Monthly Goal Check in

 So here we are at the beginning of December!  Where did that month go???   I had my goals in place and I worked on them.  But how did I REALLY do???

Tr  Goal #1 Track every bite of food.   I did absolutely awesome on this goal!  I nailed it and tracked each and everything that I ate!!!  No slip ups on this one!!!  

     Goal #2 Save money.  I was able to put extra money into the car payment AND increase the savings by a bit!  So I call this a total win!!!

3.     Goal #3  Weigh Less I don’t care what I weigh at the end of the month as long as it is less then I weigh at the beginning of the month.  A hair less works!  And that is kind of what I did.  I lost 1.8 pounds for the month.  I would have loved it to be more, but I'll take it!  A loss is a loss!!!

 G  Goal #4    Be active at least 4 times a week. This was pretty easy to get.  We walk every day after work so that satisfies the goal.  I also completed yoga quite a bit due to my Yog-vember Challenge.  Every day for the first two weeks of the month....and then the third week I completed 5 days and the last week of the month I completed 2 or 3 days (I honestly can't remember if it was 2 or three!)  So I nailed this one also!!!!  

      Goal # 5  Keep my eating in line at least 6 days a week.  I did great with this for the first three weeks of the month.  I even managed to do well over Thanksgiving.  And then I fell apart for the last couple days of the month!   GRRRRRR  

      Goal #6  Step count.  I know that they recommend 10,000 steps a day.  I would love to get that.  I do the average of all of my steps for the month and I SQUEEKED this month out!  It was TIGHT!  BUt I made it!!!

      So there you have my month in review.  It wasn't all bad.  I had some successes in there!  I also had some failures learning opportunities!  My goals remain the same for the next month and I plan on kicking butt this month!  I want to close out the year strong!!!

Monthly Goals and Showing Mercy

I can’t believe that it is already November.  This year is flying by!  The last few months have not been easy for me with my weight loss journey.  Not at all.  It has been so ‘weird’ that I haven’t even done a monthly goal post.  I haven’t even thought about my monthly goals and quite honestly in the month of October I blew most of the goals off!  But it is time to talk about those goals and get myself straightened out!

Setting Monthly Goals

When I set my monthly goals, I try to set them with the idea that I will falter and mess up.  I am a human and therefore I will have stumbles upon my journey.  I also know that for me I tend to be an all or nothing.  If I set a goal that I am going to eat perfectly for 7 days a week and I mess up on day one, my tendency is to quit because “all is lost”.  So with that in mind, my goals are more loose and fluid to allow myself the grace and mercy to be human and NOT be perfect.

1     Track every bite of food.   This goal is set to help me stay consistent.  I know that when I track I tend to be more on target with what I eat.  But my goal is to simply track.  It doesn’t matter if I have a day where my calorie count is 6000.  I just need to track it to have the win!

2.      Save money.  This it not strictly a weight loss goal, but it is a life goal.  So I am including it.  Up until recently the goal was to save money. However recently I decided that I will be ok with a set amount in my savings account. If the total dips below that amount I will start dumping money into the savings but I’m not focusing on my savings at the moment.  What AM I focusing on?  Paying off the car!  You see, the car payment has what…3.5% interest (I’m just guessing…my paperwork is buried in files at the moment).  My savings account is earning me a whopping 0.1% interest (once again…guessing…and I think that is a high estimate).  You do the math.  Where is my month best spent?  Shaving off my principal on a loan meaning my interest will be reduced greatly over the years or earning that penny?   And once again, I’m not saying a certain amount.  Sure I would like to at least double my payment each month…but I’m not stressing about it as long as SOMETHING extra is paid!

3.       Weigh less!  I don’t care what I weigh at the end of the month as long as it is less then I weigh at the beginning of the month.  A hair less works!  Would I like it to be 10 pounds?  Or even 5 pounds?  Sure.  But ANY loss is a good one and considered a win!

4.       Be active at least 4 times a week. This is pretty easy to get….or at least it has been.  A simple walk outside with Jason after work suffices.  We do that pretty much every day. (I am not sure how the time change and the darkness that comes with it will affect us though!)   But 4 times a week…for a measly 20 minutes is doable.  I’m not asking for the moon.  I’m asking for just a few times!

5.       Keep my eating in line at least 6 days a week.  There will be events (hello Thanksgiving) and happenings that cause me to eat a bit more.  There are things that happen.  I have to show myself mercy and allow myself to have a day where I can eat more.  That day gives me the wiggle room to have a stumble and still not fail with my goals.  I would rather stumble and say “It’s allowed, so I better pick myself up because I used my one ‘get out of jail free’ pass!”  Versus “I messed up, I may as well eat every piece of chocolate that I see!”  That one day gives me room to mess up!

6.       Step count.  I know that they recommend 10,000 steps a day.  I would love to get that.  HOWEVER, with my lifestyle and work this is difficult.  So I am aiming for 5,000.  And yeah, that’s a struggle.  I allow an average of all the days of the month (and yes, those hikes save my behind many months).  I will also take out any days where I ride the bike instead of hike/walk.  If I’m spending my time doing something active that isn’t earning me steps, it shouldn’t count against me.  That’s my thought at least.  Once again…..grace and mercy!

