Getting a jump on the New Year

Well, I had all good intentions of being better at posting - was going to try for three days a week! Didn't happen - between losing power during a major ice storm for 4 days, and then Christmas . . . oh well.

Try, try again.

I made a list of my resolutions already for New Year's. BUT - I am trying to get a jump on them. Starting today - not on the 1st.

Number one on my list is to quit smoking. I took my first Chantix today, and that means that my quit day is Monday, 1/5. I've been doing some research on quitting smoking and it seems that there is a great book out there - "The Easyway to Quit Smoking" by Allen Carr. Has anyone heard of it, or had success with it? I'm going to try Barnes and Noble tonight to see if they have it. I guess he's had a lot of success with his method/book - he claims a 53% success rate. I know you can't add up percentages, but hey, with a 40%+ success rate for the Chantix and his 53% rate, maybe I have a good shot at this!!! (that is, as long as I stay away from shots - tequila, that is!). :)

And of course, number two on the list is to lose weight/get in better shape. Is there even *one* person out there that doesn't have that on their list? Getting in shape has been tough with the smoking; it seems that two of them are not very complementary. Tough to get in shape when you huff and puff doing a flight of stairs . . . and that is exactly how I plan to get in shape - I'm going to huff and puff twice a day on the stairs at work. Two times a day (15 minutes each) will burn about 350 calories. Giving up my Dunkins habit (sob) will save me about 330 calories a day. How bad. So, that would be 680 less calories a day which should net me about 1 - 1.5 pounds a week weight loss. Not too bad - and I think I may be able to keep my merlot habit.

Also added that "drink 8 glasses of water a day" thing too - just for shits and giggles. However, now I desperately need a toilet located in my office. I've only had 4 glasses so far today, and I've been the bathroom 20 times. Okay, maybe not 20, but definately 10! At that rate, I figure I should be down a good 5 pounds by tomorrow!

I also have a couple of really, really fun ones on my list too (yeah, right). Cleaning out the basement; painting kids bedrooms; putting in a floor in the bedrooms. Woooo whoo! Can't wait!
All this with a full-time job and being a full-time student (and a part-time job)! Fun, fun, fun! No wonder I smoke & drink & have a Dunkins habit!

So - any advice from out there? And why do "resolutions" always seem to be something that we are giving up? You never hear anyone say "I'm going to drink more this coming year" or "I'm really going to try to gain another 10 lbs" or "I'm going to give up cleaning my house for the year" or "I'm going to smoke until I spontaneously combust"! I think it would be refreshing to hear something NOT being given up!