March 7, 2010 marks the one year anniversary of the last time I ate a piece of pizza. Do I miss it? Sometimes - but my health has improved. Since March of 2009 I have lost 70 lbs. I have 20.6 lbs. to lose before I reach my goal. I have lost 23 inches, and 10 sizes.
Last year I reached the point where I couldn't stand to look at myself in the mirror and I hated seeing pictures of myself. So I made a new year's resolution to change it - and I have. I have so much more energy now. I truly believe that the changes I've made in how I eat, what I eat, and how much I eat have made a lasting impact on my mood and over-all health. I'm confident again - something I haven't had in a very long time. And that confidence helped me to write again as well - I defended my in house portfolio in October and will sit my out of house defense in January (February at the latest).
Since setting my mind to things has really paid off - I'm going to take it further this year. I am in debt up to my eyeballs. I'm in so much debt that there is no way I can get out of it at this point. My credit card payments (minimum) are more than I make in one pay period. I'm 30 years old and on occasion have to ask my parents for money. I'm done with it. I'm taking the steps to get financially stable now before it is too late. I won't bore you with how many credit cards I have or the amount of credit card debt. I never really learned how to handle money - and after my divorce my spending got worse - partly out of necessity and partly out of shopping therapy. So I'm paying the price now.
One thing that has helped me lose the weight is to think positive and celebrate small victories. I look at my weight loss in 5-10lb increments rather than thinking of the entire 90lbs at one time. I'm going to keep a positive attitude about my financial situation as well. I could feel sorry for myself that I might have to declare bankruptcy, but instead I look at it in the positive and count all the blessings I have in my life. And I will approach spending the same way I did the weight loss. If I am grocery shopping and I have an impulse to buy a bag of Cheetos, or chocolate, or what have you - I stop and ask myself if I am hungry? Why do I want that particular item? (usually it is a comfort food). And my favorite question - If I eat this, will I feel better? The answer is almost always no. I'm going to do the same thing with spending money. Now that my credit cards are out of the picture - I'll I have is my debit card or what cash I have on me. I used the credit cards as an excuse to spend. No more.
So here starts my year without credit cards.
