Health and Wellness Goals for 2012

Happy New Year! Happy 2012!! I am happy to have a fresh start. Something about a new year that makes me feel like I have a chance to start over and get it right, yet again.

I hate to use the word resolutions, so I am going to use the word goals. I have a few health and wellness-related goals, and what better place to put them then here, where anyone can see them. I am all about accountability, so here goes.

1) Be nicer to myself in 2012. This is a hard one for me. I tend to get mad at my body for the things it can't do and then I don't care what I do to it. Mostly, eating. I love to eat, no surprise there, but I go through phases where I just flat out don't care how much I eat or what I eat. Screw it, I just don't care. Well, as fun as it is at that moment, I CAN'T DO THAT. I am fortunate to like and enjoy a lot of healthy foods and I should really focus on those more than the bad.

2) Do my best to stick to a regular walking/running routine even when I am too busy. This is another downfall of mine. When I get busy and have too much to do, my needs are the first to go. And ususally, any exercise I am currently into at the time goes out the window. It's the easiest thing to give up because I can't give up things like sleep, eat, take care of the dogs, etc... I CAN'T DO THAT. Everyone gets busy and it's hard to fit everything in. I need to lose my all-or-nothing mentality and remember that even if I don't have time for a 3-mile walk, 1-mile would be better than nothing. Over time it all adds up and it is good for my mental health.

3) Lose weight. I am having such a hard time with my weight these days. I'll address the "how much do I need to lose" on a later post. I know metabolism slows down as you get older and I am here to tell you that is true. But I have to find a way to make it work. I can't continue on this path of eating whatever I want, when I want because it tastes good. I CAN'T DO THAT. My short frame is not meant to be this weight. I can feel it, my body aches, and I don't like it. I know over time with proper eating and activity it will respond. It may happen slower than it has in the past, but I am confident that I can lose the weight.

4) Do more walking/running events. After signing up for my first half marathon the other day, I am already thinking about a second one. Yes, I am an over-achiever. I would like to do TWO half-marathons in 2012 and I would like to do THREE 5Ks. Here's the catch.... I want to run two of the 5Ks. I used to be able to run 3 miles at a time and I will get back there. I'm already looking into local events for the year.

5) Read more books. This one is totally non-health related, but it's something I'd like to do so it falls under the wellness category. With my current Kindle Fire obsession, I have plenty to read and I want to work towards a goal of 40 books for the year.

6) Keep up with my blog as regularly as possible. I'm not sure that when people read this they enjoy it as much as I enjoy writing it, but it is so fun for me to do and makes me feel better. It's like my journal, a way to express my feelings and most of all, I can pretend to be a writer. Thank you to all who read this!

What are YOUR goals for 2012?

Let's do this.

I did it - I stuck to my promise and walked this morning. I had to go on the treadmill due to the rain and by the time I decided the rain wouldn't stop for me, I only had 30 minutes to get it done. I did 2 miles in 34:35. The miles seem to take so much longer on the treadmill and I am not sure why there seems to be such a time difference beetween walking outside and on the treadmill, but there is. Regardless, I did it. Day one of getting back to it.
I am setting some goals for myself and I want to share them with you. Some you've heard before, some maybe you have not.

• No Starbucks today, tomorrow, or Friday. They should be a rare treat on the weekends, not several days a week.
• Get back to drinking at least 64 oz. of water a day. Most days I meet this goal, but I need to do it EVERYDAY.
• Focus more on fruits and veggies and less on processed foods.
• Track every bite I take. This has fallen very low on my list of priorities and that needs to change. The busier I am, the harder this is so I just need to really focus on it.
• Walk 3 days a week, no less. More is good, but not less. I have to remember that even in this funk when I don't want to walk, I will feel much better after I've done it. Plain and simple.

Some of you may have heard about the #7daychip, maybe you have not. I've seen it fly by in Twitter posts and read about it on a couple different blogs I follow. Most recently I read about it over on Jen's blog, Jen In Real Life. She just got her #7daychip after setting a goal to track her food everyday. As she put it, she tracked everything for 8 days - the good, the bad, the ugly. If she can do it, so can I.

I visited the website for the #7daychip, which you can find here. You can read about Brad Gansberg and more on his website. The #7daychip is an acknowledgement of going 7 days without eating in an uncontrolled manner. You determine your own standards that you need to achieve this goal.

