Monday, January 26, 2009

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.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big fan of fruit, but I am trying to get a serving of fruit a day.

Anonymous said...

Besides getting out of bed every day, my goal right now is to exercise more. I'm getting the 30 Shred, but I also am trying to do small things like walking the dog or playing soccer with the boys.

Anonymous said...

I tweeted, too.
http://twitter.com/Instamom/status/1156195909

Anonymous said...

I have some specific running goals related to times and races, but in general I need to take better care of my body in between runs. So my 2009 goal is to do yoga at least once a week - gone are the days when I can exercise and blow of stretching and not pay for it!

Kelly said...

My goal is to get at least one serving of fruit or veggies with each meal.

I'm also trying to up my water - I do all right on weekdays when I have my big water bottle right there with me at my desk, but on weekends I hardly drink any water. Gotta do better at that!

Anonymous said...

OMG! I would love to win Lorna's book. I have been drooling over it on the shelves. Her pressure cooker books are amazing, I think her whole grains for busy people would be just grand!

My goal is to not eat after 7:30pm. I might have stolen that from Oprah....

Anonymous said...

My goal is to get out my Healthy Habits newsletter this week (before the month is over).

Anonymous said...

I've been trying not to eat out. It's so hard... I pretty much failed twice this week. However! I did buy lots of fruits and veggies at the store, so when I have been home, I've been on good behavior.

Better luck next week!

Unknown said...

This is terrific - congrats on your weight loss and setting goals!

My goal is to do 30 minutes of cardio 5 days out of 7 every week.

I'll be interested in seeing what new whole grains you try!

Unknown said...

I tweeted your cookbook giveaway as well:

http://twitter.com/ays/status/1164446141

Unknown said...

My short term goal is to control the amount of bread that I eat. Bread is one of my addictions and I need to control it. To some this is ridiculous but to me is very important so I can cut the amount of calories that I consume.

Unknown said...

I tweeted the contest.

http://twitter.com/vdeliz

janetfaye said...

My goal this week is to make some healthier recipes.

Thank you!

janetfaye (at) gmail (dot) com

Anonymous said...

First time visitor sent your way by the Blogher organizers (Ill email you privately).

WHAT A COOL IDEA YOU HAVE!
off to explore...

MizFit