Improving Personal Appearance

I’ve known for quite a while that my appearance has an impact on other people as well as in my own self-confidence. And I let it slide during the past 3 or 4 years. I’ve gained a lot of weight, I’ve let my teeth go uncared for, my skin does not look nice and clean.

From now on I promise myself I will take excellent care of my body.

Here are the steps I will start taking in order to get my body back in shape and my confidence back as well:

• Teeth
  I’ve actually started my treatment last week. To fix everything I need to fix will cost me almost $13,000.00 – and that’s only the part I will have to pay for, as my insurance covers around 60% of the total – lots of work to be done! But it is worth it. I don’t really recall the last time I felt confident enough to smile a big smile, without being self-conscious about my front teeth being in a different color from the rest of my teeth, or that I am missing two teeth in the back of my mouth.
• Body
  I need to lose between 10 and 15 pounds. My weight is basically located around my waist. I have a nice belly, which I intend on getting rid of. For this to happen I need to go back to the gym and make it part of my regular schedule. I know the idea of going to the gym is almost physically painful, but I have to picture myself feeling good about myself again. And going to the gym is the only way to accomplish that.
• Skin
  Mostly I need to keep my face clean. I have lots of very tiny black heads, and sometimes I get so much grease on my skin that I have those hideous pimps full of fat. The idea is to use a deep cleanser and maintain a regular washing schedule (in the morning during shower and at night before I go to bed).
• Nails
  I do not bite my nails, but I don’t take good care of them, either. My solution? Have a manicure and pedicure once a month. It is not so expensive, if done on a monthly basis.

And that’s it for now. I don’t think I need to do anything else besides these points, which should improve my overall looks tremendaly!

Wish me good luck. I will keep you posted on my progress.

Week of 08/04/08 – 08/10/08

• Go to the gym (at least 3 times)
• Call dentist and schedule an appointment
• Do something fun after work this week (at least once)
• Keep on looking for a higher paying job
• Check what tests I will need to take to be accepted at BMCC
• Tag/move PCF photos
• Work on my job description
• Study for wine course (maybe go to a local Starbuck so I can focus)
• Work on my wine blog
• List items on eBay

Week of 07/28/08 – 08/03/08

• Go to the gym (at least 3 times)
• Call dentist and schedule an appointment
• Do something fun after work this week (at least once)
• Keep on looking for a higher paying job
• Check what tests I will need to take to be accepted at BMCC
• Tag/move PCF photos
• Work on my job description
• Study for wine course (maybe go to a local Starbuck so I can focus)
• Work on my wine blog
• List items on eBay

Week of 07/21/08 – 07/27/08

My To-Do list for this week:

• Go to the gym (at least 3 times)
  
• Call Lu
• Call my bank regarding transfer error
• Call dentist and get an appointment (my referral)
• Do something fun after work at least one day of the week
• Add “job search” including the jobs determined by the test results
• Start looking for a higher paying job
• Tag/move pcf photos
• Organize my desk at home
• Send email to Wine-O guys (they sent me some wine tags)
• Work on my job description
• Study for my wine course
• Work on my wine blog
  
• List items on eBay

Week of 07/14/08 – 07/20/08

y to-do list for this week:

Monday

• Pay credit cards
  I paid one credit card; I have another one to pay this week (before the 17th)
• Work on my wine blog
  
• Gym – from 7pm to 8pm
  I went to the gym for 30 minutes only – but it is better than nothing, right?!
• Do laundry (wash towels)

Tuesday

• Pick up book from library
• Wine class – from 6pm to 8pm
• Put laundry away (including the towels I washed yesterday and the dry cleaners stuff)
• Work on my job description
• Do the dishes
• Transfer eBay photos from camera to computer
• Read magazines (Details & Wine Spectator)
• I also need to start reading the new book I picked up today from the library
• Add gym schedule (yoga classes) to my gmail calendar

Wednesday

• Call and try to get a hair cut appointment
• Call dentist and get an appointment (my referral)
• Gym – from 7pm to 8pm
  Shoots! I missed the gym today because I was watching “So you think you can dance!”
• Study for my wine course
• Pay credit card
• Keep transferring songs from CD to iTunes
• Clean my pipe (getting a bitter taste in the mouth piece)
• Research business classes in my home town

• Accumulated from previous days:
  Work on my wine blog
  Work on my job description
  Read Wine Spectator magazine

Thursday

• Haircut appointment today @ 5:30pm
• Hatha Yoga @ 7:30pm
• Do laundry
• Get rid of the trash

• Accumulated from previous days:
  Call dentist and get an appointment (my referral)
  Study for my wine course
  Keep transferring songs from CD to iTunes
  Research business classes in my home town
  Work on my wine blog
  Work on my job description

Friday

• Gym – from 7pm to 8pm
• Study for my wine course
• Organize my desk
• Send email to Wine-O guys (they sent me some wine tags)