Those are the standard monthly goals that I carry over from month to month.  And they will be my goals for the month of November for sure.  But November has a special goal.  IT has my Yogvember challenge.   For Yogvember I am challenging myself to at least three days of yoga each week.  Realistically that is my goal.  But I will let you in on a little secret…..I am actually aiming for 7 days a week!!!!

Goals are important.  But we have to make sure that they are attainable. We have to make sure our goals are not something that will actually derail us.   My goals are here….and with the room for stumbles, I’m sure that I can totally nail my goals in November!

Monthly Recap for September

 How is September over?   It blows my mind!  Time is just flying by at warp speed!  On a personal level, we had a great month! We went to the ocean for a quick trip, we got some great hiking in and we enjoyed every moment together.

On a weight loss level.....wow...what a month!

I started the month strong.  I was going to really nail this month.  I was going to explore the realm of being spot on and perfect.  But the month turned out to be anything but perfect.  I kept my eating under control....but I gained!  Yes....seriously!  My average calorie count for the month was.......  That is TOTALLY in line for weight loss!  BUT no...I didn't lose and most of the month I showed up!   It caused me to want to give up!  I didn't give up.  I settled back and tried to figure out what was happening.  I don't have the answers yet...but I am formulating my plans for the upcoming weeks.   I will let you know in a week or so what my plan is!!!!

In the meantime...lets look at my monthly goals and see how well I did!

1. Track every bite of my food  I managed this one.  EASY!  I tracked everything I ate.  I tracked every bite, lick and taste.  I did an awesome job with this!!   I even tracked at the beach!  No problem with this!

2.  Save money  I actually did really good with this.  The savings account did not take any hits and I have put a chunk of change aside! 

3.  Weigh less at the end of the month  This is where things went off track.  I did not lose!  Most of the month I was up quite high...no matter what I did!  It was disappointing, but I am pushing forward and trying to formulate a new plan of attack!

4.  Be active at least 4 times a week  We walked after work every evening.....that saved me from a colossal failure on this one and gave me a win.  My grand plans to ride the exercise bike during my lunch breaks.......work and life got in the way.  Yes, that's an excuse and I aim to fix it!

5.  Stay within caloric/food budget at least 6 days a week  FAILURE!   My calorie count was up near the 1600 mark quite a bit of the time. I have done my experiments.  I don't lose at that point.  I need less calories if I want to lose.  So NO....my calories were not in line with where I need to be!

6.  Have an average of over 5K steps per day for the month.   I managed this one!   The long days of walking at the beach really helped, as did the after work walks!   But I can mark up a win on this one!

So what are my goals for next month?   Yes, I'm aiming for the same.  WIth the exception of vacation week.  For my caloric food budget, on that week only I will be adding in my exercise calories and using my NET calories for my food budget.  We should be doing quite a bit of hiking.....and long hikes makes me ravenous.  I will need to be fueling my body.  I plan on eating as healthy as possible....to the extent that we are taking carrots, broccoli, grapes, dips and nuts to snack on to give us healthy options!  OTher than that week, it will be business as usual.

The only other change?  I have decided that I have a nice cushion in my savings account.  I would like it to be higher, but I also have a car payment.  When I am talking interest, which is the best one to work on?  Building the savings or paying off the car?   I am paying more money in interest for the car loan than I gain in my savings account.  So it makes more sense to throw those extra 'savings' dollars toward the car loan.    I will still call it savings....because basically if I pay down the car well above the normal payment it is saving me money!   I have a set amount in my mind for my savings account.  I will make sure that the savings account does not dip below that account and if it does, I will immediately focus on getting back to that point.  Otherwise, I am moving into operation 'pay off the car NOW"!  Which is a wise financial decision!

1. Track every bite of my food

2.  Save money (pay off the car)

3.  Weigh less at the end of the month

4.  Be active at least 4 times a week

5.  Stay within caloric/food budget at least 6 days a week

6.  Have an average of over 5K steps per day for the month.

Monthly Goal Recap

 I have already said that I kinda blew it in the month of August.  Yeah, I really blew it!   But you know what?  I am still here in this weight loss journey.  I am still wanting this weight loss to happen.  I am still in this game, so I did NOT fail!  Failure is giving up and I have NOT given up!

So how did I do?

1.  Track every bite of my food-  I totally fell off the wagon with this one.  I failed to track for a good two weeks.  I just didn't....no real reason.  Ohhh there are reasons...but they are all excuses!

2.  Save money  There is not money in the savings account, but we have paid for TWO weeks of lodging for our one week of vacation.  The duplicate (back up option) is being cancelled and I will be regaining those dollars.  I paid for the second hotel this past month.......and did not deduct ANYTHING from savings....so when I get my refund.  So while I technically did not put money into the savings, the money will get there eventually!

3.  Weigh less at the end of the month - Uhhh yeah, this did not happen.  (See tracking issues above....because we all 'know' that we we don't track it then it doesn't count as calories....right???)

