HYC Update: Progress on 2011 Goals

Happy Tuesday, Everyone!

After reading Carina’s post recently, I’ve decided that it’s about time to review my progress on my 2011 goals that I set way back in January.  Scale Junkie also mentioned that we’re entering the last quarter of the year – only 4 months left in 2011 – so I think it’s about time to check in and see if what I’ve accomplished.

As a refresher, theses are the goals I wrote back in January:

1. Write at least one comment per day on one of the blogs in my blogroll (and hopefully many more than that).  I get so busy sometimes that I lose sight of the best part about being a weight loss/health blogger – the community.  And that community is a give and take.  I can’t expect to get support unless I give it.  And the fact of the matter is I get SO MUCH from reading these blogs.  I owe it to myself to take some time to do it everyday.  Great progress on this goal.  I write at least one blog comment every single day. 
   
2. Complete the TheDailyChallenge from MeYouHealth.(I hope you’ll join me in this one).  Join other challenges to keep myself motivated, remembering that I’m one busy lady and I don’t want to get overwhelmed.  Mediocre progress on this goal.  I was doing great through June and then all summer long I kind of took a break.  Now that I’m back to school I’ve been doing them  again. 
   
3. Keep my closets organized and snap a monthly check-in photo to post on this blog for accountability.  Mediocre progress on this goal. Overall, my closet is still really organized, and all of the clothes are in good shape. My shoes are thrown willy-nilly all over the floor of the closet, which is something I need to work on.  I’ve also failed to make any check-in posts. 
   
4. Walk in a 5K by the end of summer. No progress on this goal.  It’s no longer a priority at the moment.
   
5. Make my 40th birthday a time to remember!  Great progress on this goal.  I had a great time with friends and family throughout my birthday week. 
   
6. Revisit C25K once I feel strong/light enough.  No progress on this goal. I haven’t felt light enough yet, and  most likely won’t until after wls.
   
7. Travel more.  Visit at least one friend whom I have to get on a plane to see.  No progress on this goal.  It’s no longer a priority at the moment. I do have some fun plans for next summer, but for now, it’s not going to happen. 
   
   
8. Be more social.  Have more people over.  Go out more.  Live a little. Good progress on this  goal.  I’ve made it a point to reach out to friends and to accept their invitations. 
   
9. Curb unnecessary spending without sacrificing my lifestyle.  Life is meant to be enjoyed.  Good progress on this  goal. I’ve cut way back on many things and I’m making it work.  For example, I started waxing my own eyebrows, and I’m saving at least $30-45 a month. 
   
10. See more movies.  I absolutely love movies, yet I never seem to find/make the time to go out and see them.  Even if it means I’m just watching Netflix, I want to make sure I see more movies in 2011. Mediocre progress on this goal. I saw some movies this summer, but not nearly as many as I wanted to.  I also stopped my subscription to Netflix after their price hike, but I do have Comcast, so I have plenty of movies available to me.  Still a priority.
    
11. Above all, I want to lose weight. Plain and simple.  That’s what this entire blog has been about for years, and I want it to FINALLY happen in 2011. Most of the other goals on this list revolve around this one.
    • Lose the 36 lbs needed to qualify for the next step in the lap band process. Poor progress to date.
      
    • Keep my calories within 1400 per day most days (rare, truly special occasions allowed, because this is real life). Great progress – I changed this to 1200-1300 to be more in line with the nutritionist’s recommendations. 
      
    • Log my calories with LoseIt daily – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Great progress – with very few exceptions, I have logged my food intake every single day this year.
      
    • Email my food journals to daily to ScaleWarfare. Great progress – with very few exceptions, I have emailed  every single day this year.
      
    • Drink more water. Mediocre progress.  I’m  doing better, but still don’t drink as much water as I should. 
      
    • Move my body daily. This includes walking the dog, playing the Wii, doing a workout DVD, going to the gym for resistance training, riding my bike, swimming, taking a class (yoga, belly dance, zumba, spin, etc). Great progress on this.  I’ve been really good about meeting this goal, with very few exceptions. 
      
    • Weigh myself often (daily) to notice trends, stay on track, and keep motivation high. Record my “official” weight weekly. Great progress on this.  I started logging often in LoseIt and have changed my “official” reporting to monthly, to be more in line with the way that I report to Kaiser. 
      
    • Film bi-weekly YouTube videos about my journey so that I can have a visual record of myself and my progress. Good progress.  I’ve made videos monthly, but definitely more regularly than in the past. 
      

Moving into the last quarter of 2011, these are the goals I want to focus on:

1. Follow my BtS Weight Loss Plan.
2. Drink more water!!!
3. Continue therapy. I had a huge breakthrough/realization on my way home from my 2nd session yesterday, and I can’t wait to explore it and get to the bottom of things (more on this in a later post).
4. Visit blogs daily and comment on at least one per day.
5. Stay social.  Don’t fall into the school-time trap of becoming too much of a homebody. Get together with friends and family, especially on the weekends, that’s what they’re there for.

5 straightforward goals for September-December.  I’ll check in monthly with these.  Please keep me accountable if you notice that I miss a post.

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2011 Goals

I love this image because it represents exactly how I’m thinking of my 2011 Goals.  They’re more than just resolutions that I’ll make one day and break the next.  They’re more than just ideas that are difficult to achieve in reality.  They’re aspirations, intentions, objectives.  Things that give me hope, focus my energy, and a target to meet.

