Fitness Friday {motivation}

Motivation is necessary when trying to meet health goals.  I’ve tried many forms of motivation:  rewarding myself with cheap jewelry, a yummy treat on cheat day, new clothes.  But I think the best motivation is seeing results.

Despite the fact that my healthy eating and increased exercise attempts have been rather weak, I am seeing results from the meager attempts that I am doing.  For instance, I bought a dress…and it was a size smaller than I normally buy at this particular store (whose clothes run a tad small so I rarely buy there).  I took the dress into the dressing room thinking that it wouldn’t fit. 

Guess what?

It did fit!  And it’s cute! 

And then there’s the jeans that I haven’t worn in a while because they were too small.  I tried them on the other day.

Guess what?

They fit!  Yay!

That, my friends, is Motivating!

Knowing that even my less than whole-hearted attempts have given results motivates me to work harder towards achieving my goals. Imagine how much actually giving this healthy living thing my full attention could change my life.  If just changing a little has helped, how much more can doing it wholly help?  

Have these results made these changes completely easier?  No…I still dread getting out of bed to exercise but I know that doing so will give me results.  Not to mention, I feel so much better after I’ve gotten started.

So I have a new goal.  In my closet is a bin full of clothes.  There are some really cute sweaters, jeans, and skirts that I haven’t worn in a long time.  They are only the next size down from what I wear today.  My goal is to fit into those clothes by winter time.  Since we are in the deep south, cold weather usually starts in December or late November  {and sometimes even later than that} so I’ve got a few months to reach this goal.  I’ll just go ahead and say that I will fit into these clothes by Thanksgiving.

I’m also going to be joining in on the 42 Days to Fit Challenge over at Marathon Mom.  If you’re looking to get healthy click the link above.  It may be something you’d like to join in on also. 

 

A new week = new goals + no menu plan

A new week means that it is time for new goals and a new menu plan.  But I must come clean…there is no menu plan for this week {yet}.  While I guess I could be planning that right now, I’m blogging instead.  It seems like my priorities are in order! {laugh}

Seriously though, it has been a busy weekend and a very busy day.  I was just ready to relax a bit after playing Mom the taxi driver today.  Tomorrow’s food is planned {so that’s good}.   As for the day after that, it will be planned…tomorrow!

Goals for the week:

to do:

• drink 90 oz water a day
• walk 3X
• The 30 day Shred 2X
• send out birthday invitations!  {a most important thing to do}
• shopping for birthday party

Those are my most important five to dos this week.  If I finish those, I will also try to:

• paint doors/trim in house (a little every night)
• clean out pan/pantry areas in kitchen
• work on blog post that lists all preschool ABC posts in one place

to read:

Last week, I mentioned that I was reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan.  However, at the retreat we went to this past weekend, our pastor gave us the book  Not a Fan:  Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus by Kyle Idleman.  Our pastor challenged husbands and wives at the retreat to read the book and then to pass it on to someone else.  I’ve started reading it and it is really, really good.  It is actually can’t-put-it-down good.   Crazy Love is good too but I will come back to it soon.  {smile}

to learn:

• still need to learn Psalm 139: 1 – 3 {smile}

to be:

• working on opening my home and showing hospitality to others

I hope your week is off to a great start!   Have a blessed week!

Starting the week off beautifully {goals/menu}

It is no secret that I love to have goals for directing my days.  These past few weeks of busy life goings-on have left me little time to think over goals.  Ask any of my friends who have been around me the last week and they will tell you that I have been quite scatter-brained.  I do believe there is a direct correlation between the no thought-out goals and the scatter-brainedness. 

This week, I want to write some goals for the week so that I won’t feel like I’m flying by the seat of my pants everyday.  I need some direction and focus.  To me that makes for a beautiful week.

Normally I write monthly goals.  Since the month is almost half-way over, I’m going to just go with weekly goals.  By the way, I am totally borrowing this idea from Mandy over at Biblical Homemaking.  I love the way she writes weekly goals and I love her goal headings so I’m going to copy-cat her idea.  She has a great blog so be sure to pay her a visit!

