Motivation vs Determination

Last week I shared my plan for making my comeback to a healthy lifestyle. Getting started again is always the hardest but I know thanks to that plan that I have everything in place to succeed. Now I'm at step five, do it. Just doing what needs to get done is something I struggle with immensely. Setting goals helps me focus on one week at a time rather than the big picture and becoming overwhelmed. And thanks to Carolyn I even have a link up to help me along with my goal setting.

The three goals from last week...

1. 100oz a day. Wednesday and Thursday I killed it. Friday I caved and bought a can of Dew from the vending machine and that just knocked me off of my game. And Saturday and Sunday, you know the dreaded {when it comes to healthy choices} weekend, I only managed 20oz. I need to work on my determination to achieve this goal to not let silly little things stop me.

2. Two workouts. Woof. I ran Wednesday night for the first time in over a month, and on National Running Day woohoo. But after that I was a lazy bum. I kept putting it off by telling myself I would do it tomorrow. That didn't work out so well.

3. Make Santa Fe Chicken. Double woof. Again, I was a lazy bum and didn't get this done. I thought about it a lot but never just fully committed to getting it done.

Looking back at last week I learned that I need to really commit to achieving my goals. I start off strong with motivation right after setting goals but as that pumped up feeling fades so does my drive to make things happen.

Moving on to this week's goals.

1. 100oz a day. I know I can do this. I'm going to bribe myself a bit this week. I can only have a can of Dew after I've consumed those 100oz of water for the day. Seeing as I don't have any Dew in my apartment I'm going  to have to buckle down and reach that 100oz mark while I'm still at work to grab a can from the vending machine at work if I really want that Dew.

2. Three workouts. Last week I didn't set my goals until Wednesday so I gave myself a break. But not this week. It's time to suck it up and get shit done. I need to work out.

3. Make the damn chicken! No more pushing this off. It's a great recipe and I know I enjoy it so why not let myself have a good meal to choose from every day in my fridge? And when it cooks in the crock pot there is no reason why a lazy bum like myself can't get it done.

4. Clean the apartment. I've been meaning to do this for a while now but I keep putting it off. No more. I don't care if it takes me doing something every night this week but I will get my place cleaned up and looking good.

My motivation is high right now to accomplish my goals so I'll be putting that to good use but the real test will be when my motivation is low and it's time for that determination to kick in. I'm shooting for 4 out of 4 goals accomplished this week.

What are your goals for the week?

My Comeback

Can you believe it's June already? I can't. May just seemed to fly by. In fact the whole first half of this year has just been flying by. Before this next month and the remaining half of the year are over it's time for me to make my comeback.

I let my vacation derail me from my weight loss and fitness goals. Jessi wrote a post all about making a comeback that I'm finally going to put into action. So here we go, I'm going to put Jessi's five steps for making a comeback into action right here so you all can help keep me accountable and when I'm doubting myself or feeling lazy I can come back here and remember everything I said I would do.

Step one: decide to succeed. Consider this blog post the contract that I am signing with myself that says "I WILL succeed. I CAN do this. I AM worth it."

Step two: Realize that you don't need a miracle, you just need a plan. So many times in the past I have thought I needed a miracle because there couldn't be any other way I could lose the weight. Or I was always thinking there would be this miracle moment {moving into my own place} when everything would just magically click with me. But thanks to Jessi and Carolyn I'm beginning to learn that it won't take a miracle. It only takes me making a plan and sticking to it. This is my plan: weekly goals, meal planning, workouts, no less than 64oz of water a day. It's not a very detailed plan at this point but it's the foundation that I can build on. Potentially I'll be getting a 7 Day Jumpstart from Jess at Operations Skinny Jeans which would include 7 days of coaching from her, a clean eating meal plan, daily emails that include encouragement, a workout and tips for staying on track, and a private Facebook group with other jump starters. I'll keep you posted on whether I'm chosen to try out this free trial which is starting soon.

Step three: toss the junk, introduce the healthy. I drank the last Mountain Dew that was in my apartment yesterday. I'm going to try my best to not keep it around in the apartment now to tempt me. All of the other food in my apartment is mostly healthy so I'd say I'm pretty set on tossing the junk.

Step four: enlist your helpers. All of you are my helpers. Tammy Jo, Carolyn, and Jessi especially are my helpers. These ladies are always there for me when I need some encouragement, words of wisdom, support, and just a friend to be there for me.

Step five: do it. I have everything in place now. Today begins the journey that I will be on for the rest of my life. This is not a just a journey just to reach my goal weight. This is journey to change my life to a healthy one. Now it's time to just do the damn thing. Watch out world. :)

I know this post has gotten pretty lengthy already but it's Wednesday so I've got to share my weigh in. And really it goes hand in hand with this post anyways. This is where I'm starting from...

SW: 207.7

May 28th Weigh In: 204.4

Today's Weigh In: 204.6

Gain: 0.2

Overall Loss: 3.1

One more thing real quick before I end this post, three goals I'll be working towards achieving today through Sunday.