4.  Be active at least 4 times a week  I actually managed this thanks to the after work walks with Jason!

5.  Stay within caloric/food budget at least 6 days a week  Nope.....this didn't even come close to happening!

6.  Have an average of over 5K steps per day for the month.  I actually nailed this one!!!!!

So you can see that my month was a combination of victory and failure!   But that's ok.  We learn from failure and we grow from adversity.  So I must have done a heap of growing!!!!

So my goals for next month?   Exactly the same!!!

1.  Track every bite of my food

2.  Save money

3.  Weigh less at the end of the month

4.  Be active at least 4 times a week

5.  Stay within caloric/food budget at least 6 days a week

6.  Have an average of over 5K steps per day for the month.

Monthly Weight Loss goals

 OK, ok ok ....so I'm a bit late in sharing my monthly weight loss goals and how I did in July!  Better late than never right?  I have some basic goals that I strive to keep each month.  They rarely change but do sometimes get tweaked a bit to fit my life as it is at that exact moment.  I try to keep my goals flexible so that it allows me to 'fail' but still succeed.  You can read more about my goals and how I came to this set of goals here.   For right now, lets see how I did in the month of July!

July Goals

1.  Track every bite of food!  DONE!  I managed this one easily.  Half of the time I actually tracked my food before I even ate it!  Huge victory!
2.  Put money into my savings.  I sure did!  It was an expensive month as I had a few big purchases...but money was put aside!
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  YAY!!! I managed this!  I lost weight in the month of July!  SOOO happy!  It was the first time in a few months that I lost in the month!  LONG overdue!

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week.   I actually didn't have any problem with this.  My eating was in line and I was never crazy over  (from the day that I got serious about this journey again...which was right about July 6).

7.   Walk and average of 5000 steps  per day. (total monthly steps divided by the days in the month....bike ride days on the trail are exempt from the 5K step goal, simply because it shard to get  steps when you are riding)     I somehow managed to make this goal!   We walked after work each night, but that only got me to roughly 4800 steps for my weekdays.  LUCKILY we hiked most weekends so that pushed my step count way high and that made up for the lower weekdays.  I really need to focus on getting my daily steps up!

8.  Transparency with my weight...even if it goes up!!  Definitely!  I shared and have been open and honest!!!

My goals will be remaining the same for the month of August. I am going to work hard to not squeak my steps in by the skin of my teeth though!!!!!

Setting Goals for Weight Loss

I am a firm believer in the practice of setting goals for myself.  I do this in every day life.  I have to do lists and lists of goals and dreams in the works all the time.  Even more importantly, I like to create goals within my weight loss journey.  There is nothing better than the satisfaction of attaining my goals.  It spurs me on to accomplish bigger and better things!   I have done this for many years and in the beginning of 2019, I started to set monthly weight loss  goals for myself.

How to set a good Weight Loss Goal

When I started to create my monthly goals, I really put a lot of thought into my goals.  I came up with a few ground rules for my weight loss monthly goals

**Not to far fetched and easy-  I wanted to make sure that these goals were somewhat attainable yet still would make me have to push myself in order to be successful.

**These monthly weight loss goals had to be crafted and designed in such a way that if I did have a day or two of not being strictly adherent to my plan that I would not ruin the whole month.  I know that it is human nature to mess up and realize that there is no hope of reaching a goal so we give up.  In a weight loss journey it happens so often.  We mess up with our eating and instead of starting over right then and there, we continue to eat like crazy and say "I'll get back on track on Monday".  OH yes, we have all been there I imagine!  I wanted to avoid that mentality at all costs!

And with those simple rules, I came up with my monthly goals.  I have tweaked and adjusted them from month to month.  I have had to lower and raise the step count accordingly.  When I was NEVER reaching the 10 thousands steps per day, I decided that I needed to lower it to 5K steps. When five thousand steps was too easily attained, I raised the step count to 7500 average per day.  This is a constant adjustment from month to month.  And it works.   Sadly, a few months ago I got out of the habit of a monthly goal.  And that is changing right here and now!  

Monthly Weight Loss Goals

1.  Track every bite of food!  It doesn't matter what the actual results it, I must track.  The act of tracking my food makes me cognizant of my eating habits and seems to naturally bring my eating under control.  I currently track on MyFitnessPal (and not so consistently on the WW application) and would love to have you friend me there. (mfclingan)
2.  Put money into my savings.  Ok, not exactly a weight loss goal, but a worthwhile one nonetheless!
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  I don't care if it's a measly ounce...I want to weigh less!
4.  Do something active (a walk suffices) at least 3 times a week and aim for at least three sessions of formal activity a week!  It could be something as simple as a walk or as tough (for me) as a session on my Exercise bike.  (affiliate link).  What exercise and activity I actually do does not matter as much as the fact that I am moving!

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week.   

7.   Walk and average of 5000 steps  per day. (total monthly steps divided by the days in the month....bike ride days on the trail are exempt from the 5K step goal, simply because it shard to get  steps when you are riding)  

8.  Transparency with my weight...even if it goes up!!

So there you have it.  My goals for this upcoming month.   Will it be easy?  Probably not.  I have been a bit crazy with my eating of late.  I have been a bit lax with my exercise recently.  In short, I have been struggling.  Step one to stop struggling with my weight loss journey is to set clear defined goals for weight loss.  I have set my goals and now it's time to soar!

