!

So, a little more than halfway through February and things are moving along.  I am still trying to resist shopping (#4), but I did get sucked into the clearance sale at Old Navy yeserday.  Seriously…like a tractor beam was pulling me.  Scary.

I am still planning to get a trainer to come to the house to help me with my evil and unkempt puppy (#5).  But first I probably need to nail down that job…I think she’s going require multiple training sessions.

Now I have to go get ready to deliver pretzels to a very late Valentine’s Day party.  This will require me to shower and dress myself in under 30 minutes…which might require just an itty bitty bit of multitasking!

But I realize that sitting here in the office, writing to you all (as much as I do love you), isn’t what I should be doing right now.  What I need to do is go love all over my Valentines.  And just that.  Not because it’s V-day, but just because I love them.  Every day.  All day.

Two cute kids, one rock-star boyfriend (aka husband), one rastafarian dog (she needs grooming, bigtime), and one utterly neurotic one.  Lots of lovin’ to hand out.

Hope you are loving on your peeps, too!

Happy V-day.

This was an especially huge accomplishment since yesterday was a snow day and we spent the entire day (every single minute of it) inside enjoying each other’s company.  If ever there was a night when game night was fraught with danger, this was it.

But we got out the Apples to Apples Junior Game and Tater carefully read the directions to Mike, since this was his first time joining us.

And then there was great silliness.

If you haven’t played this game, each player has a hand full of “thing” cards (Spiders, Eating Breakfast, Africa, My Friends, and Mud, for example).  For each round, one player is the “judge” and that player puts down a green “describing” card.  Let’s say that card was “Dangerous”.

Each player (other than the judge) then picks their “thing” card that most closely fits the “describing” word.  So, for example, for Dangerous maybe you would choose Spiders.  I would.

Then the judge gets to pick (purely subjective…all opinion) which “thing” is the best fit.   If a player doesn’t have a “thing” that fits well, they can also pick something funny (like danger = eating breakfast).  HA HA HA!! See how funny that is!?!? Breakfast isn’t dangerous.  Oh the hilarity!

Then there is debating and bribing of the judge.  Theoretically, you would not know which person played which “thing” but that flies out the window in about 2 seconds.

Anyway, the kids very much enjoyed coming up with “funny” answers and there was much (so very much) giggling going on.

I love a good success story!

I “tweeted” last week about my attempts at Game Night and the Hasbro people sent me this nice link to their Family Game Night website with helpful suggestions to make Game Night a success.  Of course, we didn’t play one of their games (sorry) so they probably wouldn’t approve.  And there were no special snacks.

But we had fun and it didn’t involve an electronic device of any kind.  I’ll take it!

I sort of saw the House of Beer.  And then I sort of got distracted by some cupcakes.  Oops.

I figured I could watch the commercials later online.  I didn’t realize there were 58 of them.  Fifty-eight! Geez.

The average cost of a 30-second commercial was somewhere between $2.6 and $3.0 million.  That means at least $150 million in advertising for the entire event.  Wow.  The audience is estimated at somewhere around 90-117 million viewers.  However, many might be like me and sidetracked with the snacks.

Do I think those folks got their money’s worth?  I have no idea.  I would guess that for a football-appropriate advertiser (Budweiser, Doritos, Anheuser-Busch, car manufacturers) it might pay off.  Although, really, didn’t everyone already have their beer and snacks before the game started?  Maybe many people thought, “This would be better if I had some Doritos” and ran out to get some.  But probably not.

I am sure a lot of these ads will be run for a while, so the cost of production will be spread across those viewings.  But at the end of the day, is this a smart strategy?  Dunno.

I admit I still didn’t watch them all. Actually, I didn’t watch most of them.  I have time, but not that much time.

But I did like the Betty White ad for Snickers.  I found it odd that as of Monday Snickers had pulled the ad off of the CBS site and YouTube…what would be the point of not letting people see your acclaimed ad?  I was forced to the Snickers website…because I might buy some Snickers there?  Um…no.  They seem to have gotten over it and the ad is back out and about.

I also thought the Punch Buggy ad for VW was cute.  But I love VW pretty much whatever they do.  I even let them slide on the whole Fahrvergnügen thing.

There were far too many unattractive men in their underwear.  That is fairly indisputable.

I want some Shape-Ups.  But I already wanted them.  Even before I saw Joe Montana wearing them.  Despite seeing Joe Montana wearing them.

I was not offended by the Tebow ads, although I was prepared to me.  They were cute.  Not much of a story shown there – but I guess if you were interested in that story you would go hear about it.  And a cute middle-aged woman getting body slammed is always good for a laugh. (I can’t put a link here because I can’t find one…weird).

Little KISS was cute (and I actually did see that one from across the room).  Mike is the world’s biggest KISS fan, so we always notice when they are on.

I liked the Google ad…looking up the different things laying out a story.  Clever.

Honestly, I am most intrigued by this – Miller High Life says that they “gave up” their Superbowl commercial to help these folks promote their small businesses.  I don’t know that these small, local businesses will benefit – but it’s different and that’s always attention getting!

So, I guess I “fumbled” this assignment a bit.  Sorry…my sports ADD kicked in in a big way.  It’s a weakness.  I am not proud…but there are some things you just have to accept about yourself.  And this is one of mine.

Hope you all enjoyed the game…and the snacks!

This Jillian Michaels character is tough.  I have been working out semi-regularly for a few years and I can’t quite get through any one of these workouts without falling to my knees gasping for air.  I guess that’s a good thing.

I have done one of these workouts 6 out of the last 8 days.  Couldn’t do it on Saturday or Sunday…but now I am back in gear.  Not sure about whether I will end up “shredded” except emotionally.

The 400 Calorie Fix is going reasonably well.  The weirdest part is the 400 calorie “snack” between lunch and dinner.  That’s a big snack.  Followed by a smallish dinner.

Yesterday I ate a big bowl of ice cream.  I could get used to that kind of “snack”.

Weight loss wise, maybe I lost a pound?  My weight swings all over the place from day to day…but it seems to be trending a little lower.  So that’s good.

The SuperBowl party we went to was a bit of a challenge.  Not knowing how many calories were in anything left me a bit lost and wandering.  I had a small plate of nachos and a cupcake (or two…maybe).  Not health food, but I am definitely more aware of portions.

So far so good.  But I still find myself balking at the “rules”.

“What difference will one more little cookie make?”

“Who will know if I don’t follow the rules today?”

“I’m probably fine the way I am…this isn’t worth the effort.”

And the one that I hadn’t really thought about before…but keeps popping up – “Maybe I don’t deserve to be any thinner/healthier/shredded-er”.  Maybe each person only gets so much good stuff and if you try to get more than what you’ve got coming, you lose somewhere else.

Right now I’ve got: health, home, reasonable financial security, a great family, etc…  A full plate of good stuff.

So if I reach out for more…do I lose something else?  I never really realized I had that kind of doom and gloom mindset.  If I got all bikini worthy (not that I would actually wear a bikini…ever!) what would be the corresponding bad thing?  I don’t even want to think about it.  But I do.

I am trying to move beyond this, but it keeps sneaking up.

Does anyone else have this issue?? Or am I just making stuff up so I can go get some donuts??