Tuesday, January 14, 2014

What an original resolution

Like so many others, I have made a New Year's Resolution to eat better and exercise more, but what does that mean. Having such a broad goal makes it hard to evaluate my success because how do you measure your "healthiness?" These first two weeks I've done amazing at staying true to my goal, but I know as the year dwindles on my stress and workload will increase shifting my focus onto that instead of my goal. To help measure my goal and help keep me accountable, I've decided to make a couple long-term goals and many short-term goals. My plan is to really focus on one-short term goal a week. My short-term goals are going to be revisited as often as needed until it becomes a habit. Here are some of my goals:

Long-term:

Be able to do 20 regular push ups in a row
Have a visible four-pack
Completely give up fast food
Be able to do all three splits again
Be able to do five pull ups

Short-term:

Drink four bottles of water a day
Do yoga 4 days a week
Do girl push-ups and abs every night for ten minutes
Try a new type of exercise
Have only one cheat day a week
Drink a green smoothie every day
Practice my splits
Go to the gym 5 days a week
Get a workout buddy
Try a new recipe

Today I woke up had a bowl of cereal and made a green spinach for my three hour lecture. For lunch, I had chicken, black beans, salsa, and corn with spices and triscuits. Then, back to class for another three hours for which I packed carrots. I find that if I pack healthy snacks I will most definitely eat them because I have nothing else to tempt me like I do at my house.

After class, I had an apple and peanut butter for a snack and then it was off to Zumba. Zumba completed my trying a new type of exercise short-term goal and I was not prepared for it at all. I consider myself to be in decent shape, but I'm used to more weight lifting, not cardio. I was sweating in places I didn't even know I could and was struggling to keep up. It was sad to see how far I've fallen from my days as a dancer, but it's never to late to renew those skills I guess.

After Zumba, I went straight to a volleyball game for a city league team. It was another blast from the past. I played volleyball for 10 years and club volleyball for 4 so I thought it was going to be a cake walk. I was wrong, again. Instead of playing against 40 year olds, our opposing team was a group of freshmen college girls who had all played volleyball in high school. The game resulted in them winning 2 of the three games, me re-realizing how competitive I am, a swollen knee and two skid marks.

That night, after an asian chicken salad dinner, my boyfriend and I did our nightly yoga routine. Doing yoga was his resolution to help him stretch out and become more flexible. If you ever need cheap entertainment have a 6'8" basketball player do yoga. It's hilarious. It's also really nice to be better than your boyfriend in one physical element.

I love how I'm learning to enjoy working out. My routines are rarely the same and I'm constantly trying and learning new things. I feel better, I'm reading ingredient labels, I'm increasing my vegetable intake, but I'm still enjoying my food. The challenge will be keeping my motivation level up and prioritize my life.

5 comments:

  1. Wow, you have had a very busy week filled with loads of physical activity. Your short term goals are very ambitious. Some people's long term goals are your short ones. I wish I could see the boyfriend do his yoga.

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  2. Well, hey there, stranger! Seems like you've been doing great on your goals! It's funny, because I have pretty much the same ones! I'm surprised at how well I've been doing. I've had green smoothies, some with protein, some w/o, vegetables for lunch, and spinach & eggs with fruit and yogurt for dinner. Cookies, I could just lay in a tub of cookies.Good job!

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  3. Your slice made me feel rather lazy! How marvelous that you've started the year off by taking good care of yourself - wellness truly is a daily part of one's life.

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  4. Love your goals, and I believe short term goal setting is what leads to long term goal achievement. Being healthy is a life long goal that we all should have, and it takes discipline to achieve that. Keep up with the fruits and vegetables, they make a huge difference in overall health and longevity.

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  5. Wow! You rocked your short term goals! Keep having fun with it. It seems like a better diet and exercise are always on my list of resolutions. I do love yoga, but haven't talked my husband into trying it with me.

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