Goals for the week of April 16

Do: 

• drink 90 ounces of water a day {and only one soda a day – getting there…}
• walk 3X
• weight training 2X
• send out birthday invitations for Abby’s party
• make to-do and need to buy lists for party
• rearrange toy/shoe areas
• paint mantel/doors/trim in living room & dining room
• declutter linen closet
• clean out pan areas in kitchen

Read:

• Crazy Love: Overwhelmed by a Relentless God by Francis Chan

Learn:

• Memorize Psalm 139: 1 – 3

Be:

• Sharing with others through hospitality – planning/preparing for a birthday party

Showing hospitality (cooking for others, opening our home, etc) is pretty hard for me to do.  I feel so inadequate in this area and always worry about what I have to give not being enough.  This month I am getting to practice showing hospitality.  I’ve all ready hosted Bunco for my friends (all though I did it at a friend’s house) by fixing the food, buying gifts, and organizing the game.  Later this month, I am hosting a birthday party in our home.  There have been other instances where we’ve been called out of our comfort zones to minister to others through hospitality this month also.  It seems to be getting easier the more I do it.  And the reward from serving and sharing with others, even if it is by simple means, is wonderfully fulfilling.

 

Menu Plan ~

• Chicken tostadas, salad, corn & pinto beans
• Slow cooker pork chops, rice, veggies
• Chicken fajitas with veggies, refried beans, fruit salsa
• Teriyaki chicken, rice, stir-fried snow peas and swiss chard
• Eat out night {busy night}

 

I hope you have a beautiful week! 

Goals, what goals?

Remember here and here when I spoke of making monthly goals to help direct my busy days?  Having goals for the month really does help me to think beyond just the basic everyday needs of our home and work towards bigger things that are sometimes pushed aside.  It does seem strange now that March is almost over that I post anything about goals for March!  However that is exactly what I’m going to do.  {smile}

March is a busy month around here so I figured that it would be best to keep it easy.  I’ve participated in 3 in 30 before and really like the simplicity of only focusing on three things.  So I figured that March was a good time to keep it simple due to busyness. 

Goals for March:

• Remain consistent in following some of the habits set by goals in January and February.

Instead of writing new goals I just simply have focused on continuing to get to bed at a decent time, to wake early enough for a quiet time, to exercise consistently, to drink water, and to read at least one book.   Most of these goals have fallen a little short this month because the daylight saving’s time change always throws me for a loop!  My sleeping times are off which totally affects all of the others except the water drinking.  But I will continue on during this last week of March to be consistent!

• Clean closets and organize children’s clothes.

Last weekend, I tackled the master bedroom closet.  I still need to work on the kids’ clothing.  It will be done…this week!

• Tackle (and conquer) some items on our home improvement/garden to-do lists.

David and I have compiled a list of things to be done around our home and in the garden.  Each paycheck, we set aside a little bit of money to complete the tasks.  This month we were able to make a path out to the garden, install track lighting in the kitchen, and build a trellis for the grapes.  We’ve also completed some organizing projects (organizing kids’ toys and making a monthly meal plan) that were on the list.

Since March is almost over, soon it will be time to write goals for April.  I’m thinking that I really like the 3 in 30 focus so I am going to do that again for the month of April. 

 

{Goals} February

Yesterday, I wrote a review of January’s goals.  Today, I’m going to write out my new goals for February.  Then I’ll print it out, post it on my refrigerator, and get to work!

Goals for February:

Spiritual

• Wake early for quiet time and continue to work through the book of Ephesians
• Memorize 4 new Bible verses

 Bible verses that hang on the cupboards by the sink.  These will be replaced with new verses.

Family

• Plan a summer get-away (set aside funds)
• Go on a fun family outing this month

Home

• Clean out clothes and closets
• Clean out two drawers a week

Health

• Exercise 3 – 4 times a week
• Bed @ 10:30
• Drink 6 – 8 glasses of water a day (make a chart for accountability)

Garden/Farm

• Build trellis for berries/grapes (and work on things on this list)
• Continue with February planting/starting seeds
• Redo chicken coop and run

My husband is the artist.  However, this is my attempt to draw my idea for moving the chicken coop and run.  It is so not to scale nor even readable by anyone but me.  I am not an artist! {laugh}

Financial

• Money flow plan – continue from previous month
• Pay off my student loan (Yippee) and 1 credit card (double Yippee) – snowball payments onto other debt 

Personal/Blogs/Hobbies

• Sew something!  (Setting aside Monday nights, possibly early Saturday mornings per my advice to myself here.  See the things I learned note.)
• Read at least 1 book
• Move blog to Wordpress?  (still contemplating)

 

Did you set any goals last month?  How did it go? 

 

{Goals} Reviewing January

People often complain about lack of time when the lack of direction is the real problem.  ~ Zig Ziglar

For me, I need goals.  If I have no goals and have not planned, I really don’t know where to direct my focus.  I will simply look at the many, many things that need to be done or that I want to do and become overwhelmed because I am focusing on too many things at once. 