Since I want, NEED, to get back to tracking all of my foods, my goal is the same as Jen's. To track everything I eat for 8 days. The good, the bad, the ugly. When I'm done (notice I didn't say if), it will be a big accomplishment, one that will work side by side with my Weight Watchers goals. The goals that I know work when I do it.

With that said, I've already had 2 bottles of water this morning and I had oatmeal for breakfast, with soy milk and half an apple. Very filling.

Have any of you done the #7daychip? I'd love to hear about it if you have! Feel free to share some of your goals, too.

And the scale says...

I went to WW yesterday, unsure what the scale would say. After being sick and missing the meeting last week, and only walking twice in the past two weeks, I thought it might be up. I was pleasantly surprised to see a 1 lb. loss.

Weight:  154.4 lbs.
Total loss:  11.4 lbs.
I am 0.80 lbs. away from my lowest which was on 06/03/11. I had two gains since then so this loss made me happy. I am still trying to get to my next goal of 16 lbs. total, which will be 10% and almost halfway to my goal of 130 lbs..

I walked this morning at the park with hubby and the dogs. With the heat we've had, I have not been walking the dogs like I used to. But there was actually a cool breeze this morning and I thought it would be a great start to the long weekend. We walked 2.16 miles in 59 minutes - very slow but still a great walk. Blue and Ozzie enjoy getting out as much as I do.

My goals for this coming week are:
- keep up with my 64 oz. of water a day, which I have done very well with
- restock the fridge with fresh fruits for 0 point snacks
- make garden vegetable soup for lunches which is very filling
- walk at least 4 days this week

What are your goals?

A couple goals to work towards... (and a guest blogger tomorrow!)

It's time I set a few goals for myself, here for all the world to see. Having lost 8.8 pounds in the 7 weeks I've been back on WW, I know that the program does work when I do it. It is hard to be good all the time and I do struggle, but I refuse to deprive myself. One of the great gals in my WW meeting put it perfectly last week. She said it's taken her awhile to lose the weight she has, but it's because she's been busy living. I love that. You have to live and enjoy life and enjoy the events in your life that involve food. Our family gets together at least once a month for family dinners. Sometimes they are at one of our homes, other times they are at a restaurant. Sometimes I will stay on point and sometimes I don't. But that is why we have extra weekly points, not to mention hard-earned activity points. Case in point, we went to Hooters on Easter Sundar for a non-traditional dinner. I chose to have my "usual" and not worry about the points. It was a treat, one that I really enjoyed. It's being able to get back on track that means I will succeed in the long run.

So anyway, back to my goals. Iam losing an average of 1.25 lbs. a week - sometimes it's more, sometimes it's less. I am an overall picture kind of girl. I have a weight that I want to get to and I am happy getting there in due time. Like I've said, I'm not in any hurry.

Weight goals:
June 15th - I would like to be down 16 pounds total - this will put me at my 10% goal
October 15 - I would like to be at my goal weight of 130 and maintaining it, back at lifetime member status

Activity goals:
June 15th - I would like to be able to run 2 miles straight - I am not looking to set record times, just be able to run continuously for 2 miles
October 15 - I would like to be able to run 2 miles a day, 5 days a week

I realize that it is likely I may have less weight to lose than others, just as likely as it is more than others. But it is my feeling that losing weight is all relative. For myself, my short little 5' 3" frame does not do well anytime I get over 145. It affects me physically as well as mentally. It is hard on my legs and feet and I notice that my back is more prone to issues when I am carrying extra weight. 130 is my happy weight. I am most comfortable there. It's hard to get under that number, although I have dipped into the upper 120's a few times before, but it is hard to maintain. I am a very muscular gal.

I am struggling a bit this week with working out. I did not work out on Monday. Yesterday I did my TaeBo Cardio Circuit 2 workout - 53 minutes of sweating my butt off. It's great. I intended to walk today, always working towards my goal of 15 miles a week, but it was so warm here today, I couldn't bring myself to walk outside. The treadmill did not seem the least bit exciting to me so I decided to do TaeBo again. I did it two days in a row last week as well. So, half of my weekly goal has been reached. Two days of TaeBo for the week - done.

I hope you'll check back here tomorrow. I am so excited to have a guest blogger. Her name is Joanna and I love to read her blog. She is an inspiration and has quite a story. She is on a weight loss journey as well and has lost an amazing 86 pounds so far. You can find her over at Diary Of A Mad, Fat Woman . I urge you to read her story and follow her real-life struggles as she works towards her goal. She is amazing!