So after five weeks of keeping track of my goals and sharing my progress through my blog, I want to share some ideas about goal making and goal keeping. This past week I have some good examples for different outcomes and how to deal with them. Here we go:
Successes
I am now an herbivore. No, not a vegetarian, but a regular plant-eater! On most days I have at least five servings of fruits and veggies and it's not even that hard. I can't even tell you how many years I have tried to make this a habit. Why did it work this time? Here are a few ideas:
- Commitment- I made the goal publicly and therefore was holding myself accountable (as well as all of you). It also means that I keep a log throughout the day. Some days I'm almost positive that I have eaten enough to meet my goal, however, I'll realize I'm still one or two servings short.
- Availability- I make a conscious effort to have plenty of fresh fruit and veggies in the house. I've realized that if I have a salad at some point (which I love), it's pretty easy to meet my goal. However, by the end of the week my back-up is frozen veggies. My kids love them and when I run out of fresh stuff, those are always handy.
- Variety- Since I have my I-can-only-eat-a-certain-food-once-a-day unspoken rule, I need have a variety of fruits and veggies at my disposal. So I've gotten creative. Today's snack: strawberries with plain greek yogurt (I use it instead of sour cream all the time so I only buy the really big tub from Costco), a teaspoon of jam, and blueberry flavored craisins (yes, they do exist). Adding the tiniest bit of jam and craisins make it super yummy. It's less sugar than when they flavor it themselves and I already have all the stuff. Crumbled graham cracker is a good way to spice it up too (or sugar it up, whichever you want to call it.)
Roadblocks
So last week I made a speed goal with my running. I was excited because I'm planning on doing a race in a few weeks, so it was perfect. Well, my knee has been bothering me. It's nothing serious, but the doctor told me to go low-impact for a couple of weeks until some swelling has gone down. GGaaahh! So frustrating, right? Well, the worst part is that it actually doesn't hurt while I'm running, just afterwards... Either way, I'm trying to deal with that. So needless to say, my cardio goals will have to be adjusted for the time being. He also said that working on my core strength and flexibility will help... does that mean I might actually break down and go to a yoga class???? We'll see. That might very much be a goal for this week...
It's frustrating when you make a goal and something out of your control prevents you from keeping it, but you do what you can, right? Adjust and don't too discouraged because... that's life.
Plateaus
This is my tough one. I think this is a constant and very common issue for people when they make a goal that is difficult to meet. Can you guess which one is mine? Limiting my treats to ten a week. This week I ate fourteen. I know that seems ridiculous. but I want you to remember a few things.
a) This is not a temporary thing, so I need to be able to make goals I can keep FOREVER!
b) I'm not looking to lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks. I gained about a pound a week during the last six months of my pregnancy and that's how I plan to lose it. My doctor said that for me, doing it otherwise would be difficult to produce the breastmilk my baby needs.
c) If you kept a food log of every piece of candy you ate, every cookie, spoonful of cookie dough, servings of ice cream (usually at least 2), I bet you eat at least fourteen treats every week too. Maybe more. Or maybe you don't and it's me. I'm just sayin. You might surprise yourself. There's a lot to be said in the power of the Food Log.
So what is this week's game plan? Are you ready for this?
Don't hate me for posting this. But they are currently on sale at Costco so I bought two boxes. I originally had them in France, then I saw them here in the U.S. They are amazing. Did I sell you on them yet? :) Well, before you get too excited, they are 310 calories per bar. Yeah, I know, not like the skinny cow ones. But this is good because I will have one of these instead of two servings of ice cream in a bowl (roughly 500 calories since 1/2 cup of ice cream is usually about 250 calories).
So in helping me to meet my treat goal this week, a few strategies:
- Only eat one serving of whatever it is (ice cream, cookie, etc.) There were a few times this week when I had two of something and easily could have had one and therefore would have been a lot closer to ten.
- Only eat it if it's really, really, good. (Hence the Magnum bars)
- Try to forgo the dessert after lunch. This one is tricky, but I will try to satisfy that craving with something else first like fruit or a piece of gum so that I can enjoy something after dinner instead.
What are your plateaus? Ask yourself why you aren't meeting a specific goal. However, your answer cannot be because you aren't disciplined. We can't blame everything on discipline. Is it because you:
- Eat emotionally? Find something else to make you feel better. Call a friend, read a book, say a prayer. Although chocolate is awesome, it won't make you really happy.
- Eat habitually? As soon as my kids are in bed I walk to the fridge and then turn on the t.v. I can imagine some other moms are the same. Habits might be okay as long as they are conscious decisions. Believe me, I consciously decided on that ice cream bar long before my kids were in bed and it was my only treat today. I'm right on track!
- Eat subconsciously? If you haven't tried it yet, a food log can really open your eyes to what, when, and how much you might be eating.
Try these types of questions for whatever your goals are. Why aren't you working out? What is holding you back from good scripture study? I'd love to know what you discover!
Spiritual Moment
So my post last week was a little bit of a downer and I had a few people reach out to me. (Thank you friends!!!!) Well today I had left my "Sunday" cd in the van and we listened to it on our errands. I was listening to a version of "I Need Thee Every Hour" bu Kenneth Cole. I absolutely love those words. I love knowing that my Father in Heaven is there whenever I need Him, "in joy or pain." Here is a really cool version I found online. Enjoy!
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