Better Late ....... Monthly Review

Ok ok ok, I know!  It is already April 8th and I am just getting to my monthly review for the month of March!  What in the world happened?  Where did time go?  Ohhhh....maybe I was stuck in the throes of my pity party and panic when the new month rolled around!  Yeah, that's it!

Regardless....the month of March ended and that means it deserves the monthly review....So here we go!


1.       Track Every bite  This was spot on at the beginning of the month but by the end of the month when I was sinking into my state of panic, this became much more hit or miss.  This is absolutely the easiest goal to reach and yet I failed!  
2.       Build my Savings  With everything going on, this did not happen.....nor will it be happening for the unforseeable future.  We are currently a one income family and that is already stretching us to the limit (and possibly beyond the limit depending on how much unemployment comes our way).
3.       Weigh less at the end of the month  (who cares how much as long as it is less!) SKIP this one please......ok ok ok, I didn't lose...in fact I gained about three pounds.  FAILLURE
4.       Be active at least 20 minutes four times a week! WIN WIN WIN!  I did this one!!!!!!!   
5.       Keep my eating in check at least 6 days of the week (Allowing one cheat meal) and never never never go over my limit in weekly points in a week!  (And currently I am not swapping and using my fit points!) Failure alert!  This did NOT happen.  At the beginning of the month I was barely keeping it together and by the end of the month I was way off the rails!
 6.       Average 5,000 steps a day!  (While this is still an average, I will be looking more closely at my  daily totals  to try to avoid the hikes carrying the rest of my slacker days!  This one is another win!  WOOHOOO!  All of those lunchtime walks (beginning of the month) and my sporadic runs at lunch (end of month) coupled with the weekend hikes made this EASY!

I'm not proud of the month of March.  Not proud at all.  But I can look at it as a lesson learned.  That is exactly how I plan on moving forward.....the past is a lesson learned and those lessons are going to make me stronger and better!!!!!!  SO what is happening for this upcoming month?  What are my goals/??  Almost exactly the same....with the exception of the savings. That one is on hold!

1.       Track Every bite 
2.       Build my Savings----- This one is on hold until life returns to normal
3.       Weigh less at the end of the month  (who cares how much as long as it is less!)
4.       Be active at least 20 minutes four times a week!
5.       Keep my eating in check at least 6 days of the week (Allowing one cheat meal) and never never never go over my limit in weekly points in a week!  (And currently I am not swapping and using my fit points!)
 6.       Average 5,000 steps a day!  (While this is still an average, I will be looking more closely at my  daily totals  to try to avoid the hikes carrying the rest of my slacker days!

So there you have it.  I am moving forward with a plan in place.  I am moving forward with a motivation in my veins.   I am moving forward with excitement to see what in the world I can do to better myself this month!

Monthly Goals

Where does time go? Let me tell you, the older I get the faster time flies by!  How can it already be March?????    But enough about how time flies, lets start talking about how I did in the month of February!  Yes, it is time to review my monthly goals!
So there you have it.....some success.  Some failure.  Some of the failures though were out of my control as I had those back issues.  But that's all good.  I'm not going to let my issues derail me.  I'm looking to CRUSH March's goals!  

So here were my goals for February:

1.    Track Every Bite  I nailed this one.  Every bite, every lick, every taste was tracked!  This is actually almost second nature now.  Notice I said almost....old habits lie deep so I'm not going to say it IS second nature!

2.  Put money in savings.    Ding Ding Ding!  Done!

3.       Weigh less at the end of the month  (who cares how much as long as it is less!)  Well.....my weight is acting wonky!  There has been no reasoning behind what my weight does.  The week that i ate all my weekly point and was in the negative I lost big. The following week when I was perfectly in line I showed a gain.  But I measured which I talked about on Monday on this post     But that said, my weight loss numbers for the month......

4.       Be active at least 20 minutes four times a week!    I did pretty good with this.  The weeks before my back issues. (if you don't know what happened...you can read about it here)  Once the back issue raised it's ugly head, I wasn't able to get these workouts in!  I still managed a bit..but not the 4 I was aiming for!   That said, if you average my numbers it DOES equal out to be an average of 4 a week! (I told you....those first weeks were rocking!)

5.       Keep my eating in check at least 6 days of the week (Allowing one cheat meal) and never never never go over my limit in weekly points in a week!  (And currently I am not swapping and using my fit points!)   I did great wit this........for 3 weeks!   The week before my back issues was horrible.  I ate my weekly points.....I ate more than my weekly points!  I was in the negative....which means that this is a fail!   BUT that said, that week that I overate was the week I lost big.  Go figure!

6.       Average 5,000 steps a day!  (While this is still an average, I will be looking more closely at my daily totals  to try to avoid the hikes carrying the rest of my slacker days!  Somehow I managed to make this one happen also!   Thank heavens for some long hikes on the weekends and some lunchtime walks!   The first weeks of the month I was doing great with actually bringing my daily step count so much closer to my daily goal!   

So there you have it.....some success.  Some failure.  Some of the failures though were out of my control as I had those back issues.  But that's all good.  I'm not going to let my issues derail me.  I'm looking to CRUSH March's goals!   And those March goals?  Exactly the same as February!