Last month, I decided to start a list of monthly goals that I would like to accomplish for each month.  Will I finish everything?  Maybe.  But maybe not.  Am I going to beat myself up and feel like a failure if I don’t accomplish everything?  No.  I’ll either just take it off the list or move it to the next month.   This list is simply a tool to help give me direction & focus and perhaps accomplish a little bit more than the everyday tasks. 

First, a review of January’s goal: 

I’ve crossed through accomplished goals and made notes in green as needed.

Spiritual

• Participate in the Gentleness Challenge at Women Living Well as I work on speaking softly and gently to my children.

• Start studying Ephesians using the SOAP method with the Good Morning Girls  (Did this last month – still in progress)

Family

• Continue reading time with Dad at night (Dropped off at the end of the month – need to do again)
• Have a family night one day a week   ongoing

Health

• Exercise 3 times a week – NO EXCUSES {smile} (actually about 2x a week + gardening – lost weight too!)
• Bed by 10:30  sometimes…{sigh}

Home

• Make a list of repairs and remodeling to be done per room/area of house  (in progress)
• Organize recipe binders  (in progress – sick kids happened)
• Decorate office nook in living room  (removing from list for now)

Garden/City Farm

• Cut back raspberries, blackberries, and grapes.  Transplant all but grapes to new areas.
• Draw garden plans/ Make list of needed seeds & plants
• Plant pansies  (didn’t do this)
• Draw/plan for chicken run extension

Financial

• Set year’s financial goals with Dave (some goals set – others still in progress)
• Make a money flow plan for each paycheck (Meet with David when paid and assign every dollar a place to go before we spend it)

Blog and Personal

• Post 2 or 3 times a week
• Set aside a day each week to visit blogs and comment
• Update side bar of blog and pages across the top (some completed)
• Read at least one new book

*What I learned this last month:

It helps me to get my goals accomplished if I set aside a specific day and time to complete the task.  For instance, with blogging, I now have “office hours”  set aside just for writing posts or commenting on blogs.  The same thing goes for exercise and other activities beyond the basics. 

Well, I was going to post February’s goals but this post is all ready incredibly long.  Next post up…February’s goals! 

Blessings,

Goals for January 2012

A new year, for me, begs for new goals to work towards.  I love goals.  They give me a focus and set my feet on a path of purpose. 

As I went back to check out last year’s goals, I realized that I just have a hard time focusing on goals for an entire year.  I love the 3 in 30 idea of just focusing on three habits over 30 days.  I have participated in it before and may again.  This year, I thought that maybe I’d write a list of goals for each month and work to focus my extra time on those things.  Here are my goals for January.  We’ll see at the end of the month if this is going to be a doable thing or not.  {smile} 

Spiritual

• Participate in the Gentleness Challenge at Women Living Well as I work on speaking softly and gently to my children.

• Start studying Ephesians using the SOAP method with the Good Morning Girls  (Loved studying 1 John that way!  Not sure if I’ll join a group or not.  Maybe I’ll just participate from afar again)

Family

• Continue reading time with Dad at night (more on that later)
• Have a family night one day a week

Health

• Exercise 3 times a week – NO EXCUSES {smile}
• Bed by 10:30 

Home

• Make a list of repairs and remodeling to be done per room/area of house
• Organize recipe binders
• Decorate office nook in living room

Garden/City Farm

• Cut back raspberries, blackberries, and grapes.  Transplant all but grapes to new areas.
• Draw garden plans/ Make list of needed seeds & plants
• Plant pansies (I need some flowers!)
• Draw/plan for chicken run extension

Financial

• Set year’s financial goals with Dave (we’ll have a meeting and a DATE this weekend to do this! YIPEE!)
• Make a money flow plan for each paycheck (Meet with David when paid and assign every dollar a place to go before we spend it)

Blog and Personal

• Post 2 or 3 times a week (I’ve got a new plan for this which is why I’ve actually posted 2 days in a row!)
• Set aside a day each week to visit blogs and comment (Since I have little time on the computer, most of my blog reading is done with google reader.  The problem with that is that I can’t comment.  I’m missing talking with some of my blog friends and meeting some new ones.)
• Update side bar of blog and pages across the top
• Read at least one new book (more on that soon too)

Most of my goals are new habits that I plan to carry over into the upcoming months.  Some of them are just things I need to cross off of my to-do list for the month.  It looks like a lot!  Yikes!  I’ll update at the end of the month and let y’all know how if this worked for us.  {smile}

Did you set any yearly/monthly goals?  I love (seriously, I do) to read other’s goals.  If you want to share, just leave me a comment or a link to your blog…I’d love to meet you!