1. 100ozAday. I've slacked a lot with my water intake lately. No more. I need to be drinking water not empty calorie sugary beverages. I have yet to make 100oz happen on a Saturday or a Sunday but there's a first time for everything.

2. Two workouts. The weather forecast is looking gorgeous these next couple of days so I fully intend on taking advantage of it by getting outside and moving my body. I would like to make one of these workouts a run since it's been over a month since my last one. The second workout can be another run, a workout DVD, a walk...whatever. I just really want to get back on the fitness wagon any way that I can.

3. Make Santa Fe Chicken. I bought all of the ingredients to make Skinny Taste's Santa Fe Chicken but have been too lazy to make it yet. I don't know how much lazier I can be considering I make it in the crock pot and the most work comes from shredding the chicken after it's cooked. Must make real food this week!

Now I'm done. I swear. :)

Checking In

Well I hope y'all had a great weekend! I know I enjoyed mine since there was a bit more family time thanks to Easter Sunday. It's always hard to leave when the weekend is over.

I'm here to report how I did on my goals from last week. Before I get started I just want to say that it feels pretty great to follow through and achieve a goal so I need to remember that great feeling the next time I'm struggling to get it done.

[ONE] Run 3 times this week. This was not the goal I was feeling great about following through with that's for sure. I ran 1 time last week. Some winter weather came into play and I just let myself be lazy about it and didn't even try to make it up when the weather was better. Really all I have is a bunch of excuses for why this didn't get done.

[TWO] 64oz of water a day. This is the goal I'm feeling pretty good about. Last week I killed my goal 5/7 days. Two of those five days I reached 100oz while the remaining three days I reached 80oz. Weekends have always been my downfall when it comes to any of the changes I'm trying to make so it wasn't surprising to me that Saturday and Sunday I had no water. I managed to only have a Mountain Dew twice during the week and only after my goal was met. Huge accomplishment for me! But I made up for skipping a few days during the week by having two on Saturday and Sunday. So not a complete check on this goal but it wasn't horrible either.

[THREE] Sleep at least 7 hours. I knocked this goal out of the park! According to my FitBit I was actually asleep at least 7 hours every night last week. So huge check mark here but yet this doesn't give me as great of a feeling as that water goal does. Probably because it's not that hard for me to reach this goal. It just takes a little bit of conscious effort and it's easily done.

Moving on to this week.

[ONE] 80oz of water a day {Tuesday-Friday}. I totally skipped out on drinking water yesterday but I'm back today. I'm struggling with the last 20oz for today but I know I can get this done. Saturday I am flying to the east coast for a week long vacation to see my bestie and I couldn't be more excited. That being said, I know Saturday and Sunday I won't accomplish 80oz of water so for those two days my goal will just be to make sure I don't skip out on water completely like I did this past weekend.

[TWO] Clean my apartment before leaving Saturday. Not that my place is overly messy right now it just need some good organization and a run through of all of my cleaning chores. I want to leave my place neat and organized so when I come back the only thing I have to worry about is unpacking.

[THREE] Make a list for packing and start early. Chances are I can pack a good portion of the clothing I want to take on vacation because it's more casual than work allows {And it's warmer there than it is here!}. I don't want to be stressing about stuff Friday night so by starting to pack early and having a list will help. There are of course things that cannot be packed until after their used Saturday morning {make up, toothbrush...} so a list will be a huge help in avoiding something being left behind.

My goals are a little different this week but they're still focused on a healthy lifestyle. Less stress and clutter in my life this week leading up to vacation is just what I need. I want to be able to relax and not worry about a thing on vacation. Speaking of which, I should probably make sure I pay my bills before leaving no?

I'm off to chug the rest of this water so I can reach my goal for the day. {And probably regret waiting until bedtime because I'll have to get up a million times now.} I'll be back tomorrow morning with a weigh in. Let's hope Easter lunch doesn't knock me down!

Goals for the Week

Apparently I was bit by the blogging bug in addition to the running bug. This is my fifth post in a row! Now for some of you that's no big thing. But for me it is considering  my blogging has been less than consistent for quite some time.

But anyways, moving on to the reason I'm here.

Time to get back in the groove of setting weekly goals for myself and what better way to do that than to link up with the lovely Carolyn from Fitnasty for Life! {FYI there is no better way lol.}

[ONE] Run 3 times this week. I was able to run three times last week which earned me my first trophy on Nike+. Right now it says "won 1 time" and I want to see that number increase. And in addition to that, three runs a week is what the c25k program calls for so I want to do my best to get that done. Based on the weather forecast it's looking like Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday will be my running days.

[TWO] 64oz of water a day. I have been really slacking on drinking good ol' H2O lately. When I don't drink water I'm drinking Mountain Dew and we all know I really shouldn't be drinking empty calories if I'm trying to lose weight. And with running my body needs water rather than high fructose corn syrup coursing through my system. This is a totally feasible goal since I've done this many times in the past. Now it's just time to get it done. My reward for reaching 64oz of water a day will be that I can have one can of Mountain Dew. But none before that water goal is met.

