Still Resolute

via pinterest

The end of January is nearing folks - how are you doing on your New Year's resolutions?

I've gotta say, I'm doing pretty well with mine!

First and foremost, the diet and exercise plan is going really well. I won't point fingers, but combined, Matt and I have lost a total of 36 lbs! And consumed about 3 tons of veggies, egg whites and ground turkey. Whoopee! In all honesty, The Skinny Rules has proven to be a great diet plan - strict and rule-driven, but accessible enough that the average cook/grocery shopper/habitual dieter can easily jump on the train.

Stop smiling, you tyrant!

And just to add fuel to the fire, we're working out five days a week too. And let me just say that there is nothing sexier than a fiance who will do yoga with you ;)

This may be of interest to some of you -we've also jumped into the world of personal trainers. Nope, we weren't offered hits of steroids on our first visit. And we haven't started inexplicably grunting whenever we pick up a dumbell.  But something even worse happened - they brought out the calipers.... Here's how it went:

• We step out of the locker room. We are both wearing matching T-shirts by Mark C. Myers. Sweet.
• We are greeted by a duo of sleek, svelte trainers. Oh boy.
• We are put through a series of "no stress," "just for some baselines" tests - including jumping up and down on a box, doing as many (or few) push ups as we can, and the infamous President's challenge flexibility test.
• The calipers come out and we are irrevocably shamed in front of each other and told we are basically walking masses of blubber.
• We are committed henceforth and forever more to working out, so we never have to go through that again!!

Actually, since then, the process hasn't been bad. We've met with our trainer twice and he's taught us all the weight and strength training exercises we should be doing. He even made us nice binders of the weekly workouts we should be doing - starting with 2x a week and moving up. If you're interested, he recommends 4 days of weight training and 2 days of at least 20 minutes of cardio. Not awful. 

We've also made headway on the great wedding extravaganza, making play dates with caterers, chatting wit the paparazzi (or wedding photographers as you may call them) and getting our homework from our planner. And, for the most part, we've been sticking to the "have fun or else" idea. Only 1 breakdown in the new year - not bad!

The rest of the resolutions have made quiet progress, rather than big strides. Still in conversations about my masters, starting some new "time management" habits, and thinking optimistically about volunteering. Optimistic thoughts count for something, right?

Stay resolute, my friends!

XO,

E.

Work Wednesday - Online Volunteering

Every now and again I interject some thoughts on work life on the blog. I'm going to try to organize these subjects onto Work Wednesdays ... not every week, just as they come to mind. Hope you enjoy!

Are you ever stuck at the computer, piddling through the umpteenth blog post advising you on how to transform that antique toilet paper holder into an impressive interior decor item and wondering -- isn't there something better I could be doing with my time?

here

Maybe it's this: Online volunteering with the UN at onlinevolunteering.org.  What an amazing concept. In this day of global interconnectedness, you can work with a NGO in faraway Tanzania or Thailand via the internet. Many NGOs submit requests for assistance with webpage design, blog content writing or translating, assistance with online courses or even fundraising. Passionate about women's empowerment? Search for opportunities with NGOs focusing on justice and equality for women. Love Africa? Choose your favorite area and volunteer with a group from there.

This could also be a really great way to beef up a resume. We all have so many skills that may not be reflected on that one-page resume. Volunteering could be a great way to get experience with those skills and highlight them on your resume.

I've done a little informal volunteering like this with a fair trade group in East Africa. I helped them work on a business proposal and marketing pieces, and it was a great chance to wake up some brain cells that have languished, unused, at my current job. And I killed a couple empty hours - win win!

Got any other great volunteering ideas? Would you volunteer online?