Amy: Week 23 - Staying S.M.A.R.T.

With the encouragement of Julie, my Jazzercise guru, I’m proud to report that I exercised five days out of seven this past week. I stayed within my points and followed the healthy guidelines every.single.day. And I took off 1.4 pounds! Thrilled - Thrilled - Thrilled

Now that I’m getting back on track, it’s time to start setting short and long term goals. We all need to be mindful of this - in all areas of our lives. What goals have you set for yourself? Did you write them down? Did you put them somewhere you’ll have a daily reminder? Do you reward yourself properly when you hit one of your goals?

I’ve been following these guidelines (thanks Weight Watchers) to help make my goal setting more manageable and effective:

SMART Theory for Setting Goals

S

Specific: What exactly are you going to do? Make it clearly defined and simple.

M

Measurable: How long? How much? What are the milestones you will reach along the way?

A

Attainable: Make it reasonable. Do not expect to lose 50 pounds in 3 months. How about 5 to 8 pounds a month for X amount of months?

R

Rewarding: You have to stop and reward yourself along the way. Small rewards for reaching modest milestones will keep you motivated and keep you positive.

T

Time-limited: Set an end date. That last thing you want to do is keep your resolution open ended, because you will have less focus. At the same time, make sure you give yourself enough time to attain your main goal.

This week’s goals are as follows:

1. Get more walking in - especially on the days I don’t do a Jazzercise class.

2. Plan menus for the week so there is no temptation to cheat when dinner time gets too hectic.

3. TAKE MY MEASUREMENTS (still haven’t done this yet!)

4. Introduce a new WHOLE GRAIN to my diet.

Those are all doable, short-term goals I can manage with my busy schedule. What are your goals for this week? Take a minute to think about it and jot something down. Even of it’s just one simple thing like "take a multi-vitamin everyday" or "drink enough water to stay healthy and hydrated" - a goal is a goal and it all starts with a small step in the right direction.

GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY! GIVEAWAY!

We all want to add healthy food to our choices and whole grains are the best way to do it. But what the heck do you do with Bulgur Wheat? Or Quinoa (just between you and me, I’m not even sure how to pronounce it, much less cook it!)?

So to achieve my #4 goal, I picked up the cookbook: Whole Grains for Busy People: Fast, Flavor-Packed Meals and More for Everyone by Lorna Sass. It’s just what the nutritionist ordered for a whole grain virgin like me.

And one lucky Cincy Loser reader will win a copy! Leave a comment here listing at least one short-term goal you’re working on this week - leave as many as you’d like (I’d love to hear about them), but you must leave at lease one to be entered. You can get an extra entry if you tweet the giveaway up - just leave a separate comment with the link to the tweet!

The deadline is 11:59pm on Monday (2/2). I’ll announce the winner in next week’s Tuesday post.