 Track Every Bite

2.       Build my Savings

3.       Weigh less at the end of the month  (who cares how much as long as it is less!)

4.       Be active at least 20 minutes four times a week! 

5.       Keep my eating in check at least 6 days of the week (Allowing one cheat meal) and never never never go over my limit in weekly points in a week!  (And currently I am not swapping and using my fit points!)

               6.       Average 5,000 steps a day!  (While this is still an average, I will be looking more closely at my                 daily totals  to try to avoid the hikes carrying the rest of my slacker days! 

Really? It’s already February???

It is that time of the month!   Time to end out January and talk about my goals...and time to set my goals for February!     How can January already be gone?  It’s crazy!  But there are no complaints from me, I’m ready for spring!!!

So let’s get right to it!  January goals:

1.        Track Every Bite. This one was easy!   I had no problem whatsoever with this!   Done and done...every day every bite!

2.       Build my Savings. Also a victory.   It is slowly recouping after the purchase of the car...so I’m feeling better about my savings...but I will be continuing to save!

3.       Weigh less at the end of the month  (who cares how much as long as it is less!) I didn’t think I was going to make this one....but due to my change in plans and my recommitment to this journey (thanks to the new plan) I nailed this one!

4.       Be active at least 3 times a week  (This may be bumped up to 4  in an upcoming month).  Victory!!!!   Oh I was on fire!   At least three times a week...and most weeks four or five times a week!  No problem!

5.       Keep my eating in check at least 6 days of the week!  This is where I fell apart.  The first part of the month I stayed ‘close’ to my goal...but not so much...maybe 4 days a week I was on target (at the top end of my range).  So the first part of the month was a colossal failure!   The second part of the month...after I made my change...spot on!!! 

6.       Average 5,000 steps a day!  this was no problem!   I made my average of five thousand steps easily!   Thanks to the long hikes on the weekends.  However, when I reviewed the stats I see that it really is the hikes...most weekdays I did not hit 5k steps!   So while I am happy I made my goal, I am going to try to focus more on getting my steps up each day!

So there you have it!  My goals....I love the monthly goals because it is the time to reflect and see what went wrong and what I did well. (For example the steps...where I made  my goal but I identified a weakness that I need to correct!).  

I’m sure your asking what is on tap for February!    I have for many months kept my goals the same...but in February I need to alter and adjust.  Some of this is to accommodate the change in my weight loss plan.  But also there is a need to grow and push myself..  

1.        Track Every Bite

2.       Build my Savings

3.       Weigh less at the end of the month  (who cares how much as long as it is less!)

4.       Be active at least 20 minutes four times a week! 

5.       Keep my eating in check at least 6 days of the week (Allowing one cheat meal) and never never never go over my limit in weekly points in a week!  (And currently I am not swapping and using my fit points!)

6.       Average 5,000 steps a day!  (While this is still an average, I will be looking more closely at my daily totals  to try to avoid the hikes carrying the rest of my slacker days!

I can do this!!!

New Years resolutions versus monthly goals

Welcome to the new year!  The new year is typically the time that people make resolutions.  It is the time that they set goals.  It is the time that they come up with their grand plans for being healthy, fit, active…whatever they want to be.  Nope, not doing it.  I’m not setting any new year’s resolutions per se. You see, a resolution for the whole year is HUGE and a long term event.  I don’t work well that way.  I absolutely want to reach my goals in 2020.  I absolutely want to make 2020 ‘my year’….but I’m not making resolutions.  What I WILL be doing is to continue my monthly goals.  I started this a year or two ago and having MONTHLY goals works really well for me.  It allows me to try again the next month if I really mess up (instead of waiting for the next year!)  and it gives me goals that I can easily identify and work on.    I try to keep my goals quite attainable and manageable.  I love the goals that really push me to my limit but let me be really honest…..when I mess up with those hard ones, I tend to throw up my hands and give up….since I can’t ‘win’.   This is bad for me!  SOOOO….I created a set of monthly goals that are designed to keep me on track and pushing forward towards a healthier life.  I sometimes do tweak them and adjust them accordingly.  But for the most part they stay the same each month.

 Since it is the beginning of the month, that means it is time to review the goals I had for the month of December and renew my vow to complete these goals during the month of January. 

Monthly Goals:

1.        Track every bite I eat-   I almost slipped up on this one a BUNCH of times.  So many times I was a day behind in my tracking and I almost gave up…but I kept telling myself, “This is a freebie goal…..it takes just a few minutes of your time….DO IT!”   So I did it.  And I’m proud to say that I have managed to mark this one as a victory for the month!  GO ME!

2.       Savings:   My mission was is to grow my savings.   My savings took a hit with a very large car repair bill for the old Honda and the down payment for the new car (and insurance for the new car).  Couple that with the cost of Christmas (gifts and whatnot) and I feel like it was just CRAZY and that I was barely keeping my head afloat.  BUT, while it may not be huge….December does show a gain in my savings account!

3.       Weigh Less than I do now.  I amended this goal during the month of December.  I amended it to be that I just wanted to maintain my weight through this month of birthdays and holidays!   December was the month to hang on tight!    Well…… I barely squeezed this one out!  I lost a half pound!