I believe in them so much that I’m going to post this on a page and put it on the top of my blog.  Then every month on the 3rd (since I’m a little late with this post, due to unforeseen circumstances), I’ll check back in with them and see where I stand.  I’m sure there will be some tweaking along the way, but these are the things I want to accomplish in 2011.

I’ve given these goals a lot of thought, and I want them to be realistic for my lifestyle, my level of ability, and my priorities.

1. Write at least one comment per day on one of the blogs in my blogroll (and hopefully many more than that).  I get so busy sometimes that I lose sight of the best part about being a weight loss/health blogger – the community.  And that community is a give and take.  I can’t expect to get support unless I give it.  And the fact of the matter is I get SO MUCH from reading these blogs.  I owe it to myself to take some time to do it everyday.
2. Complete the TheDailyChallenge from MeYouHealth.(I hope you’ll join me in this one).  Join other challenges to keep myself motivated, remembering that I’m one busy lady and I don’t want to get overwhelmed.
3. Keep my closets organized and snap a monthly check-in photo to post on this blog for accountability.
4. Walk in a 5K by the end of summer.
5. Make my 40th birthday a time to remember!
6. Revisit C25K once I feel strong/light enough.
7. Travel more.  Visit at least one friend whom I have to get on a plane to see.
8. Be more social.  Have more people over.  Go out more.  Live a little.
9. Curb unnecessary spending without sacrificing my lifestyle.  Life is meant to be enjoyed.
10. See more movies.  I absolutely love movies, yet I never seem to find/make the time to go out and see them.  Even if it means I’m just watching Netflix, I want to make sure I see more movies in 2011.
11. Above all, I want to lose weight. Plain and simple.  That’s what this entire blog has been about for years, and I want it to FINALLY happen in 2011. Most of the other goals on this list revolve around this one.
    • Lose the 36 lbs needed to qualify for the next step in the lap band process.
    • Keep my calories within 1400 per day most days (rare, truly special occasions allowed, because this is real life).
    • Log my calories with LoseIt daily – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
    • Email my food journals to daily to ScaleWarfare.
    • Drink more water.
    • Move my body daily. This includes walking the dog, playing the Wii, doing a workout DVD, going to the gym for resistance training, riding my bike, swimming, taking a class (yoga, belly dance, zumba, spin, etc).
    • Weigh myself often (daily) to notice trends, stay on track, and keep motivation high. Record my “official” weight weekly.
    • Film bi-weekly YouTube videos about my journey so that I can have a visual record of myself and my progress.

I’m really looking forward to these goals, because they’re going to make me a happier person by the end of 2011, which is what life is really all about, isn’t it?  See you on February 3 with my first check-in.

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Armed with Info, Now Take ACTION!

As 2009 winds down, many of us in the weight loss blogging community are looking ahead to 2010 and probably thinking about the goals and resolutions we’ll make for the new year.  I know I am.  I have several in mind, one that I’m going to “unveil” on December 28th (do you like that little teaser?).  In keeping with this, yesterday I was listening to old Fat2FitRadio podcasts from the past year while I cleaned the house.

Just as I was about to finish, the first show of January 2009 came on, and the timing really couldn’t have been better.  They titled it The Most Important Show of the Year, and they were right.  The show discussed how to make weight loss goals that would be achievable.  Things I’m sure that many of you have heard or practiced before, but it’s always nice to have a refresher.  Rather than talking about SMART (Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timely) goals, they said that you should set 3 types of goals:

1. Long-Term Goal – this would be your over-arching goal for the year.  For example, mine is to lose at least 80 pounds by December 2010.
2. Mid-Range Goal – this goal is something that you can accomplish in 3-4 months’ time.  My first one for 2010 is to lose 2 pants sizes by the end of March 2010.
3. Short-Term/Daily Goals – these are the goals that you make that you can achieve each day.  Mine are to drink 8 glasses of water, stay within and track my points, and to move my body in some form or fashion 6 days a week.

They also mentioned that your goals should answer What, When, and How.  And they said that the How is the most important way for you to  stay motivated to reach the What.  For example for my long-term goal:

What: lose at least 80 pounds

When: by December 2010

How: eating within my points (5-6 servings of fruit/veg, 8 glasses of water, multivitamin, lay off the carbs at night, no out-of-control eating), tracking what I eat, moving my body at least 6 days a week (personal training, cardio, Wii, walking), blogging 5 times a week, staying motivated through rewards.

I like this setup of goal creation because it’s simple and easy to follow.  It makes sense.  It hits all of the SMART goal ideas, without being overly complicated.

But it was something they mentioned in the middle of the show that actually resonated with me the most.  They said that people are armed with tons of good information from so many sources, but many of them never reach their goals because they never put that knowledge into ACTION.  Did this hit home for me!  That’s the story of my life for this past year.

Which is not to say that I didn’t take any action in 2009, because I did, but I guess I didn’t take enough action on a consistent basis to see real results.  Because I’m basically ending 2009 the same weight as I was in 2008.  Although I do feel so much stronger, healthier, and more active, which shows progress.  I’m not disappointed in myself, although sure, it would be great to be 80 pounds lighter by now, but as I have said before, I believe 2009  was the year for me to start making my lifestyle ready to lose the weight.  I put a lot of systems into practice that will allow me to succeed. One of my main goals for 2009 was learning and living moderation, and I think I did fairly well with that one.

But now that I’m armed with the knowledge and have put the routines in place to lead a healthier lifestyle, 2010 has to be the year of ACTION.  So that is my mantra for the upcoming year.

Take Action!

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