At the beginning of the new year, I set three goals for myself for the month of January:
1. Put in 30mi on the treadmill.
2. Put in two extra sessions per week to work on weights.
3. Stay faithful to my food plan every day.
I fell short of my first goal, logging 20.3 miles on the treadmill in January. This was slightly less than I did in December.
I'll give myself a pass, though, in light of the fact that I put in 75.8 miles on the treadmill, elliptical, and stationary bike combined. I only managed 36.1 miles of cardio in December.
My second goal was met by putting in long sessions, rather than additional ones. I've gotten in the habit of doing at least some lifting before nearly every session. The benefits of this, I think, were reflected in my muscular endurance during last night's evaluation. It's definitely paid off!
The third goal was a mixed bag, though it was mostly a success. There were only a handful of days in January that I didn't record everything I ate, and those weren't because I didn't want to. On the days I allow myself to eat more freely and worry less, I don't always have stats on my foods handy. Maybe I ate at a restaurant or with my parents.
So while I didn't have the means to monitor everything, I still feel that I did well. Well enough, anyway.
That brings us to February. With the new month, I have some new goals for myself.
Cut out soda.
I'll allow myself one diet with breakfast, as I don't drink coffee and I appreciate a little caffeine in the morning, but that's it. This may be the hardest goal I've set yet. Giving up chocolate was nothing compared to giving up soda. Yikes.
Run a two- or three-miler every weekend.
I'd like to get some structure into my cardio, so I'll shoot for doing endurance on the treadmill on weekends. I made awesome progress on my mile time this week without running for speed even once over the past month, and I hope that continuing to work on various skills will return such results again.
Do my sit-ups and push-ups twice a week.
When I started this journey, I always did these. When I started demanding more of myself, some of the simpler exercises fell by the wayside. I need to get them back into my rotation, whether it's on the days I do weights or on alternate days.
So! Three new goals for a new month. Will I make it? Stay tuned!
Hey, girl, it's snarkypants from lj.
ReplyDeleteI gave up sodas a few years ago, taking it a few steps at a time. First I switched from diet to regular sodas (16 oz.). Then after a few weeks I went down to 12 oz., twice a day, then once a day. Then I started getting the 8 oz. tiny cans, then finally the 7 oz. tinier cans. And then I realized that I wasn't really "craving" the sweet and caffeine, that I was just drinking it out of habit.
I still have a Coke every few weeks, on the weekend, but it's nothing required.
Anyhoo, it's completely doable. The tiny cokes are more expensive, but I didn't have the willpower yet to divide a big bottle into tiny servings.
Good luck, and YMMV!
Thanks Miz Snarky! :D I appreciate the tip and the fly-by!
ReplyDeleteIt IS getting better, slowly. Sorta. It helps that the change in my caffeine intake has been helping me to sleep like a baby, which is amazing. No matter how frustrating the giving-up part is, being able to sleep at night is totally worth it.
Tiny little baby steps! I'm hoping not-so-secretly that, by the time February is done, I'll be able to get up soda altogether. Would be a nice March goal, but we'll see how it goes!