4.       Be active at least 3 times a week.  (20 minutes or more).  This can be anything.  It could be an intense workout or a simple lunchtime walk.  20 minutes of activity….3 times a week.   Uhhhh yeah.   How about we break it down into weeks. 

a.       Week 1- I failed miserably.  NOTHING

b.       Week 2 – We got our indoor bike this week and I managed three good rides and 2 lunchtime walks!  I was on fire! (ha…not really but I was moving more than normal!)

c.       Week 3 -  There were no lunchtime walks…but we hiked once and I rode that exercise bike 4 times! 

d.       Week 4- Christmas week……no bike rides …no lunchtime walks…..I was a slug!

e.       Week 5…which is only three days.   I nailed those three days!

So you can see that this was not exactly a win.   But at least it wasn’t a colossal failure!

5.       Keep my eating in check for @ least 6 days a week.  When I say keep my eating in check.  I try to keep my calories between 1200 and 1500 calories a day.  So to be in check I need my calories to be under 1500 calories.    Out of the 31 days…I only managed to keep my calories in check for 11 days!   YIKES!   I wasn’t totally out of control.  My calories only went over 2000 on about 2 or 3 days!  But still….I failed miserably at this goal!

6.       Average 5K steps a day.   I set my step count at 5K.   Yes, I know that they recommend 10K steps a day.  That’s fine….but five thousand is a stretch for me a LOT of days!  I also set it to an average…because that gives me a chance to ‘catch up’ if I just don’t walk much one day.   I started calculating my steps for the month a few days before then end of the month.  Would you believe with three days left in the month I found myself woefully short of steps. Ok, it wasn’t that bad….I was somewhere near 4500 steps as an average.  I calculated it up and figured out what I would need each of the last three days…and I went to work.  We walked a lot on Sunday….at the mall and in antique stores since it was raining!  I folded laundry and put each item away one at a time….hey 10 steps from the bed to the closet times 10 pieces of laundry adds up!  I made up a few of my necessary steps…but I still needed 5602 steps on Monday and Tuesday….and I worked both of those days…..so a desk job….a long commute in my car….and RAIN!   It was hard fought...but I somehow pulled it out!

My goals for January will be the same.  

1.        Track Every Bite

2.       Build my Savings

3.       Weigh less at the end of the month  (who cares how much as long as it is less!)

4.       Be active at least 3 times a week  (This may be bumped up to 4  in an upcoming month).

5.       Keep my eating in check at least 6 days of the week!

6.       Average 5,000 steps a day!  

So you can see that my goals for the month are not difficult.  They are easily attainable.  They are not rigid.  They are there to simply keep me going in the right direction.  They are designed to allow me to stumble, because this journey to lose weight is all about stumbling and then picking ourselves back up to persevere toward victory!   Onward and upward toward a better me!

November Review

Here it is more than a full week into December and I haven't talked about my goals for November OR my goals for December.  How remiss am I?   So here we go!

My November Goals were as follows:

1.  Track every bite of food!  I am proud to announce that I did manage to track each and every bite of food! WIN!!!
2.  Put money into my savings. (The tweak for November is to hold steady on savings...I have some expenses I still need to cover in relation to the car issues!)   I managed to hold steady!  I did not dip into my savings at all this month!  I didn't ADD to my savings but I didn't deplete it any more!
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  I don't care if it's a measly ounce...I want to weigh less!  Yeah, this didn't happen.  I GAINED weight in November....a fair amount!
4.  Do something active (a walk suffices) at least 3 times a week and aim for at least three sessions of formal activity (bike ride, run, hike) a week!    The first two weeks I was awesome...and then I totally fell apart!

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week.   Once again, the first two weeks I did great....and then I fell apart and my calories were up between 1500 and 2000 each day!

6.  Walk and average of 5000 steps  per day. (total monthly steps divided by the days in the month....bike ride days on the trail are exempt from the 5K step goal...cuz it's hard to get  steps when you are riding)   I somehow squeaked this one out!!!  BARELY!!!!!  Like literally, my average was 5001!

So here we are in December.  My goals will be remaining the same...with one or two small tweaks.

1.  Track every bite of food!
2.  Put money into my savings.  The tweak for December is to once again MAINTAIN my savings....do not dip into it further. 
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  I don't care if it's a measly ounce...I want to weigh less!   I am tweaking this to be 'maintain my weight' for this month!  Hey, it's a busy month with the holidays and birthdays in my family.
4.  Do something active (a walk suffices) at least 3 times a week and aim for at least three sessions of formal activity (bike ride, run, hike) a week!  

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week.   

6.  Walk and average of 5000 steps  per day. (total monthly steps divided by the days in the month....bike ride days on the trail are exempt from the 5K step goal...cuz it's hard to get  steps when you are riding)

There you have it!   I have my goals set for December.  Now it's time to rock them!

Monthly Goals and Weekly Weigh In

So another month has passed and it is time for a recap of my monthly goals and of course my weekly weigh in results.

First of all, lets talk about my weekly weigh in.

