2011 Goals

After some pondering I have come up with my goals for the new year.  Mind you there are lots of other little things I would like to work on such as keeping the house cleaner, eating healthier, getting more sleep but if I couldn't easily quantify it it didn't make the official list.  My goals are always SMART goals (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-constrained) and not everything fits easily into that category.  Or at least I don't want to get that specific with some of them.  Here are the ones that made the cut:

1.  Run at least 750 miles - What do you do when you can't meet your 650 miles per year goal the last two years.  You yell at yourself and add 100.
2.  Finish a marathon - Registering is just a small part of the battle.
3.  One stretching session for each day I run during the week - Run four times, stretch four times.  Only way I think I can do this without injury.
4.  Lose 30 lbs - Yep, not giving up on the weight loss.  I don't want to be a fat marathoner or a fat bride. 
5.  Visit one place in state I have never been before - A perennial list maker.
6.  Visit one place out of state I have never been before - See above.
7.  Take a multivitamin at least five days a week - If I didn't have to take them with food this would be a piece of cake and a non-issue.
8.  Paint the downstairs bathroom, kitchen, living room and upstairs bedroom - I'm tired of the lack of color around here and it is high time my taste was better represented. Monster poster art will also be moved.
9.  Have a once monthly cleaning night - Regular cleaning will still be done as usual but this is for Kevin and I to tackle one big cleaning project together.  We'll open a bottle of wine, turn on the music and clean the joint up.  By the way, it was originally his idea.
10.  Not be further in debt than I am right now -  Ideally this would involve less debt but with a wedding, honeymoon, an elderly car that is incontinent of both engine and radiator, and an elderly cat that has been diagnosed with very early kidney disease I am going to shoot for a more realistic "hold steady".

I still like some of last year's goals such as "take classes" and "volunteer" but I am trying to be realistic about the time commitments involved and how busy the first half of the year will be.  At least those are more on my radar since I put them in last year's goals list.

Anyone else have any goals for the new year?

Monthly Weigh-In: Month Four

This is shaping up to be a great week.  I finally, finally, finally reached my 10% weight loss goal at Weight Watchers this week.  Actually, I not only met it but I exceeded it by another two pounds.  For all the many times I have joined Weight Watchers I have always wanted to hit the elusive 10% goal that they have you shoot for and have never got there before now.  I received my 10% key chain and I am going to use it with pride. 

When the meeting leader asked me what was working for me I didn't have a really great answer.  I guess it all boils down to a lifestyle change. When I have done the program in the past I tried to figure out how many cheeseburgers, fries and cookies I could cram into my daily points allowance.  Needless to say, I was frequently hungry and it didn't work.  This time around I have really embraced healthy eating and I have to say I like it better than the constant parade of junk food I used to eat.  Whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and even the green smoothies have become my natural go-to foods now.  Don't get me wrong, I still want a good pizza or piece of cake on occasion.  I just know that I don't want or need that every day or even every week. 

As Mr. Niehaus would say, here are the happy totals.

Starting Weight (12/29/09): 185.00

Current Weight (04/28/10): 165.00
Pounds Lost: 20.00

Monthly Weigh-In

This wasn't exactly what I had expected this month.  I thought I could hit my 10% loss goal but I fell a little short.  I admit that there were more than a few days where the point counting got a little loose and it shows in the results.  However, it is still a loss for the month of 2.4 pounds and I will take it.

Starting Weight (12/29/09): 185

Current Weight (03/31/10): 168.8
Pounds Lost: 16.2

Monthly Weigh In

OK, I am weighing in weekly but I am only going to post the weight numbers once a month because I don't want to have to justify a week where there might be a gain or a smaller loss than I expected.  

Since my last blogged weigh-in on February 3 I have dropped another 3.6 pounds which brings my total weight to 171.2.  More significantly I didn't blow my progress out of the water the weekend in Vancouver.  I also discovered that my biggest trigger for eating poorly is lack of sleep.  When I am tired it is insanely hard to keep me from stuffing junk food in my face.  But I did resist this month.  My body desperately wanted me to pull through the Burger King drive-thru after work but I talked myself down.  Talked myself down the entire hour drive home.  The. Entire. Drive. Home. But I did resist.

