New Month, New Goals...

It has been my new years resolution to have monthly goals. As everyone does, I started off on the right track. I had good results in January, but February was a different story, not so successful. So I am determined to have better results in March. Ideally, I would like to have my goals written down by the first of the month and I know we are already 5 days into March, but it's better late than never, right? And as the battle of "Old" Kristian vs. "New" Kristian wages, I am determined to do EVERYTHING I can to make "New" Kristian victorious. Accomplishing monthly goals is one of those things.

Here are my March Goals:

1. Work Out at gym 3 times per week.
2. Read one book this month.
3. No Fast Food this month.
4. No Carbonated drinks this month.
5. Do my taxes.
6. Eat half as much as I normally do.

They are very similar to January's, but I feel like they are good goals to have. If I meet these expectations, I feel like I am at least making some progression in my life. And that is VERY important for me right now.

One Month Later...

January is official behind us, that means its time to review my monthly goals. You will remember that I laid out a few goals for the month with hopes of actually following through and accomplishing them. I figured setting them at the beginning of every month would make it easier for me to meet them. Here were my goals for the month of January:

1. Gym Membership & workout every weekday(drop weight approx. 10lbs)
2. Eat half as much & No soda for entire month.
3. Write in blog at least twice a week.
4. Read 1 book this month.
5. Spend money only on necessities.

Lets see how I did as far as meeting those goals. Here are the Results

1. Joined Gym, workout every weekday (partial check, the work out I'm doing has me resting on Tuesdays and Thursdays.) And I only dropped 2 pounds.
2. As far as I can tell I have been eating a lot better this month. And I think I only slipped 2 or 3 times when it comes to drinking soda.
3. My blog has NEVER looked better. I superseded my hopes on this one.
4. And I am pages away from finishing my book for the month. (I haven't been able to read as much as I would like due to my recent move.)
5. I have been extraordinarily good and watching my finances this month.

I wouldn't go as far as saying "Mission Accomplished," but overall I would say I was pretty successful. Time to think of some new ones, and I'll post them.

New Years Resolution: the follow up...

It's been the first full week of 2008 and I must say that I have been doing pretty good at keeping my new years resolutions. I will admit that I have slipped a few times, but I have gotten back on track and still have my eye on my goals for the month. I did slip and have a soda the other day...it was honestly a simple case of forgetfulness. On the exercise front, I was so good this week. In fact, I worked so hard that my whole body was so sore that I wasn't able to even work out on Friday. Seriously, not a case of me just wusing out, I couldn't move my arms or legs, without being in complete pain. Next week, I should be back in full force. I look forward to hitting it again really hard. I'm still confident that I will get close to my goal weight. My only real weakness right now it my eating habits, I really need to focus on eating HALF the amount I usually do. I think that will be the key to my success.

More reflection on 2007...

I am a big fan of movies, in fact anyone who knows me would be able to tell you that. But the other day it came to my attention just how much I do. It actually kind of scared me, it came to my attention as I was reflecting back on the year 2007. Let me share with you the complete list of flicks I saw in the theater last year:

(key: $=tickets purchased "free"= you get the idea)

1. Alpha Dog - $
2. Pan’s Labyrinth - $
3. The Hitcher - $
4. Smokin’ Aces – free
5. Norbit - $
6. Ghost Rider - $
7. Bridge to Terabithia - $
8. The Number 23 - $
9. Reno 911!: Miami
10. Zodiac - free
11. Black Snake Moan - $
12. 300 - $
13. Dead Silence - $
14. Shooter - $
15. Hills Have Eyes 2 - $
16. The Lookout - $
17. Blades of Glory - $
18. Grindhouse - $
19. The Reaping - $
20. Disturbia - $
21. Pathfinder - $
22. Fracture - $
23. Hot Fuzz - free
24. Spiderman 3 - $
25. 28 Weeks Later - $
26. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End- $
27. Knocked Up - $
28. Ocean’s 13 - $
29. Hostel: Part II - $
30. 1408 - free
31. Ratatouille - free
32. Live Free or Die Hard - $
33. Transformers - $
34. I Now Pronounce you Chuck and Larry - free
35. Sunshine - $
36. The Simpsons Movie - $
37. The Bourne Ultimatum - free
38. Rush Hour 3 - $
39. Superbad - $
40. The Invasion - free
41. War - free
42. Mr. Bean’s Holiday - free
43. September Dawn - $
44. Halloween – free
45. Balls of Fury – free
46. Death Sentence – free
47. Day of the Dead - free
48. 3:10 to Yuma - $
49. Shoot Em Up – free
50. Hatchet - $
51. Eastern Promises - free
52. The Brave One - free
53. Dragon Wars: D-War - free
54. Resident Evil: Extinction - free
55. Good Luck Chuck - free
56. Lust, Caution – free
57. Diary of the Dead – free
58. 30 Days of Night - $
59. Saw IV - $
60. No Country For Old Men - $
61. P2 - $
62. Beowulf - $
63. Hitman - $
64. Atonement – free
65. I am Legend – free
66. The Kite Runner – free
67. National Treasure: Book of Secret - $
68. Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story - $
69. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street – free
70. Alien vs. Predator: Requiem - $

So Far So Good....