For this month I set some goals. (typically my goals are similar each month).  You can read about the recap from last month here.    For September I had the following goals:

September goals:

1.  Track every bite of food!  Done with no issues whatsoever!
2.  Put money into my savings. Easy.....although my savings is taking a hit right now as we are on vacation!  LOL (but part of the savings was designated for vacation funds)
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  I don't care if it's a measly ounce...I want to weigh less!
4.  Do something active (a walk suffices) at least 3 times a week and aim for at least three sessions of formal activity (bike ride, run, hike) a week!    NO problem at all.  I think I only missed 2 days of walking on my lunch break ALL MONTH LONG!   Not to mention the hikes, bike rides, yoga....Yeah, I nailed this one!

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week.   

7.   Walk and average of 5000 steps  per day. (total monthly steps divided by the days in the month....bike ride days on the trail are exempt from the 5K step goal...cuz it's hard to get  steps when you are riding)  This was completed with no problem!   Even when I included our bike days.  The bike days we have typically gone out on a short hike, or treked through the fair or around town...so those days were actually pretty high step days also...or at least 5,000 steps.  I also walked on almost all of my lunch breaks....so I totally smashed this goal!

         My Not so Secret Goal:   Lose 5 pounds!    OK, so I didn't do that.  I was about half of that 5 pound mark.  But that's ok!  I still lost!

I am going to count this month as another successful month.  These 'rather loose goals' that I CAN achieve are designed to push me into a healthy lifestyle.  They are not designed to have me lose mad weight each month.  And they are doing exactly what I want them to do.  They are allowing me to live my life but be in charge of my food and health. They are teaching me balance and moderation.  And for the first time in so many years, I am happy and pleased with where I am in terms of eating and living healthy.  WIN!

So this month is a wrap.....it's time to move on to October!  My goals for October are the same.  Hey, they work for me!   I am not sure how it is going to go...we have vacation time this month and...well...I KNOW that I am going to indulge...but I also know that I'll be really active!  I am ok with the indulgences, they aren't going to be overly crazy, but I know that this is life and if I don't life live I will ultimately give up this healthy lifestyle journey!  So moderation....balance...and sometimes just saying 'it may be a gain' is ok.  I am however hoping that the crazy active vacation will negate the extra calories!  :-)

Traumatic Mountain Bike Weekend

Hello July!   Where in the world did June go?  Seriously, I blinked and it was gone!   I did manage to work on my monthly goals and I feel as if I made some amazing progress during the month of June in some areas.  However in others I feel as if...well...as if I’m spinning wheels and going nowhere.  We had another amazing weekend....even if it was a bit rough at times!  So lots to talk about it all today!!!

The weekend

Wow...Saturday was hot!   

We spent Saturday morning running our errands.  It was also grocery week so that took some extra time!  But by lunchtime we were ready to head out with our bikes!  Did I mention that it was hot?  Oh and did I also mention that my shoulder issue that I wrote about in early May had reared its ugly head again?  Why yes...the arm was aching more all week.   But even with these two factors, we were determined to get out there and keep up the trend that we started...the good habit of riding on the weekends.  I was a bit hesitant about the ache in my shoulder and the heat...but I am tired of being fat and unfit so out I went!

My legs were stiff and tight when I started but they did eventually loosen up and I had a surprise for Jason.  I usually lead the way so I led him to a new trail within the park that we were riding in.  The trail turned out to be short but really cool.  You climb for a short bit and then you ride a ridge for about a half mile. All was going well until.......yup, it happened!  I was traversing the trail and well...I don’t rightly know what happened. I know I skidded a bit and then I was flying through the air.  I ended up in on the side of the trail, tangled up with my bike!    I didn’t care about the bike at that point and just worked to untangle my legs and get the bike away from me!  Jason was by my side in mere seconds.  Honestly, I feel for Jason. I have gone down two other times in front of him...one spectacularly on a trail with a drop off to my right!     Each time I can see the utter panic and terror in his eyes!  Anyway, back to this wee little tumble. I got myself to a sitting position. I had fallen on my right side and my bad shoulder/arm took the brunt of the fall.  But somehow my left wrist ended up scraped.  My right leg had brush burns from my calf up  to and covering my thigh.  And somehow my left ankle ended up with brush burns.  Literally all four quadrants of my body got mangled.  (I don’t THINK I went over the handlebars...but maybe I did!). I sat on the side of the trail a bit.  I may have cried....but not out of pity...out of shock and pain....remember my bad arm/shoulder took the brunt of this fall. The tears stopped and  then I began to moan!   Oh no, I wasn’t in any physical distress!  But I noticed my bike!  My poor perfect baby!  She is perfect no more!  She had a scratch on the front fork!

After whining about my scratch, I got back up on that bike and started riding again.  We rode awhile  and then headed up a big hill.  Halfway up that hill I knew I had a problem.  I stopped.  I started to walk. I didn’t know what the problem was, but I suspected that it was just a let down from the adrenaline rush I had experienced through my tumble off the bike.    I however knew I was pretty much done riding for that day. (Other  than for the return ride back to the car) I pondered my options.  We hadn’t seen a soul on any of the trails. (Did I mention that it was hot...REALLY hot...no other fools were out!).  I caught up with Jason who had stopped to wait for me.  I told him I just wasn’t right... he was concerned but I told him that I wasn’t sick or anything, just probably the after affects of my accident and my shoulder hurting.   I sent him up the hill to finish the trail that we were on/heading to. (It was an out and back).  I took his knife (I knew he wouldn’t leave me out there without some form of protection) and I sat down in the shade to wait for him.   It was exactly what I needed.  