• Accumulated from previous days:
  Call dentist and get an appointment (my referral)
  Work on my job description
  Do laundry
  Get rid of the trash
  Study for my wine course
  Keep transferring songs from CD to iTunes
  Work on my wine blog
  

Saturday

• Take some shirts and pants to the dry cleaners
• Update my budget file (daily expenses and credit card)
• Start looking for a higher paying job
• Tag/move photos to albums (pcf)

• Accumulated from previous days:
  Organize my desk
  Send email to Wine-O guys (they sent me some wine tags)
  Call dentist and get an appointment (my referral)
  Work on my job description
  Study for my wine course
  Keep transferring songs from CD to iTunes
  Work on my wine blog
  

Sunday

• List items on eBay
• Study for my wine course
• Grocery shopping

Hobbies Journal

I do have some hobbies, the problem is that I don’t actually do anything! I love photography and cooking and reading and anything that is wine-related. So, how come I don’t get to do anything fun? Because I am BORING and LAZY! That pretty much tells you who I am.

I will keep an updated journal on my hobbies and things that make me happy. This means I will keep you up-to-date on what I’ve been doing – hopefully by adding my photos, recipes, etc.

Fitness Journal

My gym is the local New York Sports Club. I’ve been paying the monthly fee for almost a year now, but I have not been able to stick to a routine.

I understand starting is really difficult, but once you break the 3 months barrier, things should smooth down a little. I just never went to the gym during a three month period! Time to change.

My goal is to go to the gym 3 times a week – Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I also want to be able to go to walk in the park or by the river during the weekends.

I am not sure how I will keep track of my progress. In the beginning I will simply list here the day/time I went to the gym and what I did. I will try to come up with a better way of tracking whatever I am doing.

Weight Loss Journal

The last time I weighted myself was on July 7th. My weight was 190.6 lbs.

Honestly I do not believe I lost any weight since then. I probably put some on, which is unacceptable. The problem (there is always an explanation, right?!) is that I’ve spent this week by myself and did not have my partner behind my back telling me to be careful with the amount of food I ate. And he will be gone for another week, which scares me.

But hopefully I will put my plan in motion effective tomorrow. This includes sticking to the points assigned to my by Weight Watchers (29 daily points) plus exercise.

Initial weight on July 7th 2008 – 190.6 lbs

Fitness: Getting Into Shape

Losing weight and becoming physically more fit should be one of my major short-term goals. I am overweight and absolutely out of shape – I can’t even bend! Pretty pathetic.

The only action I’ve taken so far was to join Weight Watchers, which has been very helpful. I see Weight Watchers as a lifestyle change, not a diet. It would work much better had I a better resolve in sticking to the plan.

But that’s going to change. Effective July 14th 2008 I will maintain my daily food ingestion within the points given to me by the Weight Watchers program. I know I will lose weight, as I’ve had already in the beginning.

The second step is to create a schedule to go to the gym. I need to keep a schedule and journal, so I can keep track of my progress.

I will keep both items on separate entries, so it is going to be easier to track each one separately.

Wish me luck! I just need to eat the two pints of ice cream and finish the pizza I have in the fridge!

Financials: Where Am I?

Considering you don’t know me, I believe I can list part of my financials here without fear of being kidnapped – that’s a (big) joke and you will understand it once you see my numbers.

The idea of this exercise is to keep track of my progress in many areas, including savings and credit card debt payment. Hopefully I will see the first one increasing and the latter decreasing in time.

SAVINGS

1. Nickname: Down Payment – this is my savings account for a down payment on a home. This account has a $50.00 automatic transfer set up (from my checking to my savings every 14 days)
   Balance on July 13th 2008 – $59.44
2. Nickname: Travels & Indulgences – self-explanatory title. This account has a $50.00 automatic transfer set up (from my checking to my savings every 14 days)
   Balance on July 13th 2008 – $55.17
3. Nickname: Unemployment Fund – also self-explanatory. This account has a $50.00 automatic transfer set up (from my checking to my savings every 14 days)
   Balance on July 13th 2008 – $52.29
4. Nickname: Business – this is the savings I will use to fund my business ventures. This account has a $25.00 automatic transfer set up (from my checking to my savings every 14 days)
   Balance on July 13th 2008 – $173.15

CREDIT CARDS

1. Chase #1 (APR 2.99% for life)
   Payment plan: $150.00/month – 21 months to pay it off – $79.09 paid in interest
   Balance on July 13th 2008 – $2,965.89
2. Citi #1 (APR 0.00% until April 2009; 9.99% for life after April 2009)
   Payment plan: $200.00/month – 26 months to pay it off – $207.70 paid in interest (includes 10 months of 0.00% APR)
   Balance on July 13th 2008 – $4,729.07

So, this is it! I have a lot of work to do to increase my savings and reduce my credit card debt. I will keep you posted.