I have been more than diligent my blog writing goal. It hasn't even been a week and I have already made several posts. On top of that, I went to the Universal gym here on the lot last night signed up for a membership.I even did 30 minutes of cardio. While I was there it donned on me that I should weigh myself so I could see the gradual weight loss and get a better sense of accomplishment. As of yesterday, this hefty viking weighed in at a whopping 242lbs. I will be hitting up the gym tonight and will finish this entry.

(***hours later)
Well, just got back from the gym. Still weighing in at 242lbs, but I feel like if I stay at it, I will trim down the eventually! I really feel like I have started out the new year on the right foot. I have found a workout program that should be really good for burning fat and toning muscle. I will start that program next week.

Ringing in the New Year...

Before I start, I just want to wish each and everyone of you a VERY happy 2008. 2007 has officially come to a close. As I think back on the year, I remember some really good times, some hard times and see all the mistakes I made. This is the time of the year when we are supposed to make New Years Resolutions. And I, like everyone else have made them and broken them every year. We have all heard that writing down these resolutions make it much easier to keep them. This year I am going to take a different approach, instead of making several big goals for the span of the whole year, I am going to make several Goals that span the length of one month. That way I will be able to see the success of them much quicker and have a greater sense of accomplishment. That is actually one reason I am writing this blog. I want to document my results. I started this blog just over a year ago and have not been so diligent in writing on a regular basis. So this in itself, will be one of my resolutions. So with no further delay here are my goals for January 2008:

1. Gym Membership & workout every weekday(drop weight approx. 10lbs)
2. Eat half as much & No soda for entire month.
3. Write in blog at least twice a week.
4. Read 1 book this month.
5. Spend money only on necessities.

I will be keeping track of these 5 goals and will follow up at the end of the month. For those of you reading this, I would also appreciate your support and encouragement. Feel free to ask me how my goals are going. I could use the extra encouragement. Happy new year to all, stay tuned for more blog entries.

Following Through...

Okay, I have to admit. Following through on my goal to blog once a week is turning out to be a but more challenging than I originally thought. Maybe it has to do with the time of year. Granted, I did choose to start doing this right around the holidays. So it's no surprise that I am having trouble finding time. Well a lot has happened since coming back from my holiday trip home. New Years, which was a lot of fun, was more memorable in 2006 than in any other year. Reason being, not only did I party well into the night, but only a few hours later I worked in Pasadena at the 2007 Rose Bowl Parade. Yeah, you're probably thinking that I'm crazy actually choosing to work at 4:00 am on New Years Day, BUT besides the fact that I was super tired and hungry, it was an experience that I will never forget. And no, I did not put a picture of marching storm troopers on this post because I'm a HUGE Star Wars fan, there were actually hundreds of the armor clad space soldiers marching in the streets of Pasadena. George Lucas was the parade's grand Marshal this year, so many portions of the parade were Star Wars themed. Overall, a great parade and fun experience.

Why "Blog".......

You know 10 years ago "Blogging" was something unheard of. In fact, at that time if I had even heard the word "blog" thoughts of some sort of space alien or demon from the under world may have come to mind, not an online journal.

But in this day and age, "Blogging" has virtually taken over the Internet. The term "weblog," which was coined in 1997, became "blog" two years later (1999) When a man named Peter Merholz jokingly broke the word "weblog" into the phrase "we blog" in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com. That is a little known fact, but it changed history. Blogging evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives. But now people use them for just about everything else.

Everyone seems to have a blog these days; from political critics who need some sort of outlet to preach their political points of view, to science-fiction fans that write and speculate about upcoming movies, video games and comic books.

A "Blog" can be a powerful form of self-expression; so long someone takes the time to read it. That is why, today, I have chosen to embark on this quest called "blogging" in hopes to crack some smart ass remarks, raise some interesting questions and share experiences. And I will dedicate myself to this endeavor by writing at least one of these blasted blogs a week. And if, by any chance, I skip one, I probably have a really good excuse so save the criticism. With that said, it begins.........

Kristian