Turns out I was suffering the very early stages of heat stroke. I figured it out while I sat there.  I have had some serious issues with this in the past...even to the point of passing out. But it has been quite a while so it took me a while to put two and two together.   Sitting in the shade sipping my water for the 20 minutes it took him to finish the trail and return was just what I needed. 

He returned to me and we set off back for the car....I was fine!    Well...sore but no longer feeling sick!

So on Sunday we headed out with our bikes again! I was still sore...all over, but I’m no sissy!

We headed to the Trail of Tears.  Yes, back there again.   I had completed it both of the previous weekends so I had no doubts about my abilities.  We also went much earlier in the day to beat the heat.  We started to ride.   I could tell that I was riding a bit more tentatively, I’m assuming due to my tumble from the day before.  About a mile or so into the ride my shoulder started to ache....and then that pain started to radiate into my chest.   Now, I KNOW that the muscle/nerve issue that I’m having will cause that chest to hurt...but when your chest hurts it is hard to NOT obsess about it!   But I kept going.   For some reason my feet would NOT stay on the pedals!  (I will be soon upgrading from the stock cheap pedals to a good pair!).  Then  my hands started to sweat and my grip was constantly slipping!   It was ugly!  My shoulder started to pound with each bump we hit!  And I was stopping constantly to take breaks.  Finally We decided to turn around.  The ride back was BRUTAL!   The pain in my shoulder and arm only intensified.   My right hand and thumb became excruciating pain any time I squeezed the handle bars, shifted gears or used my breaks.   I actually cried the last mile of the ride.  (Yes, I cried while riding...and at one point we stopped to rest and I just kept my head on my handlebars to ‘rest’ and hide my tears.). It was a bad ride all around!  The Trail of Tears took me down again!   But in all fairness...I’m sure a lot of that had to do with the aches and pains from my tumble the day before.  

Even with the two rough rides...between the accident and the bad ride, I saw improvements.  I saw myself get further up a hill than I have before.   I saw myself handle each and every stream crossing without wimping out and walking across.  I definitely saw improvements even amidst the ruin!

My thumb was in bad shape the rest of the day...as in I struggled to hold Jason’s hand because my thumb was that tender.

It was a gorgeous day that we didn’t want to waste.  So after dropping off the bikes.  We turned around and headed out for a hike.  Yup....we were out for about two hours hiking.   Felt good!!!

So we had another active, even if traumatic weekend of exercise!

Food wise, I nailed the weekend!  I was within my target each day!

Monthly Goals

At the beginning of each month I set a few goals for my month.  I have them in the back of my mind during the month...but they are not something I have to think about each day.  (Well...maybe I should!). June was no exception.  I set some goals in this post. 

Here are my June goals with the results!

1.  Track every bite of food!   Victory!
2.  Put money into my savings.   I totally smashed this goal and put quite a bit into my savings account!
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  I don't care if it's a measly ounce...I want to weigh less!   As of the 31st of May that number is 247.2.    I managed this one also...maybe not a smashing success...but I managed this...as of the last day of June my weight was 246.0 (I did see 245.6 on Saturday!)
4.  Do something active (a walk suffices) at least 3 times a week and at least two runs a week.  I had to adjust my goals mid way through.  I decided that I couldn’t focus on biking AND running and have any success at both.  So running is on the back burner until a time when biking is easy and then I will jump back into running.  But in terms of exercise. I walked at work most days...and we got at least two HARD bike rides in each week!  So VICTORY!!  I have also seen some incredible improvements on the bike!  I have been mountain biking religiously each week and it seems as if each week I see some sort of improvement.  

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week. I managed this.  There were a few days that I was higher but it was almost always totally in check!

7.   Walk at least  of 5 k steps a day at least five days a week..no more average for the month!!!  This is the rough one. I didn’t make this one!!  But I came very close.  I will be adjusting this goal in future months!

8.  Transparency with my weight...even if it goes up!!! (Not gonna.. thisis my month!!!). I feel as if I have continued the trend of transparency!!

So what are July goals?

1.  Track every bite of food! 
2.  Put money into my savings. 
3.  Weigh less than I do now!  I don't care if it's a measly ounce...I want to weigh less!   As of the 30th of May that number is 246.0.
4.  Do something active (a walk suffices) at least 3 times a week and aim for at least two bike rides a week.

5. Keep my eating in check for at least 6 days a week. 

7.   Walk at least  of 5 k steps a day at least four of my work days.   Weekends...I need the steps OR a bike ride!  

8.  Transparency with my weight...even if it goes up!!! 

So there you have it.  My crazy weekend and a recap of my monthly goals.   July goals are quite similar with just a few tweaks!   But I am confident that July will see more weight loss and even more improvement on the bike!!