[THREE] Sleep at least 7 hours. Some days I'm really good about getting to bed at a decent time and other times I'm sucked into something on the Internet {blogging, watching tv online...} or reading a book and I can't put it down which leads to me staying up much later than I should. I'm realizing I function best when I have a good night's rest under my belt and it makes early wake up times for running a little easier to handle.

My weekly goals have stayed the same since I started linking up with Carolyn but until I believe I have a good foundation laid {I'm easily achieving these three goals every week} I'm not comfortable changing them or adding in new goals. These three goals are still a challenge for me so they're still good goals for me to be setting.

Do you reward yourself daily for reaching a goal?

Long Time No See

Hello blog world! Long time no see huh? It wasn't intentional but apparently I felt the need to take a month off from blogging. And some how that meant taking a month off from weighing in and working on my healthy lifestyle. I'm giving myself the side eye right now for that one...

But the important thing is I'm back, both on the blog and on the wagon. I'm here today to link up with the fabulous Carolyn to chat about my weekly goals. {Be sure to check out her blog if you need some inspiration!}

Since I am essentially starting over {again, for like the 1,000th time} I'm starting small with some basic goals to just get me wading into the shallow end.

1) 30 Day Shred 5 times/week. The goal is to complete the five work outs Monday-Friday with Tammy Jo {she blogs too! Check her out here.} Ideally I would get this done in the morning before work but I do have the option to get it done after work now that I don't have other family members to contend with for the TV time.

2) 64 ounces of water a day. Typically I get 80 ounces in a day when I'm focused on drinking water but I'm okay with getting the recommended 64 ounces {8 glasses}. We'll just see how this goes but the overall goal here is to drink more water {less Mountain Dew}.

3) Sleep at least 7 hours. Thanks to my fancy FitBit Flex tracking my sleep is a breeze! Some nights I struggle to get to bed at a decent time but I know that the more I sleep at night the easier it will be to get up and moving in the mornings.

Three goals for seven days.

I know I can do this, I've done it before. The hardest part will be getting around the mental roadblock that I can't or that it is hard. Yes, it's going to be hard to make changes to my lifestyle. I've been working on perfecting my bad habits for 23 going on 24 years already so they are not going to change overnight or be easy to change. But I know that I can start the changes, I've done that part countless times before. The real challenge will be sustaining those changes over the long haul.

But to prevent becoming overwhelmed with looking at the big picture I'm going to focus on seven days at a time. Or even better, one day at a time.

And that one day begins now!

Lazy is my Middle Name

Despite my best intentions to get out of bed on time this morning so I would have plenty of time to write this blog post and pick out some nice clothes to wear for work that's not what happened. It's later than I would like and I'm in jeans and a t-shirt once again and I'm just sitting down to write this post. That being said, I'm going to hurry up and crank this blog post out so I can stay accountable for last week's goals and set some new ones.

Last week's goals:

1. Work out at least three times. I worked out once. Being lazy won out over trying to accomplish this goal with real effort. I have no good reason for why I didn't get two more work outs in last week.

2. Track everything, good or bad. I was doing fantastic with this goal Monday-Friday. Friday night-Sunday being lazy won again. Once again, I have no good reason for why I didn't track those last two days.

3. At least 7 hours of sleep every night. CHECK! I started off strong tracking this early in the week but this weekend that went out the window. Even without tracking I know I accomplished this. Last night my sleep was hard to come by thanks to an afternoon nap. But my delay in getting up this morning made up for it. Not exactly how I want to go about accomplishing 7 hours of sleep but it got the job done.

So this week, while it might not be as exciting, I'm going to stick with some of the same goals.

1. Work out at least three times. Three work outs in seven days is totally doable. I just need to get my shit together and get it done.

2. Track everything, good or bad. If I can do this for most of the week, including a totally out of control day where I would have rather hid the evidence of my crazy eating, then I can do this for a full seven days.

3. Choose a time to get up the night before and actually do it! I know I'm getting enough sleep and that I can get to bed at a decent time to make an "early" wake up time doable. Now it's time to fix this horrible morning habit I have of using the snooze button a hundred times every morning.

And in exciting news, I decided to use some of my tax refund money to purchase a FitBit Flex on Saturday. I am super excited for it to arrive so I can start tracking my sleep better and seeing how active (or inactive) I really am every day. Now if only five to seven days didn't seem like an eternity!

How do you avoid hitting the snooze button in the morning?

First Time for Everything

I'm going to keep this short and sweet since I have the strong urge to get to bed and I'm really bummed that Peyton and the Broncos lost to Seattle in the Super Bowl.

I'm going to link up with the lovely Carolyn for the first time to share my goals for the week. Better late than never to get back on track, right?

After getting some good advice about setting my goals for the week from Carolyn I decided to go with three; one related to each of these: food, exercise and an overall good habit.

1. Work out three times this week.

2. Track everything, good or bad.

3. At least 7 hours of sleep every night.

Each of these goals will be a challenge but they are also all attainable if I set my mind to accomplishing them. As I told Carolyn, it will be tough but I want this so I'll make it happen. I'm feeling motivated and am looking forward to reaching that point of being determined as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tammy Jo :: Ashton : Amy :: Aubrey Leigh :: Nina

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