Here are the happy totals:
Starting Weight (12/29/09): 185
Current Weight (03/03/10): 171.2
Pounds Lost: 13.8

I am setting my goal on earning the coveted Weight Watchers 10% key ring in March.  I need to work my ass off (ha!) but I think it is do-able this month. 

Take A Load Off Annie*

Like many people, one of my recurring resolutions every year has been to lose weight. Over and over I say to myself that "this will be the year" and then it ends up not happening. I have lost weight in the past; in 2006 I was down about 25 lbs from my highest ever (at that time) weight so it hasn't been completely impossible but I haven't been able to go below that point or stop myself from blimping up again.

I have grown tired of not finding clothes that look good on me, of sitting with my arms folded not because I am cold or defensive but because I am trying to hide the roll of fat at my waist, of having some of my very best friends never knowing me as anything but a slightly faster moving Stay-Puft marshmallow woman, of running so much slower then I know I can go. So I made up my mind to get truly serious about weight loss this year.

I rejoined Weight Watchers on December 29th and it feels completely different this time. It is almost like a switch flipped in my head. I had done Weight Watchers in the past and knew how the program worked but I hadn't been able to replicate any success doing it at home. Taking the saying "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results" to heart I had to change what I was doing and try something new. That something was embracing the program 100%.

Before, I never saw the point of meetings other then to weigh-in once a week. Now I really pay attention to what the leader is saying, what other people have experienced and recognize it for the once a week refocusing that it is meant to be. I read the materials and try to really apply the ideas to my life. I have happily swallowed the Weight Watcher's Kool-Aid (sugar-free of course). Instead of being shy and not speaking in meetings I try to contribute a little bit. Instead of thinking "I am a grown-ass woman! I do not need star stickers when I reach a goal!!"; I think that the "Bravo" stars are no different then getting a good grade on an assignment and I know how much I needed those so I say "Bring those stars on!" I track my foods religiously and aim to fill up on healthy filling foods instead of seeing how many points my crap food choices are.

How is this all working for me? So far, so good. Here are the numbers my friends (and the entire interwebs):

Starting Weight (12/29/09): 185 (the most hippo-esque I have ever been)**
Current Weight (02/03/10): 174.80
Pounds Lost: 10.2

My ultimate weight goal at this point is 130 but I am keeping my resolution goal of losing 40 lbs this year. Forty is a reachable goal for a year, 55 is a bit of a stretch. I am now entering the harder pounds to lose so wish me luck.

*I know it is really "Take a load off Fanny" but this works better for my name and I really don't like the word "fanny" particularly once I learned what it means to the Brits.

**In my defense this was an evening, fully-dressed, lots of salty foods, hadn't dropped the kids off at the pool for a couple of days weight. That has to count for at least 10lbs., right? Or maybe I just shouldn't weigh in while wearing my chain mail underwear.

One Foot In Front of the Other

Hooray! I actually managed to make it out to run four times last week for a grand mileage total of 14 miles. I can't remember the last time I got in four runs in one week. Even though none of the runs were particularly easy it still felt good to get out there and put in some miles to get some conditioning back. A few more weeks of that and continuing to do speedwork one day a week and I might actually see some improvement in my times.

The toughest part though is that I am trying to lose weight at the same time. To do this I am back to counting Weight Watcher points. However, if I stay in my points range I don't feel like I get quite enough fuel to put in the kind of workouts that I would like. If I put in enough fuel then I can't seem to stay in my points range. Maybe it will just take a little tweaking and once I get my body used to running more I won't feel so worn out and the fueling issue won't become so cumbersome. I know that if I lose the extra 40 pounds I am carrying around I can increase my speed and be more effective at distance. It is just taking me forever to make the scale move.

On the plus side (HA!) I can still register as a Clydesdale for the Firecracker 5000. Maybe the rest of the big girls will stay home this year.